Yesterday rumours gathered great pace about our possible departures.
Websites in Spain suggest that today Barcelona will today announce that they have finally captured a deal to bring their ‘boy’ home.
They didn’t believe in him when he was still in short trousers but now Arsenal Football Club have turned him into a good footballer and a man, they want him back…
Then, we all read about how Old Red Nose was supposed to have been given the red light to sign Nasri but a spanner has come flying in from the blue side of the city and now it’s suggested that they will offer £20 Million for our Frenchman and will pay him £180K a week! Well, even I would think about moving to Manchester for that salary. 😉
Added to that, the same club want to purchase Clichy from us and will no doubt offer him mega bucks a week too….
Cesc, Nasri & Clichy – Out???
Cahill, Gervinho & Alvarez – In???
Would we be happy with those three in? Is that a start, is that good enough? Time will be the judge of that.
Also, it’s reported that we have opened talks with Southampton to sign Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Arsene Wenger isn’t stupid is he? He may have had a five-year blip in the transfer market but yesterday I started to think about all that is ‘reported’ to be going on!
My thoughts brought me to the question which is today’s post heading:
Is Wenger on the turn, or has he totally lost the plot??
Ok, most people will now think I am as mad as Wenger but I am beginning to wonder if these ‘pending moves’ are all of his own doing.
Has he suddenly decided that he has had enough of watching half-hearted performances from our so-called top players?
Before you all slap me down, just think back to last season when you were watching our matches…
How many times did you think we needed a better left back after seeing Clichy make so many mistakes?
How many times did Fabregas annoy you when he looked disinterested during games he played? How many times did you think, for F***s sake, you are the captain, get this team motivated and organised during a game when we were s***e?
And then Nasri, for half a season he was awesome but when it came to the run in, the games in which we needed big-hearted performances, did you start to think about why the heck he had gone missing?
Maybe Arsene Wenger saw all of this too……
Just maybe that is why Arsene Wenger is prepared to let these players leave? Perhaps he thinks he can use the money to buy in different areas of our squad, areas that will make us stronger.
Let’s not forget that the three mentioned players are possibly among the highest paid in our club and he could think that they are no longer worth what our club are paying them….
Should we lose these players some fans maybe sad, even angry – but me, if we lose these players and Wenger really does spend the money wisely, it could be the making of our club.
But, if we should lose these players and Wenger doesn’t use the money to make us better all round, he really has lost the plot……
It’s going to be an interesting few weeks ahead, that’s for sure….
Morning all
The transfer window is officially open today, now we might start getting some news and we head out off to Asia in 10 days time so busy times ahead for us 🙂
The Gervinho signing hasn’t been hailed by the fans before now, but I’m guessing that out of pure desperation, more of the fans now will welcome him than before.
Personally I’m really fascinated to see him play for us. I watched him in the French cup final, absolutely ripping down the wing and getting in behind the defence. I also saw him at the world cup playing in a very talented Ivorian team and I thought: which big club does he play for? Now we have the answer.
The beaks of those “wolves” on the Board of Arsenal FC must be flooding with saliva right now – in anticipation of feasting on proceeds from the auctioning of Fabregas, Clichy, Nasri etc. By 31st August 2011, Mr. Arsene “the- profit-maker” Wenger will have more than enough for them to “eat”. He is typically recruiting more kids – Carl Jenkinson, Oxylade Chamberlain etc to groom and sell when they peak in 2014. What a “brilliant” manager and “ambitious” Board! Mean time, the likes of Nasri, Fabregas and Clichy will have improved trophy prospects at their respective new clubs. What is Robin Van Persie (running out of time for trophies) waiting for?
Morning Savage and Moses
I’m looking forward to see Gervinho play, if and when he signs – he’s saying the right things and he has alledgedly chosen us over a few clubs, so he wants to play for AFC, that’s a good start…
Same could be said for Chamberlain, if we end up signing him, its because he wants to play for us…
One thing Wenger does need to do real soon and thats to sort out the contracts of Theo and Robin, this time next year they will be in the same situation as Nasri is right now….
Morning.
I don’t think we should sell players to teams in our league, we would be strengthening teams around us and that is a tad silly. If all three players want out, fine, just to Spain or Italy.
