Top of the morning to y’all
The internet is awash this morning with stories that Arsenal has agreed personal terms to sign Germany and FC Koln hitman Lukas Podolski although
a fee with Koln is yet to be agreed upon. For me it’s annoying. I mean is
anyone at the Emirates just realising we need another striker? Why did they
have to wait this long before completing the deal? Why didn’t Wenger make the
deal go through during the January transfer window when he had the chance and
he would have made an impact on our season as it currently is? Remember he isn’t
champions league cup tied. Koln are placing the fee in the region of £15
million while Arsenal are offering £8million and am sure whichever one it is,
the two sides could have reached a very reasonable deal last month but instead,
Wenger brings in Henry and now he is no longer with us and we are left with the
Korean and the Moroccan.
 |
| What to expect next season. Poldi in an Arsenal shirt |
The deal reminds of the Arshavin transfer as well where we
dilly-dallied on the deal right from the summer until the last few days of the January
transfer window while by then, he was already cup tied for the champions
league. Looking back at that season, Arsenal got to the semi-final of the
champions league where we lost to the eventual winners Manchester United. Maybe
if Andrey wasn’t cup tied, and played against United maybe we might have been
able to defeat United. Just maybe because he was in such a hot form then just
ask Pepe Reina in the Liverpool goal. Arshavin is to Reina what Lionel Messi is
to Almunia. You all can decide whatever that is though.
All that is water under the bridge though as looking on the
bright side that means we have a striker that has proven himself at the world
the world stage to support Robin in the front. Don’t forget Poldi was voted the
best young player in the 2006 world cup and has been consistent for Germany
ever since. We hope Arsenal and Koln agree a fee as I can’t wait to see the German
strutting his stuff at the Emirates.
In other news, Arsenal has announced pre-tax profits of £49.5million
for half of the season ending November 2011. For me I don’t know if it’s good
news or something to just scoff about. Its familiar territory for the club and
am sure even some people right upstairs are so satisfied, it’s just as good as
winning a trophy for them as chairman Hill-Wood points out
"We are proud of Arsenal's record and consistency over many seasons and have the foundations in place, at every level of the club, to ensure we remain a force in the seasons ahead."
Arsenal post profits as often as Barfelona win trophies and
am sure many a gunner fan out there would not mind the team recording a loss
for just one season just to have a taste of the premier league trophy or the
champions league glory. The figures have been boosted significantly by the
sales of Fabregas and Na$ri and I wondered what if we had convinced Cesc to
stay and Na$ri had signed a new contract would we have had such high figures? Of
all the panic buying that Arsene made last summer, only Mikel Arteta seem to be
a direct replacement for any of the departed duo as I believe that we would
still have gotten Gervinho, Chamberlain, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, and Joel
Campbell, maybe Park could be omitted and definitely Arteta would not be here,
that means we would still probably have spent over 30 million on new signings. If
that had been the case for us this season, we would not be having such pretty
books now but on the footballing side and baring and major injuries, I think
our season would be much better. Maybe still within a touching distance of the
league leaders if we are not leading ourselves and given a better performance
against Milan and therefore remain in the champions league. Wouldn’t Arsenal
fans love it better like that.
I definitely appreciate Arsenal’s financial model and the
fact that we are not in some financial mess of some sort, we really want to see
trophies at the Emirates and sure we can at least take some risks in the
transfer market. We can definitely improve on our wage bill by letting go of
some of the deadwood and excess weight we are forcing ourselves to carry at the
moment thereby allowing more quality players to be paid. Who says Arsenal can’t
have 3-4 world class players in our squad? But at the moment, we have just one
and I don’t need to remind us who that is. It really saddens me when we play at
the Emirates and the camera roves round the trophies we won in those years and
then suddenly stop at 2005. That's a heck of a long time. We definitely need to
be more active in signing quality players in the transfer window and also clear
out players that are not performing. There is no player in the Arsenal squad
that has not been given a chance to prove himself. Well maybe Park. But still
we don’t have time for that anymore as we really need to celebrate some
success. We deserve it or don’t you think?
On a lighter note, I had to re-visit that great game on Sunday
right? I read this piece on the Telegraph and my head just couldn’t stop
swelling to be an Arsenal fan. It is a really good read. Highly recommended for
our egos.
That's about it for now, be back on Friday for another
edition and let’s hope all the players return from their international duties
in one piece as Robin was said to have taken a knock in Holland training. Not to
panic though, he has been cleared to play today against England.
If you have enjoyed reading this why not share on your Facebook
and Twitter pages. You can also drop your comments below and follow us on
Twitter @nigeriangunners. God bless the Arsenal. Iree o
No comments:
Post a Comment