By Walter Broeckx
Well the silence from Arsenal is deafening and that is usually a great sign.
But on the internet and in the English papers, the rumours are spreading like mad that Nuri Sahin will join Arsenal on a one season loan spell from Real Madrid. If those rumours are to be believed he should be announced any day now.
So what do we know about this Turkish-German player?
He was born in Lüdenscheid (Germany) on 05 September 1988 and is 23 years old. He is 1m79 (or 5ft10in) and plays in midfield and is a left footed player.
So what could we find about him? Is there a better place to search than with people who have seen him play at Dortmund?
He became a first team player at Borrusia Dortmund at a very young age and is still the youngest goal scorer in the Bundesliga. Nothing seemed to stop his march to glory. He made his first appearance for the Turkish national team but then he suddenly had a bad spell. Dortmund sensed he needed a break and send him to Feyenoord Rotterdam. He won the KNVB Cup with Feyenoord that season. In those years Wenger named him one of the best talents in the football world.
He then came back to Dortmund and became one of the central players of the young team under manager Klopp, a team built with lots of own youth players that won the Bundesliga in 2011. Real Madrid came along and off to Madrid he went. He won the league with Real Madrid but only played a handful of games so he will not have been that happy in Madrid.
How do they describe his playing style? He likes to play in a central role and is not afraid of going in the challenge. He has a great long ball and has an eye for an opening before anyone sees it. Some could say a bit like Cesc. (Is that putting pressure on him?)
His education in Germany also has resulted in him adapting the German way of life and playing football. He always is hard working, in training or in a game, he always gives himself 200% one could say. He likes to float around midfield, but most of the time plays a central part and he can defend rather strong. He is called a real fighter on the field.
I think Podolski will know him from the Bundesliga and an incident between them in a game between Cologne and Dortmund where they stood nose to nose. A bit like Vermaelen and Van Persie once in the Ajax tournament.
He could become one of those typical Wenger buys. Didn’t make it at a the “big team” and then coming to Arsenal to give a fresh start on his career. We all know Wenger has a hand in turning such players in to real big players.
The talent is there, if he gets match fitness and sharpness he could become a big player for Arsenal this season. And who knows maybe for years to come if the loan can become a permanent deal.
A couple of additional bits from Tony
I would urge everyone not to be put off by the fact that Real Madrid are willing to let him go. In 2010/11 Kicker magazine and the German players’ union both made him player of the year. Real Madrid constantly do what Man City have done – overload their playing staff to cover every eventuality – something that FFP is due to try and stop. But it can mean that some highly talented players simply don’t get a game.
If this deal goes through as we expect, Arsenal will now have only about 3 players left who were regulars in the team two years ago. What we are witnessing is a total revolution both in the playing staff and the style of game. A revolution similar to the one Wenger introduced when he first came to the club.
Ordinary is Pointless
Darren Dein no longer has influenceover players at ArsenalRef Reviews: something very strange going on with Mr Taylor
The scandal of EPL match scheduling
The day that Arsenal as a north London club, began playing
Hope we get him but reports to day indicate that the deal has hit a snag. I can understand the manager not wanting to take the player on loan without a buyout option. Imagine if we dont do that and he has a storming loan tearm! Every millionere’s toy team will be after him and we would be blown out of tha water. That is if RM would even consider selling the player at that stage.
The deal hasn’t hit a snag. Arsenal and Real have been negotiating over the to-buy clause for at least a month.
“Well the silence from Arsenal is deafening and that is usually a great sign.”
No it’s not.
Though there’s no snag based on an “option to buy clause” … that’s been there from the start.
This is Mourinho dragging things out. Or AFC being bean-counters. Or Wenger looking at other deals. Or Wenger saying “we have a massive squad already” at every opportunity.
Who knows?
The point is few people do …
It could drag on until August 31st … So, for heaven’s sake stop feeding the over-impressionable fallacies until you have something concrete.
what now arsenal need is a permanent player for the club not a temporal one, so wenger should open his mind to buy mvila instead of gambling with sahin
A great player with a magical tough on the ball if we add him on the already most sofiscated midfield, arsenal are going to be a threat to any team. but we also need m’villa
Really informative article, thanks for all the background.
