Arsenal Transfer Rumours And General Chat

Pepe LeFrits

Bad midfield today. Everton should be able to get something.

pd101

Galvasean wrote: »

Read on arsenal.com that Wenger has put Flamini's deadline back to Monday due to 'negotiation problems'. i think we all know what that means..

Flamini: "Gimmie more money".
Wenger: "No."

Looks like he might be off to Milan.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_3519560,00.html

PHB

I'd say what might be happening (and this is just random guessing) is that Wenger does want to keep him, but he's stuck within a strict wage system that the club employ.

That wage system has always been somewhat unrealistic in order for the club to maintain their competitive level. Like Flamini is one of the first central midfielders for the club, considerong Scholes is on probably on 80k a week, and Carrick and Hargreaves must be on at least 60-70k, you can see how Arsene is really fighting a very tough battle. Ballack, Essien and Lampard are all on over 100k. Gerrard is on at least 100k, and Mascherano can't be too far behind with his new contract.

keano_afc

I read the other day that Phil Neville earns more than Fabregas.

OPENROAD

Our wage structure will not change in the short to medium term, and we just have to accept that.The club could break the wage structure go out and spend millions on players and push the club further in debt, is that what supporters want? What will happen to Chelsea if Roman Abramovich left? Are Chelsea self sufficient? Supporters may not like it but it is important that clubs have a good financial balance sheet, as an Arsenal supporter I will be sorry to see Flamini go but I don't want him staying if that puts the club at financial risk. If we give in to his wage demands it will create unrest in the dressing room and more players will come knocking on the door saying welll if he is on £140k a week I want that. We have made further progress this season Flamini will be replaced and we will add to the squad where needed but in a prudent manner and I am happy with that as is the match day going fan.

OPENROAD

keano_afc wrote: »

I read the other day that Phil Neville earns more than Fabregas.

That would surprise me, do you have a link?

PHB

We have made further progress this season Flamini will be replaced and we will add to the squad where needed but in a prudent manner and I am happy with that as is the match day going fan.

Sorry, but Chelsea aren't self-sufficient, but United are. If you are the 2nd best midfielder in a top 4 club, you have to be paid at least 60k+. ffs, Wes Brown was demanding a 60k contract, and he probably got it, or close to it.

I doubt very much that Flamini is demanding 140k a week, but he's probably on peanuts right now, as he was signed as a young player.
Phil Neville was on something like 55k when he left United, so I'd imagine he's on at least 70k now.

The club are in debt, no doubt, but the reason the wage structure isn't being broken isn't due to debt, it's due to profit margins.

OPENROAD

PHB wrote: »

Sorry, but Chelsea aren't self-sufficient, but United are. If you are the 2nd best midfielder in a top 4 club, you have to be paid at least 60k+. ffs, Wes Brown was demanding a 60k contract, and he probably got it, or close to it.

I doubt very much that Flamini is demanding 140k a week, but he's probably on peanuts right now, as he was signed as a young player.
Phil Neville was on something like 55k when he left United, so I'd imagine he's on at least 70k now.

The club are in debt, no doubt, but the reason the wage structure isn't being broken isn't due to debt, it's due to profit margins.

That was my point Chelsea are not, Arsenal have a debt of approx £360m which has to be paid. None of us know what Flamini wanted but obviously it was too much for the club.I am sure he was offered a generous amount but he can earn more by going to Italy and if that is what is important to him good luck to him. That is the clubs policy and as I have said it is one that I am happy with.


As a matter of interest what is utds current debt situation.

Galvasean

I missed the end of the game. I see Lehmann came on on 77 minutes. What was the reason for that?

OPENROAD

Galvasean wrote: »

I missed the end of the game. I see Lehmann came on on 77 minutes. What was the reason for that?

Last game for the Great German.

L'prof

Galvasean wrote: »

I missed the end of the game. I see Lehmann came on on 77 minutes. What was the reason for that?

Last home game for the club!

keano_afc

OPENROAD wrote: »

That would surprise me, do you have a link?

It was in the printed word my friend. I think Cesc only(!) earns about £45k a week, and Neville is one of the higher earners in the league.

leninbenjamin

would have thought Edelman's leaving might having opened up some more money seeing as he's a notorious cost cutter but no... d'ya know if i were Wenger, having been told the budget's been slashed despite the best season for the past 3-4 years, i'd be seriously considering my position... let's hope he's not.

