The Samir Nasri transfer saga should come to an end tomorrow afternoon as the Marseille play-maker is officially confirmed as an Arsenal Football Club player.
Nasri and agent Jean-Pierre Bernes flew to London on Thursday to finalise the move, with a medical examination taking place on Friday. The remaining details of his switch were not completed in time for confirmation to be given that day, and with the clubs website not operating during the weekends, the month long saga has dragged on.
Although Arsène Wenger is not in the country (see below), Ken Friar and Steve Rowley have been working to tie up the deal in the Frenchman’s absence. As Young Guns told you first, Marseille chairman Pape Diouf confirmed the medical was set to take place on French TV during Friday evening, before sealing his £13 million transfer.
The terms of the contract are believed to be a five years in length, and whilst the wage amount is unknown, it has been hinted that he will earning a noteable salary during his time in London. After all the paperwork is completed, Samir will be free to spend the remaining weeks on a well deserved holiday, before pre-season begins in July.
I found one of the more interesting things about tonight’s Italy V Spain clash was that Arsène Wenger was in attendance, despite completing his work for French television. He was joined by former player Zinédine Zidane, leading to speculation he was checking up on Valenica forward David Villa.
Well done to young Cesc Fabregas for keeping his composure to slot home the winning penalty, shows how far he has come in such a short time. It was only a few years ago he was turning out at Underhill, and now he is in the semi-finals of the European Championships. Good luck to Cescy for the rest of the competition.
Article By – J.Sanderson
I would suggest he was there to watch Cesc rather than a 20-30m player that Wenger would never sign in a million years!
i watched italy vs spain game, and i found AW with Zidane as well. This is really interesting:
scouting aquilani — he would be a bit disappointed.
watching fabregas — he could be quite satisfied by his performance.
scouting villa — too good to be true.
Maybe TC, but i think he knows all about Cesc by now. Plus he knew he would not start, anyway.. well done to the boy :)
It was great to see Cesc score the winning penalty and he more than deserves every success he gets.
pls no more of Nasri am Sick and sick of this deal!!!
how about senna – Ive been impressed with him!
i dont see villa as a good replacement for ade,he does not offer us anything that eduardo offers already
What time do you call this J???! I’ve been waiting and waiting! lol.
I hope you’re right and tomorrow may Arse hole of a Chelsea supporting manager comes out to tell me we have signed Nasri. He doesn’t fail to tell me when its bad news, the bastard.
I was chuffed to bits for Cescy tonight. I’m supporting Spain, but i have a strong admiration for Russia and their team play.
Cheers J
senna was very good in this game. just a shame that he didnt score for that long shot.
Raul Albiol or Alberto Aquilani maybe?
J, do you think Nasri is going to be a quality signing for Arsenal? Initially, I was super excited about it, as he’s been one of the top prospects in world football for a couple of years. But some people have been trying to manage expectations, in saying that he won’t set the EPL alight, and he’s not that great of a player yet. What do you think? Do you agree with this signing, or do you think we should be spending our money elsewhere, like Arshavin, who might have cost around the same (£12-15m)?
senna was good,but silva was better
HE could well be watching Silva?
J, Do u think ade is going to leave? and what about hleb? finally who do u think arsene will replace them with if they did…isnt selling three important players (flamini, hleb adebayor) then we will be in another transition season
Nasri Over Arshavin any day of the week.
Simply because say Arshavin signs for the same money, and after two years decides he doesnt like it, he will be old enough to buy out his contract and move to another club.
Nasri is younger, so Wenger can built loyality with him, as well as ruling out the option for him to buy out his deal early, because he is only 20.
senna was good,but silva was better
J Do u think ade is going to leave? and what about hleb? finally who do u think arsene will replace them with if they did…isnt selling three important players (flamini, hleb adebayor) then we will be in another transition season
Silva was impressive tonight. He has been quite an “invisible” man for the past few games but tonight, he ran the show, along with cesc of course.
AMR check the comment section on the Vela report for my thoughts on Adebayor and stuff, and if you cant be bothered.. the upshot was basically i think he will go, and we will buy an unknown like Eduardo..
Remember that boy Eden Dzenko we were linked with?….:)
lol that would be funny…thank you for a great blog
No problem mate, glad you enjoy it.
