Galatasaray attempt to prise Sagna away from Arsenal with massive £4m-a-year deal



Frenchman is out of contract in the summer, currently on £3.6m per year

Sagna offered £4.1m per season after tax to play in Turkey

Arsene Wenger has spoken of his desire to tie Sagna down at Arsenal

Right-back has played 17 times in the league for the Gunners this term

Bacary Sagna has been offered a massive £4.1million per season after tax to join Galatasaray in the summer.

The Arsenal right back is out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to agree an extension on his current £3.6m deal.

Sagna is free to begin talks with foreign clubs regarding a potential free transfer and the Turkish giants have been quick to register their interest.

Comfort cash: Sagna has been offered a huge £4.1million per season after tax to join Galatasaray

Stay or go? Manager Arsene Wenger talks with defender Sagna before a training last week

They hope to lure Sagna with the security of a four-year contract and a huge pay rise.

The France defender, 30, who is also interesting Fenerbahce, Paris St-Germain and Monaco, has been involved in a long- running contract wrangle with the Gunners.

The club’s original offer of a 12- month extension, on the same salary, was dismissed last season.

Arsenal have returned with a new offer of a two-year extension, again on the same money, but there remains a reluctance to agree to those terms.

Manager Arsene Wenger has spoken of his desire to tie Sagna down to a new contract.

Wenger also said Theo Walcott will miss the World Cup but will come back stronger than ever.

Mainstay: Sagna is still a regular for Arsenal, and has played 17 league games this term for the Gunners

Wenger said it was ‘unbelievable’ that Walcott picked up a knee injury in a World Cup year after being called up by England prematurely in 2006 and then left out of Fabio Capello’s 2010 squad, but believes it will not cost the player any of his pace.

Wenger insisted the 24-year-old is young enough to recover fully from the injury sustained in Arsenal’s FA Cup win over Tottenham last week, but ruled out trying to rush him back in time for the World Cup in Brazil.

‘I’m convinced (Walcott can come back from this),’ said Wenger. ‘Studies show that the players around 25 with that kind of injury come back as normal. When you are over 30, you do not ever come back exactly the same. But between 25 and 28 you come back to the level you had before.

Friends: Sagna would be joining former Chelsea star Didier Drogba (right) at the Istanbul-based club

‘He has said to me he is under shock but he will fight as ever to come back. He is strong mentally and, if you look at his career, he has had a few setbacks.

‘To go, at 17, to a World Cup and afterwards to be left out in South Africa was a massive blow and he always recovered.

‘He went to the World Cup when he was not ready to go and, when he was ready to go, he was not selected. Then, the first time when nobody disputes that he will go, he is out through injury.

Desperate: Arsenal boss Wenger has spoken of his desire to tie down Sagna on a new contract

‘There are always people who make miracles but on cruciates we know that the minimum time is six months.’

Wenger is also confident Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud can compensate for Walcott’s absence, but would not rule out venturing into the transfer market this month.