They know they can, but will City steal Arshavin from Arsenal?

The football world has gone mad. Well, madder than usual, anyway.

Today it was confirmed that Manchester City have tabled a £91 million offer for Kaka from AC Milan. It demands some attention if only because it shows that even in this difficult period of economic stability, anything is possible in the world of football.

Now we knew Manchester City have bucket-loads of cash and want to make and “statement” signing but I really don’t think this sort of thing is good for football. Not being an expert on economy I can’t really back up that statement apart from saying that it just gives me a yucky feeling in my stomach.

It also shows that if Manchester City want our main transfer target – Andrei Arshavin – they will probably get him. If it’s purely a matter of finances than we just can’t compete.

Thankfully it doesn’t seem that way with the player himself essentially admitting that he wants to play for us. But even so, I can’t help to think of the stealing of Robinho from Chelsea and am starting to wonder whether City might do the same to us over Arshavin. Only time will tell of course, but the Kaka bid is a stark reminder of the power that Manchester City now possess in the transfer market.

Anyway, onto something more Arsenal-y things now and I have for you a rant from Nicklas Bendtner’s father, Bendtner Senior aka Thomas Bendtner. You might have caught a story over the weekend about the Danish striker giving away out starting lineup to his good mate Fabrice Muamba at Bolton. However, Bendtner’s father responded to the claims about his son with the following comments:

“I can’t even comment upon this. It is completely brain dead. No footballer could in his wildest imagination do something like this. This is the English in a nutshell. This is the way they are, and something we have to react to with laughter.”

I think, as Bendtner Snr suggests, that it is a pretty good example of the ridiculous nature of the English media. They’ll grab anything, absolutely anything to sell a paper and I don’t think there is any reason to believe that Bendtner did say anything to Muamba. I just don’t think he’s that stupid and I think the response from is father is a relatively fair one.

Going forward, maybe Wenger should ask Bendtner to tell someone on the other team a fake team line-up to trick the opposing manager into changing his team. Just an idea, but something that someone like Sam Allardyce might fall for.

Anyway, that’s all on a rather zany day. Hopefully there will be some team news in the build-up to weekend game against Hull tomorrow.

PS. Stay tuned for any Arshavin news because there has been whispers that he MIGHT sign for us today.

Have your say on City’s bid for Kaka, Bendtner Snr’s rant or Andrei Arshavin by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. Man city can spend whatever they want. After two years, like in Cheasea case they will not be able to sustain that levelof spending, and the toys will be thrown out of the pram. City could not fill their stadium. Moreover these arabs are not that rich. Abramovich was listed in the top ten. UAE as acountry was wealthy,especially when oilhit above USD140. But, at current level, they are below their budgeted breakeven. A number of projects have been shelved or slowed diwn iver there; with retrenchment of foriegn workers a daily reality.

  2. That Citeh bid is insane. Probably one of the dumbest bids ever. Why not spend that money on 6 or 7 quality players like Ribery, David Villa etc? They need more than one or two signings to solve their problems. Anyway i guess its good news for us b/c there is no way theyll be spending an extra £20m on Arshavin.

  3. @SF, This is absolutely crazy, 91M ???I ll shop Messi instead if Im in their shoes!!!!They will make the same mistakes as Real or Chelsea.Look at Ballack, franckly the guy has lost his pace, age factor,and especially things I have noticed is, whenever a team squad is composed like an All-star game, many of them will fade away automatically.Take Figo as an exmpl, this guy should have reached an extraordinary quality in his career.This kind of greed usually ruins players performance.
    We will see whats gonna happen to arshavin, but as far as i know,his heart wants to be with Arsenal, he loves the gunners, and he wants to leave a message to the world that he has existed and played for team like Arsenal, and this our advantages comparing to Man-City which doesnt have any promising place for him,He might get a good salary with comfort but might spend most of his career on the bench as many stars will come and join him at EASTland.To me, if he wants to leave a trace and shine in the world of football,he’d rather go for a team with financial stability,mature character with good reputation.Honestly,Im saying this as an outsider neutral spectator, not as an Arsenal Fan.Man city looks like a Son of a rich-man who just got a new car coz he got his matric certificate, and thinking that he woud finish visiting all the clubs in town in only one single night.Arsenal has been long being on the top4 of the league, and we are a club which makes players shine not sinking them down.As I see now then, this speculation abt Man-city linked with Arshavin sounds to be true.If it is, the we must forget abt Arshavin, coz this is business, and money talks.Obafemi Martins is also not bad, i personnaly enjoy him when he plays, good pace, good run, finisher….Fast etc,his agent actually knows that we need creative player, he is striker but I think he can manage on the LW as he is Right footed.According to his comments in the media, he souds like teasing Arsenal about Martins (I mean his agent) for 13Mpds, which we can still negotiate and might end up at 9 or 8M which is bargain.Personally, Id really love to see Arshavin but he doesnt join us then I ll put my bet on Martins.Afcourse, Arshavin is good but Martins isnt very far from him in terms of quality, and hes got more experience in the league + he is cheap and not an ijnury prone.
    Bendtner’s dad?? no comments!!!

