Transfer balls: Yaya Toure rejects Manchester United and Arsenal and Africa rejects Man City

It’s proving a busy season for Yaya Toure’s agent. Today;s news is that brought to you in a Sky Sports headline: “Arsenal and Manchester United interested in Yaya Toure, but move would be impossible, says agent.”

Dang! A player not considered good enough for Manchester City’s 21-man Champions’ League side is wanted by the club’s local rivals and Arsenal – where he’d have to take a huge pay cut to fit with their wage structure?

Yaya Toure’s agent Dimitri Seluk has told Sky Sports there has been interest from Manchester United and Arsenal for the midfielder.

No word from Manchester United and Arsenal on that. We move on:

While Seluk has insisted a move to either United or Arsenal would be “impossible”, he also revealed to Sky Sports News HQ that the midfielder has had offers from China, Turkey, Italy and the United States, and will look to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in January.

Got that? Manchester united and Arsenal want him but the mighty Toure will think about playing in Turkey.

“He is in very good shape, very good condition, I think he lost seven kilograms. Maybe that’s not good enough for Guardiola, but then Zlatan Ibrahimovic wasn’t good enough for him (at Barcelona).”

Yeah. Look how well Barcelona did without Ibrahimovich, who left the club in 2010. Yes, they won La Liga, the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey under Pep the following season. But that’s not the point. What is the point? We’ve no idea. And before we’ve time to work it out, Seluk has moved on:

“They [Manchester City] will lose a lot of millions of supporters from Africa because of this decision from Guardiola. Now they will support Manchester United. A lot of people in Africa say they will never see any more matches of City on TV.”

Well, so long as they don’t support Chelsea, there’s no harm done.

PS: a few days ago, Seluk moaned to the Mirror:

“If Manchester City win the Champions League then I will travel to London and say before the television cameras that Pep Guardiola is the best coach in the world. But if City don’t win it, then I hope that Pep has the balls to say he was wrong to humiliate a great player like Yaya Toure.”

Of course, Toure never has won the Champions’ League with Manchester City. But he might have done under Pep!

Anorak

Posted: 6th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Allardyce copies Manchester United and lets Wayne Rooney play wherever he wants

The England football team laboured to a 0-1 win over the mighty Slovakia, who made the challenge simpler by reducing to ten numbers after their thuggish captain was red carded. England’s new broom, Sam Allardyce, had a few words to say about match and his own side’s captain, the tiring Wayne Rooney, nominally a striker but now playing so far back he could well challenge panicky Joe Hart for the goalkeeping slot.

Said Allardyce:

“It’s not for me to me to say where he’s going to play. He can play wherever he wants to be, because he was brilliant. I can’t stop Wayne if he thinks that’s the right place to be. We aren’t going to make a big deal about it are we?”

How’s that for management, eh?

Of course, before brilliant Wayne picked his own slot between the centre backs, Sam Allardyce said on August 30:

“Should we say attacking midfield player or should we say striker? Wayne’s position’s changed at Manchester United and that’s the sort of position I’d be looking to play him.”

The rest of world football is quacking in its boots.

Anorak

Posted: 5th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment

Arsenal relive the magic when Paulo Di Canio pushed the referee

At Arsenal’s star-studded ‘Legends’ match with AC Milan at the Emirates last Saturday, Nigel Winterburn and Paulo Di Canio recreated the Italians’ infamous push on ref Paul Alcock from 1998.

Back then, Di Canio, then with Sheffield Wednesday, got involved in a fracas with Martin Keown before seeing red. Instead of just walking off the pitch, the Italian decided to push ref Alcock to the floor, before Winterburn himself rather lamely squared up to the striker. Di Canio earned an 11-match ban.

Fast forward 18 years and at the Emirates, after the two players clashed in the middle of the pitch during the game played in aid of the Arsenal Foundation, Di Canio ‘pushes’ Winterburn who pulls off a rather fine impersonation of Alcock’s famous staggering fall…

Act 2:

Paulo di Canio and Nigel Winterburn went up against each other at the Emirates earlier – only led to one thing… pic.twitter.com/HhNuGhRvuZ

— Sporting Index (@sportingindex) September 3, 2016

Anorak

Posted: 5th, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Transfer balls: Manchester United sign Antoine Griezmann (next summer)

Bingo! Having been first with the news of Paul Pogba’s transfer to Manchester United – they beat everyone, including the lawyers, the player, his agent and all clubs involved by three weeks – the Daily Mirror brings news of who United are buying next summer.

