UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF, SECOND LEG:Udinese (0) v Arsenal (1): ARSENE WENGER has suffered yet another blow as he attempts to guide Arsenal past Udinese and into the Champions League group phase tonight, with the news that Jack Wilshere has been ruled out for at least three weeks because of recurring trouble with an ankle.

The Arsenal manager has reluctantly sanctioned the €27 million sale of Samir Nasri to Manchester City and his midfield options have been undermined ahead of the play-off second-leg tie here. Arsenal are 1-0 up from the first leg.

The France international started Saturday’s defeat to Liverpool despite reports claiming he was on the brink of joining Manchester City, whose manager Roberto Mancini said on Sunday that he hoped to sign the 24-year-old “this week”

Wenger admitted the club “knew at the end of last season we could lose Nasri” and he lamented how the saga had “gone on for too long”. It was the Wilshere update, though, that reinforced the feeling that fate is conspiring against the manager.

Wilshere first felt pain in his right ankle at the end of last season. Wenger had already raised concerns that the 19-year-old was “in the red” after his breakthrough season at England senior level, and successfully withdrew him from the European Under-21 Championship in June.

But Wilshere struggled in pre-season and despite removing a protective boot last week, he suffered a relapse in training on Monday. He has been ruled out of Sunday’s Premier League fixture at Manchester United, together with England’s ties against Bulgaria and Wales next month, and Wenger suggested that he had no firm idea of when he may return. The player has resumed wearing the protective boot.

“He had a setback,” Wenger said. “It’s a hot spot on the bone of his ankle that if you continue to play can lead to a stress fracture. So we had to stop him. He felt the first sign in the second half of the (England) game against Switzerland (in June). It was all right during the holidays and then his pain increased when we were on tour in Asia. He had two good tests on Friday and Saturday but he felt it again on Monday morning.

“There is no chance he will be fit for England. Maybe it is a consequence of last season. He was in the red, like I told you which, in fairness, was what nobody wanted to hear. We knew he was in the red in the last two months and we continued to play him because we had no choice. Maybe it is a consequence of the over-use.”

The Nasri deal was finally completed when a compromise was reached over the fees owed to the agents and lawyers involved. Nasri travelled to Manchester in the afternoon to begin his City medical.

“We did not want to lose (Cesc) Fabregas but we were forced into a situation we didn’t want while Nasri is a situation where the player didn’t want to extend his contract, with the proposals he had somewhere else,” Wenger said.

“What kind of commitment can you have when the player is not there long term? That is the question you have to answer.

“Football rules are that the player can be worth a lot of money today and nothing in six months . . . It doesn’t look completely logical but we are forced into a decision like this for psychological and financial reasons. The pace is not only dictated by us, unfortunately. We wanted to sort all these cases out very early after the summer, but it wasn’t possible.”

It was put to Wenger that Nasri appeared to know in advance what was on offer at City and, therefore, he might have been tapped up. “Who knows?” the manager said. “I am a realist so I have no illusions about that. But I think it’s part of the modern life of a professional football player. It’s not by coincidence that everybody suddenly lands at Man City.”

There was a small piece of overdue good news for Wenger. Uefa has agreed to consider his appeal against a two-game touchline ban which was imposed for flouting the conditions of the ban that he served in the first leg against Udinese. With the hearing set for tomorrow, he has been cleared to sit on the bench at Udinese.

Guardian Service

Venue:Stadio Friuli

Kick-off:Tonight, 7.45pm

On TV:RTÉ Two, UTV