to sign for Arsenal. But of course, that was always going to be my saintly view point. But, with Cesc & Sami leaving, theres going to be a fair bit of upheaval. The squad will need time to gel, thats if Wenger even brings in the right sort of replacement. Sure the Chamberlain family will be richer, but I got a feeling footballs not going to be very kind to him over the coming months. Still, he's young, so if I could offer him a small piece of advice it would be; Do the very best you can, then demand a transfer so we can soak up some of that lovely 40%, no hard feelings kid.
We only get 40% (if that's what we've agreed) of profit, so we'd get £400K if we bought him for 1million more than we sold him (I think). It may be traumatic at Arsenal but this could be an opportunity for Alex to get some game time, even as a sub. I've moved on now. He's only a kid so wish him well, but hope we do so well that he has some regrets.
He's 18 next week.... mmmmm ..... I'm just thinking.... .....mmmmmmmmm.... ...... mmmmmm........ the 5 year plan....... ....mmmmmm....... .....mmmmmm...... European football....... ......mmmmmm....... Arsenal on a decline?.... .....mmmmm..... Saints and European football?...... I'd pee myself if in 3 years time, we pip Arsenal to a European spot!!!!! LOL
or think of it this way - with all the upheaval he may have MORE chances at arsenal. could well have been part of his own thinking.
Don't think he was doing the thinking! He's been given a first team number so bound to get some time, at least on bench.
Surely with Nasri leaving he will have more opportunity to play? If they had just signed two similar players to cesc and Nasri, you'd be saying that he'd never get on the pitch!
This situation happened to me on Football Manager! I had just come up from League 1 and Burnley, of all clubs, put in an offer for him. Cortese went over my head and accepted the bid (grrr). He went for something like 4mil with 30% sell on. I got back to back promotions (omen maybe?!) and the first thing I did was buy Oxo Cube back for my assault on the prem! I didn't get as much as I thought I would from the sell on clause but it just added insult to injury for Burnley and was weird to get some money back for a player you have just bought!
More game time is not always a good thing. The pressure to perform at Arsenal will be great, little mistakes get magnified. Time to grow, maybe, time to fail......more likely. But, we shall see. No hard feels at all.
I agree with HistoryRepeating; Arsenal would appear to be on the slide. Wenger is in his last season if he fails to win a trophy. There are a fair few of teams ahead of them in the trophy stakes and a few more who fancy turning over Arsenal simply because they seem to choke at critical moments - the latter due to the lack of experience in key positions. Two of their best players are leaving and there are holes in positions elsewhere in their first team. The morale cannot be high in the squad with players leaving. Arsenal will bounce back, but not with Wenger as manager. As for first team opportunities; I don't think there is any signifigance with him being given a first team number. He is under 21 and English; so he does not get counted in the maximum squad number; no cost to them on giving him a number.
Well he isn't really what arsenal need this season, and I don't think the move's what the boy needs right now either. And though watching him develop for another season with Saints would have been nice, the thick end of £12mill might be just what we need.
