…or not, as the case may be. The worst kept secret in football is out, and Arsenal have signed Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh on a long-term contract for a disclosed fee of zero pounds. Here are all the links you need to get clued up on our new Moroccan forward:
Chamakh, who will wear the number 29 shirt made famous by such luminaries as Adrian Clarke and Jermaine Pennant, has been positively gushing about the move:
“I’ve always been a supporter of the Gunners. I feel very emotional about this move. It is a choice of the heart. The history of the club motivates me and gives me the will to succeed. My team was Arsenal. They make me dream.”
Arsene, meanwhile, feels he’s added personality as well as quality to the strikeforce:
“Chamakh is a striker of real quality and has all the attributes suited to come to England and do very well. He is also a fighter, not only a good football player, but a fighter as well. He is very good in the air and also a good team player. He is a great addition to our squad.â€
It’s interesting to note that in his video interview, Chamakh cites the absence of Fabregas and Gallas due to injury as one of the main reasons we ended the season trophyless. Presumably no-one’s told him we could be without them for a lot longer next season. The latest on Cesc is that Barcelona have asked whether we’re willing to negotiate, and are waiting for a response. Much as I hope we send them a turd in a box, I do wonder how much Arsene will want to keep a player who has expressed a desire to leave.
Till tomorrow and a bunch of Mourinho-enamoured headlines.
For much of the summer, we have to put up with the media making something out of nothing: a trudging walk off after the final whistle of the season, an off-hand comment, or a holiday snap in shorts that match the colour of a rival team – these are all cause for every kind of rumour and speculation. This time, however, they have something. Something real. And we have to hope that Arsene Wenger can pull another trick out of his fabled hack, and turn it back in to nothing.
The Cesc stories that were all over the web yesterday have been bubbling under the surface for a couple of days now. Usually a Fabregas transfer link is swiftly followed by a press release on Arsenal.com reaffirming the captain’s commitment to the cause. Yesterday all they could offer was some business about Theo Walcott and a World Cup. If a denial crops up over the next 24 hours, by all means point fingers at me and call me reactionary. I’ll be delighted to be wrong.
An Arsenal spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail that Cesc met with Arsene yesterday, reportedly after undergoing fitness tests on his right fibula. Why he’d need to do that with the Arsenal medical team rather than the Spanish national setup is open to discussion.
Even if Cesc has decided he wants to leave, his departure is not yet a done deal. He’s still under contract, and Arsene may be able to persuade him to remain at the club for another season, as with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry before him. However, Arsene may have learnt from the lesson of the poor seasons that those two legends delivered in response to his plea. Once a player has made up his mind to go, he’s never quite the same.
Three years ago, Arsene said:
“When we decided to build the stadium, I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth. I felt the best way to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together. I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities and with a love for the club. It was an idealistic vision of the world of football.â€
Last night’s breaking news was that Manchester City have made a bid in the region of £20m for Aston Villa midfielder, and winner of this year’s Young Young-ish Player of the Year award, James Milner.
Frankly, they can have him. City have all the money in the world (well, not all, but most), and they want to spend it on Milner? It’ll hardly have the current top four quaking in their boots. Milner and Barry isn’t a central midfield pairing to strike fear in to the heart of Europe’s elite.
We, meanwhile, were going about our transfer business in that quaint little way we do, flying Marouane Chamakh in, presumably by air balloon, to finalise his contract negotiations. Hopefully it all goes smoothly – I can’t imagine too many stones have been left unturned in the six months he’s had to negotiate his pay packet. Bordeaux President Jean-Louis Triaud isn’t entirely happy about the way the deal has come about, saying:
“He said he never spoke to Arsene Wenger. But I find it strange that he could be recruited by Arsenal without talking to the coach. I have had two difficult transfers since I arrived: Wiltord and Chamakh. These two departures relate to Arsenal. I think he was surrounded and badly misguided. I did not appreciate at all how it went. As president, I resent it.”
He’s obviously got a bee in his bonnet about the deal, but we’ve acted fairly throughout, even giving the French club the chance to sell Chamakh for £7m or so last summer. I think those two “difficult transfers” have occurred simply because in both cases the players were desperate to leave, and join a great old club. Presumably the signing of Chamakh could be announced as early as this week.
Another signing I’d expect to be made soon is Sol Campbell, who is still talking the talk in mightily impressive style:
“Next season the players have to respond. We have a responsibility to give 100 per cent in every game and go for it. That’s the Arsenal way, that’s the only way really to play football – to go for it and play to win. The gaffer prepares the team to win and we’ve got to step up and deliver. You can be 16 years old or 40 years old but you still need the strength, the power, the skill, the intelligence, the desire, the heart and the soul. You need all those things to become a top sportsman.”
