Hleb to go - Bendtner turns down Germany’s finest
Before I get onto the bad news, I firstly want to say ’thanks’ to everyone who commented yesterday on the article about Arsene Wenger’s transfer plans. It was so refreshing to see everyone put some thought into their recommendations and refrain from pleading for every Ronaldinho, Kaka or Lionel Messi in the world. Great stuff.
Now, onto the bad news…
It seems that Alex Hleb will be leaving Arsenal for Inter Milan. Indeed, the Belarussian’s agent Nikolai Shpilevski has publicly declared that he will be signed by the Italian club within the next two weeks and going so far to say that there is ‘no way’ that he will be staying at Arsenal.
“Alexander is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life. He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions.”
“Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.”
If what Hleb’s agent is saying is true then it’s a massive slap in the face for Arsene Wenger. Hleb has copped a lot of flak from all corners about his reluctance to shoot, but the manager has stuck by him and it really annoys me that this is how his repaid for it. Very disappointing.
To be perfectly honest I see the inevitable exit of Hleb as less of a loss than Mathieu Flamini’s but at the same time this is yet another first-choice player leaving the club. However, as long as he is replaced adequately by a player who can create and score a few goals (Diego, anyone?) then I don’t think the loss of Hleb will make too much difference.
What I am worried about is the impact this might have on Cesc Fabregas. If Hleb goes then the Spaniard will have lost two of his best mates of the club and there will surely be some doubts creeping into his mind. He’s always shown himself to be a class act off the pitch as well as on it so hopefully he will buck the trend and stay put.
On a more positive note is the news that Nicklas Bendtner has turned down advances from the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen to stay put at the club. The indication was that Bayern in particular were willing to pay €10 million to sign the Bendtner but the big man has said he is happy at Arsenal.
“I’ve always said that Arsenal is my club and that’s where I want to play my football. When you look at my season and the way it has developed, I see no reason why I should want to change Arsenal with any other club.”
Just for the record, Bendtner is now very much in my good books. As for Hleb…
What do you think?
Have your say on Hleb or Bendtner by leaving a comment.
Wenger outlines transfer plans - how about Diego and Metzelder?
Those of you who read yesterday’s post will know that I commented that Inter Milan are in an advantageous position to steal Alex Hleb from Arsenal due to the fact that they can very easily buy out the final two years of the Belarussian’s contract via the ‘Webster clause’. According to Arsene Wenger, however, it seems that may not be the case.
“What people say about the buy-out clause, it is not as simple as it looks. It is much more difficult and the clubs are reluctant to do that [invoke the ‘Webster Clause’].”
Although I’m not overly sure why this would be the case I’ll give the manager the benefit of the doubt. If anyone can shed some light on what Wenger’s comment that it’s ‘not as simple as it looks’ then I would love to hear it. Either way, it is clear that the manager does not want to lose any more players following the Mathieu Flamini saga.
“We have lost one player, we do not want to lose more.”
According to Arseblog (congratulations again on the big break by the way) and backed up by Football 365 the manager met with the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust (AST) yesterday to discuss the present and the future and spoke candidly about the type of players he particularly wants to bring in; a central defender to deal with long balls as well as a creative playmaker.
I know I said I wouldn’t talk about transfers until at least the end of the season but after a comment like that from the manager it’s a little bit hard to refrain. As such I’ll just go out on a limb and say what I want to say: how about Christoph Metzelder from Real Madrid and Diego from Werder Bremen?
Metzelder is very much out of favour at Real Madrid due to a previous foot injury and the emergence of the partnership between Fabio Cannavaro and Pepe. There have been rumours that the German may be on his way out at the end of the season and I think he fits Wenger’s bill as a strong central defender perfectly.
A class act
As for Diego, I think he would fit into Arsenal’s attacking set-up very nicely. Anyone who has watched the Brazilian play will know what a class act he is. His ball control and creativity is right up there with the best in the game. He’s excelled in two seasons in the Bundesliga, netting a total of 26 goals and being regarded as one of the very best players in the league. Although the Brazilian is under contract until 2011 I sincerley think he is worth throwing a little bit of money at.
If Diego is too pricey then I would hope the manager looks at someone like Samir Nasri from Marseille. He is a player very much on the up at the moment and has the potential of developing into a world-class prospect under Wenger’s guidance. He is already a full French international and although his goalscoring record for club side Marseille is not the best he definitely has the raw skills and speed to improve this over time.
Anyway, they’re just my thoughts and I encourage you to voice your own.
Carrying on with the manager’s meeting with the AST and Wenger also made it clear that regardless of who was brought in the most important thing in determining whether his side was successful next season is the attitude of the players.
