Archive for July 11th, 2012

A tale of three contracts: RVP, Djourou & Nike

110 comments July 11th, 2012

So training is back underway, and there are some familiar faces at Colney.  The likes of Gervinho, Arteta, Vermaelen, Santos and Gibbs are all back at the grindstone.  Even Abou Diaby is there, although he looks dangerously close to injury at all times.  There are plenty of youngsters bulking out the squad, too.  A quick glance at these pics will reveal the presence of Kyle Bartley, Damien Martinez, and a fit again Conor Henderson.

Steve Bould and Neil Banfield are running things for the first-time, and it’ll be interesting to see if the new coaching team precipitates any chance in first-team matters.  I can’t be alone in hoping that Bould is able to mould our defenders in his own image.  We shall see.

Of course a lot of the big names are absent – including the biggest: Robin van Persie.  Nevertheless, he still continues to dominate headlines.  Yesterday Sky Sports News started claiming that the Dutchman was set to do a u-turn and sign a new deal, a la Rooney.  They even went as far as to publish a news story about it on my website.  Then, after about an hour or so, they stopped talking about it, and the article was pulled down.  It was almost as if they’d realised that what they were saying had no real factual substance or basis.  Who knows, they might even have received a call from an angry member of the RVP camp.  From what I hear they are pretty resolved on pushing through a move ASAP, most likely to Manchester City.  So there’s all that fun still to come.

One man who seemingly isn’t going anywhere is Johan Djourou.  You can read the full transcript of his interview with Blick.ch here, in which he reveals that the man hawking him round Serie A simply isn’t his agent.  I do feel a little for Johan Djourou: the guy takes a lot of stick, largely from the same elements of the fanbase that hailed him as “the answer” just a couple of years ago.  As he was overrated then, he’s underrated now: the truth is somewhere inbetween.  There are constant calls to sell and replace him, but few of the suggested signings would be happy being a fourth choice centre-back.  You can’t question Djourou’s loyalty: he’s now pretty our longest-serving player.  The interview also puts an end to the ridiculous stories doing the rounds on certain blogs that his new contract was due to a clause exercised by the player against the clubs wishes.

Youngster Gavin Hoyte has left Arsenal to join Dagenham & Redbridge on a two-year deal.  This is the same Gavin Hoyte who was once hailed as “even better” than his brother Justin Hoyte – the very same Justin Hoyte who now plays in the Championship with Middlesbrough.  This is a stark reminder that as much as we occasionally get excited about a young talent, there’s a big difference between impressing in the odd Carling Cup cameo and securing a future as a top flight player.  Take note messrs Frimpong, Miquel and Eastmond.

Finally, there was some talk on the interwebs yesterday that Arsenal are negotiating a new kit deal with Adidas, and are set to end their long-term deal with Nike, possibly even a year earlier than planned.  It’s not impossible: as Alisher Usmanov’s open letter made plain, the club are in the process of hurriedly renegotiating their commercial deals in order to maximise our spending capacity.  I’d expect to see more stories of this ilk over the coming months and years – it’s worth remembering we’re already more than halfway through the ‘Emirates’ name deal for the stadium.

Everything changes.  Especially when money’s involved.  Just ask RVP.


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