Sounds like it could be a huge coup for AW along the lines of a good player potentially being turned into a great one.
The fact the guy has stalled on Liverpool is extremely telling; fingers crossed. As you say, what an awesome midfield he could be joining. In some ways, just the sort of player Manure SHOULD be investing in …
From what little I’ve seen, I’d say Riquelme is a good comparison for Sahin, rather than Fabregas. His close control is better and I think he’d go for the long pass more often than Fabregas. IMO an ideal replacement for Song, especially given that he’s defensively responsible. A central three of Arteta, Sahin and Cazorla is a wonderful prospect, but we just have to hope that the club can pull off a transfer of some sort. Even if it’s just a loan, he could massively improve our season and it wouldn’t prevent us from signing him next year.
It may well be that part of the revolution is the upgrading of the quality of teams that will play in the domestic cup competitions. The higher profile u21 games plus the NextGen series will be more than enough to keep many youngsters happy and the continuing use of loan-outs will mean that domestic cups may be given a higher priority – given, of course, who we are drawn against.
I’m not so sure that we aren’t beginning to see the influence of Kroenke working it’s way through.
Since we have the money now, it would be good for us as Arsenal fans to see Arsene Wenger make or buy a top striker to help the team in the front.
If he can be mentioned in the same breath as Riquelme and Cesc, what them are we waiting for. Lets go get him now.
Revolution or is it desperation??
This current change isn’t by any clever design by Wenger, it’s been forced because of rats deserting a sinking ship, and the whole situation is quite depressing!
Please also get your facts right –
When Wenger arrived he had a side that was already top 5, all he had to do was add a coouple of attacking options and they were winners!
The current squad now has no obvious finisher, is lacking in thought and limited in options, at least options of any class that is! Wenger still tries to use the same old lines about having so much possession, but as been proven so many times over so many years now, all the possession in the world wins nothing, it is ultimately a result of simply scoring more goals than you concede in a match. We fail so m any rimes against so called lesser teams because Wenger has no alternative tactical sense, therefore when a team defends in depth he doesn’t have the tactical awareness of what to do to break them down. last weeks match against Sunderland was a typical case, even Wenger himself said “We knew that Sunderland would defend deep” well if he knew that why only play a single striker rather than go 4-4-2 and put pressure on the centrebacks rather than leaving one striker to be marked easily, and even when he did change things he took off onee striker and brought another on to continue with exactly the same tactics? Even the most basic coaching practices and common sense tells you to change things if nothing has worked for over an hour of a game!
I no longer have a belief in a man who has lost so many world class players, and who allows our top striker and only world clas player to go to Man Utd, sell him yes but to help Man U is nothing short of criminal!!
Wow Mike – you should really purt this in an email and send it to Arsenal – I reckon with the benifit of your clear insight they would sack Wenger and put you in charge of the team!
I think Arsenal needs a strong tough lad such as fellani
Nuri Sahin is a good addition too
Arsenal need Fellani,Fernando Llorente,and maybe a defender
OK Tom, you can’t but I just did.
Wenger is assembling two mid fields of outstanding skill, some of whom can play as wingers, all of whom can defend also. We may never see a pure dm. We may not need one.
Dogface,
Don’t be mean to Mike, he has all the insight needed to manage a solid midtable side, a league two midtable side but hey…
Mike,
Are you Alan ‘Clueless’ Hansen in disguise?
Leo,
You perhaps haven’t seen Giroud?
Typical but sensible business acumen if Arsenal are seeking the insertion of an “option to buy” clause in Sahin’s loan agreement.
Not sure how this works though.
Does it mean a fee is agreed NOW if we want to buy next summer?
Otherwise, what security or advantage do we have over other prospective buyers next year?
“Real Madrid constantly do what Man City have done – overload their playing staff to cover every eventuality – something that FFP is due to try and stop. But it can mean that some highly talented players simply don’t get a game.”
