Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Mossy Monk

FYI

the Dennis Bergkamp testimonial is live on channel five 22nd July 5pm

Roddy23

Would many pubs down the country have access to this station? Should be around Clare somewhere come Saturday at 5pm.

Mossy Monk

where i live they all have it, wouldnt know about Clare

Nalz

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

cannavaro, nesta and thuram can battle it out amongest themselfs to partner toure in defence.

your dreaming man! No matter what happens to Arsenals defence, Wenger will bring out some young dark african former sprinter and put him CB, and he'll be as good as any of them.

are Arsenal still linked with Touré's brother?

sgarvan

Mossy Monk wrote:

FYI

the Dennis Bergkamp testimonial is live on channel five 22nd July 5pm

cheers man, i am heading over to london for the weekend and dont have a ticket for the game. i am going to head to teh stadium to see if i can get one, and if not just watch it now i know it is on TV

astrofool

is it going to be on any irish available channel?

Mossy Monk

SuperSport 3/7/8 SA
FIVE
TPS Foot
Prva TV

they are the channels showing it as far as http://www.knplogic.com/sport/DL_2207.html is concerend, and they are generally spot on

of course there is nothing to say an Irish channel wont pick it up, my bet would be Setanta

LizardKing

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/07/18/story268347.html

TG4 have a few of the pre-season friendlies too....

Rollo Tamasi

Taken from the TG4 website:

Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial match, the first ever match to be played at Arsenal’s brand new Emirates Stadium, between Arsenal and Ajax, will be broadcast at 4.50pm on Saturday July 22.

Roddy23

Sweet like a fox

astrofool

Should be good to see the new Stadium in action, another orange day?

AnCapaillMor

Woohoo way to go TG4. Looks like it'll be another quiet summer for us.

Pepe LeFrits

Multiple papers saying Cole is close to moving to Chelsea. Not bothered that he's staying in the division to be honest, good player or not. At least this way he'll get the abuse he deserves on a regular basis, and Wenger gets a nice bit of cash to use.

The Muppet

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Multiple papers saying Cole is close to moving to Chelsea. Not bothered that he's staying in the division to be honest, good player or not. At least this way he'll get the abuse he deserves on a regular basis, and Wenger gets a nice bit of cash to use.

I though he blamed both Arsenal and Chelsea for "hanging him out to dry" over the tapping affair saying that was the main reason he wanted out of Arsenal. I can't really blame any player for going for the big money but in this instance if coments attributed to him recently are accurate double standards appear to be in play if he does end up at Stamford Bridge.

Laguna

I don't want Cole playing for Arsenal anymore to be honest, why bother if your heart is not in it?. I know all footballers are there to get the best deal for themselves possible with regards to wages etc. but surely after you're earning a certain amount a week and you're a comfortable millionaire with additional endorsements with Lucozade/Coke/whatever, shouldn't your 'love' of the club/game come into play at least somewhat?.

I thought he was supposed to be a lifelong Arsenal fan?, obviously not - and what's he saying about how Arsenal hung him out to dry?, after the saga died down they rewarded him with an improved contract and he hdidn't play a game last season, if that's being hung out to dry I'd love to know what he regards as being treated decently. He's not wanted/needed IMO, Flamini/Clichy are just as good and will only improve, Wenger should cash in on him.

Gangsta

Laguna wrote:

I don't want Cole playing for Arsenal anymore to be honest, why bother if your heart is not in it?. I know all footballers are there to get the best deal for themselves possible with regards to wages etc. but surely after you're earning a certain amount a week and you're a comfortable millionaire with additional endorsements with Lucozade/Coke/whatever, shouldn't your 'love' of the club/game come into play at least somewhat?.

I thought he was supposed to be a lifelong Arsenal fan?, obviously not - and what's he saying about how Arsenal hung him out to dry?, after the saga died down they rewarded him with an improved contract and he hdidn't play a game last season, if that's being hung out to dry I'd love to know what he regards as being treated decently. He's not wanted/needed IMO, Flamini/Clichy are just as good and will only improve, Wenger should cash in on him.

