Football: Mancini hopes Nasri saga ends

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is optimistic that the club will complete the signing of Samir Nasri ‘very quickly’ as the Arsenal player edges closer to his departure from the club. Negotiations between the two clubs have rumbled on for several weeks and Mancini is keen to acquire the French international as quickly as possible. “I hope we can close it very quickly now, but I don’t know the last news about him because my concentration is on the game,” said Mancini. “But also because the market closes in the next 10 days.” Meanwhile, Mancini declined to expand on speculation that City may soon offload striker Emmanuel Adebayor to Spurs, saying only that it was ‘possible’ the Togolese international may be sold.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2011.