Walter,
You couldn’t, possibly, wouldn’t mean to say, like, er, well, the player named Alex Song? Nah, couldn’t be. (Between the lines even?)
Sahin certainly sounds a great addition to the squad (fingers crossed)…
From the little i’ve seen of him, he seems to have a great range of passing, with some beautifully flighted defence splitting long balls to the feet of team mates.
Just the thing for turning defence into attack with one surgical pass.
Food and drink for Lukasz Podolski maybe?
I like the idea of an Arteta-Sahin-Cazorla midfield quite a bit, but it makes me wonder — what would we do when Jack returns?
As a result, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if we took Sahin for just a loan spell, without exercising an option to buy. From a business perspective, it’s not great to increase a player’s value and then return him to Madrid, but even with squad rotation we’d be hard-pressed to give everyone their games.
@Mike
Listen mate, if you hate the manager and clearly don’t think much of the team I need to know.. are you just “supporting” Arsenal because you like the colour of our kit or something?
The man has kept us in the top spots throughout his tenure at the club and (especially considering the financial restrictions) is second to none… NONE. No, not Fergie.. NONE.
Tony you need to set up some sort of anti-wenger filter on these things.. 😛 COYG
James N – we do take out some of the more extreme and insulting posts, but I am often quite amused by the negative posts. Generally they seem to work on the basis that whether Arsenal win the league or not is totally down to Arsenal, ignoring the fact that in recent years we have developed a couple of clubs in England who can and will go out and buy anyone either to
a) improve their side
b) disrupt rivals
There is no way that Arsenal can compete with the money that Chelsea and Man C have, and yet these posts tend to ignore that point, and it does give me a little chuckle. Allow an old man his fun.
I was actually thinking about option B the other day.
Eric cantona, paul ince, roy keane, andy cole, dwight yorke, teddy sheringham, rio, saha, rooney, carrick, berbatov, tevez and robin van payslip.
He’s a nightmare the Fergie.
mike gud one. i think wenger made a fatal mistake wen he sold alex song, look 2 the manchester clubs, chelsea,madrid n barcelona, they have contunuity in midfield,xavi n iniesta whr there 4 years busquets came in n learnt frm them, same with paul scholes n giggs that hav bin with united 4 over a decade. so who wud tutor sahin n m;villa if they eventually arrive. thats probably the reason 4 our trophylessness.
Mike,
Arsenal final league tables
1993 – 10th
1994 – 4th
1995 – 12th
1996 – 5th
Yeah very solid top 5 finishes before Wenger came indeed…specially in 93 and 95 ….sigh
D guy was right abt changin to 4-4-2 instead of continuin wit a lone striker, giroud has positionin but lacks accuracy, opposite 2 podolski, we dont nid sluggishness (diaby) but movement nd passes in our midfield, we nid mvilla, a striker, obviously sahin nd we nid 2 accept milan’s deal
@ mike…
How long have you been an arsenal supporter? my guess is since ’96…
Arsene wenger should look strong and tough tacler difensive midifielder like Cheikh Tiotè,Fellain and M’villa what i think Nuri sahin is a attacking midifielder and nt dm
It’s insane when people try to minimize the positive effect AW has had on Arsenal.
No man is bigger than the club, but it’s worrying to think what will happen if he decides to leave/retire.
We may have become a player trading club, but that’s the only way to compete with billionaire owners.
I hope you are right Walter and he is coming to the club. Im liking the way our squad is shaping up. Perhaps its only me but I saw a lot of potential on Saturday. No, not the best performance but not that bad.
Paul,
Are you Mike in disguise or have neither of you even watched football before? Repeating what you heard on MOTD is never a good idea on this blog.
May I reccomend Michael Cox’s excellent Zonal Marking for the neutral and Arsenal Column for Arsenal in particular.