I know some have doubts about the long-term viability of keeping Campbell on, but who gives a damn about the long-term. Can you imagine those words coming from a Denilson or an Abou Diaby? We need that kind of attitude around the squad.
Speaking of Diaby, I’m fairly surprised he’s retained his place in the latest version of Raymond Domenech’s France squad, along with Clichy, Sagna, and William Gallas. I haven’t yet spoken about Samir Nasri’s exclusion from the squad – his patchy form was undoubtedly a factor, but I wonder if Domenech was swayed by Nasri’s famously difficult relationship with some senior squad members.
Finally today, someone who works in the canteen at Barcelona says they’re after Cesc. Well blow me down. Batten down the hatches – the Catalans are coming.
Apologies for my absence over the past few days. I’ve been kept in bed with a chest infection, which has been about as much fun as catching practise with Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia. Speaking of our error-prone keepers, David Seaman reckons Arsene will stick with them this summer. There seems to be a growing groundswell of opinion among some pundits that Arsene won’t buy a goalkeeper in this transfer window. I don’t know what to say other than to hope that the pundits, as so often, are wrong.
Something I’ve been pondering from my sick-bed is what the imminent arrival of Marouane Chamakh might do to the shape of the team. Chamakh is a Champions League starter who won’t be content just to sit on the bench, yet the central striking birth seems to belong to Robin van Persie. Arsene has demonstrated an unwillingness to play Robin in either of the wide roles, so one wonders if one some occasions next season Arsene will return to the 4-4-2 formation that dominated his first decade in charge.
4-3-3 has been beneficial in some respects – it has liberated Cesc Fabregas and allowed us to control the central midfield space in a way we have struggled to do since the departure of Patrick Vieira. However, it has left our full-backs exposed and there are questions over the defensive viability of the system. Personally, I am a fan of the formation and would continue with one central striker, but I find it hard to believe that Chamakh is being signed simply to be a substitute.
Perhaps Arsene is simply being pragmatic and recognises that Robin is likely to spend a large amount of time on a sickbed.
A bit like me, really. Better get back to it. Bleurgh.
Yesterday afternoon, this rather strange story emerged suggesting that we pulled out of a January bid to sign CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev at the last minute.
I haven’t seen too much of Akinfeev, and have always been slightly worried that the hype around him was generated partially in light of his attributes on Football Manager rather than any real-world evidence. The following video shows him making a few acrobatic saves:
On that evidence, he looks like a Shay Given-style shot-stopper. He’s the same height as the Irishman, and is clearly athletic. What you can’t ever gain from a highlight-reel like that is how good he is at commanding his box and organising his defence – and they’re the qualities we require more than any others.
I’m prepared to give Sport.co.uk a bit of credit as last summer they correctly predicted the signing of Thomas Vermaelen, but I find this story strange for two reasons: firstly, it’s odd that we’d progress so far only to renege on the deal at the last minute, but secondly and more importantly because Akinfeev isn’t the goalkeeper I heard we enquired after in January. I was told we had discussions about a keeper far closer to home. We’ll see, I suppose. Arsene might infuriate us all and stick with his current collection of quaking clowns.
Anyway, on the subject of Russians, in his latest interview with his official website, Arshavin.eu, little Andrey has jokingly revealed a truth: his form this season has been below-par – and even his wife knows it. Read on:
arshavin.eu: Can you name your best games this season?
AA: Porto was the best.
arshavin.eu: Anything else?
AA: I do not know, maybe the away Liverpool game (Laughs).
arshavin.eu: What are the laughs about?
AA: Julia has just added: “Yeah, Liverpool –in the last season!â€
Well, someone needs to tell him.
I think Arshavin is outrageously talented and has contributed some great moments this season, but he hasn’t consistently delivered. If, as we hope, it’s just been a case of ‘second season syndrome’, then hopefully next term he’ll show the devastating form he did in his first six months.
Arseblog has an interesting account of an AST meeting with Ivan Gazidis. There’s nothing in there that’s particularly big news, but it does seem that a new contract for Arsene Wenger is regarded as little more than formality. Interesting to note that Gazidis has said it will be done over the summer, thus avoiding the uncertainty that AW’s contract negotiations can sometimes bring about – he has been known not to sign until the turn of the year.
Finally, I’d like to join arseblogger in stating my disappointment at Arsenal.com’s new feature: Transfer Linked. Whilst I suspect it’s a ploy to drive traffic to the official site during the quiet summer months, what it actually does is undermine the credibility and authoritative voice of the .com site, whilst giving yet more exposure to the tabloid hacks who will peddling the “Cesc to Barca” stories all summer. Can we expect those to crop up on the official site too?
