The “silly season” is almost underway

By: travis | May 9th, 2008

The season is not even over and it’s apparent that Arsenal faces many challenges between now and the first kick of the 2008-2009 season. The dramas, rumors, and speculation of where players will end up seems to never bore the press and should be a constant during this summer. And according to the media, Arsenal seem primed to lose every single important player. And Wenger doesn’t take kindly to this:

“Look, [apart from Lehmann] there is one player who is free. He has already left. For me, 98 per cent of the squad will be here next season. And the two per cent have already gone. The rest are all under contract. If anybody wants to buy a player he has to call me. I can give you my number if you want because maybe some ignore that I have a phone. What is unbelievable is I’m sitting here [at the press conference and it is] like we have killed all the players.”

Well put. The rumor of Alexander Hleb leaving leads ESPN Soccernet writer Jon Carter to apparent cracks in Wenger’s philosophy. Yes, three seasons in a row without trophies is not a good sign. But to push the panic button and draw conclusions because Hleb might leave is a bit drastic. Arsene is going to make it very hard for him to go.

Soccernet isn’t the only media outlet having a go. BBC asks “Should Arsenal fans be worried?” I vote no. Because I’m sure Wenger knows what he is doing and is a competent football manager. Just because one player leaves, maybe two, why all the drama? If Cesc and Adebayor left as well, then there would be a real cause for concern.

Wenger also adds how many players want to play for him:

“When I go to my office I have 220 calls from players who want to come in.”

Now it doesn’t seem unreasonable for players to want to join Arsenal. It’s a high profile club in one of the best league’s in the world. The question is, are any of those 220 players any good?

Wenger doesn’t stop there. He next takes a swipe at football agents:

“The agents always get nervous in May and they calm down on August 31. For them it’s like going fishing. You’re allowed to fish now, you know?”

These reactions have resulted from the provocations of certain agents - namely Adebayor’s - who like creating rumors to try and get their player a better deal or a wage increase. In case anyone still thought that was true, Adebayor himself says they are rubbish. Good for him. See a rumor, quashes it himself.

There’s a lot more out there and heaps more to come. Real and Bacelona will probably be in line once again to get Cesc, and who knows, maybe more talks of Henry coming back. Whatever happens, it will be worth keeping an eye on.

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