After all of the speculation surrounding Samir Nasri and his Arsenal future, it is the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who has given probably the most insight into what is actually going on with the French midfielder’s status. Sir Alex claimed that he thought it unlikely that Nasri would be joining Manchester United because the Arsenal play maker had agreed to leave for another club.
The Manchester United manager, who was speaking about a possible Paul Scholes replacement, admitted that Nasri could remain at Arsenal because of the stance that Wenger has taken on the matter – refusing to let Nasri leave the club. Ferguson said:
“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. That is his decision. He is the manager. If he stands by that decision, it is a brave one. I don’t know if the [Arsenal] directors will enjoy that one, but it is possible. Maybe he will have to stay.”
The club that have “agreed” to acquire Nasri’s services will now become the subject of much debate, and there are certainly enough clubs who it could possibly be, with the Arsenal man being linked to City and Chelsea, as well as moves to Italy. It will be noted that Manchester United are not entirely out of the race, as Ferguson didn’t say explicitly that United’s chances were over, though even if he did, some would suggest he would be playing mind games and misleading the media.
Samir Nasri may not be Scholes’s replacement, but Sir Alex Ferguson hasn’t given up on finding the man who will be, calling on the possibility of a youth player coming through who could eventually step into the midfielder’s shoes. However, the United manager did say that whoever United are to bring in – and they are looking – it would only be a step down from Scholes:
“It is impossible to get another Paul Scholes. But if we get a player along similar lines in terms of the quality of his passing and vision, we would have to do something.”
“The difficulty is, if you picked the best four midfield players in the world, Scholes would be there with Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Then you could take a pick from somewhere else. It is a loss. How do we overcome it? The next few weeks could help us in that respect. Someone could emerge out of the youth team and we carry on.”
Submitted by DBSFootball
