Tin hat on
Transfer Rumours Thread
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mcdowell42
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mcdowell42
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- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:19 pm
- Location: ireland
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storrmin571
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- Location: PONTYPANDY FIRE STATION
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html
Arsenal will face another crisis of confidence in Arsene Wenger’s belief that he can win the glittering prizes without buying big when Barcelona launch their latest attempt to take Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp.
The European champions will offer £30million for the Arsenal captain this week, plus a choice of
reserves Thiago Alcantara or Bojan Krkic.
Although Arsenal will reject the deal and are not interested in either of the players offered, the
pressure to allow their captain to move back to the club he trained at as a boy will intensify.
Summer of speculation: Cesc Fabregas (left) has once again been linked with a move back to Barcelona
Equally, should Fabregas eventually move, Wenger’s tactics in the transfer market will again come under the microscope. While Manchester United and Liverpool were swiftly into their squad-strengthening stride and Chelsea are poised to pick up the pace, Wenger risks being left standing in the stalls again as the big names head elsewhere.
Worse still, Arsenal stalwarts Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy are being strongly tipped to move on — Nasri possibly to United and Clichy to Anfield.
The whole issue could come to a head over Fabregas. Although Arsenal are likely to move this
week for Everton’s Leighton Baines, Blackburn’s Chris Samba and Bolton’s Gary Cahill, it is likely
to be seen as too little, too late by Fabregas, who agreed last summer to stay when Barcelona failed
to meet Arsenal’s £45m valuation.
Twelve months later, Barcelona would still have to reach that figure for Arsenal to be able to justify the sale of their captain, although it is understood Barca president Sandro Rosell has set a limit of £35m for Fabregas.
Arsenal will not be bullied and will not sell unless the Catalans reach their asking price. However, it
is becoming increasingly difficult for them to convince senior players that they are likely to win
the Premier League or Champions League at the club, having now gone six years without a trophy.
Target: Gary Cahill
Target: Christoper Samba
Target: Leighton Baines
All this after a week in which the club were bitterly disappointed to lose out on Phil Jones, a player they had been tracking since his Blackburn debut 15 months ago.
Jones’s move to United is stalling this weekend as Rovers dispute the fee, but what is clear is that Arsenal have been left behind in the race to sign the centre-half.
While Sir Alex Ferguson has acted instinctively and swiftly at United to bid for Jones, Ashley Young and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea, with moves for Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric being evaluated, Wenger has been displaying his usual caution.
Agents involved in potential deals with Arsenal and even some at the club itself, report that he is so
scrupulous in weighing up his options that he might be described as dithering while his empire burns.
Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis will face the Arsenal Supporters Trust for a question and answer session at the Emirates Stadium on Monday when he will be made aware that frustration with
Wenger has never been higher.
It is a feeling shared by the players. Defender Thomas Vermaelen insists that he trusts Wenger’s judgment on his squad but he still admits: ‘It is difficult to say now that we are going to be title contenders next season. Let’s see what we’re going to do in the summer.’
Wenger’s failure to move quickly and recruit proven performers irks some at the club. Specifically, his
repeated failure to buy a commanding centre-half and an experienced goalkeeper.
The loss of three key first-team personalities such as Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy would be a grievous blow at any time but, given the wretched way in which Arsenal finished their season, it would represent a devastating vote of no confidence in Wenger. So if the manager wants to send a message that he has the future in hand, this is the week to do it.
And despite his obsessive desire to get value in the market and to triple check each signing he makes, this may yet be the moment that finally breaks the mould.
Lille striker Gervinho remains an option and, despite the form of Wojciech Szczesny, it is still possible
Wenger could sign an experienced goalkeeper this summer.
It is at times like this that Arsenal fans long for former vice-chairman and deal-maker David Dein.The signing of Sol Campbell 10 years ago, on a free transfer but on what was regarded as extortionate
wages at the time of £130,000 a week, was completed despite the doubts of Wenger.
Double trouble: Arsenal stars Samir Nasri (left) and Gael Clichy (right) could both leave the club this summer
‘Arsene was very cautious and David was very ambitious for the club,’ said former director Keith
Edelman, managing director at the time. ‘He was very good at getting Arsene into a position where he was comfortable spending money.’ No one at the club seems to have sufficient authority to do that now.