Sahin is a very good player and in my opinion, the perfect song replacement. People saying we need another striker, do we? I think the illusion of RVP leaving after we signed two strikers have confused people. If we sold RVP at the start of the window and we just sign podolski and giroud, would we still be contemplating more goalscorers? Also the deal with M’Vila, has anyone actually seen him who keeps calling him “DM” a tough tackler and a man to stand in front of the back 4 for 90mins like Obi Mikel, because he’s not. He’ll get up and down and not to the level which everyone who hasn’t seen him seems to think. Just because we’re linked with a player, doesn’t mean they’re the new Brady.
Why dont we just stop effing about and just buy sahin??
Mike, what makes RvP world class? He’s had one good season and won nothing of note. In terms of world class players, we’ve had Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira. Possibly Cesc too. World class is a term that’s thrown about far too readily with little substance to back it up.
I for one can’t wait to see all these new recruits gel on the pitch and make us a better, stronger team with better togetherness.
The only reason why people are saying there’s a “snag” in the deal is because they expected it to be finalized today and it wasnt.
bc,
No deal is straightforward. Do you want a loan or a buy or a loan with an option to buy at any price or at an affordable price or what? All of these have implications that matter and if it were your team and your money you want want someone to do this carefully, not throw a tantrum and slate people for “effing about.” Do you think AW/AFC wants this to take so long when there is a need to get ourselves trained and together as the next match rushes in? C’mon, have some unity of purpose, mate.
nabby,
Arsene himself just recently used the term “world class” to describe RVP. He should know, n’est-ce pas?
@Paul — “…giroud has positionin but lacks accuracy, opposite 2 podolski…”
One single game tells you all that about our new players ?
People like Mike make me laugh so much. I wonder why they are not football managers.
Mike i can assure u that by mid-season u will regain your confidence and belief in arsene.dis guy would do wonders with d new crop of players we have.am sorry to say u will be eating u words soon.in arsene we trust.
It would not be in RM’s best interest to give Arsenal a buyout clause and it would not be worthwhile for Arsenal to loan Sahin without one. I see it as a snag that can’t be resolved unless Sahin himself begs RM to let him go. Because RM is the club that must give in to demands if Sahin is to play for Arsenal. I’m guessing Sahin really wants to play for Arsenal otherwise RM could have shipped him off to some other club willing to take him on loan without any buyout clause. I hope Arsenal are looking at other alternatives aswell. I think Arsenal can use another quality midfielder to boost the morale.
@ Robbie, what’s the problem with a 1 year loan? It takes the pressure off of Wilshire and means he can take it easy coming back. Also it doesn’t shut the door on Eisfeld, the Ox, and Chuks.
I know there’s the argument that we give him game time and RM benefit, but so what – if it helps us for a year and allows us to bring back/bring on other players for the long term benefit of Arsenal.
@RobL, You make a good point. But I hope Arsenal want to stop the flow of players comming and going. I think we all had enough of that. But on the other hand, a buyout clause won’t do us any good if Sahin has a good season. He would grow a vagina and sign for ManUre.
I think the revolution is needed at Arsenal and I am happy that it is in full swing. The players we had certainly dive have all the talent necessary, but IMHO they lacked the character to win games when it really mattered on a consistent basis. Too many times I have seen less than 100% effort and concentration.
With the new players swamping the team, I am very hopeful that the mentality of the team will improve and we will become a much more difficult opponent in the really big games.
Sahin is an excellent player – and there is always that chance that he will sign permanently at the end of the year if he has a great time at our club!
I would beg to differ but I agree too much with the spirit of your last statement!
Rumours are that there’s a buyout clause of €25 million, of which Arsenal will have paid €2.6 million as a loan fee. The delay has been the haggling over the value of the buyout clause, with Real Madrid naturally wanting to get more than Arsenal wanted to spend. By all accounts the deal just needs to be given final approval by the player himself and it’s done. Song’s quick sale will have helped to get this resolved.
I don’t care if he gets a wc kid from the Mongolian grasslandsand help to get the gunners on the winning trail.
Winning is the name of the game.
People talk about ambition .. spending what we make on player sales is no sign of ambition, however, with the purchases we have already made, if we can secure Sahin then you could say there is a revolution taking place at Arsenal !!
