SOCCER:ARSENE WENGER will return to his desk after Arsenal's tour of Asia and make a swift resolution of the Cesc Fabregas saga a priority, with the manager hopeful the captain could return to the club colours in the friendly at FC Cologne on Saturday.
Fabregas’s annual dalliance with Barcelona provided one of the sideshows of the tour, with Wenger rounding variously on the Catalan club’s president, Sandro Rosell, and the midfielder Xavi to accuse them of “disrespect” in comments about the possible transfer.
If there is a sense of weariness about the issue, which remains deadlocked as Barcelona fail to stump up an acceptable offer for the midfielder Wenger rates as among the best in the world, then Arsenal have resolved it cannot drag on.
“We have to stop at some stage . . . I hope we can close that quickly in our favour,” he said. “For us, it’s important the team settles psychologically as quickly as possible because we have a tough start.”
Arsenal made the flight back to London after the 1-1 friendly draw against Hangzhou Greentown in China on Saturday night and Wenger intends to bring the Fabregas affair to a swift conclusion.
The player’s fitness will come under scrutiny. He did not make the tour of Malaysia and China owing to a hamstring injury and has not yet begun to train fully. Wenger was asked whether he expected Fabregas to feature against Cologne.
“We will have to see how far he is with his injury . . . normally, yes,” he said. “He is not back in full training, he is back running on the pitch and the next step is to be back in full training. I will have to assess him on Monday. He is in our plans. The problem we face is speculation from everywhere but my target is the same – to keep players and my desire to fight for that is the same.”
Wenger’s other vexing issue concerns Samir Nasri, who is a target for both of the Manchester clubs and valued in excess of €23 million. Privately, Wenger is unhappy at what he fears are machinations aimed at turning Nasri’s head and Roberto Mancini, the City manager, touched the nerve when he said he still hoped to sign the midfielder, who is in the final 12 months of his contract.
Wenger has categorically ruled out the prospect of Nasri leaving this summer, going so far as to say he would rather keep him for one more season and lose him on a Bosman free transfer than cash in now.
He has effectively put his reputation on the line while also calling for an end to the unsettling practice of managers publicly courting players contracted elsewhere.
“I have spoken to Samir, of course, because he is in a situation where he has only one year to go,” Wenger said.
“But not about Mancini’s statement. Things have changed in England and I believe it is important that we go back to normal behaviour on that front.”
Mancini has perhaps flouted the managers’ code yet he does not appear to have broken any rules, meaning Wenger’s demand for the authorities to act sounded a little ambiguous.
Denilson, meanwhile, is poised to complete a season-long loan move to Sao Paulo in his native Brazil. The midfielder, who is surplus to requirements, flew home early from Asia. He had suffered the ignominy of being substituted in the 4-0 win over Malaysia last Wednesday and departed for the dressingroom in a huff. The club said he had picked up an injury. Fluminense are also in the hunt for him.
