I’ll start by saying I’m feeling a lot better about things today after my hard drive crash yesterday – and with that change in attitude has come a change in the quality of Arsenal news.
According to reports from SkySports and The Guardian, Arsenal have received a £20 million offer from Manchester City for Emmanuel Adebayor. Apparently the Manchester club want to add to the recent signing of Carlos Tevez and are prepared to pay almost all of the £25 million that Arsenal have stated they require for Adebayor’s buyout clause to be activated.
It’s absolutely massive news and when all things are considered I think it would be the right decision by the club to let Adebayor, a man who has previously openly stated his desire to leave Arsenal, go. He hardly set the world alight last season and as much as I like him as a player when he’s in the mood, £20 million is big fee for a player who seemingly doesn’t want to play for us anymore. As such, I’m fully expecting Arsene Wenger and Arsenal to accept the fee and sell Togolese striker.
It goes without saying that the money would be a big boost our ability to bring in more quality in the areas that need reinforcement (*cough* central midfield *cough*) as well as allowing Wenger to sign a replacement for Adebayor in the form of Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh and push the likes of Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo up the pecking order.
When it boils down to it the only negative I can see from the transfer is that it sees Adebayor go to a rival Premier League rather than Spain or Italy, but at the end of the day I’d much rather it be City than Chelsea. It’s deniable with the signings they’ve made that City won’t make some sort of push for the top four this season but a club like Arsenal who will always aim for the league title, it’s more intelligent to sell Adebayor to a would-be challenger than an established threat.
I’ll be sad to see Adebayor go, I must admit, but if it is to City and for a fee as high as £20 million then I think it will be a good decision for the club. And at the end of the day, the club is what really matters.
Moving on to the other big news of the day and Robin van Persie has been revealed as Arsenal’s Player of the Season for 2008/09. In truth it was hardly a surprise, particularly after he was voted the Arsenal FC Blog Player of the Season a couple of months ago, but it’s good to see van Persie recognised for his excellent contribution. The Dutchman has some nice things to say about it all on the official website.
And that is that in a very exciting day. Enjoy yourselves.
Have your say on City’s Adebayor bid and van Persie’s award by leaving a comment.
Dnt like the idea of sellin him bt it comes dont to it i hope wenger sells him for £30+ million so we can have a bite in the ribary transfer
I feel in today’s market we should aim to get more than 20 million..Maybe 25.. because the players we should be looking to buy will also come at slightly if not grossly inflated prices.
HOLY JESUS!!!
THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I HAVE EVER HEARD ABOUT ARSENAL!
I am extremely exicited since we wuill now have Walcot/Arshavin and RVP as our main strikers with Bendy/Vela/Eduardo all clinical finishers as super subs.
AT LAST THE BROCHURE HAS WORKED FOR ARSENAL FANS.
It feels like having an orgasm
I agree, SF. I don’t “hate” Ade in any way. I don’t wish bad things on him if he does leave. And, if I had my druthers and knew we could get back the Ade of 2 years ago, I’d be more than thrilled at the prospect of him staying.
Sadly though, I believe the situation is such that it’s simply time to part ways. I think it’s best for the club, best for the fans, and best for Ade. I don’t see that there’s much relishing for the effort required on fans’ part to forgive Ade (well…to accept him remaining an Arsenal player), and I don’t see that Ade is all that interested in putting in a season of effort to regain the love of the fans. And most definitely…Ade and Arsene’s relationship I believe has been strained to its limit.
If, however, as we Twittered about earlier and this thing all turns out to be just an Anthony Kastrinakis wet dream and there is no actual truth to the City rumors swirling, then Ade, the fans and anyone else involved are really going to have to do some soul-searching to make his staying at Arsenal work out this coming season.
arsenal
I still think that ade is worth more than that..he is a proven performer at the prime of his playing career.. Arsenal shouldnt settle for any less that 25 big ones if they are smart..otherwise just keep him..we still need him and theres no guarantee someone new and unproven will do better
yeeeey!! RVP def is ma playa of the season n he deserves it. that guy with dudu infront Gosh! i cant wait to c the aftamath. it might b disasterous. am more of eduardo fan than ade. so i dont mind if he leaves, tho i kind hv a 2nd feeling abt him. anyway chamakh isnt beta than ade.i hv watchd him in african cup, n i didnt like his performance. Abu trika is mo beta than him.if wenger doesnt wanna spend big then thats the guy we want. r there any mo gud dm remaing out there. i dont think so unless we buy Alonso with ades money. wenger knws the best. we just wait. i cant wait 4 the games 2 start.