I think we have bought the right type of players, players that can take the step forward to the next level, in successful Arsenal teams that have past these are the type of players we bought before – players with obvious talent who have demonstrated it. Giroud possibly hasn’t but I don’t doubt he will be a success !!
Mike: indeed you do know how to manage a team
Of high paid professionals with their own egos and all the other behind the scenes stuff at a big EPL club, to have beaten Sunderland.
Speak up man!
He’s a Real Madrid flop!
calm down…im sure sahin negotiations was linked with RM getting modric….but both deals seems to be conclude at this time….furthermore…it has to be said Song was the player who had improved most the last couple of years together with Jack..im sad to see him go…great player..every Gooner has to admit that last summer was a disaster…somewhat better this summer…still letting *** go to manure was a blow…and not very clever in any way…we should have taken less money and shipped him off to Juve much earlier…imo it was a terrible decission to make the most money of him…
are we a selling club..Yes of course we are..there is no denying that fact…then again we have been for a very long time..
ffp…dont get your hopes up…capitalism always seem to find a way…and trusting Mr Platini…well…thats far fetched..just look at Paris St.Germain..
S’land game was awful in that regard that it showed us making no progress playing teams who are out to park the bus,Wenger should have learned by now…
Still we all have opinions…but the season is here..time to man up and stand behind Our Beloved Arsenal…lets be a rock…we are The Gunners…
With all respect for Nuri Sahin but Arsenal are a big club and should not take a player on LOAN. Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in Europe ?? BUY HIM if he is good enough and nothing else !
Great article Walter, I think we may even be in for another striker. Anyone else see the Mirallas articles on how he snubbed arsenal due to playing time? Seeing as that bid caved, arsene could be looking for another instead of him. Or maybe it was just that particular player he wanted? I can see arsene signing another one or two players but another striker would be a little surprising, but welcome. Regardless, I’m very excited for the season ahead and so looking forward to seeing jackie back donning the number 10 and linking up with ramsey (I really feel jack brings the best out of him). Not to mention watching the ox carve up the opposition, he truly is a fantastic player and I pray he gets bit by the arsenal bug and loves this club as much as we’ll love watching him. Plus having arteta and cazorla around will only help them learn, taking a little pressure off their shoulders and also giving them some top class role models. I’m also so happy to see diaby back, and fingers crossed he stays fit, such a good player and it really breaks my heart to see him out injured all the time. If he stays fit I’m convinced that, with a month or two to regain confidence, he’ll really show what he’s worth. Rosicky’s regained form can’t be ignored and having someone with experience and the loyalty and drive to fight for the red and white will be great for us and the players around him. I can’t wait to watch the pace of gervinho and theo as cazorla picks them out again and again, laying out pass after pass. Poldi and giroud lurking in the center, slowly moving into position before they’re let loose by a quick passing flow. Suffice to say we have an amazing squad full of fresh faces who are hungry to win and a core of players who genuinely want to be at the club. Bring on the season, sunday can’t come soon enough
@LRV: “People like Mike make me laugh so much. I wonder why they are not football managers” – I bet they ARE LRV, and I guess they are pretty good ones, in Fifa Manager or any similar simulation worlds. Well, if a normal guy like me could manage Arsenal to 8 straight invincible seasons, won about 50 trophies and every game 8-0 or so, people like Mike can easily believe that they are way better than that old fool Arsene Wenger, you know 😉
@Hans: Well, things are not that easy and that simple, you know. Arsene Wenger said that players (especially world class players) are not like goods in super market that you could go and buy whichever you want. You can not buy a player if he doesn’t want to join you. You can not buy a player if his club is not willing to sell him (unless you are Man $hitty, of course). And loaning a player to see what he can really do for us before signing him permanently is never a bad thing.
Once again, this is real life, not Fifa Manager world.
Some people forget we had Benayoun on loan and that was a great bit of business !! He gave us attacking intent with great work ethic and never let us down when he played .. unlike ‘some’.
Sad to see him go. The point being, there is NOTHING wrong with loaning players.
