Arsene practically confirms Chamakh deal and hints at two more to follow
36 comments April 30th, 2010
With Monday’s game against Blackburn being as much a dead rubber as an exploded tyre, Arsene’s press conference yesterday concentrated on his forthcoming transfer activity. The headlines were clear:
- A player will sign before June 11th
- Gallas has until the end of May to agree a new deal
- If Gallas signs, we’ll bring in two players. If he doesn’t, it’ll be three.
Now Arsene has a habit of fibbing to the press, especially when it comes to his transfer plans, but I find these statements pretty credible.
The player who we’ll announce before the World Cup is certainly Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh. If his contract weren’t expiring, he’d be a £10m player, so picking him up on a free represents fantastic value. His arrival does, however, place the Arsenal career of Eduardo under considerable threat. Arsene insists he wants to keep the Croatian, but it’s hard to see him edging ahead of Van Persie, Bendtner and Chamakh in the pecking order. Based on this season’s evidence, and disappointing though it is to admit it, I don’t think we’d miss him.
I’m convince that were William Gallas going to stay, he’d have signed his new deal by now, so I think Arsene will be forced to make a further two signings: one a goalkeeper, and one a centre-back. At this stage I have no idea who those two individuals might be. To hear me discuss Arsene’s transfer policy as well as my more general thoughts on this season, listen to today’s arsecast.
Arsene came down pretty hard on Andrey Arshavin’s recent comments about his desire to play for Barcelona. Maybe he was irked by the Russian’s declaration that messrs Capello, Mourinho and Hiddink were superior coaches to Mr. Wenger. Whilst he did offer the caveat of saying he doesn’t trust translations, the message from the manager was firm and uncompromising:
“Yes, I am very disappointed because he shows a completely different attitude. He wants to extend his contract with us and stay with us, so the noise coming out of Russia is very difficult to explain.
He looks to be very happy here, so you should ask him where it comes from. We do not, of course, accept that. When you are at Arsenal, you are at Arsenal. When you are somewhere else, you are somewhere else. I believe that your pride makes first that you defend your club.”
Arshavin was expected to play at Blackburn, but is now considered a doubt. However, the fact that Arsene isn’t simply giving him the rest of the season off seems to me to be a pointed message to the player: Arsenal pay his wages, and he must give his all in order to earn them. Next season could prove make-or-break for Andrey.
Till tomorrow.