I agree although they should sell him abroad. He even got a place in the CL final when Flamini should have. That's the faith Wenger had in him which he has clearly disregarded. Cash in on him.

PHB

He is a lifelong Arsenal fan, but his problem was that Arsenal was no longer an English club.

If he leaves, I'll almost cry to see him at Chelsea, that would just make them too good.

Necronomicon

PHB wrote:

He is a lifelong Arsenal fan, but his problem was that Arsenal was no longer an English club.

His problem was the tapping up affair....

PHB

But the reason the meeting took place in the first place was apparently due to him not liking the 'French contingent'

AnCapaillMor

Anywhere but there. Could'nt take him joining them. Pity to see the loss of a possible great Arsenal legend.

Pepe LeFrits

The Muppet wrote:

I though he blamed both Arsenal and Chelsea for "hanging him out to dry" over the tapping affair saying that was the main reason he wanted out of Arsenal. I can't really blame any player for going for the big money but in this instance if coments attributed to him recently are accurate double standards appear to be in play if he does end up at Stamford Bridge.

Yeah, he blames Arsenal for hanging him out to dry. He'd blame anyone for himself.

He wanted £55k per week plus £5k per week for his agent. Arsenal said they'd give him £55k, but if he wanted his agent to get a weekly wage he had to pay the agent himself. Cole promptly got in a huff and went behind Arsenal's back and met with one of their fiercest rivals, Chelsea. When caught, he denied it, but it was proved. Oops.

This of course, being right before Arsenal were due to play Man Utd in the league. Cole couldn't accept that he was in the wrong though, and decided to take the whole thing to the courts, harping on about human rights and how not being allowed to talk to other clubs was 'slavery', even though the fine he received was less than 2 weeks wages on the new contract that Arsenal had given him.

And he just still can't let it lie, and is determined to engineer a move away from the the club and fans he supposedly claims to have loved, even though it is all entirely of his own doing.

He's a two-faced liar, he has no concept of loyalty, he's greedy, and he's not welcome. Bye Cashley!

Nalz

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Bye Cashley!

Ah I like it! Personally I dont see him goin to Chelsea, but then again where else will he go. Real and Capello have their minds on raiding Juve...has their been any other clubs mentioned/linked?

sgarvan

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon still wants to sign Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Chelsea's Arjen Robben. (The Sun)

Chelsea will sign Arsenal full-back Ashley Cole for £16m and Real Madrid's Roberto Carlos for £4m. (Daily Mirror)

sgarvan

There is Thuram gone out the window.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/5201744.stm

AnCapaillMor

Was talking to some of the guys who went to members day, they said the grove is well impressive.

Gangsta

I don't think Arsenal will sell him to Chelsea, I'm sure there's a number of clubs abroad that would want him like Madrid.

Big Nelly

Might get some info here, what happened to the young Irish striker that was doing so well for Arsenal reserves etc a season or two ago? is he still on sceane or gone?

Pepe LeFrits

Stokes is still there, he's mainly been playing on the flanks though with the odd appearance in centre midfield and up front. By most accounts he's developing well and will probably play a bit in the Carling Cup this season. Having said that I reckon he'll leave the club in the summer of 2008, maybe even next summer.

Big Nelly

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

Stokes is still there, he's mainly been playing on the flanks though with the odd appearance in centre midfield and up front. By most accounts he's developing well and will probably play a bit in the Carling Cup this season. Having said that I reckon he'll leave the club in the summer of 2008, maybe even next summer.

But he is a striker which Ireland needs, why bother playing reserve footie for Arsenal when you can play first team footie for a Championship team(Shef Wed would welcome for one if any use). I still believe Robbie Keane done the best thing when offered the bright lights by all those clubs when young and made his name at Wolves before moving on for big money so he had to go into first team

sgarvan

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Was talking to some of the guys who went to members day, they said the grove is well impressive.

i was down at the stadium on saturday. My god it is impressive!!

gosplan

Anyone got any more news on the center back thing???

