Continued from Nasri thread

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

What's the deal with this guy? I've seen him score some sweet goals at the beginning of last season. Is he the ducks nuts though? Is he worth chasing?

Goalscoring isn't his real strength though. What he is really good at is keeping posession, making himself available for pass and delivering sweet throughballs and/or spreading the ball to wings. He is also someone who is willing to contribute defending if needed. I'd use him as box-to-box midfielder in place of Barry.

[Blue Blood]

Arsenal look to have lost their battle to keep hold of Samir Nasri, with Manchester City set to complete a £22.2 million transfer for the midfielder.

The Times reports on Sunday that the France international will pick up wages of £185,000-per-week, more than triple the money he currently earns at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal were willing to raise Nasri's salary to £110,000-per-week, but the player has made it clear to the club that he wants to leave, and the Gunners have sought the highest price despite Arsene Wenger's continued desire to battle for one of his prized assets.

City have pounced all over Arsenal's failure to secure their top names to long-term contracts this summer, having already picked up Gael Clichy in what appears to be a bargain £7 million transfer.

Like Clichy, Nasri only has 12 months to run on his contract, and the Arsenal board simply refuses to allow its most valuable assets to exit the club for free.

City have been authorised to press on with the transfer by Stan Kroenke, beating off interest from Chelsea and Manchester United, who have been linked with Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder respectively.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have already turned their attentions to finding a replacement. Aston Villa are believed to have received contact from the London club on Sunday for the services of Stewart Downing, who is valued at £19 million. Downing is also wanted by Liverpool.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/st ... MP=OTC-RSS

Apparently we are set to finalise this one...

Maybe.

[Wooders]

What's the deal with this guy? I've seen him score some sweet goals at the beginning of last season. Is he the ducks nuts though? Is he worth chasing?

Goalscoring isn't his real strength though. What he is really good at is keeping posession, making himself available for pass and delivering sweet throughballs and/or spreading the ball to wings. He is also someone who is willing to contribute defending if needed. I'd use him as box-to-box midfielder in place of Barry.

you wouldn't put him in yayas place and but yaya in barrys spot? Coz I would..

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

What's the deal with this guy? I've seen him score some sweet goals at the beginning of last season. Is he the ducks nuts though? Is he worth chasing?

Goalscoring isn't his real strength though. What he is really good at is keeping posession, making himself available for pass and delivering sweet throughballs and/or spreading the ball to wings. He is also someone who is willing to contribute defending if needed. I'd use him as box-to-box midfielder in place of Barry.

you wouldn't put him in yayas place and but yaya in barrys spot? Coz I would..

Yeah, well I would, sort of. I'm kind of hoping that the two midfielders in front of De Jong would both be relatively attacking but also be able to defend. I'm looking for much positive contribution from central midfield next season so I'm kind of hoping YaYa and Nasri would operate side by side on similar role. That is if we sign him of course.

Anywhichway I'm happy if Barry is replaced as he doesn't offer enough for me in level we are aiming.

[Blue Blood]

What's the deal with this guy? I've seen him score some sweet goals at the beginning of last season. Is he the ducks nuts though? Is he worth chasing?

Goalscoring isn't his real strength though. What he is really good at is keeping posession, making himself available for pass and delivering sweet throughballs and/or spreading the ball to wings. He is also someone who is willing to contribute defending if needed. I'd use him as box-to-box midfielder in place of Barry.

you wouldn't put him in yayas place and but yaya in barrys spot? Coz I would..

Yeah, well I would, sort of. I'm kind of hoping that the two midfielders in front of De Jong would both be relatively attacking but also be able to defend. I'm looking for much positive contribution from central midfield next season so I'm kind of hoping YaYa and Nasri would operate side by side on similar role. That is if we sign him of course.

Anywhichway I'm happy if Barry is replaced as he doesn't offer enough for me in level we are aiming.

Barry is a great player but for me his best years are behind him, still has a role here just not sure if its as first choice.

I totally agree with the idea of Nasri and Yaya playing side by side though, both contributing to the attacking and defensive phases of play when needed.

Very total football-esk. Would work very well imo.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Barry is a great player but for me his best years are behind him, still has a role here just not sure if its as first choice.

Sorry mate but "great" is what Gareth Barry never was and will never be. He was "very good player" who is just "good" these days. I thought Barry signing was good and I do think he has contributed. I would also love to keep Barry as a back up. However he was consistently the weakest link in our passing game and forward movement last year. Especially as we have De Jong who offers very little going forward, we just can't have player like Barry with him on the side. As De Jong has cemented his place on the team during last season's brilliant defensive performances, there's no taking him off the side so it's Barry who has to be sacrificed.

Also, his retarded handballs piss me off BIG TIME. But that's just me being my petty self.

[Blue Blood]

Barry is a great player but for me his best years are behind him, still has a role here just not sure if its as first choice.

