Arsenal have completed their first official transfer of this window, and unsurprisingly it’s a transfer out rather than in: Marouane Chamakh has joined West Ham United on a six month loan. Upon sealing the deal, he said:
“We played only one striker at Arsenal, so I didn’t play a lot, so I hope to do so more with West Ham. I think this will be a very important move for me and I don’t want to waste any more time. I want to contribute immediately.”
It’s a difficult stance to argue with, and the polar opposite of the attitude of Andrey Arshavin, who has turned down the chance to move to Reading to sit in the doldrums at Arsenal. Chamakh is 28 now, and not played a single minute in the Premier League this season. He’s spent most of his time on the training ground putting out the football bibs. If he is to have any chance of resurrecting his career, it’s clear he needed to move on.
The fact his career is in need of resurrection at all is what intrigues me. It may be hard to recall now, but when Chamakh first joined Arsenal he looked like the real deal. For a long time Arsenal had been told they needed a physical, aerially dominant centre-forward, and Chamakh looked to be that man. He scored an impressive 10 goals in his first 17 starts. At the time, Robin van Persie was yet to explode in to the player he is now, and was suffering one of his customary injuries. I will admit that during this period I may have stated a case for RVP to be sold off now we had a more reliable forward in Chamakh. Shows what I know.
For everything was soon to change. After a goal against Aston Villa in November, Chamakh had to wait until March 3rd for his next in Arsenal colours. Robin van Persie returned from injury to have his extraordinary calendar year of 2011, and as his star shone brighter and brighter, Chamakh’s waned. He never regained his place in the side, his manager’s faith, or his confidence in front of goal.
That’s why he’s going on loan, rather than making a permanent move. No club would risk a fee on a player who has suffered such a dramatic decline, and I suspect we’re probably paying a proportion of his hefty wages during his time at West Ham too. Nevertheless, if it works out, we may find a buyer – he is very much in the shop window.
There’s a decent player in there. Not a player to match RVP, or even Olivier Giroud, but a player capable of holding up the ball and providing a threat in the air. A player who will suit West Ham down to the ground. If he can get a game ahead of Carlton Cole or Andy Carroll, things could work out for him. I hope they do, for everyone’s sakes.
Chamakh’s departure, as well as Gervinho’s time at the African Cup of Nations, leaves us very light upfront. I considered a striker a priority before the window – now it’s nothing less than a necessity. Worryingly, our options seem to be decreasing all the time: Demba Ba has joined Chelsea, Huntelaar has re-signed at Schalke, and Fernando Llorente is in talks about a Bosman move to Juve. I’ve read the stories about David Villa, but I can’t see that one happening. The obvious signings have all disappeared from the table. That said, Arsene has never really been one for the obvious. Let’s hope he’s got a trick up his sleeve.
I was irked by his comments suggesting fans demand the signing of “Messi” etc. It’s nonsense. Most fans simply want appropriate investment in the side. Letting players go (Johan Djourou seems set to follow Chamakh through the exit door) only increases the need for reinforcements.
One to keep an eye on could be Thierry Henry. When asked by Arsenal.com about the seemingly dead deal for the Frenchman, Arsene said:
“We have not gone as far with Thierry because we look more for permanent people.”
Sensible. Positive, even. However, Arsene went on to suggest that a couple of injuries and Thierry’s willingness could change that situation later in the month. Given my lack of confidence about our ability to pull in alternative signings, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Henry in an Arsenal shirt in 2013.
So far in this window, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Spurs have already completed deals. The onus is on Arsenal to show similar urgency.
There is more chance of Chamakh of West Ham being the Premier leagues top scorer than AW getting his wallet out on a few players. The Walcott signing will be it for this transfer window.
Thts a gud move for Arsene Wenger to loan Chmack. We need to sharpen up the front line. Let Zaha be part of arsenal please!
Zaha seems to me a risk as he is unproven at PL level and may take time to settle.
Prefer us renewing on Walcott or signing on someone with more experience.
In any case, priority should be a striker and a ‘dm’.
Fuck saha, get thierry henry in and pay him what hes worth which is £100,000 a day.
ps. Thierry would consider a little less but hes worth that
You silly Englanders this is just a loan move. Chamakh will be world class player soon and will be playing for Barcelona.
Sir Arsene pulls world class players out of a hat.
In Arsene we Trust
It won’t surprise me if Chamakh starts banging in the goals.He was scoring for fun when RVP was injured.Although Wenger is notorius for peeny pinching,Chamake could finally give his own image a boost.
I would like to wish him all the best.
Chamakh along with bendtner, Park are on loan. Hopefully we can sell Djourou and Arsharvin this window (get rid of Squillaci)
There’s also Denilson lurking somewhere in Brazil.
Wage discrepancies as forced upon us through having to keep up with the oil rich clubs have made it much more difficult for clubs who would ordinarily have fetted upon our rejects to take these players on.
What utter shit.
Firstly we are not keeping with the big oil rich teams on and off the pitch (with wages). But just how paying shit like Chamack £80k/week and Squillaci £60k/week is forced upon us by Man City I don’t know?
The fact we can’t offload our overpaid dross is down to Arsenal FC, and is not the fault of City and Chelsea.
