Filed under: Arsenal, Premier League, Football, Transfer News
First the good news: Nicklas Bendtner looks to be leaving Arsenal. Now the bad: not only could Jack Wilshere miss the start of the season, manager Arsene Wenger admits he is fighting a losing battle to keep hold of midfielder Samir Nasri.The "two loves" Wenger describes as tearing Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal and Barcelona - have been well-documented and the manager has told his captain to make up his mind who he wants to be with.
And Bendtner, a player who never quite lived up to his own opinion of himself, is, according to Wenger, "very close" to a move to an unnamed club. He wants regular game-time, so he is going with the club's best wishes.
But with Nasri, things are a little complicated. Because it seems he has no preference over who he would rather play for. For Nasri, there is no boyhood love, as his team mate has for the Nou Camp. Nasri doesn't seem fussed, as long as he has a good chance of winning trophies and padding his bank balance.
Nasri has one year left to run on his contract at Arsenal and he has been offered another, within the confines of the Gunners' salary structure, but still one befitting an important player at a top club. Somewhat predictably, this has been rejected.
If this was not enough evidence that Nasri's mind is elsewhere, his performance on Saturday against Boca Juniors was telling. While it may seem harsh to criticise a player's showing in a pre-season tournament, the lack of conviction, the shoulder shrugs when he gave up on chases, were plain to see.
Wenger admitted he "did not know" whether Nasri had other things on his mind, but re-iterated the same stance as he took with Fabregas: he must be convinced that he is committed to the club before he includes him in his plans.
Both Manchester clubs have been linked with the Frenchman, although United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has recently claimed that he has little chance of securing a deal.
But Wenger admits Arsenal have been left in a quandary, with the prospect of Nasri running down his contract and being able to leave on a free transfer next summer. The advantage with this is of course that the Gunners are able to call on his services for another season, but the problem is that they would lose a lot of money next summer.
Wenger said: "It's not ideal for us on the financial side but, on the sporting side, he is an important player. We have to deal with the situation one way or another. In the nest ten days we have to be clear on that front."
By "in the next ten days", Wenger insisted he was not setting a deadline for Nasri to decide what he wants to do - he explained that the only deadline which concerns him over transfers is the close of the summer window on August 31.
But before the window closes, Wenger must find out whether Nasri's mind is on the job for Arsenal, because he will not want to begin the new Premier League campaign with a man whose heart is elsewhere.
As for Wilshere, he suffered an ankle injury in Arsenal's 1-1 draw against New York Red Bulls on Sunday, which handed the MLS side the 2011 Emirates Cup - a competition which, wags have commented, represented the Gunners' biggest chance of a trophy this season.
He will most likely miss England's friendly against Holland on 10 August, but Wenger is hopeful he will be ready for the start of the season, adding: "I hope he'll be quicker than the medical prediction."
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/08/01/arsenal-arsene-wenger-keeping-s/
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