Tomorrow is the first day of a new season. Ordinarily, I’d be hugely and embarrassingly excited about that. Today, it feels like a speck on the horizon as compared to the impending horrors of the transfer market.
The trio of Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City have been very quiet about the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, until last night, when Arsenal.com released this small clip. Give it a watch. Arsene doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t have to. It’s clear that Cesc Fabregas is on the way out, possibly as soon as today.
The player himself has maintained his silence, breaking it only to say:
Presumably it’s a new work phone. Or perhaps this was the clincher in negotiations. €29m + €6m + €5m + blackberry bold 9900.
Joking aside, it looks like I’ll have to roll out the ‘Cesc’s Arsenal career’ obituary imminently. I might start pre-writing them for any decent player we ever have.
On Nasri, meanwhile, Arsene says the situation is “stable”. Stable how, exactly? Even if he’s not sold he’s still at most ten months away from leaving. My increasing feeling is that both players will indeed be sold, and probably over the next few days.
As worried as you are about Jadon coping in the Premier League, he looks far more worried himself
The surest sign yet that the pair of playmakers are on the verge of leaving the club comes in the form that Arsenal have already identified his replacement: the Brazilian Jadson. The Independent go as far as to say a £12m fee has been agreed – and my information is that this deal is very much on Arsenal’s agenda, with the only concern surrounding the playmaker’s eligibility for a work-permit.
With all the talk about Juan Mata, I was reminded of what happened when we lost Thierry Henry. The expectation was that we would move for a big name, like Nicholas Anelka. Instead, Eduardo da Silva appeared from nowhere. It’s much the same with Jadson, who ironically now plays alongside Eduardo currently for Shakhtar Donetsk. Some papers are suggesting Arsenal would like to sign both Mata and Jadson, but I’m not convinced Arsene will move for more than one dwarfish attacker.
Jadson is even smaller than Mata, standing just 5’6″ tall. To put that in perspective, it’s an inch shorter than Arshavin. His age would also make him an unusual Wenger signing – he’ll be 28 in October. Yesterday he tweeted:
“If everything goes to plan, I’ll have some news for everyone at the start of next week. Hope it works out. #happy”
If Jadson does arrive, I hope it’s as part of a concerted spending spree in order to restore morale and strengthen our ever-weakening squad. Joel Campbell, another potential signing from across the Atlantic, is due to hold a press conference in the next 24 hours at which he will announce which club he is due to join.
Speaking of press conferences, Arsene will step before the media at 9am UK-time before travelling to Newcastle. The chances of taking Cesc or Nasri with him have got to be slim to none. The rest of the team news is here.
For more on Cesc, Nasri, Newcastle and the season ahead, keep your eyes peeled on Arseblog for the first Arsecast of the season, with myself and Goonerholic. I won’t, I hasten to add, be rapping.
A transfer saga that has hung its miserable shadow over us since the day Cesc Fabregas first arrived in London, and that has spent two years showering uncertainty on to our captain and our club, may be about to end.
Widespread reports in England and indeed Barcelona (click images on the right) suggest a deal is imminent. Of course, we’ve been here before, but the sheer weight of speculation suggests there may be fire at the heart of all this smoke. The impending commencement of the season, too, may have hurried negotiations along.
Barcelona’s supposed final offer, which they expect Arsenal to accept today, totals €40m. It’s unclear whether that’s a full €40m, or if the Catalan club are including in that figure the €5m Arsenal will save by not paying Cesc any kind of loyalty bonus. Whatever they end up paying, it won’t be more than about €29m upfront – and it’ll be a bargain. Cesc will go for marginally more than Andy Carroll.
Sport: "Cesc - Yes"
As I said a few days ago, the specifics of the deal don’t matter that much to me. In fact, I’d happily lose out on a million euros or so if it meant we could get it done quickly. Going in to the new season with this huge issue resolved and a new captain appointed would provide a welcome boost.
When the deal is finally done, both clubs will declare the fee “undisclosed”. Barca well tell the Catalan press they got a bargain, and Arsenal will brief the English press that they got a fair price. We’ll never know the truth.
