Any Hope for a Hazard-ous January?

By: Homey | October 3rd, 2011

hazard-eden
I’m planning on running a larger blog sometime during the interlull, where I discuss all the various transfers in and out that could happen in January. Or at least all the ones that are remotely possible. And as I started thinking about Eden Hazard, I found quite a bit to write about. So I decided it should be a separate blog by itself, even if the chances of it happening may still be fairly low.

First I’ll take a look at his current club, Lille. While they captured a historic League/Cup double last year, they are a rather small club by almost any definition. (By way of comparison, Lille really isn’t even close to Götze’s Dortmund in any way.) Lille’s in a league that’s a notch below the elite in Europe, and they hadn’t won the league title since 1954. Their current stadium holds just under 18,000, although a new stadium is under construction that will hold around 50,000.

While their recent success is to be admired, their history says that it’s not going to last. Players will seek bigger clubs and bigger paychecks, and the club will start building all over again. This last summer, they already cashed in on a few players, with a net total of about €12.5 million coming in after all their deals were completed (not counting loan deals).

With Hazard, it’s really a question of when he’ll be sold, rather than if he’ll be sold. It’s about like when Rooney was at Everton, to make a rough comparison. So when would they be most likely to sell? They’re currently sixth in Ligue 1, but only four points behind the leaders. In the Champions League, they’ve managed only two points from their first two matches, and sit in third place in their group. They suffered a disappointing 2-2 home draw against CSKA Moscow in their first match, after leading by two goals.

One thought for Lille might be that if they miss out on the knockout rounds of the Champions League, then perhaps it would be a good time to cash in on their prize asset in January. They can tell themselves and their fans that they gave it their best shot and came up short, and now it’s time to move on. On the other hand, Hazard would be incredibly important in their quest for a spot in next year’s Champions League, or at least a spot in the Europa League. So by merely hanging on to him for another few months, they could secure a large payday next year as well.

Another question would be whether they’d want to open their new, larger stadium with their best player. Obviously that would make a lot of sense, and would require denying various suitors for another two transfer windows. On the flip side of that would be that a huge cash infusion might help pay some stadium-related debts.

My best guess regarding Lille’s position would be that Hazard will be sold next summer, but they could still be tempted in January for a huge sum of money. I really have no idea how much it would take, but my guess is that it would be at least £30 million.
Hazard 2
Now let’s take a look at Hazard himself. Last year, he was named Ligue 1 Player of the Year. His form thus far this season has been terrific, with four league goals and three assists, plus one assist in the Champions League. (A couple of the goals have been rather tasty, as you can see here.) He’ll be turning 21 in January, so he’s old enough to be a mature player, but young enough to still have a long, bright future. His new teammate, Joe Cole, has recently gushed about Hazard. Cole, who has teamed with quite a few wonderful players already, said that Hazard is the best young player he’s ever seen at that age, and has the potential to be one of the best players in the world.

While Hazard has played quite a bit on the wing, I think it’s safe to say that his skills would fit well in the center of the Arsenal midfield. So do we have any reason to dream? I’ll start with three reasons to doubt it, but I’ll finish with four reasons to have a little hope.

1) Real Madrid, plus other major clubs. Obviously, Arsenal wouldn’t be the only club to be interested in such a talent. And if Lille decides to officially open the shop window, we’ll have to put forth a major bid to secure his services. Against a club like Real Madrid, the chances are slim at best. Not only are there a few top clubs with more money, but those clubs also can offer more hope of winning major titles. Fortunately, I haven’t read too many rumors about many of the biggest clubs lining up bids. But there have been recent rumors that Madrid has taken an interest, with Zidane being the one reportedly pushing for Hazard’s signature.

Since Madrid is the club I hear most often connected with Hazard, I decided to ask a former Real Madrid Offside blogger about these rumors. Corey, who’s now blogging at a new site, told me that there’s a chance that the rumors are true, due to Zidane’s influence. However, Corey suggested that even if Hazard were purchased, Mourinho might not play him, since Mourinho “only uses 12-13 players, and the rest are invisible to him.” It’s hard to imagine a player like Hazard occupying the bench, but there you go.