As for Wenger, I keep saying to people, Wenger’s body language and actions last year told me far more than any of his words. He was angry and let down by several players, I feel a big shift will happen this summer.
I think it’s not a matter of just those three players alone…all Arsenal players had their own period of ineffectiveness last season…bet neither of ’em was involved in the disaster of the carling cup final last season. Long story short,you guys’d do great to increase Nasri’s salary and make him stay than to shell perhaps another 12 million quid for a similar but perhaps relatively worse replacement. BTW..i’m not an arsenal fan.
Hi Will,
I’m with you on that one, we are making our opponents stronger and us weaker, I still think Nasri will sign a new contract…
This is the end of Wenger. Nasri and Fab are irreplaceable in THIS team. Wenger will buy more lightweight turds like Gervinho – he hasn’t a clue what to do anymore, he’s completely and utterly lost. Shame on the clueless Arsenal board for letting this maniac run riot and destroy everything he created.
just quickly:
Alvarez in and Fabregas out= Bad Deal
Fabregas is the best central midfielder in the league, Alvarez is a south american very slim with flair, that type of player has never worked in the premiership, the only south american central midfielders who have been a success are all holding (Gilberto, Sandro, Ramires).
Clichy out and Cahill in= Good deal
Cahill is just what we need a great centre back and english so someone to finally commmunicate with those around him, Clichy will be a loss though, who do we get to replace him!!! anyone decent will cost us more than 10 mill easy. But we need Cahill more
Gervinho In and Nasri out= Bad deal
Once again Nasri is a top player his form did disappear yes, but then so did the majority of our players, he is a player who thrives when attacking with the ball, we didnt play our normal game during the end of the season which is why he flopped, Gervinho is very greedy, tries one trick too many and can only play off the left, I know the player well, he is very similar to Arshavin and personally his kind of player is the last thing we need
Jay
I don’t believe those we are linked to are to replace any leaving, not like for like, we don’t need to be doing that – The players Wenger signs will hopefully see us player a different way sometimes, a plan b…..
We’ve all warmed to the idea that Cesc will go and although I feel Clichy is a good player, its perhaps time for him to move as well. I’d most be upset with Nasri leaving, but 20 mil with a year to go?
These three would sell for a reported 67 mil, the incoming three at 41 mil…..Let’s just blow the other 26 on BENZEMA, and we’re much better overall!!!
james – i’m not sure nasri will leave, he’ll sign hopefully..
cesc, great player but he’s done with us, we kept him one season too long….
Hi Ben and Zizi…
I think we need to wait and see if any club actually offers money for nasri, right now its all rumour….
I think Gervinho is the replacement for Bendtner, OC is one for the future and not a replacement. Cahill or Samba would either replace Squillaci or bring our CB’s from 4 to 5 (too early for Miquel I think).
Jay – Ardilles, Villa, Tevez?
Ben, I am with you, as long as the wage demands are not destructive to team morale, pay the guy.
Jay – Had you heard of any of the three players before they played for Arsenal? Saying this or that is a bad idea is a tad early.
And we still have Bartley who for me is ahead of Miquel…
Will, I like the sound of Gervinho, his attitude is ‘all right’ – if his game equals that, he’ll be just fine
I mean, who here had honestly heard of Henry when we got him?
I’m not worried about the players name – i have always said that that means nothing as history proved that, attitude, committment and passion is more important….
Nobody can complain that Gervinho is too young – he’s at the perfect age to come in and spend his peak years with us.
His signing reminds me in small ways of Wiltord, who was a much derided player for us, and nobody batted an eyelid when he left. But when you look at Wiltord’s stats for us in goals and assists, contributing in our best years, I sometimes wonder how much we underestimated him?
Wiltord, the man who won us the league at OT 🙂
He scored a few crucial goals for us, definately under rated….