The weird thing about transfer gossip and Arsenal is they rarely have any. Suddenly it's just in the papers that they've signed someone. this is my memory of the last few big signings anyway, think I might have head of the Hleb thing but Reyes and Risicky were just out of nowhere.

Anyway, back on topic, do we want this davis guy?

We do need a defender though don't we

Mossy Monk

so Cole is now in talks with Chelsea according to Sky News. how much will he go for?

Vokes

20mil at least!

Then Arsenal should splash out on a really good CB like Mexes or someone.

tred

SofaKing wrote:

20mil at least!

Then Arsenal should splash out on a really good CB like Mexes or someone.

hes not going to spend money on mexes. I wouldnd be surprised if they got their 16 million and a player. who the player might be is anyones guess. Sean wright philips seems to be out of favour now. I wonder might cuddicini be in the frame? for keeper back up, how old is he now.?. I am not just saying this cause hes going, but i couldnt give a toss if he goes or not. Hes a great player, but hes starting to think hes bigger than the club. and mark my words it will come back to haunt him big time. And mourinho saying last year hes too small...LOL..after squandering money on Del horneo he has to come back now again to cole.

Pepe LeFrits

With Zambrotta gone to Barca, Del Horno sold, Bridge clearly not fancied and Gallas unhappy, Arsenal can pretty much demand any fee they like.

Word is Arsenal asked for Gallas and were told no, but offered SWP, which in turn Arsenal declined (Wenger seems to have Hleb/Ljungberg as his right side and is looking for another left sider instead).

Not sure who I want coming in after Cole's exit really. Gallas would be perfect but it won't happen.

AnCapaillMor

Cole is going well on his way to becoming the most hated player in the prem. I love the way mounrinho was saying last year when they were after essien that if a player wanted to leave he would have no problem with it, gallas has been loking to get out for the past year. Altho would gallas want to come to arsenal, and another thing with cole gone it'll be almost exclusively a foreign team now. Sad about that but would'nt blame wenger, english prices are so overbloated.

If he can't get gallas why not bridge, he's not a bad left back, only kept out by cole. Defnsicely he's as good as cole just nowhere near cole going forward.

Laguna

I couldn't care less that the Arsenal team is made up exclusively of foreign players, lets face it, if there were English/Irish players of the same calibre as the players already in the team, they'd be playing, I don't think it has a lot to do with the prices of UK/Irish talent, I think it's the current crop of players who have a lack of talent.

I don't think it would be a particularly shrewd move of Arsenal to let Cole go in exchange for Bridge, that'd be like trading in your Ferrari for a Ford Cortina. I am desperate for Cole to bugger off so I'd take a juicy fee from Chelsea and throw Gael Clichy/Mathieu Flamini into the team, no more than either player deserves as they're both quality defenders, I really don't think they missed Cole last season when he was 'injured', will we notice a difference when he's actually left the club.. probably, the players will appreciate sudden silence in the dressing room created from Cole's lack of whinging.

therecklessone

Laguna wrote:

I couldn't care less that the Arsenal team is made up exclusively of foreign players, lets face it, if there were English/Irish players of the same calibre as the players already in the team, they'd be playing, I don't think it has a lot to do with the prices of UK/Irish talent, I think it's the current crop of players who have a lack of talent.

Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, John Terry. There's four players who'd slot into the Arsenal first team easy enough, all brought through the ranks at Premiership clubs (Lennon made his debut for Leeds in the PL) If Arsenal were serious about investing in English talent they would be able to find players of their calibre. It appears to be recruitment policy at Arsenal to target foreign players as a better investment.

You should care about the lack of home-based players at your club, Arsenal are an English club playing in the English PL, with a rich history and tradition. Its not a case of players not being good enough, its a case of your manager choosing to not take a chance on them. IMO, thats a sad way for any club to go.

