£10 million for a one year loan deal? Arsene looks elsewhere
August 24, 2012
Are we all suitably angry about the apparent conclusion of the whole Nuri Saga then?
Fair enough really. When you’re told one day by a series of reputable sources that you’ve just signed the former Bundesliga player of the year on a one year loan with a £14 million option to buy you’re entitled to be a little bit miffed when barely hours later you’re told that Arsenal have withdrawn from the deal completely, leaving the way open for Liverpool and the midfield still lacking some sort of replacement for the sudden departure of Alex Song.
At noon yesterday the deal was being reported as complete by both Bild and Sky Sports News in Germany. But then what this whole episode has gone to prove more than any other in recent memory is that you can’t trust anyone ever. At least not when it comes to the reporting of imminent transfer deals.
While missing out on the player is undoubtedly frustrating it is worth noting the reasons why. Although we may never know the exact reasons it’s always been suggested that while Arsenal had agreed a loan fee with the club and had convinced the player that the Emirates was his best option, the sticking point was the clause enabling us to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. For Arsenal to have suddenly pulled out of the deal so late in the day you can only assume that they weren’t able to secure that.
In fact it’s being reported this morning in the Metro (I know, I know. And they couldn’t even spell the word ‘gazump’ right in their headline) that not only are Liverpool paying the player’s full wages of £120,000 a week, not only are they paying a loan fee on top of that of £5 million but at the end of it all they have no right to sign the player on a permanent deal. So effectively they could be paying £10 million for the right to help Madrid develop their midfield for next season. In which case is it any wonder that in the end we said ‘No way, Jose’ (oh God, I’m going to go and jump out the nearest window. Sorry)?
Sahin may be a great player and we may have some money still to spend this summer but I don’t think that would have been a sensible use of our resources particularly.
At this point though the worry is that we spent so much time going back and forth attempting to negotiate the Sahin deal that we’ve failed to concentrate on other potential targets. The close of the transfer window is now only a week away and ideally we need to bring in a replacement for Song, some defensive cover and even, possibly, a new striking option. Talking about what might occur in his pre-Stoke interview with Arsenal Player yesterday M. Wenger was in typically non-committal mood:
Some things can still happen.
I don’t want make a promise that I cannot keep. It does not only depend on me. But there still could be some action on the transfer market – ins and outs.
We are working. We’ll see what we can do.
We know they’re definitely looking for some enforcements. There was enough smoke around the Sahin fire to assure us of that. But the worry is still that we don’t manage to land the targets that we’ve identified amidst the pot luck nature of the final week. We might have a target we’ve been stalking for the last year and a half who’s desperate to leave his club and a negotiation already under way for a fee, but if at the last minute the selling club fail to land the replacement they’d had their eye on then what’s stopping them pulling out of the deal and refusing to sell? And before you know it you go into another season without the squad cover you need.
Yann M’Vila has been linked with a move to Arsenal more than Sebastien Frey and the latest word is that Arsenal are playing a very smart waiting game, allowing his price to drop as Rennes realise that they’re running out of options and months on the player’s deal. But who’s to say they won’t pull out of the deal entirely for one reason or another? I appreciate that we have to do everything that we can to be smart with our resources but for the sake of a million quid or so would it not have been better to sign the player three months ago, give him a full pre-season and the chance to bed in to the line up?
It promises to be a hectic week. Just as important as those ins are the outs that Le Boss refers to and here we are, so deep into this summer and still waiting to offload the likes of Bendtner, Arshavin, Park, Chamakh and Squillaci. If we’re prepared to push Rennes to the very limit to save a million quid on M’Vila then surely we should be aware of the millions being squandered on wages for this group of players that are nowhere near getting chances in the first team.
If you assume they’re on an average of £50,000 a week each (and it could well be more) then just this summer alone we’ve spent three million quid on them. It’s a scandalous waste of our cash and if we are going to continue to cry poverty in the face of competition from other clubs we simply can’t allow it to go on. We’ve already seen Manuel Almunia allowed to run down his entire contract on full wages without even getting wheeled out for the reserve team. We can’t allow that to keep happening. If we don’t get the fees we’d like we’re just going to have to accept that and let them go for free, or even as a last resort, pay off part of their contracts.