Arsenal are under no pressure at all to sell Cesc. He has 4years to run on his current contract, meaning, even if they kept him for another year, he would still command in excess of 45m. Last year, Arsenal did reject the same amount of money that is said to have been thrown in for him this summer. Why would Arsenal accept it this time? Does anyone really think Arsenal don’t remember how much Andy Carroll cost Liverpool during the winter season? Does Arsenal really value Cesc as being on the same footing as the former New Castle man? Does Wenger share the same view Rosell that Cesc is now worn out? I highly doubt. This transfer is not on the verge as the media seems to believe, and, if Barca don’t pay the money Arsenal think is his worth, we will watch Cesc in the red & white of North London next season. As for Nasri, I am totally convinced he will stay at Arsenal after signing a fat long-term contract, because I just can’t see Wenger lose him to any team, either in England, or in Europe. For Clichy, I wish him good luck, he’s not good enough as he still makes schoolboy mistakes even at his age! Remember the Shaktar, Blackpool, Spurs (4-4)games?
And so it begins……God help us all.
Wiltord’s problem was he was not Henry and a lot of fans are uneducated in the game, they think the goal scorer is everything.
Hey stan, good times and signings around the corner 😉
Come 2011/12 season, will this be the TEAM for the next 5 years?
…………………Szczesny
…Sagna……new CB…….Vermaelen…..new CB
…………….Song……..Wilshere
………………….Ramsey
…..Walcott……………………..Gervinho
……………….Van Persie
This is the future TEAM if those youngsters fulfilled their potential within 5 years like a 17-year old to present 24 year old Fabregas.
of coruse Wenger is not that daft to depend wholly on those yougnsters for teh enxt 3 years; and certainly, he will buy experience like in summer 1998.
Perhaps by 2011/12 with the departure of Clichy, Nasri, Arshavin and Fabregas……..and many more hungry and committed youngsters that look upon Arsenal FC as their hometown club…the way Cesc loves Barca.
The key is still to play Fluid Football with versatile players:
1 – Front-3 must interchange and have the ability to cut in from flank to centre, and function as central striekr and holding player to bring team-mates into play.
That “blindside running”, “one-touch one-pass” to run clear into the box and visionary pass with players running onto a pass…that were missing since 2003/04 wiht French Spine.
It is not so much as to how many quality players we need to buy, but really, it is how to knit new players, experienced players and youngsters into a TEAM, all committed to Arsenal, hungry and passionate, with
PACE, MOVEMENT & INTERCHANGEBAILITY
And in this period of Anarchy, we will know how good Arsene Wenger in restructuring and building his 3rd and greatest Arsenal Team from the time when he first appointed manager of AS Nancy to present day Arsenal Manager.
____________________________________________
But hey, for all we know, Arsenal FC maybe relegated in 2013/14, Arsene Wenger’s last season……..like AS Nancy last season with Wenger…..the only time Wenger suffered relegation during his 30+ years managerial career.
Hi Kiku, welcome to HH..
I truly beleive that we will not see Cesc in red and white next season, he wants out and i can’t see wenger not letting him go this time. I hope our club hold out for the better price but sadly, i don’t think they will ….
Back in a couple of hours guys.
Don’t be fooled by the Servino signing. After that it will be more kids.
The the gunners would be lucky to finsih fourth. What then?Sack Wenger. It will set Arsenal back by many moons thanks to one man’s ego.
Morning Merlin
I hope we see a bit more experience coming in to add to your team.. 😉
Laters Will
jeremy, i don’t think so, wenger has said he wants experience, we will poss get Chamberlain but i cannot see any more kids coming in…
Servino? Sounds like an interesting signing? What is his speciality – drinks carrying?
We all make typos Savage…..
That’s a convoluted argument, that Wenger is ‘letting’ Fab, Nasri and Clichy go. They’ve all had enough and he’s forced to let them go. This is in no way a good thing. Meantime we keep hold of Denilson and Rosicky et al and bring in a couple more kids and unknowns from outside the PL. This is all precisely what the club doesn’t need, precisely the opposite of what needed to happen this summer.
Next season will be morbidly fascinating, like watching a train crash.
It’s actually not about who leaves this summer, but who comes in. In my opinion the next time we win a trophy, none of the players we currently have will be a part of that “process” except maybe Wilshire and Szezhny, so these people leaving now is no bad thing. They have already proved that they are not good enough. Fabregas is going back to Barcelona to sit on the bench – let’s be honest. He’s a gifted lad, and I don’t bear any malice towards him, but he isn’t fit to tie the shoelaces of a Viera in his prime, or a Brady, or a Petit even.
Gervinho is useless! WENGER OUT!
