Following Arsenal’s rejection of a £20 million bid for Samir Nasri from Manchester United, the player is believed to be content to play out the last year of his contract at the Emirates. The Frenchman has returned to pre-season training with the club, and despite speculation linking him with a move, he will travel with the squad to Malaysia and China on Sunday as part of the side’s pre-season.
The ex-Marseille midfielder’s current deal with the North London club expires in June 2012, and he is the subject of transfer attention, with the Premier League champions the most adamant of his suitors. Despite risking closing him on a free transfer next summer, Arsene Wenger is reluctant to sell one of his key players to domestic rivals for less than £25 million and the player looks set to stay at the Emirates for another year.
Arsenal offered the 24-year-old a new deal, thought to be worth £90,000 a week, which would make him the side’s top earner along with Cesc Fabregas, but Nasri is believed to want wages in excess of £100,000 per week, something Manchester United are willing to offer.
Nasri started the 2010/11 season well, scoring a considerable amount of the club’s goals, but had an injury prone second half to the campaign. Despite this he still was runner up in the PFA Player of the Year award to Gareth Bale.
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As Harry Redknapp stated after the game, it was inevitable – we all knew the minute that Thierry Henry took to the pitch in the FA Cup clash with Leeds that he would score. Henry duly did, looking like he had never been away, and brought new meaning to ‘The Return of the King.’ It may not only be Aragorn who has to watch his back however, as Henry showed a great deal more than the ability to score a goal during his short time on the pitch earlier this week.
Gunners captain RVP, not to mention the rest of the current crop of Arsenal players would do well to show even half of the emotion and passion that Henry displayed upon scoring the goal, leading to the question of is this what Arsenal have been lacking this season?
Now don’t get me wrong, no one can deny the brilliant job RVP has done this season, along with players such as Song and Szczesny, Arsenal after a rocky start have pulled themselves up and have put up more than a challenge for a top four spot, and I am by no means suggesting that Henry is better than any of these players or that if Arsenal had him, they would be in the title race.
Henry has after all only scored one goal, and against a team who despite having world class support cannot say the same about their defence. It is entirely plausible that Henry will struggle in the Premier League, and not make much of an impact – yet it is more than his touch on the ball that he will bring to the club. Henry is Arsenal, nearly as much as Wenger is, and has a love for the club that is unparalleled.
It is this, and the experience he has that could well prove the difference for Arsenal in the short time he is at the club. Whilst RVP has most certainly been the MVP, he is still young and is carrying such a burden on his shoulders of not only having to score, but to be skipper and inspire the fans and team.
I am not saying he has not done a great job – in fact I feel RVP is more of a captain than Fabregas was and is certainly a leader on the field, yet having Henry around to alleviate some of the pressure and as someone who the fans can also focus their expectations on, not to mention the media, may provide a welcome relief for RVP.
Nor is this an attack on the current Arsenal squad – the vast majority of them do give 100% when they play and genuinely want the club to do well, yet there is a difference between this and what Henry feels for Arsenal – ‘when it comes to Arsenal my heart does the talking’ just about sums it up, whereas most of the players would say their weekly wage does the talking, and that is the difference, and what is missing not just at Arsenal, but at clubs up and down the country who lack a player who really cares – the days of Neville, Carragher and Shearer are virtually over, with the Nasris, Coles and Tevez type players now more about them than the club.
It is credit to Henry – both in terms of the kind of player and also the type of man he is that nearly every football fan wanted him to do well and score on his second coming, and with the exception of Spurs fans, Henry’s celebrations would even melt a heart of stone. I am not an Henry fan by any stretch of the imagination – in fact during the season Chelsea won the title for the first time Henry took an outrageous free kick before the whistle and inspired the Gunners to a 2 -2 draw, not to mention scored a very cheeky goal which I have never really forgotten!
Despite this, and my general dislike of all things Arsenal, I am a football fan first and foremost, and want to see players who genuinely love their club – Henry is this, and more so than anyone at Arsenal at the minute. Not only will this give the players a lift, but also the fans, who will draw on this, and the inspiration provided by Henry’s return and could well get a boost for the second part of the season because of it. Henry may not be quite the player he once was, but he has heart, passion and love for the club – and despite what people may tell you, there is no substitute for that.
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Ledley King’s World Cup dreams appears to be coming to an abrupt end before ever actually starting, after the defender suffered yet another injury whilst playing against the US this past Saturday.
The England centre-back managed to play only just 45 minutes before eventually being substituted for Jamie Carragher, which raises a few questions. Was Capello’s decision to include King in his final 23 man squad a correct one? Or has the Italian gambled, and evidently wasted a valuable space by taking the centre-back to South Africa?
King’s recent injury (although not connected to his long-term knee problem) would have no doubt reignited the debate of whether the defender should have been included in the squad in the first place by Capello. The England coach told the gathering media of the defender’s set-back:
“Ledley has a problem with his abductor muscle and will not play in the next game.”
