Arsene Wenger will try to convince William Gallas to extend his Arsenal career 14 months after stripping him of the captaincy, reports the Daily Mail this morning.
As we know Gallas is out of contract at the end of the season and the 32-year-old France defender is free to sign a deal with a foreign club to move for nothing in the summer.
The paper says AW has a meeting scheduled with Gallas and his agent this month but is restricted by his own guidelines that players over 30 should be offered a contract extension of only 12 months.
‘Unfortunately, that is the rule here, except for the manager,’ said Wenger. ‘For a striker over 32 you can give only a year, but for a defender, we’ll see. I don’t know. William has been amazing the whole season. I have big respect for what he has done. I will meet his agents this month.’
AW added: ‘He wanted to do well as captain but what you respect is how well he responded when he was not captain any more. He does what you dream of as a manager, he plays well and does not talk.
‘At West Ham on Sunday, he is half-injured with a muscular problem and the physios tell me he might not play but he comes in and tells me he can. When he is 50-50, he plays.If you have the right attitude people will rate you. It is credit to him. He has maybe found his appetite again for the club.’
Elsewhere, the Sun says our shirt and stadium sponsors Emirates insist they will honour their 15-year £100million deal. Airline profits have been hit hard in the worldwide recession with a drop in demand and the hike in fuel prices, it says.
The Gunners and Emirates Airlines agreed the package in 2004. It has been suggested the club would renegotiate the shirt deal, which has five seasons to run.But Emirates will remain the Premier League club’s chosen backers and the company reiterated their commitment.
Emirates sponsorships manager Stuart Priestly said: “You can engage with 60,000 people at the Emirates Stadium and collectively a lot more. We want to work with Arsenal. I travel the world through my job and I can watch Arsenal wherever I am. The Emirates Stadium name always comes out.”
He added: “When you have a team like Arsenal, the way they play is very stylish, it’s a great mix. Everything about the relationship is very good.”
This morning’s Mirror suggests AW is tracking giant CFR Cluj striker Lacine Traore – dubbed ‘The New Adebayor’.
The 6ft 8in Ivory Coast marksman has made a huge impression in Romania and is understood to be on our glorious leader’s radar and the paper says scouts have run the rule over 19-year-old Traore and are understood to have been impressed by what they have seen.
The player has already lifted the Romanian Cup and the Romanian Supercup with his club. Traore has scored just six goals in 21 matches but is seen to be a player with the potential to be improved, just as Adebayor was when he was plucked from Monaco four years ago for £7million.
The Togo hitman was subsequently sold on to Manchester City for a staggering £25million. Traore would cost around just £5million and Cluj President Iuliu Muresan has confirmed Wenger’s interest in the player.
Muresan said: “We have been in contact with Arsenal but have not received any concrete offer. Four million euros is the fee we are looking for.”
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