Arsenal and Manchester United players are definitely off - According to newspapers, who took their sources from... Club calendars.
Now we can see the twisted logic, that the clubs are reticent to place a player on one of the pages who may be leaving. But it's 2 + 2 = 5 guesswork of the worst variety.
A look through Arsenal's 2012 calendar shows just how foolhardy guessing who will stay can be, this month the featured player is Robin van Persie.
Yet it hasn't deterred newspapers including The Mirror, and the Mail, the Sun and the Telegraph from declaring certain players will leave either club, because their pictures are not featured in the calendars.
Walcott, Sagna, and Nani do not feature, and this has created headlines. As seen here: 'Nani out of the picture at Man United as out-of-favour winger is left off calendar for 2013' and 'Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna omission from Arsenal's 2013 calender sparks fresh doubt over their futures'
Is there credit to such suggestions or is it simply an after-effect of a slow news day? Call us cynical but we'd suggest the latter.
In the cases of both players, sagas relating to their contracts have dragged on since the summer without resolution, Walcott's expires next summer and Nani's the following year, with talks regarding the United man said to have broken down entirely.
As the tabloids are searching for fresh developments with regards to either, this obviously stands out, but it really doesn't warrant the weight or gravitas given to it with major headlines in this week's editions.
A crucial flaw in the logic behind the insinuations is that a calendar has just 12 months - Premier League teams have 25-man squads.
So what of the 13 players plus youth teamers not 'featured' with their own picture on a particular month? Should we suddenly assume they are all fair game to be sold?
It doesn't add up, and with regard to Nani and Walcott, nothing should be read into the latest reports other than an attempt to create or further a story when presently a development simply isn't there.
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