Sorry mate but "great" is what Gareth Barry never was and will never be. He was "very good player" who is just "good" these days. I thought Barry signing was good and I do think he has contributed. I would also love to keep Barry as a back up. However he was consistently the weakest link in our passing game and forward movement last year. Especially as we have De Jong who offers very little going forward, we just can't have player like Barry with him on the side. As De Jong has cemented his place on the team during last season's brilliant defensive performances, there's no taking him off the side so it's Barry who has to be sacrificed.

Also, his retarded handballs piss me off BIG TIME. But that's just me being my petty self.

Read all that, still think he's a great player.

Barry will consistently perform to a good level for us, he does the boring jobs and keeps things ticking in the mid, he is valuable asset.

While maybe not reaching the heights of "great" status with city, across his career he has played at all levels and captained a club, as well making 500 apps at club level, nearly 50 internationally.

I'd say all in all he's been a great player, declining into good territory now though, hence a need for Nasri imo but overall a great player.

[guv111]

Arsenal look to have lost their battle to keep hold of Samir Nasri, with Manchester City set to complete a £22.2 million transfer for the midfielder.

The Times reports on Sunday that the France international will pick up wages of £185,000-per-week, more than triple the money he currently earns at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal were willing to raise Nasri's salary to £110,000-per-week, but the player has made it clear to the club that he wants to leave, and the Gunners have sought the highest price despite Arsene Wenger's continued desire to battle for one of his prized assets.

City have pounced all over Arsenal's failure to secure their top names to long-term contracts this summer, having already picked up Gael Clichy in what appears to be a bargain £7 million transfer.

Like Clichy, Nasri only has 12 months to run on his contract, and the Arsenal board simply refuses to allow its most valuable assets to exit the club for free.

City have been authorised to press on with the transfer by Stan Kroenke, beating off interest from Chelsea and Manchester United, who have been linked with Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder respectively.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have already turned their attentions to finding a replacement. Aston Villa are believed to have received contact from the London club on Sunday for the services of Stewart Downing, who is valued at £19 million. Downing is also wanted by Liverpool.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/st ... MP=OTC-RSS

Apparently we are set to finalise this one...

Maybe.

I'd love it to be true. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over my vague dislike and general suspicion of him, but he is exactly what City need right now. Anyway, I'm quite fond of Dzeko (as a person) and he's been a blundering oaf so far, so personal feelings count for little. I'd rather we had really good players I'm personally indifferent to, than a team of nice guys who are actually a bit crap at football.

[aaron bond]

Arsenal look to have lost their battle to keep hold of Samir Nasri, with Manchester City set to complete a £22.2 million transfer for the midfielder.

The Times reports on Sunday that the France international will pick up wages of £185,000-per-week, more than triple the money he currently earns at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal were willing to raise Nasri's salary to £110,000-per-week, but the player has made it clear to the club that he wants to leave, and the Gunners have sought the highest price despite Arsene Wenger's continued desire to battle for one of his prized assets.

City have pounced all over Arsenal's failure to secure their top names to long-term contracts this summer, having already picked up Gael Clichy in what appears to be a bargain £7 million transfer.

Like Clichy, Nasri only has 12 months to run on his contract, and the Arsenal board simply refuses to allow its most valuable assets to exit the club for free.

City have been authorised to press on with the transfer by Stan Kroenke, beating off interest from Chelsea and Manchester United, who have been linked with Luka Modric and Wesley Sneijder respectively.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have already turned their attentions to finding a replacement. Aston Villa are believed to have received contact from the London club on Sunday for the services of Stewart Downing, who is valued at £19 million. Downing is also wanted by Liverpool.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/st ... MP=OTC-RSS

Apparently we are set to finalise this one...

Maybe.

I'd love it to be true. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over my vague dislike and general suspicion of him, but he is exactly what City need right now. Anyway, I'm quite fond of Dzeko (as a person) and he's been a blundering oaf so far, so personal feelings count for little. I'd rather we had really good players I'm personally indifferent to, than a team of nice guys who are actually a bit crap at football.

I hope we are buying Nasri, although hope the £185k per week bit isn't true. I know initially we had to overpay players to get them to move here but we shouldn't need to do that to the same extent anymore. We are clearly a club going places so that should be the main draw for players. Furthermore, as we're currently experiencing with Bellamy/Adebayor/Bridge/RSC, we shouldn't pay players so much that they are unappealing for other clubs if we want to sell them, in case Nasri doesn't work out.

[guv111]

Completely agree, aaron bond. Nasri was making a point of saying he wanted to leave Arsenal for City so that he could win trophies, and that he didn't care about the money. Still, if the difference between City getting him and, say United, is what we can and will pay in wages, then I'll accept it - on this occasion. But yep, we really do need to be paying lower wages, with a view to selling further down the line.

[CityFanFromRome]

I think that when it comes to top players there's no limit on how much wages you can pay if they are young and can solve a problem in the lineup for ten years. Nasri is 24 and we all know what he can do, he could be playing that well up to 33-34 years, so 185k per week is a price I'd be willing to pay for him.

[Blue Toy]

Sir Purple has been quoted today as saying "I don't think he is coming to United. That is all I can tell you. I think that he has agreed to go somewhere else."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 55,00.html?