Chelsea sign Robben

Pepe LeFrits

Reports seem to be coming in that Chelsea have signed Robben for next season for €20m.

http://teletekst.nos.nl/gif/665-01.html

I'm waiting on something more reliable and er... in english.

// EDIT - On the Chelski site now - http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?id=188828

Interesting. As far as United are concerned - oh dear. Ronaldinho all over again. As for Chelsea, where are they going to play him? I can't see him dislodging Duff and left mid which is Robbens natural position isnt it?

SuprSi

I think that if it's true that it's getting a bit ridiculous. I'm pretty jealous of Chelsea buying all these great players, but where are they going to play him? And then there's talk of Nedved going to them as well - that'll make at least 8 world class midfielders, if not more.

I don't see how they'll keep the other players happy.

Mind you, it'd make for some interesting viewing. Nice to see these kinds of players in the EPL too.

Ronaldo7

ffs if this is true, im pissed off. He was meant to be going to Utd. ****!

Seaneh

United would have no place for him, so why do you care?
Besides, PSV and Chelski are setting up a deal where Chelski buy players and PSV act like a nursery for 2-3 seasons, maybe robben will just be farmed back to psv for a while, Alex (brazillian defender) is going to be put through this process and there is reports of PSV and Chelski tracking 4 other players.

jank

Originally posted by Ronaldo7
ffs if this is true, im pissed off. He was meant to be going to Utd. ****!

sometimes **** happens. you better get used to it lol

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

BKtje

United would have no place for him, so why do you care?

Where would you get this idea? Utd would have less palce for him than say Chelsea?
huh?

The Muppet

He's supposed to be off to chelsea alright where Joe cole has had enough of the bench and is expected to hand in a transfer request shortly. United were supposed to be interested in signing Robben in the summer but their interest has cooled of late and Chelsea stepped in to buy him.

tinofapples

United would have no place for him, so why do you care?

Ryan Giggs has never had serious competition for a place in the side on the left of midfield.

Competition is healthy for the team . Having said that having 8/9 big name midfielders is probably OTT !!

_blank_

This is the start of it.

How many more players that United were interested will go to Chelsea now then?

And why?...Peter Kenyon.

Gardening Leave my arse, he has taken all United's plans to Chelsea, and sold United down the swanee.

jank

remember if you are a top star where would you rather live
london or manchester?

london is able to attract much better quality than any other city in england
and anybody who has gone to manchester and london know what im talking about here

london may not be the utopian city of the world but hell it is light years ahead of manchester and similar cities from the north of england

as an example what big forgien player have utd signed recently
ruud maybe veron! other than that hardly any and im going back a number of years here. it is so hard for utd to sign good forgien talent and you wonder why. arent they the "biggest" club in the world yet when it comes to buying good world class players they have it so difficult to do so
why no raul, or zidane or nedved or ronaldo or batistutaor romario etc etc
they are all world class players but players like these prefer to live somewhere "nice"

players are interested in tradition and playing for a big club but i feel more too that they are more interested in a quality of life and this has become more and more apart in recent years especially with bosman rulling coming into effect where players have much more powe over thier own playing lives

ps this is not a swipe at utd im just making an observation stating that there is big social reason why players play in certain cities
just look at where the top top stars play
milan, turin, rome, london, madrid, barcaleona, munich

smuckers

CHELSEA CONFIRM ROBBEN DEAL
Tuesday 2nd March 2004

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of PSV Eindhoven starlet Arjen Robben for £12 million.
The Holland international will arrive at Stamford Bridge in the summer after seeing out the current campaign with PSV.

A routine medical was passed on Monday, and the deal is further evidence of owner Roman Abramovich's determination to bring the cream of Europe's talent to West London.

Manchester United had been interested in signing Robben but their bid for the former Groningen man was well below what PSV chairman Harry van Raaij anticipated and Chelsea's greater willingness to meet the asking price swung the pendulum in their favour.

The 20-year-old has four caps for his country and is reckoned to be a star in the making.

