Archive for January 14th, 2009

Oh, so THAT’s why City aren’t in for Arshavin…

2 comments January 14th, 2009

Manchester City last night threatened to blow the transfer window wide open by making a £91m offer for AC Milan’s Kaka.

It’s ludicrous.  It’s crazy.  And most remarkably of all, it seems to be true.

£91m is obscene.  No footballer is worth that amount of money.  But then, Robinho wasn’t worth £32m, and Wayne Bridge wasn’t worth £12m.  The money doesn’t matter to City, and whilst Mark Hughes has been trying to add Premier League experience, haggling over a £12m fee for Craig Bellamy, Sheikh Mansour has had bigger fish to fry.  Whether or not Milan would cave in to such a huge offer (almost double the current world record of £48m for Zinedine Zidane) remains to be seen.  If they do, it sets a dangerous precedent – and just how long before the £60m offer for Cesc arrives?

Back in the real world, we continue to pursue that Russian fella, who is proving to be as elusive to our clutches as he is to most defenders.  Thanks to Dublin Adam, who provided a translation of this article which fuels us with the following information:

  • Arshavin was verbally promised he would be sold if an offer of €15m arrived, but Zenit are now holding out for €18m
  • Arsenal offered €10m rising to €13m, but this, as we know, was rejected
  • Zenit want all the cash upfront
  • Arshavin’s agent, the thoroughly infuriating Dennis Lachter, is reported to want €5m in fees for the deal
  • Arshavin has informed Advocaat he will not play for Zenit again, and has refused to travel with the squad to a camp in the UAE

We’ve seen situations like this before.  Sylvain Wiltord infamously went on strike to secure his move from Bordeaux to London.  It seems Arshavin is prepared to do the same.

It’s really difficult to see how this one will end up.  The key factor for me is that I just can’t think of another player of Arshavin’s quality who would be available in this window – unless, that is, you happen to have £91m to throw around.  It’s hard to see how Zenit could reject an offer in the region of €15m, though whether we are able or willing to go that far remains to be seen.

It’s at that point now where I feel invested in it.  I’m succumbing to the temptation of checking NewsNow in the hope that a fee will have been agreed – or even to hear that negotiations have broken off so I can begin the inevitable mourning process. 

I suppose if I had more of a life, this probably wouldn’t happen.  But then that seems like such a lot of effort.

Oh, almost forgot:

Congrats to two on-loan Young Guns who did well last night: Jay Simpson scored a cracking goal for his first in a West Brom shirt, whilst Armand Traore’s blistering run down the right (yes, the right) set up Peter Crouch’s goal in Portsmouth’s victory over Bristol City.  Both players will be hoping to make enough of an impression in the next six months to get an opportunity at Arsenal in 2009/10.  The goals may well appear on 101greatgoals today.  Ciao for now.


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