@Iniez – with all due respect there is not much I agree with n your post !! You seem to be suffering from what too many Arsenal fans suffer from, you need to take off your “Arsenal Coloured Glasses”, everything is NOT what you think it is.
You are excited about seeing Wilshere linking up with Ramsey ? When was this ? The 2 have hardly played together, at most a handful of games toward the end of the 2010/2011 season.
Diaby has NEVER lived up to his ‘potential’, I used to say the EXACT same thing you are saying about him, but for someone who beats players so easily he has no end product, he flatters to deceive. So even if he does remain fit he isn’t going to provide goals and he isn’t good enough defensively.
You go on to talk about the pace of Gervinho and Walcott. Gervinho’s end product is awful and Walcott is useless as a winger which makes them both infuriatingly inconsistent. I would like to see Walcott play as an inside forward (which I think is his best position) or striker because he has goals in him.
What is clear is If Wenger persists with putting square pegs in round holes we will NOT get the best out of these players and the formation and tactics he employs DOES NOT suit the personnel !! We need to adapt things for opponents rather than one formation/tactic for all.
James N says (in reference to Mike’s comments):
“Tony you need to set up some sort of anti-wenger filter on these things.”
Big Al says: Mike is entitled to his opinions, you are entitled to yours. Difference of opinion is perfectly OK.
Censorship? No!
Hothead,
Looks like someone put a square peg in your round hole 😉
@ iniez – haha, I thought the same thing!
@Iniez & Goona Gal – why is that ?? Because I EXPECT better than mediocrity ? Because I am not happy that the club have continually eroded the quality in the squad to make money ? Because I think the club penny pinch and waste time when it comes to transfers ?
Opinions that suggest we are better than we are and fail to look at the facts are opinions that allow the club to make fools out of the fans. You can keep your Arsenal coloured glasses, I prefer to live in the real world !!
Hothead,
What about opinions that make the club seem worse off than it is and are stated as facts? Worry not you don’t need the club to make you look like a fool. Enjoy shitting cubes
Yeah, what iniez said haha!!!
Real Madrid have for sometime now been a problem club for us to do business with. More recently the megalomaniac Maureen-o has been our achilles heel. Madrid have loaned out and sold many players with much less fuss, which had no issue and no public statement from the insecure one. Maureen knew what he was doing when he started talking about Arsenal’s interest in Sahin. He wanted our deal to fall through because he hates to see us succeed.
Also by his own admission, Sahin isn’t a player he cares too much for, If I were a player benched and had a manager that was so publicly indifferent, I would want to move on if a great opportunity arose. Maureen’s skills are motivational not all round management which would include development. I would rather not take Sahin on loan without the option to buy, why help Maureen out? Sahin isn’t considered a star in Spain, he isn’t intergral to RM and he needs games.
Despite Liverpool’s attempt to hijack this deal, Sahin would love to play for Arsenal. This deal is far from being concluded though – it might not even happen. I don’t understand where Sahin’s quoted wages of £120k came from though, nor the idea that he was being unveiled at Arsenal today either, unless all Turks look the same? Maybe the mis-reporting arose because Sahin’s agent was floating around London on Monday trying to plot his client’s route to freedom and Arsenal the promised land. I can see Sahin staying put at Real Madrid and getting games now we have registered interest.
I am sure there is a player plan b,c & d out there.
Anyhoo, if Sahin comes I think our midfield will be even more competitive than it is now, which will be exciting to watch.
Also I’ve just seen something on the beeb about Eduardo, which to me is him talking out of turn. I wonder if Arsenal ex-players go to some coaching school to learn how to speak about the club the way they do. Either that or all our ex-players are expert coaches and managers who understand how to run a club. I have got a lot of time for Dudu but I am a bit suprised by him.
Goona Gal,
I don’t think mourinho really cares whether sahin goes anywhere or not, but if he was to go somehwere, he would want to get something for it, ie, a decent transfer fee, which leads me to believe that he’s in no rush to give him away. I think the way he see’s it, if a club wants him enough they’ll stump up, but sahin seems to favour a move to us (according to reports/rumours) which could also be complicating things.
