Rumour Mill - Have we beaten Arsenal to Ivorian speed merchant?

Today has been a bit of a crazy day for a City fan, most days are full of rumours but today they seem more certain than ever.  This morning were the claims that we had completed the signing of Luka Modric spreading across twitter, and that it was 'imminent'.  Personally I never bought into that one and it seems to have gone particularly quiet ever since it first 'broke', the other rumour however could be a lot more likely.

Granted the source of the story is hardly the most reputable, but it seems more likely than Modric.  It seems pretty clear that we have been monitoring the future of Ivory Coast winger/striker Gervinho over recent weeks, and it was apparent that we were competing with Arsenal, the players preferred destination.

This afternoon however come claims from French footballing website 'Foot Mercato' that the deal is as good as done.  They claim that we have flexed our financial muscle and absolutely blown the Gunners out of the water.  The figure quoted on the website is about £15.5million, which is pretty hefty, especially considering his contract runs out next Summer.  Early rumours had suggested that Arsenal had tabled around £8-9million so clearly if the reported figure is correct Lille would prefer to sell to us.

The player on the other hand would apparently take some more convincing, the French media reports suggest that City will offer him astronomical wages to make the proposition of Eastlands more attractive than the Emirates.  The other point to consider would be the presence of Yaya and Kolo Toure who are both international team mates with the forward.

The 24 year old is known for both his speed as well as his final product.  He is comfortable playing on the wing or through the middle and would definitely offer something that we don't currently have.  Maybe I give more credence to the story purely because I would like it to come off.  Clearly this is very much up in the air, and not from the most reputable source, but i'd just love it to happen!

To add further uncertainty to the whole debate, Ian McGarry has just tweeted that the player will complete a move to Arsenal over the weekend, back to the drawing board then I suppose, who to believe....