  4. Basically Arshavin comes down to whether he wants to play world class football at Arsenal or make money of Man City… Time will tell.

  5. ARsenal really needs a good midfield and defence. Prefer Barry with us from Aston Villa and a good defence. Hope arsenal can still get EPL.

  6. Arsenal fans still dreaming about some cups this year. Carling cup hopes already spoiled. With current squad and injuris we are far below Manu, Chelsea and Liverpool. We need to buy some great midfielder to fill the gap of fabergas. Defence also required to make strong.
    Hope Arsene wenger do everything sensibily before its loo late. Frankly speaking fans are very disappointed and can;t see Arsenl at this position. May almighty bless arsenal to play always like champions.

  7. does it not come to Zenit refusing our tiny bid in comparison to another team’s much bigger bid? sure I know the player wants to come here but I get the feeling if Inter or City doubled our offer that somehow he would go there and play football. he is sure he will not play for Zenit again. Fingers crossed, but this still has some way to run I feel.

  8. Few Questions for Everyone:

    1. How many players Wenger will buy this Janaury?

    2. Will Arsene ever win Champions League?

    3. Who is Arsenal’s best performer this season?

    Posted by ramugunner | January 14, 2009, 6:31 pm
    My answers:

    1. Two
    2. Yes, this season.
    3. Toss-up between Eboue, Diaby and Almunia.

    Like Spanishfry says, I am trying to be positive.

    Posted by ramugunner | January 14, 2009, 6:36 pm

  9. I’m reading here that Arshavin is an Arsenal fan.Not so long ago he was a Barca fan and was trying hard to go there – so I really don’t attach much credence to him being “one of us”.I’m also a bit suspicious as to why he has’nt got a move before now.He’s been trying hard to move since last summer. Just wonder if there’s more to him than we as fans know about.It’s already been said that money talks and I’m sure that if Man.C outbid us then he’ll become a Man.C fan !!
    Whatever happens regarding him I’m fairly sure that AW is plotting away behind the scenes and I expect him to surprise all of us before the window closes.If there’s any truth in what I read yesterday about AW and Steve Bruce having a gentlemans agreement regarding Palacious then that’s one I would definitely be in favour of.I just wish it would all be over and done so as not to have this awful expectation every day.

  10. @ ramugunner
    1, Wenger will sign only one player.
    2, Yes, my gut tells me it will be this season.
    3, RVP is having a great season, Nasri aswell.

    And id put Song, JD and Denilson in the most improved players category.

  11. By linking the club to almost every top class,and in many cases, not so top class players Man. City have destroyed any semblance of team spirit or loyalty that existed within the organisation. What ambitious player will want to go to a team that is struggling to avoid relegation rather than qualifying for European competition, only those attracted by high wages will want to go there rather than stay at a competitive club or move to one.

    Arshavin’s club of choice, at least this week, is Arsenal who are reported to have made an increased offer of 12 Million Euros.

    Arshavin will be eligible to play in the Champions League and so would be well worth signing.

  12. Almost 100 million for a player is ridiculous no matter who he is. World football is changing. We all know money cannot buy success unless you spend it on a right player. ManUtd and Barca spend money for what they need. Everyone laughed at ManUtd when they paid 30 million for Ferdinand and Rooney. Now those investments look like like a good deal given their contribution to win a treble including World club football. What I want to say is that although money is not everything, it certainly helps to achieve success.

    A man of Wenger’s intelligence is certainly not happy with Spanish-reject Almunia in goal or Eboue/Diaby/Song in the middle park. Where is the money at Arsenal? Yes, there is money but Cigar-smoking Board members don’t want to spend. We all know this January is critical for this club’s future. Still our Board is not willing to spend.