It is richly ironic, as Wenger often points out, that he is the manager vilified for not spending in a week in which Deloitte’s annual survey of football finances revealed the unsustainable model of spending that the Premier League has embraced.
Manchester City spend more than their total income on wages, with Chelsea spending 82 per cent, while only Arsenal (49 per cent), United (46 per cent) and Spurs (56 per cent) among the Champions League contenders are close to a healthy model.
Yet if the club have to resort to such dry statistics to justify how well they are doing at the end of next season, then the Wenger era will surely be drawing to a close.
What is required is not a detailed analysis of their healthy finances, but a trophy. And what is required this week is some serious intent to produce signings worthy of that.
Arsenal will face another crisis of confidence in Arsene Wenger’s belief that he can win the glittering prizes without buying big when Barcelona launch their latest attempt to take Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp.
The European champions will offer £30million for the Arsenal captain this week, plus a choice of
reserves Thiago Alcantara or Bojan Krkic.
Although Arsenal will reject the deal and are not interested in either of the players offered, the
pressure to allow their captain to move back to the club he trained at as a boy will intensify.
Summer of speculation: Cesc Fabregas (left) has once again been linked with a move back to Barcelona
Equally, should Fabregas eventually move, Wenger’s tactics in the transfer market will again come under the microscope. While Manchester United and Liverpool were swiftly into their squad-strengthening stride and Chelsea are poised to pick up the pace, Wenger risks being left standing in the stalls again as the big names head elsewhere.
Worse still, Arsenal stalwarts Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy are being strongly tipped to move on — Nasri possibly to United and Clichy to Anfield.
The whole issue could come to a head over Fabregas. Although Arsenal are likely to move this
week for Everton’s Leighton Baines, Blackburn’s Chris Samba and Bolton’s Gary Cahill, it is likely
to be seen as too little, too late by Fabregas, who agreed last summer to stay when Barcelona failed
to meet Arsenal’s £45m valuation.
Twelve months later, Barcelona would still have to reach that figure for Arsenal to be able to justify the sale of their captain, although it is understood Barca president Sandro Rosell has set a limit of £35m for Fabregas.
Arsenal will not be bullied and will not sell unless the Catalans reach their asking price. However, it
is becoming increasingly difficult for them to convince senior players that they are likely to win
the Premier League or Champions League at the club, having now gone six years without a trophy.
Target: Gary Cahill
Target: Christoper Samba
Target: Leighton Baines
All this after a week in which the club were bitterly disappointed to lose out on Phil Jones, a player they had been tracking since his Blackburn debut 15 months ago.
Jones’s move to United is stalling this weekend as Rovers dispute the fee, but what is clear is that Arsenal have been left behind in the race to sign the centre-half.
While Sir Alex Ferguson has acted instinctively and swiftly at United to bid for Jones, Ashley Young and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea, with moves for Wesley Sneijder and Luka Modric being evaluated, Wenger has been displaying his usual caution.
Agents involved in potential deals with Arsenal and even some at the club itself, report that he is so
scrupulous in weighing up his options that he might be described as dithering while his empire burns.
Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis will face the Arsenal Supporters Trust for a question and answer session at the Emirates Stadium on Monday when he will be made aware that frustration with
Wenger has never been higher.
It is a feeling shared by the players. Defender Thomas Vermaelen insists that he trusts Wenger’s judgment on his squad but he still admits: ‘It is difficult to say now that we are going to be title contenders next season. Let’s see what we’re going to do in the summer.’
Wenger’s failure to move quickly and recruit proven performers irks some at the club. Specifically, his
repeated failure to buy a commanding centre-half and an experienced goalkeeper.
The loss of three key first-team personalities such as Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy would be a grievous blow at any time but, given the wretched way in which Arsenal finished their season, it would represent a devastating vote of no confidence in Wenger. So if the manager wants to send a message that he has the future in hand, this is the week to do it.
And despite his obsessive desire to get value in the market and to triple check each signing he makes, this may yet be the moment that finally breaks the mould.
Lille striker Gervinho remains an option and, despite the form of Wojciech Szczesny, it is still possible
Wenger could sign an experienced goalkeeper this summer.
