By Walter Broeckx,
If you can believe the media in France and Germany Per Mertesacker has flown to London this morning. They even say the flightnumber he took. He has gone with the Lufthansa flight 3382 from Dusseldorf to London to sign a contract till june 2015 at Arsenal.
On Sunday he said when asked about a possible transfer to Arsenal : “One should never say never, even if it’s a cliché in football”. So it was first thought that he said he would not go but now it looks as if he was just holding the door open.
Joachim Löw the manager of the German national team has been quoted in the German press :”Per has phoned me yesterday evening and told me about it. I have told him that I would give him a day off to take care of this offer.”
Werder Bremen player Marko Marin said that it would be a bitter blow for Werder if he leaves. He is our captain and has played so many games for us.
If he passes a fitness test today he will be one of our new players at Arsenal for 4 seasons. In the German press they also name his wages and this would fit nicely in the top wages we pay at Arsenal. According to the media in Europe Arsenal would pay some 10M for the German defender.
Mertesacker is a giant German defender of 6ft6in or 1m98 meter. He is 26 years old and has played 75 games for Germany in his career. He scored only one goal in those games but that is not why they put him on the field in Germany. In the Bundesliga he has played some 216 games and has scored 19 goals in those games. Well not why we would buy him but nice to know he can score every now and then.
Necause he is out there to defend and to give you an insight on his defending I will give you the statistics on his defending in the Bundesliga so far.
When it comes to winning duels he has a current rate of winning 85.92% and losing only 14.08%. Not bad I would say. He is very dominant in the air and I have seen statistics of games in which he won all his aerial battles.
For a central defender he also is a very clean defender. He gets more fouls than he makes fouls. And he also very rarely gets a yellow or a red card.
So he is known for winning a lot of defensive headers but also scores a few goals in attack. On average one goal in 11 games during his career so far. So we would have some extra threats on corners with him in the team.
He is a big name in football, experienced, strong defender. I think this would be a signing that should be appreciated by all Arsenal supporters.
I think that a defence with Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Santos/Gibbs will have all we need. It has 4 internationals for France, Germany, Belgium and Brazil/England. It has pace, it has height, it can attack from both flanks. Bring them on I would say.
Interesting news if true. It certainly sends a message to the rest of the league. Quite what that message is, I have no idea…
Excited, 3 signings today hopefully, I think 1-3 more could come in too.
Bolton can keep Cahill. Though we wld miss his expertise with set pieces, hope Park can take care of that.
I posted this in the other article but it’s really worth reposting, look at Park’s assists in this video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFS-JliMssY&feature=player_embedded#!
Mertesacker will be an excellent acquisition. Tall, commanding, experienced international, club captain of Werder Breman and the fee is expected to be much less than Bolton want for a certain Mr Cahill.
Arsenal.com quotes Mr Wenger as saying 3 more signings are needed, which is a fairly clear indication that things are happening at last.
Plus we have two players back from the under 20 world cup, plus the option of moving players around in positions – something we have not been able to do because of the injuries and suspensions.
In the midst of the gloom maybe there is a light.
I think Wenger was so let down by his players at manchester that he is without doubt in a major buying mood and Mertesaker is a Samba type giant no nosense defender who will complement Kos/Vermelen well as they are speedy.
Per is the only defender among all other defenders that i’ve dreaming of seing in Arsenal jersey. Very cool headed and always wanted to claim both aerial and ground ball. With Dos Santos, Park Chu Young and one other attacking mid-fielder sky will be our limit. Im confident that truly Arsene wanted to contest for trophy this season .
let arsenal sign cahill,hazard,m’villa
Goodnews i must say n so glad atleast i can now stand any where again n say am a tru gonner 4 life.thanks for the update
Woooooo, come on wenger get to it. Hopefully within 3 to 4 games the doubters will be eating their own words.
I can’t wait to see him and santos and park in Arsenal shrit 😀
but the sad thing if we sign park is that we only get him for 2 (or less) seasons, cause he has to go back to Korea before he’s 30 to complete 2 years of some public service.
“Good news” about another defender Vermaelen in Belgium: he can’t play for Belgium. He should be back in 14 days they say.
Breathing easier now! Looking forward to the conclusion of these deals.
Well if it is true .. thank goodness …. and why was it not sorted out weeks ago instead of Arsenal fannying around all over the place ?
Pity it took AW so long to see that.
But it is clear that AFc needed to completely change, and i am looking forward now to our new team and how they merge together with the existing players.
Onward AFC.
If the information is true, then it is a good news but why did AW wait till this moment before signing Him? Had AW signed Him a week ago, maybe He would have been in the squad that participated in the last weekend encounter and done His quota.
Let see for how long AW is ready to go in the market before the deadline.
I think we will be signing more than 3 players before the window closes, think we will get a midfeilder if it’s at all possible, hope it’s someone quality as we really need some depth there with the injuries currently.
Finger closed toe crossed and even balls crossed we sing him !
i am chinese , i am a gunner fans , i am so happy .
If we signed Samba as well some are saying we will I would be delighted with that, we’d have very strong defence then in my opinion and plenty of options for different games, will be able to cover our injuries too, even now signing Per if he does well we will have good options, it seems we have made a lot of bids, even before this we have made a lot of bids, Wenger did try wrap things up but something restricted the bigger deals bar Gervinho from going through each time, now it’s near the window anything the deals are getting done, these reinforcments should be so helpful for us going forward.
heck it would have been better earlier but lets not look at it like that this is a reson to be positive a brighter tomorrow
Pleased that Arsenal have decided to sign Mertesacker as opposed to Cahill, who is ridiculously overpriced for a CB with only a year left on his contract
Why has it taken so long wenger ……. We needed these players in july
wow… this is a real transfer(if it goes through)… some real intent by us and i already like that park guy … though i really wanna see replacements for cesc and nasri on the pitch… and how good the shaquiri guy?