Early team news came in yesterday ahead of the Stoke match and it’s fairly mixed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is back in the squad but presumably will only have a limited role to play having only joined up with full training today. Laurent Koscielny is still out with his calf trouble and will miss the match but I think that’s maybe a blessing in disguise. Great player as he is I suspect we might have opted for the additional height advantage that Per Mertesacker gives us anyway. We’ll need as much height as we can get for all of the line-outs, sorry, throw ins.
Oh dear, I seem to be getting angry about this one already and it’s still two days away.
I’m off to try out some breathing exercises.
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51 Responses to “£10 million for a one year loan deal? Arsene looks elsewhere”
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it appears that liverpool have a £14 million buying option at end of season. arsenal never agreed a fee that was where the deal feel thru. LFc offered 5mill whereas AFC offered 2mill.and wheer only prepared to stump yup half the wages. so basically arsenal where never in teh race. all players want is money.
I am quite surprised to see Mr Wenger make a stated promise that he can’t keep:
“Fabregas is going noweher”
“You can’t sell Fabregas and Nasri and still consider yourself to be a big club”
“Robin going nowehere”
“We learnt from last year and will do all our business early this year” – Okay that was IG rather than AW
But they are just a few statements that spring to mind.
We are always slow when it comes to concluding things for players in-bound. It looks like we are driven desperate by Song’s late move to Barcelona rather than we waiting for Rennes to drop their asking price for M’Vila.
I don’t think i am convinced by AW’s remarks about the last week being the busiest week for transfer. Most bigger clubs are already high and dry with what they wanted in their key positions by now. The last week was for fine-tuning and nothing else.
What is Arsenal FC doing in the frantic struggle with those mid-tables teams just days to go before the transfer window close? I think the management need to convince fans that no only players but management themselves are justifying the money they are getting.
Most fans are probably used to the fact that we have no one coming in with PHW telling us that the club has got the money which no one knows its whereabout.
If we still did not challenge for things this season, i am sure logical fans will want to see a change of management who can justify their wages in view of high gate fees that fans had been paying loyally.
Too expensive
One has to admit that Mr Wenger lost two of his main players in RVP and Song, but as they say the show has to go on and Arsenal have now 3 top class players with European Experience, if Sahin joins up then we have a good chance for winning something this season. What we really need is to cut down on overpassing the ball from one player to another, be a bit more direct make good use of our wingers Walcott and Gervinion who could open our opponents defence which would enable us to score more goals. Arsenal are blessed with a good back up once the injuried are fully recovered.
What we need is good finishing and Mr Wenger has that luxury.
We’re in a strong position this summer, we can afford to not bring in any new players and still start the season with a strong squad, new bodies are now a bonus – it would be easy to bring in Biglia or M’Vila this week and perhaps another striker or defender. I’m not worried.
The bigger issue as MH mentioned is shedding some of the fringe players – I’m happy for Arshavin to stay but if the Zenit rumours are real then brilliant, good luck to him. Bendtner, Squillaci and Park need to go though, it seems all three have squandered chances to move on already this summer which is fraustrating.
I don’t understand Park, every time I’ve seen him play he’s look sharp and effective to me – if I managed a club like Villa or Sunderland I’d be enquiring about his services, perhaps his wages are a stumbling block.
Just to add…i will never trust our own medical announcements because Jack did not even show up on the pitch even once despite nice things were being said that he was well on the way…blah blah.
So if you seriously look at our midfielders… who only have a few who are more ‘injury-reliable’.
i love arsenal i hate the way its run we are like businssmen that dont take risk were going to be still in our level for along time edan hazrad cost over 30 mil but he made 5 out of 6 goal that chelsea scored in there last two games i think he is going to be worth the money shirt sells and adds well cover it and i (trust me win i say there gong to win) trouphs
1mil could cover at least 5 months of mvila’s wages. He’ll probably start of earning around 40-50k pw, so trying to be wise with resauses is the right way to do business.
Remember the transfer money available has to cover cost and salary of the payers arsenal buy.
Great post today, I’m gutted about Sahin but the terms just sound ridiculous. A real shame cos, like Santi and Malaga, we were in for him before the Madrid move. It was a strange one as I was just swayed by his quality – Sahin wouldn’t have balanced the side in a way that a natural DMC would. So….