It is at times like this that Arsenal fans long for former vice-chairman and deal-maker David Dein.The signing of Sol Campbell 10 years ago, on a free transfer but on what was regarded as extortionate
wages at the time of £130,000 a week, was completed despite the doubts of Wenger.
Double trouble: Arsenal stars Samir Nasri (left) and Gael Clichy (right) could both leave the club this summer
‘Arsene was very cautious and David was very ambitious for the club,’ said former director Keith
Edelman, managing director at the time. ‘He was very good at getting Arsene into a position where he was comfortable spending money.’ No one at the club seems to have sufficient authority to do that now.
It is richly ironic, as Wenger often points out, that he is the manager vilified for not spending in a week in which Deloitte’s annual survey of football finances revealed the unsustainable model of spending that the Premier League has embraced.
Manchester City spend more than their total income on wages, with Chelsea spending 82 per cent, while only Arsenal (49 per cent), United (46 per cent) and Spurs (56 per cent) among the Champions League contenders are close to a healthy model.
Yet if the club have to resort to such dry statistics to justify how well they are doing at the end of next season, then the Wenger era will surely be drawing to a close.
What is required is not a detailed analysis of their healthy finances, but a trophy. And what is required this week is some serious intent to produce signings worthy of that.
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Bergkamp-Genius
- Posts: 1774
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:19 pm
storrmin571 wrote:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... senal.html
It is at times like this that Arsenal fans long for former vice-chairman and deal-maker David Dein.The signing of Sol Campbell 10 years ago, on a free transfer but on what was regarded as extortionate
wages at the time of £130,000 a week, was completed despite the doubts of Wenger.
‘Arsene was very cautious and David was very ambitious for the club,’ said former director Keith
Edelman, managing director at the time. ‘He was very good at getting Arsene into a position where he was comfortable spending money.’ No one at the club seems to have sufficient authority to do that now.
Just in case anyone was in any doubt where the problem of spending lies and who runs the club...
Wenger runs the club from top to bottom, even those supposedly running the club are so far up his arse they don't feel they have the authority to question him or push him to invest to improve his own fucking team ...
I'd like to think if Dein came back he would push him in to spending, but i doubt that would work now...Wenger is so powerful at the club and has been so unchallenged for so long i think he would just ignore Dein's prompting, if he ever allowed him to come back that is... He's got to go...
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frankbutcher
- Posts: 3857
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:07 pm
- Location: Arsenal's Treatment Room
I reckon we will lose Clichy and Nasri for peanuts. Cesc will stay, but his heart will be elsewhere and his form will suffer for it. We will get beat to all of Wenger's targets by either Liverppol or United, and Wenger will claim that we bid big money but the players turned us down (wonder why?)
We will actually sign another attacking midfielder and a 3rd rate centre back on a free (Upson>...............)
Wenger is already getting his excuses lined up!
We will actually sign another attacking midfielder and a 3rd rate centre back on a free (Upson>...............)
Wenger is already getting his excuses lined up!
Mr Edelman's words are fascinating, but I would also suggest highly self-serving. He has tried to rehabilitate his own repurtation the past few months first by advocating David Dein's return to the club but then by falsely prtraying himself as an ally to Dein (Mr. Fiszman was clealry brough to cut ,not maintain or increase spending levels across the Bard especially once the Board followed his recommendation not to sell Highbury but to borrow an extra 120 million on top of the stadium debt to re-develop it.
Now he is trying to this again. Again using some facts to try re-shape his role at the club and his role in the team's decline. What else would you expect him to say here? He was behind all the cost-cutting policies and dgreed-driven plans?.
What we know is this - that Arsene Wenger was manager from 1998-2005 when with David Dein working with him the club spent about 5 million GBP a year finished in the op two every year and won the league thrice and the FA Cup four times. We also know that without David Dein from 2007 forward and with Keith Edelman and Ivan Gazidis working with him the made about 5 million a pounds a year never finished higher than third and is trophyless.
And the Board has been perfectly satisfied the entire time in spite of that shift in fortunes for the club - perhaps because it coincided with a very favorable shift in fortunes for them? In fact a shift so big and and so dramatic it can't be coincidental. The Board could fire any manager for any reason any time it wants. Meaning the Board could compel the manager to act any way it wishes any time it wants as long as he remains manager. So why haven't they sacked him then? Especially if as some suggest it would be the only way to change these policies now in place because the manager has forced them on the club and the Board and refused to change or leave of his own volition.