Looking at Madrid’s roster, they currently have the following players who are either midfielders or forwards: Alonso, Diarra, Altintop, Di Maria, Granero, Kaka, Khedira, Özil, Sahin, Ronaldo, Higuain, Callejon, and Benzema. So they have quite a few players at all of these positions, including several new recruits from this summer. In fact, Nuri hasn’t even Sahin the field for Madrid yet this season. (Waits for laughter… waits… Ok, fine, it was a lame attempt at a play on words.) Anyway, you’d like to think that with the depth and money invested in all of those positions at Madrid, they wouldn’t be looking to break the bank in January. Let’s hope anyway.

2) Arsenal’s (lack of) spending history under Wenger. This one is probably the biggest reason for doubt. While Arsenal has seen a lot of great players come through the ranks over the years, they’ve all either been brought up through the youth ranks, or they were purchased for a low price and blossomed at Arsenal. Arguably, the last time we bought a recognizable star from another club was either the Arshavin transfer for £13 million in January 2009, or the Bergkamp transfer for £7.5 million in 1995.

To secure the services of Hazard, either in January or next summer, Arsenal would have to pay perhaps two and a half times more than they’ve ever payed for one player. As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Arteta
3) Mikel Arteta. As the last transfer window drew to a close, there was talk that we were in the running for Götze, Hazard, and/or M’Vila. Not surprisingly to me, none of those big-money deals happened. So as the summer window drew to a close, we bought Arteta at literally the 11th hour of the last day. If we’d left ourselves with a gaping hole at that position, I could more easily see a big-money purchase in January. But it’s hard for me to see a £10 million transfer in late August, and then a much larger transfer at essentially the same position only a few months later. This despite the fact that Arteta certainly isn’t in the same league as Fabregas (or Hazard).

Now my reasons to have a little hope:

1) Wilshere’s injury, and our lack of depth/quality in the attacking midfield positions. As JG recently discussed, Wilshere is out for a while. If we play one true defensive midfielder and two more advanced, central midfielders, then we’re really quite thin there. We have Arteta and Ramsey, and then it drops off to Rosicky and Benayoun. And I shudder to type the name, but I suppose Diaby will be in that mix soon as well. So yeah, it’s not good.

Furthermore, as everyone has been saying since the loss to Spuds, Arteta and Ramsey are a big drop-off from what we’ve been used to seeing in our midfield for many years. Wenger refuses to give Arshavin a look in that position. So if there’s a position where we lack both depth and quality, it would have to be in the central attacking midfield area.

Looking at our depth at each position on the field, the only other spot where things are dodgy would be right back, where Sagna’s injury leaves us without either experience or depth. I know we can have our complaints about our backup strikers, or about our left back population. But the only spot where I could really see Wenger thinking we need to spend big would be at the central attacking midfield spot. By the time January rolls around, we’ll probably be bringing Sagna back, and so I doubt we’ll see any spending in that area, unless Jenkinson is shocking to a Traore level in the next few months.

2) A need to qualify for the Champions League. Obviously, a major drawback to Hazard in January would be that he wouldn’t be eligible to play for us in the Champions League (assuming we advance from our group, which appears likely at this point). However, the more pressing issue would be to at least finish fourth in the league, to qualify for next year’s Champions League. This has obviously become an even more pressing concern in light of our most recent loss to Spuds on Sunday. But by signing Hazard and hopefully squeezing out another place in next year’s Champions League, it would send a great message to RvP and others, who will go through contract talks within the next year. In addition, other players might see Arsenal as a good destination next summer, if we’re seen as an ambitious club.

Turning also to Wenger’s history, he seems to be much more willing to spend to elevate a bad situation to a good one, rather than spending to elevate a good situation into a great one. I’ve been repeatedly frustrated in previous years when I thought we were just this close to winning a major title, but the squad hasn’t been improved in the market. However, when our Champions League spot was under attack in 2009, Wenger opened the checkbook and brought in Arshavin. And when we shipped eight goals to Man Utd in August, there was another round of buying at numerous positions. All of this tells me that since we’ll almost certainly be desperately scrambling for fourth place in January, there’s more hope for spending than if we were in a battle for first place. Perhaps that’s a somewhat cynical view, but I think recent history has backed me up on that.

