He can hand in transfer requests all day if he likes to, it matters **** all really. A (hypothetical) transfer request is just stating the obvious - "I'd like to move to City, earn a ****load of money, glory and international caps".
Personally I think Manchester City knew all along that they would not get him for £30m but are playing the transfer this way to avoid the fee landing on more than £50m-ish. If their first bid had been £50m, Tony just might have shrugged and told them to come back with something better. Now he might agree to settle for £50m or something. The market is looking a little depressed so I don't think it is possible to get much more than that anyway.
Personally I think Manchester City knew all along that they would not get him for £30m but are playing the transfer this way to avoid the fee landing on more than £50m-ish. If their first bid had been £50m, Tony just might have shrugged and told them to come back with something better. Now he might agree to settle for £50m or something. The market is looking a little depressed so I don't think it is possible to get much more than that anyway.