Arsenal have been accused of ‘tapping-up’ Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, but are they innocent?
The goalposts are certainly flexible when it comes to the terms of unlawful pursuits of players, with a number of big clubs given huge leeway when it comes to talking about rival clubs stars, and Arsene Wenger is one to claim victim of such offences.
Alexis Sanchez was most certainly being tapped-up during the campaign and the summer, while Hector Bellerin also appears to have been strongly pursued by Barcelona, and the player was even claimed to have handed in a transfer request during the close-season.
Virgil Van Dijk was the biggest supposed target who was unlawfully pursued by Liverpool, with the Reds being forced to apologise to Southampton, who in turn refused to allow the player to switch.
Arsenal and Chelsea were also claimed to have been interested in his signature, but no official contact is believed to have been made, and one reporter even speculated that no offer came in because those clubs also made contact through the wrong channels.
The North-London side are now claimed to be pursuing City’s Sterling wrongfully, as they are believed to be hoping to tempt his current club with some sort of swap deal for Alexis Sanchez in January.
Alan Brazil said: “Is that not tapping up?
“The window’s shut now so we shouldn’t be talking about this until January, should we?
“And Arsene Wenger’s always whinging about tapping up.
“You know it’s illegal, it’s a joke. You should just get on with it. If you’re Sterling, how do you feel if you’re Sterling?”
Have Arsenal been out of order in their pursuit of Raheem? Have they done any worse than City have when Alexis is concerned?
Pat J