25mill and Arsene goes to Madrid to buy Huntelaar for 20.
Nice move.
There is no point selling Adebayor to a PL rival (unfortunately) unless we have a top-class replacement in mind. Huntelaar would be my preferred replacement; he has played for Real Madrid, scored goals, is the same age as Ade and a similar style of striker that can play the role Ade played for us, and he speaks English so would settle in easier. Unfortunatley, I can’t see it happening and I can only be a little apprehensive about Chamakh.
The top class CM/DM we need MUST come from this money.
I’m not sure we can keep selling 1st team players and just hope to replace them on the cheap.
Hmm…
At least we must poke 25 million from Citeh pocket….
@ MexicanGunner – I don’t think it would be smart spending all that money on a replacement, otherwise we may as well keep Ade. We’re strong up top, where we need to invest is in the middle, on a defensive-minded player.
Actually, why doesn’t Arsene go to Madrid and use the Ade money for Huntelaar and Mamadou Diarra in a joint deal? Now THAT would be a piece of business and our squad primed for next season strengthened.
if we sell ade a replacement has to be brought in as we cant rely on eduardo and rosicky to stay fit all season also i keep hearing about the abundance of attacking options at our disposal but ade is the only target man type player in the squad as bendtner isnt ripe yet and in certain games you need a physical presence up front so any replacement needs to be able to lead the line,hold onto the ball and bring others into the game.
Cool. Chamakhattack next. Then Mr. Albania; Cana. 🙂
I’m sorry. But i do not share the same sentiment as many on the board. When we look at Ade, we must look at what he brings to the team. As people are pondering what he brings i can imagine the responses coming to mind. Greedy? maybe. moodswings? maybe. lazy? possible too. But. Truth is. Ade brings pace and height to our front line. Look at the average height of Arsenals team. Its tiny. Especially with the likes of Denilson, and even Arsh. He is a direct player which is what we need. A direct player who recieved the most penalties for offside in the 08-09 season. I am highly confident that Arsharvin has the ability. However I do not think that his ability will be best utilized behind the striker. I like him drifting about on the left. And thats where he works. He got the most assists and the fewest games.
If we sell him. I would much rather see Arsenal sign a player at their peak, and tested with experience. Chamakh looks good on Youtube. But he is an untried and untested player. I would hope that we have an idea of an adequate replacement before we sign him. I just don’t know that Chamakh would be a sure thing. And raises a few doubts.
@ TDP – Haha, I think a bit of logic would do some good when considering potential signings. Wenger has already confirmed his interest in Chamakh and I would wager that if Ade goes then he will bring in the Moroccan and promote the responsibility of his already established players.
Diarra will not come back to Arsenal, he clearly dislikes Wenger and is one of the few people who is actually valued by Madrid. I don’t think he’ll leave a club that has just signed Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema – it would be madness!
@Spanish, agree with you about Chamakh being the replacement but I was referring to Mamadou Diarra, the 28year old Mali international rather than Lassana Diarra – wouldn’t take him back!
Agree Spanish but thats exactly the reason of why we would be another season without a trophy.
Again selling a player for good money and using that to buy 2 or 3 players. Thats not good at all.
I dont see very crazy to get 25mill for a player and use 20 to buy a player of the same age and who have so much better statics than Adebayor.
But then Arsenal will buy a player like Chamakah who wil need 1 or 2 years to score the same number of goals od Adebayor and we´re back to our misery.
Of course a deal for MDiarra and Huntellar will be awesome.
For me, we should be after M Diarra anyway, regardless of whether we sell Ade or not; he is a man mountain and a defensive midfield specialist – he will read the game, win the ball and give it to Cesc. He won’t try and venture forward and go on mazy runs but he is a master of his job on the pitch and he sticks to it. And he is 28 and vastly experienced, not to mention available at a rock bottom price (probably under 10m) and exactly the sort of presence we need alongside Cesc. And he is different to our other options there.