Plus, it seems like arsene is trying to get an option to buy at the end of the loan or at least the first option to sign. I’m not sure how either of those work, but they seem like a sneaky way of stealing a player. For whatever reason, if sahin ends up being put up for a transfer, mourinho loses out on a potential bidding war and getting more money (considering sahin has a good season and attracts interest.
But this is all conjecture, he could end up going to FC BATE for all I know. I haven’t even seen him play at all to be honest, I won’t get myself all excited for a player that might not end up coming. But if reports are true that arsene wants the option of bagging him at the end of the season it makes me think he could be a keeper
what about this summer’s…
Sorry – you are not allowed to copy/paste from other blogs.
iniez – Maureen does’nt care about the financial welbeing of Real Madrid. Sahin initiated the request for a loan, Maureen isn’t the one concerned about the player, playing or not. Now he’s saying he wants Sahin to go to the prem for experience, which is rubbish as it’s different to la liga. The German league is more robust than the Spanish one and therefore more like the EPL. Surely experience in La Liga would be better for the players adaptation if Maureen wanted to keep him.
A option to by a player at the end of loan period isn’t sneaky at all, neither is it uncommon with player loans. We aren’t asking for a sale clause of 50p at the end of the loan either. A sale price of more or less what they paid is fair.
****Off topic- please nobody gloat about the Reading Vs Chelsea match, it’s only half time. I hope Reading can hold on though.
Goona Gal
I’m aware that sahin wanted the loan, I recall mourinho leaving it in his hands and sounding very indifferent about it, something along the lines of “if he stays, no problem, one more solution”. Doesn’t sound too encouraging for the player. As for getting a price, you could be right but knowing mourinho and his vanity issues, I think it feels good on his part to take a little something away from another team, no matter how insignificant. Also, re option to buy/first option to buy, lol I’m sure it wouldn’t be something like a packet of crisps but I must admit it does confuse me a little (and I may have jumped the gun a bit with the comment on a bidding war). Is it basically going through the motions of an actual transfer; setting the transfer fee, add-ons, etc, but deciding at the end of the season if the club will keep him or not? Can madrid turn around and say no we don’t want to sell him? If this is the case then surely this would be a big sticking point over whether or not he will go to a club
Though it is strange that a player would arrive at madrid, play for a year, and then ask for a loan. I can understand going out to get playing time but you would think a player moving to madrid would want to try to establish himself for more than a year
Will be another nice review for our reviewing team Goona Gal…. sigh… 99% correct you said Mike Riley?
@ iniez – The public Sahin transfer is the insecure one, getting the media high hit he needs after his statement about returning to the Premiership did’nt garner the kind of press attention he had hoped for. Maybe Sahin realised that RM was’nt the great career move he thought it would be after a year on the periphery and/or he was told by Maureen that for a second year running, he did not really feature in his plans. This whole thing should of been greenlit and over with two weeks ago.
RE: Chelsea Vs Reading – Brian Reade should of been more defensively minded second half and not great subs choices either.
@ Walter – The prem is more farcical each year, if this is how bad it is so early on, I hate to think what it will be like by May. Money & power corrupts, football isn’t exempt.
@Goona Gal but it will even out for reading….when they play us. It always does even out for teams when they play us
@ Mahdain – Then this season we are going to get shafted big time.
This whole waiting for the Sahin deal to be announced is certainly not good for the blood pressure. Hope Arsenal management can take the health of their supporters into consideration and give us more insight to what is happening.
@Remal:
So – which other site did you copy/paste that off?
[SIGH]
Good spot that Red-Man… instant ban I’m afraid for Remal.
I’ll comment when it is done and dusted … I made that mistake before!
Call me cynical or what but I never believe mourinho will ever help Arsenal. He like fergus would rather do a bad deal than see us gain, eg, heinze was sold to Madrid for less when his preferred destination was Liverpool.
Time for Arsenal fans who care about their club to do something about it. If Arsenal do not provide adequate replacements for Song .. considering we are also relying on a injury prone Diaby AND a long term absentee Wilshere .. we need to let the club know that we are not putting up with this nonsense anymore.