Stick to analysing our comprehensive thrashings of relegation fodder instead of excusing the club for its gross negligence on buying shit and paying them mega bucks.
When you have a young Lionel Messi, you don’t mind paying them big wages because you know they he will become a great player. This is why Sir Arsene pays Chamakh £80k pw because he will make him World Class and the same with Squillaci….you are watching world class in the making.
Sir Arsene Knows Best…
Why shouldn’t we want a Messi- there’s no harm in that :-] Seems that Arsene is obsessed with him at the moment going on from his other joke that we’d sign him…..perhaps he’s the only player he thinks could add quality to the greatest squad he’s ever assembled :-]
What is wenger waiting for he make a signing like M’Villa,Andrain L’orpez and Zaha i think for Arsenal would stand as a team.
You failed to mention how Tottenham beat us to holtby’s signing- how could arsene let something like this happen. I’ve always liked arsene but this shows why he has lost his touch- seems to me he is a little overwhelmed by the transfer window nowadays. A solid B2B German playmaker right under his nose for a good price and he hesitates like usual or said no just because “diaby will be like a new signing”
Wenger earns more than 150,000 a week, this amount he will never pay a player, wenger is as guilty as the management when you talk of arsenal woes, they are not interested in trophies or even a decent competition, they have the money to get anyone & can pay any wage, they are just callous & selfish, when they wish to sign they go for unproven players that will take 50k a week,
they know what they are doing.
i would want messi signed
That speaks volumes if you ask me , the supporters are expecting a signing to claw back some of the 15-18 points we are currently behind in the title race and maybe give us a chance in the champions league we are are currently hopelessly out gunned there but know are told exactly the same old shit and treated like absolute counts , why oh why are you waiting until now the transfer window to sought out walcots contract when that can be done through out the year again rank bad management if arsenal were effective and wanting to be a good business that shit would have been done and dusted long ago , but as we can all see that cunt will re-sign walcot get diaby back and we will all have to be over the moon with that on top of the senile old fool making embarrassingly low bids for real pro’s and getting laughed at as well great times ahead
Djourou loan move confirmed…
I have a feeling he will be a hit at West Ham.
He probably needs a specific setup of the game around him.
Patience GS. The transfer window has just opened. This is not like shopping at a super market. Wenger knows what he’s doing. We don’t want to end up like Portsmouth do we?
The sale of Van Persie has been further vindicated today. He couldn’t even make the first team at United today. Biggest mistake of his life going there. Give me Walcott up front any day.
Apart from Sir Arsene – no one man is bigger than this club. Players will come and go but Sir Arsene and his bust will always be there.
You Englander peasants – do you think you can tell Sir Arsene who he should buy. Just because you know obscure player stats from Football Manager – you think you have the right to question Sir Arsene?
When you peasants can deliver seven 4th place trophies in a row….then you come talk to me. Oh! wait you’re not real managers but virtual ones
Go and read Telegraph. Wenger finally admits the pathetic wage structure is down to him. He decides how much each player will earn. I think everyone knew he was responsible for this mess but we didn’t have the evidence to show. Now, we can all agree that Wenger has too much power at Arsenal and he is totally out of control. He is damaging the club and it’ll take years to put things on the right track again. A manager deciding the club’s wage structure? An aberration! Oh yeah, and he demands to be the top earner at Arsenal. Getting paid twice as much as most players. So, who is the money grabber after all? RVP, Nasri, Adebayor or Wenger?
When you manufacture World Class players, when you win seven 4th place trophies in a row, when you make final of League cup then you will also be worth £7.5m.
Until then play Football Manager.
Nah, I’d rather play 4x strategy games. I’d like to have your sense of humour, but even the 4th spot trophy will be difficult this season.
And just who would you want to control the wages? The tea lady? Gunnersaurus?
Wenger performs miracles with a limited budget of £140m. Look how successful we are at keeping players like Bendtner, Denilson, Squillachi, Chamack and Park on the payroll. We have a successful strategy of offloading those like RVP, Cesc and Nasri that think they are better than they are.
As Wenger says it is a basic requirement to keep the top, top level players. And you can’t possibly dispute we are not achieving this?
We always seem to be on the back foot and reactive. The last transfer window i can remember we getting the business done,was when we brought in eduardo and sagna and that coencided with our best league run since the invincibles.
Well at least there is some effort to clear out the dead wood.
Or is it that the dead wood are finally realising there is no future at arsenal for them.
I don’t know if it’s true but some people claim that Hannover wanted to buy Djourou but Wenger only allowed him to leave Arsenal on loan. No option to buy! If that is the case the effort to shift the dross is definitely not strong enough.
Are you crazy; sell Djourou???
This is a World Class player in the making of course Sir Arsene is only going to loan him.
Of course you know better than Sir Arsene!
By the way, where’s your dad ? Is he still wanking over pictures of Wenger ?
You’ll be telling me next that he should get rid of Squillaci!!!
Who do you think made Henry, Viera, Cesc & RVP into the players they became??
I can tell you it wasn’t Pat Rice!
Son of cockbreath, you talk a lot of shit. Your dad must be so proud of you!
How is the old fella? When is his next day release from the looney bin expected?
Arsenal should get matt hummles
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