Emmanuel Adebayor is heading to AC Milan or Barcelona

Matthew Day says Arsenal would be mad not to accept £15m for Emmanuel Adebayor as AC Milan and Barcelona eye up the Togolese forward.

Arsenal were playing the fool of the show when demanding £35m for Emmanuel Adebayor as AC Milan came sniffing.

Having halved their demands, however, Arsène Wenger may yet rid of the Togo forward for as much as £15m - a sum that should immediately be accepted by Arsenal.

Adebayor has frequently frustrated Arsenal fans with his poor finishing and equally pitiful attitude, though he showed numerous glimpses of brilliance last season, suggesting he could yet become the next Shevchenko. Milan are hoping for as much.

At 24, Adebayor still has age on his side but Wenger clearly believes that he has not progressed at a satisfactory rate. Cesc Fàbregas and Samir Nasri are two shining examples of talent that blossomed at an early age; meanwhile, Adebayor has stagnated as Arsenal search for a predator in front of goal to replace Henry.

With Barcelona also registering their interest, Arsenal might be looking at a tidy figure for a striker who has never managed to prove himself in the Premier League.

Arsenal could go for Roque Santa Cruz as a replacement - with the Paraguayan reportedly ready to leave Blackburn following manager Mark Hughes’s defection to Manchester City. Originally a target for Manchester United, Santa Cruz now looks London-bound after Sir Alex Ferguson reignited his interest in Tottenham hitman Dimitar Berbatov.

A summer of striker switching is set to commence.

David Villa is a target for Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona

Any lingering hopes Arsenal fans had of capturing Spain’s star striker David Villa have died, with the Valencia man’s transfer market price rising in the millions since his hat-trick against Russia.

That was followed by the winner against Sweden, and Valencia are now in an incredibly strong bargaining position. Los Che are set to ask for up to 40million euros for the former Zaragoza man, ruling out Arsenal who are again to avoid investing huge sums on a single player.

Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool now lead the chase for Villa’s signature. Barça are thought to be favourites, and with the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho heading for the exit, the club are looking for a new forward to lead the line and have identified Villa as their main target.

Villa has also told the News of the World that Chelsea and Liverpool interest him. Chelsea are ready to hand new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari an open chequebook while Liverpool’s level of funds is unclear following the splurge a year ago by Rafa Benítez. They would likely hold sway, however, as Villa is close friends with Pepe Reina and has demonstrated at Euro 2008 his great affinity for Fernando Torres. The pair have also formed a fantastic partnership for country.

Failing to capture Villa will leave Arsenal supporters disappointed, especially with Emmanuel Adebayor rumoured to be on the move and Cesc Fàbregas publicly stating that he would like his compatriot to join the club. Gunners fans responded positively to the quotes attributed to Villa last season, when the 26-year-old stated that Arsenal would be his preferred destination. However, with the North London side unwilling to splash the cash, Villa has turned his attention to two other members of the big four.

The bidding war for Europe’s most wanted striker is set to commence upon the end of the European Championships. With Valencia cash-strapped, the highest bid will be accepted despite the club’s obvious wish to keep him. With Villa’s departure virtually guaranteed, the only lingering question is over which of the top destinations El Guaje will eventually select.

Jens Lehmann will play for Stuttgart next season after leaving Arsenal

Jens Lehmann has never been one to slip through a game unobtrusively. Petulant, confrontational, aggressive and sometimes downright angry, has there ever been a goalkeeper who has been booked so much?

His exit from Arsenal was sad and protracted. Marginalised after a terrible start to the season by Manuel Alumnia, Lehmann’s departure has been inevitable for a number of months. And yet, while he is easy to caricature and scapegoat, and has been involved in a plethora of controversial incidents, one cannot deny he has been a very good ‘keeper for Arsenal. During his five years as a whole at the club, who has been his superior in the Premier League? Certainly Petr Cech and David James; and possibly Edwin van Der Sar. But that’s probably about it. Lehmann’s misdemeanors and histrionics are undeniable - but so too is his quality as a goalkeeper.