I think he was watching : Silva, Villa, Aquillani, Chiellini and maybe he wanted to see Raul Albiol and De la Red. Maybe he watched Senna, he could be a perfect partner for cesc in the midfield. Maybe, it is him our futu signing (talented, experience, strong, like flamini but older and cesc already knows how to play with him :))
http://www.arsenallover.skyblog.com
j,nasri mayb be a better signing in the long term but for next season i think arshavin would have had a bigger impact,but seeing as they say he wants to join barca i guess there is no point in talking of it
I Really appreciate the affort of the team together playing as ONE BIG UNITED…And most of all febragas for scoring the only hope to take them to semi final
I agree on Ade, J. Except, there is still a part of me that feels he won’t leave. Hasn’t he been in Togo on his “tour of hope”? It might be difficult for him to have to keep speaking to the press every day, as a new “link” is created for him to leave Arsenal.
I think Wenger would buy a striker in a similar mold to Ade, not a Villa or an Eto’o, but someone with a powerful physical presence.
I couldnt care less if he joins or not. I have a feeling he’ll leave after a successfull season or 2 just like Hleb. I reckon if he really wanted a move to our club he would have signed earlier before the euros.
Watch this space.
Trevor – Bafe Gomis?
AW could have been checking on Villa, Guiza, De La Red, Senna, Cesc, Aquilani and Silva because they are all players we have been linked with this summer except Cesc obviously.
Arshavin is up for grabs at a price we can afford and we’re probably going to see him to go to one of our rivals. Makes no sense. He’s better than our entire midfield/front-line bar Fabregas. I can understand not spending £25m+ – but this guy’s buy out is between £10-£12m.
Maybe Arsene will surprise us….
Let us all pray.
Nasri doesn’t look better than Rosicky, so why buy him? Hleb’s replacement is surely Walcott.
Trevor – Bafe Gomis?
did you see him when he came on for france? his 1st touch was bad,his second even worse!
if ade does go we need a striker to lead the line,not necessarily a tall hit man,but someone in the mold of eto or even henry.
Nasri is better than Rosicky because of the simple fact his legs work.
Bafe Gomis really isn’t that good. He would be exactly how Adebayor started out when he first came to us, very raw, bad touch and missing good chances but he is the identical replacement for Adebayor along with Kenwyne Jones of course.
Well, in fact, Beside Arsene Wenger involvement for the French TV, he is also working participate in the first 15 minuts and the last 15 minuts for each gave in the AL Jazeera Sport TV -An arab broadcast. Al Jazeera exeptional coverage of all games which starts before 1 hour and a half and extends to anoterh one hour after the game has surprised us by Wenger presence. Wenger is well respected and considered the Expert and the football guru. We are just lucky and flater to have him around. Wenger is partneres with some arab comentator and Maldini (former coat of Italy), but Wenger has out shined everybody around. when people talk about the games they just insert wenger said that wenger said this. Simply, Wenger Knows
I personally like Santa Cruz, i think he is all action centre forward. I agree with you “bigpoppa” on Gomis, whilst he fits the bill of what Trevor wanted, i think at times he can look very average.
I’m not sure Arshavin would fit in here, he prefers the behind the striker role, and we would stick him out on the wing.
Is it just me or does Arshavin remind me of Ljungberg in his day?
Bafe Gomis? Thats a good call J. Just beggining to bubble up from under the surface in terms of reputation, he’s French, pretty young and has similar attributes and some would argue better finishing.
I’ve seen very little of him but thats a good shout.
Oh gawd! Another one with a crystal ball.
jam jam- kenwyne jones is a player i like,very much in the ade mould and with better players around him would do well,i would prefer him then santa cruz
Flex i noticed him last season, and he scored some pretty special goals as well as the usual typical striker finishes.
He is really athletic and strong, and more of a poacher than Adebayor, and with some work could prove a fantastic choice, but as mentioned i prefer somebody like Santa Cruz
I think Senna would be a great buy, would fit in well with cesc!
Arsene was at the game first and foremost because he’s a football man who loves the sport and it would have been negligent of him not to have watched the game.
Even if he’s finished his co-commentating stint with French Tv for this tournament, he’s likely to stick around to watch as much of the action as possible, live, and who can blame him?
I don’t think he had his eye on any particular player.
Incidentally, ‘Fleet Street’ has done a great job in misleading people about players buying out their contracts when they are eligible to do so.
