Friday, June 22, 2007

£16 million for Henry is a joke.

I'm too tired and distraught to really talk about this now, but a few points, before the inevitable lengthier discussion.

1) If the fee was £16 million, we need to hire a few new negotiators. Barca and Real offered us £50m last summer - Thierry's worth has not declined by £34 million in one season. I'm sick of us accepting sub-standard deals. If Milan extorted £30 million for Shevchenko, why are we letting our best player leave on the cheap.

2) He must be replaced by proven quality.

3) Make no mistake, Arsenal are a club either in or on the precipice of crisis. A hostile takeover bid looming, a long-term manager who remains cagey about his long-term future, the club captain and the greatest Arsenal player of recent times all leaving: this cannot be easily explained away.

4) Which world-class players would want to sign for Arsenal in our current state? A team who've scrapped into Champions League qualifying two years in a row, and who've just sold their talismanic captain.

I admit that I'm a natural pessimist. But who among us can really see the light at the end of this tunnel?

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Me, I'm usually the pessimist but these further RUMOURS have so far been from one source and one source alone.
Have you forgotten that both Real Madrid & abrcelona have quoted this crap once already this year.
I don't believe a word of it, until its stated on the official Arsenal site then its a pile of shit as far as I'm concerned. And if by some ridiculously small possibility its correct then the fee will have been more like double that amount. Esp considering we don't have to sell as he's 1 year into a 5 year contract as Arsenal.
Utter utter garbage and you should be asahamed for considering that its true!

Goonerboy said...

Every major UK newspaper is not just reporting this, but splashing it over 3 or four pages.

He's gone. This is a black day for the club.

Anonymous said...

Well Goonerboy,

The real story is 16 Million plus Eto'o. What about this? Sensational, eh?

Anonymous said...

Some other source at Arsenal said Eto was not part of the deal.

I also read that the plan was to wait with releasing the news for a week, so that Wenger got time to sign a world class striker.

My bets are on Torres from Atletico Madrid with Reyes going the other way + Henry fee.

Goonerboy said...

Eto'o is not coming to Arsenal as part of the deal.

That i can assure you.

Goonerboy said...

Also, can I point out that Darren Bent was on the verge of moving to West Ham for £17 million.

Who is making these deals for us? We are not getting the best prices possible for our players.

Anonymous said...

When i look at the fact that a massive club like bacar paid only 16mil for TH14, the best ever, I really feel like crying. This to me is the worst deal Wenger has ever made, maybe we are already feeling the absence of David Dean. We could not get Etto as part of the deal, not even Saviola? A real blow and a shame. Who on earth do we replace Henry with? Who of Henry’s class and caliber would like to come to a club that’s obviously in crises? How about the negative feeling this will create in the team and in the rest of the sporting world about Arsenal? Players like Henry are never for sale in any serious minded club, you keep them, pay them until they retire, talk less of selling him for just 16mil. It’s an insult on the true Arsenal legend. Forget all the 30yrs nonsense, he still has 20+ goals a season in him. This is a sad sad day for us and I wish I can wake up in the morning and see on Arsenal’s wed site that it’s all a rumor. Wenger, how could you? Am beginning to feel that Wenger doesn’t know anymore.

Anonymous said...

Lets wait for the TRUTH!!!!

Anonymous said...

I'll believe the story when it's on the Arsenal website, but it's a lot of smoke. £16m looks cheap, although 9.5m Euros for Vieira looked cheap too. £16m is not bad for a 30 year old with only 3 or 4 years left in him.

Anonymous said...

Boo Hoo. Dean Gone. Henry Gone. Wenger Going. Champions League place going. You can't negotiate a deal for your best asset and you have no hope of replacing him. Crisis is just the begining - take over or bankruptcy looms. Before the season is out, you Gooners will be playing for nothing in an empty stadium. Enjoy the future.

Yid Yid Yiddo.

Anonymous said...

hes 30 now,Should have sold him last year, you would have got double the money!!

MUGS

HENRY IS VA VA VROOMING ALL THE WAY TO THE NEW CAMP...

MUGS

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:13am,
TH14 is not just a 30yrs old, he has been the biggest thing in the premiership and the Arsenal. Can anyone imagine how happy Jose Morinho is now, just like Fergosen was when we sold PV4 to Inter?

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:13am,
TH14 is not just a 30yrs old, he has been the biggest thing in the premiership and the Arsenal. Can anyone imagine how happy Jose Morinho is now, just like Fergosen was when we sold PV4 to Inter?

Anonymous said...

New fifa rules states that players of 29 years or older can buy out their remaining years of their contract.So all in all Barca have bought Henrys remaining contract and that is why we only receive 16 mil

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:13am,
TH14 is not just a 30yrs old, he has been the biggest thing in the premiership and the Arsenal. Can anyone imagine how happy Jose Morinho is now, just like Fergosen was when we sold PV4 to Inter?

Anonymous said...

Hate to burst your bubble. Although this may be bad for all Gooners, I can't see the Premiership losing a minute's sleep. He is nowhere near the biggest thing in the Premiership and lets face it, nothing from Goonerland will be again.

Yid Yid Yiddo

Anonymous said...

This will be the end of big money transfers of players over 28.Unless a player earn 10 mil a year.

Anonymous said...

whooohooo I get to watch Henry on spanish football

I feel sorry for you gooners, its a sad day for you mugs...You cant replace Henry, definately not for 16 million....End of an era lads

hahahahahahahaahahahahahaahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah MUGS MUGS MUGS ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahahhhahahahahahhahahhahahhahahhahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahah

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:13am,
TH14 is not just a 30yrs old, he has been the biggest thing in the premiership and the Arsenal. Can anyone imagine how happy Jose Morinho is now, just like Fergosen was when we sold PV4 to Inter?

