Some time ago I mentioned that the transfer of Andrei Arshavin reminded me of the time we tried to sign Julio Baptista from Sevilla.
One day the deal was all but done, the next it seemed unlikely to happen. The same is happening with Arshavin. Reports that Arsenal directors had flown to Russia to finalise the deal were wide of the mark and it seems the deal is essentially at an impasse.
Arsenal have made an offer, Zenit have rejected it. From what I’m told it seems the Russian club have been difficult during the whole process. Just when we think we’re close, they add on another condition, or two, to the deal. The latest seems to be that Arsenal are expected to pay all the agent’s fees for the deal which we have, rightly in my opinion, refused to do.
So as it stands the deal is dead. We have our valuation of the player, they have theirs. They want to try and squeeze every last penny out of the deal, we are refusing to be squeezed. Of course stuck in the middle of all this is the player who obviously wants to leave Zenit and play for us but between his club and his agent they’re making such a move almost impossible.
There are those who would say we should just pay what they want but if what they want is far above what we consider a fair price then why would we pay it? Is our need for him that pressing? Yes, he would improve the squad but let’s also remember there are only 16 league games left this season. Wenger has always spoken about how foreign players need time to adjust to English football – we have that legendary 6 month period – and Arshavin hasn’t played in some weeks due to the Russian season being over.
So even if we do sign him we have a player who needs to get match-fit trying to adapt to a new league. Now, I know anything is better than Eboue on the right hand side but Theo Walcott should be back in a few weeks so that, at least, gives us an option.
Remember also that Wenger said that Arshavin was not the only player they had in mind. So if things between Arsenal and Zenit break down completely then you have to imagine we’ll turn our attentions to one of the alternatives – if we’re serious about bringing somebody in during this transfer window.
And amidst all the hype surrounding Arshavin perhaps we’ve lost sight of the fact that if we do make signings this January we have other areas of the pitch in more urgent need of reinforcement.
Anyway, I’ve suspected that any deal(s) we do in this transfer window would happen right at the death and I think that’s still the case. Maybe we’ll call Zenit’s bluff and sign Owly just before the close, if he hasn’t gone somewhere else, and I think the same is true for any signing. At the moment clubs are looking for ridiculous money for ridiculous players. £14m for Craig Bellamy? Give me a break. I know it’s Man City, but still. £14m for Wilson Palacios? I know it’s Sp*rs who love to pay astronomical money for players, but still.
The market has shown no sign of deflation, no indication that the current financial climate is being considered at all, and if you were to ask me if I thought us paying £20m was good business for Arshavin I’d have to say no, no matter how much I’d like to see him play for us.
Gunnerblog has some more thoughts and info on the Arshavin saga.
In other news Arsene has been bigging up Aaron Ramsey who is likely to feature against his old club, Cardiff, in the FA Cup on Sunday. The boss says:
I must say that he is ahead of where I planned for him to be in January. He has not only made the step up from the Championship to the Premier League, but also to a Premier League team that wants to be at the top and who fights in the Champions League, and that means it’s a massive difference at such a young age.
I do like what I’ve seen of Ramsey so far, I have to say. He does have a tendency to hold onto the ball a bit too long but experience and games will see him put that right. He’s got a lovely eye for a pass and he’s not afraid to shoot either, something some of our other midfielders seem more reluctant to do. Hopefully he’ll kick on in this second half of the season.
Keeping it Cardiff, Robin van Persie talks about our FA Cup opponents.
So there you go. Obviously there isn’t the good news regarding the new signing everyone wants but it’s not the end of the world either.
Till tomorrow.
