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Samir Nasri close to agreeing long-term deal to stay at Arsenal and ward off Barcelona
Samir Nasri has indicated that he is close to agreeing a new contract at Arsenal that, despite interest from Barcelona, will commit him to the club for the peak years of his career.
Talks remain ongoing between Nasri’s representative, Jean-Pierre Bernes, and Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis, but there is hope that a new four-year deal worth around £75,000-a-week will be announced shortly.
“He is only 23 years old and still has much room for improvement,” said Nasri’s father, Hamid. “I am convinced that he can go even higher. I think that yes, this will be with Arsenal.
“It is a club that is close to his heart, that knew how to bring him to the level where he is. I think that Arsenal remains his priority.”
Barcelona have not firmed up their interest in Nasri with any formal approach, but manager Pep Guardiola is an admirer of a player who has been among the outstanding performers in the Premier League this season.
Nasri, though, is known to be extremely happy in England and is particularly appreciative of the part Arsene Wenger has and continues to play in his development.
His current contract expires in 2012 and he can expect a sizeable pay-rise that will take him into the same bracket as Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin, currently the club’s top earners.
“At the moment, he is with Arsenal and we are in discussions to extend his contract,” said Bernes. “We will see how Samir wants to take his career.”
Keeping their young squad together remains the key transfer priority for Arsenal, with the majority of the first-team squad committed to deals that will theoretically keep them together until at least 2013.
For Wenger, the only short-term concern is at centre-back, where he is awaiting news on Thomas Vermaelen’s achilles tendon before deciding whether to recruit.
Vermaelen, who has not played for Arsenal since the end of August, is now out of a protective boot but will increase the intensity of his training this week. The hope is that he will
be available again before the end of the month.
“Vermaelen has a big test this week when he starts to run again,” said Wenger. “The first signs of how he feels will be very important. Should he not be able to come back quickly, central defence is an area in which we would be short.”
The most extravagant club in the transfer market still look certain to be Manchester City, who are completing the paperwork on their £27 million deal for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko.
A fee has been agreed, as well as personal terms with Dzeko. Cesc Fabregas, meanwhile, used his programme notes for last night’s match against City to condemn Birmingham’s Lee Bowyer for his two challenges on Bacary Sagna.
The Football Association have banned Bowyer for three matches for one of the incidents, but Fabregas felt that both were unacceptable.
“It’s sometimes difficult to know whether a player goes in to hurt someone or goes for the ball,” said Fabregas. “When Roger Johnson tackled me, his foot was very high and I feared the worst. I was lucky not to be hurt more seriously.
"I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt me though. On the other hand, the two challenges from Lee Bowyer on Bacary were inexcusable.”