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‘Don’t go’, plea to Gunners stars
Toure urges team-mates to stay at club
KOLO Toure has pleaded with his talented Arsenal team-mates: ‘Please don’t leave us.’
The Gunners defender, who himself was considering a move away from the Emirates Stadium earlier this season, said on Saturday that keeping the squad together is a crucial challenge.
Although Arsenal turned around their form in time to beat Aston Villa and Everton to the fourth Champions League qualifying spot, another season without silverware has left fans fearing that pivotal players like Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie could decide that their futures lie elsewhere.
And Sunday’s 4-1 home drubbing at the hands of Chelsea can’t have helped team morale.
Toure said the team felt like it had to “start again” after losing some of their most reliable first-teamers last summer.
“Arsenal is a big club and we need to keep big players, and maybe add some more good players if we can,” said Toure. “I think that will bring us trophies.”
The current team is almost unrecognisable from the side that went unbeaten throughout the whole league season in 2004.
Toure, one of the few survivors from that celebrated line-up, said: “It’s really important that we stay together next year. Last season we had some good players, Hleb, Gilberto, Flamini, they were playing well but they left. It’s really difficult when they leave because you have to start again. That takes time so we need to stick together, and be strong as a team, and work together.”
Theo Walcott has committed his future to the club, signing a long-term contract last week, but Gunners fans would love similar commitments from others.
Boss Arsene Wenger has repeatedly said that while he may be more active in the transfer market than previous summers, his main priority is to keep the squad together.
Toure, whose topsy-turvy season saw him linked with Manchester City, told the matchday magazine: “I have been here a long time and when I saw some players leaving the club last year that was difficult for me. Then when we didn’t start the season well I was scared.
“You start to think that maybe the club don’t need you any more. But I came back. I love the club, nobody can say I don’t. I believe you can only truly love one club in your career and my club is Arsenal.” |
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