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Arsene Wenger has revealed he is ‘very optimistic’ about Samir Nasri extending his contract with Arsenal, even though the 23-year-old Frenchman and full-back Gael Clichy are moving towards the final year of their current deals.

The Gunners boss said: “We are talking to Nasri and his agent already and we have the same situation with Clichy. We have agreed to speak about it during the summer. When you sign a contract for four or five years, you are committed through your contract to win trophies with the club where you sign. It is in no contract that if you do not win a trophy the first year, you can leave.”

Nasri’s situation is particularly frustrating for Wenger seeing as he believed that the midfielder had agreed on a four-year extension that would have almost doubled his annual salary to £5 million. But Nasri stalled following the club’s rapid elimination from the Champions League by Barcelona and the FA Cup to Manchester United at Old Trafford, following a last-gasp defeat to Birmingham in the League Cup in February. It is understood that Nasri’s agent, Jean-Pierre Bernes, is now seeking assurances on Arsenal’s summer transfer strategy in addition to improved financial terms for his client who has scored 15 goals in 45 appearances this season and was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year award.

Whilst the Gunners’ manager may be correct in stating the lack of trophy guarantees within Nasri’s contract, the 2010 France Football French Player of the Year would certainly have expected more from his three years of service at the Emirates. Negotiations have not been assisted by Wenger’s distrust of Bernes’ association with Marseille’s tainted French championship successes of the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the agent’s increasing influence on his young star causing significant concern.

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What’s more, Wenger has become a progressively confrontational and irate figure as his team’s form has deteriorated, and last month he accused the Spanish football magazine, Don Balon, of ‘twisting the words’ of his captain, Cesc Fabregas, into criticism of not only the team but Wenger as well. The publication subsequently released a recording in which the player apparently declares that Arsenal have a decision to make between developing young talent and winning trophies, and that no major Spanish clubs would be patient enough to allow their managers to go six seasons without claiming a trophy, as Wenger has.

Although Fabregas proclaimed his intentions to leave the Emirates following a bid of around £35million from Barcelona last summer, he was convinced by his manager to complete at least a further portion of his contract that runs until the summer of 2015. While Arsenal remain in a strong contractual position over their captain, despite their continually depleting control, they risk losing Nasri for free in 12 months if they fail to persuade the French international to sign a new deal. Gunners fans have been here before, and had to witness the departure of Mathieu Flamini for no return three years ago when the French midfielder left for AC Milan having featured in 40 of Arsenal’s fixtures during his last season in north London. Wenger was reluctant to offer Flamini a new deal seeing as he had spent three seasons drifting in and out of the first-team, but the former Marseilles player forced his way in to the starting XI alongside Fabregas, at the expense of Gilberto Silva, and made his debut for France during a committed final campaign in the Premier League.

Flamini carried a reputation for disappointing managers after moving from Marseilles to Arsenal without money changing hands, having been a key contributor to the club’s run to the 2004 UEFA Cup Final, leaving then manager, Jose Anigo, to bark: “He’s a traitor – this is a beautiful treason.” Nasri represents a far greater cause for trepidation considering his consistent importance to the side, and with Fabregas’ inevitable departure, Wenger can ill afford to lose possibly his most dependable and potent asset. The French professor has a propensity for convincing his ailing stars to stay longer than they wish, as evidenced with Thierry Henry and of course his current skipper, and whilst Nasri may be induced by Wenger’s charms this summer, he will have to seriously contemplate an easy exit next year if Arsenal don’t demonstrate significant improvement at the beginning of next season.

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Should Nasri stay or go? Have your say, follow me on Twitter

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As everyone get to grips with the recent shocking news that Wayne Rooney wants out of Old Trafford, discussion and debate starts to circulate amongst everyone involved with football whether or not we should be surprised with reports linking the England striker with a move across the City to Manchester United’s bitter Rivals.