It looks like our 8-2 thrashing at Old Trafford has done what all Arsenal fans couldn’t do collectively in the last many years.
If the reports about Park, Santos, and Per are correct, they indicate a major shift in Arsene’s philosophy of absolute reliance on youngsters. In Park and Per, he has signed not just two decent players, he has also brought in proven leaders as both of them are country and club captains respectively. A BIG plus. Another experienced midfielder will certainly help our chances of offering serious challenge for honors this year.
The presence of much needed experience will also be a great benefit for our talented youngsters -Ramsey, AOC, Ryo, Frimpong, Jenkins, Miguel. I felt for them when they were rather mercilessly left to deal with on-the-pitch challenges that they were supposed to face a few years later. Now they can take a sigh of relief and make their way up in a natural progression.
I said on Saturday we needed 6 players, 1LB, 1CB, 1CF, 1CM, 1AM and 1RW. We have plenty of room in our 25 for more and these 3 have only cost £15m. Without being greedy i want 3 more as above. CM – M’Vila, AM – Lucho, RW – Bennayoun
I also want to see the back of Chamakh, Arshavin & Squillaci meaning another CF – Kalou LW – Malouda and CB – Alex or Cahill.
Obviously these Chelsea rejects are not my first choices and neither is Lucho, but we are obviously not able to afford what i want. My preferences would be:
CM – M’Vila
AM – Sneijder
RW – Affelay
LW – Hazard
CF – Benzema
CB – Vertonghen or Cahill or Samba
However the Chelsea quartet could be purchased for £25m and all are experienced in winning trophies. Lucho £7m and M’Vila £18m. That is just another £50m meaning 9 players for £65m, about what we got for Cesc, Clichy and Nasri
Whereas the preferred 6 would cost us £130m so basically No Chance.
Apparently we are still in for Cahill and have increased our bid, I also feel he isn’t amazing, however he would add some extra depth we we sign him additionally.
Apparently we made an upped bid for Cahill but it was rejected, we either ended our interest and signed Per or we’re trying for both.
I wonder how we will announce these signings, some today, some tommorrow or just 5 signings all tommorrow or Thursday to try make a statement.
Marvin Martin looks a good player, wonder if we have interest in Ella, I believe we do or have had interest in Hazard, M’Vila and Gotze, some of the price tags might just be too much though, it is interesting Lille are signing Joe Cole on loan though…
Roy I think you have a good point, Park Young is a national captain and Per is a club captain, I wouldn’t mind Samba in there too cause I think he is a passionate defender and wouldn’t accept slack defending, maybe not a leader but think he really likes to defender similar to Sol.
Can arsenal do us a favour by announcing these signings because for now i still see them and rumours
In regards to a shift though I think these signings were coming anyway, Wenger said before the Man U match we will be making signings if at all possible irrespective of the result.
I am very confident these are not just rumors, the reports look legit on the case of Per, Santos & Park, the others are rumors thus far, the others seem all but confirmed bar a last minuite hitch.
Arsene really has tried from the start, we had a bid accepted for Phil Jones, matched Man U’s or was more but he decided to join Man U, was a bid for Jagelika too, we had various bids for many players, Arsene tried but some of them were impossible to go through without paying extortionate prices which would reduce our funds to strength in many areas.
YU or Chu Park Young is officially announced at arsenal.com
I don’t know, Per is a slow mover, with him playing a high line will be suicidal. He should be deployed when focus is on counter attacking and midfield is closer to defense. The same tactics that must have been used at OT.
If it happens, a very interesting signing. Does this mean we are going for slightly different CDs? Intially, I would not assume he would be quick enough for a role in our defence but speed comes in more than 1 form. Think he is just what we need to be honest, hopefully packed full with the traditional strengths we sometimes grudgingly admire in German players – or at least those of us who double as England fans.
I have also been hearing we are still in for Cahill, IF that were true, bad news maybe for Djourou and Squillacci, hopefully Kos will still figure and Miquel will have some good mentors in there.
Still, should not get carried away until it is on Arsenal.com as we all know.
Looks like Wenger is going to create a much more robust side, some of new players like Ryo and Ox and some allegedly coming in appear on what I have seen at least to have some good work ethics to back up talent.
Very interested to see who, if anyone turns up on the creative front
Park Young signing confirmed, very pleased.
Arsenal to sign striker Chu Young Park
Arsenal Football Club can confirm they have agreed to sign striker Chu Young Park from AS Monaco.
The 26-year-old South Korea captain scored 25 times in 91 appearances for the French club during three seasons in Ligue 1.
The one-time Asian Young Footballer of the Year made his debut for the South Korea senior side at just 19, and played in both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He replaced the retired Ji Sung Park as captain of the national team earlier this year.
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said: “We are delighted to have signed Chu. He will add true quality to our attacking forces and will be a valuable addition to the squad.”
Chu Young Park said: “I am very honoured and I feel very happy to be at Arsenal. It is a dream to be here and I am really proud to be an Arsenal player. Now I just want to show how good I am and prove myself.
“In my opinion this is a great club, now I have to show what I can do on the pitch. I will do my best, I will never give up, I will show heart, I will give everything and I hope [the fans] will support me.”
The deal is subject to the completion of formal registration processes.
Chu Young Park will wear the No 9 shirt at Arsenal. The striker prefers to be known as ‘Ju’ and will therefore have J. Y. Park as his shirt name.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-to-sign-striker-chu-young-park
This is the greatest news of the summer. What a great signing? And with our brand of football, the sky is our limit. Now we can be seen again as true contenders of the league and not pretenders. And how much more wonderful if we can add the likes of Hazard, M’villa, Cahill et at. I love u Arsenal.
Great to hear this from him….
