Anelka problems set to continue

Arsenal director David Dein admitted yesterday that the London club had agreed to sell Nicolas Anelka to Juventus.

Speaking about the threat of a contract dispute in which the 20 year old French striker would attempt to buy out his Arsenal contract to push through a move to SS Lazio, Dein said Anelka had three choices only - Arsenal, Juventus or a strike.

Dein has been conducting negotiations with Lazio and Juve throughout the summer after Anelka made it clear he wanted to leave Arsenal following the collapse of a move to Real Madrid. Arsenal rejected an £18 million cash offer for Anelka from the Rome club last week and are holding out for their £22 million valuation of the player signed in 1997 for £500,000 from PSG.

Anelka insists he will now only play for Lazio and has refused to return to the Premiership club to start pre season training. He has sought advice from Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont about ways top break his contract with Arsenal to push through a move Lazio. Anelka has four years to run on his deal but Dupont won his last football freedon of contract case when he represented Jean Marc Bosman in a case which set a precedent for players at the end of their playing contracts to allow them freedom of movement. French national team coach Roger Lemerre and Lazio have advised the player to forget a long running legal dispute which could see at least a two year hiatus as the player seeks to clarify his contract arrangement with Arsenal in the European courts.

A two year or more absence from football, even for a young player such as the Frenchman, would wreck any large transfer fee and the player has also been considering strike action against the English club in a scenario which is starting to alarm the whole European game.

The British press has started to concentrate on doomsday scenarios in which clubs are forced out of existence by players demanding ever higher wages and who are free to quit their clubs at any time by serving notice to their employer. European governing body UEFA has been in discussions for two years with legal representatives in Europe to try and clarify the possible contract ramifications for the legal challenges players could make to their playing deals and the concept of a 'club' at all.

Clubs in Italy and England are now looking nervously at the Anelka dispute as the transfer saga drags on and on with no resolution. Anelka is refusing to consider a move to Juve and may now move to strike or take Arsenal to court to try and claim his contract with them is null and void. His argument would rest on Arsenal holding talks with other clubs to try and sell him but Lazio are still keen to sign him and the Rome club is set to enter more talks with Arsenal next week on an improved offer for Anelka.