Is there anyone that wouldn't want Wenger in for another season for the trade of us getting this guy?

Shady wrote:

Is there anyone that wouldn't want Wenger in for another season for the trade of us getting this guy?

Me. Short of bringing in Lionel Messi, there is nobody that Wenger can recruit who would be worth keeping him around. He's a cyst that needs to be removed.

Shady wrote:

Is there anyone that wouldn't want Wenger in for another season for the trade of us getting this guy?

Yeah Wenger can get us anyone.

http://www.football365.com/news/a-full-arsene-wenger-i-almost-signed-xi

Biggus wrote:

Shady wrote:

Is there anyone that wouldn't want Wenger in for another season for the trade of us getting this guy?

Yeah Wenger can get us anyone.

http://www.football365.com/news/a-full-arsene-wenger-i-almost-signed-xi

These players we almost signed were players all the top and medium clubs were in for. It's easy to get 20 offers for a top young player. Wenger only says these things to give the press a headline. He's said before if you don't give them one they'll make one up.

No other manager is in the same club long enough to say I almost signed all of these.

The fact that the article cites Wenger saying that he isn't thinking of signing anyone sums it up. Get ready for a boring summer.

I actually think that is how we roll. As weird as it seems in this day and age, there is very little evidence that we do much work on transfers between transfer windows.

Yeah that is true, there aren't many mangers who can reminisce that far back with the same club.
There are many reasons why deals might fall through but there are not many players who should escape a club the size of Arsenal if we really want them.
I don't think its like the fishermens tales about the one that got away though, I think its just Wenger pissing in our pockets.....

Some are somewhat excusable like Ronaldo where Wenger wasn't willing to spend a record fee for an unproven youngster, you win some you lose some. Others like Di Maria are inexcusable, the player himself said that he never understood how the move wasn't finalised after the details were sorted out, there was a delay in the final minutes which was when Benfica swooped in and got him for a pittance.

YaYa Toure is the most inexplicable one.
I remember at the time on A-M everyone just assumed he would be joining Kolo here, we were all aware of possible work permit problems but we all presumed he would be signed on a long term contract and then just parked at Beveren until it was sorted.

Faaaaaaccccccck imagine if he was our Vieira replacement, history may have been completely different.

Biggus wrote:

YaYa Toure is the most inexplicable one.
I remember at the time on A-M everyone just assumed he would be joining Kolo here, we were all aware of possible work permit problems but we all presumed he would be signed on a long term contract and then just parked at Beveren until it was sorted.

But he wasn't willing to park himself in Belgium and then move around from club to club. Completely understandable too since Joel Campbell effectively wasted 3 years before he could play for us.

I don't know what incentive YaYa was offered, maybe he wasn't offered anything more than a promise.
I don't think Joel wasted his time waiting, he was patient and now hes gotten his chance I hope he makes the most of it.
We're Arsenal after all, no matter how badly we're being managed atm only the best of the best is good enough for us.

jones wrote:

Some are somewhat excusable like Ronaldo where Wenger wasn't willing to spend a record fee for an unproven youngster, you win some you lose some. Others like Di Maria are inexcusable, the player himself said that he never understood how the move wasn't finalised after the details were sorted out, there was a delay in the final minutes which was when Benfica swooped in and got him for a pittance.

Didn't Dein say that there was really no money in our coffers at that time to afford Ronaldo? He said Wenger was desperate to get him but we just couldn't match the offer. Sporting actually agreed our lower offer before United came in and blew us out of the water.

I thought United had some sort of technical link up with Sporting that gave them the advantage too?

Yeah I remember hearing that too Ricky.

I don't pay much attention to Wenger when he talks about certain players, some of it never really goes past a slight interest and then he tells us he nearly signed them. He did miss out on a few who could have made a real difference, Ribery is a big one for me. As much as we never replaced Vieira we never really replace Pires properly either.

evoh_1 wrote:

The fact that the article cites Wenger saying that he isn't thinking of signing anyone sums it up. Get ready for a boring summer.

