Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Liverpool Close In On Arsenal Man

Liverpool appear to be leading the chase for Arsenal left back Gael Clichy as the French international continues to struggle to resolve his contract dispute with the club. The 25 year old defender will apparently not now iscuss the issue with his North London employers until the end of the season and that has led many to believe that Arsene Wenger is not willing to compromise on his initial offer to the former Cannes man.

There seems little chance Clichy would move to hated rivals Tottenham, not after eight years and 250+ appearances for the Gunners and the talented wide man is apparently open to the idea of staying in the Premier League if big moves from Abroad are not forthcoming.

Italian giants Juventus are reportedly willing to pay as much as €20m (£17.2m) for the experienced Toulouse born full back and Liverpool may have to match that offer, which may seem steep for a player who will have a year left to run on his contract come the summer, but we are talking about arguably one of the best players in his position in Europe and the price is still less than the Merseyside club paid for Glenn Johnson.

Clichy may not be keen on a move to Turin though as the club is in something of a crisis at present and may well finish outside the European qualification places altogether. Liverpool are looking for a new left back as they look to offload Emiliano Insua and Paul Konchesky, the aforementioned Johnson has been played out of position on the left but is clearly more suited to the right side where his place seems in the balance given the great form shown by youngster Martin Kelly.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has also been linked with moves to offload under performing members of his squad including Manuel Almunia, Nicklas Bendtner and even Andrei Arshavin who is attracting interest from his former club Zenit St Petersburg.

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