The Manchester City defender left the Emirates Stadium this summer in a £7million deal but could return to north London for the Carling Cup quarter-final meeting.

Roberto Mancini has rotated his full-backs so far this season and Clichy was restored to the side for Sunday’s draw with Liverpool.

The Frenchman said: ‘I don’t need to speak about Arsenal, it is a great club, a great team with many of my friends there.

‘If I can play, or even be involved, it would be something I’d really look forward to. But we will have to see.’

Meanwhile, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has pleaded with fans to lay off Samir Nasri and overlook his acrimonious summer exit from north London, should the Frenchman be included in Mancini’s line-up,

‘I hope Samir gets a good reception. I don't know if he will play but personally I want every player who has played for us are respected when they come back,’ said Wenger.

‘Samir improved tremendously while he was with us. He has developed fantastically well from a non-scoring player to a guy who could make a decision.

‘Of course he was an important player here and I'm sure he will be for Man City as well.’

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini plans to change his entire team on Tuesday night having been angered by the scheduling of their Carling Cup trip to Arsenal.

City take on the Gunners in the quarter-finals of the competition around 50 hours after a draining Barclays Premier League clash at Liverpool ended.

Mancini believes that places an unfair burden on his players and feels he has no choice but to make wholesale changes. He even claims he could field junior team players if the situation arises again.

The Italian said: "We will change all the team because this is an incredible situation.

"For this reason the national team arrives at European Championships and World Cups and they are dying - they do not have time to recover.

"To play in two days, two games like this, after a Champions League game, is incredible. I think the players should say something about this.

"For the players it is important to play, but it is important also to recover, a minimum three days between one game and another."

Mancini's comments echo similar sentiments expressed by Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, who must also prepare a side to play at Chelsea in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night.

Mancini said: "I agree with him. I think sometimes we should play with 11 young players, 14-15 years. It is not correct this, not only for us but all the players."

Mancini would have been forced to leave out Gareth Barry and Mario Balotelli for the trip to the Emirates Stadium anyway with both now serving a one-game ban.

Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves, fit again after a minor calf injury and looking to resurrect his career with City, is one prominent player likely to feature.

Defenders Kolo Toure and Stefan Savic could come in while little-used former England left-back Wayne Bridge might get a run-out.

Joe Hart's back-up Costel Pantilimon is likely to play in goal while squad men Denis Suarez and Karim Rekik, who have been involved in previous rounds, could get chances.

Arsenal now traditionally field younger players in Carling Cup ties and City's former Gunners left-back Gael Clichy expects no different this time.

Clichy, who is likely to be rested himself, said: "I remember nine years ago the boss played the young players and we went right through to the semi-finals.

"We shouldn't think that we will win the game easily just because they will play a young team.

"They have emerging talent but it's a quarter-final so we have to make sure that we win."

Gabriel Torje’s agent has confirmed that Arsenal are one of clubs that are monitoring the progress of the talented Romanian midfielder.

Torje has been labelled ‘the Romanian Messi’ following his fantastic performances in the Romanian league for FC Dinamo Bucuresti last season.

Arsène Wenger is known to be an admirer of Torje, having sent our chief scout to watch him play on several occasions. However, Wenger will find it difficult to convince Udinese to part with a player that they only bought in the summer.

Torje joined the Italian side on a 5-year contract for a fee thought to be somewhere in the region of £10 million in August. Now seen to be the perfect replacement for Alexis Sanchez (who made a high-profile move to Barcelona), the 22-year-old has caught the attention of many of the top European clubs. Speaking to CalicoMercato, Giovani Becali spoke of Arsenal’s interest, but confirmed that his client will not be leaving Udine in January. However, the summer would seem to be a realistic option.

“Yes, it’s true Arsenal like him.

“There’s nothing official. We can say that there have been talks, even when the player does not move.

“In January, there is no chance that he moves. For June, we’ll see. However, it’s clear that the player is happy in Udine.”

In my oppinion, we do not need to sign another winger. We already have lots of fantastic wingers (Gerinho, Walcott, Arshavin?) and some up-and-coming talents (Oxlade-Chamberlain, Miyaichi). I know I keep repeating myself, but I cannot stress enough how much we really need another world-class striker. It is not realistic to say that Robin van Persie will definitely be at the club this time next year, and we have no other players capable of taking his place.