There’s plenty more to say about Cesc and his departure. I’ll save it for when any of this speculation is confirmed. The next days promise to be painful, but I think it’s best for everyone now that this gets sorted. The night is darkest just before the dawn; we can and will emerge from this still unbowed, still Arsenal.
Parting with Cesc will certainly hurt more than seeing off Samir Nasri. If rumours are to be believed, he could follow Cesc through the door marked ‘exit’, with Manchester City ready to pay upwards of £20m for the midfielder. If we’re going to lose Nasri, I’d rather do it now for that sort of money than in a year for nothing. He played for France in their 1-1 draw with Chile last night, so if he is left out at Newcastle on Saturday it’s safe to say he has little future at Arsenal. If, that is, he’s still here.
An Arsenal executive told the BBC that “all the funds generated by the sale will be reinvested in new players”. I don’t doubt the board would be willing to do just that, but the final decision, as ever, will rest with Arsene. Will he be pragmatic enough to forget some of his principles and spend the money required to settle an unsteady ship? Time will tell.
One signing that does appear imminent is that of Joel Campbell. I told you on July 29th he’d agreed to join, and last night a Costa Rican journalist who met the U-20 international side off the plane from the World Cup in Colombia confirmed to me that Campbell intends to hold a press conference announcing his decision on Friday before travelling to England on Saturday to finalise things. The club have applied for a special talent visa as they did with Ryo Miyaichi, and, if successful, would make Campbell part of the first-team squad for 2011/12.
Right, that’ll do for now. Something tells me I might be back here before the day is out.
Well, we were promised transfer activity this week, and now we’ve got it. Southampton’s 17-year-old winger Alex (Oxlade) Chamberlain has signed for Arsenal, for an undisclosed fee.
Depending on who you believe, Southampton stand to receive either ten, twelve or fifteen million pounds for the player, depending on performance-related clauses. One things for sure – it exceeds the £9m we ended up paying for Theo Walcott, with the Saints themselves saying their previous transfer records have been “blown out of the water”.
He’s clearly a player of real potential, and as such is a welcome addition to the squad. However, it’s a signing that’s taken me a little by surprise, despite Arsenal’s long-term interest in the player. When you look at our squad, we’re not lacking in wide attackers: Nasri, Arshavin, Gervinho, Walcott, Rosicky, Miyaichi and Vela can all occupy those positions. With a fee of this size, it’s hard to see us loaning Chamberlain out, so perhaps the rumours that Carlos Vela and Miyaichi may be set for temporary moves abroad have some truth to them.
There will doubtless be fans who are frustrated at Arsene’s willingness to pay such a high price for a teenager when he baulks at similar fees for established internationals. I share that frustration. All I can say to that is that I hope Chamberlain is the first of several new faces, the rest of which will be slightly more experienced than the young Englishman. Of our three summer signings thus far, two have only ever played in League One. Intriguingly, the other, Gervinho, has played in the similar-sounding but significantly more competitive Ligue 1. I can’t be alone in hoping we still get that Premier League-hardened defender we badly lack.
For now, however, we welcome Alex Chamberlain aboard the good ship Arsenal. An ankle injury has held up his pre-season, so I don’t expect him to be in contention for a few weeks yet. Having followed the same path, the press will doubtless be hailing him tomorrow as ‘The New Theo Walcott’. If, however, you want a more considered view of the player, you can read this piece – Ready Or Not: Alex Chamberlain, from January.
Or, indeed, have a gander at the video below. More tomorrow.
It has come to something when the words of David Dein provide comfort for Arsenal fans. In recent months he and his family seem to have actively destabilised the club they profess to love. However, in an interview with the BBC, Dein has urged the supporters to stand by manager Arsene Wenger:
”Arsene Wenger will admit he has had the most difficult couple of years of his career, for two reasons.
‘One is the fact the game is getting more competitive, we have seen more money coming in so the competition out there is more intense. ‘Secondly, he has had to contend with the fact he hasn’t achieved what he would have hoped to achieve, albeit he has done remarkably well in the quality and style of play.
‘But he himself, and the fans, want to win trophies. Arsene is very focused and very determined. I see him regularly, I see a man who still has as much fire in the belly today as when he started.