“I am very honoured and I feel very happy to be at Arsenal. It is a dream to be here and I am really proud to be an Arsenal player. Now I just want to show how good I am and prove myself.
“In my opinion this is a great club, now I have to show what I can do on the pitch. I will do my best, I will never give up, I will show heart, I will give everything and I hope [the fans] will support me.”
Just a little clarification on his name. He is Park Ju Young not Park Young. Korean and Chinese names are different in the sense that his “Ju” is not a middle name and does not stand alone on its own. His Last name is “Park” and “Ju-Young” would be his first name.
Finally, this might spell the end of the donkey Koscielny who was and never will be good enough to play in the mighty red and white of Arsenal!
Welcome to the Emisates mr. Mertesacker. This is a new begining. I am overexcited. Please calm me down. I love my Arsenal
Sky Sports say Cahill deal is now over and we have ended our interest, wonder if we are going with Per or if we really are trying to bring in Samba too, it would make sense if we just went with Per as we would have quite a lot of defenders, I’m hoping we sell Squillaci though, but you never know, I wouldn’t say no to Samba.
Are the AAA tugging furiously over the fact Mertesacker is 6’6″? I literally cannot wait for the backlash when they realise that he’s a very tall, not especially fast, Wenger-type CB.
He is very proactive, like Vermaelen, a very clean tackler and very good on the ball. He will need someone like Koscielny or Djourou sweeping up behind him when he goes to confront a proper no 9. Against a false-9 he could get caught out upfield, as Terry/Vidic do.
Still against half the teams in the league he’ll be a huge asset (pun intended).
Desmond….plz visit arsenal.com Ronnie copied the statement by arsenal.com and that is true man
I think Koscielny will be a great player for us, you don’t play so well against the likes of Messi if your a donkey, I think Koz’s issue is he is not a leader so needs someone strong next to him, Johan unforunetly hasn’t been up to par since the ending of last season, when he plays with Verm he looks very good and they both look capable and a solid partnership, he is brilliant antcipation, can tackle, is quite quick, really good defender, but we need to all defend as a unit, the whole teams pressing needs to be better and the defence need to have understanding and communication, is Per a leader at the back?
With my very “small” knowledge [since I have never managed a team, in real life or in Playstation], I have my doubts about both Per and Cahill. Neither possess the speed that is required to play the high line we play at Arsenal. But I’m sure the boss has plans and I trust him.
We have improved greatly so far from set pieces cause of our new defensive plan though, one problem we have is when we clear the ball we press up too quick and are susceptible to a long ball coming straigh back in and completly catching us out, that needs to be improved upon.
To be honest I think we may have a shift in our defensive tactics so might not play the high line always now.
I’m so excited by this. Arsenal will be back to their form soon after the international break with all their new signings.. GOONER4EVER!!!
Oh the beautiful irony of ‘defensive’ experts criticising our defenders and defensive coaching. Proactive CBs MUST be supported by a reactive player behind them, it’s a rule that all the top defences in any league stick to. Ferdinand and Vidic are so effective against most defences because one watches the player (Vidic) the other watches the ball (Rio).
When you play two reactive CBs (as we often do) you can get a hesitation as neither knows which is going to pick up the man in possession. When Vermaelen plays the other defenders know that he will go to confront the player in possession. By knowing his role, the other players know what they have to do to cover and our defence improves dramatically.
Against a false-9 players like Vidic are a liability, if they track the man they wind up almost on top of the DM and then their lack of on-the-ball ability is exposed.
@Ronnie — you might be on the money here. It seems with all these speeds on the flanks and someone like Park in the middle, Arsene just might have a different game plan altogether.
@Ronnie,
My previous comment wasn’t aimed at you but since it followed your post I thought I’d better clarify. I posted elsewhere why I doubt we’ll shift away from a high line, suffice to say even Utd & Chelsea would like to be able to push their defence up the pitch but they too lack the defenders to do it. Even Barcelona would rather play a midfielder in their high line than play a typical CB in a low line.
Now only thing left is a midfielder….
We signed a player over the age of 20? And yet we’re not going to be going bankrupt and getting relegated? Explain that.
No worries, I agree pretty much with what your saying anyway and I’m sure you know more about Per than me, it seems we are trying to make changes with our defending, like regarding corners etc but I’ve heard that Per regularly does play a high line for national and club team and that he is very capable of doing this, if that’s the case won’t neccessarily be a shift. My preference would be to be adaptable so we could adopt a policy based upon the type of opposition we encounter.
@Woolwich — you get all the “experts” for free these days thanks to Sony and MS. 🙂
One interesting point you brought up in your last post, and I am curious, what you think of the probably partnering of Per with TV5. Simply discarding all the experts [majority of who probably never played beyond the School’s ground or the Sunday league park], it seemed we were forming some kind of solid ‘partnership’ between KOS and TV5. Really interested to know your take on this.
Your previous information on Per was insighful also. Hope he does well.
True Dark prince, I hope we can get in that creative midfeild, if the reports are correct though there might also be ANOTHER winger lol.
Yeah Chowdhury, these signings seem to be adding something different, I think it means we will be less likely to buckle under pressure, some of these players are very experienced international players.
I wouldn’t be suprised with a “suprise” signings as well or a big signing, wonder if there will be anything on Hazard, Joe Cole going to Lille so late is interesting.
@Ronne –> and “Ju Park” doesn’t fit the bill of “creative” for you? :-).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KExVFcaGt_8 ==> That is what it means to SUPPORT your team. Take a bow son, take a bow. Once a Gooner always a Gooner. 🙂
I’d say if we had time for TV5 and Mertesacker to form an understanding then yes it could work.
Thrown together, with inexperienced players to the left and right of them and no Song in front of them? People would be calling him Mertesquilaci.
Arsenal Column has good piece on the counter-intuitive nature of football, cunningly disguised as a review of the win in Udine. That taking off a holding player (Frimpong) and adding a creative one (Rosicky) improved our defensive performance.
