Manchester City Set for Nasri Signing as Arsenal Reel
- By A.J. Ryder on August 23, 2011 15:37 GMT
It all appears to be done and dusted and some media outlets are even starting to question whether Arsenal are even a big club anymore. Having cleared out several of their most established players, and responded by signing Gervinho, Arsenal face a crunch Champions League second leg fixture against Udinese – who are certainly no slouches.
Manchester City certainly seem to be a side on the up, just as Arsenal show definite signs of turning into a mid-table club. Emergency reinforcements are desperately needed and, while Arsenal have been linked with a wide variety of quality players, nobody actually seems to be signing on the dotted line.
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The opposite trajectories of the two clubs involved in the Nasri deal couldn't be any more apparent. City are flying high atop the Premier League, albeit after only two fixtures, but Sergio Aguero and David Silva look to be forging an excellent partnership – bringing genuinely high-class football to Eastlands.
Oddly enough, Arsenal are still the favourites to progress in the Champions League despite Udinese being the favourite to actually win the match. The bookmakers have them as short as 4/11 to make it into the Champions League proper while the Italian side pay out a 2/1 margin. The host side are down 1-0 on aggregate but a single goal sends the fixture to extra time or penalties. The complexion of the match could change very quickly and Arsenal know this.
Udinese trade at 5/4 for the 90 minutes victory while Arsenal are priced at 11/5.
Unlike Arsenal, City have already qualified for the Champions League and they look to be taking a fair amount of money to actually win the thing. City find themselves priced at 9/1 to win the Champions League – making them only the fifth favourite behind Barca, Real Madrid, United and Chelsea. After City, the odds take a big jump to 18/1 for the likes of Milan. Bayern Munich are priced at 20/1.
A different landscape is emerging in the English Premier League and you can count on things getting even more complicated going forward – especially for Arsene Wenger.