    We need to buy at least 2 players to make a decent side which can challenge for CL and guarantee 4th spot. I say sign Arshavin and Sagna/Vidic type player which will cost about 23 million. This Arsenal team is short of 3 quality players to be a world-class team.

    Gk: Akinfeev: 6 million
    CDM: Veloso/Cana: 10 million
    RM: Arshavin

    Akinfeev
    Sagna Gallas/Toure Dj’ Clichy
    Nasri Veloso Cesc Arshavin
    Persie Bayor

  13. Palacious who plays for Wigan is a better defensive midfielder than Denilson or Song or Diaby. That guy is a beast who ain’t scared of tackles like our Denilson or ever-slow Billong Song. Tuck-tuck Wenger who recommended him for his best friend Steve Bruce. We could have signed him for Peanuts. Fuck me.

  14. Radada RSA, Agreed with Vela. Our midfield should be
    …….CDM……
    Eboue Nasri Vela

    until we buy someone and Cesc Fabregas comeback. Oh I forgot! Rosiscky. Does he play for Arsenal! Awesome player and a big crock.

  15. We should all be very worried about Man City’s offer. It’s sad truth that the main component in winning trophies in today’s Premiership and Champions League is how much you’ve invested in your squad. Chelsea hadn’t won the league for decades- 2 years after Abramovich started pumping in his millions, they were champions 2 years running. Man U spend big every summer without fail. The Reals and Barcelonas of this world also invest vast sums to ensure success. It is no surprise that we have enjoyed less success in terms of trophies over the last 5 years than all the other 3 Premiership “top 4”. It’s a direct result of not investing adequately in the squad. It may take Man City a couple of years to build a team of stellar superstars, but if that’s what the arabs want, that’s what they’ll get. If Liverpool, Chelsea and Man U continue to invest as they have done, we will be out of the top 4 for good- it’s that simple. If you buy the best players, you will compete at the very top. If you rely on unknowns and kids you won’t. Until some kind of regulation is imtroduced to put a stop to the current financial obscenities going on in world football, nothing will change. Our new stadium was supposed to give us the financial muscle to compete at the top end. We have seen absolutely no evidence of this thus far. There are stark, difficult choices ahead for the Arsenal board. If the stadium revenue will not give us the cash required to compete, we will have to start listening to David Dein and his billionaires. Otherwise it’s the Uefa Cup for us every year. I hate the fact that football has come to this, but it’s fact and we must live with it for the immediate future at least.

  16. @ Gibbs and ramugunner:-

    There is no way we have the quality or depth in our squad to win the CL this year. I admire your optimism, but it just ain’t gonna happen.

  17. Well said Fatboy, it’s nice to see that at least some of our supporters are staying real. You know i think that some of us are in total denial and wouuld put faith in what ever Arsene does even when they know in their minds that it wont yield any dividends, like his total dependence on a team of completes kids who clearly can’t coped with the pressure and quite frankly in some cases not good enough.

  18. @ Fatboy
    I say we do have the quality mate. Walcott, Eduardo, Cesc and Rosicky will all be back before May and we can beat any team in the world with those players.

    Sagna-Gallas/Kolo-JD-Clichy
    Walcott-Cesc-Denilson/Song-Rosicky/Nasri
    Ade/Bendtner-RVP/Eduardo

    Thats a great lineup.

  19. @ ramugunner

    1, We may sign no players.
    2, Absolutely, Arsenal will win the CL at some point. But probably not this year.
    3, RvP and Nasri have been superb. RvP has shown that he is one of the best strikers in the world when he stays fit. Nasri has proved that adjusting to the Prem isn’t so hard after all.

  20. Fatboy; if your argument about investing in the squad were correct, we should be fighting relegation as we speek. The likes of Sunderland, portsmouth and Spurs have all outspent us, some of them massively, over the last few years. I still don’t see us trembling in our skivvies when we face them. I would argue we have heavily invested in the squad in terms of time, paying for future potential.

    Chelsea should be more worried by Villa than us. Whith them being not able to beat any of the top four, do they realy deserve to be in the top 4? The Man U performance was the worst I have seen for a while

  21. @ Gibbs:
    I agree your team is capable of beating anyone on any given day. However, we’ll have a fair few CL games to get through before Cesc, Rosicky and Walcott will be back. Even if we sign Arshavin, he won’t be available for CL games, so who will we have in the CM position to make things happen against Euro teams who can defend deep? I don’t think we’ve got anyone with the vision and ability to open up continental teams who are happy to play a patient game of chess.

