Squillaci was allegedly brought in a first choice to partner Vermaelen and is on over 60k/wk, I'm sure I read somewhere a long time ago. Koscielny was / is only on ~25k/wk as he was brought in from a lower team, only had one year of top-flight French football, and was expected to play backup. Funny how things work out ay? Almunia is on top wack, as he wanted big wages when he became No1. So he's apparently on over 60k also. Understandable as he has been with the club a long time.
I am bemused as to how Almunia got the contract he got - we rewarded him why ? He hasn't had a single decent season. Arsenal number 1 by default not talent/potential.
He was pretty decent in the 07/08 season. Took over from Jens after that Blackburn game. You can't really say he made huge mistakes in that season. He was pretty solid.
Interesting dabate how players got the contracts they have. Although I've long argued that this is the fallout of the Bosman ruling - clubs can no longer allow their players contracts to run to end/near end because their agents will already have been finding their clients a bigger/better contract elsewhere. Last Summer everyone was panicking about RVPs contract when it had a full 2 years to run, 2 years ago our joint second top scorers were B52 and Arshavin, at that time Arsenal could have been forgiven for giving both contract extensions with decent increases (based on performance), and it's this that outlines how hard it is for clubs to decide on who to commit to and who to offload. The idea of paying £10-15m for an 18 year old with tremendous potential and giving him decent wages on a 4 year deal then watching him mature and develop without being outstanding then leaving for nothing is painful, too much hard work and effort would have gone into improving the player for him to go somewhere else the finished article and become a world beater. Bosman has changed the way clubs approach contracts and Arsenal, more than most it seems, took chances on a number of young players with the potential to go to the top and the likes of Denilson, B52, Djourou, Vela amongst others find themselves on very good money when their performances/abilities with the benefit of hindsight probably deserve less....
Clearing out the dead wood - 10-15 players at least - is the right thing to do. Actually achieving it is another matter. If the reports are true it is very good news because even if we don't get rid of them all, Wenger is admitting his errors. That is very positive because it means continued change is far more likely.
Almuia? Surely he's the one who makes the most sense. He was our number one keeper for 18 months! Its the likes of Bendtner (on 55k) that dont really make sense at all.
He has represented the club 153 times. Why wouldn't he be on 50Kish. He has only played a little less than Almunia who sits at 164.
Song has been one of our best players this season, why shouldn't he get a wage increase, just because a player doesn't seem to be in any danger of moving doesn't mean you shouldn't reward him for the work he has done all season, and especially during our dip in form he held the midfield together while arteta fitted in and rosicky came back from injury, and with oxo you can take it or leave it, just so long as the money doesnt go to his head which i'm sure it won't. Arsenal pay its players significantly less than the rest of the top 5 so why shouldn't it try to bridge the gap a little and reward its better players and get rid of those that aren't contributing on the pitch? Also if we do get rid of all these fringe players then it means that we free up wages for other top quality players to come in and there will also be space for some youth players to come through, e.g. miyachi joel cmapbell afobe aneke etc
Ok fair point - although that too bemuses me, how a keeper who makes so many clangers can be regarded as a first choice in a top football club.
Agree on song. However we shouldnt give oxo a pay rise just yet. he is quality but he should be signed long term so what is the point. Let him prove himself as a first teamer next season then give him a pay rise. Almunia's salary is understandable as he was our no.1 for a while. However, bendy was never first choice so to reward him at a similar rate to first teamers is madness.
A total of 64 goals and 34 assists in 229 senior appearances as well as 19 goals in 45 international appearances, by the age of 24, whilst often played out of position suggest that he certainly had the potential. He is also highly rated around Europe. He probably did deserve a decent contract at the time. He has unfortunately failed to improve on the earlier promise.
Bendtner is not rewarded the same. RVP is on 75K as the front line striker, Bendtner is on 50Kish as his back-up. When the contracts were signed they had virtually the same number of appearances. The rates for strikers and defenders would probably be different.
Sure but many of those were in the cups or as cover for injured players.(van persie, eduardo etc..) He was also a major disappointment.
Move along - nothing to see here. There isn't really a clear out. Arshavin, Bendtner, Denilson, Vela, Squillaci, Almunia and Chamakh have all just regained their form and that's why things are getting better for us. Remember there are no significant changes happening at our club
So Denmark are currently rated 11th in the world rankings. Bendtner has scored 5 goals in the last 2 years for Denmark. Can you name even one striker who has scored 5 goals or more in the past for couple of years, for one of the teams in the top 15, that wouldn't get a contract in the PL?
bendtner doesnt want to come back no matter what. According to sky sports a real sociedad delegation has arrived to negotiate for vela while if psg come in i dont see us turning down an offer for chamakh. I also see almunia and squillaci going as they would want regualr playing time and i see vertoghen coming in to replace squllaci. According to jamie sanderson from young guns sao paolo are going to take denilson on another season long loan deal as they still can't arrange for his wages. Arshavin is a tricky one tbh.....
