Vieira to Juventus?

elbow316

Thats a different guy....the Diarra that Arsenal are being linked with plays for Lyon

Bannor

mr_angry wrote:

I think its worth pointing out that Arsenal accepted Madrid's £23m bid last season. It was in fact Vieira who rejected the move. Speculation this time round suggets that Vieira was gonna leave on a free in 2007. In that case, £14m right now looks like a much better deal.

I'd be very surprised if Wenger buys anyone English. It just doesn't make sense if they are so rediculously over-priced. I'm expecting more info from Bannor about Diarra or someone of similar stature coming in.

Vieira didn't reject the move - he handed in the written transfer request after the European Championships. The reason the transfer fell through was that the clubs couldn't agree how the payment would be structured and Real were experiencing some cash flow problems at the time so they couldn't come up with the €20M Arsenal wanted up front for the deal to go through. The player was offered to Real last week but after the experience of being messed around last summer Perez said no.

Interestingly Pires was touting himself to clubs in Spain earlier in the year and was saying that himself and Vieira would be out the door this year and Henry would follow within 12 months, news which certainly caught the attention of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The replacement will more than likely be Baptista - he isn't signing an extension to his contract with Sevilla so now is the time to sell.

pickarooney

Mixed reaction to this. The sum paid was honest, no bargain and no rip-off. Vieira, short of a long-term injury or some personal strife should be a marked improvement on Blasi/Tacchinardi but it's clear now that no much-needed playmaker will be showing up at the Delle Alpi any time soon. A solid, tough midfield, a mixed bag of strikers who can all be exceptional or execrable on their day and a tight defence looks OK on paper, but that kind of line-up will not make for a pretty sight on the pitch. Juve will be very hard to beat next season, but just as hard to watch (again).

seabee

Sorry PHB and Rebel, I was acting on old info!

mr_angry

Bannor wrote:

Vieira didn't reject the move - he handed in the written transfer request after the European Championships. The reason the transfer fell through was that the clubs couldn't agree how the payment would be structured and Real were experiencing some cash flow problems at the time so they couldn't come up with the €20M Arsenal wanted up front for the deal to go through. The player was offered to Real last week but after the experience of being messed around last summer Perez said no.

Interesting - I didn't realise that was the case. Certainly the 'spin' that was put on it at the time was that Vieira decided in an emotional moment that he didn't want to leave Arsenal after all. Is there no truth in that?

Bannor wrote:

Interestingly Pires was touting himself to clubs in Spain earlier in the year and was saying that himself and Vieira would be out the door this year and Henry would follow within 12 months, news which certainly caught the attention of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Its no secret that (a) Bob Pires has a bit of a temper, and shoots his mouth off from time to time, and (b) that himself and Henry are very close friends. I'd say there's some truth in it, but it is the worst-case scenario. I sincerely doubt that Wenger would consider letting both his top scorers leave at once, particularly in the wake of the Vieira transfer. With a bit of luck, this might lead to a couple of new faces, and might actually freshen things up a bit. Time will tell.

Bannor wrote:

The replacement will more than likely be Baptista - he isn't signing an extension to his contract with Sevilla so now is the time to sell.

Lets face it - you don't spend £20m on a player who has scored 50 goals in 2 seasons and then play him as a defensive midfielder, regardless of earlier potential in that position. Having lost Wiltord and Kanu, sent Aliadiere out on loan, and with Bergkamp about to retire, Wenger is definitely in need of another striker. In my opinion, thats what Baptista is being brought in for. As for the defensive midfielder, I think we'll probably see someone like Diarra being brought in (£5m, Champions League QF experience, French title winner vs Jenas - £20m, no honours of note). Either that, or Lauren will be moved back into midfield. This is likely enough since the emergence of Senderos will probably see Toure moving to right-back.

Interesting times ahead.

The Muppet

Bannor wrote:

The replacement will more than likely be Baptista - he isn't signing an extension to his contract with Sevilla so now is the time to sell.

I don't think so. I hear Ballack getting mentioned as paddys replacement. I think he would be the more likely candidaate to play in Viera's position .

~Rebel~

Even ballack id imagine is far too attack minded to replace PV. Id say the Lyon Diarra (so many of em about these days!) would be a good replacement, seems top class from what i've seen in champions league over past 2 years.

Also is it just my imagination or does it seem like Souness is actually Trying to sell Jenas by going on about it so much? I heard no connections besides souness saying it'd take over 20mill to buy him, which really is ludicrously overvalued for someone i really dont see being anywhere near the player they've just sold. It just looks weird as Jenas isn't the type of player Wenger goes for (just for a start the fact that he's overhyper and overvalued) and i really dont think he'd be the player to make him break his "not signing big name players" philosophy.. just seemed a bit over the top from souness..

Bannor

Baptista is a defensive midfielder. He was given a free role in the Sevilla team because it's near impossible to get the ball off of him and he's very versatile. If he played for Ajax he would have worn the number 10 jersey, i.e. when the team lose the ball he's a defensive midfielder and when they get possession he becomes a forward.

Bannor

The Muppet wrote:

I don't think so. I hear Ballack getting mentioned as paddys replacement. I think he would be the more likely candidaate to play in Viera's position .

Ballack is in talks with Man Utd.

Gangsta

wow, scholes' replacement.

SpAcEd OuT

pickarooney wrote:

but that kind of line-up will not make for a pretty sight on the pitch. Juve will be very hard to beat next season, but just as hard to watch (again).

Any team with Zlatan Ibrahimovich playing is a joy to watch

yeah I agree Juventus dont play the nicest of football but they get results and despite what the Spanish media may say they are there to win games and not to entertain the fans

TBH honest I believe Juve should have went for a playmaker (Pizzaro) but I believe they will be an excellent team next year and will defiently be a favourite to win the CL

eirebhoy

The Muppet wrote:

I don't think so. I hear Ballack getting mentioned as paddys replacement. I think he would be the more likely candidaate to play in Viera's position .

Ballack is a complete attacking midfielder. There's no way he could replace Vieira. It might as well be Baptista tbh as neither are very defensive.

Pepe LeFrits

I don't think Vieira's replacement is going to be like for like. Wenger has always relied upon the double-pivot system of two centre midfielders who sit back while the wingers get forward and cut inside. It doesn't necessarily mean he might not decide to use an attacking midfielder & holding midfielder pairing instead. Bergkamp is also needing replacing so he might even move towards a different formation. Players like Hleb and Fabregas would definately benefit from it.

Oh, and according to SSN Arsenal have moved for 17 year old DM Alexandre Song.

pickarooney

Cue ambiguous tabloid headline "Gone For A Song".