Man City seem set to bag Samir Nasri. West Brom on the verge of capturing Shane Long and boost their forward options. Joey Barton returns to twitter to suggest he’s back in the Newcastle first-team. A throat infection puts a question mark against Frank Lampard’s availability. Liverpool sweat on defensive fitness and Carlos Tevez does what he said he’d never do, and returns to Manchester. Here’s this morning’s Scribbles:
Roy Hodgson is close to sealing a deal for Reading’s Shane Long. A £7 million fee is being reported – that would be a record outlay for the Baggies. Hodgson has been pursuing Long all summer and has stepped up his bid for the 25-goal striker with Peter Odemwingie still struggling with an ankle problem. Long could be installed by the weekend and line up against United, if not we can expect Hodgson to turn to Somen Tchoyi to lead the attack should Odemwingie fail to make it.
Reports suggest that Glen Johnson will miss Liverpool’s clash with Sunderland at the weekend following the thigh injury sustained against Valencia last weekend. Johnson was replaced after just 7 minutes and now faces a fortnight on the sidelines. Kenny Dalglish now looks set to hand the full-back roles to youngsters Martin Kelly, John Flanagan and Jack Robinson – Fabio Aurelio is an option at left-back but the Brazilian has played just 45 minutes in pre-season an may not be risked.
Martin Skrtel is also looking unlikely to make Saturday’s game – he has returned to light training but remains a doubt with Dan Agger set to partner Jamie Carragher in central defence. There’s better news on Luis Suarez, who, according to the reports, will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of the Black Cats’ visit.
Frank Lampard yesterday withdrew from Fabio Capello’s squad for the now-aborted friendly with Holland with a throat infection. Lampard joined a string of absentees with Jack Wilshere and Michael Carrick also dropping out through injury. Fantasy managers will be mildly concerned about Lampard’s prospects for the weekend but, right now, we should expect the Chelsea stalwart to make a recovery and line up at Stoke on Sunday. The slight doubt will however likely boost the appeal of Florent Malouda as Chelsea’s midfield option for our squads.
Newcastle are on the verge of completing the signing of United’s French winger Gabriel Obertan. The player has completed his medical and seems set to put pen to paper on a five-year deal. Magpies’ boss Alan Pardew has been enthusing about the pace Obertan will inject into his side although in Fantasy terms, we should perhaps be cautious about the prospects – the 22 year-old boasts just 4 goals in 83 senior appearances.
Staying on Tyneside, Joey Barton has announced via his notorious Twitter stream that he’ll be lining up for Newcastle against Arsenal on Saturday evening…
“Looking forward to Arsenal on Sat, I’ll be playing….”
Barton did return to first team training yesterday as Pardew’s squad prepared for the visit of the Gunners and swiftly followed up that initial tweet with…
“That comment was not literally to be taken on board…. Know (sic) one knows the team yet.”
Back tracking from Barton who no doubt immediately regretted that little insight into Pardew’s thinking ahead of the weekend. From a Fantasy perspective Barton’s inclusion would come as a surprise; many Fantasy managers will have abandoned the midfielder as a prospect – certainly we removed him from our Members Projections whilst his future at the club remained in doubt.
Reports in a number of this morning’s newspapers suggest the Samir Nasri to Man City move is nearing completion. The Arsenal midfielder is out of contract next summer and with City rumoured to be offering up to £25m for his services, the Gunners look like finally accepting. Nasri missed Arsenal’s trip to Benfica at the weekend, with Arsene Wenger claiming a muscle injury kept him out of the running but the player has joined up with the France squad and will play in his country’s midweek friendly against Chile.
Nicklas Bendtner is another Gunner on the verge of an exit. Speaking at Hampden Park ahead of Denmark’s training session in preparation for the Scotland friendly, the Dane was asked if his days at the Emirates are nearing an end and replied :
“Yes. I have done my part as well as I can and it’s up to Arsenal now to sort it out, I can’t do anything more.I can’t say anything about who I have been speaking to, but hopefully it will all get sorted out soon.
While the focus is mainly on player departures, Arsenal snapped up the prodigious talents of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain yesterday. The youngster arrives at the Emirates on a long-term, undisclosed deal and follows the path tread by Theo Walcott by moving to the club from Southampton. Perhaps not the signing many Gunners fans had anticipated in light of the possible Nasri and Cesc Fabregas departures, however the 17 year old is very much an Arsene Wenger-type player, with the Arsenal boss saying:
We are delighted that Alex has decided to join us. He is an exciting young player who will provide us with creativity and offensive quality. Alex is a versatile player who can play in a number of positions. He can play as an attacking centre midfielder, or wide left and right. Alex is a perceptive passer of the ball and has a great understanding of the game and looks to be a very good team player.
Buoyed by a goalscoring performance that helped launch Man United’s Community Shield comeback on Sunday, Chris Smalling has vowed to push on and grab more game time in 2011/12. The defender said yesterday:
This year the aim is to really kick on and play more. Hopefully I can start to get some more games at centre-back. But if the manager feels that I can play the odd game at right-back then I’ll help if I can contribute.
Smalling, of course, played at right-back at the weekend and Phil Jones has also played in the position over the pre-season. With Smalling reckoning Sir Alex Ferguson will give his youngsters more chances this season, his ambitions may well be realised.
After telling an Argentine chat show he’d never return to Manchester, Carlos Tevez arrived at Man City’s training ground yesterday. With the player now back in the country, Fantasy managers will be hoping Roberto Mancini can persuade his talisman to put his differences with the club aside as next Monday’s home clash with Swansea edges nearer.
