Nasri to Manchester City: on, on, on ... off?

Samir Nasri’s long-awaited move from Arsenal to Manchester City has hit a hitch after a breakdown in negotiations over an agent’s payment.

After a summer of suitably epic rumours and counter-rumours, Nasri had been expected to complete his move to the Etihad Stadium earlier this week, with a transfer fee of around £23m said to have been agreed.

However, there were no further developments ahead of Friday’s deadline for this weekend’s Premier League fixtures – and there was widespread speculation the deal had fallen through when Nasri was named in Arsenal’s side for the lunchtime meeting with Liverpool.

And while it may still happen before the deadline on Wednesday week, there are reports emanating from French television station Canal+ that the proposed switch had been blown out of the water over an agent’s fee.

The latest development – if it is a development at all and not just another wretched smokescreen in the high-powered, low-scruples world of Premier League transfer negotiations – means that Nasri could stay at Arsenal for the rest of the season, which would prompt a wages bidding war for his services when his contract expires next summer.