The way I see it:
TV5 starts all the games.
On the ground teams with nippy attackers (Suarez, Messi etc) – Kos starts
Aerial bombers (Stoke, Blackburn, Bolton)- Mertesacker starts
Djourou – 4th choice
Squid – Mostly gone
You can almost be certain though that Mertesacker will sit and sweep up a lot allowing TV5 and Kos to attack the ball more as is their wont. Assuming he comes that is .. as its not yet on Arsenal.com 🙂
AW was let down by the team against ManU. I knew he finally realized that some guys on that team could not be relied on.
I almost cried when Traore gave the header directly to ManU on Sunday for the second goal(watch that sequence again!)-glad AW finally shipped him to QPR where he will also flop, as he did at Juventus last season. Every time I’ve seen him play he looked like a disaster in waiting.
The various signing to date have been great, if only Jenkinson had the time to adjust. We will come good, gooners be patient.
No I do think Park is very creative, just as far as I’m aware he is a striker, unless we are planning on making him an AM, we may need some extra creativy in midfeild, I think that kind of signing is incoming though.
I wouldn’t be suprised if Miquel displaces Squillaci as 5th choice.
Does anyone know how long Squillaci and Arshavin have left on their contract? I hate to say it but I think our little Russians time is up, he’s been awful for over 2 seasons now.
@Arvind,
I really hope we don’t see TV and PM on the pitch at the same time, unless TV is playing LB. No way in hell would you want Mertesacker covering Thom’s up-field surges.
Lets hope for 1-2 more great signings, and we are set for the season. M’vila and a cam will be brilliant.
Stevie E,
I think Arshavin can’t fully handle the agro-physicality and non-calls of the EPL. He’ll be better off in a Euro-league, and it’s not his fault. I see him being smashed to bits a lot, whatever his age and/or physical shape. That said, he still has guile and skills and could be useful off the bench for the chance mercurial moment. But if I were him, I’d be playing/non-playing my was out of Dodge so I could extend my career in a more football-friendly league, if you catch my drift. Perhaps he’s been doing just that. I would if I were of his size and faced the ref-shite that he/we oftentimes do.
People give the boy Jenkinson a break, he will come good.
Imo, a bonus with the “as Per” signing would be that Per comes with some actual, on-the-pitch knowledge of how Dortmund Borussa play – which could be very valuable if/when we get to that stage vs. DB in our bracket. In that respect, and others, given his experience, he’d be a defensive specialist/coach of the sort we’ve sort needed.
p.s. meant to say “sorely needed” above.
Bob
You’re right, I’ve never had a bad word to say about him but there’s only so long you can give someone. I really like Arshavin and in several games he’s been pretty much unplayable. Unfortunately, those games are few and far between. Also, his blog is worth a look, he’s a funny guy and loves winding up the press 🙂
any thing happening in the Midfield?
I dont think Yossi Benayoun thing is real, M’villa???
@Dan AKA The Truth
“Finally, this might spell the end of the donkey Koscielny who was and never will be good enough to play in the mighty red and white of Arsenal!”
let me guess your age 1st, hmm it’s below 25.
2ndly, Kozzer is a great tackler, really hungry and young. He will be GREAT defender if he is not yet(in you opinion).
Kozzer at the back is immense.
@Jayj,
M’villa things is probably real, he offers real competition and cover for Song.
The Benayoun thing, I doubt it. I think we also shot ourselves in the foot if we were thinking of going for Hazard, having bought Gervinho and then Gervinho’s replacement I doubt Lille would take £40 million for him from us.
Woolwich Peripatetic
Signing M’villa wouldn’t that hamper the development of Frimpong? Also I feel Song/Frimpong are good enough. Bendtner off to where? I still think we are too light on the creative side since the departure of cesc/nasri.
so when does this flight 3382 land in UK? Walter? Anyone? 🙂
jayj,
You think that kind of Cesc/Nasri creativity is just there for the buying? where is it? what’s the price? have any said no so far? let’s have that report out of your breaking news vault. Do you love posing the near impossible standard at this moment and demanding we become a flaggelant’s procession to satisfy your current venomous state? You know how to make sense, sometimes. So drop some education on me on this. Right now, what’s out there in the Cesc/Nasri calibre to even splash on? You have 24 hours.
@Woolwich: If we’re buying PM he’s almost certainly not bombing into opposition territory. That means he stays back and has a better chance of cutting a counter out. And again… he (probably) is not the best against those fast teams as I said..I’d pick Kos for that.. why is there so much hate for Koscielny? I just don’t get it. He’s been great so far.
Stoke, Blackburn etc.. I think PM will be okay.
hope per comes, santos and welcome CYP9 (why does his shirt say j y park?)
from his tubes he looks like a cesc replacement, but he’s a striker. weird.
talk about taking advantage of the asian market. both of them we be huge im certain.
two more and ill be buzzing even more.
bob
Van der Vaart comes to mind. Creative/fast and has an eye for goal.
Looking right now I’m sure he’ll love to play for us as expressed his desire to RVP.
I would say last season he gave nasri as run for his money.
jayj,
Ok, good. you’ve now named someone. To be principled, provide some reasons and become a one man cheering section for VdV and send e-blasts to AFC and various blogs to try and bring about a groundswell for that outcome. If that’s your view, have I missed it before? Why haven’t you been lobbying hard for this player hereabouts? Making the case. If he’s your man, make the case again for him and lobby hard for him. That would be ethical, active, perhaps a very good answer in the midfield (I couldn’t say) and maybe overcome Dein the Lesser’s whispering campaign in our Captain’s ear.
@ Choudhury.
I see flight LH3384 from Dusseldorf landed at Heathrow at 4.41pm.
Could this be the one?