The only downside is the ACN which would leave us with just Denilson and maybe Ramsey as CM options during that time, but as far as DM options go, he is surely the man to go for if we want value for money.
God of gunners please let dis deal about Ade work out,i think it will be a big releive on cesc and other midfielders who distributes the passes…
I cant believe what im reading here.. Get back Diarra?? and sign up Huntelaar… As arsenal supporters we have really become dreamers haven’t we..c’mon guys wake up to yourselves.. We got rid of diarra remember??? and yes he doesnt like AW and just to add more..he’s not that good!!
To get huntelaar would be nice as an ade swap..but it just wont happen!!
I’ve stated many times that I think Adebayor has the touch of a baby elephant and misses far too many chances in front of goal.
He must go, especially if a bid is being tabled at £20 million!
Agree with you Spanish, that money can be better spent.
@ oz_gooner
I think you´re confusing Mahamadou Diarra with our “old friend” Lassana Diarra.
And actually L.Diarra is better than M.Diarra IMO.
Definitley one of the worst Arsene moves of his career in Arsenal.
Disagree with you Mexican. If we still had Flamini. The move would not look so bad. But at the time. Chuck Norris could not have moved Flamini from his position as DM
Love Ade, would be sad to see him go. Commanding £22 million despite having an off season speaks for itself in my eyes. I don’t think he’d slot into the City team very easily and if he has any credibility as a player he’d reject a move there.
If he joined, City would have about 10 strikers then? Madness.
Exactly Shane but we dont still have Flamini so it was a very very bad move.
And if you seen play L.Diarra this 6 months with Madrid maybe u will agree with me that he´s better than Flamini.
How on earth could u sell a player when u dont have the signature of Flamini for more years? why not just loan him and at the end of the season get him back.
I can’t say that i would make an assumption to say one is better because L Diarra did put in really good performances at Pompey and R Mad. Flamini didn’t get as much playing time at Milan. And L Diarra made the position his at R Mid which says a lot about his quality. But Flamini was the perfect slot into Arsenal with Cesc. L DIarra wanted more playing time and didn’t want to go out on loan. He just wanted game time. L Diarra did not want to play at Arsenal anymore. And he showed that once he left whinging and complaining about le boss.
I agree with you. But it was a sticky situation. L Diarra wanted out. And many people did not expect Flamini to sign. I say that because I didn’t. amidst my optimism which was definitely proven wrong.
Hey Ho Lets Go
Well I for one will only believe Ade is an Ex Gooner when I see him playing for the “long suffering” Manchester City
The man has announced more departures from the Emirates followed immediately by lifelong committment to Arsenal than every other player in the history of the club
If we did have some hot sweaty cash in the hand though I return to a question I raised last week – why pay what I would guess would be a hefty fee for the unproven Chamakh – when Obefami Martins HAS to be sold by the “up shit creek” Toon ?
Gazidis – get too it my friend
I’ll be glad if Ade goes- the tosser doesn’t want to play for us any more, so we’re better off without him. I disagree with you Spanish to an extent about where we spend the money. We will need a top class replacement for Ade. The only other tall front man we have is Bendtner and he needs at leat another season before he’ll be ready to lead the line on a permanent basis. Yes, we desperately need a DM as well- but not at the expense of a top class centre forward.
sell sell sell and then buy buy buy
y’all r dreamers n haters. guyz like u let the team down. guyz like u made ade the way he is. if u hd atleast given him the respect he deserved he wld hv been the same guy who played with joy. if ade goes whos ur next target? bedtner?. c’mon u let the team down. all of ur choices too r flop in their own way. M.diara is an injury driven guy like rosicky. huntler is perfect i agree but will tk time 2 adopt. so plz tk it easy with arsenal or switch to man citeh they will certisfy ur need by buying rather than winning.
If Ade doubles his salary and halves his goals as in last season, I presume if he doubles his salary with city he should only get about 7 goals!!!
