Barry signing leaves Alonso as only Premier League midfielder-to-Arsenal possibility

So Gareth Barry is off to Manchester City.

I can’t say I saw it coming but that’s one probable Arsenal transfer target down the gurgler. Xabi Alonso remains a possibility after Cesc Fabregas’ recent endorsement but aside from that there’s no-one really earmarked and it means the manager will have to pull something of a rabbit out of the hat. Gokhan Inler maybe?

Not that it really matters to Arsenal but my opinion is that it’s something of an odd move for Barry. For some reason I saw him as something of a respectable character but a huge pay increase seems to have been the deciding factor. He joins a team that is far from the finished article despite their kazillions of pounds and I don’t think one season of spending is going to get them into the Champions League. Wouldn’t it be funny if Aston Villa made it in next season and City didn’t? Of course it would.

Barry’s transfer is the first big one to go down in what is likely to be an interesting transfer window. Thankfully the journalists seem to have taken a bit of a break and I’ve yet to see any of the usual “Random Guy to Arsenal” stories pop up. Oh wait, here we go.

Anyway, the main point of this post was to publish the results of the Arsenal FC Blog 2008/09 Survey. Some people were unable to listen to the final Arsenal FC Weekly podcast of the season and requested for the results to be put on the blog, so here they are (just click the link below):

Arsenal FC Blog 2008/09 Survey Results

I’d encourage you to have your say on the survey by leaving a comment, and if you happened to miss the Arsenal FC Weekly podcast then you can listen to that here. It’s pretty long at 42 minutes but I guarantee it’ll make you think, make you laugh, probably make you dislike me a little bit, but whatever. I can take it.

Anyway that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow for my second-last post before I go on break and I’ll be looking at some of the players I think we should be looking at signing over the summer. Cheerio.

Have your say on Gareth Barry or the Arsenal Survey by leaving a comment

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Comments

  1. barry is a hungry money chaser,and lied to villa about his passion for champions league football

  2. There´s no possibility of Alonso coming to Arsenal.

    He´s one of the prioritys of the new president of Madrid. And Im sure that he will be the second signing of Madrid after Kaka.

    Its a shame that Barry leave Villa for only 13mill. What a hell are our negotiators doing??

    Our only real chances are Toulalan or M.Diarra, the new president said that at least 8 players have to leave the team and Im sure that Diarra is on that list.

  3. Not sure GB is/was the answer to our prayers anyway. AW seems more interested in Alonso, but I really think it’s unlikely Rafa will let him go unless he has a kick-ass replacement on the way in, esp. after the season he just had. Also, why would Alonso want to leave Pool? Let’s hope AW really acts this summer so that we can enter next season with REAL hope, rather than feeling that there’s another one that got away!

  4. Barry is just a greedy cunt…let him go and i hope he plays the champions league he hoped for…

    Wenger will now move fast for Cana/Alonso and Hangeland…but if he does not get Hangeland i hope he gets back Senderos and just trains him to be fast on tackles. song can also muster that position as he has done well recently…

  5. I don’t think he’s greedy. He saw no one of the top 4 in for him and decided maybe he’s not good enough(quoted 6 years ago thinking this).So he got the best pay deal can’t blame him.
    Arsenal no money abd were gonna get Alonso for £20M…..are people mad no chance
    1. money best be spent elsewhere
    2.blow every last cent on Alonso madness

  6. how about scot parker? He s a good passer also. Best midfielder outside top 4.

  7. @ArsenalKenya
    I don’t think that Barry is greedy, he gave all those years to Aston Villa, not sure what he was earning but if someone came in for me in my line of work and offered me loads of cash with the promise of new players then I would go for it. Maybe we never went in for him.

  8. forget Alonso, you had your chance last year and never had the balls to pay the asking price. he`s since gone on to have his best season for us and has just got the fans ‘player of the year’ vote. he`s hugely popular here so much so that Rafa has said he`s not for sale. the only way he will leave is if he says he wants to go and even then you are looking at a far bigger fee this year, forget the silly newspaper estimates of 12 – 18£M its going to take a massive bid, a request from the player and a club with the history and resources of say a Real Madrid to prize him away. you dont qualify

  9. @ redscouse – I think you’re probably right. I can’t see him coming in for the reasons you’ve just mentioned. However, he and Barry were the two possible movers and with City snapping him up it really only leaves Alonso as a possibility. Looks like it will be someone from abroad.

  10. Doesn’t have to be a name. Just has to be good. And experienced. And who better at unearthing gems than Arsenal?
    Scousers won nothing this year and already spent a shit load of money. Now Gerrard is demanding they spend more! Hoo hoo!

  11. Yes, the guy is so lost, he should have been patient for some better team to come for him.
    Leaving for man city, the agent must have been crazy asleep. Good for his bank accoun though, loves money.