@dats,
As per Walter’s source and the header the flight# is 3382. But it could just be 3384 like you mentioned. As a matter of fact, any flight would do, as long as “Per” is on that flight. :-).
I just want AAA to get off Arsene’s back and this “bone” would appease a lot of them “expert”s, at least momentarily. :-).
bob
OK bob, Dein the Lesser’s campaign let it be known around the ground & why not?
VdV is defo arsenal type player, reminds me of Henry and could link up well with our attack. why not Messi,Sneijder,Rubery,Xavi and more but lobbying hard to AFC why???
flight 3382 was the morning flight from Dusseldorf to London. flight 3383 is the return flight.
flight 3384 is the afternoon flight from Dusseldorf to London and flight 3385 is the evening return flight on which our new Gunner should be sitting if his medical went all right and the papers have been signed.
Or he could go back home tomorrow morning after having a party in London to celebrate his new contract? 😉
I would take VDVaart any time of the day to be honest. I really hate to see him play against us.
WalterBroeckx
Nice to see you agree on my VDVaart addition. But I highly doubt anyone could lure him away from spud nightmare.
Just been on Mertesacker his website (in German and wich has been not updated for a while- the fans think because of him leaving to Arsenal) and the Werder supporters are very sad that he is leaving Bremen but they wish him all the best and thank him for 5 great years of service.
Gunners check on Vargas – dont know how true but check it out.
I love the comments suggested Arsene has suddenly done this because of the freak storm that was ole trafford. If indeed the reports are true, and we don’t know, then this will be the culmination of protracted negotiations.
At least that’s my guess. You see we don’t know and people need to start sounding less certain.
Oh and as for slagging Kos… well, he is one of the greatest prospects I’ve seen at the back in many years. I’d like you to count the goals we’ve conceded in games where he has partnered Vermaelen, go on count them…
Steww
Took the words out of my mouth, don’t know why there’s a downer on Kos all of a sudden, the guys quality.
Better late then never to finally wake up and smell the coffee. If only Wenger had shown this ambition last year, we might’ve most likely won the title as we saw one of the weakest Chelsea and Man Utd teams in years! Lets see what he does about the gaping whole in the midfield.
Btw AKBs, why do you think Wenger is doing a U-turn on the philosophy of not spending that you’ve been so vociferously defending for many years?
@AK47 Here is what Arsenal.com says about the name:
Chu Young Park will wear the No 9 shirt at Arsenal. The striker prefers to be known as ‘Ju’ and will therefore have J. Y. Park as his shirt name. So it is what he wants;)
Happy about Vermaelen not playeing but I really hope that RvP plays full time next Tuesday, I paid lot of money for the ticket and 90% of it was to see RvP. I mean without him it will be awful…
There is no u turn in philosphy at all, we have a bit more money now due to the sales so are buying more players, quite simple.
Sammy “Btw AKBs, why do you think Wenger is doing a U-turn on the philosophy of not spending that you’ve been so vociferously defending for many years”
Your lack of knowledge is somewhat hilarious.
Nobody of the “AKBs” ever said we shouldn’t be spending money. We only said it should be spend wise. It should not be thrown out of the window. I think Mertesacker is wise money. In fact if I remember correct he once said that he supported Arsenal. One could call him another “Gooner-Gunner” signing.
And if you would care to check : AW has bought players each and every year in the last seasons.
And finally: the fact that we have sold Cesc and Nasri will have something to do with it. Last times we didn’t sell them so there was a) less money to spend b)there was less need to spend
@ Ronnie Brown
“There is no u turn in philosphy at all, we have a bit more money now due to the sales so are buying more players, quite simple.”
WRONG! Yet another ignorant comment from the AKBs to distort the truth and hide Wenger’s failures. Funds were scarce shortly after moving to Emirates. But Arsenal has made profits for every year since past 2007 and funds have been available since 2008!
Jan 2010: ” the terms of his club’s loans demand he spends the bulk of the money he raises in transfers. All transfer revenues are held in a special account created during negotiations with lenders over the refinancing of the club’s £260m stadium loan and a minimum of 70% of this must either be retained or spent on transfers and contract renewals.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/08/arsenal-arsene-wenger-transfers
2009: Peter Hill-wood rubbishes allegations that financial constraints forced Wenger to rely on youth rather than splashing out on proven, world class players.
2008: Wenger has money to spend – Danny Fizsman.
http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/11463/Fiszman_-_Arsenal_finance_fine_Wenger_has_money_to_spend.aspx
Now like typical AKBs you will come back saying “oh well, the funds weren’t really available, the board was lying” and such rubbish. But mind you that these comments have been made by the board in public and not even once have Wenger come back and countered this. In fact, he himself has claimed that funds were available to spend.
So tell me now. Why the sudden U-turn by Wenger in the philosphy that you AKBs have been defending since years, and calling everyone who disagreed as Anti-Arsenal. Got an explanation?
Getting Per Mertesacker would be fantastic and I hope this is more than a rumour. Hopefully buying Per M will end all interest in Gary Cahill. I really have not liked the idea of having him play for us.Arsenal have also got rid of Traore too which cheered me up no end.
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A few months Tony did an incoming, outgoings and promotion to first team articles. I wrote that I hoped we would buy Per M, Frimpong would get a chance, Ryo would get a permit, Traore would be sold and I hoped Bendtner and Vela would be moved on. I am quite upbeat right now and since Arsenal are taking note of my suggestions (joking)they will also buy Lucio and Afobe will get a chance in the forthcoming cup game.
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Tomorrow is going to be one of the most interesting transfer deadline days for years.
Walter, your contortions of the truth are equally hilarious.
Yes, Wenger had been spending money but on Old past by date players young players for the future with potential. They have not been like to like replacements for the quality players who have departed.