My season ticket cost £1300 and I want to see the money invested in the team, not some charlatan’s pocket !
Cool down, HotHead;) Diaby looked fine to me in the Sunderland game. RvP was said to be injury-prone too, and he suddenly had an injury-free season. Hope Diaby can achieve the same.
The difference is RVP even when injury prone looked great and you could see he was a top player. Diaby flatters to deceive and has no end product, he doesn’t even come close to RVP when it comes to ability.
Diaby will soon be out injured and to put our trust or hopes on Diaby coming good and staying fit is poor management from Wenger. We need to replace Song. Nobody knows when Wilshere will be back either .. don’t forget, Wilshere’s original injury during pre season last season was only “inflammation” and Arsenal medical staff predicted “a week’s absence” !!!
@hothead: If you feel so strongly about it please write to the Arsenal board and show your displeasure there. Maybe demand a refund too. If you go to games you can stand there and try and convince everyone to shout about all this during game time. If no one shouts you can shout alone. Maybe hold a banner up. That apart I am not sure how you can ‘not put up with this nonsense anymore’
I think our squad is just fine actually; if all our midfield gets fit over time. Sure more backup is always nice..but its not an absolute requirement to be frank.
@ Arvind – leave him be, he’s just after a bit of attention, he know’s this site is supportive and so he’s just trying to infect the place with his negativity. I suppose having a pop at Arsenal on the internet is probably one of the least worrying things he could be doing with his time.
@Arvind – you are right my options are limited. Not putting up with the nonsense any longer means I am not going to accept the rubbish that comes from the club, the drivel, the half truths, I won’t make excuses for them anymore. Its no coincidence that we are able to buy the players we want with few complications but the ones we “supposedly” want always end up in drama !!
Any “fan” willing to accept what we are being sold is not a fan in my view. Support the team by all means but don’t accept the mediocrity we have become.
@ Goona Gal – I see debate is beyond you .. or is it I have to have the same views as you to be able to participate ?? Point me to the section that says “this site is supportive” or words to that effect and I shall stop posting here, simple. You should learn to think for yourself !
@ thehothead, nah no you’ll get no debate from me. You come a cross as an infatile drama queen.
@Goona Gal – like I said I see debate is beyond you and you proved it perfectly. Debate or keep quiet. Me infantile ?? You are the one name calling !
Tony,
Could we have a thread where all the deleted posts get put. Just so we can have a laugh when we need to
@ Hothead – fair enough, I don’t think I can debate with a mind like yours so..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY0jeTTfSns
*on another point, I would like to correct my 10:04pm post, I was referring to Brian McDermott, not Brian Reade.
I’d like to hear what you think about what Wenger said about already having enough options in midfield and concentrating on getting our injured players back:
Wilshere, Rosicky, Oxo, Ramsey, Cazorla, Arteta, Diaby.
Now we lost out on Sahin we are effectively relying on a Diaby who is totally injury prone, a Wilshere who was originally only supposed to be out for 1 week – not over 1 year, a Rosicky who we “hope” is past his injury woes but we don’t honestly know and a Ramsey who – to be honest – hasn’t offered us much in his recent appearances.
I have complete faith in Arteta, Cazorla and Oxo, but thats 3 midfielders I think you can rely on, what happens if any of them get injured ? We can’t expect Cazorla to handle the rigors of an entire English season either. Coquelin can certainly do a job but is he ready yet ? Filling in as a FB is one thing, being asked to run the midfield is another.
If Wenger does not bring in re-inforcements I dread to think what will happen. We have money in the bank so lets spend it. The thing is .. nobody can complain if the club are being seen to do the right thing, the logical thing. But penny pinching when we have money in the bank is absurd.
For the record I just saw at the top of the page in the “Untold Arsenal” title, it does actually say:
“Football from an Arsenal perspective – supporting the Lord Wenger”, so in light of this I shall respect this.
Am I allowed to complain about the club though ?