Lassana Diarra is set to turn his back on north London and move to the south coast:Lassana Diarra is confident of completing a £5.5m move from Arsenal to Portsmouth after his advisers held talks with the south coast club yesterday. The midfielder, who has grown frustrated at Arsenal because of a shortage of Premier League opportunities - he has made only four starts - has sought assurances from Portsmouth about his prospects for regular football.He is encouraged by what he has heard and with the interest of other English clubs failing to crystallise, notably that of Manchester City, he is ready to commit to Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth. His advisers listened to City's proposals at the end of last week but the lines of communication to Eastlands have cooled and, with Arsenal reluctant to sell to their neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, whose manager, Juande Ramos, would love to sign Diarra, Portsmouth have made their move.
The other Premier League club to show their hand for one of the hottest properties of the transfer window were Newcastle United but the turmoil over their managerial vacancy has meant that new signings have been pushed down the list of priorities.
Diarra is desperate for first-team football because he believes he has a genuine chance of starting for France in the European Championship in the summer. He fears that if his status as a fringe Arsenal player persists he may miss the opportunity. The France manager, Raymond Domenech, has favoured Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele as a central midfield partnership but Vieira has had a series of injuries and Makelele has struggled to command a regular place at Chelsea. Whenever Diarra has appeared for France he has impressed.
The 22-year-old went public with his grievances on the eve of the league fixture last month against Chelsea, the club he left for the Emirates on August 31 in a deal Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said was worth £2m. Diarra voiced his astonishment that he had played more regularly for France than for his club and alleged that promises had been broken.
Wenger suggested that Diarra should knuckle down, that he deserved to be at a big club and the rewards would come. Wenger does not want to lose Diarra, who has shown his promise, most notably in his performance in the Carling Cup quarter-final win at Blackburn Rovers, but there has been a growing resignation at the club that he is intent on leaving.