M’Vila. I’m sure Wenger could overcome the temperament issues. Other than running down the window, our other favourite tactic is to highlight our interest in multiple targets of the same position. Nasri/Ben Arfa…. Mert/Cahill/Samba… and perhaps M’Vila/Capoue/Bilgia. ( + the Celtic (Nigerian)? / Korean / Senegalese Olympian)
Of those 3 main contenders, I wonder if Capoue may be preferred. He is more technically accomplished than M’Vila, slightly older and should be available for a lot less. Either way, would be nice to address the midfield balance. Just Coquelin at the mo…
Also, spot on re: the deadwood. You even forgot Denilson plugging away on loan (although did agree to most of his wages I think). Lamenting financial imbalance whilst pissing away what would be huge wages for many clubs on players which have no place in the squad is a joke.
Definitely seems to make sense to settle early, but I guess much depends on the resolve of the selling club and if the sway is more than £1m…
I love how every ine always reacts to all this so call news! Are any of you guys un the room or on a daily speed dial to Wenger or Ivan? And we have only one person at the office who deals with transfers?
Come on and stop all the nonsense! None of us and the media really knows what is happing! Best measure, as long as it is not on arsenal.com it is not news! The rest is bullshit! Simple As that!
@mzeey Carzola created all the chances in the Sunderland game with a bit more sharpness from our strikers, he would of been involved in 3 or 4 goals for us in his first game. What is your point?
we just need some cover in the full-back area. I dont know what all the fuss is about over Song leaving. Coquelin will step up, and then there is rosicky, wilshere, ramsey, diaby, etc.
Don’t leave it too late AW, though get the feeling Bentner, Park and Squirrelnocatchy are enjoying sitting on their wages hence why they haven’t moved on already. if they took themselves seriously then they would be desperate for playing time.
I wish they would just stop fussing around now. Right call on Sahin, Liverpool are desperate King mugs for paying that money with no chance of a ROI. He alone wont be enough to get them into the top 4 again.
Get M’villa or Biglia before he goes to Norwich. Get Mexes and we are set for glory, dependent on how quickly the team improves and gels.
I can see it now Stoke being Stuffed at home ( well overdue) and a new team is born….
As for the Sahin deal, I’d greatly appreciate if people stopped repeating the same b.s. the media have been feeding us for weeks. I seriously doubt we would ever have any problem with a £14m buy-out clause; I’m not sure Sahin earns £120k/week (in fact, it doesn’t seem likely at all); the loan fee is just a huge question mark, it could be anything. For all we know, the problem really might be, as you say, that while we wanted to have the buy-out option, Rodgers is so needy he’d accept anything. After all, being forced to play Spearing or Henderson day in, day out must be one hell of a party.
Another question is: how did we establish our “deadwood” all earn ca. £50k/week? Rumours about Chamakh’s departure put his salary at around £45k/week, and I think that’s much too high for Park or Squid (£25-35k apiece?). (On another note, I don’t think Bendnter earns as much, either.) Arshavin could be on £50k or more, but no more than £70k.
As for M’Vila, you’re beginning to sound like every disgruntled Arsenal fan. And all I’m going to tell you is that you know better than to think it’s that simple. Even if we would have met the price Rennes wanted for M’Vila, they could well have held on, waiting for more offers. If Arsenal is willing to pay, say £17m, that surely means City, Barca, Zenit, or Anzhi will pay more! So it makes little sense for Arsenal to barge in with over-inflated offers. Plus, he still has 3 years on his contract, so Rennes are in no hurry to let him go. M’Vila is, sadly, a hot property, and it’s always hard to get one when there’s no fixed limit on the price (as it was with Poldi and Giroud). All we can do is wait and hope Arsenal’s £15m (or so) is enough to convince Rennes of parting with their boy.
