Alan Pardew slams Arsenal over Yohan Cabaye bid as Arsene Wenger eyes Micah Richards move
Alan Pardew slams Arsenal over Yohan Cabaye bid as Arsene Wenger eyes Micah Richards move
Gunners may miss out on Newcastle's French midfielder while
Wenger looks at bolstering defensive options with bid for Manchester
City's full-back
Rejected: Arsenal's first bid for Yohan Cabaye has been turned down
Getty
Fuming Alan Pardew last night blasted Arsenal’s £10million bid for French midfield star Yohan Cabaye.
The Newcastle boss was visibly rattled before Toon’s horror show at Manchester City when asked about the approach, which was rejected.
Pardew
left out Cabaye at the Etihad, suggesting the offer had unsettled the
player. “What I can confirm, on the eve of a game, is we’ve had a bid
for one of the players which we don’t think is acceptable,” said Pardew.
“Therefore
I have to pick a team that I think is going to get a result. The rights
or wrongs of that bid I will leave others to think about – but I know
what I think of it.”
Arsenal are set to go back with an improved
offer after having their bid was rejected by Newcastle but it is also
believed Cabaye would prefer a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Gunners boss Wenger
is also interested in Manchester City's Micah Richards as Arsenal look
to solve their injury crisis and start splashing their cash after their
nightmare start to the campaign.
Richards, 25, is an Arsenal fan
and would be interested in a move if it meant he got more games in a
World Cup year. Arsenal are looking for a right back which would allow
Bacary Sagna to switch to centre half as cover.
They made their
bid for France midfielder Cabaye on Friday after Mikel Arteta was ruled
out with a torn thigh muscle which is now expected to keep him out for
eight weeks.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also out for four months
after scans yesterday came back with the full extent of his knee
ligament damage. That is a hammer blow for Arsenal and also for England
boss Roy Hodgson as it rules him out of the rest of the World Cup
qualifying campaign.
It heightened the need to buy with less than a
fortnight left of the transfer window as their injury list mounts while
the fans are frustrated that they have not signed a big name striker.
Incredibly,
Wenger has still not given up on Luis Suarez despite him seemingly
making peace with Liverpool while Arsenal have also sounded out Wayne
Rooney's representatives. Arsenal fan Micah Richards is in Wenger's sights
Getty
They are their first two striker options while Swansea's
Spanish striker Michu is a back-up and an enquiry has been made about
his availability while there is a deal in place for defender Ashley
Williams with Wenger just needing to give it the green light. Former
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, now at Juventus is another
option.
But finally it would appear that Wenger has been forced
into action by the protests of fed-up fans and also pressure from the
Arsenal board who have given him £70m-plus to spend.
Wenger is
still clearly determined to drive a hard bargain on Cabaye with
Newcastle rejecting their first offer out of hand which will bring back
memories of their failed attempts to land Suarez.
The bid for Cabaye brought a hilarious snub from Mike Ashley who made a joke of Arsenal's bungled transfer policy.
Arsenal's
transfer fixer Dick Law, who has yet to land any of their big targets,
rang Ashley offering £10.2m and the Newcastle owner quipped: "Which bit
of him do you want to buy?"
The joke went over Law's head as he
replied: "No, we want to buy all of him. The player wants to play for
Arsenal." Ashley claimed they would only start talking at £20m and hit
back: "He may want to play for Arsenal but he's got three years left on
his contract here."
Arsenal fly out to Istanbul today with
slightly better injury news as Bacary Sagna - who suffered a neck injury
against Aston Villa on Saturday - has a "50-50 chance" of being fit.
Tomas
Rosicky, Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey are all fit while Jack Wilshere
is likely to play even though Wenger had considered resting him to spare
him for Fulham on Saturday to avoid him playing too many games with him
still short of full fitness.
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