The England centre-back has officially been ruled of the group C clash against Algeria this Friday, and recent reports suggest that the player’s groin injury may take up to three weeks to heal, which has left King’s World Cup dreams in on the rocks. The man likely to take his place, Jamie Carragher, told Sky Sports of King’s dismay:
“Losing Ledley is a blow. He is a top player and it is unfortunate because it is the same position as Rio. You can’t bring anyone else out now, so any injury is going to hurt the squad. But the manager (Fabio Capello ) picked five centre-backs in the squad because he knew there could be problems and his selections have been proved right.”
The Spurs man is not known to have a great fitness level, and as such, stuggled to get game time. Nevertheless, Capello decided to take him to South Africa as he is undoubtedly one of the finest defenders England have to offer.
Capello’s theory behind King’s inclusion was that the player would be a back-up option in the defensive department. Certainly King himself knew that when boarding the plane that he was only a contingency plan, should John Terry or Rio Ferdinand have been unfit, suffered an injury or stricken by a virus. Ferdinand did have fitness problems prior to the start of the World Cup, and unexpectedly suffered knee ligament damage during an England training session. Ferdinand was ruled out so King stepped in.
To be fair King did perform well against USA, but with every touch, run and tackle England fans and maybe even Capello were genuinely worried that the centre-back was going to pull a muscle and sadly he did…a gamble which backfired by the England coach? You better believe it.
Capello could have left King home and instead opted for either Gary Cahill or Ryan Shawcross. However, these two centre-backs are still very young and have only been capped at U-21 level for their country, so to take either one of them would have been a crazy decision by the Italian.
King was unfortunate to pick up yet another injury, although, it was pretty much written in the stars, wasn’t it? Taking all this into consideration, should King have been included in the England squad this summer, despite his injury-prone status? Yes. Secondly, did Capello waste a space on the England plane in regards to the defender? Not really. Thirdly and more importantly, were there better options available to the England coach to consider? Many would think not.
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Veteran Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has admitted that he is desperate to be allowed to leave Craven Cottage and join Arsenal before the transfer window shuts.
The 37-year-old Australia international is reported to be a top target for Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who is keen to being in an experienced keeper to help out Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski.
New Cottagers boss Mark Hughes does not want to lose one of his star performers, but Schwarzer is adamant that he wants the opportunity to move to the Emirates Stadium.
He told the Australian Daily Telegraph:"I need it to happen. I've had a couple of chats with Mark Hughes and it's delicately poised.
"Who wouldn't be keen to go to Arsenal? At this stage in my career it's an amazing opportunity to play at that level and one I really want to take.
"It's taken a long time and the season's very close. On one hand you understand them not wanting to disrupt too many things, but I want things resolved as quickly as possible.
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"Only time will tell whether that happens or not."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Striker Garry O'Connor does not know whether he has a future with Birmingham City beyond January.
The Scotland striker was handed a six-month contract during the summer following an injury-plagued last season.
The 27-year-old started Saturday's 2-0 home victory over Blackpool after steadily climbing the pecking order in recent weeks but his long-term future remains a mystery.
"Nothing is being said at the moment about a new contract," he explained.
"The gaffer has got faith in me. It is just about people upstairs at the club.
"I would love to stay at Birmingham. It's a fantastic club and I've enjoyed my time here and hope it can continue.
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"I've got to keep my head down and keep working hard.
"But, if it doesn't happen for me here, I can move on being happy with my form at the moment."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Chelsea midfielder Ramires has urged his club to sign countryman Hulk, who has been rumoured to be the next high-profile new face at Stamford Bridge.
The Champions League winners are conducting an overhaul of their squad this summer, and have already captured the likes of Marko Marin, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard.
With Didier Drogba leaving the west London club a new striker is thought to be next on the agenda, with a fee in the £40 million mark believed to have been agreed last week.
However the deal is yet to be completed, and Ramires has stressed that his fellow Brazil international would be an excellent addition at Chelsea.
“I’m following here from Brazil the news about Chelsea’s likely signing of Hulk,” Ramires told Lancenet, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“I hope he does come, I have played with him for the Brazilian national team, and I also played against him when I was at Benfica and he would surely add a lot to Chelsea’s squad.
“If it was up to me, everything would be done already.”
Roman Abramovich is said to be personally taking a role in the transfer agenda this summer, and will look to bring in a number of new faces before the end of the summer.
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As the Premier League reaches its quarter stage, many players have excelled and impressed in the opening nine games with some high score demolitions and last gasp winners. However, some players have not been up to expectations and this is a chance to name and shame.
The Champions of last year have been embarrassed by their rivals; however they have inflicted similar defeats of their other rivals. Some teams have underachieved so far and some the complete opposite but there is no denying that some players have just been poor. Whether it be missed chances, lack of effort, goalkeeping howlers or defensive mistakes, plenty of performances have raised eyebrows this season for good and bad reasons and here is a list of the top 10 players that have disappointed so far this season.
