Honestly, I didn’t think the Nasri situation would culminate in an actual transfer away from Arsenal. I thought it was just the usual storm-in-a-teacup we see every summer. Until I read these quotes from Arseblog today:
“
We’ve got Nasri! Manchester City claim £19m deal for Arsenal rebel
Manchester City believe they have captured Arsenal playmaker Samir Nasri for £19million. The deal is close to completion and will represent a significant victory for City with both Manchester United and Chelsea also keen on landing the Frenchman.
Man City nab £20m Nasri
MANCHESTER CITY were last night on the brink of completing the £20million transfer of Arsenal’s Samir Nasri. The French midfielder is close to agreeing a £150,000-a-week deal as City step up their summer spending spree
”
– quoted from Arseblog which were quoted from The Mail and The Sun respectively.
That caught me off guard. Like I said, I didn’t really put much stock into the whole Nasri thing, but details like “£150,000-a-week” makes it pretty damn convincing. I could be wrong, since pretty much the same thing happened with Cesc last year with Barc**ts, but then again, the Catalan media is about as independent as Utusan is – not very. While I can’t trust the credibility of the English tabloids, I can at least vouch for their independence on this matter.
Basically, I’m quite resigned now to Nasri leaving. In hindsight, I guess it’s been coming for awhile now, what with all the non-commitment and dodging by both player and agent, the usual rhetoric of ‘prove your ambition before I commit’ and the player’s rejection of the £90,000-a-week offer by Arsenal.
That’s the thing isn’t it? It was always about money. About Nasri and his agent trying to milk out of the Arsenal cow as much as they can get. So much that even £90,000-a-week doesn’t cut it for them and remember, this is a player that has only had ONE good season – in fact, not even one but more like ¾ of a season, and he’s demanding the same wages as Cesc? Cesc earns about £110,000-a-week, and even that was earned after 5-6 solid seasons with the club, Nasri barely had one good season.
All that ‘prove your ambition before I commit’ crap is just what it is – crap, and frankly, a bit insulting by Nasri. Prove your ambition? Arsenal have always been challenging for the PL’s top spot and qualified for the UCL. Man City have only just qualified for their first UCL season in 2 millennia. Sure, we haven’t been successful in getting trophies in recent years, but it’s not Wenger or anyone else in the club that’s playing on the field, it’s the players like Nasri who are the ones kicking the ball around. Haven’t had trophies in a long time? Blame yourself.
I won’t even miss Nasri when he’s gone, and I think most fans wouldn’t. Players come and go, some do so more elegantly, some really leave their mark on the club, and some are just individual grains of sand in the beach of Arsenal’s history (heh). Nasri would be the grain, not just the usual golden-colored grain, no, he’s not quite good enough. More like the grain near the inland edges of the beach, the grain that’s too close inland it’s barely considered part of the beach. The grain that eventually gets scraped off the actual beach and is simply forgotten. And then gets shit on by a stray dog.
But back to more important matters - how does this affect the grand scheme of things at the club? Surely Cesc would not be let go now. Don’t get me wrong, I would prefer Nasri to accept the extension and stay, but I’m starting to think that maybe it’s a good thing that Nasri leaves. At least we’ll keep Cesc, and I’d much rather we keep Cesc. Not forgetting the rumored £20 million we’re getting for a player who we’ll get nothing for this time next year. It seems Man City are building up a solid reputation of getting screwed by us.
And the left-wing forward position that will be left vacant? I’m assuming that’s where Gervinho will slot in. A player who says he’s coming to Arsenal to just do one thing – win. No crap about how he’s been a lifelong fan of the club even though he grew up in France and he’s already 27 *ahem*chamakh*ahem*. I just wish the Gervinho deal would be wrapped up before they leave for pre-season in Malaysia and China, which would give the player more time to gel with the squad, so to speak. Even better, if they wrapped up the deal in secret and revealed the player in their pre-season game in Malaysia, sending the Arsenal fans flying through the Bukit Jalil roof!
I also like his seemingly bullish attitude here, basically telling Chamakh he’s taking his place in the team. Now that’s healthy competition! And frankly something this club has needed in a long time. No more Mr. nice guy.
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