Wenger won’t go. Not now.
Add comment May 18th, 2009
So, Arsene Wenger calls the management opportunity at Real Madrid “interesting”, and within hours speculative journalists like the reliably incorrect Guillem Balague insist there’s a genuine possibility of him upping sticks to the Bernabeu.
Why would Arsene Wenger walk out on his Arsenal project now? And why, of all clubs, would he want to join Real Madrid?
At Arsenal he is a dictator, presiding over the club to the finest detail.
At Madrid he would meet with interference from Florentino Perez, Jorge Valdano, and possibly Zinedine Zidane.
At Arsenal he is permitted time to build and develop young talent.
At Madrid there is a demand for immediate success.
And lastly, leaving now would require him to break his contract – something to which he has always been opposed.
All the indications are that Arsene turned down the opportunity to manage Bayern Munich a couple of months ago, and why he’d now go back on that reaffirment of his committment to Arsenal is beyond me. Because of the gripes of a few shareholders? I suspect his conviction is somewhat stronger than that.
I’m not sure the same could be said of Emmanuel Adebayor, who looks increasingly likely to depart – perhaps to AC Milan. President Silvio Berlusconi has said:
“There is a good chance that we can get Adebayor.”
Milan certainly have the cash to make selling Adebayor worthwhile, and they also have several players on their staff who could make for intriguing exchanges (Gourcuff, Gattuso, Flamini etc)Â The largest problem we may face is Adebayor’s actions proving detrimental to his value: the now infamous Football Focus interview won’t have helped.
Every boo knocks a little off Adebayor’s price, as he is driven further and further out of the club. With just one home game to go, perhaps we all ought to stage some sort of elaborate charade to convince Milan and others he’s still valued here, and force them to up the bidding. I’m thinking plenty of singing, Adebayor wigs, and African dancing in the stands.
What do you reckon?
Guys?