What are they afraid of? His secret self-destruct button that will blow up the Emirates if they sack him that only he controls?
Now he is trying to this again. Again using some facts to try re-shape his role at the club and his role in the team's decline. What else would you expect him to say here? He was behind all the cost-cutting policies and dgreed-driven plans?.
What we know is this - that Arsene Wenger was manager from 1998-2005 when with David Dein working with him the club spent about 5 million GBP a year finished in the op two every year and won the league thrice and the FA Cup four times. We also know that without David Dein from 2007 forward and with Keith Edelman and Ivan Gazidis working with him the made about 5 million a pounds a year never finished higher than third and is trophyless.
And the Board has been perfectly satisfied the entire time in spite of that shift in fortunes for the club - perhaps because it coincided with a very favorable shift in fortunes for them? In fact a shift so big and and so dramatic it can't be coincidental. The Board could fire any manager for any reason any time it wants. Meaning the Board could compel the manager to act any way it wishes any time it wants as long as he remains manager. So why haven't they sacked him then? Especially if as some suggest it would be the only way to change these policies now in place because the manager has forced them on the club and the Board and refused to change or leave of his own volition.
What are they afraid of? His secret self-destruct button that will blow up the Emirates if they sack him that only he controls?
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Bergkamp-Genius
- Posts: 1774
- Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:19 pm
Isn't amazing how everyone who would be in a position to know what's going on, that says anything that doesn't fit in with what you would prefer to believe is just dismissed or is a liar...
Everyone who actually works or worked at the club who knows everyone involved intimately and actually know what's been said and done and is going on at the club, all say pretty much the same thing.
Wengers a tight bastard, he doesn't like spending money but he is held in such high regard nobody likes to question him, no one tells him what to do...
Even Wenger himself has confirmed it wittingly and unwittingly within numerous verbal diarrhea bouts...
But
Personally i'd much rather believe what someone who has no role at the club, knows no one involved, has no idea what is said and done in private, but has concocted a theory in his own head backed up by a million other theories repeated ad infinitum and then passed of as facts..says...
NOT
Everyone who actually works or worked at the club who knows everyone involved intimately and actually know what's been said and done and is going on at the club, all say pretty much the same thing.
Wengers a tight bastard, he doesn't like spending money but he is held in such high regard nobody likes to question him, no one tells him what to do...
Even Wenger himself has confirmed it wittingly and unwittingly within numerous verbal diarrhea bouts...
But
Personally i'd much rather believe what someone who has no role at the club, knows no one involved, has no idea what is said and done in private, but has concocted a theory in his own head backed up by a million other theories repeated ad infinitum and then passed of as facts..says...
NOT
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mcdowell42
- Posts: 18303
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:19 pm
- Location: ireland
Absolutely agree that Wenger has to go. Since Deins departure, Wenger has been absolutely obsessed with the economics of football and has priorotised that at the expense of footballing success. And he loves it (and the £6m a year)- why else is he still at Arsenal? He could have gone to Madrid, but over there football success is the No1 priority whereas all he had to do at Arsenal is ensure that the board are fat and healthy with money.Bergkamp-Genius wrote:I'd like to think if Dein came back he would push him in to spending, but i doubt that would work now...Wenger is so powerful at the club and has been so unchallenged for so long i think he would just ignore Dein's prompting, if he ever allowed him to come back that is... He's got to go...
Unlike USMartin, who is obsessed with blaming the board while understating Wengers involvement, I believe Wenger is THE biggest problem. The board must have been over the moon when Wenger agreed to bending over backwards and make them rich. What other true football loving win hungry manager would have gone along with what has happened over the past 6 years?
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Gunnersaurus
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- Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:06 am
- Location: london
If he stays and gets that money then he wants to start playing out of his skin on a more consistent basis, personally I don't think he is worth it and he's played the club well, its similar to Cole but he was outstanding, Nasri is very hit and miss.mcdowell42 wrote:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... nited.html
For an extra 5k we could have kept arguably the best left back in Europe, for an extra 20k we might keep someone that turns it on when he feels like it, not overly impressed really.
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frankbutcher
- Posts: 3857
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 2:07 pm
- Location: Arsenal's Treatment Room