If people post dumb comments, I’m going to illuminate the dumbness 🙂
Sunderland have officially bypassed us as creche central.
Jekyll,
With the greatest of respect, the window is open and no player has actually left yet, none of us know for sure what will happen this summer..
Yes it’s bloody frustrating as we all hoped our ins would have been signed by now but lets hang on for a few weeks…
EIE, what makes you say he is useless?? Have you watched him a lot – I haven’t so i don’t know how good or bad he is…
Michael,
I kind of agree with you there, i’m not overly fussed if we lose Cesc and Clichy but I hope Nasri does’t go to either of the Manc sides…..
Savage, they have signed up Roarie Deacon too….
Nikki B’s father has had a lot to say again then….
Off for a bit, back in an hour or so…..
> 3 Out , 0 In exclude that 1 mil young fellow signing.
Let see what happen in 31/8/11.
All quiet in here….
Off again, laters….
Just watched a YT clip of Gervinho for the first time. I know about the danger of these clips, but this was well beyond my expectation:
Spot on Savage u-tube clips are nearly always mis-leading but the fella does at least look to have pace and a direct style which we def need.
I think the 3in 3 out scenario isn’t a like for like thing at all and if for starters we got those three IN then they are not replacing the 3 going but merely adding to the strength of the team/squad.
We would still need a strong dominant central midfielder and I suppose a left back. The next week I think will show us where we are likely to be come Sep 1st….! A great comment someone has already stated is its not about who leaves it’s about who is brought in…!
Any sightings guys? Please someone tell me we ve signed someone…am about to lose it
GS, relax…………. Things will start to happen from now, I reckon next week will be a busy in and out week and the players return to pre-season training on wednesday apparently…!
morning all…no news yet, it seems…more chatter and speculation, but…
other than gervinho speaking. i imagine we will get that one done, now that he has effectively nailed his colours to our mast…
It’s a very confusing period at the moment, but I really can’t see a scenario where AW and the board are snoozing in hammocks.
I think they’re battling away, but still trying to ensure good prices, and that’s where they’re getting stuck. From what Arsene said recently, it seems that we’ve made offers for several players, but clubs are not willing to release just yet, either due to other pending offers or to get better prices.
This is really the first season where we’ve seen this much oil money floating around the market, with City being joined by clubs like Barca, PSG and Malaga with their Qatari backing. If I owned Alvarez, I would definitely tell Arsenal to hold on while we see what other money is out there. I guess we’re just going to have to be patient and not be run over by the news headlines.
gervinho is a done deal…..
I chose Arsenal because it’s a young group within which I will be able to integrate easily,” Gervinho told France Football magazine. “I could develop more over there. There’s only a few details left to sort out.
“[Is it] a risk? Not at all. I’m going to Arsenal to play. The best risk to take is to look to score goals and to play a lot. In football you have to take risks if you want to win. I’m going to Arsenal to win.”
Hope he stays to his word and scores a lot of goals
I am calm.
good morning!
not good news for Arsenal side..
He said for months that this was the center forward we needed: better than Torres, good in the air, strong, good with feet. and fair price (compared to other big players like Falcao …). He can go to the spuds ..
Fernando Llorente, Spain striker Acts of Bilbao, is the front line to reinforce the Tottenham attack.
According to the British Press, the London club will be willing to offer 20 million euros for the player of 26 years.
Harry Redknapp, the Spurs said in recent days that the club would have to sell in order to go to market.
In this sense, it is speculated that Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe can be output from White Hart Lane.
I think it would really help if the club released a statement on .com to say that Wenger and his staff have been very busy negotiating deals and trying to secure contracts.
They wouldn’t have to give any specifics, but a lot of the fans are drawing incorrect conclusions from the silence.
I agree with you there Savage, our PR department are shocking.
I want that punk nasri gone. I don’t want him anywhere our first team. I will keep cesc though..according to stats he’s the best player in the world in his position….let’s hang on to him for another season..I hope.
He’s been with us for three years and only had one super quarter season yet he thinks he’s a god. Screw him. I say we flog him to the highest bidder not the manscums though. I hate fergie.
Stan, are you an Arsenal Insider?
Rosicky staying then. I don’t have a problem with it, but I just wish he could rediscover his long-range shooting, as it’s one area we can really improve.