3) Arguably, Arsenal would be a perfect fit. OK, this one might sound crazy, but stick with me on this one for a minute. I’m trying to consider this from Hazard’s perspective, and I think there could be a reason to think he would favor Arsenal. Yes, there’s no question he could have a better shot at titles at Madrid or other places. But there are a few reasons why Arsenal might be more attractive, with the last point being my main one. But first, he could be paired with a former Lille teammate, and a current Belgian teammate, so he should be able to settle in quickly. And I’ll share a totally useless tidbit I learned while researching for this blog. And that is, he’s used to cool weather. Did you know that in the recorded history of Lille, the highest temperature was 36.6 Celcius? Where I live, we’ve had about 85 days over that number just this year. Anyway, I guess the point is that London wouldn’t seem too dreary, as it might for someone from Spain or South America.

But my main argument in favor of Arsenal over the giant clubs is that he would be assured of regular playing time, and would be a key component for a major team. So rather than being another guy for a team that’s going to win big things with or without him, he could prove that he’s a truly elite superstar if he could snap the trophy drought and be the guy in doing so. But at the same time, there would still be enough talent around him where winning something big would still be realistic. And at the age of 21 in January, he still has plenty of time to play at Arsenal for a few years, and still make a load of money and win a ton of titles elsewhere.

I know a lot of people want to look at our current form and place in the standings and declare that there’s no reason why he’d be interested. But let’s not get too carried away in the other direction here. We still have multiple really good players on the roster, and we’ve been in the Champions League since roughly the time when Hazard first started kicking a soccer ball. And just as Juventus and Liverpool were still able to attract talented players last summer, despite missing out on Europe, I think Arsenal is in the same category of still being a major club and attractive destination. So I think if we offered to bring in Hazard and pair him with RvP, Walcott, Ramsey, Song, and so forth, it would still be more much more appealing than staying at Lille and competing in Ligue 1.

4) We kept our powder dry in the summer transfer window! Ok, so I have to roll my eyes at these recent statements from Gazidis, because we always seem to keep our powder dry. Reportedly, there is still about £50 million in potential transfer money available for the future. Again, in terms of actually spending it, I’ll believe it when I see it. But at least in theory, a transfer for Hazard is not at all beyond our financial reach.

So to conclude all of this, how would I rate our chances? Well of course I’m still skeptical, for the reasons set forth in my “reasons to doubt.” I’ve read some recent rumors that we could use a player like Arshavin as a partial exchange. This would make a ton of sense, as it would clear up salary space, prevent the roster from getting too congested, and lessen the amount needed to compensate Lille. Plus it would help Lille reinforce their lineup, and at least have a chance at staying in contention in Ligue 1. (And yes, I know that our resident Arshavin cheering section will let me have it for even writing this, but seriously people… wouldn’t you give up Arshavin for Hazard in a nanosecond?)

Ultimately, I think we’ll make our inquiries in January, and act like we’re really doing something. But then we’ll be told that Wilshere is almost back (like a new signing), and we’ll either stay put or purchase a much cheaper option. Things like buying Hazard just don’t happen with the club we support, until I’m proven otherwise. So Wenger, if you’re reading this, please prove me otherwise. We just lost one of our best players for about three months. Another of our best players is out until early spring, most likely. We’re currently 15th in the league standings, and already eight points behind 4th place. Our form has been abysmal for roughly eight months. We need some hope. We need some talent. And I know there’s a risk that we could spend a ton of money and still miss out on next year’s Champions League and all of that money. But the greater risk for me is to do nothing, alienate the fans, lose more players to ambitious clubs, and dry up the revenue streams that have flowed for so many years. So Arsene, just this one time, prove me wrong and bring in someone with true elite quality.

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Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6.

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Category: Arsene Wenger, Transfer News and Player Movement

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snake_charmer

Acquiring a player of Hazard or M'Vila's talent would go a long way in demonstrating Arsenal's long-term ambition towards senior players in the squad such as Song, Vermaelen, an RVP.