It increases the number of options within the Chelsea squad for next season and sees another top talent from the continent lined up for The Premiership.

"For me, Arjen Robben will be a fantastic addition to our squad," stated Claudio Ranieri.

"He is quick, strong, scores goals and makes goals.

"He can do everything. His style is perfect for the Premier League and I am very happy that he wanted to come to us."

eirebhoy

It was in the Ireland on Sunday that Chelsea put a bid in for Robben and in the same article it said that they will also try and get Rio Ferdinand off United. Beware Man U fans.:D

donhughberto

Originally posted by eirebhoy
It was in the Ireland on Sunday that Chelsea put a bid in for Robben and in the same article it said that they will also try and get Rio Ferdinand off United. Beware Man U fans.:D

They won't get Rio but it looks like no one is safe from a billionaire, he basically bought PSV lol, look at the track record of that club for producing stars, god allmighty, its only a matter of time before they clean up and take both arsenal and man u!

I hear joe cole is a very unhappy player and they might have to offload, i think they bought him at the wrong time as he wasn't fully developed and can't stay in chelsea team like Lampard!

Bleak day for all Utd fans and we might might be on teh touchline for a few years if this keeps going and arsenal keep kicking arse!

Shaque attack

the only thing all supporters of other clubs can hope for is that the russian police arrest roman and freeze his assets

Chucky

You would love to know how footballing issues work at Chelsea wouldn't you. They need to get rid of Ranieri and get a coach that is guaranteed to gain them success.

And like, Robben being the great talent he is and all is just another midfielder. It's getting ridiculous the amount of talent going to waste at Chelsea. Most notably, I feel, Joe Cole. His career has halted when at West Ham it was skyrocketing.

kaisersose77

Bad news for Damien Duff, I'd say Robben will be picked before him just because he plays for Holland and Duff only plays for Ireland if Ranieri stays or Sven comes in. If u ever watch eurogoals on eurosport u'd have seen what a good player Robben is, every time i watched he scored a goal of the season contender.

Michelangelo

PSV chairman Harry van Raaij told reporters in Holland: ``Because United were first in the queue, we kept Chelsea waiting.

``But when we had our second discussion with United over a fee, we were very disappointed over how low they believed they could push us.

``They seemed to think he was worth a lot less than Chelsea were willing to pay. That was a massive let-down and it was only then that we opened negotiations with Chelsea.''

That explains it. That is why Chelsea signed him. Utd clearly didn't want him that badly if they offered a fee lower than what was paid.

The Muppet

Originally posted by Michaelangelo
That explains it. That is why Chelsea signed him. Utd clearly didn't want him that badly if they offered a fee lower than what was paid.

Its funny, it seem all United have to do is express an interest in a player and Chelsea buys them. I think United need to do as the Gunners did with Reyes and not disclose any info until the player has signed, Of course having the former UTD chairman at Chelski makes this impossible for any players united we monitoring before he left.

Gillie

Originally posted by The Muppet
Its funny, it seem all United have to do is express an interest in a player and Chelsea buys them. I think United need to do as the Gunners did with Reyes and not disclose any info until the player has signed, Of course having the former UTD chairman at Chelski makes this impossible for any players united we monitoring before he left.

Maybe utd should go for Gary Doherty so...;)

_blank_

Originally posted by The Muppet
Its funny, it seem all United have to do is express an interest in a player and Chelsea buys them. I think United need to do as the Gunners did with Reyes and not disclose any info until the player has signed, Of course having the former UTD chairman at Chelski makes this impossible for any players united we monitoring before he left.

See my post above....

It's a disgraceful situation, but nothing can be proven however.

I think though that Uniteds interest in Robben must have waned somewhat. NO last minute hijack mentioned for instance.

Maybe Ferguson has other targets, I've heard of this lad Jaoquin or something...Spanish?

Maybe van der Vaart....