Having TV back will also help in this area, as I think he’s our number one distance hitman at the club – one reason I think he would be an interesting candidate at DM. If we can get TV cracking shots regularly, it will draw the defence out, allowing us to use Walcott and Gerv to get in behind.
I think TV would make an excellent DM with Samba and Cahill behind him.
Is gervinho class or what? He will offer us what we ve been missing since bobby pires and freddie ljunberg left. Am kinda excited. And will,arsenal insider?
seriously i want rosicky gone,when came as a substitutes he was simply horrible…..dont know what we can get from him more….
one person who himself should go now is denilson after coming out and saying the things he has said…..then having no bidders…….he surely cannot think of coming back for preseason training……if he has some self respect he woudnt would he……???
Just saw somewhere that no contact had been made with southampton in regards to oxcart chamberlain..is it true? What kinda people run this club? Its beyond me.
Arsenal do everything in silence not a chance they will say anything about what they are up to…! even to keep fans patient or to reassure fans its not how we do things, pretty pathetic realyl but never been any different has it..!
Stan, your anger at Nasri lead me to believe you know exactly what he is asking for and not believing what you read in the anti-Arsenal press.
Something tells me we might see the 07/08 TR7. I think he might wanna leave with a bang. He was injury free last season am hoping he rediscover his 07/08 form. I love him…..he’s my favorite arsenal player behind RVP though.
Actually, will I don’t read all the crap I see and definitely don’t believe them but there’s something about nasri I don’t like. He’s so full of himself. I want him gone.
I think that OC headline was misleading. To say “there is no offer on the table” doesn’t mean there hasn’t been intensive discussion. If they’re going back and forth discussing a fee, then you might only see an offer when Arsenal are happy with the price, bearing in mind this guy is only 17.
Soon after that Sky Sports says we’re close to an agreement. Either way, OC is not our headline signing for the season, so I’m not exactly hyperventilating on that one.
Stan, how many other players so we have that can take a pass on, at full pace while in the box and beat a player before shooting?
Will nasri only had three great games for us last season…fulham, the spuds and man shitty….other than that he was average. Go and watch the carling cup final you will see what I mean. I was never a big fan. The barca game? He was pretty anonymous while a lil jack wilshere in his first full season ran the show. I will be more terrified if we were to lose jack or ramsey
Maybe, but Nasri is about to go into his prime years. There is obvious talent there and you’ll have difficulty finding a good replacement at an affordable price – look at the scrap over Sanchez as an example.
I can see your point but for me, we have no one like him in the squad and to sell him to someone with more money and more of a chance to get big players would be suicide.
Honestly though, we’re in a pickle here. Clearly he has transfer value, and clearly we can’t offer him the same salary as some other clubs. The only way Nasri is going to stay is out of goodwill for footballing reasons. How many players are like that these days? The last I remember was Kaka refusing to go to City.
Yeah savage…we said the same thing about bentley. Don’t get me wrong I never said he wasn’t good enough he’s just a little annoying that’s all
Bentley was his own worst enemy. He thought he was better than either Bergkamp or Pires and should be starting. He didn’t want to wait, I think we got lucky with that one.
Patience.
Let’s give credit to Wenger for not that daft as to know which players will make or break his 2011/12 team.
He had players in mind and adverse to announcing his targets publicly.
But there is the danger that he maybe as deluded as the late Brian Clough in the last year of his career by buying Rozario and introduced him as “the worldclass striker he needed”.
Throughout his managerial career, Wenger is known as a sore loser and obsessed with winning. His only weak point is his loyalty to hsi players, his closed cricle of coaches and assistant (guess which assistant stick to him thin and thin tot eh extent of following him from France to Japan and to Arsenal??).
Throughout his managerial career, he is always intensely loyal to his players and his greatest disappointment was disloyal players he nurtured like Cashley Cole, – which he nurtured and brought into the team to the extent that he sold Slyvinho to make way for him – Anelka, FLamini, ..and now Fabregas, Clichy and Nasri.
He really has no luck with Spanish players – Reyes, Merida, Fabregas – and now French players are turning against him in Clichy and Nasri.