More importantly, these acquisitions would also provide highly skilled players in positions that Arsenal lacks. Hazard can play in the center but his real talent is causing mayhem on the wings by cutting in and distributing. It's been a while since the team had a player who could beat players along the touchline in the mold of Overmars or Pires. Personally, I've felt that the lack of a skilled dribbler in the squad has been a real weakness in the side during the past 4-5 years. Walcott possesses the pace but lacks the natural invention. Nasri was an interesting case as he had some of skills required but never really went at defenders in the same manner he did at Marseille. Passing neat triangles is fantastic but at times to break down a defense, the unpredictability that a dribble lends can provide the type of invention that is so required. Barcelona are a fantastic side but taking out either Iniesta or Messi severely limits their final product as they lack a cutting edge in and around the box. Hazard can provide Arsenal with these talents.As for his arrival I am unsure. Arsenal is a club that in recent memory has not splashed out large sums of cash for players. In regards to Mata, it was failing to complete the deal by the expiration of his buyout clause that led to Chelsea swooping on the purchase. Reports have him being paid in the 60k field. To put that in perspective, Diaby receives 62K (12k more than Modric).Finally, I hope members of the board are not putting all their proverbial eggs in the Financial Fair Play basket. Hoping that FFP will somehow cripple the other big spenders in England could very well be wishful thinking. SwissRambler has some excellent articles detailing how ManCity could very well end up abiding by the rules of FFP. If this is the case Arsenal will quickly find itself in a losing battle against the financial muscle of the two Manchester clubs and if the team drops below fourth place revenue generated from CL matchdays, tv deals, and sponsorship could also be impacted. Not to mention, quality recruits might not want to join us anymore. Five six years ago, dropping out of the top four could have been okay for Arsenal. The number of clubs in the Prem that had money to actively spend was more limited. The times are changing, a drop could present itself as a much harder hurdle to overcome.tl;dr = hazard would be great. board needs to really think about big picture.
MJO

"While their recent success is to be admired, their history says that
it’s not going to last. Players will seek bigger clubs and bigger
paychecks, and the club will start building all over again. This last
summer, they already cashed in on a few players, with a net total of about €12.5 million coming in after all their deals were completed (not counting loan deals)"

How is this any different to Arsenal? The only difference is Lille has had recent success. Our majority shareholder is worth over 2.5 billion, does anyone know why he does not contribute financially? Are there regulations proventing it as he is not the sole owner of AFC?
Lachlan

He hasn't got money sitting around to pump into the club. All his other wealth is his ownership of other sporting teams (among other things).
Homey_Mills

There's still a big difference. Forbes lists Arsenal as the 3rd most valuable club in the world. We have a large stadium that's nearly full all the time, with the highest prices in the Premier League. We have a history of winning titles and playing in the Champions League. If you read up on Lille, you'd find that they aren't even close when you have a little historical perspective. And even with their recent success, it wasn't in a top European league, where they have to butt heads with Man Utd, City, and Chelsea all the time.

If you want to read more about Stan Kroenke, I would refer you to my blog on Sept. 3. But basically, it seems to me that most of his money is tied up in a bunch of sports teams he owns in the U.S., plus Arsenal. So I don't see that he has a lot of liquid cash to invest, the way that Usmanov or others might.
MJO

Given Usmanov financial stength, do you think he will resist Kroenke's take over bid. Would you prefer that Usmanov owns AFC? Would it be in arsenals best interests to continue with its current ownership and financial methods or would it be best for Usmanov to take over....maybe in the same line as chelsea? Would would you prefer?
Homey_Mills

I think it's clear that Usmanov has already resisted Kroenke's takeover bid. Would I prefer Usmanov? I think so, as much as I hate to say it. Yes, I know he's pretty much a documented crook, as I referenced in my blog on Kroenke a while back, and as Tim Payton mentioned in his Q&A with us this summer. At the same time, I think most multi-billionaires are crooks too. So I think I'd prefer an ambitious owner who wants to pump some money into the club over what we have now. I guess the trophy draught has gone on long enough for my taste. But I totally understand the thinking of the anti-Usmanov crowd too.
caligunner

I'm not sure if Hazard is the player, but I think its likely that Arsenal will continue to make bids for young players entering their primes over the next year or so, especially if the current form doesn't see dramatic improvements.

I'm just not sure that Arsenal will be able to pay the wages of one of their targets if they are going to target these high profile players. The problem with the owner subsidized teams is not so much that they pay big transfer fees, but that they pay such large wages. Any potential target for Arsenal (such as Mata, or even Nasri) can use Arsenal to gain larger wages for a bigger club.
Patoux21

I think the fact that Wenger acquired Park in a very suspicious way when the guy was almost going to sign for Lille might play in our disfavour in future negotiations
Homey_Mills

