Monday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City set to finalise £27m deal for wantaway Arsenal duo Nasri and Clichy
Manchester City are pressing ahead with a £27million double bid for Arsenal pair Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri.
City are close to finalising a £7m deal for Clichy and will offer the Gunners the kind of deal that will be difficult to refuse if Nasri, as expected, fails to agree new terms at the Emirates.

Clichy was pictured leaving a restaurant in Manchester on Sunday night and he prepares to become the first big name to walk out on Arsenal this summer.
Meanwhile, Premier League champions Manchester United are still in the hunt as is new Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Nasri, a £15.8m signing from Marseille in 2008, is not due to return to London Colney until Thursday having been granted a few extra days' holiday, as have those other Arsenal players who were involved in international duty at the start of the summer.
The Gunners midfielder hinted at a possible exit after admitting he is craving silverware.
He said: 'With no titles under your belt, you can't be in list for Ballon D'Or. I came to England for trophies because I've not won anything in my career, apart from an Under 17 European Championship in 2004.
'We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else.
Cesc Fabregas, who has been on holiday in Spain, is due to return with the bulk of the senior squad on Tuesday, with Barcelona still attempting to complete what they hope will be a £35m transfer back to the club.
Last week, the Arsenal midfielder told reporters at a football campus in Tordera, Spain: 'If a player is on the market it is because the club does not want him. I have no problems.'

Arsenal will turn sights to experienced keeper after losing out on Stekelenburg
Arsenal are to re-open interest in Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given after it emerged Roma were close to tying up a deal for Ajax number one Maarten Stekelenburg.
Whilst it will be a blow to Wenger on losing out on the Holland international, the side still believe they need experience between the goal posts and with Given definitely available this summer, it would seem and obvious choice. The age of goalkeepers these days is not considered old unless they are in their forties and with Given only just having turned 35, it would appear he still has some very good years ahead of him.
The former Newcastle United stopper spent most of last season on the bench but he will want to feature as a first team choice for the next campaign regardless of which he team he chooses. Arsenal will have a battle on his hands though, with Aston Villa’s Alex McLeish very keen on the Irishman after after having sold Brad Friedel to Tottenham

Sampdoria could end nightmare for Man City stopper
Shay Given is being offered a shock escape from his Manchester City nightmare by relegated Italian side Sampdoria - on the recommendation of Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni.
Given is worried that he will not play again at Eastlands next season and Trapattoni shares his fears as he wants his number one to be match sharp for a possible tilt at the Euro 2012 finals.
Now Samp, who went down to Serie B, are looking at a year-long loan for Given who has been stuck on the City bench for the past 12 months since England’s Joe Hart got the nod.
Given would be able to play at a good level and stay fit in Serie B, which would do him and the Irish a lot of good in the forthcoming season.
City want cash for Given but may yet relent to help him out. Aston Villa want the veteran shot-stopper but they are nowhere near the valuation and currently would like to take him on loan.
Given has also been a target for Celtic, but they would find it hard to pay his wages - and that makes the move unlikely until the latter days of the transfer window.
City want to give Given a break, but letting him go for nothing is not in their plans. Boss Roberto Mancini would have to bring in an adequate replacement rather than leave himself short.

Man City set to spend another £40 Million to land Brazilian superstar Kaka .... again
Man city are set to have another go at trying to Lure Real Madrid superstar Kaka to Eastlands this summer.
Man City have been after Kaka for some time and even his recent injuries have not put Roberto Mancini’s men off, at least this time round they will get the Brazilian master at a far more reasonable price than when they tried to take Kaka from AC Milan two years ago.
Kaka has had a miserable time at Real Madrid and not just with injuries, he has not quite played his way in to Jose Mourinho’s plans and his long term future at The Bernabeau looks suspect, thus the renewed interest from Man City.
Kaka will still command a very decent fee, nothing like the £80 Million that City bid two years ago, a fee of £40 Million should be enough to persuade Real Madrid to cash in on kaka now, before his value decreases any further.

