Barca Signs Sanchez, Jagielka Bid Rejected, and Other Notes

By: Homey | July 21st, 2011

Starting off at the top of today’s news, Barca officially completed the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Udinese. The fee was about £33 million if you include all the variables, but only about £23 million if you’re only counting the up front money. This was quite a bit lower than the figures we were hearing a while back, but it still represents the majority of the £40 million budget that Barca were supposedly constrained to this summer. So why do I lead off with this news in an Arsenal blog? Well, I think you know the answer to that one.

We’ve been reportedly holding out for £40 million from Barca if we’re to let go of Cesc. If you only count the up-front money in Barca’s Sanchez deal, that would leave them with only £17 million in their reported transfer kitty. Now I suppose they could get quite a bit closer with sales of Bojan Krkic and Jeffren Suarez, but I reckon they’d still be perhaps £5-10 million away from our asking price.

So I suppose there are now three ways this thing ends up. First is that they simply exceed their reported transfer budget and buy Cesc anyway. Guardiola recently said that a Barca official told him there was enough money to buy both Sanchez and Cesc, so maybe the prior transfer budget was never very firm. Second is that they give up on Cesc, now that they filled the position of “need” that Guardiola targeted all along. And third is that they’ll eventually just wear us out, and we’ll see Cesc leave for a good bit lower than the £40 million we quoted a while back. It seems like that’s what happened with Udinese anyway.

The next bit of “big news” of the day would be our reported bid for Phil Jagielka. Most news outlets reported that figure to be £10 million, while another said it was £12 million. And according to many of those same reports, we bid £12 million a year ago, and that was turned down.

I’m trying to remember all the central defenders we’ve been linked with in the last month, but the ones under the most discussion have been Samba, Cahill, Jagielka, Mertesacker, Dann, and perhaps Mathias Jorgensen. I hope I’m not forgetting anyone. So now if you’ll politely indulge me, let me go off on another rant.

While I was going through law school, I also worked as a part-time realtor. I was never much good at it, but I did get to know the mindset of buyers and sellers. And it seemed to me there were a couple different types of buyers. One group of buyers were the people who were looking for a house they really liked. Of course price was an issue, and often a deal-breaker. But when they found something they liked, they really went after it and hoped to get it. Another group of buyers looked at lots of houses and didn’t really care too much which one they got. They just wanted to put in a bunch of low-ball bids all over town, until they found a seller desperate enough to meet their demands. Sometimes as a realtor, I was almost embarrassed telling the seller that we have a paltry offer for their house.

Now, in the world of real estate, I can’t say that either approach is bad. The first is more emotional and sentimental, while the other is more shrewd and calculated. Well, of course we all know what type of real estate buyer Wenger would be. And this is the thing that gets quite maddening to me. It seems that over and over, he’s looking for a great “deal” above all else.

I’m certainly not enough of an expert to be able to grade all of our rumored transfer targets, and then rank them against each other. But if I had the expertise and experience of Wenger and his staff, I think I could come up with a pretty good ranking of all those players. And if I had one who was clearly #1, I’d go after him with a proper bid. Now if the selling club wanted to be unreasonable with their valuation, then I’d move on to my #2 target. However, I really get the sense that almost all of these guys would be just fine with Wenger, so we’re going to put in low-ball bids on all of them and see what seller cracks at the last minute. I could somewhat understand this approach if we were, say, Fulham. But if it’s clear that the club has money to spend, then go out and find the one guy who you really think will be the key addition to the team. Period.

As a couple people already wrote in the comment’s section of the last blog, this brings back more memories of the failed attempt at Mark Schwarzer last summer. We reportedly offered £2 million on two separate occasions, and never did meet Fulham’s asking price, which was only a little bit higher. That sort of thing is just galactically inept. In the highest order. Think back to last summer, and try to consider how we all felt at that time. We had zero faith in Almunia or Flaps, and we knew nothing about Wojo. Most of us considered goalie our biggest need. So Wenger got right down to the end of the transfer window, after the season had already started, and continued to haggle over roughly £1 million. This is one of the most important positions on the field, we had nobody we could trust at that time, and we were assured last year that the club had plenty of money.

Of course as it turned out, Flaps and Wojo both turned out better than expected, and we were probably all happy that the Schwarzer deal didn’t happen. But if Wenger were so clairvoyant about that, we’d have never bid for Schwarzer in the first place. So even he thought it was a weak point, but continued his low-ball ways to the bitter end of the transfer window.

