ARSENAL IN TALKS TO SELL TOURE TO CITY

Arsenal are on the verge of selling Kolo Toure to Manchester City.

According to The Times, City and Arsenal were last night locked in talks over the defender's proposed transfer. There must have been a sense of déjà vu during the negotiations: just two weeks ago, Arsenal sold Emmanuel Adebayor to City for £25m.

In this case, a fee of £14m is expected to conclude the deal, with City reported to be confident that the transfer will be finalised this week. For their part, Arsenal are likely to consider £14m good value for a 28-year-old defender who is in the final year of his contract at the Emirates. However, his departure to a club poised to challenge Arsenal's position in the top four is equally likely to raise fresh doubts about the club's direction and financial strength. - Football365.com

If we sell him, we definitely don't know how to hold on to players. We can't let everyone go or sell them. These are crucial & important players for the atmosphere of the team.

JUST IMAGINE! ONLY 14 MILLION POUNDS FOR TOURE? ? ? WHAT DO THEY THINK? I GUESS TOURE IS WORTH MUCH MORE BETTER THAN ADEBAYOR... IF THEY PAID 25 MIL POUND FOR ADEBAYOR, I THINK TOURE ATLEAST DESERVES A PRICE TAG OF 30 MIL POUNDS!


P.S : DONT LEAVE US TOURE ... WE NEED YOU...

ARSENAL have told Manchester City that Kolo Toure will not leave on the cheap, after talks over the defender’s proposed move to Eastlands opened yesterday.

Having finally missed out on Chelsea captain John Terry, City immediately turned to Gunners centre-back Toure and are confident of sealing a deal this week.

Toure is keen on the chance to link up with former team-mate and close friend Emmanuel Adebayor again and all that remains is for the two clubs to agree on a fee, with Arsenal determined to get top dollar.

City tried to sign Toure, 28, for just £8 million in January, but have now offered £12m six months later.

Arsenal negotiated a £25m fee for Adebayor, however, and are trying to push City closer to £20m for Toure – even though manager Arsene Wenger is happy to let him leave.

Toure initially became unsettled when City made their first move and later admitted he did not get on with team-mate and central defensive partner William Gallas.

Wenger has a ready-made replacement for Toure in the form of £11m summer signing Thomas Vermaelen and is acutely aware Ivory Coast defender Toure has only one year remaining on his contract.

Despite rumours he had not trained with the rest of his team-mates, Toure last night started Arsenal’s pre-season friendly against Hungarian side Szombathelyi Haladas alongside Johan Djourou.

City’s signing of Toure will please Adebayor, who praised the defender’s qualities at the weekend and rated him as a good alternative to Terry.

“Kolo is a very good friend of mine and he is one of the top defenders around this league,” said Adebayor.

“He has been playing in the league for seven or eight years, he knows it well and if they managed to get him he can do a job.

“We all know how good Kolo Toure is and I think the club need one more good defender like him or John Terry. We all hope that it comes soon.”

Toure’s departure is unlikely to stop Philippe Senderos leaving Arsenal, as Wenger will still have Gallas, Vermaelen, Djourou and Mikael Silvestre to pick from, and also sees Alex Song as a good option to come in at the back.

Fiorentina are still chasing Emmanuel Eboue, but striker Nicklas Bendtner claims he is not looking to head through the Arsenal exit door this summer.

AC Milan have been linked with a £10m move for Bendtner, while sources in Italy also claimed the Gunners have offered the Dane and £13m in exchange for Roma striker Mirko Vucinic, who has also been liked with Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Bendtner said, however: “As far as I know I am totally with Arsenal. This is where I want to be. This club is something special and I want to be a part of it.”

Arsenal remain interested in Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh as a replacement for Adebayor .

Chamakh, 25, played in Bordeaux’s 2-0 pre-season victory over Guingamp in Canada but said afterwards: “I don’t know if it was my final game, we will have to wait and see. ”

Eduardo marked his first pre-season appearance for Arsenal with two goals in their 5-0 rout of Szombathelyi Haladas.

Croatia striker Eduardo has endured an injury-plagued 18 months, but he brushed aside concerns about his fitness by scoring in the 24th and 40th minutes.

Bendtner also struck twice before the break, while Robin van Persie added a 66th-minute penalty.