  12. I think Barry has gone to City primarily because no big 4 club was interested – and this disappoints me. An England international midfielder at 12m at his peak seemed a no brainer to me. He would have fit in very well being left-footed and has a great cross on him, can lead, can win the ball and play a bit with it as well. Not to mention the versatility factor – he can play LM or LB, in the DM role sitting behind Cesc or on occasion when Cesc needs a rest he could have played a more traditional CM role too.

    To be honest, I don’t think Arsene values Premier League experience as much as the rest of us, and that disappoints me when it is patently obvious that it goes a long way if you make the right purchases. Barry would have fit in well. This isn’t a case of English = overpriced, I’ve watched him a lot the last two years and at that price he is an absolute steal in the current market. And you’d have to think we may have got him for less if we’d bid for him. The fact that ENgland’s midfield has Gerrard, Lampard etc but is still Barry +1 says it all for me, and we’ve missed out yet again on a player we should have signed.

  13. The problem with Barry is that he isn’t experienced at the top level, bar a couple of England games. I can’t remember him playing in a final or in the Champions League, or challenging for the premiership. I wouldn’t mind him at Arsenal, and 12m is a reasonable price, but I don’t think he’s the answer to our problems.

    I thought it was madness that Liverpool wanted him to replace Alonso last season. I doubt we’ll see the Spaniard coming to London now.

  14. Well the big transfers are:
    Diego to Juventus
    Cannavaro to Juventus
    Olic to Bayern
    Gomez to Bayern
    Milito to Inter
    Barry to Man City – I am very shocked he went to City. City are not in european competition next season whereas Arsenal and Villa are. Must have been a big pay packet. Alonso will not be sold!, thats for sure. Also Barca have apparently bid 50mil for Fabregas.

  15. Let Arsen get Marco Cana, if we cant land Alonso coz of the prize money Real will spoil him with, Cana is strong, forcast and able to shoot from distance which makes his upfront runs more attacking. If one could lure YAYA the better but we need somebody people have seen and know their potential

  16. @ SF – Cana’s a hard, experienced player. There used to be loads of videos of him on youtube, not sure if they’re still there. My impression of him was that he was a bit of a nutter- lots of wild, high challenges, but he certainly had the ability on the ball required to be an Arsenal player. I’d love to see Alonso play for us, but the Barry saga seems to put paid to this. I’m surprised Barry went to Man City. I know he’s on £160k a week, but even with their new spending power, it’ll be a couple of years before they’re serious challengers.

    It’s a big worry to me about the Barca £50M for Fab bid. His comments about Alonso show he knows how much we need a decent DM to help him in midfield. If Alonso doesn’t come, AW will need to come up with something special to convince Fab that he’s serious about challenging for homours. Fab won’t wait forever.

  17. Barry going to Man City was a big surprise but Gavin got it right when no top 4 team went after him.

  18. This Cana Youtube bandwagon is similar to Quaresma and Baptista and all these other players that fans place on a pedestal without having seen them play a single game!

    I would very much like to hear from someone who has seen Cana play regularly in France, not just from Youtube clips.

  19. Very interesting survey results – particularly interesting that Arshavin is already 2nd favorite player, and a pretty close 2nd to Cesc, to boot.

    I’d like to see us get Alonso, but he’ll cost too much and we won’t be willing to spend what it will take. Also, I expect he’d rather go to Spain…

  20. SF,
    I don’t know what my PDF viewing programm has to do with the file being not available for download…anyway, now it works, thanks a lot!

  21. I have said before I dont think Alonso is what we need. Plus if Madrid want him we cant compete in terms of $$$.

    No Robin Van Persie love??? I put him as my favorite player but apparently I an in the minority… Him Cesc Arshavin are our three world class players IMO

  22. Can’t we buy Ribery?Is he too xpensive 4 us?Hez French and Wenger is known 4 a squad of several French players.As for Barry that is greed.Can’t wait 2 see wot AW has in store as a surprise 4 us.seems like Vill,Man city,Everton and Spuds are all on our necks.They’re really hungry 4 champions league spot.We gotta show them that the top four has its owners,u dont just become a top 4 over nite.AW,the ball is in your court!

  23. hmmm barry is a big miss :(… i would love to see alonso coming to guns, but he wont. i would strongly recommend, for the powerful, experienced DM we ar lookin for, i would suggest marcos senna from villareal, old but worth it! can protect fabregas and give him room to play. if we ar lookin for an attacking midfield, for some reason,lol, Van Der Vaart all the way! superb!lol

  24. I remember toulalan playing for his country sometime ago, played pretty well I believe he will meet the grade at emirates for expereince 25yrs old, 1.83m tall won league championships, champion league, regular for france,for icing on the cake attacking and defensive abilities is amazing forget barry greedy and alonso who not a naturally defensive player this should be arsene wenger goal, bringing him here, however one catch lyon will want to hold on to him, wenger can influence his french connections to bring him to where he can control and set up play

  25. u should have bought Barry. even MU should have bought him. We are so fragile in the center of midfield.

    at the end, i’m happy cos Liverpool didnt have him.

