City trying to beat Arsenal to Gervinho
Published 00:10 11/06/11 By Darren Lewis - EXCLUSIVE
Arsene Wenger is facing his second big transfer snub in a week, with Manchester City set to grab £8million-rated Lille forward Gervinho.
The Arsenal boss lost out to Manchester United on Tuesday in the race for Blackburn defender Phil Jones. Now he is set to miss out again to the Reds' mega-rich neighbours, who have gazumped the Gunners in terms of the salary offered to Gervinho.
It is understood that, having agreed a fee with Lille, Arsenal were close to agreeing a salary package with the 25-year-old after making him an offer two weeks ago.
At that point, Gervinho was leaning towards becoming the north London club's first high-profile signing of the summer, having declared himself a big admirer of the way they play.
Since then, however, City have trumped the Londoners in spectacular fashion by handing the player a "substantially improved" offer of their own.
Sources close to the player have described City's offer as "huge" and insist it has left Gervinho on the horns of a massive dilemma.
Should Wenger lose the star to City, it would be a huge blow as Arsenal fans are growing increasingly impatient over the club's lack of big-name transfer activity in comparison to their Premier League rivals.
With Manchester United eyeing contract rebel Samir Nasri, Liverpool after Gael Clichy and Barcelona once again in for Cesc Fabregas, the loss of Gervinho from under their noses would increase supporters' frustration at Wenger's refusal to break the bank to compete with his top-four rivals.
Top 10 things you need to know about Gervinho plus video of him in action