In “Manchester United transfer news”, the news is: “Manchester United plotting Antoine Griezmann move next summer as Red Devils plan to spend big again.”

The Sunday Mirror’s John Richardson declares

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has already made French star Antoine Griezmann his number one target for next summer’s quest for more galactico signings. By then Mourinho will be confident of offering the much coveted Atletico Madid star Champions League football as he prepares to make another Paul Pogba style swoop.

Number of facts to support this claim: zero.

But there is some mind-reading because we’re told Jose Mourinho “believes the 25-year-old would be a sensation in the Premier League”. Well, if an expert thinks the top scorer at Euro 2016, the man named as the Uefa Euro 2016 player of the tournament, would be able to score in the Premier League, who are we to argue with such insight.

The Mirror’s conceit is, of course, that when Manchester United come knocking, no player can refuse them. But last season’s Champions League finalists Atletico Madrid only signed Griezmann on a new contract last June, the deal keeping him at the club until 2021.

PS: what the Mirror does not mention is that it was pipped to the post by The Bleacher Report, which tweeted yesterday:

B/R Exclusive from @DeanJonesBR | #MUFC want Antoine Griezmann in 2017—possible long-term replacement for Rooney.

Number of facts in that article: zero.

Anorak

Posted: 4th, September 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment

The Premier League is worth the money and Manchester United’s Wayne Roony is no role model

Lovely article by Matt Dickinson the Times about the “obscene” sums of money in the Premier League.

It is slightly curious, this looking to football for a moral lead, which the Premier League counters by citing the total tax contribution of £2.4 billion to the UK Exchequer in the 2013-14 season, including £891 million paid directly by players. Equivalent to the pay of 90 per cent of all constables in England and Wales, so it says.

The vast sums paid to players and clubs is, as Dickinson suggests, “probably all part of the attraction”. And as for football taking the nation’s moral lead, well, I loathe the phrase “role model” when applied to a Premier League footballer whose not your dad or big brother.

Lamentably after so much sense, the Times also wrote: “Who is a good role model for young footballers?” The answer is none. But The article invites people to tell the Times who their footballing role model is and isn’t.

Wayne Rooney is an enormous talent but I’m not sure he has matured enough to be a “great role model”.

Ask his kids. They look up to him, most likely. Others wade in:

Rooney is a shocking role model…

Young Mr. Rooney is a disgrace to professional football and to society in general…

A much more suitable role model would be Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen or even John Terry, whose own rehabilitation now appears complete after a few difficult years…

I think Zinedine Zidane is a true footballing icon and should be a role-model for every aspiring footballer…

Danny Shittu, the Queens Park rangers defender, is an excellent role model for young people…

No footballer signed up to a “role model”. Is the Prime Minister a role model? Are other public figures, like MPs, there to offer you moral guidance? Is Prince Harry Baseball Cap your life coach? Is your first thought when confronted with model dilemma to muse, “I wonder what Richard Branson would do?” If it is, seek help. Now.

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Money, Sports | Comments (2)

Arsenal Balls: Jack Wilshere’s is Eddie Howe’s route to The Emirates

Do you know why AFC Bournemouth went for Arsenal star Jack Wilshere? The Daily Mirror’s John Cross knows. He says:

Eddie Howe will spend the next 12 months taking his own managerial audition.

For the intelligent, erudite and affable Eddie Howe, who helped AFC Bournemouth blend Russian cash and talent to reach the Premier League, the season ahead is all about passing a test to be the next Arsenal boss. This is why he recruited Jack Wilshere, a player so vital to Arsenal they let him leave the club on loan.

Cross adds:

Arsenal will begin casting their eye around over the course of the season to make sure they have all bases covered should Wenger go next summer, and there are few better managerial prospects than Howe.

‘Should’ Wenger go? This is the John Cross who lent his name to the scoop: “Arsene sets the date”.

He’s going on June 30 2017 –  two months before Howe’s ‘audition’ ends.

None of this balls is to say Howe will not be considered for an Arenal job should the opportunity arise. But it assumes he wants it and sees Wilshere as a route to achieving his goal. It assumes Howe sees no future for himself at Bournemouth.

Cross adds: “If he can handle his audition this season and help guide Wilshere back to the top, then don’t bet against Howe ending up there himself.”

Arsenal haven’t been at “the top” for years. Wilshere has never won the Premie League title. Last season Arsenal were topped by Leicester City – and none of their top names fancied joining the Gunners.

