Arsenal Action

[Gaffer]

MADRID IN GAEL TRAIL
Real's £15m plan
Steve Bates

Real Madrid have targeted Arsenal star Gael Clichy as a £15million summer transfer target - after being warned off a move for Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger fears Madrid could tempt Clichy to leave with the offer of a lucrative contract at the Bernabeu.

The Spanish giants are determined to reclaim their position as Europe's top club side.

English clubs have dominated the Champions League for the last few seasons and Madrid plan a major shake-up, with several big transfer targets.

They want Manchester United star Evra to replace former Old Trafford defender Gabriel Heinze at left-back but know United will not sell.

Heinze, 31, arrived at the Bernabeu in an £8m move two years ago and the Argentinian star has claimed he may retire if his country win the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Madrid have begun a search for his successor and Evra is first choice. But with bad blood between Madrid and United following the bitter wrangle last summer over Cristiano Ronaldo's future, they know Sir Alex Ferguson would never sanction a deal.

Fergie famously claimed he "wouldn't give Madrid a virus" when the Ronaldo row was at its height, but French star Evra, 28, has three years left on his deal and is not looking to move.

That makes Arsenal open to a Spanish swoop for Clichy, 23, with some senior Arsenal figures concerned that another failure to win a trophy this season could leave stars like Cesc Fabregas and Clichy vulnerable to an approach from La Liga.

Clichy has become the Gunners' first-choice left-back since Ashley Cole's switch to Chelsea and Wenger will not want to lose his talented countryman.

But if Madrid do come calling he will be comforted to know that youngster Kieran Gibbs is now rated so highly at the Emirates that Clichy's departure would not be a disaster.
http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/ ... _page.html

[Gaffer]

ARSENAL defender Gael Clichy is a £16million target for Real Madrid.

The Frenchman's representatives have been contacted by the Spanish giants with a view to a deal next summer.

Clichy, 24, who signed a four-year contract in 2008, has been a regular for the Gunners in their impressive start to the season.

But boss Arsene Wenger has high hopes for Kieran Gibbs after the England Under-21 international finished last term strongly when Clichy was injured.

Real have major problems at left-back after former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa got injured and Royston Drenthe and Marcelo failed to shine as stand-ins.

The Spaniards have not ruled out trying to get Clichy in January.

And the French international said: "At the moment, I am focused on Arsenal and France.

"This season could be very important to me and I desire to be focused in my work. The summer of 2010 is still very far away."

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/5 ... adrid.html

[cerbera]

They already came to us for him last summer and it wasn't even us that turned them down. Clichy turned them down himself. He's been a member of the team since age 14/15 and he's very committed to the club. He might make blunders here and there but he still plays for the crest on the shirt. He's not gonna sell us out.

[koopa]

I would sell him for 16 mill.

[cerbera]

I would sell him for 16 mill.

If we sell every player when they have a dip in form as soon as money is flashed for them we'll be just like Real Madrid and we'll always be complaining about having a squad and not a gelled team. The football manager approach to it would be to our detriment in the long run. Look at Fatfa Benitez and Cesspool. They haven't won anything since 2006 and it's all down to how he's turned Anfield into a revolving door for his players who he deem a failed project after only a season with them. It's because he has no patience and gives the players little room to shake off bad performances and get back to their best. Wouldn't like to see that happen to us.

[damir]

we can't sell,specially we can't sell our best players,we must buy reinforcements to make our chances for winning some trophy this or next season even higher

[Craigie]

Have we got Nou for you Arsenal! Barcelona want Gael Clichy (and Cesc Fabregas)

Barcelona are plotting a raid on Arsenal this summer but their top target is Gael Clichy rather than Cesc Fabregas.
Clichy impressed Nou Camp boss Pep Guardiola with two excellent performances against Barca in the Champions League quarter-final.
Guardiola has identified the need for a left back as a greater priority than a central midfielder like Fabregas, although the issue is clouded by the club's presidential elections in the summer.

Gael force: Barcelona could make a bid for Clichy in the summer
Meetings were held between representatives of the two clubs when they clashed in the Champions League and Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood claimed the Catalans had made assurances that they would not make a bid for Fabregas this summer.
Barcelona distanced themselves from Hill-Wood's comments yesterday, when technical secretary Txiki Begiristain revealed: 'We never said we will not try to sign Cesc Fabregas. We will see what happens.'
Instead, Barca insisted they had only given Arsenal assurances that if they do decide they want to buy their captain they will come directly to the club and not try to unsettle him via agents.

No deal: Hill-Wood says Barca won't pursue Fabregas this summer
It seems inevitable that, at some point, Barcelona will target Fabregas and the lure of the Nou Camp will prove too strong for a player who grew up supporting the club with Guardiola as his idol.
But, as Hill-Wood also clumsily confessed, it is difficult to see how the Arsenal skipper would get into a midfield nicely balanced with Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets at the moment.
Fabregas, 22, appears to have been earmarked as the natural successor to Xavi but the performances of the 30-year-old in recent months suggest he has plenty of years ahead at the top level before he thinks of stepping aside.
Barcelona's leading presidential candidate Sandro Rosell has promised to bring Fabregas back to the city of his birth, but precisely when that will be remains to be seen.
Guardiola would prefer to focus the summer recruitment campaign on a high-calibre replacement for Thierry Henry, who looks set to leave, probably for the USA, and bolster his squad in other areas, including left back.
The Barca boss sees Clichy as a left-sided version of Dani Alves, a full back capable of attacking fluently but with the engine to carry out his defensive duties.

For Clichy, 24, it could provide the boost which propels him into the France team, where he has struggled to get past Manchester United's Patrice Evra and Barca's Eric Abidal.
He has two years left on his Arsenal contract but Clichy has not been at his most consistent this season. His place may even have come under pressure from Kieran Gibbs had the England Under 21 defender not broken his foot in November.
Gibbs is close to a return but manager Arsene Wenger confirmed Thomas Vermaelen, who injured a calf muscle at Tottenham on Wednesday, is expected to miss the rest of the season.
'It looks like three weeks and that means the season is over for him,' said Wenger, who also revealed Denilson is doubtful for Sunday's game at Wigan.
Robin van Persie, who looked in superb form when he came on at White Hart Lane on Wednesday after five months out injured, reported no problems on his return. 'He came back very well,' said Wenger. 'It was a massive gamble as he had not played but we'll see how he is and hopefully he will get a few games now.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0lDJLRDPA

To be honest, they need a left back and Clichy is a very worth candidate. I don't think we'll sell him for anything under £20million, especially to Barcelona. Even though Gibbs is looking very, very promising I wouldn't sell Clichy unless it was a massive offer. He hasn't been at his best but he's still a very good hybrid left back. He is one of the few gooners we have. He says the right things, he shows heart and ambition when we're losing. We need him though, we can't afford to have Silvestre (though he's probably going) or Traore at left back (ever).

[The Fabster]

Who exactly would we replace him with? Besides, he's just regaining his best form.

[Kerr345]

Gibbs. Or Silvestre.

He's not going. It's the media's way of saving once Fabregas doesn't go. They'll harp on this until another faint lead on another Arsenal player comes up.

[Curt.B]

I hope we do not sell him, Clichy is a simply phenomenal player. He has pace, skill, and msot of all, gutwrenching determination to win the ball. He is one of the best Left Backs in the world and is really world class.

I think that it would take twice what they're offering for it to be a decent deal.

Any anyway, we don't need the money but we DO need the players, so theres no reason to sell him.