“I hope that the core of the team says ‘come on, we have only just lost’. And it is ‘just’ because we were leading at Manchester United, we were leading at Chelsea and we were leading at Liverpool in the Champions League, and every time we just lost a little bit of focus and lost the game. Let’s come back and show we are winners. That is the real target of the team.”
Hopefully the players will do just that. In the meantime, let the transfer speculation begin!
What do you think?
Have your say on Wenger’s transfer plans by leaving a comment.
From a nobody to a somebody to a nobody? Exit time for Arsenal’s ice-cream man?
Things are starting to get a little wobbly.
The official announcement of Mathieu Flamini’s departure to AC Milan has been followed by the growing rumours that Alexander Hleb is set to follow him out the door to sign for Milan’s bitter rivals Inter. Although there have been no concrete evidence of a move being made for Hleb by the Italian club the speculation is running rife that Belarussian has ‘confided in his colleagues’ that he wants to leave Arsenal.
In all honesty I really don’t know what to make of this. On one hand you have a pretty hopeless-looking situation involving lies about ice-cream and tapping up and the prospect of another Arsenal being able to earn a lot less at another club but on the other you have a player under contract who the manager says will not be leaving. It’s all very confusing.
The one thing that will favour a move to Inter Milan is the fact that Hleb has the opportunity to buy out the remaining two years of his contract under the newly-coined ‘Webster clause‘. Indeed, what Inter are likely to do should they genuinely want to sign Hleb is pay the money required to buy out his contract - a fraction of the €14m that he is valued at - and increase his wages in a similar way to a certain Frenchman. Harsh on Arsenal, but ultimately fair with regards to the rules.
Should Hleb leave then Arsenal are left without two of it’s first choice players from an almost-title-winning team. They will need to be replaced but at this stage I’m going to hold my tongue as to who I think should replace them, at least until after the final game of the season against Sunderland. The rest of you can run amok though, of course.
Nobody to somebody to nobody?
Turning to one of the players who will definitely be at the club next season and Emmanuel Adebayor has been told by the manager that he can still improve a further as a player and goalscorer, but only if he continues to put in the hard yards.
“I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20 per cent more to come from him. Does he want it enough - to get this extra 20 per cent out? Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody.”
As a nobody myself I sincerely hope he remains a somebody. But as the manager intimates, if he wants to be considered a top quality striker then he needs to keep bagging buckets of goals on a season-by-season basis. Thierry Henry was able to do it and although I don’t think Adebayor will ever be as good Frenchman, I still feel he has the ability to become a consistent goalscorer.
Although Adebayor is my favourite player I did get the feeling at times this season that he seemed to act a little too big for his own shoes, so perhaps that is what Wenger is getting at with these comments. Hopefully the big man will heed his advice.
Learning from Lehmann
From a goal scorer to a goal saver now and young Lukasz Fabianski has praised Jens Lehmann for his never-say-die attitude. The Polish goalkeeper praised the professionalism shown by the German on the training ground even despite him being out of favour at the club for most of the season.
“During the whole year he never gave up. Everyday he was [at the] training ground and that shows how you have to behave to be at the top of your game. I learnt a lot of things, really small details.”
When it comes to learning from someone like Lehmann you get the feeling that it’s like learning from your parents. You try to imitate the good traits and learn from the bad traits and if he can do that then the club will have quite the professional on their hands. If he does the opposite then they’re going to have a lazy player who can’t keep his mouth shut (sounds a bit like Lassana Diarra to me - heh heh).
Seriously though, Fabianski has had a reasonably good first season in his time at Arsenal. He performed well in the Carling Cup - even the 5-1 loss to Tottenham was not entirely his fault - and has done well in the last two games against Derby and Everton. Let’s hope he can pick up another clean sheet against Sunderland to finish the season on a high.
That’s that then. More tomorrow. Have a good one.
Update: Congratulations to Arseblogger for making it big. Click here to see what I mean. All the best mate, you’ve been a wonderful supporter of my blog over the past year and you deserve all the success you get.
What do you think?
Have your say on Hleb, Adebayor, Fabianski or Lehmann by leaving a comment.
Flamini’s Milan move leaves Wenger with a real challenge to replace him
It’s official: Mathieu Flamini is an Arsenal player no more.
It was revealed earlier today that the Frenchman has passed his medical and signed a four-year deal with AC Milan worth around €5.6million per year. The Italians are of course able to pay Flamini such an extensive amount due to the fact that the Frenchman’s contract with Arsenal is up and he was able to make the move without incurring any sort of transfer fee under the Bosman rule.
AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had this to say about the signing of Flamini:
“Flamini is a very good player – we saw this when he played against us in the UEFA Champions League. This is an excellent signing.”