Pepe LeFrits

therecklessone wrote:

Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Aaron Lennon, John Terry. There's four players who'd slot into the Arsenal first team easy enough, all brought through the ranks at Premiership clubs (Lennon made his debut for Leeds in the PL) If Arsenal were serious about investing in English talent they would be able to find players of their calibre. It appears to be recruitment policy at Arsenal to target foreign players as a better investment.

You should care about the lack of home-based players at your club, Arsenal are an English club playing in the English PL, with a rich history and tradition. Its not a case of players not being good enough, its a case of your manager choosing to not take a chance on them. IMO, thats a sad way for any club to go.

The only player you listed there who Arsenal could have brought through the ranks is Terry.

It doesn't make financial sense to buy English players. Sure, you get good deals sometimes (Lennon, Carrick), but you also get Pennant, Jeffers, Wright etc. Foreign players are cheaper. The risk is lower. Simple as that really.

therecklessone

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

The only player you listed there who Arsenal could have brought through the ranks is Terry.

David Beckham was born in Leytonstone, east London. He signed schholboy forms @ ManYoo at the age of 13. Nothing to stop a London club recruiting the best talent from the entire UK, they're happy enough to look further afield.

Pepe LeFrits

therecklessone wrote:

David Beckham was born in Leytonstone, east London. He signed schholboy forms @ ManYoo at the age of 13. Nothing to stop a London club recruiting the best talent from the entire UK, they're happy enough to look further afield.

The rules were changed not long after that, there is a catchment area.

therecklessone

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

The rules were changed not long after that, there is a catchment area.

Not sure when they were changed, Marlon Harewood is only a year older than John terry yet he was allowed sign schoolboy terms for Forest. You're right though, the catchment area does limit the scope of youth recruitment to a large extent.

Doesn't change the gist of my original post though, in response to laguna's "English and Irish players lack the necessary talent". Its there if you're prepared to look hard enough. I'm not going to say if any of the following are considered good enough to get into the Arsenal squad, but all of the following could have signed schoolboy forms at Arsenal:

Anton Ferdinand
Nigel Reo Coker
Marlon Harewood
Ledley King
Jermaine Defoe
Wayne Routledge

Just off the top of my head. In addition, the FA's regulations allow for satellite centers to be established by clubs in areas where transport problems might cause difficulties in adhering to the 90 minute rule (for players aged 13-16), allowing for Arsenal to widen their catchment area somewhat.

Seems we're in agreement, Arsenal prefer to invest in non-English talent. I'm not having a pop, just IMO clubs should have a cadre of national players in their ranks, and not just in the PL.

dcarroll

And which of these would be in the Arsenal first team now? My guess is only King

therecklessone

dcarroll wrote:

And which of these would be in the Arsenal first team now? My guess is only King

well, I wasn't going to say who I thought would make the squad but since you insist on asking..

King first XI.

Reo Coker and Defoe on the bench (unless Sven was picking the team, then Walcott would be ahead of Defoe...;) ) and Ferdinand might push for a squad place.

keano_afc

Its hard to invest in English talent when its vastly overpriced. Cannavaro joined Madrid for €9 million, but we got quoted €12 million for Davis. Having said that, there are few English players I wish AW had held on to. Sorry to see Ryan Smith go, thought he might make the grade.

therecklessone

keano_afc wrote:

Its hard to invest in English talent when its vastly overpriced. Cannavaro joined Madrid for €9 million, but we got quoted €12 million for Davis.

Interesting you should mention Davies...guess where he was born? Yep, Leytonstone, birth place of one David Beckham (as mentioned above). Far more interesting is the fact that his best mate (according to his wiki) is Leytonstone-born Arsenal player Justin Hoyte! Justin's brother Gavin is working his way through the ranks at Arsenal as well.

There's £12m AW could have saved himself.

Its a bit like the £17m Utd have just spent on Michael Carrick when they could have had him for £3.5m (as could Arsenal) two years ago. Thats unlike Aaron Lennon taking a pay cut to go to Spurs for a fee in the region of £1.5m.

