Bacary Sagna has been at Arsenal since 2007.
The Frenchman has been described by Arsene Wenger in the past as the Premier League’s best right-back and has established himself in this position for Arsenal since his arrival from Auxerre.
Sagna has had his ups and downs in the past seven years at Arsenal but seems to have found a new lease of life this season with his previous one not being the exactly his best for the Gunners.
But the 30-year-old’s contract is set to expire in just over five months time and although reports claim talks over extending his stay at Arsenal are underway, the France international has yet to put pen to paper – leaving us to think his time may well be up.
An initial offer was tabled by Arsenal but Sagna supposedly rejected it, as it is believed the experienced full-back wants more than a one-year deal and is asking for around £100k-a-week.
Tomorrow is transfer deadline day, and I highly doubt that we will see Sagna leave the club before the window shuts. So it appears he will either stay or we will lose him on a free at the end of the season if a deal cannot be agreed before now and then.
But can we afford to lose such an established player?
He may not be as agile and quick off the mark as he used to be but he is a very good defender on his day.
At the end of last season I thought his time was up and was endorsing the idea of Carl Jenkinson taking over from the Frenchman. However, Jenko still lacks experience and has a lot to learn before he can make this position his own, and Sagna has showed me this season that he is still a valuable part of this team.
Having said that, I don’t think the club should bow down to his reported demands of £100k-a-week – he’s good but he’s not that good.
I would like to see him sign a new deal and stay purely to give those around him advice, especially Jenkinson.
But Arsenal have once again let one of their established player’s contract go down to the wire and have, as a result, put themselves in a very compromising situation. Sagna now holds all the cards and if the club really want him to stay then they will give him what he wants which is a shame really.
Unless we find a suitable and ready-made replacement for the seasoned right-back, I don’t think we can afford to lose him.
You wanna bet?
We lost Thierry Henry, Vieira, Gilberto, Fabregas and then latest Van Persie. Look, we are still here, struggling but still in the mix. So who is Sagna? Its a setback ofcourse but we’ve there before and we will recover. Its just that Wenger has a tendency to fuck up properly in between brilliant acquisition and grooming his own players.