William Gallas has reportedly been told by Arsene Wenger that he must apologise to his Arsenal team-mates if he is to stay with the club.
Wenger fined Gallas two weeks' wages and sacked him as captain on Friday in the wake of the defender's detailed rant against the conduct of his team-mates. Gallas was omitted altogether from the squad that travelled to Manchester City for Saturday's 3-0 defeat, prompting fresh speculation that he will be sold during January's transfer window.
Gallas, who trained alone over the weekend, has effectively been put on 'gardening leave'. It is understood that while Wenger told reporters in Manchester that "Gallas still has a future at this club" it is conditional on the 31-year-old offering a formal apology.
'Wenger still wanted Gallas to take his place in the Arsenal team for yesterday's trip to Manchester City, 'reports The Sunday Times. 'However, Gallas reacted furiously to losing the role of which he was so proud, telling Wenger that he believed his controversial comments to a French journalist were off the record. The outcome was that the defender stayed behind in London as his team headed north'.
The prospect of Gallas apologising seems remote, with the Frenchman described as a loner in the dressing-room.
'It is understood that he has not one ally among his mostly younger colleagues, a situation that has worsened since his good friend Thierry Henry moved to Barcelona,' the newspaper reports.
'Gallas has a particularly difficult relationship with Arsenal's Spanish midfielder, Cesc Fabregas. The pair had a dressing-room row last March after Arsenal had let slip a one-goal lead to lose at Chelsea, a defeat that dealt a severe blow to their title chances. The Frenchman is also believed to have had a row along similar lines recently with Theo Walcott, demonstrating the growing gap between him and Arsenal's tyros.'
Fabregas is the favourite to be appointed as Gallas' successor and the likelihood is that the saga will conclude with the defender returning to his native France when the transfer window reopens in six weeks' time.
Related Stories:
Hill-Wood: 'Gallas Has A Problem'
Your Comments
proxy
"If the comments were really "off the record" why would he have been so coy about the name of the player?"
MEHSTG
"Dear Magic_hat, I regret to announce that you failed your +3 English exam as you failed to identify all the errors on the passage. It should have read "they're rubbish" and not "their rubbish". Fooled once more by having to point out my spelling mistakes than raising a fottie argument! You Gooner!!! "
rubbishreferees
"just say sorry ya grumpy t**t... your crap anyway, be grateful."
goonerfazz
"I cant wait to see Gallas's ugly mug leave north london, BUT we need to replace him, Silvestre is a decent defender but has no organisation skills. Djourou is the same and clichy seems to have lost his confidence, Toure may hold the fort for the time being but if we are going to solve this problem we need to buy a decent defender. I'd say Silvan Distin would be ideal. I think things will get worse before they get better but ultimately i think we'll be ok."
topshout
"hahaha.... hahahaha repeat to fade"
gooner_17
"maybe the burden of not being captain will turn him into the good defender he once was and can occasionally be. Or maybe this will just knock sense into wenger that Toure should have someone like Van Bouyten or Mertsaker alongside him"
magic_hat
"MEHSTG - "buy the Spurs ladies team", is that the correct buy, bye, by. Or is it infact you who is Bi. Moron."
MEHSTG
"Arsene should drop the whole team for the carling cup eleven. And yes Gallas has a problem, with the rest of the first team their rubbish. They would even get turned over buy the Spurs ladies team. Ha Ha Ha Ha. "
truegunner619
"Pablob - he'll be going to Barca if he goes anywhere, he's always said he wants to go back to his catalan roots one day, Fabregas will be an arsenal player for around 4 more seasons after this, IF, and thats a big IF we can sort our house out, get everyone playing from the same page, turf out pink boots bendtner and buy a proper defesive midfielder in Jan, even though i still think we have a decent shout for the Champions league and our kids will win the carling cup, i wouldnt say no to a centre back or quality striker (Villa, Benzema etc) either, but i think when eduardo is back a few months and get fully match fit again, we shouldnt have to worry in that department with Ade, RVP and himself, right ladsm lost at Villa beat Utd..............
Lost at Man City, beat Chelski..........?????
Fingers and Toes crossed."
bongoman1
"this is the difference between Fergie and Wenger. Fergie would have shown this idiot the door longtime ago , Wenger's team has no discipline, no respect , no hunger and now a buch of clowns and this is all done to him . Fergie rules with an iron fist therefore all his troop stays in line hence the reason they are champions and Arsenal are not and will not be in the foreseable future FACT! "
All comments on this story