august 5th
Vieira: “You never sign world-class players.”
Wenger: “You weren’t world class when Arsenal signed you.”
An alleged exchange between the captain and the manager, according to The Sun. Not sure I really believe it, to be honest. After all, we just went through the whole of last season in the league unbeaten without signing a ‘world class’ player. If Vieira has ambitions of winning the Champions League he’s clever enough and experienced enough to know that Arsenal have just as good a chance of anyone else. It’s all well and good him wanting to leave, but I do wish that it wouldn’t be portrayed as the end of the world and that Arsenal are going to crumble without him, because it’s not and we won’t.
Some reports this morning say Arsenal are going to make Madrid wait before signing him and according to AS this morning we’ve asked for €6m more with AW playing hardball with the Spaniards. Florentino Perez is said be tired of the whole thing and they want to make an announcement to say Vieira is now a ‘Blanco’, but they’re waiting for the green light from David Dein. There’s even talk of AW refusing to sanction the deal, with the blessing of the Arsenal board. Vieira is waiting nervously for news, having had a private medical in London, and the whole thing drags on. Fair play to AW and DD though, they’re not making easy for Madrid, nor should they. Let them all stew a bit.
The delay in the announcement is said to be because we want time to sign somebody before we let Vieira go. Some papers are saying it’s going to be Maniche, some say Maniche is not a target at all. Some are saying Ruben Baraja, some are talking about this Argentine kid Javier Mascherano, others about Xabi Alonso. Bottom line is, nobody knows who the boss might have in mind, and I suspect this is an occasion where he’s going to keep his cards even closer to his chest than normal.
The Sun are also saying that Freddie Ljungberg wants to leave now and that AW will be ‘helpless to prevent the midfield star leaving if he receives a £15m bid.’ With the greatest of respect to Freddie if we got a £15m bid for him you’d have to think very seriously about it, especially when you’re talking about a player who cost £3m. Inter Milan, Roma and Juventus are the sides looking for Ljungberg. Apparently.
Some upbeat news though comes in the form of pledges of loyalty from Robert Pires and Thierry Henry, who have told staff that they have no intention of doing what Vieira’s doing, and despite the loss of Wiltord and Vieira this summer, it doesn’t mean they’re going to move on. We might be a good percentage less French than we were but the two boys love the Arsenal.
Not much else going on. I’ve got a busy morning ahead. Catch ya later.