Whew, ok, my rant is over. This stuff is just getting really annoying though, and my venting is so therapeutic. As for a roundup of other news, here’s a quick take on all of that:
1) There are more rumors that Eboue is heading out. I already wrote that I don’t really want this to happen, and I’m sure Gervinho doesn’t like it much either.
2) I haven’t heard much more about Bendtner, but I did read someone asking why we couldn’t offer him and a little extra cash to Everton for Jagielka. And I don’t have a reason why not.
3) Juan Mata has now been declared back on the market again. I don’t really see us giving them what they want, and especially not without selling Nasri first. And things are relatively quiet on that front. While I like Mata, I don’t see this as a position of need whatsoever, as long as Nasri is still with the club.
4) We’re reportedly tracking a young star from the soccer hotbed of Nepal. And no, I’m not making this stuff up. Let’s hope if we schedule a medical for him, he’ll show up though.
5) And finally, there are more reports that Wenger is under pressure from the board to actually spend some money. Assuming that’s true, would that make Wenger the only manager on the globe who’s being pressured to spend money? Doesn’t it usually work the other way around?

Ok, well that’s the roundup for today. As for programming notes, I’m still waiting for my inside source before I can post my really super cool blog. Sorry to keep everyone waiting for that one. Darren should be posting a preview of the Cologne friendly, which will certainly answer the question of whether Cesc is making the trip or not. I’m not really sure what else we’ll have after that, since I don’t know who of us will be able to watch said friendly. I know that I’ll be picking up roadside trash that morning, as a faithful member of Kiwanis. (And again, I’m not making this up either.) At least I’m getting my public service duties out of the way before the regular season begins.

——————————————————————–
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7b

Some Related Stories:

Category: Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Rants, Transfer News and Player Movement

« Should Fans be Encouraged by Gazidis’ Recent Comments? | Home | FC Cologne Preview – Updated with Line ups! »

USB 3G

Nice, that's helpful for me!
brenton

Wenger says he will add a defender:

http : // soccernet .espn .go .com /news /story /_/id/936608/arsene-wenger-hunts-defender?cc=5901
brenton

I apologize for all that.
brenton

brenton

brenton

Wenger on those two players who really don't look like staying at Arsenal: "In the case of Fabregas, he is torn between Barcelona, where he grew up, and Arsenal, where he has been educated. It's not financial. Nasri is the same - they both love the club and are very happy with us."

If it's not financial with Nasri, what is it?

Emmanuel Eboue has reportedly agreed to join Galatasaray but Arsenals €6 million asking price may be a stumbling block.

And Darren't wish is so close to fruition.
Sophie

So just out of curiosity, did anyone here watch the youtube video of this Nepalese guy from the link? I'm no expert or anything, but he looks pretty okay on set pieces and one on ones (from a cleverly edited youtube video, of course). That said, he could potentially be one for the future with a little Arsenal nurturing?

Am I just deluding myself in desperation for quality signings? Most likely.
brenton

I will vote for deluding. Nepal?
Perry S.

Homey -- Official news on Fabregas is out. He is to miss this weekend's match in Germany and I'm fairly certain his plans are to not be playing at the Emirates this season. Fairly certain this "injury" is being overhyped...
GoonerBen

**made up
Gigi_man

Well, I for one say that Wenger is setting the stage: he got the chair, he got the rope, he is testing the rope, he tied it good, he got up and stood on the chair, he wrote the note...just waiting for a key player to take the shot to the chair.
Oh my God did I actually write this??
Shame on me shame on me!!
Felegy

Melo to go on loan to Galatasaray for 2MM with a 3MM option to make the move permanent. Seems like a low risk high reward potential type of move. I know the guy has underwhelmed at Juventus and made some boneheaded decisions for Brazil but I can't believe we did not take a harder look at this guy, especially for that price.
Cover for Song, added steel to the bench that can be brought in for someone like Wilshere when we need to protect a lead (which we had trouble with last year....Newcastle...) and if we do not add another quality CB it allows Song to move to backline with a decent cover for him at CDM.
Sophie

ESPN Soccernet has that the initial deal is three installments of 1.5 million euros, with the permanent option at 13 million euros. At that price, there are lots of better options. Granted, I'm biased as a diehard Netherlands fan, but the guy is an idiot hothead who singlehandedly knocked Brazil out of the World Cup and has accomplished exactly nothing for Juventus.
Felegy

I got my numbers from ESPN too!!?? Well, they obviously "adjusted" their initial reports of the $$ involved in the deal. 2MM with a 3MM option (their original numbers) is a lot more enticing that 4.5MM with a 13MM option. Agreed at that price there are probably better options, Bodmer :)
Lonik Paerz

As I am not from England I have a bit of a handicap in some things.
Even though we can see some channels over here in Belgium we don’t get
all the UK channels. So I couldn’t see the Dispatches programme about
“buying a football club”.