Having read the relevant transfer regulations, I can tell you that it is far from a straight forward matter for any player to attempt to buy out their contract.
Given that any player attempting to do this can potentially face a year long ban from playing, and that the club he may join could potentially face a year long ban from registering new players, I’d suggest that no player in their right mind would attempt to
invoke the ‘Webster clause’ unless & until it’s been significantly amended, which isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.
J, Arshavin is vastly superior to Ljungberg in terms of technique. Freddie’s greatest weapon was his engine and running. He has lost that now which is why his career is declining.
I personally think AW was simply there to watch the match. I don’t think he was scouting anybody in particular.
but then seeing as ade only signed a new contract last season why cant we just tell him he is staying and thats final?
i would love us to make a stance sometime and make an example out of a player for future generations
bigpoppa – who wants a upset and angry player? if he wants to go, which he has indicated he does despite previously saying he wants to stay, then whats the point in keeping a player who does not want to be here..
cash the money in and buy a replacement, but i also agree that these things should be done behind closed doors. I wish we would tell them to f**k off if they reveal our deals.
Nobody has mentioned the very impressive santi cazorla who would be alot cheaper than aquilani(signed new deal at roma anyway) and silva and arshavin whose prices will shoot up after quality performances in this tournament with more hopefully to come. Spain-Russia final anyone. Russia back for some payback. They are improving every game.
Sad to see holland go out tho and i can’t believe V.p didnt start altho he played poorly.
Congrats to Cesc! When I saw Wenger with Zidane I had a feeling he could’ve been there watching David Silva and not Villa. I was really impressed with his performance!
j, no one wants that but who wants players to think then can organise a move weather they are in contract or not?we have left ourselves open to this for a long time now and if just one player was made an example of the next one would think twice about trying to make a move behind our backs.
personally i think losing hleb and flamini is managable,but if ade goes as well a title shot will be out of our reach next season
I don’t think Wenger would go after Gomis, after all the hype of being included in the French squad over Trezeguet, and after his two stunning goals on his debut. Plus, I don’t really think he’s that special. Maybe someone more obscure like you mentioned, Edin Dzeko, or maybe even Mario Gomez, who everyone knows was absolutely pitiful this tournament, but has shown his class for Stuttgart. I’m sure his price just dropped a lot!
I hope Senna caught Arsene’s eye! He’s been very good for Spain.
Hey JS thanks for this – you’ve gone from confirming the deal’s 90% done to 95% done to 99% done to now 99.99999% done. Hehe can’t wait to see the club’s official announcement! :)
J, I would just like to correct your information on buying out contracts. Based on five year deals, players 28 and over can buy out their contract with two years remaining, players 27 and under can only buy out the final year.
Still, good news with Nasri. KUTGW
What about Marouane Chamakh, Oscar Cardozo, Goran Pandev?
Isn’t Wenger required to stay there to fulfil his obligations promoting the castrol performance index?
I’m suprised nobody has mentioned it before – but Pavlyuchenko is an ideal replacement for Ade in the event the latter leaves.
I think Wenger was there for a few reasons. 1. David Villa. 2. David Guiza, another possible target. 3. Danielle De Rossi, another one linked with us. 4. Ruben De La Red, who IS a target. Not to mention the fact that the game was between the favourites for the Euro’s, and the current reigning World Champions.
Gomis – hasn’t got a great first touch, that is needed for our game.
Mario Gomez – while he did have a poor tournament alongside Klose, his price wouldnt have dropped on the basis of 2 poor performances.
Senna – Great midfield player, would he be allowed to leave his current club in that form? And age may prove a problem for Wenger.
Santi Cazorla – His all round game just looks off to me, he wouldn’t improve on our midfield.
I think I might get some strange comments coming back about another possible player for us, Young, Quick, energetic, shoots, aaron Lennon? Roumors are that Tottenham say he’s surplus to requirements. Would be a nice deal to get him on the cheap. English as well. Might need some cleansing beforehand though.
Gattuso would be a nice enforcer for Fabregas to go forward without worry. He scares the hell out of every centre-mid in the world. Roy Keane, AND Vieira said that. And that says something.
Why are people always comparing other players with Adebayor? THe replacement does not necessarily need to be the same player. In 1998 and 2002, we didn’t have a strong CF neither but Arsenal went on to win the doubles and an unbeaten run in 2002.