Click on Roger Johnson to unveil the top 10 players to have disappointed this season
[divider]
Compiled by Brad Pinard
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Maybe this is a case of a footballer getting exactly what they deserve—and not because he’s a bad person. David Bentley seemed to make poor decision after poor decision in his career, with recent injuries really bringing him to his knees. He has now been banished, seemingly, to one of the far corners of European football, with very little left of the promising player we once knew.
It said a lot when Bentley couldn’t find his way into a Birmingham side who were relegated in the season he went on loan with them. It was also incredibly disappointing that he had his spell with West Ham cut short by injury, but maybe we should be looking at the level of clubs that were interested in him.
This is a player who once scored a hat trick against Manchester United, was compared favourably to David Beckham, and cost Tottenham a fee around £17 million in 2008. You wouldn’t think that now when you look at his recent years, but his career has spiralled downwards and is very close to becoming irrelevant. Who can speak about Rostov in Russia with any great confidence? A club who aren’t competing for league titles or even European competition, but maybe it’s good that the player has put all that aside and is just intent on getting back on course.
The lure of Russian money isn’t there, nor is the chance of playing to large crowds usually associated with top European football. But is David Bentley’s case even remotely similar to what we saw with Joe Cole last summer? Both previously hailed as great internationals for their country, but both of whom fell heavily out of favour at their parent clubs. It said something about Joe Cole when he ended up at Lille in France. No disrespect to the then reigning French champions, but a title-winner at Chelsea, an England international and Liverpool star (at least that’s what his wages suggested) should maybe have landed a little higher.
Cole proved to have a good spell while in France, perhaps opening that door a little further for English players to explore leagues beyond their comfort zone. Russian football, like all the other empires under construction around the world, are looking at leagues like the Premier League for the next big opportunity. And while there’s no certainty what will happen with Bentley at Rostov, he’s definitely fallen into a minority who are willing to go abroad for the good of their career.
David Beckham, Michael Owen and Steve McManaman are different cases, because who would turn down Real Madrid if they came calling?
David Bentley surely would not have expected his career to pan out this way. Coming through the Arsenal academy, he already seemed too big for his boots before firmly establishing himself as a Premier League footballer. His attitude to the senior players sometimes bordered on the embarrassing, while his decision to pull out of the England U21 squad in 2007 also heaped the pressure and bad feeling on the player.
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He spoke so highly of Spurs when he joined the club, and maybe he could have been an integral member of the first-team even now. But there were mistakes, notably his lack of ability to really take his chances, and lets not forget the ice bucket incident with Harry Redknapp during that interview.
Nothing spectacular will come from this move to Russia. He may get back to full fitness and find a good home in a team for the next four-months or so. But if not, then it’s as good as over for him, at least in top-flight football. Not too many will be paying attention, and he certainly won’t force the sales of Rostov shirts in England, but this is really make or break for Bentley. A chance to get his career back on the right path or a confirmation of what we’ve all known for a good few years.
Daniele De Rossi has stated that he wants to stay at Roma and has no interest in moving to Manchester City.
The Italy international is a long-term target for Citizens boss Roberto Mancini, with the Premier League champions eager to add the midfielder to their squad this summer.
However, despite rumours of a big-money move by City, De Rossi has committed to the Serie A outfit.
“I’m staying for this team, for the affection of the fans, because I am a Roman and because I believe in this project,” he told Italian reporters, translated to English by The Guardian.
“I’m happy here. I feel good here. I haven’t asked anyone to leave. What I promise is that the day I want to leave Roma to win the Champions League or to earn more money, I’ll say so publicly.”
The news will be another blow to City in their blunt transfer period this summer.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confessed that summer signing Olivier Giroud is under pressure to get his first goal for the club.
The France international joined the Gunners from Montpellier during the off-season, and has been identified as one of the players who must harbour the golascoring burden of replacing Robin van Persie.
Giroud has failed to hit the net so far for the north London outfit and started from the bench against Southampton on Saturday; Wenger has admitted that pressure is starting to build on the new forward.
“I felt that he is under much pressure at the moment and sometimes to get a little breather is good,” the French coach stated in The Daily Mail.
“What I will do on Tuesday [against Montpellier in the Champions League] I honestly don’t know.
“I just felt that the time has come for him to not be under too much pressure,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Santi Cazorla has thoroughly impressed since moving to the Emirates Stadium from Malaga in the summer, and Wenger has been quick to sing the Spanish midfielder’s praises.
“Cazorla is a player who is just a pleasure to watch. You want him to have the ball,” the experienced trainer continued.
“I think he typifies what the midfielders in Spain are today – technically perfect, great vision and a great team attitude.
“We did fight with Malaga at the time [to get him last summer from Villarreal] and they were in Spain, they were quick to do the deal.
“But we remained on the ball, we were quite advanced with him last season already,” he concluded.
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The Gunners face Montpellier in their first Champions League group stage fixture on Tuesday.