  26. People saying that the top four weren’t in for him – well they were over last summer, and this summer has only just begun! This transfer has happened exceptionally fast.

    P.S, Wow, actual living breathing females read this blog! Hello ladies!

  27. I pray Real,man city n chelsea fail miserably next season.its nothing personal, just that i utterly ditest how they’ve cheapend football by overblowing transfer fees and wages not to mention their almost zero input in youth development.a win of a major trophy for any of these would be a vindication of this mercenarism and a blow to true football.

  28. TDP – I thought your comments summed up the Barry non-signing very well. We missed out big time. Okay – last year the price was way OTT but for Man City to get him for 12 – that was well within our range. It’s almost impossible to believe Barry wouldn’t have come here if we’d been in for him.
    I would therefore add to your assessment that Arsene also does not value English or British players enough. Don’t get me wrong, as anyone who’s read my comments knows, I am a Wenger supporter through and through but nobody’s perfect and AW has a real blind spot when it comes to Brits! There are actually some very good British players around who aren’t over-priced. Clearly Barry was one of them.
    And how can anyone blame him for going to Man City? Greedy? Don’t be silly. You mean you don’t want to work for 160 grand a week?

  29. look the way i see it is…Last season he wanted to go to liverpool but they were not meeting the Aston Villa price. Liverpool this season have changed there minds and realised alonso is better and worth it.

    Then come Man City…a coach who meets with the player personally, outlines there goals and how much money and backing the club will have from the owners. Barry looks at it as a great challenge where he could be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world and a big pay packet.

    Arsenal probably did not meet with him and found the price of 12million too much…Also i agree wenger doesnt go for big brittish players.

    I think they are very important to winning the title and the drive to win. Look at players like…Gerrad, Lampard, Rooney, Terry. These guys want to win the title more then any other player…i cant say the same for the non english players.

  30. You know one of the surprising thing in this transaction was not that Barry signed for City (for 160k a week who wouldn’t), but Villa did not wait and started some type of bidding war to get the most out of this. Don’t you think they would have gotten a better price than that? Even if no other club comes for him, it is about creating the illusion that they are a lot of clubs chasing for his signature.

    Regardless, this one is going to be one of the craziest summers in the transfer market, that’s for sure!

  31. Lol i refuse to believe lack of English players is the reason we are losing lol. Injuries seems way more logical then some superior race type logic lol.

    However if it is the reason then the future is bright as Walcott, Wilshere, Gibbs, and half the reserves are British. Wonder what excuses will be thrown out then- other then the fact that Wenger is French- which I honestly believe is the only reason for the constant Arsenal hate by the crazily xenophobic British media.

    Toulalan would be great- I really dont think Barry was what we want anyways. Senna would be a dream obviously.

  32. Well I’m not saying Brit players are The Answer nor that not having them is a reason for not winning. Barcelona somehow managed without any!! Liverpool and Chelsea both only field a couple these days and manure’s quota is ever decreasing – but what I am saying is that you don’t always have to be looking abroad for candidates. There’s good players in the UK, some of them already with Premier League experience but Arsene rarely seems to go for them. Look how good a buy Sol was from Totnumb.
    Yes – we’ve got some good Brits coming through now and I think that’s great. But we do need replacements right now. AW has sadi it takes foreign players at least 6 months to get used to the Premier League style.

  33. @ MoMONEY – I really don’t like Toulalan. I think he is hugely overrated and was well out of his depth in the Euros in 2008. I think he would really struggle with the pace of the English game and he’s not strong enough to make up for it by being physical.

  34. I never thought Barry was Arsenal quality to be fair. Good honest pro, got a good range of passing and scores the odd goal, but does he have the pace and bite in midfield? He doesn’t strike me as a Cesc partner.

    It is, however, one less option. Over to you Arsene…

  35. Wenger isn’t buying a midfielder. we already have a crowded midfield. hell, he ain’t buying a striker either. the only signings we should expect is a defender nd a goal keeper. period!

  36. Barry has clearly gone for the money.

    Yes City are an upcoming team, but they have got there by spending, Arsenal on the other hand have not.
    This Arsenal team has been built by this Under-rated quality manager AW. Yes, Arsene is a moaner but he moans about the correct things. The only QUERY i have with AW is that he uncooths the best young players but, doesnt Buy the ones (Barry) Shouting in his face ?

  37. i respect AW as a stand out coach who empowers the young generation and not allowing the busuals to take control of the game of leather and manner of play which would have reach to serious exploitation of the youth, rather he empowers them. if thats is ones complain that he exploit i wouldnt agree cost this players were not regulars, but he beleives they will be good in the future, i think thats investment so shut up and bear your own burden

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