July 30th, 2007
The deal is finally done. Atletico Madrid have announced the signing of Jose Reyes on a four year contract, for a fee believed to be in the region of €9m. It wouldn’t surprise me if the fee remains undisclosed at Arsenal’s behest, to prevent any embarrassment over the loss we might make on the Spaniard.
Reyes will be presented to the fans tomorrow morning, and will join the Atletico squad when they fly out to Holland for the Amsterdam tournament. Sadly, we don’t play Atletico, so will miss out on the opportunity to give him a United-style kicking.
To be honest, he deserves it. He’s held the club to ransom over his transfer back to Spain. A year ago he was probably worth £15m. Today he’s left for just over a third of that.
Still, it’s a bit more spending money for Arsene. More on that tomorrow.
July 30th, 2007
With a shimmy, a side-step, a drag-back and a blast with his right foot, Robin van Persie won the Emirates Cup. A breathtaking goal. Arsene may have talked about the importance of a team ethic in the wake of Henry’s departure, but if Robin keeps doing things like this then nothing will be able to stop him emerging as the star of this young Arsenal side.
Yes, it was only a friendly, and yes, Inter Milan were not fielding a full-strength side, but nonetheless this was a good victory. After falling behind to a David Suazo header, we showed a great deal of respect for our fans by fighting back to claim the Emirates trophy.
The first goal came from Aleksandr Hleb, finishing at the second attempt after Eboue played in Sagna to pull it back. Eboue and Sagna combined well throughout the game, and certainly have the potential to build a strong partnership on the right-hand side. Sagna is strong in the air and powerful in the tackle, whilst Eboue looked very dangerous in the final third.
Hleb, meanwhile, deserved his goal after another excellent performance in the role I originally envisaged for him behind the striker. Whilst it’s clear he’s never going to be a Bergkamp, he could certainly prove a useful linking player, particularly in the Champions League. I can’t be the only fan who doesn’t want to see him wide again.
Gallas and Toure looked unusually solid, whilst even debutant Kieran Gibbs had a decent game, and wasn’t over-awed by the occasion or the opposition. The Emirates Cup has been important for Arsenal in terms of getting fit and bringing in a few quid, but crucially it’s also given fans a reason for a bit of optimism.
A win was neccessary to keep the trophy after PSG trounced Valencia 3-0. Their fast, free-flowing football was a joy to watch at times. It’s obvious this Le Guen fellow knows what he’s doing, and if PSG undergo a renassaince under his stewardship I’m sure we’ll hear his name linked with Arsenal again.
On to Amsterdam now where we’ll be joined by Tomas Rosicky, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Eduardo. Eduardo’s work permit hearing isn’t until Thursday, but meanwhile he’s free to train/play/cavort in Amsterdam, or indeed anywhere else on the continent.
One player who certainly won’t be there is Jose Reyes, who is expected to sign for Athletico Madrid today for €9m.
It’s been a good weekend, but I don’t want to be hear in a year’s time going, “Well, at least we won the Emirates Cup”. Arsene’s got a month left in which to bring in the players we need. This time, with all the cash from Freddie and Jose, I trust him to do it.