Yep. Look at the way Chelsea signed Costa and Fabregas, those deals were done months before the window opened and they both cost pretty fair amounts. Instead Wenger will wait till July (he'll probably be busy doing commentary in June) and complain everyone is too expensive and anyway Theo is scoring freely in preseason vs Barnet and the South East Asian XI so why would we buy a new striker.

Ridiculous claim anyways that "he's just focused on the next game", as if he had nothing but training sessions and sleep on his agenda.

Ask him to have a trial first.

I remember reading stories about the United players telling Fergie to sign Ronaldo after they playing Sporting in some pre-season game.

Clrnc wrote:

jones wrote:

Some are somewhat excusable like Ronaldo where Wenger wasn't willing to spend a record fee for an unproven youngster, you win some you lose some. Others like Di Maria are inexcusable, the player himself said that he never understood how the move wasn't finalised after the details were sorted out, there was a delay in the final minutes which was when Benfica swooped in and got him for a pittance.

Didn't Dein say that there was really no money in our coffers at that time to afford Ronaldo? He said Wenger was desperate to get him but we just couldn't match the offer. Sporting actually agreed our lower offer before United came in and blew us out of the water.

i think mendes also hiked his agent fee up once united were in the picture as well. a few people over the years reckon wenger's antipathy towards mendes can be back to that collapsed ronaldo transfer

I remember the story like Asterix too. Not sure if Queiroz was involved but he definitely was when Fungus bought Bebé for 10m without ever watching him.

Even if Wenger was interested in Zlatan, he wouldn't say he was interested unless it was basically a done deal.

jones wrote:

I remember the story like Asterix too. Not sure if Queiroz was involved but he definitely was when Fungus bought Bebé for 10m without ever watching him.

i remember watching that game, and the reports that followed. Ronaldo dominated United. made a mockery of Gary Neville. the papers carried stories of how United players wanted him signed. and soon thereafter he was a United player. later, Wenger would add Ronaldo to his list of nearly men.

So...

We are signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic then, ehn?

I still don't get why he'd want to come here. He wants to win Champions League before he retires and PSG are desperate to keep him. If they fail to win it this year it makes a lot more sense for him to stay in Paris for a year or two.

Is PSG really desperate to keep him though?

Think so. Their owner is on record pleading for him to stay at least. It's going to be hard for them to replace him unless thay manage to pull off Ronaldo.

Wonder if Cavani will push for a transfer if Zlatan stays. He must be thinking 'finally!' at this point.

I think they'll get rid of Cavani either way to be honest. All he has to do is to push for a move. He lost his place to Lucas Moura this season, and he hasn't performed as a striker when he's been given the chance. With the kind of money PSG have it makes sense to go after someone like Higuain or Lewandowski when it's time to replace Zlatan... players who already perform at a desired level.

There could be an opportunity here for a club like Arsenal, actually. I'd happily take Cavani off their hands.

Oh, so would I!

I don't care if this guy is 34, I don't care if he wants 300k a week, if there's any chance he wants to come here then make it happen. He's better than Higuain and Aubameyang put together.

It is reported that he wants 600k p/w.

Still would be worth it though, mind you.

Maybe on a one year contract.

300k/w plus a 16m signing bonus? 32m or so for a year of Zlatan?

If I were him I'd just go to China for 2-3 years. Earn the maximum amount possible with little pressure. They'd pay him ridiculous amounts.

Coombs wrote:

300k/w plus a 16m signing bonus? 32m or so for a year of Zlatan?

It's probably in the region of what you'd have to pay to get him. Can't see Arsenal do it but I think Chelsea and United will.

In 2-3 years I reckon there will be a number of players in Premier League on 300k/w. I wouldn't be surprised if City sign at least one footballer in the summer who'll earn close to that. It looks like an exorbiant sum at the moment but top class costs a lot. How much would a league title be worth?

I can understand a reluctance to pay that kind of money for Zlatan at his age.

Yeah, definitely. One bad hamstring or ankle sprain and it's an insane amount of money straight down the toilet. I think we would be in a position where we could afford a gamble like that if we had managed our affairs better in the last two years though.

If we'd managed our affairs better we probably wouldn't need to make a gamble like that.