The worst transfer rumour of all time?
334 comments May 27th, 2007
We all the know the Daily Mirror are fairly liberal with their conception of what constitutes a story containing enough truth to be worth printing. The formula presumably goes something like x player + y club = back page headline. Well, yesterday the club that tumbled out of the hat was Arsenal. And the player, given a little push into print by the fact that his name sounds slightly similar to that of Jose Mourinho, was Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Moutinho.
The very same day, Moutinho signed a six-year contract with Lisbon. Now, call me crazy, but somehow I don’t think that was a reponse to the Mirror’s allegations.
We don’t need Moutinho anyway. What we do need is a winger, and whilst Ricardo Quaresma will not be joining Bayern Munich, Franck Ribery might be – I’d be delighted if we ended up with either.
Arsenal’s goalkeeping merry-go-round has clunked into action, and Wookash Fabyanski (a pronounciation confirmed by Arsenal.com) has been joined on it by Mart Poom, who has joined Watford.
Poom spent a vast amount of time doing not very much at Arsenal. It’s almost like he was never here. Even his signing was an unusual one: apart from William Gallas, I believe he might just be the only signing we’ve made from a Premiership club under Arsene Wenger. (Edit: apart from Francis Jeffers, Sol Campbel, and Richard Wright. I’m an idiot.)
As for Fabyanski’s arrival, well, I’m less than hugely enthused. I can’t see any evidence that he’s better than what we’ve already got, and whilst I’m perfectly prepared to give the lad a chance, I do wish Arsene would sometimes go for established quality. Sometimes it feels like he’s trying to make a very long-winded point about Chelsea’s exorbitant spending. Coming fourth two seasons in a row doesn’t really make a very good argument.
I’m being a little unfair. If there was money to spend, he’s probably spend it.
Enjoy the rest of your weekends.
