Sagna at loggerheads with Arsenal as he edges close to exit door

Mar 8, 2013 7:30:00 AM

Arsene Wenger is growing increasingly fed up with the attitude of the right-back after contract talks broke down, with PSG leading the chase to sign him in the summer

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Arsenal are ready to press ahead with selling Bacary Sagna this summer as his relationship with the club reaches breaking point, Goal.comhas learned.

The France international's attitude has been privately called into question by Arsene Wenger following the Gunners' offer at the end of last year of a 12-month extension to his contract that expires in 2014.

Sources have said that Sagna has cut an 'unhappy' and 'angry' figure in recent times, following the club’s failure to offer him a two-year extension and an increase on his £60,000-a-week salary.

It is understood that contract negotiations have now broken down and are unlikely to be resurrected in the coming months.

The 30-year-old has told team-mates that he expects to leave at the end of the season, with Paris Saint-Germain leading the chase for a player valued at between £8-10million.

The Champions League quarter-finalists are in the market for a new right-back and have placed the experienced Frenchman at the top of their shortlist.

Arsenal’s initial decision not to offer Sagna a long-term deal was based on a number of factors, including his age, his injury record after suffering two broken legs in a year and the player’s early season interview in which he criticised the club for selling Robin van Persie and Alex Song last summer.

The defender has done nothing to force a U-turn since the contract offer. He has delivered a series of mixed performances in recent months and his attitude in training sessions has also been called into question.

Goal.com can also reveal that Sagna is struggling to be fit for next Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Bayern Munich, where Arsenal face a momentous battle to overturn the German club’s 3-1 first-leg advantage.

The right-back has missed the last two games with a knee injury that has not responded to treatment over the last two weeks.

Although Sagna has another five days to prove his fitness, he is believed to be an unlikely starter in Munich.

His deputy Carl Jenkinson is also a doubt for the second leg after picking up a knock to his knee in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham last Sunday.

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