Sell him, get a good DCM and let the rest of our strike force get the goals.
nice to hear that…but am amazed that there are fans who don’t want him to be sold???…come on its a great news…..and welcome back spanishfray…next time be careful with ur stuffs…as we really miss ur blog….even for a day!!
no no no ayaan ade was given his adoration and given the benefit of the doubt on many occasions by our fans…he was picked from obscurity and made into the player he is by our manager and TEAM,but like other african based players like drogba,eto,etc these players develop a ‘better then you’ complex and often become disconnected from their fans due to their selfish nature….kinda makes u wonder bout the bendtner head-butt incident now doesnt it?
ade will realise hes not as good as he thinks once he has left and does not have cesc,rvp,nasri and co. delivering him the ball plus the guy nees 5 chances to score 1 and he often was too lazy in recent seasons to run back that he has to be the most caught offside player in any 1 season…FACT
its nothing personal but y wud any true arsenal fan want to keep him for another season?HE DOESNT WANT TO PLAY FOR OUR TEAM…cash in now wish him luck (cos hel need it).the truth is hel be competing wit santa cruz,tevez,bellamy,benjani and any other striker they my sign…
most arsenal fans say edu breaking his leg vs birm was the moment we lost the league the season before last but we went 1 up only for ade to go 1v1 wit bendtner 6 yards away for the tap in but our ade was chasin van nists consecutive scoring record at the time and elected a shot that was tamely turned aside by maik taylor…that was the moment we lost that championship….any other ARSENAL player,right down to youth team, wud hav squared that pass.
im sure SF wil say im picking a solitary occasion to generalise his play but i think dis is a fair reflection of the guy
thank and goodbye Ade,enjor ur cash as u fade back into obscurity
I think we are all so desperate for a big name signing that we aren’t putting the club first.
I rate Ade but think it is time for him to go for one reason – unlike all other players linked with moves he has not refuted the rumours. He has not learned his lessons from the last pre-season so let him go.
However, I think that if he leaves (and let’s hope it happens fast, I’m fed up with these epic transfer sagas!) that we must firm up our defence with a talented DM and keep the rest of the money for a rainy day.
Maybe I just dont want to get my hopes up about a Huntlaar, Villa or Eto’o but I think that buying a wage greedy striker would not make sense as our defence was poor last season whereas the striking/ attacking midfield options we have without Ade are truly exciting. Walcott and Vela, Van Persie, Eduardo, Bentner, Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky, Fabregas, Diaby, Wilshire, etc are all players who can attack with flair.
Wenger doesn’t spend where he doesn’t need to. And if Ade goes, we must trust the talented young attackers to back up Eduardo and Van Persie with aplomb.
Very good news indeed.I prefer a game with startn strikers of Van P and Eduardo.Not that i hate Ade,i think he wil make it in man city.
hey….shambogunner!!! what the heck are u talking abt>>>>>>ade is selfish may be but…”like other african player…….” is alittle bit ill judgement for me………if u want i can call many non african selfish players…….so watch it bro!!
I think we can get more than £20 million from city for Adebayor. It’s a good sell for £25 million. The money should be used to bring the player like David Silva or Eto to Arsenal.
It really gives me joy that at long last Ade is gone so that a striker with lightening speed and right decision making mentality is sign in.
Wenger should also be careful that he doesnt get another Ade in the form of a new striker coming in.
He must make sure he is signing the right person and someone who can make things happen like Arshavin and so on.
I would also like to post here and even would even like it discussed… that Wenger should be careful of allowing Chelsea to win the UCL first before Arsenal, it will be the biggest blow ever for me.
expecting more good news and signings.
I don’t think anyone is asking for Arsene to re-sign Lassana Diarra…
We are talking about this guy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamadou_Diarra
i think we will all jus be a little sad jus a lil sad to see Ade go but i think its better to have himgone than to make plans around him and he doesnt deliver an lets be honest he hasnt delivered in a while yes the
i ahdnt finshed and my comment was jus posted hahaha well i was saying he hasnt done much for us for a while besides that Villareal goal i mean i remember sitting there tired of watching him being offside,trudging along,niot chasing causes like he used to and to be honest the last few games when he wasnt included i was real happy bout that coz from then on i havent really counted him in any of our future plans…lets get the deal done soon.
