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We pretty much all want Bacary Sagna to retire at Arsenal. Not now, certainly, but when his career is done and dusted, and he has no more left to give. Arsene Wenger certainly is on the list of people who would prefer he stay:
We try to secure Sagna’s [deal] because he is a very important player. He is fully committed and will be as long as he stays here.
But his contract "saga" drags on and on, and we get nervous. According to a few sources, though, it may be nearing a positive close. Here's Duncan Castles (who we've had words with before):
Arsenal's contract offer to Bacary Sagna is a 3-year-deal at £80,000 a week. #AFC #FRA #repost http://t.co/d7C8THDhlp
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) January 27, 2014
This morning, a France Football report was circulating that said essentially the same thing.
France Football: Sagna will stay at Arsenal until 2017. New 3-year deal worth £80k-a-week. #AFC pic.twitter.com/Z5fWyJWUwp
— Samuel (@samuelj29060) January 28, 2014
Good luck reading that. Here's a link to the whole magazine, if you like.
Castles' reputation is not iron-clad around these parts, and as a Twitterer noted, the France Football note is from a "gossip" piece. But with two reports from different places saying the same thing, either A) they're getting their information from the same place, or B) they're right. I'll hope for the latter.
And for what it's worth, Sagna has not lately sounded like a guy with one foot out the door. The Standard recently ran an interview with the fullback, wherein he emphasized the team's desire to win something not just for themselves, but for their manager.
[Wenger] has faith in us and that transmits to us. Every time I lose a game I feel bad because he trusts us. When you do not give something back when someone trusts you, it is quite embarrassing. If we win, it is for the players and the supporters but for the manager as well because we have let him down for a few years and he deserves to recognised as one of the best.
That's not exactly a pledge to stay, but it certainly isn't something you would expect to hear from a player desperate to leave. It's easy to read too much into one interview or another, though, so with all that said, I'll still place "Sagna is signing a new contract" in the "man, I hope so, but we'll see" bucket.