Manchester City in talks to land Fiorentina winger Cerci
Accordng to reports Manchester City are still deep in negotiations with Fiorentina to sign winger Alessio Cerci.
The Independent claims reports in Italy suggesting an imminent deal for Cerci are inaccurate and seemingly part of a strategy to push the pace of a deal.
However, it seemks there are ongoing discussions on what could be a £7 million transfer.
Cerci has a colourful personality to rival Mario Balotelli. The 23-year-old striker has clashed with fans of Fiorentina, accusing them of scapegoating him last season because Roman-born players are not popular in Fiorentina.

Liverpool boss Dalglish ‘ no comment’ on Manchester City ace James Milner rumour
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has refused to dismiss speculation linking the club with Manchester City star James Milner.
Speculation has emerged recently that the Merseysiders are interested in the England international and Blackpool ace Charlie Adam.
Dalglish was given the opportunity to quash those rumours but chose to sidestep the questioning.
"There's no point asking about anybody because we're not going to talk about them, and we never have done," said the Scot on Sky Sports.
"Managers don't talk about individuals and I think that's the right way to be."

With an eye on the first English Premiership League game of the season coming up we continue to focus on ....

Welsh Bollox




OTHER BOLLOX
When Nasri and fellow midfielder Cesc Fabregas return to Arsenal for pre-season training this week, they are expected to inform Gunners manager Arsene Wenger that they want to leave the London club. Daily Telegraph

Wenger, meanwhile, is lining up a £12m bid for Wolves striker Kevin Doyle. Daily Mirror

Tottenham are increasingly confident they will win the race to sign Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao from Internacional and they have also held talks with representatives of Roma forward Mirko Vucinic. the Times

Spurs are set to face competition for the signature of Standard Liege defender Eliaquim Mangala, who has previously been linked with their arch rivals Arsenal. Paris St Germain and Lille are also thought to be monitoring the £4m-rated France Under-21 star. football365

Stoke have joined the race for Manchester United's unwanted defensive pair John O'Shea and Wes Brown. Daily Mirror

Manchester United have reportedly given up on signing Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder and have instead turned their attention to his £20m-rated international team-mate, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Footy Latest

Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson is planning an audacious £30m swoop for Bayern Munich playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger. Caughtoffside

Liverpool will offer midfielder Alberto Aquilani as bait to tempt Tottenham into selling winger Aaron Lennon. Fantatix

The Reds have also renewed their interest in Newcastle United left-back Jose Enrique after failing to capture Gael Clichy from Arsenal, with the Frenchman opting for Manchester City. Footie Online

England winger Stewart Downing will this week tell new Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish he wants to leave the club. Downing is keen to make a £20m move to Liverpool. the Sun

Thomas Hitzlsperger - available on a free transfer from West Ham - could return for a second spell with Villa, although Stoke, Fulham and Blackburn are also keen on landing the midfielder. the Sun

Aston Villa have opened compensation talks with Birmingham City over Blues' former manager Alex McLeish. Daily Mirror

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce will act as assistant coach to the Under-20 side for July's World Cup in Colombia. Daily Mirror

Former England captain David Beckham is due to become a father for the fourth time on Monday - and he says his home has become a parade of pink for his daughter's arrival. Daily Mirror

Paraguayan model Larissa Riquelme has promised to strip naked if the team win the Copa America. She made similar claims at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but to no avail, with her nation being eliminated by eventual winners Spain in the quarter-finals. Daily Mail

[Dipstick]

Still can't get used to it - players wanting to join City (from Arsenal FFS) because they want to win trophies.

[lets all have a disco]

You dont get many of those to the dozen.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

You dont get many of those to the dozen.

Don't you think she looks a bit lop-sided though, or is it just the camera angle (with me not being an expert in such matters) ??