Same goes that Adebayor and Eduardo are not Henry and Bergy in anyway. So, if Wenger is going to pay big money for players like Benzema (doubt he’ll come though) or David Villa, those players offer us a dimension that Adebayor doesn’t. I would be happy to see Villa playing for us next season. But if Adebayor stays, no complains then, just hope that he will give us better season than the last one.
Besides, we all know Wenger doesn’t really do his scouting work in championships like the EUROs because he sends his scouts to go check the player out for months if not seasons before that. So, he’s merely there to see for his own eyes.
Some players peak during championships like that, but are inconsistent in their overall performance over the season.
I agree with duck, Arsene already knows who he wants and was probably just there with ZZ to enjoy the game. However, Ramos impressed given we need defensive depth, despite Arsene’s claims to the contrary. After all, Arsene always keeps his cards very close to his chest and is not averse to dropping the odd red herring just to put everyone off guard! More than likely he’ll buy someone who is totally unknown and has never been mentioned in any of the papers or blogs etc – and is a million times better than everyone mentioned over the last month!
SW16Gooner: I thought Ramos was crap and has been for most of the tournament. He is quick, strong, tall and with two good feet but as a defender he doesn’t impress me at all. He is caught out of position, gives away stupid fouls and is simply overrated. I would choose Sagna over Ramos any day. I actually think that both Puyol and Ramos are very overrated and the best Spanish defender today (apart from Casillas who had a solid game) was that guy No. 4 that I can’t remember the name of.
I have often thought about Senna as an Arsenal player. I first recognized him after we played Villareal in the semi-finals, he was much better then Riquelme then. He is 32, which I think is the perfect age for a DM for us. We have so much potential in that position but nobody proven except Gilberto. I think Senna would fit our team much better than Gilberto does, as Senna is quick to get the ball in play and quite good in attack. I think it might be an awesome switch to trade Gilberto in for him.
Wenger was probably mainly there to have fun and see the game. I am surprised that nobody has written a story about how he was persuading Zidane to start playing again and sign for Arsenal. Wenger is not like many managers who see a WC or Euro game and buy a player after that performance. Houllier did that every time (Diouf is a great example). That does not mean though that Wenger was not looking at anybody. He likes to see the players himself before he makes a decision and he might have been making a final inspection about somebody there, although I doubt it. The Valencia duo would benefit our team a lot but I think they will both be out of our reach. It would be fun if David Silva joined us. Then we had 3 players with the last name Silva (Dudu, Gilberto and David).
Finally. Does anybody agrees that Spain looks better with Cesc in the team than Xavi?
I’m hope Wenger realized one thing with today’s Italian defense-that although Torres and Villa are world-class strikers, they had nowhere the same effect on Italy’s defense than a physically-imposing Adebayor would have had. I just hope sitting up there he realized what a destructive force Ade can be when he wants to, even on his own. Chiellini would’ve shit his pants having to line up against a 6′ 3″ determined beast of a striker in Adebayor, to him Villa must’ve been meat and drink.
The ideal striker to replace Ade-bye-yor would be Huntellar.Strong,no nonsense, no wasting chance after chance.Ade is just lucky to turn in 30 goals just because of the teammates provided him such a lot of opportunities,and he turned the lots with just 30. If he really to want leave… Go ahead…
I’m sick of his arrogance sometimes
Maybe the newspaper/lines should be writing about ZZ going to Arsenal as coach/scout after being seen watching the Spain vs Italy game with Arsene Wenger.
Huntelaar does look like a young RVN. A goal poacher and with aerial command as well.
My uncle who has a lot of contacts is currently roaming around Australia (arsenal diamond member), his mate called him just to tell him that AW was at the spain game, to watch (and im refusing to believe it aswell) sergio ramos, now before you all call me a loser and im full of shit, he heard his reason is, HLEB AND adebayor in exchange….
Btw jamie you blow gunnerblog outta the water.
Cesc and Silva had a similar understanding to Cesc – Hleb. Villa is also a top striker who works hard for his team. With no games until Wednesday eve maybe Wenger will be london today holding the press conference to unveil Nasri
Appreciate your efforts
if ade leave, wenger would not buy like for like replacement. bendtner will be given chance. wenger rate this guy highly. he maybe just buy another striker like RVP that can play forward or winger. besides, barazite would come good in few seasons. he tall, very good technique and very compose finisher as well. there’s a lot of replacement inside arsenal youth for adebayor. don’t forget benik afobe. he so impressive maybe get fast track like wilshere. after all wenger always feel responsible to make sure youth players get their chance and make it at top level.