@dan
A final point: I don’t think any club includes the arrived players’ wages in the “transfer kitty.” It makes no sense. If we had £50m resources, and bought Cazorla for almost £20m, subtract his pay (probably about £70k/week), which gives you over £3.5m a year, and then his contract runs for 4 years, which gives you: £20m + £15m = £35m. So, should this mean we’re already paying with our next year’s kitty? Because if this is true, than we don’t have enough cash even to cover the cost of Giroud and Podolski’s transfers, let alone wages! Transfer kitty is what the name suggests: the amount of cash stored for the purpose of securing transfers. We’d be in a ridiculous position if we were looking to buy 4 or more players with a measly £50m budget to cover ALL the expenses.
And guess what – there’s also agent’s fees that, I guess, don’t count towards the transfer fee.
we are blaming this idiots for no reason let them rum tha club coz they dont care about the fans.they only care about their pokets.we as arsenal fans in kenya we r luking for optoins on where to go no loan until our team stebalise.a seriouse clab that has gone seven years without tropy cant sale big stars every season
Zdzis – You’re right of course. None of us know the true facts behind any of these stories which is why we’re forced to make certain assumptions based on what we’ve been told and some educated guess work.
Regarding my figure of an average of £50,000 wages a week for those players we need to shift I’m not sure I’m far off. As you say Arshavin would be the highest of those earners. He must be on £70,000 plus I think having been such an in demand player when he signed for us and having had his deal bumped up again a couple of years ago. That would bring the average up. I thought Nik Bendtner was well known to be earning around £50k a week whether or not the rumour was true that he chose 52 as his shirt number as a crass commemoration of the fact. Equally I wouldn’t be too surprised if Squillaci and Park and Chamakh were there or thereabouts. Chamakh would be on a very good deal thanks to the fact that we got him on a free transfer and Bastia turned down a deal for Squillaci earlier this summer citing his high wages. In fact, the stumbling block with all of these deals seems to be that they’re being paid too much.
You could be right. None of us really have any way of knowing the truth behind these figures. But the fact that we’re in the situation that we’re in suggests that the wages are too high and however much they are it’s a drain on resources when the boss shows so little interest in fielding any of those players.
To be Realistic what change do we think has taken part this season in ars? Its simple – how many players v we lost so far? How much did we get frm each? Hw abt their quality? Take the same analysis for new players! Then ask ur self, how we performed last season? Did it call 4 selling our best players n replacing them d way we did to get a cup or adding on what we had to be beta as a club? U may pretend we ar beta wait time wil tel u if indeed we ar. wel to me how i wish i couldt be near wenga this season so that as he wil be kicking a bottle of water i would also jump to kick n slap him hard. Why keep money frm sells like a old woman who would wish to die seeing money on her waste!
I dont know what all the panic is about. we still have 26 players either homegrown or non-homegrown plus in addition we have another 30 players under 21 most of whom could hold their own in the domestic cups at least. we could send out 2 teams in the premier league that will comfortably hold their own and even a third team including 6 full internationals.
szcesney mannone
sagna jenkinson
mertesacker djourou
vermaelen koscielny
gibbs santos
arteta coquelin
diaby wilshire
walcott chamberlain
cazorla rosicky
Podolski gervinho
giroud chamakh
3rd team
Fabianski
eastmond
squillaci
boateng
miquel
frimpong
ramsey
Lansbury
park
arshavin
bendtner
thanx zdzis for being sane.
and you do seem a bit agitated today mh, understandably, i was disappointed to hear the news but hey thats life, we’d be silly to pay to develop him as you said.
plus i think per needs to do some leg work to get a spring in his step. not worried about stoke, they should be worried about us.
Dnt knw y guys r rily gutted abt dis sahin saga, rather i’m suprised dat we wer able to wrap up deals b4 nw for our current transfer. Arsenal has a board dat can b likened to d nigerian govt- dey dnt giv a damn wat d fans tink 4getin dat we pay d most expensive gate fee in d whole of d u.k, @least we deserve mor dan dis. We always haggle lyk market women in d tranxfa market while serious clubs conduct their business witout much hassle leavin us as usual wit crumbs lyk park, squillaci, e.t.c. For ur own peace of mind 4get anytin d media or Aw says abt new signings. Last tym i shopped, talk was stil cheap.