[Mikhail Chigorin]

If it's true that Wenger wants Given, which would seem to be a logical scenario, that ought to sweeten (and speed up) the Clichy-Nasri deal for us and kill off FergieScum's apparent interest (media garbage ??) in Nasri.

[Dronny]

You dont get many of those to the dozen.

Don't you think she looks a bit lop-sided though, or is it just the camera angle ([highlight]with me not being an expert in such matters[/highlight]) ??

Would that be in camera angles or breasts mate?

[Mikhail Chigorin]

You dont get many of those to the dozen.

Don't you think she looks a bit lop-sided though, or is it just the camera angle ([highlight]with me not being an expert in such matters[/highlight]) ??

Would that be in camera angles or breasts mate?

Ooops, just realised what I've done/said - thanks for pointing it out chum, as I was thinking only in photographic terms.

I'm certainly no expert in ladies' appendages.

[bobby brows]

Monday's Mill

According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City are all set to vomit out £27m like an endlessly chugging fruit machine coughing up greasy little casino tokens that will vanish through your fingers back into its horrible robot face as quickly as they are excreted out through its grinning little slot. In return they want Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy from Arsenal. Manchester United are also still interested in Nasri.

Benfica want to sign Nicklas Bendtner. The Portuguese giants, who presumably don't have Sky Sports, could nip in ahead of Fulham, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, all of whom have are unwilling to cough up the £12m asking price for the lumbering Dane.

Celtic will this week tell Manchester City to 'name their price' for scurrying goal-goblin Craig Bellamy. The Mill imagines that price will be 'Eh?'. Followed by 'does he?... Is he? ... do we still?... Oh.' And then some talk of maybe just paying for the taxi.

Harry Redknapp wants to sign the only home-grown Barcelona skill-midget who isn't actually that good: the Spurs manager will offer £14mfor Bojan Krkic. Liverpool and Roma are said to be 'monitoring the situation closely', perhaps from inside a disused East Baltimore office building staffed by disaffected maverick cops who spend a lot of time staring at a pinboard covered with photos of people called things like 'Fat Man' and 'Tiny Legs' and 'Bojan'.

Blackburn are launching an 'audacious' bid for Luis Fabiano, who plays for São Paulo and is now 30 . It isn't immediately clear why this is considered 'audacious'. Alan Pardew is trying to lure Sergio Canales away from Real Madrid on loan. Villa, Everton and QPR are also forming an orderly queue for a player who presumably thought it wasn't all going to end up like this when he moved to Real from Racing Santander last year.

Tony Pulis is standing in a country club carpark shouting 'Dann!.... Dann! Dann!.... DANN!' as he makes a further attempt to sign Birmingham defender Scott Dann for upwards of £8m. And Swansea City are on the verge of signing Barcelona B striker Jonathan Soriano, who is 25-years-old and scored 26 goals in the Spanish second vision last year.

According to this morning's The Sun, Stewart Downing is 'desperate' to move to Liverpool for £20m and is planning to tell Alex McLeish it's not him (Alex McLeish) it's him (Stewart Downing) later this week — even though it actually kind of is him (Alex McLeish) and he (Alex McLeish) will suspect as much deep down even while he's nodding§ and saying he's fine about it and looking out of the window bravely choking back a swell of lip-quivering man-tears. The Sun reports: 'A close pal said: "Stewy has made up his mind - he wants to go to Liverpool and hopes Villa will agree to let him leave."'

Thomas 'the Hammer' Hitzlesperger wants to take his baggy harem-pant trousers oversized spectacles and early 1990s rap dance braggadocio back to Aston Villa. Stoke, Fulham and Blackburn are also keen. Sunderland are in talks to sign Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak who is is 27 and plays for Stuttgart. Beguiling QPR jink-frustration Adel Taarabt could be off to Atlético Madrid for £11m.