His teammates made him look good,lets now see what he is really made of
Sincerely I love Adebayor but there’s no point in keeping him if his heart is not in the club. Actually he wont deliver for a club he wants out, or will he? For Persie, He will always be my hero. He deserves every award and accolade there is to be won! Go Persie, Go!
lets swap ade for richards as he is a gooner anyhows and not many boys play for their childhood clubs and not for the money (ca$hley) We could use another defender if gallas goes and he is a big wage for an older player but I did like him when he got stripped as he really played to his fullest. Also and most important is that ade will be off to the african cup with toure, eboue and song so another cm and defender should be top of our list. With sharva behind away from homes in the cl and the likes of rvp, bendtner, vela and walcott we have anough players barring injurys to cope.
Can we believe the Daily Mail, according to their on-line version, Ade has had a price agreed and is in fact having a medical. Could he be presented with Tevez? We will soon find out.
@ Dally – The Guardian are saying so too.
It really looks like it is happening folks. Maybe City are just buying a top player from each time to weaken their rivals. Why else would they need 9 strikers!!
Well Eduardo, your time has come to lead the line for Arsenal.
ade doesn’t want to sty- LET HIM GO
but do NOT sign chamakh
we should play the 4321 (433) formation with RVP the only striker. we have bendtner, eduardo and vela as backup. the 2 offensive wingers should/will be theo and andrey. rosicky, wilshere, merida, vela, barazite eboue as backup. nasri and fab the 2 creative midfielders and MAHAMADOU DIARRA the deensive midfielder. diaby, denilson, song, randall, ramsey as backup. gallas and toure will be the 2 centers, sagna and clichy the fullbacks (vermaelen, silvestre, traore/botelho, song, hoyte, djourou as subs). almunia in the box.
JUST SELL MANU FOR 20/25 MIL AND BUY DIARRA!!!!! THAT’S ALL WE NEED. WE COULD SELL GALLAS GIVE THE 10 TO ARSHAVIN WHO WAS NAMED 2nd PLAYER OF THE SEASON BY PLAYING ONLY HALF A SEASON WITHOUT CL. HE WILL SHINE NEXT SEASON. IF WE SELL GALLAS THEN WE SHOULD SIGN EXPIRIENCE (no sakho, bassong, richards). BURDISSO, CHIVU, METZELDER, MARCHENA, UPSON…UPSON IS MY FAVOURIT BECAUSE HE IS ENGLISH AND WILL COME IN HANDY WITH THE NEW ENGLISH PLAYERS RULE.
it will be sadly probably like this:
IN: chamakh, matuidi, sakho/bassong
OUT: adebayor, senderos, eboue
I TRUST IN WENGER BUT I PREFFER EXPIRIENCE LIKE ALMUNIA SAYD.
@ jebo it was just a comparison all be it badly phrased it was not a generalisation on african strikers of which there are many loyal and top class…my point was dat once these players make their transition from small teams to top european clubs their mindsets and attitudes change and i think the players iv highlighted reflect that and are known by thier fans to be prone to drama…dnt wanna be labelled now so is dat politically correct bro
Hope we get Eto’o or Huntelaar with the money. And throw in a DMF like Diarra and we are set
Has Diarra played much since the re-occurance of his knee injury?
What about Stephane Mbia…DM from Rennes? They wanted 10mil in Jan and we let him pass but Arsene was keen. (Also, Huntelaar has the fire we like. He closes down, works hard, and he’s hungry…also he plays with Robin on the Dutch team…easy settling in maybe?
Oh also remeber Sébastien Puygrenier from Zenit…he’s a giant like Hangeland, no nonsense type stopper?
huntelaar rumoured to be in talks wit stuttgart dudes
Im sure Huntelaar would prefer us to Stuttgart if Wenger gave him a call… Hopefully the money from Ade can go to him and a DMF
well done people, I am really happy to hear from you all. We have grown past the panic stage of our opponent our boys re now men, even if Ade goes which is highly emotional, we might not necessarily need another striker, what we need will be one established DM and one world-class defender. I thump my chest that we will surprise the orld. In Arsenal and AFC fans I trust.
@ Filipino Dan
Not, Diarra was injured for the rest of the season so he didnt played even in the last games of the season.
But now he´s fine and he traveled with the team yesterday for the pre season.