In previous years we have seen Sol Campbell go from Tottenham to Arsenal and more recently Carlos Tevez from Manchester United to Manchester City. So is Wayne Rooney’s prospective move from Old Trafford to Eastlands that much of a shock?

It would seem it isn’t. Having informed United that he is no longer interest in renewing his contract it would seem the England striker is ready mull over a potential move across the city to his current clubs bitter rivals. If this is true, is Wayne Rooney crazy? We know he hasn’t always made the best of decisions in life but this one seems ludicrous.

Now, potential suitors queue up to propose and present their credentials. It would seem that Manchester City at this time moment in time are sitting in the healthiest position to gain Rooney’s signature.

With the financial clout that Manchester City’s owners possess it is thought that they would be willing to offer the rumoured £250,000 a week wages to the striker. Furthermore It was reported that Manchester United were not willing to offer such an astronomical figure to their prized asset, thus resulting in the breakdown of contract negotiations and his relationship with Alex Ferguson.

It has then been reported that Rooney has already made it known to sources at his current club and team mates that he would be open to the idea of moving to Eastlands. Furthermore with the language barrier that comes along with a prospective move abroad I really cannot see Rooney packing his bags and fully immersing himself within a new culture. That would most certainly rule out a potential move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

It would be unfair not to discuss Chelsea’s suitability. Carlo Ancelotti has already admitted that “he would be interested in Rooney if he could establish any sense on the player’s part that he would be willing to move to Stamford Bridge. But the reigning Footballer of the Year is leaning more towards City, acutely aware of the potential riches of joining the wealthiest club in England.”

Rooney is also not alone in making his decision. “His wife, Coleen, is reluctant to be apart from her 12-year-old sister, Rosie, who suffers from the brain disorder Rett syndrome.” It would therefore seem that staying in the North West would be major part of the decision making process, and therefore reinforcing the idea that Manchester City is Rooney’s most likely destination. It seems to me that all signs state that it is only a matter of time before we see Rooney don the sky blue shirt of Manchester City.  let the discussion begin!

If you like what you’ve read then why not follow me on Twitter or read my other articles on my RSS feed.

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Now that the winter break is over, I have not only regained my inner peace and happiness with the world, I have also noticed a worrying trend that Real Madrid seem to have acquired over their break, and unless Santa Clause brought them memory dust and the ability to forget to turn up in the first half of games, I fail to see what other excuse they can make for this. What then is even more frustrating is the performance they put in during the second half – it looks like an entirely different team, and to be fair, Mourinho did say that’s what he wished for after the first half in the Copa tie against Malaga.

This got me to thinking – no not who I would have in my entirely new first 11 for Los Blancos, because lets face it saying ‘Xavi, Iniesta and Messi’ would be like saying Voldermort – you just don’t do it. No I thought about the amount of times a team totally goes missing in the first half, or until they go a goal down or even a man down and then they produce a performance nothing short of fantastic and end up winning the game.

Take Liverpool’s now infamous comeback in Istanbul – it took until they were three goals down for them to show exactly what got them to the final – well bar a ghost goal that is – and they went on to win the game. If they could do that after all the pain of the first half, what stopped them from doing it initially?

It is much the same when people wonder why a team who is down a player look better than they did before – in fact you would never be able to tell they were a player down. Take Manchester City’s spirited attempt at a comeback in the FA cup – they were goals and a captain down, yet looked like they had 12 men and kept running and pressing right until the very end. Much like Blackburn Rovers, who couldn’t buy a win for all the chicken in India (and lets face it Venky’s have a lot!) yet when they were a man down on the weekend, they managed to pull it together and get the three points to lift them out of the bottom three.

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When West Ham were managed by Zola and faced a ten man Arsenal for more than half the game, and still failed to win, Zola lamented the fact that they ‘did not make use of the extra man’ and how often do managers end up saying this – yet perhaps what they should consider is the fact that the team with ten men work even harder, and it can bring the very best out in some players – take Denilson in the aforementioned game – simply phenomenal.

