Arsenal on alert as Samba hints at Rovers exit

Arsenal's pursuit of defender Christopher Samba has taken a potentially decisive twist after the player told French paper L'Equipe that he wanted out of Blackburn - hours after Rovers manager Steve Kean said he would decide if and when  Samba (above) swapped Ewood Park for the Emirates.

The 6ft 4in centre back was heavily linked with the Gunners back in January before he apparently decided to stay at Ewood Park and signed a new contract. But now he has suggested that he is already in talks about a move away from Lancashire.

"I know there are discussions with some clubs," said Samba. "If a good opportunity arises, I want to take it. It is important that the club understands that I want to go one step further and I hope they don't put a stick in the wheels. I have been at Blackburn for four-and-a-half years and two years I have played in relegation battles."

Those sentiments rather make a mockery of Kean's earlier assertion on TalkSport. He said: "We don't have to sell him. He signed a five-year contract in the last window and he's one of the players we would like to keep... we are going to try and hold on to all our good players."

No such confusion at Manchester United where Ashley Young has been confirmed as Alex Ferguson's second big signing of the summer. The former Aston Villa winger passed a medical on Thursday signed a five-year contract with the champions. United paid £17m for the England man, the same amount of money they forked out for defender Phil Jones earlier this month.

It appears that Manchester City might hold on to their unsettled striker Carlos Tevez after Inter rubbished rumours that they were poised to sign the unhappy Argentine. Talking to the BBC, Inter sporting director Marco Branca revealed that much as they admire the 27-year-old hitman they just don't have the readies to facilitate a move.

"Tevez is a great player, a great character, but absolutely no," sighed Branca. "His salary means it is out of the question. The market is crazy at the moment and it is hard to compete... We don't have the same revenues from merchandise and match day as the English sides. We are looking for younger players now with great talent, who we can develop."

But it seems that City's great wealth might in fact win them the hand of Alexis Sanchez. Earlier in the week some of the more excitable organs were trumpeting the fact that the Chilean striker was "80 per cent" certain of signing for Barcelona. Now the Metro reports that Udinese are trying to force him to Eastlands in order to reap the biggest profit.

Apparently Barcelona are only willing to stump up £28m for the 22-year-old Sanchez, while City are promising to pay £35m with £4m to follow in bonuses. For that sort of money, Udinese are allegedly willing to do whatever it takes to make Sanchez a Sky Blues player.

The news isn't so good for the red half of Manchester with French sports daily L’Equipe reporting that 18-year-old Lens defender Raphael Varane is being advised by French legend Zinedine Zidane to join Real Madrid.

United have been trailing the teenager for ages, and Lens said earlier in the week that Varane was definitely going to be sold, but while the odds were on a deal with United the intervention of Zindane has changed all that.

The former French captain has strong links with Real and according to goal.com Zidane has promised Varane that if he moves to the Bernabeu he will play regularly and not end up warming the bench. The news, says goal.om, has "convinced" Varane to forsake Manchester for Madrid.

The rumour that Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner is off to Inter Milan is apparently like his shooting ability – wide of the mark. In fact, according to German rag Bild, the Dane is more likely to end up at Borussia Dortmund next season. They claim that the Bundesliga club are in negotiations with the Gunners to sign Bendtner with the German club trying to lower Arsenal's initial asking price of £9.5m.

Having said that, the German mag Kicker contradicts Bild by saying that Dortmund would only buy Bendtner if they could first find someone to make an offer for their Paraguayan striker Lucas Barrios. ·