Remind me, whom did he sign to replace Hleb and Flamini in 2007? No one. He signed Nasri a year later, and he took several years to develop before he left deluded. He counted on Song to replace Flamini, who also took couple of players to become the player he is now. Whom did he sign to replace Adebayor? Well, he waited for 2 years until we got Chamakh on the free. Whom did he sign to replace Lehmann? We had to bear with two jokers for three years before Sczecny came good. Whom did he sign to plug the whole in our defence after Toure and Gallas departed? The miserable Squillaci and the unproven Koscielny (although Kos has turned out to be a half decent buy). Who has a signed to replace Fabregas? Well, still waiting.
Btw, he only signed Arshavin in Jan when we were in real risk of dropping out of top-four. After all, not qualifying for CL costs money. But since 2007 he has never made a signing for like to like replacement for a big player leaving.
I have found it really interesting how supposed Arsenal fan’s thrive off failure. Say’s a lot about personal motivations and character.
I suspect that these individuals have never had to make tough decisions, successfully managed any kind of entity or in fact have a proper grasp of reality.
The value difference – Per Mertesacker (10 mill) or Cahill (10 mill)??
Cahill offer was 6 plus 4 for add ons. Bolton have lost out on a good deal and Cahill must be mega pissed off at not coming to a CL playing club. There are all sorts of rumours about the board and wages but the reality is that Arsenal are an astute club.
I’m sure Kronke didn’t like being Glazed by those 8 goals. He will be laughed at in USA. What happened Stanley, I hear the Glazier soccer team scored 8 touchdowns? I hope that loosened his zipper and let a few nickles out.
thanx finn, lol, i’ve been lazy. hands up.
i know its the polite thing to do but sammys’ type should be ignored.
ive tried rational reasoning and it flies over the head for the majority. quite frustrating.
menace-lmho
TalkSport (today or was it yesterday?)
Ginger tosser was ranting Wenger has lost it, comparable to B.Cloughie the great heights followed by delusional alcoholic failure relegating forest. Spending money on shit like Bendtner, the club will be paying the price for his stubbornness for yrs to come. All this time Houghton (the other guy playing good cop) was sticking up for our manager, “where does Wenger replace the like of Nasri/Cesc”, “please tell me”), some of things Houghton said was not far from the mark.
This went back on fourth Ginger ranting like the prick he is and then someone asked “should Wenger leave Arsenal would he take the England job?”
Could this be the reason they want Wenger out, everyone knows the scotts man wont do it.
@Arvind and @critic
I agree about Kos – I rate him *very* highly as a defender. His timing, and ability to snuff things out before they happen, is really impressive IMO. A great signing by AW.
This new chap Ju can certainly pass!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFS-JliMssY
Sammy,
Maybe on the planet you live there is a different timing and things are all rosy and shiny.
Well down on planet earth where most of us live we have seen a big financial crisis for a few years now. And very important part of that crisis was in the housing market. At some point in the pasts seasons suddenly the sales of the flats at Highbury stopped. This could have meant ultimate disaster for Arsenal.
Also as a result of the crisis the housing market crumbled and flats had to be sold on lower prices or were not sold at all.
In those circumstances it could have been a big risk to spend all the money they had.
So spending with the handbrake on was the wisest thing to do.
Another thing is that the players we are buying now are not that expensive. Mertesacker for 10M euro. Last year we maybe would have paid the double for him. If we would have done that it could have meant that this season we couldn’t have bought Gervinho.
Wenger bought the what you called “miserable Squilacci’, well let me tell you that until we bought him the miserable Squilacci was highly regarded in the football world. He has done nothing but winning trophies with his clubs. Lyon and even with Valencia or was it Sevilla (dont recall it for the moment) he won the Spanish cup.
Imagine we would buy a misfit for 20M euro… it would kill our transfer budget for years.
In fact if you look back at the articles we spend on new signings you will notice that EVERY new signing got a very warm welcome over here with us AKBs.
But at the other end of the Arsenal supporting horizon most new signings were dismissed as not good enough. Remember Vermaelen who was too short, too useless, too rubbish, too…. just fill it in. Over here we cheered him on and wished him the best.
Just check this site. You can do so by using the calender at the right hand site to see.
Someone pick Sammy’s toys up, he definitely dropped a few back there.
Kos is already a great defender. No doubt. Also remember many fans saying how good djorou was in the spring. Suddenly they changed their minds. Anyway, I liked those mertesacker stats..90% ball-winning is good. If Ramsey plays to his potential we don’t need another midfielder.
Walter,
All I’ve heard from the Arsene Knows Brigade are obstruse examples which have nothing to do with reality. And you keep changing your stance to suit the argument. All this while, it was “Wenger knows what he is doing”. Now, after the debacle he starts panic buying so you come up with “the sale of highbury flats weren’t good”. Read my last two posts and reply with facts, not conspiracy theories about the credit crunch, board not supporting Wenger with funds, etc etc.
By the way, I do commend that you welcome every signing. I do too. I also had much faith in Wenger. But for me, he is not beyond reproach. My point is that many of us could see the problem with his stubbornness – and he was being plain and simple stubborn, nothing more. Whereas you guys always come up with some stupid explanation to explain his actions and make him seem good – whilst calling every critic an “Anti Arsenal”.
My biggest grudge with Wenger is that we could’ve won the title in 2007-08 when we were 10pts clear of Man Utd in Jan, and last year when Man Utd and Chelsea were so poor. And he didn’t need to break the bank to do so as you seem to suggest. A couple of signings would’ve done it for us. But instead, Wenger just kept spending on Geriatrics or youths totally ignoring the immediate pressing needs of the squad. And now he is doing a volte-face; which, however is going to be too late too little.
The economic down turn is a conspiracy theory…..wow!
I take all transfer speculation in the press with a pinch of salt, but the bizarre thing about the Bolton/Cahill stories is why would Bolton scupper a good relationship with AFC by going public on negotiations?
