Vieira’s Off
‘ADIOS, Patrick Vieira. You came; you got sent off; you went to Real Madrid to earn loads of money from something called image rights.
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| Like a Mountie, Perez always gets his man |
Only, he hasnt gone…yet. The latest news in the saga of the Frenchmans move to Madrid is that Arsenal have upped the asking price.
While the Sun says a deal of £23m has been agreed between Arsenal vice chairman David Dein and Real president Florentino Perez (who, according to the paper, always gets his man), the Star says that the fee has now risen to £25m.
Not so, says the Mirror, which claims that Dein has slapped a £30m price tag on his captains head and, if Real dont pay, then they dont get the man whose services theyve coveted for years.
Better news for Dein in the Express, where the paper says the Gunners are holding out for £36m, way above Reals initial offer of, er, £22m.
Which all seems to mean that Arsenal are willing to sell if the fee is exorbitant enough, that Vieira is ready to leave (the Mirror says hes cleared out his locker at the clubs training ground) and that the papers are clutching at straws.
Oh, and that Perez may well be about to pay over the odds for a 28-year-old with dodgy knees. And a problematic thigh.
The Mail spends three pages telling us how Vieira has not recovered from a thigh injury sustained during Euro 2004 (Ouch!).
And even if Vieira does heal and does leave, hes unlikely to do that well away from Highbury.
In The Curse Of Leaving Arsenal, the Mail lists some of the 52 players whove left the Gunners under Arsene Wengers regime – Marc Overmars (£23m), Emmanuel Petit (undisclosed fee) and Nicolas Anelka (£23m) – and notes that few, if any, have done well.
But enough of this nonsense. If Real Madrid have the cash, then Arsenal would be fools not to take it.
The trick with being successful in todays over-hyped footballing world is to ensure that you move while your reputation is intact.
Do so and you can earn a fee out of proportion with your abilities.
For this reason, Sven Goran Eriksson would be mistaken to leave his £4m-a-year job at the Football Association, especially since his star is in freefall.
So hell have to be pushed to the exit door. And the Express (Got him!) says the FA have enough evidence to sack him.
A member on the FAs 12-man board tells the paper that Sven might go after the jury have met in a secret location later today.
And, then again, he might stay. (Sven stays, says the Mail; Sven: Im Safe, says the Star.)
Meanwhile, the Sun goes to the trouble of listing 12 reasons why Sven should get the sack, reasons that include a largely unsuccessful record in management, a lack of insight and flawed coaching abilities.
All of which were evident to some before he was given the job in the first place…’
Posted: 5th, August 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