Nothing new JS – Nasri ‘deal close’ and Wenger ‘scouting at Euro 08’ are hardly newsworthy.
Sorry mate, you’ve developed a pretty handy reputation so you really shouldn’t resort to ‘filler’ posts like this.
Hey, I’m not ungrateful – but you’ve set the standard…
JS, I know you’re just trying to bring us all the news most of us want to hear reagrding Nasri’s move, but its not going to happen today.
I’ll be delighted to come back this afternoon & apologise to yourself if we get any confirmation today, however I seriously doubt I’ll need to. I’ve not seen any confirmation that Nasri is in London or has even been to London other than a speculative piece in La Provence. Diouf would neither confirm or deny whether the medical had taken place so people are just assuming that means it has.
I’ll be back later to apologise if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that’ll be happening.
To suggest a signing is not announced becuase the club website does not update on a weekened is pathetic and laughable. Are all signing announcements deppendant on a “web site”. You lose credibility here JS if you believe that crap. Incidently I’d take Arshaven over Nasri any day of the week. What a player. Based on what I’ve seen of Nasri I cant see Nasri having any impact on the 1st team. Shame we’re blowing 13m on him.
And what about Podolski? I think he will leave the BM in this summer, and either go to PL, or go to the Juventus. He is a great player at all match of Germany. And he is also very good. At the midfild: I think Nasri is the best replacement of Hleb at this situation. We must find Flamini’s replacement, but I think Niko Kranjcar wouldn’t be a bad decision.
I think Arshavin won’t go to us because his favourite team is Barcelona – it was told by a Russian newspaper.
But Arda Turan can come.
With Nasri being a high profile signing I think Wenger will need to be there to unveil him. JS is speculating and analysing like any journalist would. I think its likely he will be unveiled today. It doesnt make sense to hold a press conference or announce a signing on Sunday. Its just a story people you either take it or leave it.
The thing is JS seems to determined to get this right for some reason, maybe so he can claim he was the first to announce it here, I don’t know. Just go back over the past few weeks & he’s done loads of articles about Nasri signing & the claims are always put down as fact with nothing but other media sources to back them up.
Tomorrow or the next day when Nasri still hasn’t signed there will be a new story to put up with some excuses as to why it didn’t happen today etc.
wenger is obsessed with football, just because he was at the game does not mean he was scouting anyone.
Maybe Wenger was looking at Guiza. I mean Aquilani isn’t leaving Roma, Senna is older than Gilberto Silva (who is still here, remember), De Rossi will only leave Roma IF Real, Barca or Milan come knocking, plus remember that Wenger said about two weeks ago that he doesn’t want to strengthen the defence.
So it’s Guiza or David Silva. But Silva is like Nasri. Plus we have Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue(should sell him).
Wenger will NEVER buy David Villa. He said so.
Can’t understand the fact that no one has mentioned Yuri Zhirkov yet as a potential signing for Arsenal!
He can play both Left Back and as a left midfielder. And he has looked amazing in all the matches I have seen him in. And considering the fact that Traore possibly will be loaned out next season, this would be a great backup. And ofc. he would be a natural challenger for the left midfield position!
J. don’t wanna be annoying or anyting but its Edin Dzeko :)
Sorry if I come across negative but I honestly believe Santa Cruz is nowhere near as good as Adebayor. We are all getting excitied and seeing the great parts of S.Cruz’s play and forgeting what Ade gave us, Ade is a great team player, even when he doesnt score he gives the team something.
lol, then why don’t you guys just read and refresh Arsenal.com only?
Don’t forget the origianl plan: Nasri will be announced probably after the Euros. This is the final plan.
ok well im pretty excited by this but i think we will get martins for 13m when adebayor goes, and then maybe turan or arshavin. thats it. so be ready. and by the way santa cruz to me isa avarage, not gud enuff. so out of turan and arshavin, then martins if adebayor leaves. what do you think J. s
HEY PEEPZ!!! OFFICIAL SQUADNUMBERS ARE ANNOUNCED Carlos Vela took the number 12 shirt!! Aaron Ramsey number 16 and Almunia got number 1, Vito Mannone got number 24
8, 14, 18, 23, 28 and 29 are still free hopefully we can add 2 more players…
I cannot believe Ade will leave, he is not teh finished article yet and may struggle at Barca and would be behind Henry again as Henry is still a better finisher. Barca cannot even afford him anyway and why Ade would go Milan is beyond me as Italy is a dull league and not as big as the EPL in Africa.