Perhaps it is best that Nasri is found out early as a greedy git and a mercenary…and regardless it is best to let him go for the long-term “health” of Arsenal FC with plenty of potentially “world-class” youngsters in our youth rank.
Remember Victoria Concordia Cescit – Victory grows out of Harmony???
Let’s forget about short-term gain, just grin and bear it, as certainly, Arsene Wenger has an awesome job in culling disloyal players and mercenaries, rebuilding, re-structuring and melding new players, presetn senior players and youngsters into a formidable title-winning team within 5 years.
We maybe a middle table and emdiocre team in the near future, like 1953 to 1971 a barren 17 years before we won any silverware, but keep the faith as Arsene Wenegr this breatheing space to rebuild this shattered squad with so much disharmony.
Reculer pour mieux sauter.
Duh….doesn’t nasri look to be heading that way too
Duh?
If I had less than 25 years, I know what will be the big recruitment to replace Arsenal’s Fabregas! 🙂
Merlin u are a legend!
There is this blind faith and confidence in Arsene Wenger that he has the necessary ingredients – plus the acumen to buy the experienced players he needed – to re-structure and to build his 3rd and greatest team.
But will Kroenke has the pateince to endure another 5 more years of rebuilding, trophyless and out of Top-4??
Do you know that the present disintegration of the Arsenal team is similar to that of Monaco 1992 with the likes of Djorkaeff, Fofana, Passi, Rui Barros, Thuram, Weah.
And yes, disintegration started in May 1992 whne Monaco lost that CUp Winners’ CUp FInal against Werder Bremen.
If he fumbled again, Kroenke will just simply get rid of him, like Monaco get rid of him…
Anyway, final verdict on September 1, 2011.
But the dreadful fact is it is just another perennail “Summer of Discontents” with pre-season satrting, forthcoming tour of Asia….and haven’t got a clue what sort of team we are haivng with crucial CL CUp qualifying on AUgust 17, 2011…….and disunited team will certainly see us being knocked out and doing a “Liverpool 2010/11” in 2011/12 season.
And while 3rd spot is within our grasp, the players stopped playing in March, APril and May as if Arsene Wenger had lost the dressing room and French players are no longer listening to him.
Then, Wenger needs to perform drastic surgery to excise this subcutaneous infection within Arsenal, drain the wound completely those yellow “disloyal players” pus and let the patient heal.
By retenting disloyal players, and players who announced publicly they do not want to play for Arsenal no more – Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Bendnter, Denilson – is just like letting this subcutaneous infection festering away till the patient die of blood poisoning.
And that was exactly what happened during 2nd half of last season….a self-inflicted wound that just keep festering even now……
Boo, any news??
Afternoon fine folk 🙂
This is where I think our PR dept needs some revamping.
different news……..
murray just took the 1st set of nadal now that is suprising……….
AF, it’s a cracking game 🙂
He will get injured.
Who Will, they both have niggles….
Murray.
but nadal just hit back him back stronger than ever hope wenger is watching…..
Don’t want Wenger watching Spaniards AF 😉
Will, he’s fine right now…
The more I see of this gervinho guy….the more am convinced he will be a better option than nashit on the wings. He’s a runner,nasri isn’t. Maybe that’s why wenger is calm. I can’t wait to see him in an arsenal shirt. Though he’s a bit wasteful but who in this current side isn’t. Sign him up already.
Anyone about? RICOOO,WATH,WILL? Where is everybody? Oh well,here I go. G’night folks
I am here
Oh good….what do u think our potential signing gervinho? He’s class right?
No idea, won’t tell until I have seen him in 20 or so games.
Come on will. He’s better than what we have presently. Beats his man and gets behind the defense..I know u won’t wanna hear this but I think he will offer us more than nasri
I haven’t seen him and I can’t make a decision off of Youtube, they are just highlights..
I’m here too stan, just watching Nadal 😉
Yeah but I got a couple of games from a friend who’s an ardent follower of the french league…this gerv guy is class…he will come good..u ll see.
No to mention he’s even faster than samir….Rico what’s the score now? Stuck in traffic..
Popping off for an hour, quick glass of wine at the local and then back 😉
Ok, I will take your opinion on him but I still want to see him up to Christmas.
Nadal is not far off from winning Stan, 4-3 in the 4th but he has a break…..
