Shaun Goater returned to England last night to meet with his Manchester City manager and begin preparing for his first season as a Premier League player.

Goater plans to talk with boss Joe Royle about his contract which expires in two years' time. The 30-year-old striker is likely to be offered an extension which could keep him at the club for the remainder of his career.

"That would be nice,'' said Goater prior to boarding his flight.

Goater signed an initial four-year deal in 1998 when he joined City from Bristol City towards the end of the 1997-98 season.

And though his three goals in seven games could not keep the club in the First Division that season, he has since endeared himself to City supporters by leading the team's scoring in each of the last two seasons, netting 50 goals in total.

Last season his 29 goals earned him the fans' vote as the club's player of the year. Now Goater is taking his talents to a higher level as he gets set to play against the top clubs in English football.

"I'm going to be up for it,'' he says of the challenge.

"First and foremost is to get off the mark. I will set myself a target and then go from there.'' Goater is looking forward to a visit to Manchester United's Old Trafford next month for a pre-season match.

"Not just because I was there when I was young but just the fact that, in my eyes, they are probably the best club team in Europe,'' he stated.

"And they have the medals to show for it. As a player you want to see how you fare against them.'' It has been anything but three weeks of relaxation in his native Bermuda as Goater has been busy signing deals, conducting interviews and arranging his soccer camp with David Bascome which began yesterday.

In the process he has gained four pounds -- nothing compared to the 14lbs he put on two years ago when he came back during the off-season with a shoulder injury.

"It's been a month I've been really pleased with, I only put on four pounds,'' he said.

"When I go back I won't get all those invites to barbeques. In the first week I went to about two barbeques and got those out of the way.

"When we go in to get weighed I know I will go in under my weight (his maximum four pounds over). I've been running everywhere, the beach, road, in the gym.'' Goater also found some time for leisure. "I've done everything I wanted to do, I went on the beach, sunbathed, went to a couple of romantic places, had a couple of walks on Front Street.

"I even went to Dockyard and St. George's, things I think about in the freezing cold in November or January, when I'm thinking `man, I could do with being in Bermuda right now'.'' While Goater wasn't able to stay for the duration of the camp because of his commitments with City, he remained confident the 190 youngsters were in good hands with the six coaches he and Bascome employed.

Next year he hopes to schedule the camp to allow his full participation.

"When we first spoke to the Education Department about the curriculum they told us school was going to come out at the end of last week and then they changed it, so there was a whole clear week in which we could have had it,'' explained Goater.

"Hopefully next year we will be able to plan it a bit better whereby I'm here for the whole camp and the kids are out of school. We don't want to interfere with their education, that's first and foremost.'' Photos by Arthur Bean Passing on their wisdom: Professionals Shaun Goater, of Manchester City, and David Bascome (top picture), of Harrisburg Heat, put youngsters through their paces at the National Stadium yesterday during the Bascome Goater Pro Soccer Clinic. Goater left the Island last night to return for pre-season training with City.