Advisers representing Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna are in talks with Manchester City over a lucrative three-year contract for the French full-back, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
#INSERT type:image caption:Manchester City is interested in giving Bacary Sagna a three-year deal when his Arsenal deal expires. END#
Sagna's current deal with Arsenal is due to expire in the summer, with Gunners manager Arsene Wenger persistently confirming he was hopeful that the 31-year-old would commit to a new two-year deal with the north London club.
Wenger suggested he was "hopeful" of a new deal for Sagna at the turn of the year, but he has been less positive about retaining the services of the full-back, who has been allowed to start negotiations with rival clubs since Jan. 1.
There were suggestions that Arsenal were hopeful of confirming a new deal for Sagna at the same time as Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosisky put pen to paper on their new deals in early March, but Sagna has continued to stall on his Arsenal future.
Now it has emerged that his advisers have been holding detailed negotiations with rival clubs, with Inter Milan president Erick Thohir confirming on Thursday that his club had been in negotiations with the experienced French defender.
However, Thohir went on to reveal Sagna had rejected the chance to follow Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic from the Premier League to Serie A and has instead opted to sign for another English club.
That club is looking increasingly likely to be Manchester City, and if Sagna completes a move to the Etihad Stadium, it will continue trend of Arsenal players moving to Manchester's top two clubs in recent years.
Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri are among those who have moved from Arsenal to City, while Robin van Persie completed a contentious move from the Gunners to Manchester United in the summer of 2012.
The Guardian's report suggests Sagna is earning a salary of 50,000 pounds per week at Arsenal, with the offer on the table from City likely to be substantially more as they could sign the French international without the outlay of a transfer fee.
Sagna joined Arsenal from Auxerre in 2007 for a fee reported at the time to be around 11 million euros, but he has failed to win a major trophy in his seven years at the club.