Arsenal improve squad and still make £13m profit
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Transfer windows closes and despite Arsenal having 'Boardroom Wars', 'Chaos at Arsenal' and 'Lack of Ambition by Gunners', our superb side not only are off to a better start this season (06/07: 2D, 1L - 07/08: 2W, 1D) but we have also improved our squad while making a profit on transfers. Its no wonder Mr.Edelman is so happy about the clubs profits which is to be announced in September.
A quick look at the transfer ins and outs will tell the story:
IN
Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw, £2m)
Havard Nordtveit (FK Haugesund, £2m)
Bacary Sagna (Auxerre, £6m)
Eduardo Da Silva (Dynamo Zagreb, £8m)
Lassana Diarra (Chelsea, £2m).
OUT
Jérémie Aliadière (Middlesbrough, £2m)
Matthew Connolly (Colchester United, season loan)
Johan Djourou (Birmingham City, loan till Jan)
Ryan Garry (Bournemouth, free)
Kerrea Gilbert (Southend, loan till Jan)
Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £16.1m)
Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m)
Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina, free)
Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City, £4m)
Mart Poom (Watford, free)
José Antonio Reyes (Atlético Madrid, £8m-estimate)
Jay Simpson (Millwall, loan till Jan).
Note: Red=First Team Blue=Squad Players Purple=Youth
SUMMARY
First team: 2-in, 3-out.
Now you would look at 3 outs and 2 ins and say that its a bad thing that we have lost more players than we have gained but if you look at the players we have lost compared to players we have gained its a positive exchange. Thierry Henry went 7 years without getting any serious injuries at Arsenal, every loved the fact that he not only scored all the time but he also rarely missed a game through injury but his last season at Arsenal is one to forget. Besides the fact that he was injured for most of the season, the times that he played showed us that he wasn't the player he used to be. Entering into his 30's and nowhere near the top of his game, I think Arsene made the right decision is letting the talisman leave. The transfer fee of £16.1m seems about fair to me. Some might argue that if Darren Bent is worth £16.2m then Thierry Henry is worth £100m, I cant say I disagree but we have to remember when you are trying to offload a player it becomes a buyers market and they dictate the price. Thierry henry didn't want to start the season with Arsenal and Arsene Wenger didn't want him here either. Actually, I was quite surprised we got £16m but I guess Barcelona didn't want to let negotiations stall miss another chance to sign a Beckham like shirt-selling superstar. Not much needs to be said about Freddie Ljungberg, he has continued to lose his ability over the past 3 seasons or so. If there ever was a player that the Arsene wouldn't mind off his team sheet it would have been Freddie Ljungberg. Losing his ability by the day and burning £70,000 p/w in the clubs account. Jose Antonio Reyes is a prime example of what the transfer market is like. If he had wanted to stay in Arsenal he could easily have been sold for £13m but because everyone knew that he wanted to return to Spain he price tag dropped so much that even real Madrid didnt want to pay more than £5m for him. In the end, the loss of a player that played no part in the team last season is not really going to hurt us. The replacement, Eduardo Da Silva will give more to Arsenal's new style of football than Henry would have and at 24 he is definitely got a future ahead of him. Bacary Sagna becoming our first choice right back and made Eboue the replacement for the departed Ljungberg. Unfortunately we have not seem a replacement for Jose Antonio Reyes which is a slight worry as Rosicky is the only player in the squad that can play naturally on the left wing(thoigh even he is more suited in the hole). Even without a 2nd choice left winger, this first team is definitely better than the one we had last season.
Squad players: 2-in, 2-out, 1-getting experience on loan.
The thing about the squad players who left over the summer is that they seem to have caysed improvements to the squad. Jeremie 'Horrible Cockney' Aliadiere's departure has made way for Danish wonderkid Nicklas Bendtner to agree to rejoin Arsenal after finishing his loan spell with Birmingham. Mart Poom I think only made one appearance for Arsenal and was getting on the wrong side of 30 so obviously he was not going to stay for much longer. His replacement though, is 22 year-old Lukasz Fabianski who is highly-rated in Poland, some even consider him better than Artur Boruc which is a compliment in itself. He looks very impressive and make be a long-term replacement for our No.1...Almunia. Djourou going out on loan though I'm sure is a mistake but I doubt there isn't a recall clause in the loan contract.
Youth: 1-in, 3-out, 3-getting experience on loan.
Not much about the youth either. Most of them are just out on loan. Arturo Lupoli is a loss but Havard Nordtveit is a future star.
posted by highbury1913 @ 2:41 pm | |
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