And as I could find out from the comments of our readers the most
worrying thing about this whole programme was the deafening silence the
day after. Now if I can compare this with the upset we had in Belgium
when in our local “Panorama” we had an undercover report about the
Chinese gambling syndicates and the way they operated in our league it
gets even more strange. Because in my country the papers had to order
extra paper to write it all down. Every self respecting weekly wrote
several articles about it. Even the local advertising magazine of Lidl
covered it. Okay maybe this last one not – but virtually everyone else.

But now nobody in the press seems interested in this story. Not a
word to be found. And this is something that scares me. This is
something that really frightens me. You could say that there is a big
difference between “buying a team” and “buying players in order to buy a
result”. And yes at first sight there is a big difference. If you don’t
pay attention you could say what is the relevance of this. Why could
this be important?

Now I don’t know where the Panorama programme stopped but I would
sure like to add a few things about what could happen after a team has
been bought. And for this I will have to tell you a few things on how
it went in Belgium.

The pivotal figure in the match fixing scandal was Ye, a Chinese
business man. He went to clubs who were in financial problems. And at
first he presented himself as an investor and offered to buy the club
and help it pay off the debts. Of course some clubs were interested in
this way out of trouble. What they didn’t know at that time was that
they would be used for match fixing. And after first giving some money
to the club and trying to buy it to get full control the match fixing
started.

Until it all came out after some time and he had to run to China
where he still is. The Belgium justice department still has an
international arrest warrant against Ye but he is never seen again over
here.

So what we have now is: a definite link between buying a club and
match fixing. It has happened in Belgium. But it also has happened in
Finland with the now bankrupt club Allianssi. Again Ye bought the club
in financial troubles and then after a while the strange results came
out. But the Finnish justice department could not prove anything. Maybe
because he had left the country just in time? Or because no involved
player was brave/stupid enough to risk his life to break the silence?

So now it seems rather easy to buy a club in England. But then comes
the question : why do they want to buy it? You only need one crook in
the system to start it. Just imagine two of those in one league…

So I really cannot understand why the press in England doesn’t make
this well known link between “buying a club” and “buying results”. If
they would make the link and warn the public and say: now look, this is
what happened in other countries so we have to be on the lookout for
strange things. We have to keep an eye open if the owners really are
who they pretend to be. Certainly if they come from China or other parts
of the world where there is a lot of illegal gambling on football
games. (Don’t get me wrong as I have nothing against Chinese people at
all. I even had a very good Chinese friend in my schooldays and believe
it or not his name was Yu – with an U and not with an E …)

It looks as if the press sticks their collective heads in the sand
and don’t want to look up for a possible danger. They just don’t want to
mention it. I’m not saying it is happening, or has happened but can
anyone tell me it will surely not happen in England?

Now of course it could be that the press in England is lazy. Maybe
they spend so much time inventing transfer rumours that making such
links is a bit too difficult for many journalists?

But believe me when the ownership of a team goes in other hands it is
well worth of having a closer look at the new person( s) in charge.
Before you know it they not only own the club but also the private life
of some players in order to buy some results. Players have to fear for
their lives or the lives of their relatives as happened in Belgium. In
fact one of the involved clubs is the closest Jupiler League team from
my home. It’s only some 10-15 minutes away from my home. Who would have
thought that it would happen to this rather nice and friendly club.

But the fact that the media don’t touch those subjects is very
strange. And frightening. Well at least over here we have warned you for
what can happen if you get the wrong people on board of a club.
sergio

i just stumbled in the blog. My english sucks btw, am sorry if i do any mistakes. I like arsenal, first time i saw it was 2 years ago and i fell in love with the teams way of playing. Since then it has just got worse. And by the looks of all comments ive read none of you seem to see the real problem. Arsenal has a very lame defense, and though i also shared wengers idea of trusting and give time for the players to evolve, its about time wenger yields and buys real trusty players. Not jenkinson, real pros. One in each line, specially in the defense. Or...maybe the manager has ran out of ideas??
And please, a real goalkeeper. I like scesny, but please, give him a good sidekick.
Homey_Mills

