Patrice Evra can’t keep his nose out can he? It has emerged that the Manchester United defender has repeatedly been tapping up Samir Nasri to quit Arsenal for Old Trafford.
The Telegraph says Nasri, as he enters the final year of his contract, has shown an desire to move on this summer, citing a lack of success at the Emirates as his reason for wanting to take on a new challenge.
And Evra hopes a word with international team-mate Nasri can help United beat rivals City to his signature. He said: “I’ve talked a lot with him in the holidays and told him how great it is to play for Manchester United and how important it would be for him to become one of the biggest players in the world.”
They report Evra saying: “I remember I made that little joke saying that he’s a prince now but if he wants to be the king then he has to join Man United. But that’s the reality – and I’ve told him that. I said, ‘If you want to win trophies, you have to come here’.
“In five years I’ve won 12 trophies and I don’t know if I’d have won more than that with another club. So I just told him the truth. I don’t know how negotiations are at the moment but he has a lot of clubs interested in him and he has to think.
“I just told him how good it would be for him coming here. He will have a nice welcome and I can help as well because I’m French. We’ve spoken a lot in the summer and also when we met up for friendly games with France at the end of the season. It was looking interesting but I don’t know, we’ll have to see.
“I don’t know how negotiations are at the moment, but he has a lot of clubs interested in him and he has to think. I just told him how good it would be for him coming here. He will have a nice welcome, and I can help as well because I’m French.”
Asked if any clubs had tapped up his players, AW told the Telegraph: “I would like to return the question to you. What do you think? We live in a realistic world. I do not want to assess what I cannot prove, but I know how things happen. It doesn’t necessarily go through the player or the agent, but I think it is a rule that has to be reviewed. It’s not really respected.”
In the Mail, discussing how many players would be coming and going at the Emirates before the closure of the transfer window, AW replied: “It’s not the number, it’s the quality. How many will leave the club? I said from the start I will fight to keep everybody. Nicklas Bendtner might go and Emmanuel Eboue might go. They can talk to clubs, but the rest I will fight.”
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