Dnt knw y guys r rily gutted abt dis sahin saga, rather i’m suprised dat we wer able to wrap up deals b4 nw for our current transfer. Arsenal has a board dat can b likened to d nigerian govt- dey dnt giv a damn wat d fans tink 4getin dat we pay d most expensive gate fee in d whole of d u.k, @least we deserve mor dan dis. We always haggle lyk market women in d tranxfa market while serious clubs conduct their business witout much hassle leavin us as usual wit crumbs lyk park, squillaci, e.t.c. For ur own peace of mind 4get anytin d media or Aw says abt new signings. Last tym i shopped, talk was stil cheap.
I’m sorry but £120,000 a week is an outrageous sum to pay a player of Sahin’s ability. He is a great player, but not that good.
Add to that the fact that he has no EPL experience, which is always a risk no matter how good the player is in other leaugues, and Real doesn’t want a buyout clause, and this all sums up into a deal that was never going to happen.
I just hope it was a smoke screen while Arsenal looked elsewhere.
On a seperately note, I caught the Malage Champions League game yesterday and WOW that Isco is an amazing player. I almost wish we’d grabbed him rather than Cazorla.
Oops. iPhone autocorrect kicked in:
I meant: “On a SEPERATE note” not “separately”
And “Malaga” not “Malage”
Believe or not his last word will be “We have a very good squad…. so we don’t want to bother, we want only focus on the games of the season”….. greedy manager…… selling player is simple to him but buying is climbing a mountain to the greedy manager
“IN ARSEN WE FADE”
Mr Wenger great signing would be CHECK TIOTE.
Angry – you must have been away where there aren’t TV’s or PC’s with internet connections – Arsenal have signed 3 fully capped internationals this summer, one of them a member of a European Cup winning team, spending up to £40 million in the process.
Seems you’re under the illusion that if the transfer money doesn’t get spent Arsene gets to keep it? What are you going to say if we sign more players before the window shuts? Will you come back here and apologise?
Looking at AW’s latest remarks about our club making move only ‘special’ players, seems to indicate our door is closed for the month. It’s all just too familiar, we’ve seen through the year of trophy drought.
I hope some fans recognized that no one is bigger than the club and it include the manager and of cos, the board members. We don’t care if your family had slogged for the club because as far as fans are concerned,it is now history.
I am sure that the home grown may not be a consideration when it comes to signings. Just look at the ‘not-homegrown’ players flowing into Chelski.
Well, just a couple of days to go, we shall wait and see if the monies of fans are well spent on people working for the club.
I don’t really see Mertesacker as having much of a height advantage seeing as he’s terrible in the air.
createstrain – yeah, maybe I’m just in a bit of a mood today. Mind you, my bank account’s still stinging from having to pay up my season ticket money so the thought of us throwing all that money down the drain does do my head in.
@marblehalls: “If we’re prepared to push Rennes to the very limit to save a million quid on M’Vila then surely…”
I presume that’s your stance on ALL transfer deals Wenger makes(?). If so, multiply the measly million by the amount players he’s ever bought… that’s quite a few million he’d have unnecessarily wasted. He’s done well on prices so far with Giroud, Podolski, and Carzola. Uncle Arsene knows best.
@Jeremy
Re your first paragraph, maybe it would have been wiser to hold off ’til the window is closed… IF a ‘special’ player arrives you’ll have an eggy face. Only a few days to go; never say never.
The worst thing about the media circus of false information is the way it makes fans react. People curse Wenger’s name for being cheap, but we signed Cazorla, Podolski, and Giroud. If Man City or Chelsea had signed these players they would have gone for 5-15 million more each. Which teams would these fans rather be a fan of? Would you like to sign Torres for 50 million (who I would play third behind both Podolski and Giroud). How about Andy Carroll for 36 million (who Liverpool are now desperate to be rid of).
I wouldn’t want to be in a position where we were propped up by oil money, I’m proud of the way our club does business and yes both lose and miss out on players, but the fans don’t realize how good they have it.
Last season I remember the gnashing of teeth when Wenger payed 12 million for Oxlade-Chamberlain. The internet exploded with complaints that he only bought youth, and how could he spend so much for it? Of course it turned out we possibly have one of the best of his generation on our hands.
i think some one among us is correcting the spelling mistakes…. he is the one i hate most about the Arsenal fans out there at NorthLondon just mocking at a fans of arsenal who truely feel for the club…sharing their ideas and openions…. its you that lack a guts to lay even a words to support your team… i am convinced i know inside out… about the club more than your spelling correction… just study your grammer and not this blogs…. and go support liverpool.. even a lower club like blackburn’s fans will protest against the selling of their stars and the inability to signs a stars….if they face our current problems of nearly achieving somethings every single year….