Huntelaar was the only player who didnt travel because he will be in Madrid this week negotiating for a new team.
I would also want canna in cm as this guy is a beast and his you tube clip is awesome as we could post it to all the prem clubs before we play them and then no one even I’m ard ben thatcher or I’m ard but look like a girl savage would go near him.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_bZAdOKhk
I think it’s important that everyone refrain from being ridiculously harsh on Adebayor until the move is confirmed. At this stage he’s still an Arsenal player and I think people should just bare that in mind or else we risk the chance of an ‘egg on your face’ scenario for next season.
arsene never buy,s off the cuff ,talent scouts watch players 20 to 30 games rest arsured Chamakh has the skills and first touch I was a bit surprised Arsene gave away his thinking maybe it was to tell Chamakh dont sighn any contract till Arsenal come calling and papers reported Chamkh would love to play for us.
i am puttin all my faith in song as the powerhouse dm dat we need in the middle but if he gets injured we might hav a problem so it might not be a bad idea to get a player like christian poulsen from juve to play along song
so if city sign Ade.
This is the forwards they have.
Bellany, Ade, Santa, Robinho, Tevez
AHHAHA wonder who will cry about sitting on the bench….
i dont think Ade will go to City…I think its a bad rumor.
and there defence is pooo. And Mark Hughes will be sacked either in january or by the end of the season. TAB anyone?
hughes has confirmed negotiations and ade is set to gain a work permit in manchester tomorrow so its more than rumour and wud take sumtin huge for the move not to happen..once again thanks and good luck ade
Well I will be sorry to see Ade go – if he does go.
Here’s a quote from Ade taken from the BBC website on May 06 this year – “Arsenal put me where I am today – they made me one of the biggest strikers in the world. I have to pay them back. How am I going to pay them back? Make them win trophies. That is what I am here for and I have to fight for that.”
Does that sound like a guy who ‘doesn’t want to play for Arsenal’? as some people have said above?
Still – for once it looks like one of these stupid rumours is actually true (since the Guardian are running it) so I will add my voice to those saying – no insisting (if that’s possible as a mere supporter) – that the club buy a defensive midfielder with the money. Maybe it’d be enough to get Flamini back off Milan?
I dont wanna see ade go i really think he would have been a changed man this season. I still believe that if no one leaves before the season starts we will have a bigger chance at the title and weather ppl like it or not ADE is a big part of ARSENS plan and he is a gr8 striker. I still dont understand why ppl wanna get huntelaar why would u want 2 strikers who are first teamers for one country what happens when RVP and huntelaar go away on national duty that will only leave us with 3 strikers and if one gets injured than we have 2 so i really dont think its a gr8 idea on huntelaar. I really wont like ade playin for anyone else but as and if he goes than we really need a top class striker to replace him, but most of which are taken.
The only place that isn’t saying Ade is going is the arsenal website. Will it happen today, it’s quite exciting in away, will he go, no when will he go, who will we get? In a way I hope shitty haven’t been reading all these blogs and newspapers as they may change their mind.
Get us Chamakh. Sell Ade
@Filipino Dan – Sorry, you just forgot we draw matches we could win not because we didnt concede, but because we couldnt just score in those matches. WE NEED A CAPABLE FINISHER OF THE BALL IN THE BOX….at least so we can score away against teams like Manure in the semis of the champs league when ALMUNIA is busy pulling all the stops.
Does Ade want the transfer window to close on him? I hope he’s packed already
He’s obviously overpaid and underskilled. He should and sit on the City bench, where he belongs. That’s where he can be paid without having to work hard and spend the time reflecting on how overrated he is in his own eyes. He’ll be behind Robinho, Santa Cruz and Tevez in pecking order. He is not even half of any of these strikers except in height.
@ hey nonny mouse
i think ul find those comments made by adebayour came in the aftermath of 2 pathetic and lacklustre displays vs manu in the CL….its called deflection.and obviously those who said he doesnt wanna wear the shirt are being proved right as he is pushing for a move away…..AGAIN
How long r we goin to cöntinue like this whence wenger sells a player, he wil neva buy an imediate replacement instead he wil prefer 2 groom d replacement.atleast we ve been patient wt ade.now is d time 4 him 2 deliver.pls let him stay.