Tim wrote:
This is all about gut feelings, but I feel that it's too late with Nasri. He's had his head turned and only a blockbusting contract offer could make him change his mind, and even that might not be enough. £25m to City, get Mata, keep Cesc and look at strengthening the defence. Losing Nasri is not gonna be a major footnote in the history of our club.
Well if it's too late with Nasri then it's dead and buried with Cesc.
He does not want to be here and this is common knowledge.
The latest from Barca VP Josep Bartomeu is:
'The experience of the last few years and of last season shows us that we have right up until the last minute before the season starts [to sign players].
'We made signings very late last season. We have the best team in the world so we can afford to be patient. There is no rush, we have until the last moment.
Maybe he'll be forced to stay for another season, I hope so, but even then some of the benefit is derived from keeping him is damaged by the fact that his head is somewhere else.
Nasri leaving may be a footnote in club history, he's not been here long enough to have gained any lasting status or affection from the fans.
That doesn't mean that him leaving won't set a precedent.
If we don't compete on wages and if we continue to lose out on titles we're going to see what happened with Nasri this season happen with whoever else makes an impression in seasons to come.
This was a summer for strengthening and improving our current squad. People downgrading Nasri and diminishing his contribution to our campaign last season are forgetting that without his form, brilliance and goals in the periods when we were without van Persie and Fabregas we could have been in an even worse situation at the end.
Believing that we'll sign Mata and that he'll just slot in and do the same - I'm just not feeling that at the moment.
