Arsenal agreed to sell Samir Nasri to Manchester City on Tuesday, paving the way for the midfielder to join an expensively assembled squad already filled with attacking talent.
The French star, 24, will undergo a medical in Manchester this evening after he was left out of the squad to face Udinese tomorrow.
Departing the sinking ship- Samir Nasri
The two clubs have confirmed the transfer fee of £24m and personal terms have now also been agreed between the club and player, meaning the 24-year-old will be wearing a sky blue shirt if he passes his medical.
Nasri becomes the second Arsenal player to move to City this summer following the £7 million transfer of left back Gael Clichy.
It is understood Nasri, who joined Arsenal from Marseille in 2008 for a fee of £15.8m, will double his wages at City having rejected a new £90,000-a-week contract to stay at Arsenal.
Nasri’s departure leaves Arsenal without arguably their best player of last season, and his exit follows the recent loss of captain Cesc Fabregas. Amidst the uncertainty at Emirates Stadium, Arsenal have taken just one point from their first two league games, either side of an unconvincing 1-0 win over Udinese.
Arsenal must now head to Italy with a hugely depleted squad, protecting a fragile-looking 1-0 advantage as they attempt to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League.
Nasri trained with Arsenal this morning, fuelling speculation he would be in the team for the Champions League play-off in Italy. That would have cup-tied the midfielder, who started Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Liverpool.
Nasri is out of contract at the end of the season and has refused to sign a new deal, forcing the move through.
The attacking midfielder, who can play centrally or on either wing, scored 27 goals in 124 appearances for Arsenal since joining from Marseille in July 2008. Despite Arsenal’s failure to seriously challenge for the English league title, last season was Nasri’s most productive with 15 goals — 10 in the Premier League.
Nasri will be providing even more creativity for a City team already including the attacking talents of Spain midfielder David Silva, Bosnian frontman Edin Dzeko and Argentina forward Sergio Aguero thanks to Sheik Mansour’s investment of more than US$1 billion in three years as owner.
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, France, Gael Clichy, manchester city, roberto mancini, Samir Nasri, The Emirates Stadium, the Etihad Stadium
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