Good point. I'd forgotten about that incident.
Martin

As others have noted, I think the problem with us going after a Hazard or Gotze at this point is that it would be irrational for them to join Arsenal. There are other teams out there who will likely be willing to (a) pay as much, if not more, in transfer fees for them; (b) pay them as much, if not more, in wages; and (c) offer them a better chance of winning trophies and qualifying for the Champions League. Other than them just being fans of the club, fans of Wenger, or really wanting to live in London, I honestly have a bit of a hard time seeing why they would choose Arsenal over other clubs which will no doubt be interested in them.
Benjamin Dockter

I agree. If we would have approached them a year ago, things would be different. Arsenal seems to be great at finding players a year or so before they have a "breakout season", where they announce themselves to the world as a top class player. These types of players come to Arsenal simply because they know they will get that chance, where at other top (and CL qualified) teams they won't. The problem is that once they hit that level, not only can we not afford them (well we can, Arsenal just won't spend the money), but we are no longer attractive to them. They want either a huge paycheck, or guaranteed trophies. Neither of which, they can get at Arsenal.
Homey_Mills

But you overlooked #3 on my list of reasons to be optimistic! C'mon... let a guy dream.
TK

FANTASTIC. Szczesny is "open" to the idea of leaving Arsenal for Barcelona someday, but never ever for financial reasons. If anyone else is suddenly overcome with a feeling of deja vu, trust me, it's normal. Are we really going to go the way of Leeds United? Martin had a good analogy on his site the other day, concerning everyone who's going to "give it some time." When you're on the tracks and you see a train coming, you get off BEFORE your guts are all over the place, not after. Why are we doing the equivalent, waiting till Arsenal football club is in the gutters?
Homey_Mills

Well, I was the one writing about needing a new manager in August. So I'm with you on that. However, the Leeds analogy doesn't really add up. We have a much larger fan base, and terrific revenues. I'm not an expert on what happened with them, but as I understand it, their problem was huge overspending. Then they had debts, had to sell players to pay off the debts, and then their play on the field greatly declined. So they were punching above their weight class to start with, so to speak. Even if we fall out of next year's Champions League, we'll still be about like Liverpool this summer. Which is, still a big club, minus a little prestige and revenue, but still able to rebuild.
Zamil_m10

lol, for such a big team we underspend!
Bertrand

Sahin hasn't been seen because hes been injured since transferring to Madrid.

Way to go with the research Homey.
Homey_Mills

Ah yes, glad to hear from my biggest fan. It wasn't my point. My point was that there are new arrivals who haven't even been plugged into the lineup yet, and so it seems a bit over the top to be considering yet another new addition.
But it's good you found another reason to criticize me... kudos.
Arsenal Fan

Why would we spend for Hazard when we can get 15 guys for nothing and maybe develop one into a Cesc or A Nasri and then sell them to City for a huge profit?? RVP is going to City soon!! If we did get Hazard and he turns into world class, it would only be 3 months before he goes to City. The Arsenal board needs to consider this like we used to look at real estate. Can we get him, fix him up, and flip him to City for a BIG profit in 6 months?

Once the board turns a team into a selling club, you are always a selling club!!!
Benjamin Dockter

It all seems a bit premature. The summer window just closed and we are a long way from January. I would love for Arsenal to be run more like I play FIFA. "Hey a really good young player that will improve the team! Take all my money." Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. No matter how optimistic we all are of us buying expensive top class players, I don't think it will happen.

It seems we almost spent about 20 mil for Mata this summer, which is a reasonable increase from our 15mil record signing, but Hazard will cost much more. So unless Hazard is running out of contract soon or Lille are desperate for cash and there are no other buyers, it will never happen.

Every year this happens. There is a top class player that everyone knows Wenger wants, but they are too expensive or "not ready". Wenger has been an admirer of Hazard for years, but until we sold Nasri, we didn't have a need. So now he's too expensive and will go to a club willing to pay. See Benzema, Mata, Smalling, Jones, etc.
Homey_Mills

Yes, I know it's premature, and we're a long way from January. Still, there's a two week period with no games, and bloggers need material to keep readers coming back. So I dunno... thought I'd go with this for today.
Sham_282828

unless we buck up and get wins instead of defeats , no one is gonna sign for us
Rico

Good article. Enjoyed reading it and saw a slight silver lining on the horizon of out luck so far. I don't see why we can't spend 30/40 million on a player, I am assuming we are financially secure, giving we are (what I believe) half way through paying off our new stadium, wage caps on our players, price of the tickets/boxes and the season ticket waiting list, sold 2 players for something near 60 million. I understand its not the way we "roll" but something must be done to get us our this slope and assure the team and players we aren't a selling side. I think Hazard could be just that!

