Samir Nasri wanted to Join Manchester United.

Arsenal’s Samir Nasri wanted to join Manchester United despite being on verge of Manchester City.

The Gunners midfielder had been linked with a move to Old Trafford but a switch failed to materialise, and he is now finalising a deal to take him to the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri is closing in on a deal to join Manchester City, despite hoping for a summer move to Manchester United.

City are expected to pay around £22 million to sign the Frenchman, who is entering the final year of his contract with the Gunners, but according to The Mirror, Nasri had told friends he wanted a move to Old Trafford.

Nasri will join a lengthy list of players who have made an exit from the Emirates this summer, including Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Eboue, Denilson and Gael Clichy.

Arsene Wenger now has just 12 days before the transfer window shuts to spend the money the Gunners have accrued from these sales.

Rumours of moves for Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Gary Cahill have been rife, and Wenger has insisted he will spend up to £40m if the right players are available.
                                                         
                                                                                 Source:Goal.com

Wesley Sneijder is reportedly willing to lower his wage demands in a bid to resurrect a potential switch to Premier League champions Manchester United.

Reports in Italy on Sunday suggest the 27-year-old is so desperate to leave Inter Milan that he is willing to take a hit on his reported £200,000-a-week (Dh1.2m) wage in order to seal a switch to Old Trafford.

United have been heavily linked with Sneijder all the summer as they a replacement for the retired Paul Scholes, with the club's chief executive David Gill doing little to quell the speculation last month when he admitted United were keen to add a "world class" player to their ranks.

But a reported £35million (Dh210m) asking price coupled with his exorbitant wage demands had put United off a deal with the club reluctant to shell out for a player with little to no resale value and the fact he is also unproven in the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson this past week said he is "happy" with his current squad and talked up the potential of young midfield duo Tom Cleverley, so impressive in his 45 minute cameo in the Community Shield and Paul Pogba, the 18-year-old midfielder who was an integral part of United's FA Youth Cup winning side last season.

“You can forget anyone you like," Ferguson said when quizzed on whether his interest in Sneijder was no over. "I’m happy with the young players I’ve got."

“We’ve got Darren Fletcher to come back and Michael Carrick who tends to develop more around November and December. And there’s the young boy Paul Pogba who’s showing great promise for us. We’re quite positive about him.

“When you take that roll call of players, I’m certainly not looking to add to that. There is an emphasis on young players at this club and always has been. If they have the ability and the temperament there is only one thing you can do and that is play them.”

However, with Sneijder seemingly looking for an escape route out of Italy as he is unconvinced Inter can challenge for honours this season the former Real Madrid and Ajax star is ready to lower his financial demands. Whether that would be enough to tempt Ferguson and United to renew their interest in the Dutcman remains to be seen.

Having stumbled across this footage of Pogba in action for United's youth teams and reserves though, don't be surprised if that answer is a resounding 'no' with the tall, athletic midfielder, who has been compared to former Arsenal and Manchester City star Patrick Vieira, looking like a future Old Trafford favourite.

Spirit of the champion : West brom 1-2 Manchester United

Ashley Young's Premiership debut with Manchester United couldn't have gone better. The 25-year old winger from Aston Villa not only assisted on the club's first goal of the campaign, but he netted the game winner with under 10 minutes to play in regulation as well.

It is hard to believe that anything could be more important than getting the first win, but Young's budding relationship with Wayne Rooney is the most important aspect to take away from the match.

Rooney played a great ball out wide to Young with his heel early in the game, and Young fed it back to him just atop the box before Rooney put the Red Devils on the board for the first time in the new campaign.

Things slowed down from there though, and United actually conceded a goal to West Brom and stayed in a tie until the 81st minute.

Young took the ball from the left side, got into the box and around the defender with his speed before playing a ball across the net that ricocheted off the leg off Steven Reid and into the net for the game winner.

West Brom's Reid couldn't do anything about the ball, nor could keeper Ben Foster, but it was still a brilliant run by Young.

This dynamic duo will be key to United's success this season and Sir Alex Ferguson has to be happy with the squad he's put together heading into the year.

Young is a right-footed wing, but will play on the left for the Red Devils making runs into the box and sending crosses in for teammates on a regular basis. The one teammate who will benefit the most from his speed and playmaking ability will be Rooney, who can star up top all by himself.

This was just the beginning for Rooney and Young's success together, and only time will tell how good they can really be.