McLeish left frustrated as Djalo reveals Villa trial on Facebook

The Portuguese has not yet arrived at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground and McLeish had been hoping to keep the move quiet. However, any hopes of so doing were extinguished when Djalo resorted to social media, something the Villa manager is clearly disappointed with.

“We’re just going to look at him on trial,” McLeish said. “Talk of signing him is very premature. I didn’t really want it to be anybody’s business, but I know the lad put it on Facebook himself, so what chance have you got?” Djalo is currently in contractual limbo at French club Nice. He joined them on the last day of the summer transfer window from Sporting Lisbon, however Fifa rejected the move after league officials only registered his documents after midnight when the market was closed.

McLeish was cagey when asked about Djalo’s qualities as a footballer. He said: “I can’t tell you anything about him just now. I don’t want to divulge anything. Look him up on Google.”

Fans got wind of the deal after he posted ‘I go to Aston Villa’ on his Facebook page.

McLeish hinted he may go down a similar route with other players when trying to strengthen his squad, as a modest budget means he must remove as much risk as possible from his transfer dealings. Villa take on Manchester United today and McLeish has a near fully-fit squad to pick from after Stiliyan Petrov and Stephen Ireland recovered from hamstring and foot injuries respectively.

Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes striker Mario Balotelli’s reputation as someone who is easy to wind up makes him an easy target for other players and he needs to pay more attention if he wants to avoid more red cards.

The volatile, 21-year-old Italian lasted just 18 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool before being sent off after two yellow cards, his third dismissal since joining City in August 2010.

After the game, Mancini accused Liverpool players of trying to provoke his young compatriot and he was asked at his media conference yesterday whether Balotelli could expect more of the same in the future because of his notoriously short fuse.

“I think there are some players that think this [that he is easy to wind up],” he replied.

“Mario should pay attention and he should be clever.”

Balotelli’s colourful behaviour, flashes of brilliance and nonchalance when he scores a goal have made him a popular player among fans even if his red cards have sometimes proved costly. Well-documented antics, such as setting fire to his house by letting off fireworks in his bathroom, as well as good-hearted gestures, such as confronting one young City fan’s bully at school, have led to him being seen as a loveable rogue.