It is not your money or my money. I am a football fan i don care how much wenger spends. All i want is to see is arsenal with the best players. We may have the best manager but please dont make me believe that walcott wil ever play like ronaldo or podolski like messi. Never!
am so lazzy… to protest against the club…. so forgive us … as in london we must do something
I totally agree Justin – I have friends complaining about the lack of spending but I know if we’d paid out £30 million for Cazorla they’d be so excited about him and Arsenal’s prospects, this summer we’ve spent a lot of money and got a lot for it, I hope we bring in more people and there’s enough evidence to show that Arsene and his team are trying to bring players in but we’ve started this season with a solid base, extra players only boost that.
We are incredibly lucky to be fans of a club that has a secure financial future – and looking at what the next few years will bring on commercial/sponsorship fronts it’s a bright future indeed – as Spain is creeking under the pressure of their debts and big names fold on these shores we’re in a position where we can actually increase our spending and add more quality to our squad.
@marblehalls
So sorry, forgot to thank you for another good post!
All the experts have come out to play again.
The officials at Arsenal are in the best position to know exactly what happened and if they feel it wasn’t worth it then it probably wasn’t. Get over it you whinging bitches!
It seems like some Arsenal ‘fans’ are a bit feisty today, well keep your pants on, Wenger has gone on record saying he wants to buy a Defender and a Midfielder, not forgeting the fact that Miralles confirmed we had ‘advanced talks’ with him so therefore AW is also interested in signing another attacker, we’re definately in the Market.
MH, i understand your frustration but don’t let it get the best of you, we have signed 3 players so far and very close to signing a further 2( Sahin, Miralles) if reports are to be believed, so there is work going on behind the scenes. 7 more days before the transfer window shuts, lets be patient and if nothing happens then i will lead black scarfs/bin bags brigade, i joke, i joke.
Corr ‘Were very close’
Wenger like milking other clubs to their bones but make sure he make alot of money from his own players. Our poultry is fast becoming emty because of Easter, Sallah and Christmas is fast approaching. Let us stop selling and do some stock reorder level.
Mr. Wenger always put himself in such a situation where he looks so pitiful during match days while other mangers smiles for 90 minutes. Use what you have to get what you want but he thinks otherwise and the players keep getting injured because the are over used and probably to young to fight when it matters most. A philosophy that works is the one that gives you results and trouphy and not only top four finish for almost a decade now.
WENGER OUT!
Who do these “Wenger out!” crazies want instead? Also “WENGER OUT” just sounds dirty.
—-
“In an effort to drum up interest in his services with a top club today, Bendtner was seen getting his Wenger out in A.C. Milan’s training ground. It said ‘Paddy Power’ down the side of it, but he claimed “It always says that, they didn’t pay me anything.”
“It’s easily one of the top Wengers in football,” Bendtner went on to proclaim. “That’s why the fans are always demanding it out.”
Its not wenger’s fault,why are we going to pay 5mils for a loaned player with full payment of his wage.its killing and unreasonable.i think m’villa will come for like 12mils and a wage of arnd 60k per week.makoun as gone to rennes on loan giving way for him 2 leave.
@Al—’Special’ ones in AW’s contact is closely linked to the economic sense.
Which club will be that silly to let go of their players at low price when you know the buyer is getting desperate? Will you?
I just cannot believe that so many of the people writing comments on here can be either blind to the obvious or stupid in thier views? Can you not see that our club is controlled by Kronke’s bottom line of wanting to make MONEY!!
