Hello and welcome to Friday.
Another working week has passed, nothing has happened of any real consequence, and these handy people have put together a website which you can check just to make sure – http://havearsenalspentanymoneyyet.com/
I was going to set-up ‘hasnicklasnbendtnerfinallyfoundaclubthatwillpayhimwhathethinkshedeservesandwillputupwithhisnonsense.net’ but I figured meh, what’s the point. We all know that’s not going to happen. He’s ours. Forever and ever and ever [that works best if you read it in the style of a sinister child*].
Meanwhile, Bacary Sagna has become the third player in a week to say that the club needs new players. He spoke about how the team’s form at the end of last season was something they could build on but, like Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere earlier in the week, he’s looking for reinforcements:
We beat great teams last year, we managed to be one of the best teams in the second half of the season and if we can be consistent for the whole season, I believe we can be successful. I believe that we can challenge for the title with a couple of good signings.
One player talking about new arrivals is one thing, three inside a week tells you that even they want things to happen sooner rather than later. They know that the sooner we do our business the better it’ll be for the new players, the existing players, everyone. Nobody’s saying ‘Well, whatever the boss thinks is ok’, it’s quite pointed and, I’m convinced, somewhat deliberate.
You won’t find me arguing with it either, and although it feels like banging the same drum this week, it’s a message that those responsible for such things would do well not to ignore. So far there’s been no movement on anything, despite reports that Wenger has been ‘green lit’ to spend £40m on Luis Suarez. Like he really needs permission, or something. We know he’s got a budget, he’s completely in charge of how he spends it. One £40m player, 40 £1m players, 40,000,000 £1 players, it’s all down to him anyway.
Yesterday I wrote a piece for ESPN about why I still think Higuain is the best option for us. I stand by that. I know some people don’t agree and would prefer Suarez, which is absolutely fine but is there really any need for such aggression just because somebody thinks differently than you? This is the Internet, what a stupid question that is.
I’ve made clear my reservations regarding the Uruguayan, there weren’t too many Arsenal fans defending him when he was slapped with an 8 match ban for his racist incident with Evra, so I just find it a bit odd that so many are vehemently defending him now or passing that off as inconsequential. Perhaps that’s the cumulative effect of a quiet transfer window + lots of money in our pockets + no trophies for a long time. It becomes easy to overlook things that, in my opinion anyway, ought not to be.
Still, to each their own, I say. I can live with other people’s opinions without resorting to abuse or vitriol because, well, they’re perfectly entitled to think what they want about all kinds of things, not just football. It’d be a dull world if we all agreed, but it’d be a much better world if folk could accept differences without so much pissy drama. I guess that’s true of life in general, not just football.
The latest from Madrid is that they’ve stuck a €40m price tag on Higuain and we’ve upped our offer to €26m, that’s according to Marca, anyway. Classic negotiation, isn’t it? Madrid see the sums being bandied about for star strikers, they’ve got a shit hot 25 year old with three years left on his contract and aren’t prepared to let him go on cheap. When you consider we got £25m for Emmanuel Adebayor four summers ago (with the caveat that it was Man City that bought him), it puts into perspective what we might need to pay if we really want the Argentine, and I hope we do.
Finally, there are further rumours linking us with a move for Brazilian winger, Bernard. It’s probably pronounced ‘Ber-naaaard’, but plain old Bernard also works. What’s more likely is that it’s actually a fella called Brendan, who is a work experience groundsman who Arsene Wenger saw doing keepy-ups in his hobnail boots. There you go, just 39,999,999 £1 players to go.
Till tomorrow.