Pepe LeFrits

therecklessone wrote:

Interesting you should mention Davies...guess where he was born? Yep, Leytonstone, birth place of one David Beckham (as mentioned above). Far more interesting is the fact that his best mate (according to his wiki) is Leytonstone-born Arsenal player Justin Hoyte! Justin's brother Gavin is working his way through the ranks at Arsenal as well.

There's £12m AW could have saved himself.

Its a bit like the £17m Utd have just spent on Michael Carrick when they could have had him for £3.5m (as could Arsenal) two years ago. Thats unlike Aaron Lennon taking a pay cut to go to Spurs for a fee in the region of £1.5m.

Kolo Toure cost £250k, as did Nic Anelka, Vieira cost £3m, Eboue £1m, Henry £11m, Ljungberg £3.5m, Fabregas £1m, Clichy £250k, Senderos £500k, etc...

But yeah, they've obviously got their scouting focus arseways there, missing out on two decent English players! It's not like Arsenal have never missed out on good players outside the UK...

therecklessone

Relax Pepe, I'm not having a pop at your club (said that already), I'm taking issue with the argument that English players are too expensive. Waiting for a player to emerge in another team is a costly exercise, but taking a chance on local talent doesn't have to be.

Look at Utd for example, their starting XI could look something like this come August 19th...

VdS
Neville
Ferdinand
Vidic
Heinze
Ronaldo
Carrick
Scholes
Giggs
Rooney
Saha

The three "newest" English recruits to emerge in that team cost over £60m between them, the other three from the mid 90s cost nothing...:D

Like I said, IMO clubs should have a cadre of national born players in their squad, that applies to all leagues and levels.

Pepe LeFrits

therecklessone wrote:

Relax Pepe, I'm not having a pop at your club (said that already), I'm taking issue with the argument that English players are too expensive. Waiting for a player to emerge in another team is a costly exercise, but taking a chance on local talent doesn't have to be.

Look at Utd for example, their starting XI could look something like this come August 19th...

VdS
Neville
Ferdinand
Vidic
Heinze
Ronaldo
Carrick
Scholes
Giggs
Rooney
Saha

The three "newest" English recruits to emerge in that team cost over £60m between them, the other three from the mid 90s cost nothing...:D

Like I said, IMO clubs should have a cadre of national born players in their squad, that applies to all leagues and levels.

Yeah but if they're not good enough, what can you do? Arsenal do scan the UK/Irish market for young talent, eg Stokes was wanted by all the big clubs, Randall and Elston all the big London clubs. Pennant, Jeffers, Wright etc were all big prospects and they back-fired. Spurs recently have taken the approach of taking a punt on a lot of the top British (Isles) talent, but even they aren't cheap. £1.5m+ for Routledge, £1.25m for Davenport, £8m for Dawson and Reid etc. They've done quite well with it thus far with Robinson, Dawson, Lennon and Carrick but their foreign equivalents would have been generally cheaper. (Leeds are an exceptional case, mind you Rosicky for £6.8m from Dortmund is similar...)

I mean, look at the state of the English national team. They've a few top quality players, who get spread across the top PL teams and any top Spanish/Italian side who fancy taking a chance on them. The rest of them aren't good enough for a team with PL/CL ambitions, and there are a lot of teams with big squads with those ambitions! So why bother? There are about 192 other countries in the world generating top players...

Pepe LeFrits

"I have always said that I want to return to Spain," said Reyes.

"I have nothing against Arsenal, completely the opposite.

"It is a great club and they have helped me so much. The fans have given me so much support since I joined.

"But they know that I have not adapted to life in England. I have not got used to the language or the weather.

"If Real Madrid want me then that is marvellous.

"I have always said what a huge club it is and it would be an honour to play for them. Let's see what happens."

Gutted if he goes, he's the only natural second-striker we have and he's never really had an extended run partnering Henry in attack. Middlesbrough 7-0 was a great example of what can happen when they are together.

Can't really afford to lose any more players this summer either, and I'm sure Wenger feels the same. If Reyes goes and isn't replaced I don't see Arsenal finishing top 4. With him, top 3 is a realistic possibility.