Perhaps it is a mental thing- where players switch off in games they feel are easy and winnable or when they have an extra man and perhaps do not bring everything that they should to the table? This is one explanation, and can offer some reasoning as to why the so called lesser teams can go a goal up – not to mention the fact that they tend to raise their game against a bigger side- and it is entirely possible that the combination of these two factors can mean that a shock result is on the cards.

Players can also be accused of not taking certain games as seriously as they should – goalkeepers and defenders are particularly culpable for this, and often a goal that is conceded is more down to someone switching off than an actual stroke of brilliance by the opposition – something Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes has been guilty of in the past on more than one occasion.

I would put money on the fact that any football fan could name countless occasions where their team has done exactly this – again a possible explanation for cup upsets and dropped points where there should not be.

When such a thing happens, it is up to the managers to unleash the hairdryer in the changing rooms and bring the players to their senses, yet on some occasions it can be too late – and the players only have themselves to blame. Should Real Madrid fail to turn up in the first half of the Clasico on Wednesday, they will find it nigh on impossible to get back into the game – even with the Special One on the sidelines.

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Celtic kept their Scottish Premier League title chances alive with a 3-0 win at Hearts on Wednesday, while Hibernian’s poor run continued.But Celtic’s trip to Tynecastle on Wednesday will be more remembered for an attack on Celtic manager Neil Lennon as he celebrated his side’s second goal, scored by striker Gary Hooper after 49 minutes.

A man managed to get past ground stewards and the police before running at Lennon and making brief contact with him, but he was quickly thrown to the ground and dragged up the tunnel by stewards and police.

The win will at least raise Lennon’s spirits, with Hooper’s 12th-minute opener crucial in determining the outcome of the match.

After the early goal, Celtic looked settled and 20 minutes later Hearts’ David Obua was given a straight red card to hand the visitors a further advantage.

Hooper’s second just after half-time gave Lennon’s side some breathing space before Kris Commons scored the third and final goal with 12 minutes remaining, just moments after receiving a yellow card for diving.

Commons was booked again for running into the Celtic fans, ensuring both sides ended the match with 10 men on an ugly night for Scottish football.

Celtic now trail table-toppers Rangers by one point with both sides having just one fixture left.

Walter Smith’s side travel to Kilmarnock on Sunday while Celtic host Motherwell.

In other matches, Kilmarnock will finish fifth – regardless of what happens against Rangers – after they claimed a 1-1 away draw at Motherwell.

Steve Jones put the hosts in front after just eight minutes, but Gabon striker Willy Aubameyang secured a point for Kilmarnock with his 49th-minute goal.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle also wrapped up their final spot on the table after a 2-0 home win over Hibernian.

They will finish seventh after goals to Adam Rooney and Nick Ross gave them all three points.

Hibernian will either finish ninth or 10th in a disappointing campaign for the Edinburgh-based outfit, who have won once in nine league games.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has allayed fears that Frank Lampard is facing a lengthy period on the sidelines despite ruling the midfielder out of Saturday's trip to Manchester City.

Lampard will miss his fifth consecutive game for the Blues after undergoing surgery on a hernia problem during the recent international break.

The 32-year-old England international could also miss next week's Champions League encounter with Marseille plus the home game against Arsenal on September 3.

But despite fears over Lampard's long-term fitness, Ancelotti claims the lay-off is designed to ensure the injury does not return in the future.

"He has a weakness on his adductor and we want to strengthen that to avoid a problem when he comes back to play," he explained.

"The surgery was very good. There's no problem there, but his adductor is weak.

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Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has defended striker Andy Carroll in the build up to Friday’s game against Newcastle, and feels that the media have been unfairly sceptical over the frontman.

Carroll moved to Anfield from former club Newcastle back in January, but has failed to live up to his £35 million price tag as yet.

The England international’s life away from the game has also been questioned in the press, but Daglish feels that the criticism is unfair.