Knowing full well that AW refuses to talk about prices paid for players, like, ever?
We loaned them Jack, fer chris’sakes – don’t they want first dibs on our fabulous loan pool to continue? But a few million here or there for Cahill, and they’re seemingly prepared to jeopardise it all? (And won’t we still get Cahill next year on a free in any case?)
As for Ju-Young, Per, André – bienvenue, wilkommen. (AW branching out from the traditional French hunting grounds, I see. More from the German league – Mats Hummels, perhaps? He is pretty, as well as good, and him and Miquel together could dazzle the opposing team into submission. After Sunday, any tactic is worth trying, no?)
I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THIS EVEN AT GUNPOINT: “THANKS SIR ALEX FERGUSON” FOR BLASTING OPEN THE ECHO CHAMBER THAT IS WENGER’S BRAIN. WITHIN LESS THAN 48 HOURS, WE HAVE A DEFENCE THAT IS GOOD – SAGNA, PER, VERMS, SANTOS. IT’S BEEN 6 YEARS OF YELLING FOR A GOOD DEFENCE. WE HAVE ONE IN PLACE. I FOR ONE DO NOT CARE WHAT ELSE IS DONE. WE HAVE A GOOD DEFENSE AND THAT WILL MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. WOULD BE NICE TO ICE THE CAKE WITH A GOOD DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER SINCE SONG AND FRIMPONG WILL BE AWAY IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. I ALSO LIKE THE LOOK OF CLINT DEMPSEY. I BELIEVE HE WOULD BE GREAT AS A REPLACEMENT FOR FABREGAS. CALL ME CRAZY, BUT I FEEL HE WILL STEP UP THE WAY YOUNG HAS DONE AT MANU. WENGER SHOULD ALSO BRING IN NEW BACKROOM STAFF. SEEMS AS IF OUR TRAINING IS NOT INTENSE ENOUGH (NASRI AND CLICHY) WHICH COULD EXPLAIN THE ROUTINE END OF SEASON IMPLOSION AND ENDLESS INJURIES AND RELATIVELY POOR SECOND HALF (THINK THE 4-4 DRAW AT NEWCASTLE,ETC). WE ALSO APPEAR NOT TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO TRAIN OUR PLAYER, INCLUDING VIDEO REVIEWS ( KEOWN IN YESTERDAY’S DAILY AND FABREGAS DURING THE WORLD CUP LAST YEAR). WENGER SHOULD BRING IN A NEW TRAINER, PHYSIO AND A REPLACEMENT FOR PAT RICE. I ALSO HOPE THE LIKES OF SANTOS AND MERTESACKER WILL WHISPER NEW TRAINING METHODS THAT THEY HAVE SEEN ELSEWHERE IN WENGER’S EAR.
@Sammy
we were challenging for the title until the later stages of last year. so it wasnt bceause the team werent good enough. it was a psychological collapse which you can attribute to many factors. Maybe wenger should be able to deal with the mental aspects as well, but you cant be amazing at everything!
i think the biggest flaw of wenger is keeping faith in players who let him down – cesc, nasri, hleb, adebayor, ashley cole. Just think if they were all loyal and stayed what a great team we could have been…
If you blame wenger for not buying, then you can also blame those for forcing a move away cos with those in the team, i think we wouldv have won int 07/08 and last year too!
@XX
i actually agree with you about Clint Dempsey. i have usually been impressed by him when seeing them play.
I don’t think he is the world beater we are after, although he would be a good option to have to rotate with Ramsey and Wilshere. I think dempsey would be better than Rosicky too.
However, i don’t think Fulham will sell him, i don’t think he will particularly want to leave. and i think because of these reasons, the price tag would be way too overpriced. I would value him at no more than 15m. but i think fulham will be looking for over 20m because he is one of their best players.
XX
Do you honestly believe these transfers were done in light of the weekend? These negotiations will have been on going for days, if not weeks before they were announced.
Who is to say that there is a sudden U-turn after the defeat to United? It is well-known that many deals only take place in the final days before the transfer deadline closes.
Even if Wenger would want to have signed a CB, MF and no.9 two months ago, there is no guarantee it will happen for a number of reasons. The player’s club might demand excessive transfer fees (an additional 6 million GBP for Gary Cahill just because he’s English?), the player himself might have high wage demands or realises he can earn 20k a week more somewhere else (e.g. Juan Mata and Phil Jones), or the player might simply not even considering going to Arsenal (e.g. Romelu Lukaku only wants to play alongside his idol Drogba).
For the transfer fee and wages, Arsenal is not going to just give in to any demands. First, because Arsenal does not have unlimited funds. Second, because Arsenal does not want to pay inflated prices. There is a prudent way of spending money which I completely support.
That makes it more difficult to get transfers done quickly, but Wenger said last week that it is not only up to Arsenal how quickly deals get done. The selling club might want to make sure suitable replacement is available before agreeing to the transfer. Or indeed, they might want to hold on for a few million more. And only towards the close of the transfer period, they will give in or risk missing out on 10-15 million altogether.
Yes, I would liked to have the team for this season to be ready at the start of the season, but with the transfer period lasting until 31 August, that’s highly unlikely. And it’s very short-sighted to blame Wenger for that. Like he said, the season only really starts 1 September.
With the arrival of Park and imminent/possible arrival of Mertesacker, Santos and M’Vila, will we have any problem meeting the requirements for homegrown players? Perhaps you can give us an update on that, Tony?
@ Clarkenwell Gooner: Park is Korean, so annyeong haseyo to him.
XX,
would you PLEASE PRESS THE CAPS LOCK TWICE before you start typing. One to put them on and the other one to put them back to normal.
I really do think that it is better to use normal writing and then HIGHLIGHT ONE OR TWO WORDS that you think are more important than others.
Maybe we even could have a conversation then.