‘He wants to win. I believe in his ability and I know for a fact he is trying very hard to improve the squad this year and I hope he does it. People have got to remember what he has achieved. It is easy in life to get rid of people. Then what?
How do you follow Arsene Wenger? That is going to be the trick for the board and it is not going to be an easy exercise.”
Naturally, Dein is going to defend his friend, but I do think the in-fighting among Arsenal fans over Wenger is decidedly unhelpful. He’s here now, for this season at least, and probably beyond, so let’s get behind him and support him as we would anyone who our crest.
It will certainly help Arsene’s case if he can strengthen the squad in the next few weeks. Dein stated that he knew for a fact that the manager is trying to add “another two or three players”, and after his comments last week about how “something might happen” in the coming days, I’m expecting speculation both from the fans and the media to run riot.
Today’s rumour of choice, printed in the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, and The Times, is that Arsenal will complete a £12m deal for Alex Chamberlain. The young winger missed Southampton’s opening weekend victory over Leeds with an ankle injury, and the suggestion is that he may have played his last game for the club.
Whilst Chamberlain clearly has potential, his acquisition is far from a priority this summer. Granted, he’s been a long-term target, but he remains a long-term prospect. We’ve got plenty of youthful wide attackers – what we need is an experienced centre-half.
Regardless, part of me suspects this report is a question of several journalists putting two and two together. Whether or not they’ve made four or five will become clear in the coming days.
As ever, much of the speculation this week will surround the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. On Nasri, Arsene said over the weekend:
“I cannot speak about it but there is no major problem between Samir and myself.”
Which does beg the following questions:
1) If there’s nothing to hide, why can’t you speak about it?
2) Does that mean there is a moderate problem, if not a major one?
It does seem like the position on Nasri is shifting. A couple of weeks ago Arsene was insisting he would stay; now the language has returned to “hoping”. Maybe the player has made his desire to leave urgently clear. With £185,000 p/week on offer from Man City, who knows what length a footballer might go to?
According to reports in Cataluña, yesterday’s meeting between Arsenal and Barcelona officials ended without agreement on a fee for Cesc Fabregas. Barca’s latest offer still falls short of Arsenal’s £40m valuation, and the saga looks set to run on in to the start of the season.
Whilst Arsenal are undoubtedly right to push Barca to pay as high a fee as possible, the truth is that I don’t think it matters too much exactly what the final amount is. What difference does a few million euros make, really? The fact is that Arsenal are losing their captain against their will. Having a little bit more money in the bank won’t make that blow any easier to suffer.
The only figure that matters to me is how much is reinvested in the squad. Cesc Fabregas cost Arsenal less than a million pounds in compensation. His sale will generate an enormous profit, and one that, if we’re serious about always planning to keep Cesc, is not one we’ve factored in to any budget. Without going in to the economic detail – mainly because I don’t know enough about it – it’s money that we should be able to go and spend.
And boy do we need to. Partly to fill the gaps in the squad that remain from last season, but also to put a positive spin on what has been a horribly draining story for the football club.
Arsene says he understands the fans’ frustrations, and is doing his best to recruit new signings, adding that “next week, something might happen”. It’s hardly definitive, but it’s something. We can hope.
The preposterous nature of Fabregas situation reached new heights yesterday when, after showing off the fact he was training like a good boy, the club elected not to take him to Lisbon. Arsene said:
“Everybody is free to think what they want. We cannot stop people raising questions.
He is just coming back from injury and is not ready to play in a game. But he is not injured.â€
I have to say I’m amused by the idea that the solution to Cesc’s lack of practise is to stop him playing in, well, ‘practise matches’. It’s clear there’s more to this than meets the eye, and sooner or later Arsenal are going to have to be honest about that, otherwise Arsene will find himself facing some very difficult questions if and when the skipper is left out of competetive games.
Also missing from the 19-man squad are the injured Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Carlos Vela, and Laurent Koscielny. Youngsters Frimpong, Miyaichi, Lansbury and Miquel are included.
So tonight an Arsenal team will line up without either Fabregas or Nasri. Might have to get used to that…