Maybe I shouldn't be posting these names here...maybe the Chelsea people just get tips from Boards like these!!!

jank

well utd have loads of young midfielders with "potential" so why would they want another then again why would chelsea but then again they have money to burn

utd will be looking for defenders and a roy keane replacement no more no less.
it will be very interesting to see the top teams in 2-3 years time
i think utd's will look very different as will chelseas will probably look different evey year. arsenal will by far have the most stable team of the lot in the next few years imo (only pires and lehamn would need replacing)

growler

I doubt Robben will get in before Duff, but at least there is competition for the place and cover for injury ( Chelsea badly miss Duff right now).

This summer will see a wholesale clearout of Chelsea players, cheerio to the show pony Joe Cole he's totally out of his depth in the present Chelsea squad

I expect Petit, Desailly, Hasselbaink, Sullivan, Bogarde, maybe Glenn Johnson, Stanic and maybe even the elusive Veron to all dissappear by July.

_blank_

Originally posted by jank
well utd have loads of young midfielders with "potential" so why would they want another then again why would chelsea but then again they have money to burn

utd will be looking for defenders and a roy keane replacement no more no less.
it will be very interesting to see the top teams in 2-3 years time
i think utd's will look very different as will chelseas will probably look different evey year. arsenal will by far have the most stable team of the lot in the next few years imo (only pires and lehamn would need replacing)

Some good points, with Robben United would have had 2 "up-and-coming" midfielders-cum-forwards...Cristiano Ronaldo being the other one.

Maybe not looking for too many defenders, Right Back is the only real problem at the moment, and United look like getting Trabelsi this summer(hope Peter Kenyon ain't reading this!!)

United will look different, but not very different, sure Roy Keane will be gone, but the midfielders probably won't change much. the ones there now will surely still be there in 3 years, Djemba, Kleberson, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Scholes and others.

The Chelsea team you reckon will look a lot different every year, I think this will be to their detriment, teams need to grow together, they haven't been given the chance, and Joe Cole won't be the first to start complaining, players are exactly that, players, they don't want to be Bench Warmers.

Right about Arsenal, look like United did mid-nineties, not very much change needed or expected, but this can and will only last for a few years tops, expect a re-building stage for Arsenal, this will be the test of Wengers strength.

Villain

Originally posted by growler
This summer will see a wholesale clearout of Chelsea players, cheerio to the show pony Joe Cole he's totally out of his depth in the present Chelsea squad

Doubt that, Joe Cole is a class player, why would Chelsea sell him to another premiership club when they can use him as cover.

The Muppet

Originally posted by seansouth
See my post above....
I think though that Uniteds interest in Robben must have waned somewhat. NO last minute hijack mentioned for instance.

Maybe Ferguson has other targets, I've heard of this lad Jaoquin or something...Spanish?

Maybe van der Vaart....

Maybe I shouldn't be posting these names here...maybe the Chelsea people just get tips from Boards like these!!!

Robben himself said his preference was to go to United so either they were Gazzumped by Chelseas or did not follow up thier initial interest. United should only sign players that really want to play for them so if Robben chose Chelsea over United well good luck to him but he wasn't the man for United.

United a linked with most quality players at some stage the latest being the New Maradona whose name escapes me at the moment but until we see him in a United Shirt at a press conference it is just speculation.

Doubt that, Joe Cole is a class player, why would Chelsea sell him to another premiership club when they can use him as cover.

Irish1 the rumour at Chelsea is taht Cole is about to put in aTransfer request becaus he is unhappy at his lack of first team football and thinks it is affect his international prospects.

BKtje

utd will be looking for defenders and a roy keane replacement no more no less.

Nice to know Alex Ferguson tells you these bits of information Jank

The Muppet

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
Nice to know Alex Ferguson tells you these bits of information Jank

And I though Kenyon was the source.;)

Villain

Originally posted by The Muppet

Irish1 the rumour at Chelsea is taht Cole is about to put in aTransfer request becaus he is unhappy at his lack of first team football and thinks it is affect his international prospects.

Yea but can u see them selling him??