OPENROAD

Some interesting press in the last few days regarding Edelman and how the club were now looking for someone who could concentrate more on the football side of things which Arsenal have lacked recently. As for Arsene leaving because of not having as much money to spend as had been suggested by the press, he wouln't even consider it imo. He has always stated that he will never break a contract and believe he will see his current one through, as for after that, well that is another days discussion. It has often been suggested that even if Arsene had a huge budget he would not spend it anyway.

Lets just wait and see what happens over the summer in terms of spending and players comming in, In Arsene we trust.

PHB

As a matter of interest what is utds current debt situation.

The best estimates put it at 650 and steady. The worst estimates put it at 800 million and rising rapidly.

I believe the former based on the figures, but we're just servicing interest currently, hoping for the credit crunch to ease up. Our net spend since the Glaizers have taken over has been about 35 million.
However most of those players have been bought with loans.

Arsenal are easily servicing their debt. The issue is about maintaining profits while servicing the debt.

patrickc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/7383314.stm
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has claimed that Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini is on the verge of signing for the Italian club.
"Flamini will arrive tonight in Milan and will sign a four-year contract," he said after Sunday's 2-1 win over Inter.
The French midfielder's contract with the Gunners expires at the end of this season - and manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he is wary Flamini will leave.
The 24-year-old is expected to undergo a medical at the San Siro on Monday.
Despite the offer of a new five-year deal from Arsenal, Flamini's future remains unresolved and both AC Milan and Juventus are reported to have been tracking the France international.
Following Arsenal's 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday, the Gunners' last home game of the season, Wenger conceded that he was not "super-confident" Flamini would still be with the club next season.
"Frankly, I don't know [if he is staying]," said Wenger.



"But if you ask me was I overall super-confident, I would say no. He has an offer on the table which is valid until tomorrow [Monday], then we will see.
"We have done what we had to do, it is now down to him to make a decision.
"My ideal solution is that he stays, so I am not happy if he goes - but we've done everything we can.
"We can't wait until July. You could lose players if they come on the market."
Meanwhile, Milan club owner Silvio Berlusconi has cast fresh doubt over the potential signing of Barcelona star Ronaldinho.
"I have always been doubtful over whether Ronaldinho is needed, at this point I really think we don't need him," he said.
The Italian club has agreed terms with the 28-year-old Brazilian playmaker but failed to settle on a mutually satisfactory transfer fee with Barcelona during preliminary talks


yet more discussion on it, he'll go it seems

Galvasean

I guess its pretty much done and dusted. Pity, Flamini and Fabregas were a great partnership. It really now looks like we missed out on Luka Mordric.

LuckyCharms

Current debt for Man Utd at the end of the 2007 financial year in june was £765m.£152m of payment in kind loans is included in this which is half of the ultra high interest loans the glaziers had taken out before the refinancing package in 2006.Of the 765m, 660 is related to the glazier takeover while the rest belongs to future player fees etc

gosplan

Galvasean wrote: »

I guess its pretty much done and dusted. Pity, Flamini and Fabregas were a great partnership. It really now looks like we missed out on Luka Mordric.

Makes Diarra's mid season choice look like a smart one too

Gonna be a real interesting summer

Mossy Monk

gosplan wrote: »

Makes Diarra's mid season choice look like a smart one too

Gonna be a real interesting summer

I do wonder if Diarra is now thinking to himself "bollocks"

gosplan

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I do wonder if Diarra is now thinking to himself "bollocks"

Yup, he would have played a lot of games in the run-in for Arsenal, would have had a hand in the champions league as well.

Don't think that would have done his chances of playing for France this summer any harm and the next game after summer would have been the champions league qualifier - which surely would have been his first game as first choice DMF.

On the other hand, he is in a FA cup final.

PHB

I would have thought it would be the other way around. Wenger will be unhappy he sold him and put his faith in Flamini and then Flamini ups and leaves. Diarra has been great for Portsmouth since he joined, is in the FA Cup final, and almost defo will leave in the summer to a bigger club.

anonymous_joe

Diarra and Flamini have both done very well for themselves.

Flamini'll almost certainly be making more money at Milan. He's playing football to earn a living, so what can you expect?

I can't see any other reason to leave Arsenal anyway.

Then again, if Wenger pulls off another coup and signs a replacement of equal ability (as the canny old fecker is wont to do) then L'Arse could easily be chasing for the Premiership again next season, with little to no disimprovement in the team.