Lehmann had the near-impossible task of replacing David Seaman, such an outstanding servant of Arsenal. Overall, he certainly fared pretty well. In his first season, of course, Arsenal finished unbeaten. And yet Lehmann received scant credit, as his mistakes were dwelt upon in exhaustive detail. Every ‘keeper makes mistakes - and the nature of Lehmann means there is a tendency to overly dwell upon his - but to be in goal for every minute of their astonishing unbeaten season is testament to his quality.

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Here, Gallas talks to Nike about his strengths, his leadership, his own goal against Manchester United, and offers some top tips on the art of defending.

France’s defence has been extremely impressive in recent times, and Gallas will be part of the back four in Austria and Switzerland.

Watch the video below and post your views about Gallas - the defender and the captain - and France’s chances at Euro 2008 in the comments section below.

They won a dedicated training session with Wenger and Footballing World can exclusively bring you all of the hints and tips handed out by the mercurial Frenchman, with new videos added daily as they are released.

Wenger reveals his own, distinct training techniques as he trains several English players on how to improve their footballing skills. Perhaps it’s a suitable arrangement for the English national team in the future, who could do a lot worse than to hire Wenger as they sit out Euro 2008 in embarrassment.

His coaching credentials cannot be questioned, which leaves the question: rather than a lack of talented players, is it the lack of talented English coaches that is compromising the progress of the national team?

Watch the video below and leave your views in the comment box below.

And watch highlights from Wenger’s training: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEoA1tfeAQU

Do you agree with our selections? Who else deserves a mention? Have your say in the comments section below. And see our pre-season list of the seven star signings who we thought would rock the Premier League.

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Samir Nasri is heading to Arsenal for 12 million pounds

Arsenal are on the verge of capturing Samir Nasri, the Marseille starlet who has been in terrific form.

Amongst the best young players in Ligue 1 - in the same bracket as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa, both of whom are at Lyons - Nasri’s contract has a release clause of around 15 million euros, or 12 million pounds, and Arsène Wenger is keen to counter the anticipated loss of Alexander Hleb by signing the 20-year-old.

Nasri is also being targeted by Lyons, with a swap deal involving Ben Arfa mooted, but Arsenal are in pole position especially with Wenger’s French connection. The Marseille-born attacking midfielder is also thought to want to test himself in the Premier League having been part of the senior set-up in Ligue 1 for four years.

Like Benzema, Nasri has been compared with Zinedine Zidane. Both sons of Algerian immigrants and raised in a tough Marseille suburb, their creative talents on the field mean they have similarly commanded an instant starting place.

At the hub of a Marseille side that took third place on the last day of the season to earn a Champions League spot, his playmaking abilities came to the fore as the club recovered from a poor start to the campaign and a premature exit from Europe’s premier competition to finish behind only Lyons and Bordeaux.

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The Cesc Fàbregas Show: Nike Live was recorded in London on Tuesday evening, and included an array of special guests, interviews, competitions and entertainment.

The show, to be broadcast on Sky Sports 1 on Monday 19 May, was filmed in front of a 400-strong audience. The likes of Arsène Wenger, Philippe Senderos, Nicklas Bendtner and Paul Merson all made appearances, alongside some of Sky’s personalities such as Jeff Stelling and Chris Kamara, while Fàbregas himself was at the centre of the action.

The Spaniard competed in a Pro-Evo Soccer game with a member of the audience, answered a selection of questions and, finally, competed in a heading competition with Merson, Michael Thomas and Senderos in order to win the entire audience the new Arsenal kit, which is based on the 1988/89 season when Thomas rose to infamy.

More photos from the Cesc Fabregas Show

Cesc on Cesc

The programme was dominated by the life and development of Fàbregas, and he attributed his success to his parents - both of whom were present, along with his grandparents - and living in a small town, rather than a large city like London or Barcelona.

Born in the beautiful small town of Arenys de Mar and playing on the concrete-surrounded artificial field in Mataró, Fàbregas said he was spotted by Barcelona officials aged just 10. They then talked to his parents and a trial was organised. Aged 16, Arsène Wenger travelled to meet him in Spain and Fàbregas admitted he was taken back by the effort and words of praise from the Frenchman.