I think I'm ok with giving the nod in goal to whoever emerges between Flaps and Wojo. Other than that, I agree with you completely. I'd like to see quality depth all across the back line, plus another solid DM option. So that would mean another real right back, plus someone who should be expected to start at left back. Plus one more central defender.
You're not alone in that thinking one bit.
Gus22

Barcelona just sold off DMF Oriol Romeu (who Wenger was reportedly tracking a while back) to Chelsea for around 5M, so expect another Cesc bid soon methinks.
Guest

not likely. romeu was sold with a buy-back clause, fabregas was not. fabregas-like transfer sagas are much more likely to come from jon toral and gael etock.
Homey_Mills

Yes, and they just completed the Krkic deal to Roma too. I expect Jeffren to be sold soon too.
Heman

The Arsenal transfew window slammed closed with the signing of Gervinho boys.
So its Gervinho, Jenkinson, Miyachi and then “like a new signing” duo Vermaelen and Frimpong.
I’m no closer to being convinced that the gormless joker ‘managing’ our club has changed his ways. He’s back with his squad again in pre-season so the same gutless streak that sees him too scared of dismantling the squad by getting rid of his so called wonderboys like Vela and Fabianski, has come to the fore once more.
£10m for Jagielka – is the guy off his fucking head. On one hand he gets appalled by Barca’s derisory offers for Cesc then he decides £10m for a guy in his peak years, of proven PL class and three months into a four year contract is a decent offer.
Has anyone told him it isn’t 1998 anymore ?
I’ve tried to stay away from all this transfer bullshit rumour stuff as it has driven me insane over the past three seasons, but I know it is eating away at the club we all love.
Another season of listening to drivel and watching spineless capitulations under the GIC……..we deserve better
Darren_V

The window is still open another month, so not sure how it's been slammed shut.
This gormless joker who is off his fucking head that manages Arsenal has done quite well in the years with Arsenal. I get frustration, but come on. Let's wait and see how the dust settles after the window really does close. You know, August 31, not July 21.
And what do we deserve exactly?
Homey_Mills

Regarding what we deserve, I look at it like this:
The club expects us to buy their shirts and merchandise, pay increased amounts for tickets, watch the games on tv, buy FanShares, etc. And in exchange for our undying support, we merely expect them to spend the money they make from the fans on trying to improve the product on the field.
I'm not saying we deserve trophies, but we do deserve to see the club making its best effort. And for the last few years, I haven't seen the club make its best effort.
Darren_V

After you have given your money over to another association/club/company, you really have zero say in what they do with said funds after that. You have been given the merchandise, and access to watch the games, as that is what you paid for. The exchange is complete. This is how consumerism works.
You say you haven't seen the club make the its best effort, but I say you just haven't seen them make their best effort in the way you wish they would. I truly beleive Wenger's best efforts have been going on each and every year.
Don't get me wrong, I wish Arsenal would invest alittle more and differently than he has in general, and I have argued this with Martin a number of times in the past. I beleive the philosophy needs some adjustments as well. But to say we 'deserve' more is misunderstanding how consumerism works, and to say the club hasn't been making it's best efforts is a fallacy.
brenton

I think your view on consumerism would be taught as the poor way to do things in any business management course. It is easier to keep return customers than it is to attract new ones. Clubs bank on this. But it's also why they should not ignore the criticisms levelled at them by fans that expect certain things from their relationship with the club, and any good marketing person will tell you that you don't really sell a concrete product, you sell (or build) a relationship.

Simply put, keep your fans happy, and they'll keep buying shirts, and so on.

And unless I'm reading things wrong, I think a good portion (your guess is as good as mine as to how big this portion is) of Arsenal fans are past the point of quiet acceptance and blind faith in Wenger's approach.

The mitigating factor in all this is that brand loyalty in football is much more stronger than brand loyalty in shaving cream or restaurants. But it's not as strong as some people think. (Gets out his worn copy of Soccernomics.) There is more turnover in club allegiance in England than people think. Season tickets passed down from father to son (and other examples cited by some literature) is the rarity, not the norm. People choose to support new clubs relatively often.