One person says “we’ve spent a lot of money and got a lot for it” absolutely RIDICULOUS! With the sale of RVP & Song once again we have made “Texas Pete”…oh sorry Stan Kronke another slice of profit which will be increased if the likes of Bendtner and Arshavin are sold off!! WENGER is the biggest spin doctor and speaker of misleading statements I have ever seen and heard….if you go back over his statements for even the last 3 years you will be able to single out so many false statements you will wonder how he is still in the job!! I will bet now we don’t sign another player of any significant quality this season (unless we are fighting relegation and the alerm bells go off!) – ignore all the “this week will be the busiest week in the tranfer window” comments this is the usual smokescreen being set up by Wenger, he has no intention of buying, his cover for Song will come from Coquelin or Frimpong, and Giroud / Podolski / Walcott are his options up front to replace RVP – just wait and see, and if you believe that those options will see us to glory then you must still believe in the tooth fairy!!
I think the fact that the only movement shown since RVP & Song went was to take a player on LOAN as it wouldn’t have cost us that much – the idea being that he would have been a purchase next summer and out of a different budget – probably funded by the sale of Walcott!
Another says we have a “strong squad”…. you have got to be joking!!! This is probably our worst squad in 20 years! If you count the number of players sure….but if you look at the quality – give me a break! We have sold off every one of our Top class players now… all we have left are a coupe of good players (Vermaelen,Cazorla,Wilshire,Ox) Then a lot of AVERAGE or below average players – Szcesney,Koscielney,Walcott,Gervinho,Podolski,Giroud,Arteta,Ramsey,Diaby,Gibbs,Santos,Arshavin,Fabianski,Jenkinson,Santos,Sagna,Eastmond,Henderson,Mannone,Mertesacker,Squillachi,Bendtner,Denilson,Miquel,Frimpong,Park,Chamakh,Boetang,Rosicky…..NOW if that lost impressess you I really believe that you should have a rethink of how you appraise footballers….just clearly think honestly how can we even begin to think of winning anything with this squad?? For a start where are the goals going to come from now?? If you take out RVP’s goals from our games last season do you know where we would have finished….. 4th from bottom – have a look!!! I cannot for the life of me see any of the bumch we have left scoring that many goals COMBINED!
Its not worth splashing that money in the way the supposedly deal was heading to.
Paying out all that money for a ‘temp’ player with no option to buy is just money down the drain.
Arsenal have the capable and efficient players to fill that role.
Hopefully Wenger brings in an efficient and special DM in the veins of MVilla!
Mike’s hysterical tone is all too familiar – you’ve created a narrative that is detatched from the reality of how the club is run.
I don’t mind Arsenal fans having different opinions to me on the club, including those who want Wenger gone, but it seems there are a specific group that actually don’t like Arsenal, they like what Arsenal used to be.
I’m hugely proud of the club and how it’s run and feel extremely positive about our future.
Yeah, Mike, honestly, the ambulance is on its way, calm down and kindly get off that ledge.
We aren’t spending: yup, anything below £100m doesn’t count.
We’re only looking for cheap players: yup, like Cazorla, around £17m. My paddy power pants cost more. And that’s why we don’t sign players on loan as a rule, with Benayoun and Baptista being the only ones during Wenger’s reign.
All our profit funds the board, and especially Stan Kroenke: yup, I hear that’s why there’s no dividend.
You can measure a team’s quality after selling their players simply by subtracting their goals and assists: yup, we all know incoming players never score or assist. they only get paid, like £200k/week for being benched. We all know that – ask Squillaci – he’s surely on £400k/week! Oh, sorry, one zero too many…
Arsenal have a weak squad: yeah, definitely, and Arteta, one of the best defensive-minded midfielders in 2011/12, is definitely below average. So is Sagna, perhaps the 2nd or 3rd best right-back in England. And Koscielny, among the best in Europe today. Walcott and Gervinho are bollocks, they can only run, score and assist. Anybody can do that! Who’s Podolski? Anybody heard about this guy? Played at Koeln, probably isn’t even an international! And Giroud ? How many caps does he have? Some 2nd-string Frenchy, we all know Wenger signs all French rubbish like Henry, Pires and the lot.
One thing makes me think we’re going to be OK – the anti-Arsenal negativism sounds definitely more inane today than a year ago.
Oh, and a side note – more for the sake of clarity than argument – Sahin’s wages are said to be worth £2.2m, that’s about £45k/week. But, of course, Liverpool did pay too much in the end – the loan alone is worth £5m! If there’s no buy-out clause, Rodgers seems to be filling those big spender boots quite nice…