Shaun Goater's love affair with Manchester City will only come to an end if manager Kevin Keegan says he has no future at the club, the Maine Road idol declared yesterday.

Speculation is rife regarding the future of the Manchester City striker, with at least two well-respected English newspapers predicting he could be on the move.

City's efforts to sign French international forward Nicolas Anelka for a club record ?13 million following their promotion to the Premiership has led pundits to suggest the 32-year-old Bermudian may find himself surplus to requirements.

If Anelka signs - the paperwork still has to be completed on the proposed ?35,000-a-week deal - and City also clinch the signature of Argentine forward Matias Vuoso then Keegan will have six strikers at his disposal.

While top flight football is all about strength in depth it is unlikely even a man of such standing as Keegan could keep half a dozen frontmen happy. Couple that with the fact that the manager has already spent more than ?30 million since he took over at Maine Road and the board may be looking to add some cash to their coffers and it is not difficult to see why the rumours have started.

Both the , Goater's home town newspaper and the in the West Midlands town of Wolverhampton have linked First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers with the player. There have also been stories suggesting Preston North End, also of the First Division, may be monitoring the situation.

Wolves' boss Dave Jones tried to sign the Islander for ?2 million last season but was rebuffed by City.

But with the fresh blood at Maine Road he is expected to try again in the next few weeks in the hope that Goater, who scored 32 goals last season, will do for the Molineux club what he did for City.

It has been suggested that Jones might try a cheeky bid of just ?850,000 but City are bound to want close to last year's offer before opening talks.

However, despite all the talk Goater is refusing to think of life anywhere other than with the Blues.

Speaking to he stated without ambiguity: "I have seen a section in the papers here saying Wolves are interested, but, once again, I am a City player and I am very happy.

"Only if I am approached by the boss and he says he doesn't think I will play any part in first team games then, and only then, will I consider my situation."

Goater is under no illusions just how tough the competition for places will be next season, but he said that is what being at a big club was all about.

"The signing of Anelka shows that City want to be among the big boys," he said, adding, "While his signing makes it more difficult for me to stay a regular first team player, no player can be guaranteed first team football - that is in the hands of the player, i.e. myself.

"If we were also to sign Vuoso the only thing I could do is to perform to the best of my ability and give the boss a difficult decision."

Meanwhile, Wolves were not willing to add fuel to the fire and Preston ruled out any immediate move for Goater when contacted.

"The situation is that the club never ever comments on any speculation or rumours on so-called targets I'm afraid," said the Wolves spokeswoman.

Her counterpart at Preston said: "We were linked a lot to him when David Moyes was our manager. But his is not a name that has cropped up at all since Craig Brown has taken over.

"He is definitely not one of the players that Craig is interested in. His targets, though he hasn't specifically named anyone, are at the World Cup and obviously Shaun isn't playing in the World Cup."

He added the strikeforce was not an area Brown was seeking to strengthen.