Archive for June 6th, 2012

Gazidis speaks, and no news is probably bad news

761 comments June 6th, 2012

Arsenal’s multi-accented marvel of a Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis, has given an in-depth and intriguing interview to Arsenal.com.  It is certainly worth a read.  There’s a glowing tribute to Pat Rice, a bit of insight in to our commercial activity, and a tubthumping message to the Arsenal fans about our prospects in 2012/13.

There is, most pressingly, a little bit about RVP.  It goes something like this:

“Robin sat down with us at the end of the season and we had a good discussion. What we agreed at that meeting was that we would keep all the discussions we had over the summer to ourselves and make announcements when it is the right time. We have to respect the fact we have agreed to keep that among ourselves. Robin is clearly focused on the Euros at the moment and we wish him well, and at the right time we will make the right announcements. But at the moment we are not saying anything.”

It’s hard to gleam much from that.  If your glass is half-full, you might read something in to Ivan’s use of the word ‘announcements’ – the only likely announcement of any kind would be that Robin has agreed a new deal.  If it’s half-empty then you might ask why, with the entire club in suspense and season ticket renewals still open, if you had something positive to say would you not just say it?  If Robin really does want to focus on the Euros, and knows he wants to stay at Arsenal, then surely having it signed, sealed and settled would only help him concentrate on the task in hand.

It’s very clear that he wants to keep his options open, and the longer he does so the slimmer our chances of retaining him become.  My opinion about what will happen with Van Persie changes as frequently as the engravings in Salomon Kalou’s hair, but at the moment I find it very hard to foresee him agreeing to a new deal.  Arsenal would then be left with the same choice they faced with Samir Nasri: keep him for a year but lose him on a free, or pocked £25m.  Possibly more.

There is, I suppose, the possibility that Robin is holding Arsenal to ransom, waiting to see how our transfer activity unfurls before committing.  However, he’s unlikely to see any seismic moves take place between now and the end of the European Championships.  Gazidis himself says:

“I think the way that the window will pan out is with some activity before the Euros, particularly with respect to the European players who are playing, the quieter period while the Euros are actually taking place and then a period of activity afterwards.”

So even in the best case scenario, we won’t have any resolution for months yet.  It is going to be a long old summer.

Gazidis will come under the microscope again at this evening’s AST Q&A.  I imagine he’ll mainly be repeating himself, but if any interesting tidbits come out of that I’ll try to let you know.


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