I don't think so

jank

Originally posted by B-K-DzR
Nice to know Alex Ferguson tells you these bits of information Jank

well its kinda obvious isnt it now! u think roy can play at the top for the next 3-5 years!
so who at the current squad can replace him!? id love to know

their not week at the front their week at the back and fergie has brought in loads of young midfielders to replace beckaham and veron

eirebhoy

Originally posted by The Muppet
Robben himself said his preference was to go to United so either they were Gazzumped by Chelseas or did not follow up thier initial interest. United should only sign players that really want to play for them so if Robben chose Chelsea over United well good luck to him but he wasn't the man for United.

He hadn't got a choice, the United bid was rejected and the Chelsea bid accepted.

BTW - I would say Ranieri (or whoever is in charge come summer) will fit both Duff and Robben in the same team.

Michelangelo

Yes so Man Utd obviously did not value him enough to splash out. They have money too. It is not as if they are poor. There are so many young good prospects out there and Chelsea can not buy them all.

zAbbo

United is a very successful business, you dont make money by splashing out large sums of cash on every half decent youngster

sleepwalker

Bad news for Damien Duff, I'd say Robben will be picked before him just because he plays for Holland and Duff only plays for Ireland if Ranieri stays or Sven comes in. If u ever watch eurogoals on eurosport u'd have seen what a good player Robben is, every time i watched he scored a goal of the season contender.

garbage sure Duff can play on the right anyway. duff seems to be pretty much held up as one of chelseas best players anyway so he will keep his place

this is one of the few signings chelsea have made that look truely good

veron, cole, crespo, bridge, sullivan were all very very predictable and basically what happens when you have too much money on your hands

duff, makelele, mutu on the other hand show true class when they play for chelsea

elbow316

Right about Arsenal, look like United did mid-nineties, not very much change needed or expected, but this can and will only last for a few years tops, expect a re-building stage for Arsenal, this will be the test of Wengers strength

Well actually Wenger has rebuilt the Arsenal team completely already in his time at Highbury - go through the current team. Lehmann, Lauren, Campell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry. 9 members of that first team have been bought in by Wenger, Ashley Cole has been brought through from the youth team by him, with Bergkamp the only player already in the team when he arrived. The vast majority of the squad players are also Wenger purchases.

He really doesn't get the credit he deserves - he's built one of the best teams in Europe almost from scratch while spending only a fraction of the cash other teams have had.

Pepe LeFrits

I don't expect any kind of rebuilding phase for Arsenal, Wenger has enough of a brain to be continually building a team (as he has done) instead of trying to do it all at once every few years.

Dustaz

Originally posted by The Muppet
:Robben himself said his preference was to go to United so either they were Gazzumped by Chelseas or did not follow up thier initial interest. United should only sign players that really want to play for them so if Robben chose Chelsea over United well good luck to him but he wasn't the man for United.

Er, ManU offered half of the asking price for him. Chelsea didnt. Fergies interest didnt cool or any of that rubbish, they just offered 5m for him and were told where to go

Ashley Cole has been brought through from the youth team by him, with Bergkamp the only player already in the team when he arrived.

Actually if you believe the rumours, Dein bought bergcamp under advice from wenger while he was still in japan. I certainly cant believe Bruce "wot ave those blackies ever done forrus?" Rioch had the nous to get him.

smemon

Originally posted by elbow316
He really doesn't get the credit he deserves - he's built one of the best teams in Europe almost from scratch while spending only a fraction of the cash other teams have had.

now where have i heard that before?! funny thing is that for all chelsea's superstars and money i'd still rather have arsenal's or utd's squad. they dont have the team spirit or fight of utd or arsenal.

i know they should be given time to gel etc but really, GREAT players will gel in any team. robben is another talent going to cheslea. he's either very very confident in his own ability or very stupid. he must think he's going to be a regular moving to a team already full of superstars, otherwise he wouldnt have gone.

otherwise, money has lured him there which is a sad case. we'll have to wait and see, if he's happy despite being rotated, he's a gold digger. the likes of duff and cole have hit out at being rotated which shows they love football and want to play every game and money wont get the better of them.

