financial fair play is never going to mean what it should mean though. If anything it will just reinforce the dominance of the premierleague, and make it much harder for promoted teams to stand a chance of survival. The whole things riddled with scheisters sadly.
heard on the radio they have one fit centre back at the moment (must exclude koschielny who got a red), metersacker
I don't think it's laughable. Cabaye isn't worth £18M, let alone £30M. Paying over the odds is never a good policy, nor is banking on buying success.
Wenger has said that he refuses to compromise on quality, well I'm sorry Arsene but it looks like you're going to have to compromise on something.
There is something odd about Alderweireld, consistently linked to top teams but none of them seem to rate him highly enough. We know Ajax will sell him, given we've had a bid accepted, the big teams he's been linked with (Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and now Arsenal) know how much they would need to pay. If he wanted to play for one of those teams I think he would be better off playing for us for a year or two and proving him self in the PL. currently theres a lot of talk but zero movement for a seemingly easy target.
its why buying from within in this league is such a crap plan. Grossly inflated prices, and clubs like Newcastle looking to work as a gem polisher, buying the raw materials cheaper abroad, polishing them up and flogging them on for a big lump. All it takes is some idiot like liverpool to pay 35m for a (chicken) nugget like caroll and everyone fancies hiking up their prices, in the belief that some billionaire chump will fart out the necessary funds. Buying abroad, or from lower divisions or developing players from within is the last refuge of the sane and sensible.
you can only not compromise in a negotiation if you can afford to walk away, increasingly arsenal need some deals to go through and his stance is looking unintelligent.
i'd argue cabaye is comfortably worth £15m+ - he'd walk into the current arsenal team - hell, he'd walk into the manchester united team, and unless arsenal bid more than that figure they have no chance of getting him! i reckon a bid of £18m would get him, if the player wanted to go. £30m is purely there to ward off interest... unless kenny dalglish gets a job and comes calling of course!
i suspect he's second or third choice for a lot of the top clubs, hence the hesitation. he'd be our top choice hence we were straight in at the asking price
agreed. Hes pretty cheap 4-7m, won't have big wages at all, and can't shut up about how lovely the premier league is and how beautiful it is and yadda yadda. Still clear favourite with the bookies to go to russia at the moment. Has there been discussion of sorensen on this thread yet?
another class act could be on his way to the premier league - willian - no sign of arsenal bidding for him either. its between spurs and liverpool as it stands
Bath - that is a fair point. In terms of cost his fee (and one would assume wages) are mere found behind the sofa change for the likes of Aresenal, Spurs and Liverpool (who could all do with a decent CB) yet no-one bar us seem to have made a move. I would not be at all surprised to see him join us in the next week or so as his options start to fade away. It depends on how he sees the future - is Ajax a better shop window for his talent than Norwich? If he thinks so then he'll stay and either get a better contract or be able to walk on a free next year, If he thinks playing well for us will give him more options then we'll pay the cash, use each other for a season and then he will hope to move onto bigger and better things and we'll bank a tidy profit on the deal.
Briefly - a week or so ago. The conclusion was that nobody really knew much about him, some weren't keen on a 6'4" monster, others quite liked the look of him. The little I've seen suggests he is (or could be) a more cultured version of Turner, or Hangeland. Not as good as Alderweireld, but I think probably a very good signing
toby was talking about coming to the premier league the other day so not sure he will go to russia. I'd forgotten about him and our other 'early doors' bid accepted, toivonen.
I agree. There's no "level playing field" and never will be. That doesn't mean it will make no difference at all though. There's an interesting issue at the moment concerned with special treatment afforded to Barca, Real Madrid and (I think) Valencia due to their notionally being "owned" by their "members". Every other club in the Spanish league is being forced to become a plc, with serious implications for their tax position. The three wealthiest clubs have been exempted! I think there has been a complaint to UEFA. Then there is the fact that Bundesliga clubs' stadia are virtually all provided for them by the local authority, which has a lot to do with the fact that ticket prices are so low and attendancies so large (not to mention local authority-subsidised transport to and from games). Regarding transfer fees, in any other context there would be talk of "a bubble" and questions would be being asked about when it was going to burst. Some in football seem to think it is somehow immune -- though try telling that to Pompey fans.
I wonder whether Toivonen is prepared to see how our first few games go? Maybe he'll wait until just about deadline day to finally join us!
I wouldn't be amazed if Toby has been told by his agent that all these clubs are lining up to buy him, remember a few weeks ago he was saying Everton were about to bid, and this has persuaded him that he should wait. the agent clearly want to get the best financial deal possible. Toivonen said recently that he hasn't ruled us out which sounded more like a "come and get me" but also shows if he wants to move were pretty much his only option. he's been a sub in all 3 of PSV's league games this year playing about 40 minutes in total, this would probably indicate his position at the club isn't entirely comfortable. I wouldn't be surprised if we get either player, and both would, I think, make us look a really good outfit.