Santa Cruz would be good but he was injury prone before. Huntelaar maybe an option. We need an ade type player who can play upfront by himself and is physical. Santa Cruz does that but just not as physical as Ade but a far better finisher.
Mario Gomez is an option although he has been terrible in the euros.
I hope Ade won’t leave but have a feeling we may be stuck with Hleb as no one wants him now.
i think hes going david silva
hes a top top player
I don’t think that Arshavin would come to us. He would continue his career in Spain, at the Barcelona.
Martins wouldn’t be bad, but I think, Santa Cruz is better. Altough the Arsenal said to Barca that they must offer up to 30 million Ł if they want to take Adebayor. (plus Hleb) It’s very funny. :D
I haven’t heard anything about Nasri yet today, but let’s hope :D
But I feel so that there are a problem between the team and Samir…
I think, we will offer more money for the Portugesa’s Diogo, and for the Udinese’s Zapata. We will buy Martins or Santa Cruz, and hopefully Nasri is ours.
At the other side: I think Adebayor and Hleb will leave the club. I would like to see him in the next season in the PL, on the side of Arsenal, but I think that they will leave us.
Hey J,
Don’t know if this means anything but the squad numbers have been released and Vela and Ramsey have numbers but Merida, Randall, Wilshere and quite a few others haven’t been allocated numbers. Is there anyhing to read into this or will they just be assigned as and when they need to cos i for one was hoping that Randall and maybe even Gibbs may be given a chance in cup etc.
Nasri is finally a gunner, Aresene told me on the phone.
Also i was hoping the Merida would at least be on the bench!
Wenger went to watch David Silva I bet we make a bid for him
nasri will be world class in two seasons, turan and silva impresses me, arshavin can be arsenal’s perfect replacement for hleb thou i do rate hleb highly, italian no 4 impressed a lot againts torres n villa, bayour shudnt be sold for less then 30 mill pounds bcoz he is that good, and please forget about guiza..pls, eduardo is worth 40 goals a season
Oh the great Wenger,why all this waste of time.We know that you are a great scouter of excellent players so why waste time to do the necessary signings as i see a player like the Russia (10) to add a more perfct solution to what this team is presently missing.But all the same this David Silva of a player can be more better than the David Villa to bring to our squard.But please dont forget to sign a perfect central defender.Just think about last season,we can score goals but can’t defend the goals.
David Silva has a 90m euro buy out clause in his contract.
Anyone else thinking that Nasri will be confirmed and unveiled when Wenger returns from the Euros?
“it has been hinted that he will earning a noteable salary during his time in London”
Gee, what makes you think that? Is it because he is a professional footballer?
chazwazza! Yeah.
Nasri deal off? Thank fuck for that.
Arsene wenger may of been watching toni. I dont rate him personally and doubt he would make in the prem but he is tall, strong and did you know he scored 39 goals last year for bayern. i only found out yesterday when my brother Darren told me.
Please sign Villa, He is 10x the player Ade is, Villa can make great chances himself and is a clinical finisher, Ade isnt, he can make some chances but his finishing is all that great, all bar a few attemps, i would love Arsene to sell Ade to buy Villa, i doubt it’ll happen, but i can always hope
No guarantee Villa would make it the PL. Remember Morientes? Keep Ade and strenghen in other areas instead of wasting money on Villa.
Has Nasri sgned yet or is it bank holiday Monday for all Arsenal.com staff? In which case according to JS he might sign tomorrow as the deal is 99.9999995% complete almost.
Lol, this Nasri deal is doin my head in, the longer it goes on and the more likely it seems it will happen the less i feel like its gunna happen.
Milan want Ade, he claims he doesnt want to go and unlike most professional footballers hes always seemed to be an honest player but that doesnt meen we can be sure he wont leave. If we do sell him Villa might be a potential replacement, but lets face it, with Wenger you never know, and Ade isnt the first player european big spenders have tried to prise off us, and more often than not they fail miserably.