The Muppet

Originally posted by Dustaz
Er, ManU offered half of the asking price for him. Chelsea didnt. Fergies interest didnt cool or any of that rubbish, they just offered 5m for him and were told where to go

According to the Dutch media the reason united did not make a follow up bid Robben is because they have reached an agreement with Van der vaart for him to join them in the summer. If this is true it could explain why united cooled on the Robben deal.

Michelangelo

They didnt want him for that price. Thats why they didnt buy him. They were in pole position throughout. The president of PSV said so himself.

elbow316

Van der Vaart would be a really quaility signing for United.
Somehow I don't think it will happen though - have seen plenty of rumours that a deal has already been tied up with Barcelona.

Dustaz

Originally posted by smemon
i know they should be given time to gel etc but really, GREAT players will gel in any team

Not sure about that. Henry, arguably the best player in the world, needed a season to get going (ditto for most of wengers best signings). Keane settled slowly at united.

The fact that Chelsea have played so well in the early part of the season is testament to Raineri and i think chelsea are making an enourmous mistake considering letting him go. Give him time, never know what he might achieve.

PHB

I suspect Fergie is gona buy an establishd defender and winger this summer.
Ronaldo is Gigg's replacement, he needs a right winger.

They need another strong central defender, allowing Silvestre to move out to the left, and let O Shea develop slowly, and moving Gary Neville out to the Right, with Brown and Phil Nevill as covers.

qwertyup

The damage control and spin in this thread is pretty hilarious.

I'll reserve judgement on this deal till Robben has been playing a while for Chelsea.

_blank_

Not sure....but I thought van der Vaart was linked with Liverpool in the not so distant past...

Anyway, to say he has agreed to sign for Manchester in the summer is a gross misconception. Manchester have to disclose all business dealings to the London Stock Exchange, and surely this would be a business dealing.

I dont like the sound of what elbow316 said about Barcelona though, too many shades of the Ronaldinho farce last summer.

_blank_

Just read this...

Interesting in relation to the points made earlier in the thread about Kenyon's involvement in Chelsea's targets recently.

The Muppet

Originally posted by seansouth
Not sure....but I thought van der Vaart was linked with Liverpool in the not so distant past...

Anyway, to say he has agreed to sign for Manchester in the summer is a gross misconception. Manchester have to disclose all business dealings to the London Stock Exchange, and surely this would be a business dealing.

I dont like the sound of what elbow316 said about Barcelona though, too many shades of the Ronaldinho farce last summer.

I,m not saying its true but the Dutch reporter who was reporting the Robben to Chelsea move said this was the reason united did not follow up their inital interest.

United could have a verbal agreement with the player without announcing it to the stock exchange. However in the light of Uniteds recent transfer dealing as I said earelier I will not believe any player is signing until I see him in a United Shirt aT a press conference.

eirebhoy

Pat Devlin: "It doesn't matter where this player (Robben) has come from, China, Ajax or wherever he won't be better than Damien."

smemon

Originally posted by PHB
I suspect Fergie is gona buy an establishd defender and winger this summer.
Ronaldo is Gigg's replacement, he needs a right winger.

miller can play on the right, effectively too, he's not just a makeshift right winger. his long term position is in the centre though but he could play on the right for a season or 2 so long as keanes around.

Brian O'Leary

Well,as a Utd fan I am pis**ed off.For Gods sake,Utd splash out 8 million for Diego Forlan.Ya I know great player.I wish.And then they have the chance to buy a class young starlet for just 4 million more and they neglect their bid.What kind of s*it is that?I am honestly pi**ed off!

gandalf

Originally posted by jank
remember if you are a top star where would you rather live
london or manchester?

london is able to attract much better quality than any other city in england
and anybody who has gone to manchester and london know what im talking about here

london may not be the utopian city of the world but hell it is light years ahead of manchester and similar cities from the north of england

Jank have you ever been in Manchester. Personally as a city to visit I prefer it over London. The people are friendlier and its handier to get around. And remember nearly all united supporters are from outside Manchester

Gandalf.