Arsene Wenger hopes the loss of Samir Nasri to Manchester City will bring his Arsenal players closer togetherThe Gunners boss wants his team to become more united with the midfielder on his way out of the Emirates & says he only wants players who are fully committed
Arsene Wenger wants his Arsenal players to fight back and show solidarity after agreeing to sell Samir Nasri to Manchester City.
It was announced on Tuesday that terms had been agreed between the two clubs for the midfielder, who has now travelled up north to undergo his medical.
But his manager has refused to be pessimistic despite Nasri's departure and believes his players could grow into a stronger unit as a result.“You are always concerned about the consequences it can have on the team," he told reporters.
“But it can as well have a positive consequence; if you are strong mentally you can increase the solidarity.
“We’ll have to fight more and that’s what you ideally want from strong mentally players.
“You cannot think only about one game in a season. The decision had a logic, that is of course business interest.
“But what you want is players who are completely committed to the long term to defend our chances."Wenger has come under increasing pressure for his dealings in the transfer market after allowing the departures of Nasri, captain Cesc Fabregas and left-back Gael Clichy without spending a lot of money on replacements.
But he has defended his transfer record and said it was impossible to have concluded the sale of Nasri any quicker.
“What you forget maybe is that it doesn’t depend only on us," he said.
“We wanted to sort all these cases out very early after the summer but it wasn’t possible and the pace is not only dictated by us unfortunately.
“I’ve bought some great players as well. We have brought in [Alex] Chamberlain, you will see that he will be a great player, Gervinho as well, but we want ideally more.
“My job is to my best for the club and that’s what I’ll do, with complete belief in the team, in the players I have available and that’s the best opportunity to show as well that we are as well good enough to fight for this club.”The sale of Nasri comes just a day before Arsenal take on Udinese in the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.
They travel to Italy with a 1-0 lead but have only been able to take a depleted squad due to injuries and the recent sales
However, Wenger has backed the players who are going on the trip to show their quality against the side who came fourth in Serie A last season.
And he said failure to qualify for the Champions League would not be the crisis which many seem to have suggested it would be.
“The match is not critical. It’s for us an opportunity to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League and so it’s a good opportunity," he said.
"I think we can only do it with the players we have at the moment.
“They are good enough to achieve that and therefore after that we will see what we can do."
Finally, Wenger said that the loss of key players had not made him feel more pressure now than at any other time during his managerial reign at Arsenal.
He added: “Not more, not less, it is exactly the same pressure as always.”
http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2011/08/23/2632783/arsene-wenger-hopes-the-loss-of-samir-nasri-to-manchester
