Bacary Sagna has been offered a three-year deal by Manchester City and is to consider whether to become the latest Arsenal player to move between the clubs in the summer. The 31-year-old full-back remains locked in contractual stand-off with Arsenal, his club since 2007 and his current terms are set to expire in June, making him a free agent.
Arsene Wenger has indicated a readiness to break the club's general policy of granting only one-year extensions to players in their thirties and is extremely keen for Sagna to stay. The France international has proved his worth on many occasions this season.
The offer of two more years at the Emirates Stadium is there for Sagna but he is holding out for three and he knows that City will give him what he wants, not to mention a significant increase on his £50,000-a-week salary.
The path from Arsenal to City is well trodden, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy each making the move between 2009-2011. Other former Arsenal players are employed or have been employed by City, namely Patrick Vieira, Brian Kidd, Brian Marwood, David Platt and Stuart Taylor while Wenger remembers how Yaya Toure, the City midfielder, played for Arsenal in a pre-season game in 2003. His performance against Barnet, Wenger has said, was "completely average".
Sagna is embroiled in a game of brinkmanship with Arsenal and he has not ruled out staying if the club were to give him the length of contract that he wants. He is in a strong position, with interest from elsewhere in his services. Liverpool and even Tottenham Hotspur would take him on a Bosman transfer (although the latter is a non-starter on Sagna's side) while Inter Milan, Paris St-Germain and Monaco are also keen.
The Inter president Erick Thohir told his club’s official website on Wednesday about his wish to sign Sagna.
“We’re interested in Sagna because we need to balance the team,” Thohir said. “Right now, we only have (Yuto) Nagatomo and Jonathan. If one of them gets injured, you need somebody else to come in. But it Sagna decided to stay in England, we’d understand and in that case, we might bring in a young player from our academy.”
Guardian Service
