Damn you, Marco Marchionni. Damn you to Hell.
Add comment July 10th, 2009
In November of this year, when defeat to plucky Burnley sees us ninth in the table and facing another trophless season, do not direct your ire at Arsene Wenger. Forgive William Gallas, in spite of him wearing an “I Heart AC Milan” shirt beneath his Arsenal attire as he prepares for a lucrative bosman move. Do not blame Emmanuel Adebayor – he was distracted to the point of disaster by the sensuous marking of Steven Caldwell: the Beyonce Knowles of defending.
Blame instead Marco Marchionni, whose u-turn decision to join Fiorentina will enable Felipe Melo to complete the exchange and join Juventus, leaving us without the midfield enforcer we cravenly desire.
There have since been rumours about Blaise Matuidi coming in, but nothing substantial. If Matuidi were to sign, Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy would be very transparent: both he and Thomas Vermaelen are very good on Football Manager.
Of course, we can sign all the midfielders we like but it won’t make us any stronger if we sell Cesc Fabregas. Whilst we’re of course determined to hold onto our captain, Barcelona have made it clear he is a target:
“Ribery was a player we were interested in at a logical price but Bayern don’t want to sell. If they are interested in selling, we are interested in buying but if not, then we will look to Fabregas. Compared to him there is no available alternative left in the market, so we will see what happens.”
With (possibly unsubstantiated) rumours that Franck Ribery could make switch to one of two clubs in the north-west of England, a Barcelona bid for Cesc is a genuine possibility. I find it hard to conceive of Fabregas leaving this summer, but were a bid of £40m or so to arrive on the doormat, who knows what could happen?
The situation isn’t helped by boardroom instability. Alisher Usmanov’s rights issue proposal was rightly dismissed, and Stan Kroenke has since increased his shareholding to 28.58%. It’s a minimal shift: the future of the club’s ownership still seems to hinge on the sale of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith’s shares.
One man who won’t be joining Barcelona is Andrey Arshavin, who has dismissed the claims of his former agent Dennis Lachter and underlined his determination to remain in London:
“That is nothing more than a rumour. I’m an Arsenal player and the only thing I am thinking about is preparing for the new season.”
Good to hear.
Our opening day fixture with Everton will kick off ESPN’s coverage of the Premier League, and clashes against the likes of United, Spurs and Chelsea will also be screened live. If you just can’t wait that long, ArsenalTVOnline is the place to be for the best coverage of our pre-season preparations.
Right; that’s it for today. A demain.
