Samir Nasri has come out in defence of Arsene Wenger, saying it is the players who should be blamed, not the manager.
His comments are interesting because it raises the question – was that also the problem when Nasri was an Arsenal player?
“You cannot criticise a guy like that, it’s impossible,” Nasri told Sky Sports.
“Arsenal was a big club but he made it even bigger.
“I just think that people need to be fair. It’s not because Arsenal doesn’t have success in the league that it is his fault.
“It’s the players on the pitch, it’s the players who don’t get the result.
“It’s hard for me to say something about him because I owe him a lot of things.
“I came to the Premier League because of him, I had a good career because of him too because he gave me confidence.
“He made me a better player and I just think all the players who have played with him, when they left they became better players.
“I don’t think it’s him, there’s a lot of things at Arsenal, the board, the players that need to be checked out, not just Arsene.”
Since leaving Arsenal, the Frenchman has come in for a lot of criticism for his comments about Arsenal fans, but he has always spoken this way of Arsene Wenger.
Nasri played the full 90 minutes of Sevilla’s Champions League last 16 first leg against Leicester on Wednesday night. He has two goals and two assists in 16 La Liga games this season, with three goals and two assists in 22 games overall.
His contract with Manchester City runs until 2019 however the Spanish side have a buy option in their loan agreement with Pep Guardiola’s side. His £140,000-per-week wages are being heavily subsidised by City and that could cause them a problem. As could the transfer fee.
Speaking about his future, Nasri told Onze Mondial in January, “I’ll see at the end of the season what’s best.
“If I’d wanted to stay [at City], I would have. Pep told me he wanted me to stay.
“I still have two years on my City contract. Sevilla have an option to buy me for £16m, which would be their biggest transfer ever.”
Their current transfer record stands at €15m (£12.69m) which they first paid for Alvaro Negrado from Real Madrid in August, 2009. They also paid €15m for Franco Vazquez at the start of last season.