Bosvelt hopeful of new City deal

Paul Bosvelt will find out “within a month” whether he will be offered a new one-year contract at Manchester City.

The former Holland international’s present deal runs out at the end of the season and he is keen to extend his stay at Eastlands.

As a player who turns 35 in March, Bosvelt understands age will count against him in any negotiations.

But the midfielder feels his performances this season confirm he is fit and he is confident another season in the Barclays Premiership is not beyond him.

“I have told the club I would like to stay one more year,” he said.

“They promised me an answer within the next month, so I am waiting to see what they want to do. The main concern is my age but I think I have proved I am fit enough. I haven’t missed games through injury and my performances have been okay, so hopefully I will get the opportunity to stay on.”

Bosvelt took some time to settle after moving to England from Feyenoord in 2003, admitting he found the unrelenting pace of the Premiership hard to cope with.

However, manager Kevin Keegan was hugely impressed by the veteran’s application in training and that professionalism could be enough to earn him a new deal as the City boss plots ahead for what will be his final season as a manager.

“When Paul first came here, it looked like the Premiership might be a little quick for him,” said Keegan.

“But he has so much experience and it was incredible to see him go into the gym with the attitude of getting himself fitter. He realised the pace of the game was much faster than anything he was used to but he drove himself back into the team and drove himself forward to become a key player.

“He is an unsung hero because he is never going to drop his shoulder and go past people. But he does all those nasty, niggly little bits of tidying up that some players don’t know how to do.”

Bosvelt’s destructive abilities were evident at Chelsea on Sunday, just as they were at Old Trafford earlier in the season when City scrapped their way to a point in the first Manchester derby of the season.

Unhappily for the Dutchman, he will miss out on Sunday’s Eastlands return after being booked for the fifth time this season for a foul on Lee Bowyer against Newcastle last week.

“I knew I was on four bookings and what would happen if I got another one, but I felt that particular caution wasn’t deserved, so it’s disappointing to miss one of the biggest games of the season,” he said.

“Having said that, I got away with a foul earlier in the game which I did feel deserved a booking. These things happen, you just have to get on with it.”