2-1 up in sets…..
Me too Will, but like i said, i like his attitude….
So I guess its just me and will right……have a good one rico.
Back in a bit….
I will be back – honest, just one quickie and home 🙂
Yeah right…..
I just hope we sort the defence out.
boooo !!! any news?
booooooooo….
from http://www.eurosport.com by Jim White
Not the end of the world at the Emirates
The doors at the Emirates are all facing in one direction this summer: outwards. The dash for the exits is now set to define Arsenal’s summer. First Gael Clichy, next Samir Nasri, with in all probability the ludicrously extended soap opera that is Barcelona’s interest in Cesc Fabregas following up as the punchline.
When Arsene Wenger told us this could be a significant close season in the life of his club, nobody expected him to be talking about a fire sale.
Clichy’s move to Manchester City is, as yet, the only virtually confirmed transfer, but it speaks volumes for what is going on at the club. For City’s manager Roberto Mancini, it is a shrewd bit of business. This is a player in his prime, with enormous Champions League experience who can resolve a problem area in the blue backline for the next five years.
What the player himself said about it, however, was interesting. He reckoned Arsenal just didn’t love him enough. This is partly code for the fact that City have demonstrated their affection by upping his salary by more than 60 per cent, the kind of rise in remuneration not even the Prince of Wales expects.
It is also, though, a reflection of the fact that – with Kieran Gibbs nudging ever closer to taking his position – he didn’t feel entirely secure in his first team sinecure. Being loved for a footballer means being guaranteed a starting spot. Such are the perils of serious, proper competition for places.
It is also a clue as to where the Arsenal fan might find some consolation in the gloom. If you look at the outward traffic another way, it represents pretty good business for Wenger. For all their vaunted reputation, Clichy, Nasri and Fabregas have actually delivered nothing for Arsenal.
True, the Spaniard was on the fringes of the first team the last time they won anything back in 2005, and Clichy technically won a medal for the unbeaten season in 2003-04, but they have been part of the side that has repeatedly flattered only to deceive.
With nigh-on £70million in his back pocket from their sale, the manager has the means to invest in talents that might deliver. They had their chance, now it is someone else’s turn.
It is a particularly compelling argument when you look at who the manager already has at his disposal. Such is Gibbs’s ability it is hard to believe Clichy’s departure will even be noticed, while I would rather go into battle with Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey alongside me than Samir Nasri any day of the week. The Frenchman is a twinkle-toed luvvie. A scrapper though? Hardly. Going missing seems to be his default position in big games.
As for Fabregas, such has been the epic narrative of his wooing by Barcelona, a mercy killing at last is in all the parties’ interest. There was no point Fernando Torres hanging on at Anfield, souring the atmosphere with his ambition to leave. Indeed, despite what many of us predicted, Liverpool have not imploded at his departure, but have survived and thrived.
So it could be with Fabregas. He has had his heart in Catalonia ever since he was forced to wear a Barca shirt in Spain’s post-World Cup winning celebrations. When a player wants to go, it is pointless trying to keep him.
Plus, unexpected and painful as they might initially appear, the Arsenal sales are not from areas of the team that will cause immediate weakness. Regulars at the Emirates have known to the point of inflicting phone-in atrophy what their team needs.
Losing a couple of midfield gadflies and a left-back won’t alter those imperatives. If Thomas Vermaelen had been sold it would have caused a lot more problems.
Nothing has really changed here. Arsenal need reinforcing down the spine: in goal, at centre-back and centre-forward. Provided Wenger spends the accrued income in those areas, there is no reason beyond sentiment why the three departed will be hugely missed.
It is time for Wenger to restructure the team. These departures have forced his hand
Hold fire on Gunners and Wenger
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http://www.eurosport.com by Early Dors
There’s nothing the media love more at this lazy stage of the summer, when wishy-washy transfer stories are the order of the day, than a good old crisis. Thankfully, the newspapers were able to latch onto Thursday’s developments at Arsenal, where a pivotal summer for the club and Arsene Wenger became a touch more vital due to what is inevitably being described as an imminent ‘exodus’.