He’s certainly not wrong there and I have to say that I feel very disappointed about Flamini leaving. He has always been a firm favourite of mine at the club - even during the time when he was nothing more than a bit-part player - and I feel he will be missed by Arsenal next season.
There will be many people who label Flamini a disloyal money-grabber (Fla-money?) for doing what he has done but at the end of the day Arsene Wenger took a risk in keeping him at the club without extending his contract and the Frenchman cannot really be blamed for taking this opportunity. Not only will he earn an exorbanent amount of money but he also gets to join one of the world’s most respectable football clubs and at the end of the day that’s quite a difficult proposition to turn down.
The thing that worries most about Flamini’s exit is that, unlike a lot of people, I see him as a player who has both the ability and desire to become the best in the world in his position. Many Arsenal supporters see him as nothing more than a hard-working grafter but in my opinion this season has seen him become far more competent on the ball as well excellent passer to boot. Add to that the fact that he is the first Arsenal player to really click with Cesc Fabregas and you have a man who will be more difficult to replace at the club than many people suspect.
Given the previous departure of Lassana Diarra and the fall from grace of Gilberto Silva, Arsene Wenger now faces quite a challenge to find an adequate substitute for Flamini. I should say that although I think Flamini will be incredibly difficult to replace I am not worried about Wenger’s ability to bring in someone worthy of doing just that. As I said in yesterday’s post there has been rumours about the manager’s interest Lille’s Jean Il Makoun while Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry will surely also be a target.
There’s really not too much point in speculating because the manager will probably do his usual thing and surprise the supporters with someone completely random stage. And before people start getting into a spin about making a huge signing can I just remind you that Bacary Sagna was a virtual unknown outside of France before the start of this season, while Abou Diaby and Alex Song are more than capable of doing the defensive job alongside Fabregas if required.
Regardless, I wish Flamini all the best in his time in Italy. He has always given 100% in his time at Arsenal and at the end of the day as a supporter that is all you can really ask for.
What do you think?
Have your say on Mathieu Flamini’s exit by leaving a comment.
Crazy Jens says goodbye - Flamini set to go - Makoun to replace him?
It was never going to be a classic game given the dead-rubber nature of the contest from an Arsenal perspective but there were enough nice moments to give the home fans a decent show in the final game of the season at Emirates Stadium.
For those who missed it, Nicklas Bendtner scored the only goal of the game on 77 minutes to ensure that Arsene Wenger’s side came away with a 1-0 win against Everton which means they will finish the Premiership campaign with an unbeaten home record. Good stuff.
Away from the goal there weren’t too many other highlights apart from a late cameo appearance from Jens Lehmann in what will surely be his last game for the club. The German goalkeeper was given a substitute appearance by the manager to give the fans an opportunity to say thank-you and goodbye to a player who has given it his all for Arsenal during his five-year stay at the club. The big fellow was quite sentimental following the match and thanked the fans for their support.
“The moment at the end was an amazing feeling for me - after five years and a lot of emotional moments. It was a great farewell for me and I am really grateful to the supporters and they will always stay in my heart.”
While Lehmann essentially signed his death warrant when he openly criticised Manuel Almunia in the early part of the season I feel he deserves a lot of credit for the performances he has put in during his five-year stay at the club. If you watch the interview I’ve linked to above you can see how genuinely proud he is to have been such a big part of the Arsenal Football Club.
On a personal level he has been a great favourite of mine over the years and achieved some wonderful success as well. His penalty save against Villarreal will always be remembered as will the general craziness and entertainment value he brought to the game on a consistent basis. In a sport where players are becoming more and more like robots it’s important to have characters to keep things interesting and Lehmann has always done things his way, something which should not be forgotten in a hurry. I wish him all the best both at Euro 2008 and for the future.
So Jens is off and it is almost certain now that Mathieu Flamini will be following him out the door this summer. Indeed, reports suggest that he may have already left for Italy with AC Milan’s vice-president Adriano Galliani claiming that the Frenchman is set to sign a four-year deal with the club within a couple of days should he pass his medical.
I’ll comment on this one a little bit more when the move is made official but in the meantime I just want to convey how disappointed I will be when Flamini eventually does sign for Milan. For me he has been the revelation of the season in England and the most consistent Arsenal player during the entire campaign and I feel he will be very, very difficult to replace.
As for a replacement I think it’s fair to say that the player who is eventually brought in will be someone of an unknown quantity - anything else and I would be quite surprised. Could it be Lille’s Jean Makoun who comes in? As always, we’ll have to wait and see. More tomorrow.
What do you think?
Have your say on Crazy Jens’ final game, Flamini’s immenant departure or the potential of Makoun signing by leaving a comment.
