Lassana Diarra is set to turn his back on north
London and move to the south coast:
Lassana Diarra is confident of completing a £5.5m move from
Arsenal to Portsmouth after his advisers held talks with the south
coast club yesterday. The midfielder, who has grown frustrated at
Arsenal because of a shortage of Premier League opportunities - he
has made only four starts - has sought assurances from Portsmouth
about his prospects for regular football.
He is encouraged by what he has heard and with the interest of
other English clubs failing to crystallise, notably that of
Manchester City, he is ready to commit to Harry Redknapp and
Portsmouth. His advisers listened to City's proposals at the end of
last week but the lines of communication to Eastlands have cooled
and, with Arsenal reluctant to sell to their neighbours Tottenham
Hotspur, whose manager, Juande Ramos, would love to sign Diarra,
Portsmouth have made their move.
The other Premier League club to show their hand for one of the
hottest properties of the transfer window were Newcastle United but
the turmoil over their managerial vacancy has meant that new
signings have been pushed down the list of priorities.
Diarra is desperate for first-team football because he believes he
has a genuine chance of starting for France in the European
Championship in the summer. He fears that if his status as a fringe
Arsenal player persists he may miss the opportunity. The France
manager, Raymond Domenech, has favoured Patrick Vieira and Claude
Makelele as a central midfield partnership but Vieira has had a
series of injuries and Makelele has struggled to command a regular
place at Chelsea. Whenever Diarra has appeared for France he has
impressed.
The 22-year-old went public with his grievances on the eve of the
league fixture last month against Chelsea, the club he left for the
Emirates on August 31 in a deal Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager,
said was worth £2m. Diarra voiced his astonishment that he had
played more regularly for France than for his club and alleged that
promises had been broken.
Wenger suggested that Diarra should knuckle down, that he deserved
to be at a big club and the rewards would come. Wenger does not
want to lose Diarra, who has shown his promise, most notably in his
performance in the Carling Cup quarter-final win at Blackburn
Rovers, but there has been a growing resignation at the club that
he is intent on leaving.