In the Daily Mirror, Manchester United are still hopeful of 'snatching' Udinese hotshot Alexis Sanchez after putting in an improved bid. It all seems to hinge on Cesc Fàbregas finally getting his way and going back to Barcelona. Arséne Wenger is all set to seal Arsenal's return to Europe's trophy-winning elite by signing goal-shy Irish long distance runner Kevin Doyle from Wolves for £12m. According to the Mail, 'Wenger wants him to spearhead a new-look Gunners team that will have a British spine'. Bravely glossing over 90 years of troubled and politically divisive semi-independence there, The Mail.

Stoke have 'entered the race' for Manchester United discards John O'Shea and Wes Brown who are available for £8m the pair. Also in the race are Everton, Villa and chief Fergie suck-up Steve Bruce. Shay Given could be off to Sampdoria, who now play in Serie B. Roy Hodgson wants to bring ace midfield fouler Nigel Reo-Coker to West Brom. Sam Allardyce is after free agent Jlloyd Samuel, and will presumably now also turn his attentions to Gudni Bergsson, Alan Stubbs, Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff. And Sven-Goran Eriksson has got a banana in his pocket and a pair of fishnets over his head and is 'ready to hijack' QPR's attempt to sign Wayne Routledge.

Arsenal expect Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri back – but not for long

Arsenal expect Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri to return for pre-season training at London Colney this week despite the likelihood that neither will be at the club by the time the Premier League season starts next month.

Fábregas, who has been on holiday in Spain, will return with the bulk of the senior squad on Tuesday, with Barcelona still attempting to complete what they hope will be a £35m transfer back to the club. A bid of around £27m was rejected earlier in the summer but having received an improved offer last week, there is an acceptance at Arsenal that the long-running saga of their captain's future is nearing a conclusion.

The player himself was quoted last week as being "calm and optimistic" about his future. While the 24-year-old privately anticipates that he will be granted his wish to join the Catalan club where he started his career, he is not expected to risk his reputation at Arsenal by refusing to report back for training and will instead hope resolution is reached in negotiations before the Gunners depart for a mini-tour of Malaysia and China a week on Sunday.

Nasri's situation is arguably more complicated, with Arsenal yet to receive a concrete offer for the France international who has entered the final 12 months of his contract and has indicated he will not sign a new five-year deal worth around £90,000 a week.

The 24-year-old is aware that Manchester United are expected to formalise their interest in him, while both Manchester City and Chelsea are monitoring the situation in the event that their pursuits of priority targets do not come to fruition.

Nasri, a £15.8m signing from Marseille in 2008, is not due to return to London Colney until Thursday having been granted a few extra days' holiday, as have those other Arsenal players who were involved in international duty at the start of the summer. The midfielder, who has not won anything since moving to the club, was quoted over the weekend claiming his motivation is far from financial and, instead, centres upon a desire to win things.

"I don't want to sign for a club where I wouldn't be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn't feel happy, just for the money," he said. "We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else."

That has merely served to fuel suggestions that Nasri is keen to move to pastures new. His compatriot Gaël Clichy, another to have entered the final year of his contract at Arsenal, should complete a £7m move to Manchester City following his medical today.

Yet Arsène Wenger will hope to counter the apparent exodus of senior players from his first-team squad by completing the protracted £11m transfer of Lille's Ivory Coast forward Gervinho in the next 48 hours. Gervinho had been the subject of interest from several Premier League clubs after scoring 15 goals for the French champions last season, but has opted for a move to the Emirates.

"I chose Arsenal because it's a young group within which I will be able to integrate easily," Gervinho told France Football magazine. "I could develop more over there.

"[Is it] a risk? Not at all. I'm going to Arsenal to play. The best risk to take is to look to score goals and to play a lot. In football you have to take risks if you want to win. I'm going to Arsenal to win. I'm going there to play, not to be on the bench. Arsenal love the game and I love teams that love the game. The Premier League is a notch above."

The attacker may yet be followed to Arsenal by the highly rated Velez Sarsfield midfielder Ricky Alvarez, despite Internazionale having emerged as rivals for the 23-year-old Argentine's signature.