Invincible

Wenger meant to be prepared to pay £12M for Niko Kranjcar as a replacement for Hleb,also Martins from Newcastle is mentioned.

PHB

Milan are in theory a bigger club than Arsenal. More history, bigger stadium, more money, bigger fanbase, etc. etc.

He's not just moving for money.
People do forget that Arsenal haven't won any trophies. A player is interested in two things, money and trophies. If he sees Milan as a better chance to win trophies, which isn't an unreasonable thing to think, then it makes some sense.

Wenger was always going to have huge trouble keeping together his team if they didn't win anything.

Just like if United didn't win anything this year, do you not think people like Ronaldo would be considering moving on?

p.s. Personally I think Flamini is overrated and not good enough to be first choice for Arsenal.

Mossy Monk

This is Gilberto Silva's chance to shine again.

Pepe LeFrits

Well he's got a year left to run on his contract so I wouldn't be surprised to see him stay now. If he could rediscover his form it could work out nicely as it would give Denilson and Song an extra year to develop into first team material.

I notice that youngguns has news that the U16s won the Atalanta cup, and Jack Wilshere was named player of the tournament - no surprise there. They beat Juventus 1-0, Chievo 3-1, Inter Milan 4-0, CSKA Moscow 6-0 and Juventus again on penalties. New signing Luke Freeman scored 4 goals, Benik Afobe 3 and Wilshere 2. Afobe looks an interesting prospect too, he's barely 15 and has a goal a game ratio in the U16s, and he scored four goals the other day as the U16s beat the Toulouse U17s 8-0. It'll be interesting to see over the next few years if the changes Wenger implemented to the academy a number of years ago will have had a positive effect on the number of top level players it produces.

Mr Alan

Who is the highest paid player at Arsenal? How much do they earn?

OPENROAD

Mr Alan wrote: »

Who is the highest paid player at Arsenal? How much do they earn?

Think it is Gallas and Gilberto on approx £80k

Mr Alan

Flamini gone, agreed 4 year deal with Milan, on SSN just there. its official

mike65

Is this a surprise? I was not aware of rumblings.

Mike.

L'prof

Mr Alan wrote: »

Flamini gone, agreed 4 year deal with Milan, on SSN just there. its official

About time...turned into a good player, but if he doesn't want to stay good riddance! Why do we lose players to teams we knock out of the Champions League?

LuckyCharms

jasonorr wrote: »

About time...turned into a good player, but if he doesn't want to stay good riddance! Why do we lose players to teams we knock out of the Champions League?

Pretty simple i would have thought, Arsenal won nothing this year, looks like they won't be spending alot this summer, have no track record of buying the best players to win trophies while milan have some of the best players in the world, will be spending a huge amount in the summer rebuilding the team for the future.

Would you prefer to be part of that future in sunny italy or would you prefer to hang around in the hope the Wengers youngsters can win the Cl or league?

OPENROAD

Just watching Ian Wright top ten goals on Arsenal tv, wow he scored some great great goals.

aidan24326

It's potentially a good time to join AC Milan, so I can see why he's made this choice. Milan have an ageing team which needs rebuilding but the key difference between them and Arsenal is that they won't hesitate to spend the money needed to get the club back on top. Expect to see a few big names heading there before the Summer is over. Though I'm a little surprised they went for Flamini. Good player but is he really that great? If it was Fabregas I'd understand.

Arsenal's reluctance to spend is holding them back and they will continue to lose players if they don't spend the money and bring in some proven class. I wouldn't be surprsied if Fabregas is tempted away by a big money offer aswell, if not this Summer then next. I'm sure Real are keeping tabs.

LuckyCharms

Not really surprised they went for him.Considering they basically got him on the cheap, all they had to do was give him an extra bit of cash in his wages and signing on fee as apposed to buying a player like him would be costing about 7mil.And if he doesnt work out , he will be a fine squad player for em or they can make some money off him and sell him.Win Win situation imo for them.

L'prof

LuckyCharms wrote: »

Pretty simple i would have thought, Arsenal won nothing this year, looks like they won't be spending alot this summer, have no track record of buying the best players to win trophies

Based on this season, we were only short in squad depth, but now that we've lost Flamini unless we buy an established player, we've taken a step backwards...again!

aidan24326 wrote: »

I wouldn't be surprsied if Fabregas is tempted away by a big money offer aswell, if not this Summer then next. I'm sure Real are keeping tabs.

