Saturday, August 12, 2006

Cole edges slowly towards the door...

It seems that Chelsea have realised that they can't allow themselves to be held to ransom over players such as SWP, Essien, Drogba etc. and then say they'll refuse to pay up for a player of Ash's calibre. Whether it's all stemming from an article on a Chelsea vital site, The Telegraph have reported that Chelsea are now willing to pay £23m for Ash, which I say is a price we should accept. £30m was always a bit of an outlandish figure, and its only just shy of the £25m we were holding out for, so I say forget the extra £2m, because we need this despicable affair to end ASAP.

Jose Antonio also seems to be genuinely hankering for a move. I'm still not sure this will happen though. It'll be a complicated deal - as we will have to pay Sevilla a % of the fee we receive - and I think, on balance, Arsene would still rather like Jose to stay. If he does go we'll certainly want to recoup the bulk of the £18odd million we shelled out for him, and the highest offer I've heard thusfar is £12m. It might be for the best if Jose does go back to La liga if he is terminally unhappy with merry old England, but it'd leave us in the lurch a little - we'd certainly have to get someone to replace him in the 2 odd weeks before the deadline. Baptista is apparently being offered as part of the deal, but i think this paper talk, and I'm not sure Arsene would still want him to come over.

The 'sniper' [Arsene's words, not mine] that is Arturo Lupoli could be on his way to West Brom on loan. This might open the door to negotiations regarding Curtis Davies. It might be a shame if Arturo leaves now, however, as he may be running out of chances to convert his reserve team goals into first team goals.

Tel has revealed that Gilbs will be vice-capitano. I think Kolo would have been a better choice, but you certainly can't argue with Gilberto's experience.

And that seems about all. Still no news about incoming targets, save an immense amount of speculation regarding Monsieur Ribery, who seems to have said he will leave Marseille, then that he'd stay, then that he'd leave etc. Arsene's comments were interesting, as he stated he hadn't bid for Franck, but that he may do in the future. Losing Reyes and gaining Ribery would be a decent swap in my eyes. I think, if nothing else, Thierry has a better relationship with Ribery, and that he also seems like a player who'll get a few more goals than Jose.

I, for one, am looking forward to the real start of the season next saturday. I think, despite the slight exodus this summer, the squad we have is - especially mentally - in a far better state than it was this time last year. Hopefully we can let the football do the talking, and end all this horrible speculation. I still don't think that many of us have realised what a shock it's going to be when Ash lines up in a blue shirt next season though.

Gb.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dont fink it will be a shock to see Ash lining up in a blue shirt. If he wants to go than better for all concerned. Better if we have someone who wants to play. Dont envy CFC because they spend all the money. If Roman decides to leave they will go down quicker than Fiorentina did a couple of years ago. Then we'll have a real larf. Ribery for Reyes. Why not Robinho? Baptista would be equally good for us. Curtis Davies....I doubt. He's good because the rest of Albion were crap..including Kanu.

Anonymous said...

let us stop saying that arsenal has a thin squad. what our squad problem is not the lack of players but rather the lack of experience. the fact that we have loaned out more than five players of decent/promising qualities prove that. all we need is two experience hands in defence and defensive midfield who will help but not hindered our youth progress.afterall have we not sold vieira would fabregas has emerged quite like he has. ayala for cb

Anonymous said...

and rothen would make a great reyes replacement. experience french international with a lot of battling qualities. or the bulgarian petrov from athletico. he is one of my favourite player in la liga. his speed and crossing abilities would suit the prem what with adebayor unafraid to enter the box. he also has a sweet left foot and is a masterful freekick taker

Anonymous said...

Like Henry, I'd rather Cole stayed. Even if he played in the researves for a bit, he's still quality and I'd rather put aside my dislike for Ash than accept any money from Abramovitch.

Anonymous said...

Go for 30 million or nothing, if they don't pay up just keep cole and let him rot in the reserves. Chelsea can go buy a second class left back. If they want to improve their team with a first class LB then pay 30 mil.

Herp said...

i read today that Villareal is looking to sell Sorin. I think picking him up would be an incredible move for Arsenal. He can play either a left back or a central midfield position.

what do you all think?

Anonymous said...

It's worth noting that Franck Ribery appeared as a substitute for Marseilles in their european qualifier this week. He's therefore cup-tied and won't be going to Arsenal or anywhere else. That's another one the press got completely wrong then...

Anonymous said...

It's worth noting that Franck Ribery appeared as a substitute for Marseilles in their european qualifier this week. He's therefore cup-tied and won't be going to Arsenal or anywhere else. That's another one the press got completely wrong then...

Anonymous said...

It's worth noting that Franck Ribery appeared as a substitute for Marseilles in their european qualifier this week. He's therefore cup-tied and won't be going to Arsenal or anywhere else. That's another one the press got completely wrong then...

Anonymous said...

Is it worth noting three times? LOL. Confused about that, though. Is that new or is that old? Thought that in the past if you played in the UEFA Cup you could still play in the CL. Sorin would be a decent stop-gap - can play on the wing as well in a pinch. He's like all those Argies - tough little f***er, if a bit dirty. Really need another central defender as no. 1 priority, though.

Anonymous said...

Forget the £2 million? No chance - Chelski can pay full price!

We've not about to give our rivals a discount on our best players!

Anonymous said...

I read that Chelsea, on wanting an alternative to Ashley Cole, asked Lyon about the availabilty of Abidal. 21 million was the reply.
Don't you just love the French?
It makes me want to take my prawn-sandwich eating, chardonnay-swilling gloryhunting arse to the sports store and buy myself a Lyon shirt.

Anonymous said...

Ribery played in the UEFA cup. He would still be available for the latter stages of the CL

Anonymous said...

Wonderful and informative web site. I used information from that site its great. Iv levaquin 750 buy fluoxetine purchase an outside basketball court Instrukcja renault laguna