Danny Welbeck: Arsene Wenger cryptic over striker's Arsenal move

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29156465

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he would not have signed striker Danny Welbeck on transfer deadline day had he been in the country.
The 23-year-old left boyhood club Manchester United in a £16m switch to the Gunners while Wenger was away in Rome for a charity game.

Wenger said: "If I'd stayed at home he wouldn't be here now."

He refused to elaborate on that but added he initially wanted Welbeck on loan with an option to buy.
However, Wenger said he was "happy" to make the transfer permanent - though he would not reveal whether Welbeck will start against Manchester City on Saturday.

Irrefutable proof that he wasn't in the market to buy a striker and had he been in the country then we wouldn't have one. Someone obviously went over his head and brought him in. I think we will all agree that whoever did this made the right decision, even if Welbeck wasn't on everyone's wish list.

 

Great way to show confidence in your new player, why did we need to know that?

At least someone involved with transfers isn't completely blind, either gazidis or law..

 

If that's true, and it seems very plausible indeed, then you better hope he has more friendly game refereeing commitments during the course of the season

Welbeck just proved himself to be a fantastic acquisition.

 

His comments have been taken out of context. In the full article he said he was initally only available for loan and only became available to buy at the last minute.

The "If I stayed at home" part is him toying with the media. he also said "I'll tell you the full story one day"! Rumours are he was with two agents whilst at the charity game, one of whom was brokering the Welbeck deal. Below is a bit more on the story.



Makes sense to me. We tried to loan with the option to buy at the end but when the chance came to make it permanent we did. Still, not like the media to try and stir up a **** storm with Arsenal.

 

Where was your story sourced from? To be honest if this is true then the BBC has gone down to a new low. Regardless of all this, it was a bit of Russian roulette with our last minute striker deal. This is not how a big and wealthy club should act like.

 

Wow i was just about to post the question wether people think Wellbeck was a Wenger signing.

I was thinking it strange the Boss hadn't said anything about the player.

Hopefully Wellbeck can force his way into the Boss's plans if that is the case. Whoever made the signing made the right decision. Wellbeck is a FAR better player than Sanogo.

Also why the f** wasn't the old git in the country?!! f**ing charity match?..sigh

 

From twitter admittedly but the quotes are the same, merely expanded. I totally agree about us leaving it too late as had the Welbeck "loan" fallen through we'd have been left with nothing. As it is good fortune shone on us and we not only got him but permanently.

I also think that the fact we were attempting to get the a loan/view to buy when it looked like the most we could get implies Wenger did want him.

 

Just watched the interview.. well at least Wenger did want to bring him in.. just would have preferred a 'loan with an option to buy'.

He also mentioned that he spoke to Ferguson on Tuesday and hinted that the ex-United Manager would not have allowed the Wellbeck sale had he still been in charge.

 

Hard to tell how early or late his interest came, or whether this came down as a desperation buy. We really need to put a stop to these kind of transfers and Wenger needs to be stripped of some of his powers so that his financial views do not complicate proceedings. He needs to focus on the job of a coach and what happens on the pitch, not how much a player costs and what he deems as worth it. The purpose of having staff is for them to concentrate on these kind of matters, as i'm sure we have. He's done his bit by giving us a strong financial footing, he doesn't need to concern himself with this now.

 

I think it's time to get someone to lead on our transfer policy and greatly reduce Wenger's interference in it. Better to get our business out the way early than drag things till the last minute!

 

Also, there goes the "Wenger being away on deadline day changes nothing" argument as well.

As I said that day even just logistically it is not the same as the man being there.

 

It's weird how Wenger seems to have influence on the financial side of the transfers.

Really that should be none of his business and I can't help but think its a big cause for the delay we have with making bids. He should just identify the players he wants and its down to the Club to strike the right deal.

 

Also kind of ridiculous how the papers seem to be running the ' I would not have signed Wellbeck' story.

He absolutely did not say that. He said with all the forwards he has available at the moment he would preferred a 'loan deal with an option to buy'.

Wellbeck was one of his targets.

 

Total non story, his comments show he obviously was interested but wanted a loan with option to buy, but was happy to take a full transfer.

I don't think anyone went over his head, he obviously sanctioned the transfer. Which means him being abroad didn't make a bit of bloody difference.

People just looking for a reason to have a whinge at wenger.

 

I think the fact that he chose to buy when the option arose suggests he was told that, initially, the only option was a loan. He's also said that the only reason we got Danny was because he was away. It may have been fortuitous but had he stayed in London we'd not have got him. I'm intrigued as to what happened but I imagine somebody ITK told him about the Falcao deal imapctign Welbeck and we swooped.

There are obviously still issues about our transfer policies and the way we approach things but this whole story is a non-event and merely the media trying to cause mayhem for hits.

Basically, they've tried to turn this: We were told a player was on loan > we tried to loan him > last second we were told we could buy > we brought > manager and player happy.

Into: I barely wanted to loan him > had I been in London we'd not have signed him > he's a massive turd.

 

In which case, what does

"Wenger said: "If I'd stayed at home he wouldn't be here now."

mean?

 

The implication being he was with someone/found something out in Italy (or wherever he was) that he'd not have found out here. He's being incredibly coy about something. My guess being we weren't in pole position to get him and whatever it was that happened turned things around.

He says in the interview "In 2014 you can keep in contact with anyone anywhere. The advantage of that day was because I had to be up a 6 o'clock in the morning and was available..." It's all very ambiguous but he has a massive grin on his face. Shenanigans have occurred I tells thee, shenanigans.

Edit: This Telegraph number says it better than me

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...d-because-I-went-to-Rome-on-deadline-day.html

 

Really poor showing from the BBC for cutting short Wenger's remarks to make it more sensational. We all pay for the upkeep of the BBC and in return, we expect a truthful reporting of facts.

 

Its Wenger trying to brush off the fact he was out the country, so you lot think its lucky he was out the country then otherwise we wouldn't have got Welbeck and all be forgotten lol

 

Wenger is in charge of our transfer dealings.
Welbeck transferred to us during the window.
Wenger got us Sanchez
Wenger got us Ospina
Wenger got us Chambers
Some people are trying to twist the 2nd point (conveniently forgetting points 3, 4 & 5) into a negative because they generally don't like Wenger and would attack him even if he signed Messi & Ronaldo on day 1 of the window.