If Lassana Diarra is so good, why have Chelsea and Arsenal been so quick to cast him aside?
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Lassana Diarra signs for Portsmouth in January 2008
If newspaper talk is to be believed (and I don't pretend for even one second that it is all that often), we are told that Portsmouth enticed Lassana Diarra from Arsenal with the promise of a £60,00 per week pay packet which was enough to take the French midfield conundrum from yet another top four club in the space of only a few months.
Diarra's move from Chelsea to Arsenal for a reported £2 million was strange enough back in the summer of 2007 seeing as his Chelsea contract was running down and the club were making no moves to keep him despite being their 2005/2006 Young Player of the year. The promise of first team football at Arsenal again turned sour in a short period of time and in a truly Wenger-esque piece of transfer business, the Gunners sold Diarra on to Portsmouth for £5 million. Not bad getting a £3 million profit in only a few months for a player who only made seven first team appearances!
What Portsmouth have got however is a current French international who can play not only as a defensive midfielder but as a versatile cover in defence as well and despite his reported troublesome nature, I think Diarra could be a decent signing for the rest of this season at least as Pompey make a push for UEFA Cup qualification.
Diarra's move from Chelsea to Arsenal for a reported £2 million was strange enough back in the summer of 2007 seeing as his Chelsea contract was running down and the club were making no moves to keep him despite being their 2005/2006 Young Player of the year. The promise of first team football at Arsenal again turned sour in a short period of time and in a truly Wenger-esque piece of transfer business, the Gunners sold Diarra on to Portsmouth for £5 million. Not bad getting a £3 million profit in only a few months for a player who only made seven first team appearances!
What Portsmouth have got however is a current French international who can play not only as a defensive midfielder but as a versatile cover in defence as well and despite his reported troublesome nature, I think Diarra could be a decent signing for the rest of this season at least as Pompey make a push for UEFA Cup qualification.