We may not deserve more from our relationship with the club, but we certainly expect more, and that expectation should be heeded by the club.
Darren_V

I was speaking of consumerism in it's most basic terms, not in a business management course. Whether we like it or not, we are merely consumers of what Arsenal has to offer and call ourselves fans as we keep coming back.
To think we deserve more than we are given is to be sadly misguided in thinking the fans are more than what they are.
I happen to expect more of the club myself, and think it should be heeded more than it has in the past as well. And based on this summer's Asian tour, it seems as though Arsenal are taking steps to heed expectations. And to up it's financial income to obtain more revenue to buy the depth we are crying for.
Homey_Mills

I guess it depends on how you view the relationship between a club and it's fans. I think it's different than just going to a store and buying a new shirt. When that is the case, then the relationship ends there, and the exchange is complete, as you say.
But with a club and it's fans, there is supposed to be somewhat of a real relationship and support. Fans support a team in all the various ways, and teams give back to the fans by showing that they're making an honest effort to win. It's more of a partnership.

Regarding Wenger, maybe in his mind he's making his best effort. And I'm sure he is in terms of just coaching what he has to work with. But he's also the one responsible for spending money and bringing in quality talent. And he's seemingly stuck in the past, totally unwilling to shell out modern-day money for top class talent. He's totally in love with promoting young players in an eternal youth movement. It's not working. It won't work this year. And so yes, I'm tired of it.
Darren_V

Ideally I agree with you.
Realistically, it's not really like that sadly.
I've been wanting a couple solid quality signings for a couple years now myself, ever since the Financials showed we out of the burden of the new stadium debt, and Wenger himself admitted he has the funds. Doesn't mean I don't think he out there looking.
Homey_Mills

Sure, a few new things could happen in the window before it closes. But history has told us that this summer is just like all the other summers. Lots of talk, and no action. Plus it's getting to a point on the calendar where we need to bring guys in and get them used to the team. Bringing in a guy on Aug. 31, after we've already played the CL play-in games, plus big ones against Newcastle, Liverpool, and Man Utd... well, that doesn't do us nearly as much good.
Darren, honestly, if you were a betting man, would you bet on 2-3 big money purchases in the remaining window? I don't know how you could bet that way.
Darren_V

It doesn't really matter what I think, as I have zero dealings with the transfer marker.
Wenger and Gadzidis have both stated they will be active in the transfer market, and with the Nasri/Cesc sagas not over yet, there is alot to happen still. One of them will be gone this summer, and therefore someone will be bought.
I'd rather wait and see till the window closes and then make my analysis then, rather than make knee-jerk reactions in the middle of it.
Lonik Paerz

but that's not strentghening the team is it? Its just replacing players like weh ave been doing for countless seasons - the whole point was to keep the team, get rid of the dross and some decent depth
Zadster

Homey, your rant and analogy are completely on point. There is an opportunity cost for being a low ball bidder - you may lose out on quality players. This is particularly frustruating when you have the resources to put in a fair bid...
Homey_Mills

Thanks Zadster. I'll hereby permit you to come back and comment at any time.
Darren_V

I sure hope we sell Eboue. I am so tired of him and his antics. So long!
Homey_Mills

So you trust Jenkinson more?
Darren_V

People go on and on about the lack of mental strength and concentration at Arsenal.
And then say the want to keep Eboue around.
Can two comments be anymore contradicting?
Homey_Mills

Ok, so I'll repeat my question - do you trust Jenkinson more? He barely made any appearances for Charlton, and he's certainly never faced top quality opposition.
Now, if we would actually go out and buy a quality RB to back up Sagna, then I'm fine with Eboue leaving. But if it's just Eboue vs. Jenkinson, I'll take Eboue.
Darren_V

Bye bye Eboue. Take your diving, crazy-theatrics, and sorely misguided illusions of being a midfielder elsewhere.
I'll take Jenkinson if that means Eboue is gone. I'm quite tired of him
Okthen

"I'll take Jenkinson if that means Eboue is gone."
Pure hate, always a good platform for sound decision making
Darren_V

There is no hate, just a general tiredness of his antics on the field.
Homey_Mills

According to his Wiki page, Jenkinson has appeared 8 times for Charlton. He also appeared 4 times on loan at Eastbourne Borough, and 10 times at Welling United. Wow, that inspires a lot of confidence, doesn't it?
Darren_V

More than watching Eboue faking another injury as an attacker comes down his wing, that's for sure.
Martin

Man, Darren is furious about stuff today and yesterday. Did Bertrand take over your account while we weren't paying attention?
Bertrand

I miss you Martin :(
Darren_V

Lack of sleep makes me short and snide. I do apologize for the tone.
And tired of the contricting Arsenal fans. Nothing can make gooners happy it seems. Someone is always upset about something.
brenton

Well, I for one enjoy my contricting. I contrict often and loudly.
Gigi_man

Me, Me! I am ..always! :P
Give me a trophy to put in my mouth and I ll shut up hahaha
Perry S.

