july 12th
On July 7th I told you how Real Madrid were talking about Patrick Vieira again. The elections to sort out who will be president of the club are ongoing/upcoming and all the candidates are talking the talk. It looks like the current president, Florentino Perez, has retained his position, gaining 91% of the vote.
This morning all the papers and news wires are reporting Perez’s intention to sign the best players in the world for every position, and according to Perez “Patrick Vieira is, in my opinion, the best in the world in his position.”
Well, duh. That policy doesn’t quite explain the Raul Bravos of this Madrid team though, does it? Real’s policy of buying a superstar attacking player each summer, doing deals with sponsors which require these players to play even if it’s not in the best interests of the player or the team and ignoring the basic need for a defence really paid off last season as they buckled and crashed from from a winning 1st to a Liverpoolesque 4th place in the league. Madrid’s debts have increased under Perez too, their deficit was reported to be more than €300m in one of the Sunday papers yesterday. However, he has provided them with Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo and Beckham, so the Madrid fans can put some measure of trust in him.
Anyway, there’s nothing new in any of the Spanish papers about this story, it’s all taken from the quotes last week. Should we worry? I don’t think so. The Presidential candidates were talking about bringing in Rooney, Jesus, Major Tom and Billy Whizz, so adding Vieira to the list is nothing to rattle the bones. Plus the ‘Vieira to Madrid’ thing is pretty much an annual event now. Try something new, Merengues. Arseblog verdict: ZZzzzz.
According to the Mirror, Sol Campbell will sign a new Arsenal deal before the start of the new season, accepting a £50,000 pay cut along the way. When Sol signed from Spurs he came on a Bosman and therefore got a big signing on fee paid over the duration of his existing contract. His wages will now fall into line with the other top earners at the club like Vieira and Henry.
