Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh is so desperate to join Arsenal that he is losing sleep over the move, which has stalled because the English Premier League club is refusing to meet the French team's asking price. Bordeaux have already turned down an offer of about £7.5 million (Dh46m) from the Gunners for Chamakh, and so far have refused to sell him to other Premier league teams such as Sunderland, Fulham and Tottenham.
"My priority is Arsenal, but there are other clubs. If it's Arsenal, so much the better," Chamakh told Canal Plus television ahead of defending champions Bordeaux's opening 4-1 victory at home to Lens on Sunday, in which the Moroccan scored the third goal. "I am not sleeping as well as I normally do. I made my wishes known to the directors at the end of last season. I expressed a wish to join another league."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was reluctant to meet Bordeaux's initial asking price of £15m because the 25-year-old Morocco forward only has one year remaining on his contract. "I hope things will be sorted out, and that they will be sorted out very quickly. As much for Bordeaux's sake as for mine, my situation has to be clarified," Chamakh said. "I thought they [Bordeaux] would have made things easier for me." Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc does not want to lose Chamakh as he considers him crucial to Bordeaux's title defence. After the Lens match, Chamakh reiterated his desire to leave and urged Bordeaux's directors to "change their minds" and let him go.
Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud said last Wednesday that he could grant Chamakh his dream move to Arsenal if Wenger comes back with a better offer. Triaud said he would lower his asking price, but did not reveal by how much. * With agencies
