The Arsenal Thread XIX

I'm sure the cash was there but again I just think the board has been more open and seemed to have approached this window differently to 2011

Even with the 120m+ I don't think it was reported that we had much intention of spending most of it compared to this season where they're already saying were going to spend


Just have to wait until July I guess


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someone linked an article in here earlier in the season of all the quotes of gazidis etc about how every year they come out with the same stuff about having money to spend its not exclusive to this year. they've been saying the same **** for at least 4 years

They did at least spend some of it last year though...

Remember when Fergie said AW could run a poker school in Glasgow with his negotiating ability? Alex Song for £15m...

Gotta say Wenger is a don when it comes to selling players.

Shame Sagna went for free though. But RVP for 24M, Nasri for 20 something million and both in the last years of their contracts. Clichy was the only guy who went for a fair price for the other party personally and then you had Gibbs who is younger and better. Clichy got dropped for Kolarov in the big games anyway.

Gervinho sale is looking a bit funny now though.

Just didn't fit the team.

He's truly an excellent judge of a player and knows very well when a player is performing above his long term parity level. Still remember Anelka moving for £25m back in 1999, and that was mind boggling money back then, and then going out and getting Henry for £10m My personal fav is Adebayor/Toure for £41m back in 2008 though, what a ludicrous deal that was FFS

Flip side is that he's very picky when buying players, really resents overpaying when he can see very clearly what a player is actually worth himself.

Anelka paid for London Colney AND Henry...wtf

Gotta say Wenger is a don when it comes to selling players.

Shame Sagna went for free though. But RVP for 24M, Nasri for 20 something million and both in the last years of their contracts. Clichy was the only guy who went for a fair price for the other party personally and then you had Gibbs who is younger and better. Clichy got dropped for Kolarov in the big games anyway.

Clichy is definitely better than Gibbs, and I think it is Kolarov who gets dropped for big games generally, not Clichy.



Nasri (>Cazorla) and van Persie (>>>Giroud) have both been integral to significant success at the clubs they moved to and have paid back their transfer fees easily - if Arsenal had kept them, they may have had more success. These shouldn't be seen as successes for Wenger. Especially seeing as Arsenal have no real need for money and there's a dearth of good, available players/mainly strikers.

Both players wanted to go with months left on their contract and we got £50m for the pair, that's making the very best of a bad situation. Wenger then went and got Cazorla for £12m so you dont need to be Del Boy to realise that he made some smashing deals. Giroud aint all that but for £9.6m?

You telling me BVB dont regret not taking £25m for Lewandowski last summer right now? Absolute worst strategy is to let players leave for free, unless you're blinded by pride.

Both players wanted to go with months left on their contract and we got £50m for the pair, that's making the very best of a bad situation. Wenger then went and got Cazorla for £12m so you dont need to be Del Boy to realise that he made some smashing deals. Giroud aint all that but for £9.6m?

You telling me BVB dont regret not taking £25m for Lewandowski last summer right now? Absolute worst strategy is to let players leave for free, unless you're blinded by pride.

Well, for one, it's Wenger's fault that they wanted to leave in the first place. You got 44m for the pair, not 50, and Cazorla was 15-16 was he not? There's a 10m disparity already corrected.

In any case, football is not about building a bank balance.

A 20m player on the pitch is far better than 25m in the bank balance. No doubt they were good transfer fees but have they been replaced by players of 24m and 20m worth of quality? Nasri maybe, but Cazorla is still an inferior (only a little worse, they're on the same plane I guess) and less successful player, and van Persie has not been replaced properly at all. What's the point of a super rich club like Arsenal getting even more money if they can't use that money properly, what's the point of a 24m transfer fee if only 9.6m of it is going to be spent, that too on outright mediocrity?



Selling van Persie and Nasri can not be seen as a success for Arsene given their roles in their new clubs' significant successes whilst Arsenal replace them with inferior players and continue to fail on the pitch compared to the bank balance. He got good (not incredible, just good) fees for them but he failed to use them properly, and that too at a club where there's plenty of money. This £160m hasn't accumulated overnight and there's no doubt that money could have been spent and Nasri/van Persie kept simultaneously.

As for Wenger's overall transfer record, it's largely very good, not so much recently. The Anelka deal is amongst the best in the history of football.

Santi has been quoted at £13m-£16m depending on the source. And to be clear, Nasri left for £25m according to the BBC making it £49m total.

You've got a point but Wenger's pragmatic attitude has seen us build up a silly amount of reserves, that money has not left the club and that officers an awful amount of security to the club. If Wenger decided tomorrow that he fancied a £100m player then we wouldnt even have to call the bank manager, it's just done. And only a very small number of clubs are in that position.

Understand the point about football not being about having a big bank balance, but Wenger wont be here forever either. The next manager will probably spent more typically and he's going to think all his Christmases have arrived at once really. So the club does will inevitably benefit, unless we do a Spurs of course.

wrt BVB; what does 'sending a message' even mean? To whom exactly? They're £25m light now and that's the bottom line. They've signed Immobile as a replacement, are you telling me that BVB are now in a better position to compete with Bayern? It was madness mate. People certainly pity their situation, but nobody is queuing up to join them. Moreover, because of the Lewandowski shambles, they couldnt afford a top player anyway. Also think it's clear that Arsenal can attract top level players, see Suarez, Ozil and Higuain last summer for instance and I dont see how being logical in our transfer dealings has affected that. Moreover, because of our sensibility, we can afford them too.