Want-away Gunners return

ARSENAL stars Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri are expected to return to pre-season training at London Colney this week despite the possibility that neither will be at the club by the time the Premier League season starts next month.

Fabregas, who has been on holiday in Spain, will return with the bulk of the senior squad tomorrow, with Barcelona still attempting to finally complete his transfer to the European champions.

A bid of around £27m (€29.8m) was rejected earlier in the summer but having received an improved offer last week, there is an acceptance at Arsenal that the long-running saga of their captain’s future is nearing a conclusion.

The player himself was quoted last week as being “calm and optimistic” about his future.

While the 24-year-old hopes he will be granted his wish to join the Catalan club where he started his career, he is not expected to risk his reputation at Arsenal by refusing to report back for training and will instead hope resolution is reached in negotiations before the Gunners depart for a mini-tour of Malaysia and China a week on Sunday.

Nasri’s situation is arguably more complicated, with Arsenal yet to receive a concrete offer for the France international who has entered the final 12 months of his contract and has indicated he will not sign a new five-year deal worth around £90,000 a week.

The 24-year-old is aware that Manchester United are expected to formalise their interest in him, while both Manchester City and Chelsea are monitoring the situation in the event that their pursuits of priority targets do not come to fruition.

Nasri is not due to return to London Colney until Thursday having been granted a few extra days’ holiday due to his involvement on international duty with France at the start of the summer. The midfielder, who has not won anything since moving to the club, was quoted over the weekend claiming his motivation is far from financial and, instead, centres upon a desire to win things.

“I don’t want to sign for a club where I wouldn’t be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn’t feel happy, just for the money,” he said. “We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else.

“Money has never been my motivation. I have always taken decisions from a football point of view. I am hungry for titles. I play football because I love this sport and want to feel the emotion of winning.

“We all need to get out of our comfort zone, to grow up and test ourselves.’’

Nasri’s comments have merely served to fuel suggestions that he is keen to move to pastures new. His compatriot Gael Clichy, another to have entered the final year of his contract at Arsenal, should complete a £7m move to Manchester City early this week.

However Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will hope to counter the apparent exodus of senior players from his first-team squad by completing the protracted £11m transfer of Lille’s Ivory Coast forward Gervinho and Velez Sarsfield midfielder Ricky Alvarez this week.