Arsenal, Liverpool Interested In Joey Barton

In a bizarre twist, Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing disgruntled Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton and have even tabled a 1.5 million pound bid for the same. The player has also been linked with a move to Liverpool where he is wanted by Kenny Dalglish.

Barton on his way to Arsenal?

Barton is far from happy with the current state of affairs in Tyneside, where a minor player exodus looks on the cards owing to Mike Ashley’s stringent contract negotiating rules set in place. Captain Kevin Nolan has already left for West Ham after a disagreement over the length of his contract, and many players including Barton have expressed their dissatisfaction over this.

It has already been revealed that Barton is not being offered a new contract at Newcastle, and the player had publicly admitted that it would be difficult for him to resist if an opportunity to play in the Champions League presented itself. He said-

“If someone came in and, hypothetically, offered me Champions League football, whether I’d signed a five, six or seven-year deal at Newcastle, I’d have to consider it.”

Arsenal certainly fit the bill in this regard and Barton should jump at the chance to play at a top club, if Newcastle agree terms with the Gunners over the midfielder.

However, Arsenal is one club that Barton has had a very iffy relationship with over the past few years. The training ground bust-up he had at Manchester City with Osumane Dabo angered most of Arsenal’s French contingent, with Clichy and Sagna publicly blasting Barton over his actions and Nasri famously tripping him in an off-the-ball incident in Newcastle’s game with Arsenal, in the 2008-09 season at the Emirates.

In further unpleasantness, Barton was the perpetrator of a dangerous tackle on Abou Diaby last season at St. James’ Park, which led to the lanky Frenchman losing his nerve and pushing Barton to the floor. This got him sent off and the match ended up in a historic 4-4 draw.

Barton has previously mocked Arsenal in the press, telling them to ‘go and play baseball’ if they were afraid of contact sports. All this vitriol notwithstanding, it seems like mutual need will trump all. Because Arsenal certainly need some bite in midfield and there’s perhaps no one with more bite than Barton. And Barton needs to get out of Newcastle and move forward with his footballing career.

In case the Arsenal move does not come to pass, Kenny Dalglish will be ready to swoop in and buy the player for Liverpool, who are also interested. Stay tuned to find out if this is just smoke, or if there’s a flame crackling somewhere too.