“I think you yourselves have a bigger problem with Andy Carroll than anybody else,” the Scottish coach told Sky Sports.

“Every week there is questions. This time it is understandable, I suppose, because he is playing against Newcastle United, if he is to start.

“But I don’t understand the rest of the stuff. I think somebody has got some imagination about the lifestyle that big Andy leads compared to the one that we know he leads.

“So, really, he is unfortunate that he attracts a bit of attention to himself from yourselves.

“But, for us, he has come here and gone about his work very well on and off the pitch and is adjusting to life at a new club with new philosophies and a new way of playing,” he commented.

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Carroll looks in line for a start against his former club, and will want to build on the five goals he has scored on Merseyside since joining Liverpool.

By Gareth McKnight

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Newly promoted Kashiwa Reysol continued their perfect start to the J-League season on Saturday with a 1-0 away win over Omiya Ardija.As the J-League resumed for the first time since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami that wreaked havoc on Japan, last year’s J-2 champions moved to the top of the table with the win, which came courtesy of a goal from Brazilian striker Leandro Domingues after 54 minutes.

The result gives Kashiwa Reysol a maximum six points from their opening two games.

Shimizu S-Pulse bounced back from their 3-0 loss to Kashiwa Reysol in their opener with a 1-0 win over another promoted outfit, Avispa Fukuoka, with Genki Omae scoring the only goal of the game 10 minutes from the end.

Last season’s fourth-placed side Kashima Antlers suffered a 3-0 loss at home to Yokohama F Marinos.

Shohei Ogura opened the scoring for the visitors after two minutes and a second-half brace from defender Yuzo Kurihara wrapped up the three points.

Vegalta Sendai had to come from a goal down to score a 2-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale on the road.

Yudai Tanaka fired the hosts ahead six minutes before half-time, but late goals from Yoshiaki Ota and Jiro Kamata secured a memorable win for Vegalta Sendai.

And promoted Ventforet Kofu played out a 1-1 draw at home with Vissel Kobe after a goal from Brazilian defender Daniel cancelled out Yoshito Okubo’s 41st-minute opener for the visitors.

Patrick Vieira has defended Manchester City amid accusations that they are needlessly stockpiling star players.

Vieira, who arrived at Eastlands in January from Internazionale, has seen City spend an estimated £120million on new players during the summer transfer window.

England international James Milner was the final big-name signing following the earlier arrivals of Aleksandar Kolarov, Jerome Boateng, David Silva and Yaya Toure.

That has led critics to suggest that manager Roberto Mancini will struggle to juggle a squad containing too many high-profile players.

However, Vieira claims every member of the first-team squad will be needed during a gruelling Premier League and Europa League campaign.

"When you look at the Chelsea bench they also have a good team on the sidelines," said Vieira.

"But if you want to go from the start to the end you need everyone, and for everyone to be fully committed.

"Anything can happen in the first few months. Eleven players will start the first few games, but there are so many games to play, in so many competitions.

"The team which starts will not be the team that finishes the season, so everyone has to get focused.

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"It will bring some frustration, because quality players do not like to be on the bench.

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I have written repeatedly in the past about transfer fees, first commenting last summer on how ridiculous it was that so many people were comparing the transfer fees of James Milner to Manchester City and Mesut Ozil to Real Madrid when there were a number of extenuating circumstances. In January we got the same response of shock, horror and outrage at the fee for the transfer of Darren Bent from Sunderland to Aston Villa. Yet again people were all too keen to point out other transfer fees as some sort of proof that he was overpriced.

As I said at the time, every transfer is unique – so many factors come into play that decide what that fee is, that the actual skill of the player becomes the tip of the iceberg. And what is a market value for a player? Well the fact is there isn’t one. There’s no manual available, no graphs to check to see what a player is worth, no complex formula – it is a figure that cannot be determined – what is the worth of a human being to a football club? Almost impossible to say. And there are other costs as well of course – wages, signing on fees, payments to agents and so on. The transfer fee is just the beginning, and it often includes add-ons that will only be paid if the player is successful anyway, plus sell-on clauses, image rights, and so much more.