Fàbregas attributed hard work and a good temperament to his success, but was particularly thankful to Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira for helping him settle in.

Asked to reflect on his Arsenal career thus far, he said his fabulous effort against AC Milan in the Champions League this season was the most important goal he has scored, “I saw there were eight minutes left and just decided to shoot… it was important because no English team had won at San Siro before. It may have hit Adebayor on the way but it is my goal!”

He also told of one horrendous journey using London’s Tube network - the reason why his landlady handed him a Tube map to pin on his wall. Having got lost via the numerous lines, he planned on phoning roommate Senderos only to discover his mobile phone battery was dead. Having borrowed a fellow passenger’s phone, he asked the Swiss international to send a taxi - but after an hour’s wait and no cab, it was clear no one would be saving him, “I then asked a stranger for a lift, and he started asking me all sorts of questions… I said that I’m a footballer, that I had got lost and had no money.”

Eventually the questions became a little too personal for the Spaniard who admitted, “I opened the door and jumped out.” Having finally made his way home, he discovered his landlady had rung the police and that they were desperately searching for his whereabouts across North London. Hence, the tube map that hung large from his old bedroom wall.

Wenger on Cesc

Arsène Wenger was in good spirits and delivered an intriguing talk on how to snap-up young talent, affirming that “technical ability is developed between seven and 14 years of age… if you have no technique by 14, then you cannot make it as a footballer” before offering presenter Andy Goldstein a trial. Well, sort of.

“Between 14 and 17, the physical side must be developed… and the player must have the right temperament for the game… he must be right mentally,” said Wenger. He added that a prospective player missing any one of these three aspects would bear little chance of making it professionally.

Before the conclusion of the interview, Wenger lavished the praise on his young protégé Fàbregas, “I believe a midfielder reaches his peak between the ages of 25 and 30. At age 21, he is four years more advanced than most and he can certainly be the best midfielder in the world.”

Cesc on Villa

A member of the audience asked Fàbregas which player he would take from the Spain national team back from Euro 2008 to play for Arsenal. After little thought, and a lot of encouragement from the crowd, he stated with a smile, “Villa.”

Valencia striker David Villa has said recently that he sees his future elsewhere - and named Arsenal as a preferred destination. Fàbregas would relish such a move, “We are very good friends… I think Villa would be very good for Arsenal.”

The evening concluded with new Arsenal shirts being won by the entire studio audience after Fàbregas finally scored a header at the fifth attempt. And although heading is not his strongest point, his feet do more than enough of the talking on the pitch.

From left to right: Fabregas with his parents on stage; Fabregas’s mother participates in some banter with Jeff Stelling on Soccer Saturday; the audience awaits the introduction of Cesc Fabregas

Arsenal star Cesc Fàbregas will host his very own TV show on Sky Sports 1 - as previously revealed on this site - and Footballing World has a pair of tickets to give away for what promises to be an exceptional evening and a one-time only event!

The audience will be limited to just 400, but you and a friend could be part of it by answering the simple question below.

The exclusive event takes place at Sky’s studios in Wembley, London this Tuesday (13 May) with the doors opening at 6.00pm and the show beginning an hour later.

To have a chance of winning, send us the answer to the question below via e-mail - to mail@footballingworld.com - along with your address and telephone number. You must be 18 or over and have a proof of age to bring to the event (driving licence, passport).

What number shirt does Fabregas wear for Arsenal?

A. 2
B. 4
C. 6

Send your answer to mail@footballingworld.com by 6pm, Sunday 11 May.

Editor’s decision is final.

Address of location: Fountain Studios, 128 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley, London, HA9 8HP

Arsenal might run a tight financial ship, but their wage structure is costing them current and prospective players. Mathieu Flamini’s move to AC Milan was in part motivated by a superior contract offer from the Italians after Arsenal’s bid fell well short of what Flamini expected. Alexander Hleb is expected to leave the club for similar reasons, and while Arsenal don’t have a problem in attracting talented players to the club, when a player of David Villa’s calibre says he would like to join the club Arsène Wenger is forced to resist because he would crave too much money.

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