We should send Homey along with the Arsenal cheque book over to Lilie to sign Hazard. The deal would be done in a matter of hours!I also think Wenger might wait to see what happens when the Financial Fair Play system kicks in. I can't wait to see how the Italian Rat Bastard gets out of that with his squad size and his wage bill.This mean I'll need to open a Twitter account?
Homey_Mills

I don't think you need a Twitter account to follow us, but I really have no idea. I just ended my Twitter virginity yesterday, so someone else will need to explain all that.
Lachlan

I really think that there is a very good chance of this one happening. I think the only reason that we should be worried that a big buy won't happen is whether Wenger will want it to happen.

Either way at some point the club will shape up, or I think that the ownership will transfer across to Usmanov.

Would you guys consider creating a poll or writing something on what you would think of us having a sugar daddy owner? I am very curious about what the fans would think of it.

Keep up the good work Homey, love your writing.
Homey_Mills

I didn't have an actual poll on the topic, but I did do two things. On Sept. 3, I wrote a poll about Stan Kroenke and our ownership, where I talked a little about Usmanov and ownership issues. And on Sept. 29, I ran a poll asking if anything would cause people to drop Arsenal as their favorite team, and one of the possible answers was a sugar daddy owenrship model. Not many picked that though.
Sorry I can't post the links, but you can find those blogs in the archives pretty quickly.
Lachlan

Ah yes I see what you mean. Missed that. Thanks
brenton

Hey yo. I believe Homey has done just that, perhaps about a month or two ago. Try searching for poll in the search bar, or flip through to the older posts. Homey, where is that?
brenton

Just watched the winning Tottenham goal again. Brutal defending on so many levels.
caligunner

I watched it again last night as well, and yes, the defending to cause the throw, which then wasn't tracked was probably the worst of all.

That said, the defending which exposed Szcezny 4-5 times was much worse, IMO, it just wasn't punished with a goal.
brenton

To answer your question, no.
Gigi_man

i might be wrong, but we are getting the balls where they should be, i see a lack of accurate shots to actually score once the balls are there.
From that perspective I d vote for more ox..I mean fox in the box.
Dont get me wrong, I d love to see Hazard in, but, I still see potential where we are, only with the wrong attitude and low confidence..and its contagious.
And maybe a little change in positions: Ramsey scored but he lacked vision to build the game. RvP says he wants to play more backing the strikers and AOC DC would love to do so in frnt, as Theo.

Kudos on the twitter, I will follow once the battery on my cell works again (yeah, tech stuff isnt my stuff
Tomisin

I dont think we're getting the balls in mate, i dont remember van persie having any shot on goal the entire match. The only one giving killer balls at the momeent is Song, and he can only do so much from cb
Gigi_man

No, if you keep on reading you see that I say "lack of accurate shots to actually score", so, we agree.
What I meant by "getting the balls where they should be" was referring to the fact that, imo, we have some guys that do what Hazard would, whereas we dont have too many that actually score with those balls when they are served.
Clock Enders 1991

While Lille may want to sell and Arsenal may want to buy. Why does Hazard want to sign for a team that will likely be spending next season in the UEFA Cup and could see Robin van Persie plus a host of other senior players like Song, Sagna, and Walcott decide to call time on their time at Arsenal.

The Board have not shown a willingness to spend big and who knows if Wenger will ultimately decided that he wants to win a few trophies before he retires and move to Madrid, City, PSG or even Munich.

Even if Madrid opt for Neymar instead and Barcelona decide to reel in their spending, it hardly makes Arsenal the likely destination.

Liverpool and Spurs (should they qualify for CL football) will both take an interest as well as Chelsea (who may want another creative player to complement Mata), City (who have shown no sign of letting up) and United (yet to replace Scholes and with Giggs nearing his exit).

AC Milan and Juve may also tender big offers.

Finally, Munich may be his most likely destination. They are almost guaranteed CL every year and have a stellar balance sheet with commercial revenues that exceed Madrid, United and Barcelona.
Homey_Mills

As a programming note, we're up and running with a Twitter account. It's @Offside Arsenal. And a shout out to Dom Wheeler, the first follower of our new account. Thanks, Dom.
Mike Howells

FYI in Tweetdeck at least you have to drop the space to pull up your profile