I suppose he would make for a good freebee. The only issue is his wages, will these be a stumbling block for us?
Definitely on a free Wenger tried to get him two or three seasons ago. Can't see Kalou demanding high wages seeing as he's without a club and the offer of CL football is going to be an attractive one.
I think you will get him, Wenger has wanted him for years, now he is on a free, Wenger wont be able to resist. He always did a decent job for us, grabbing 12 goals and half a dozen assists each season. I think he is on around 100k a week though, if he went to Arsenal on those wages he would probably be your highest paid player. I think he will realistically have to accept a pay cut though, I can see him getting no more than 75-80k a week at Arsenal but he would be playing for another big club who are in the CL. I dont think he could realistically turn that down at his age. If you are getting him for free, then a 2 year contract at 75k per week aint too bad.
And that's been our problem. I can't see the board offering him much more, whilst they're trying to scale down overall wages.
Then he won't be coming to us....He will have to be paid around 100k mark that Bonanki is highlighting. Footballers nowadays rarely take pay cuts and expecially players in their peak! A way around this is a signing on bonus of around 5m. I have to admit, i'm not too excitied about Kalou who in effect is a Chelsea cast off. But he'll be better than a lot of players we currently have, so it'll be an upgrade. But he'll be coming to Arsenal and we all know what Arsene can do with players. Hopefully he'll be playing better for us with our system.
He'd get 75k I reckon. RvP / Podolski / Kalou sounds a *LOT* better than RvP / Chamakh / Park!! Especially with Joel Campbell coming in too - I'd completely take Kalou. He can play wide or through the middle, and has EXPERIENCE in WINNING THINGS which would be great. He's reaching his peak too - definitely someone good to have around.
Actually when you put it that way, it does sound rather delightful. Our wildcard players for next year will be Campbell and Miyaichi.
I can't see why this would now be a stumbling block as long as we rid ourselves of the unwanted players. Also the fact that he is free should enable us to get around it by offering a signing on fee, which should easily compensate and still be a top bargin!
Even if so I would only have one of kalou or benayoun not both...personally I would prefer benayoun rather than kalou..I would also say kalou isn't worth £90,000 per week
The problem is, who is? 90k a week for most players is astronomical. We have got to the point that we no longer read this figure and think it's high. Trust me, it's bloomin high. It's unfortunate that we live in high times where these things are allowed to happen. So Kalou will get his fat wedge whether we like it or not, from us or someone else....
I just can't get excited about Kalou, even on a free. His finishing is pretty dire, we'll be adding to our long list of ineffective wingers.
That's true but apparently prior to this Rvp saga our wage cap was £80,000 (forgot where I read that). Imagine what kind of precedent it will pose for players of a similar caliber.
You are right Lazarus! its a crying shame but the fact of the matter is, the best players in Europe wont go anywhere for less than 100k per week now as they know that some clubs will pay it (by some clubs I mean Barca, Chelsea, City, Madrid or United). This is why Arsenal will not be able to be competitive on a sustainable level until they start upping their wage cap. Sure Wenger can bring in cheap youngsters and train them up to be world class, they may even win you a trophy or two, but then once they are known as great players, the clubs who can offer silly wages will come in and turn their heads, and Arsenal will lose them. This will continue to happen now until Arsenal start paying more wages I am afraid.
If he does decide to leave which is actually possible considering Torres and another forward likely to be added THIS IS worth £90,000 per week IMO http://www.setanta.com/ie/Articles/2012/05/23/Sturridge-puts-Gunners-on-red-alert/gnid-143040/?
