Allowing key contracts to run down
When Bacary Sagna signalled his intent to leave the club for Manchester City before the end of the 2013/14 season, he joined a long line of names released before their time including the likes of Robert Pires, Edu and Mathieu Flamini. Furthermore, and this relates to point two, he allowed too many key men to leave for Manchester City. Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy all left for the Etihad to various degrees of success.