The factors include:

Do the selling club need to sell?

Do the selling club want to sell?

Does the player want to leave?

How good is the player?

In what position does the player play?

What nationality is the player?

How long does he have left on his contract?

Are there a number of clubs after him?

Age

And that’s just some of the reasons. There are more– injury history,  attitude, lifestyle – the player might have a release clause – as I said, every deal is unique.

But having also written recently about the “British premium” as Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones made big-money moves to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively, where I argued it is perhaps more of a premium on players with Premiership experience, not just British players, a new edict is looming on the horizon that perhaps explains further the purchases made by United and Liverpool, and which will heavily shape future transfer policies for clubs.

The move towards such premiums started with the planned introduction of the “6+5” rule, then with the 25 man squad rule. The FIFA Congress, at its meeting in 2008, decided to fully support the objectives of “6+5”, the rule stating that at the beginning of each match, each club must field at least six players eligible to play for the national team of the country of the club. There was no restriction however on the number of non-eligible players under contract with the club, nor on substitutes to avoid non-sportive constraints on the coaches, so potentially a match could end with only 3 home grown players on the pitch

The rule was on numerous occasions described as illegal by the European Union and was rejected by the European Parliament on 9 May 2008, and last year, was finally abandoned by FIFA, who said it would look at “other eligibility” options.

An offshoot of that was the introduction last season where there must be eight home-grown players in a premier league’s squad of 25. Home-grown players do not have to be English of course, simply those who have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to their 21st birthday.

It was widely presumed that this rule has further pushed the clubs’ drive for home-based talent (at huge cost). But not necessarily.

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You’ll have probably read a lot about FIFA recently, most notably revolving around their recent congress, and the issue of corruption, Sepp Blatter, and his unopposed re-election as FIFA president for another four years. However, as Matt Scott of the Guardian recently wrote, that is not all that happened at the meeting.

FIFA is working on introducing a whole new system whereby nine players on every 18-man matchday squad sheet must be home-grown. The measure was voted through at the recent congress, and FIFA’s player-status committee, headed by the former Football Association chairman, Geoff Thompson, is holding discussions across Europe as it works up the new rules.

Thompson told the congress: “We must use the qualities associated with the 6+5 in trying to manage a workable solution.”

One other offshoot may not be a reliance on home-grown talent though, as was intended. The cheaper route is to buy young foreign talent that will be “home-grown” under the rules by the time they reach their 21st birthday. Of course the advantage of buying the likes of Henderson and Jones is that the club is buying an asset it can use right away, rather than hope that four years down the line they might be good enough to break into the first team. But teams are looking abroad for youth rather than paying extra for that premium. Arsenal have done it for ages, though they are hardly unique, and so far this summer, Manchester City have only bought two youngsters, while Chelsea are rumoured to be close to signing Romelu Lukaku.

Either way, FIFA is intent on introducing further caps on foreign players, and it seems the 9-man rule could come in as early as next year. The premium on buying British may be something of a myth as there are other factors involved, but if FIFA has its way we may see the prices for British players rise even further, and may also explain the reasoning behind Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish‘s transfer policies this summer. The real reason behind some high transfer fees may well be a rule that doesn’t yet exist.

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Fabio Borini is currently on loan from Chelsea and the striker has been a real hit down in Swansea, scoring two on his debut and then bagging a brilliant goal against Norwich at the weekend.

About the goal itself, in the opening five minutes of the game Swansea were awarded a free kick around twenty five yards out. Up stepped Borini who curled in a brilliant effort past John Ruddy. The free kick reminded me of Juninho Pernambucano who curled in some beauties for Lyon, while the technique was very similar to that used by Didier Drogba.

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