@kentetsu
I was thinking about that too. not so much homegrown, but i remember there were/are rules about non-EU players in the squad.
with Song, Santos, Park, Miyaichi, Chamahk?, Gervinho? i am not sure if some have dual nationalities which would help?
Oh and with this transfer sum of 10M we pay Werder Bremen Mertesacker finds himself at place 4 of the highest sums paid for an outgoing player in Germany. He is behind Diego, Ozil and Klose.
Obviously the Germans have not gone mad in the transfer market and are behaving in a very responsible way when it comes to prices.
Find it strange to think that people think the manu loss is the MAIN reason for these tranfers happening. Wenger stated BEFORE the loss he wanted to buy 3 players. Also I don’t think it’s like: – “hey, guys, we just lost 8-2 – SO, get on the phone NOW and buy that brazilian guy, and that german and that south korean at monaco, NOW!” and voila: it happens just like that…If it’s that easy to complete a tranfer…it’s like playing championshipmanager.
In fact there have been talks between Wenger-Allofs and Mertesacker in 2010. But he then had a longer contract and Werder Bremen asked a lot of money.
But now with only one year on his contract the situation was different.
Oh and yes Mertesacker has declared in the past that he very much likes Arsenal as a team and club.
Labeling and name calling solves no issues but only serves to aggravate tempers till things boil over. AW made mistakes and will continue to make mistakes, he is no angel. We all do and this is no time to keep looking back and start using those mistakes as a cudgel to distort the level of his performance.
You don’t get to be named the coach of the decade by (FIFA I believe) with the likes of SAF and ‘the special one’ as also rans without being ‘damn bloody good’. Give the man a break and let him continue with his work. So he is ‘panic buying’, ‘no he is not’ what does it matter? Will we achieve the desired results? That is what matters. Per could not be a panic purchase because he had been on the radar for nearly 2 seasons now.
AW hardly lets on about his transfer targets and this season is no different; so if some of us know his targets and claim that he is now ‘panic’ buying because he missed out his targets or has been so ‘stubborn’ and would refuse to buy until forced to do so, can we let be? It does not matter. We won the last trophy in 2006; we missed out in 2007/08, 2008/09… will all pale into insignificance when AFC finally hits its strides.
Patience is a virtue that is very hard to cultivate but easy to preach. It is even more difficult when you are in the age of ‘Football Manager’ players who you buy and sell football players like you buy and sell candy without the attendant fall out that goes with such insane deals in real life.
Many a commentator would know a better way to do the deal than AW but do they even know where the footballers’ dressing room is? No. Have they played competitive soccer before? Maybe. Which international soccer clubs have they ever managed in their lives? None. These people are every where and ‘know better’ than the man who earns a living doing exactly what they imagine they can do but cannot.
It’s strange how, with twenty people working day and night to bring in players, we weren’t able to sign anyone in July and most of August, but have signed 3 players in three days since we lost 8-2 to Man Utd.
Especially strange considering how difficult signing players is, non?
I think the recent acquisitions look very promising – but the overall impression of the summer’s activities isn’t particularly positive.
If Traore was definitely considered surplus to requirements, why was he our only recognised back-up at left back at the start of the season (with the first choice being young and injury-prone)?
If Squillaci is no longer a viable first-team option, then why wait until now to bring in another centre-back?
Obviously deals can take time, negotiations aren’t necessarily simple etc, but the speed with which the Santos/Mertesacker transfers appear to have gone through shows what is possible – just a shame these deals weren’t completed a month ago.
Hopefully they’ll join the long list of successful Wenger transfers, and our defence can regain the solidity it’s been lacking.
I think the talks with players like Mertesacker were going on before the weekend. If you read the German press you can see that they asked about him going to Arsenal during the weekend. And he gave what one could say a non-answer. Saying something and saying nothing at the same time. Not denying it but certainly not admitting it as if he knew it would be bad received at Arsenal if the news broke too soon.
I do think the only thing that made things look fast is the fact that the transfer deadline is approaching.
And also about Mertesacker one must remember that he was injured for a while at the end of last season. So I think it was fair from Arsenal to first see if he was back to normal. And apparently he was back to his best after playing some games for Werder.
On his Twitter Denilson wishes Andre Santos all the best at Arsenal and hope he help us out of this bad moments.
And about the people who say that it needed a big defeat to wake Arsenal and Wenger up I would just say that if the press in Germany can be believed so take it with a pinch of salt.
But according to German media Arsenal has offered 40M euro WEEKS AGO to Dortmund to buy Mario Gotze. But as the player didn’t want to leave Dortmund yet they refused the offer.
So just like you it is just guessing but if this is correct it is clear that there have been made big offers to other clubs before this weekend.
40M… madness…
Well-endowed Gooner – Very interesting point you make. Can you kindly provide the names of the 20 people working to bring in players? I would also be interested if you could tell me what hours they are working through the night and also how you have access to information on their working hours.
@David
Are you questioning that there are 20 people working on transfers?
From Arsène on Sunday:
‘We have the money if we can find players who can strengthen our team but I am not the only one working on that at Arsenal. We have 20 people working on that…’
If you’re really interested in their names (rather than just trying and failing to make a cheap point), then I’m concerned for you…
It is now official at http://www.Arsenal.com
Well done Walter. 🙂
BobbyP, I recall Arsene saying that in the aftermath of the Old Trafford debacle. I do not recall anything about “working day and night” and suggest this is part of the exaggerated guesswork that is frequently used by those seeking to attack Wenger.
It is blatantly obvious that with the deadline approaching – and gone by now – that all of a sudden a lot of transfers happen. Arsenal was definitely not the only club in this. Wondering why? Consider this: have you as a student ever finished writing a report as soon as it was assigned or did you leave it until the very last moment before you had to submit it? If you finished right away, plaudits to you, but you are by far in the minority.