Leading the growing ranks of the restless to the Promised Land away from Emirates Stadium is, of course, Cesc Fabregas, and an inauspicious start to Thursday was ensured by reports in the press that a £35 million deal would be done with Barcelona. Frankly, ED suspects most football fans would be happy to be put out of their misery on this front.
A merciful end is hopefully nearing in one of the most protracted and tiresome sagas since George Eastham took four years to bring an end to retain and transfer in 1963. That blessed moment when Cesc poses next to the Barca club crest will be football’s answer to a trip to Dignitas.
But Arsenal fans stewing in the news of the likely loss of their captain had more to assail them when the afternoon brought with it a fresh development and the news that Gael Clichy was poised to join Manchester City for £7 million and that another Frenchman with one year left on his contract, Samir Nasri, could indeed be joining him.
Well, that’s depending on which source you read in this ever reliable period of the football calendar. The largely impeccable Daniel Taylor of The Guardian reports city are “bemused” by the Nasri suggestion.
But if Arsenal do lose the man shortlisted for the Player of the Year award – in conjunction with their skipper, whose head is so clearly in Barcelona that he may as well be sporting Sagrada Familia novelty specs on his next public appearance – it will clearly represent a severe truncation of the club’s creative talent. Real cause for concern.
However, the imminent departure of Clichy, and for a respectable £7 million, is nothing to fret about. His form has been on the slide for years, as has his ability to interpret the offside rule.
Thursday did not witness a positive turn of events by any means, but it was not exactly the end of days either, even if the agent of Denilson also revealed there have been no offers for his client. Big-name departures can just about be stomached, but another season of the Brazilian incarnation of an ageing Ray Wilkins, master of the sideways pass?
What said developments certainly did do, surely, was convince the trained economist sat in the manager’s office that now is no time for austerity packages in North London. The sales of Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy, if confirmed, will bring in £62 million alone, and more could follow.
No longer can Wenger turn to youth and repeat the mistakes of the past. And mistakes they were, even if guided by the noblest of intentions.
Though giving Fabregas the freedom to express himself in the wake of Patrick Vieira’s departure in 2005 resulted in the growth of one of the world’s finest midfielders, Gael Clichy has not met Ashley Cole’s standards and, most crucially, Wenger’s decision to place faith in Denilson in a summer when Lassana Diarra, Gilberto Silva and Mathieu Flamini all left the club was a bad decision with lengthy repercussions.
What is clear is that there is no new generation pushing for inclusion. Jack Wilshere, to his immense credit, has skipped a few grades, but surely Wenger will realise that the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong, Henri Lansbury and Conor Henderson are not the answer Arsenal are searching for at the moment.
Hard cash needs to be injected into the market to produce Arsenal’s own stimulus package and the encouraging news is that Wenger is already showing a readiness to slay the sacred cows that have constituted the philosophy of his approach in the transfer market in recent seasons.
Though ED admits Gervinho, who confirmed he is en route in The Sun on Friday morning, could hardly be more of an archetypal Wenger signing – a flashy forward from Ligue 1, he even came through at Beveren for God’s sake – pursuits of Chris Samba and Gary Cahill suggest a more open and inclusive approach to the transfer market this summer.
Developments so far – namely the capture of youngsters Carl Jenkinson, Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin – have ensured envious glances are being cast at the early work being done at Old Trafford, but there are still two full months remaining in the window. Indeed the European market only formally opened for business on Friday.
It was a point acknowledged by Wenger himself on Thursday as he said: “We are in a waiting period, everybody is waiting for the other moves. Everybody has their cards in [their] hands, hoping for the big transfer. There is nothing moving yet. The period will be more active at the end of July when we will need to really strengthen the team.”
That last part bears repeating: “We will need to really strengthen the team”. It is not a phrase that Arsenal fans have heard often from a man loathe to criticise his players in public or indeed introduce new recruits for fear of “killing” those coming through.
If significant investment is not made then this could very well be the season that finally buries Wenger. In that respect it is probably the biggest challenge he has faced at the club.
But let’s not bury him prematurely. There are plenty of concerning developments at Arsenal, but with change comes the opportunity for the renewal and realignment of the squad and its approach.
Such an undertaking is inherent with risk of course, but results over the past few years have hardly suggested this is a squad that deserves to remain intact.
The trick lies in striking the right balance. This is not a crisis yet.
Morning……..
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