Trophy. Pipe. Smoke it! :D
Homey_Mills

I'm getting the sense that if the choice were between Eboue and Winnie the Pooh, you'd go with Winnie the Pooh.
Darren_V

It's funny how you have been clamouring for new players more than anyone else around here, and when one comes in who you have never seen play, you bash him instantly.
Is it because he is English and not in the EPL, and therefore must not be any good?
Everyone cries b/c Arsenal are not mentality strong, and always lack concentration and don't put in a full effort for the whole season. Eboue is the epitome of this on the club.
But yes, let's keep him because everyone likes him and he is a clown.
I thought that is what gunnersauras was for
Homey_Mills

Are you really asking me why I question Jenkinson? It's because he's played 8 times for Charlton, and a few other times on loan for clubs I've never heard of. That's why. Not because he's English/Finnish.
Yes, I want new signings as much as anyone. I just don't count Jenkinson. To me, he's a developmental guy who should either play with the reserves this season, or be loaned out for a year. I really don't want to see him jumping from having almost no experience to defending the best players in the world. Am I crazy here?
Perry S.

THIS JUST IN: EBOUE TO TAKE ROLE OF GUNNERSAURUS REX!
SJGgumby

Bad fit. Very hard to get up in that costume (and we all know the T-Rex was in big trouble when it hit the ground). He'll last 5 minutes before he takes his first dive, and that'll be the end of Gunnersaurus Rexboue.
Perry S.

HAAA Rexboue...I like it.
Kas123

Gazgooner, well said. It hurts to support a club that speaks of great ambition but make little changes and smaller moves to achieve these lofty ambitions. We are a huge club, we are the 7th richest sports franchise, but then we are misers. I'm not saying we should spend out of control like Liverpool, Man Shitty, but it would be nice to see some activity. We don't even have to buy world class players, good players will do to provide us with some depth. I saw where the club offered 10mil for Jagielka, that's the same amount we offered last time. If Everton didn't accept it then, why the hell would they accept it now. It irks me that we have so many "supposed" targets, but we know damn well that the people that manage our club won 't spend the type of money it takes to acquire at least a few of them. We have raised ticket prices, accrued millions from selling players, why isn't that money being spent? I won't put it all on Wenger because even though he controls transfers and other team activities, his decisions have to be approved or disapproved by a board. Lets not just talk about Arsenal, lets be about it.
gazgooner

One can see what is going to evenutate....the Cesc saga will drag on and on (as will Nasri) until 5 to the hour on the last day of the window. Wenger will give in and both will go, leaving us with no time to buy replacements so here we go again. Another season with the guts of the team ripped out and only subpar replacements available to fill the gaps but substanially well balanced books. It's so transparent it hurts and we're supposed to believe the spin we get from the club.Year after year we've seen our Arsenal become weaker and weaker - its like the frog in the pot 'cept the other way round. The frog was getting hotter all the time and didn't know it. We're getting colder and colder and becoming more immune to it. I read blog after blog of "fans" shouting buys osmeone, anyone. Just spend some money. How sad is that, that we want to buy simply anyone to make us feel better!

It so depressing these days being a gooner (only 35 years for me) as I see the scum from down the shite lane getting better and better, other clubs strengthening and my beloved Arsenal weakening year by year.

Rant if you must, as I must, as its symptomatic of an increasingly agitated and upset fan base, very concerned over the ditherings and ineptitude so evident at our club now. Don't apologise for being passionate about the club we live for. Something is woefully wrong at the Emirates and the "in Arsene we trust" sector have to think carefully about the frog - the only up is that one can emerge from a frozen state, boiled means dead is for ever! It is time for action!
Darren_V

Don't worry, the CL qualifier is Aug 16/17. That game will tell us all we need to know about whether Cesc is at Arsenal or not.
Martin

"the only up is that one can emerge from a frozen state, boiled means dead is for ever!"

This is my new favorite sentence.
Ian

id bet wenger would have a nonstop shopping spree if he received that warning
Homey_Mills

See if you can work that into your next blog.
Gener4

Its frustrating playing this waiting game. I know AW wants to get someone in, but at what point does he hit the panic switch? These new faces need time on the pitch to work into the system. Last minute additions will simply disrupt any flow coming out of the break. GET IT DONE MAN!