Anonymous said...

This price is an absolute insult to the fans of Arsenal. A world class player, and one if not the most important player in our club, leaves for 16m. A rich and powerful club like Barca gets a player of emence quality for so little is worrying even more. This outlines the ambition of Arsenal. They have sent a message to the fans. We don't care.

Anonymous said...

Titi whines in the Sun newspaper.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:13am,
TH14 is not just a 30yrs old, he has been the biggest thing in the premiership and the Arsenal. Can anyone imagine how happy Jose Morinho is now, just like Fergosen was when we sold PV4 to Inter?

Anonymous said...

The 16 million price tag truly justifies his worth. View it in perspective, Kaka is worth 60 million, Bent worth 17 million, is Henry in his present form and fitness anywhere close to these players?? The last season was miserable for Henry and Arsenal lost many millions due to that fact.Welcome to the small teams league Arsenal.Instead of competing with the Big 3, you will now be competing with Bolton,Newcastle,Pompey,Spurs,Boro,Reading....... for the last Champions League spot and the UEFA Cup spots.Newcastle,Pompey and Spurs have very good squads, and with Bolton close to signing Cisse,dont be very surprised to see Arsenal languishing in the bottom half of the table in the next season.

Anonymous said...

Selling Henry would be really stupid unless there is some kind of swap involved and Wenger doesn't have a reputation for doing stupid deals. Since Eto'o said publicly this week that Thierry is joining him at Barce and he doesn't get on very well with Ronaldinho who plays wide left where Thierry will slot in then perhaps Ronnie is on his way to the Emirates? THAT would make sense.

Its a great rumour to start anyway to counteract all this negative crap about Arsenal....there was life before Henry - Ian Wright....so who is the next Ian Wright?

Anonymous said...

yid yid yiddo , you have never seen an era in your life time spud..now toodle on before i put the oven on!
you will never finish above us even if we put out a reserve team...
61 and never again spud..
got to go now the ovens readie waiting to roast you yiddos
sssssssss s s s s s ss s ssssss

Anonymous said...

i hate to see henry leave, have been a gooner for nearly 40 years, but scumbags like you gas mark dont deserve to even think about the red army. tosser.

Anonymous said...

...

the irish independent says the fee is 24 million... hope that's true.

...

Anonymous said...

I still think the most important person at the club is Arsene Wenger. If he stays, he will rebuild the team. Thanks Henry, for the great memories.

Anonymous said...

Stop spreading doom and gloom you idiot. AFC are not on a precipice and are not in crisis. We have a superb squad that does not depend upon TH. It will be interesting to see who we bring in over the next few days. Th's time was over last season.

Anonymous said...

DD started all this with his underhand attempt to sell the club out. He forced the boards hand setting off a chain event. If TH has left for footballing reasons, then goodbye and thanks for the memories. If he has left because of DD and fears about Wenger signing a new contract then good riddance.
As for the crisis - that is the media sh*t stirring because bad news is always better than good news in their eyes. AFC will survive - there may be some pain along the way but that is life.
As supporters we should avoid soaking up the negativity and transmitting it to the team. They need us to believe in them in order for them to do well. Avoid the papers and Sky Sports news and think for yourselves. The club is more than 1 man.

Anonymous said...

We would have got less for Henry last year because he only had a year left on his contract. Lets face it, Thierry is not getting any better and he would do well to maintain the standards he set for the next 2 years nevermind the duration of his four year contract. I think we got a good deal out of this. 16 million for a 30 year old who has shown visible signs that he is regressing? I expect us to sign a couple players now to replace him

Anonymous said...

"Soggycornflakes said...
...

the irish independent says the fee is 24 million... hope that's true."

~ Yes it is true! ..in ireland it is 24 million euros, ...retard!!

Unknown said...

Even if 16 million seems a low fee for such a great player, remember we are stil making a 6 mil profit on a player who is now inferior to the player he was when we bought him.

If you read my blog entry;

http://dialsquareblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/adieu-thierry.html

it may cheer you up as I'm fairly philosphical about it all

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!

Anonymous said...

Well my theory is TH is damaged goods and Arsene knows this. A sciatic nerve problem is devestating and essentially untreatable. I look for him to be sidelined or as shit as he was most of last season. Now let's go buy Tevez.

Anonymous said...

Henry was great.

It is the end of an era.

But it is also the end of Henry the player. Sure he will play well, about as well as he does for France. He will then have groin and hamstring injuries.

He is not a loss now.

He was never the natural captain of Arsenal so we will have more leadership stability and less petulance.

The Pires, PV4, DB10, TH14 era is over but i am looking so forward to the new one.

If only AW would buy at least three super players.

Anonymous said...

£16 million is a funny figure. Perhaps at £25 million Barca might have looked closer at his fitness. At £16 million perhaps they think they've got a bargin and won't look too closly at the medical.

Anonymous said...

Thank God he's gone. He's been a pouting primadonna for far too long. Now the team can develop as a well balanced unit.
AW turned down Eto'o as part of the deal so just have faith in the Boss. He knows what he is doing.
Support your club and stop moaning

Anonymous said...

I can't help but thing that if we had held out a little longer Barca would've upped their money. They've been coveting Henry for so long that they'd actually pay an unreasonable price for him. I was hoping atleast 25M.

As for quality, I'd take Anelka and/or Martins, maybe this time around Anelka will finally figure out how to make runs.

Anonymous said...

Bottom half of the table? We finished top four without henry for most of last season,and will do again this season

Anonymous said...

The idea is to taunt Mourinho. Jose spend but Wenger sells.
Jose has Expensive stars but Wenger has promising youngsters.
Jose has goal machine Drogba, Wenger has a cock.

Anonymous said...

haha rightly said