    @ Taygoon:
    You are right about us investing time in our young players. You’re also right about other teams spending more than us. I think the investment in quality young players will be enough for us to outgun the Sunderlands, Portsmouths and Spurs of this world, but not the Man Us, Liverpools, Real Madrids and Barcelonas. If 4th place every year, plus the odd cup run is good enough for you, I think we’re set up OK. I was hoping we’d be aiming a bit higher. Yes, Chelsea were shite the other day, but you have to remember their manager is still finding his feet in the EPL. They also have a chairman who will dig deep into his bottomless pockets again if he has to.

  22. @ Fatboy;

    4th place is not good enough for me. Even First place if we barely nick it. I want total anihilation of teams before us to the point it is fun no more. We have outguned both Man U and chelsea in direct battles with liverpool pulling a houdini, all with a significantly weakened team (with injuries) than we would have available without any additions. For the most part this season, we have paid for AW’s tactical mistakes in games we have lost or drawn. I have maintained that it was a mistake for us to line up accordingly or pay any respect to the likes of Stoke, Sunderland, Villa or anyone else in the EPL for that matter. We should have gone into those games like we go against Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool, that is play our game and not trying to counter them. Had we done that, we would be sitting pretty on top right now.

    The team and the players are capable of winning everything and beating everyone put before them, but a young side looks to the alpha dog to get the feeling of how to behave, and if AW(the alpha dog) gets cold feet and decide to go with a lineup specifically drawn out to counter opposition, they are bound to be warry and take the hint. In my opinion, that is what cost us most of the games with or without Gallas’ help.

    I came out just after Cesc’s injury and said we may see a different and more effective and deadlier Arsenal provided some players we have are played in certain positions. I still maintain the same view. For weeks I have been touting Nasri as AM with Vela on the left(I have been on Vela as LM way before Oct, even at the expence of Nasri when Cesc is available), and I have said Song+Diaby+Denilson in the side at the same time is something I don’t want to see as it slows us down and we resort to killer long passes to Ade, most of which ends up as offsides and we don’t get the best of RVP’s penetrative and explosive abilities (you need him closer to the goal for the element of surprise to have a maximum effect). Like I said before and after the Bolton game, Nasri gives us more options than Cesc does in that when everyone packs the bus, we have a CM who can pick them apart with dribbles and runs and not relly on passes which have become too predictable with Cesc running things.

    If Nasri starts in the middle with Denilson @ Hull with Vela on the left, and RVP in the side, I predict a very comfortable win and injection of a great deal of belief to the players and the fans.

  23. This is not going to be a fairytale ending for Southend afterall, they are 2-1 down. and Manure is 1 nil up.

  24. Chavs 4-1 Southend. and another 1 nil win for Manure, i hate this, they are the favourites for the title now.

  25. @ Gibbs – Definitely. But when weren’t they? United are always slow starters and are always there at the end. I think we’ll stay close to them though.

  26. @ SF
    I hope we do stay close mate, snatching the EPL from under their noses in our 2nd last game of the season (which is against them) would be sooo sweat!

  27. no chance boys…

    we will power through…only weakness i see in the united side is the central midfield position.

    I would always play against united in a 451 formation and dominate them in the middle.

    Anderson who had shown great potential last season. Really hasnt pushed on this season and been dissapointing. BUt he is only 19.

  28. Thanks Spanish…

    Hope you get Arshavin…would love to see the arsenal back up there battling it with united…Rather then those scousers.

    They wont even put up a fight come end of the season….

  29. SF,
    I worry more about Inter than City. City is like that really hot girl that everyone has already banged…THE ATTRACTION IS JUST NOT THERE! If Arshavin signs with city he’ll regret it.

  30. Also,

    Arshavin not worth anything over 12 million sterling. This saga is becoming boring and the more I hear of Zenit the less attractive Arshavin becomes. I wish we could play Zenit. The winner of the match gets Arshavin!

  31. @ hartwick89 – I think the saga is becoming so boring because we’re following it so closely. My advice, just try and forget about it and be pleasantly surprised in a week or so 🙂

  32. I dont think you’re used to the keypad of your New Mac yet SF lol i saw a few Spelling mistakes and i thought it wasnt you Writing the blog..:)

  33. Will Arshavin be eligible to play 4 arsenal,,since he has already played with zenit earlier??

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