I'm 100% (Sure why not 110% even as it's popular amongst Premiership players and managers) confident Cesc won't be leaving this summer, but I don't think he'll spend the rest of his career at Arsenal either!

Bounty Hunter

jasonorr wrote: »

Based on this season, we were only short in squad depth, but now that we've lost Flamini unless we buy an established player, we've taken a step backwards...again!

How about Gattuso? or do you think he only said he would like to move to the prem when it seemed Milan wouldent have Chapions league football. would be a perfect signing for Arsenal as far as im concerned.

OPENROAD

We just fell short this season, we were unbeaten at Home, lost just 3 games in the league, Utd or should I say Ronaldo have been exceptional this season, we have improved significantly from last season,which I am not in the least bit surprised, Flamini is a loss but I have faith he will be replaced maybe not by the super money signing some people appear to want as for Cesc, can't see him leaving for a few seasons but just like Ronaldo at utd will move on at some stage.

cson

Gattuso = Flamini

'cept he's 6 years older.

Not a good move imo.

L'prof

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

How about Gattuso? or do you think he only said he would like to move to the prem when it seemed Milan wouldent have Chapions league football. would be a perfect signing for Arsenal as far as im concerned.

The man who will end up as a squad player because of Flaminis arrival? I can't see Wenger buying a 30 year old to be honest...great player, but hardly at his peak!

Galvasean

Id be amazed to see Wenger buy a player over 25! (except maybe a goalie)
Gilberto has been in good form since being reintroduced to the first team set up (beginning in the United game). Although i'd doubt he'd have the legs for the full season next year. We definately need another quality CM to rotate.

leninbenjamin

so Flamini gone, looks like Hleb is out the door too... jaysus this team is in danger of breaking up before they get off the ground. that means at least 2 good signings are needed for the midfield, along with at least another CB and that's before they can even address the wings... Wenger's gonna have his work cut out to keep them competitive on his supposed shoestring budget...

could ye see him selling one of Van Persie or Rosicky to generate cash?

OPENROAD

leninbenjamin wrote: »

could ye see him selling one of Van Persie or Rosicky to generate cash?

Nope can't see that happening, I do hope that we do not have any more exits including hanging onto Eboue as a squad player. I have every faith that Arsene will snap up another couple of bargains. As far as I know Ken Friar is meeting the Arsenal supporters group next week, it was supposed to have been Keith Edelman so we might get some news on our transfer budget.

L'prof

leninbenjamin wrote: »

could ye see him selling one of Van Persie or Rosicky to generate cash?

I really doubt it, as injury prone as van Persie is, he has more skill and talent than any of our other players, but if he doesn't manage almost a full season next year I'll go nuts! Rosicknote should be given time to prove that he can stay fit through a season too.

Mr Alan

If Van Persie was available, i would absolutely LOVE him at Anfield. Wat a player, ye would be mad to sell him.

Pepe LeFrits

Perhaps a swap deal for Harry Kewell could be arranged?

Royale with Cheese

So if Hleb buys out his own contract, how much would Arsenal get? I honestly think it might not be a bad time for him to move on. A goalscoring winger like Bob Pires is needed, or just somebody more direct than Hleb.

leninbenjamin

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

So if Hleb buys out his own contract, how much would Arsenal get?

it was £3.6million according to the guardian before, barely a third of what they paid for him.

gosplan

Yeah, I won't miss Hleb all that much - he looked great but was far from the end product. However, it was his first pretty good season and you wouldn't have been too surprised if he made the same goalscoring advances over the summer that Fabregas did last year(although in many ways, I think they just started going in for Fabregas).

Bummer about Flamini going though. Guess we just have to get over it.

One rather rosy way of looking at it is...

We didn't do so well against the big teams this year. One win against (a fairly poor at the time) Chelsea, a draw against Man U and two draws against Liverpool. These are the big games where an out and out DMF is supposed to really makes a difference...ergo, if Ade doesn't lose his scoring boots, we have a fully fit RVP, Walcott as a starter, (I'm too pessimistic to include Rosicky), then we can maybe take the loss of Flamini without too much impact on our league results.

However, I don't think we would have gotten past AC Milan without Flamini and I think we would have beaten Liverpool had he stayed on the pitch. His replacement is crucial to our Champions League season.