I’ve only heard three things on Nasri.
His agent will make £6m when Nasri goes to Manchester City.
I heard Nasri had a big shout-up with Wenger on the plane back from Malaysia. I told a few friends about that, and a couple of readers, then wondered if that row would be made public. It was.
Third thing is unmentionable- might be libellous.
I’m assuming Wenger hates the idea of that agent making £6m out of the deal.
Is that why it’s taking so long?
Don’t know. Deals and arrangements can be complicated, with key isues never revealed.
If you want to guess, you can guess
Maybe Man City have not made a proper bid yet because they don’t want to give Arsenal the time to spend that money, since they are in direct competition with Arsenal for a Champions League place next season
Maybe Wenger plans to play Nasri in the Udinese second leg, so that Man City will not want to buy him.
Or is it the opposite? If Nasri serves his one-match ban at Arsenal, he is worth more. He can play in the first Group game for City, which is a very big game in their history and a key moment in Mancini’s career
Roberto Mancini is under pressure to do well in City’s first six CL games. To be successful he needs players with Champions League experience and Nasri has played in this competition for three years.
Bottom line, I still believe what I wrote here weeks ago : Nasri will join Man City on a £185,000-a-week contract,
If Arsenal beat Udinese 2-1 at the Emirates on August 16, it could still be Goodnight Vienna.
Italians know how to defend and Antonio Di Natale is a livewire striker who turned down a move to Juventus a year ago.
He is a firecracker.
Small and explosive, with great movement, Di Natale could terrorise the ball-watching Arsenal defence. He’s scored 10 in 36 for Italy. Last season for Udinese he got 30 goals in 41 appearances.
August 16 will be an interesting night.
If Arsenal exit the Champions League, new players will not want to sign.