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Crystal Palace chairman bemoans the money game but Premier League wages are of the clubs’ making

With the football Transfer Window, Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish assesses the scene in the Times:

There is one price for a club and there is another price for a Premier League club. But it isn’t just the increase in transfer fees we’ve seen. You now have a massive wage escalation, too.

Palace were in for Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere but, reportedly, baulked at paying all of his £90,000-a-week wages. They did, however, spend big, agreeing permanent deals for: Christian Benteke (Liverpool, £32m), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United, £13m), James Tomkins (West Ham United, £10m)  and Steve Mandanda (Marseille £1.5m). Palace also took Loic Remy on loan from Chelsea, with an option to buy him for £10.3 million.

Palace pay big fees and big wages. Johan Cabaye, reportedly, signed a £100,000-a-week deal on his move to Selhurst Park. With so much money flying around, it’s odd that Palace didn’t stump up for a rare talent like Wilshere, who would have thrived behind Remy, Benteke and Townsend.

Parish adds:

The problem is that we’re paying players amounts of money that only our league can afford. I think to myself: ‘Where are these players going to go?’

Answer: China or, like Bastian Schweinsteiger, who refused to leave Manchester United, nowhere.

Former Birmingham City footballer Trevor Francis with his wife, Helen, and Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough at the City Ground Nottingham after becoming Britain’s most expensive player.
Date: 09/02/1979

Most Premier League players will be earning £25,000-£30,000 per week. And that is just your entry level for a good solid pro, so if your top, top wage in the Championship — apart from the parachute clubs — is around £10,000, where do they go? There is no European market. That is the problem.

Isn’t the problem with the clubs who offer these wages?

We don’t get value for money, really. You have to buy assets that you can recycle. A club like us, you have to accept that you need to create assets and you have to reinvent, as Southampton have done brilliantly over the past three or four years.

Dan Jones, who works at Deloitte, adds a few words:

If you look around Europe, you will see Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich making big-money signings. But you won’t see that from the mid-table clubs and those involved in relegation battles because they don’t have the money and that is because the TV deals in those countries aren’t as big and aren’t shared equally.

England has the most equal model about how they distribute that money. That means if you are a mid-ranking Premier League club you can compete with all but the biggest clubs in Europe, so it puts you in a pretty strong position.

Precisely. The money goes up when a Premier League club calls because the PL has the most cash. But the team has to woo the player with wages. Do they have to be bigger? Why do they want more?

Geraint Anderson, 38, who was earning a base salary of £120,000 and a bonus of £500,000 by the time he left investment banking after 12 years in the City, took a view:

“It’s like a gilded cage. They earn huge amounts but they have the massive mortgage, they have the high-maintenance trophy wife, they have the kids at Harrow – then they wake up on their 50th birthday and think, ‘What a waste of a life.’ They get into this culture where their worth is valued by how much they earn, so they work ridiculous hours. I’d rather earn £25,000, have the kids at a local school and not owe anyone anything.”

Can we blame the clubs for fomenting the money game?

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, Money, Sports | Comment

Arsenal balls: Jack Wilshere’s success at Bournemouth will spite Wenger

As Jack Wilshere settles into his harbour-side residence in Sandbanks, the on-loan Arsenal player talks about a new start in Bournemouth. Says Wilshere:

“I had a good chat with the manager and feel sure this is the best place for me to play and develop this season. I would like to thank everyone at the club for making me feel so welcome. I am looking forward to working hard every day with the coaching staff and my new team-mates to help the club achieve success on the pitch.”

The Metro notices that “Wilshere has avoided any mention of his new side in his Twitter bio, which states: ‘Professional footballer. @NikeUK athlete. Proud father to son Archie and daughter Delilah. Instagram: JackWilshere’.”

He doesn’t mention any football team, including England and Arsenal. The dire Metro deduces that “this will be a shock to Gunners supporters”. It won’t. Wilshere says he will be at Bournemouth for one season only. After that, if he plays well, Wilshere will return to the Gunners, where with one year left on hid contract, he’ll be holding some great cards.

Elsewhere, the Express brings news that “bookmakers already offering odds on Jack Wilshere getting injured.” Who would bet on a human being getting hurt? Bookmakers 888Sport “have priced him at 4/7 to go off injured on his Bournemouth debut”. Classy stuff, using a man’s pain as PR.

In The Times, Cascarino says Wilshere will not return to Arsenal:

“I’ve heard a lot of people this week putting a very positive spin on Jack Wilshere’s season-long loan to Bournemouth. ‘Good for Jack, he’s going to play football,’ they say. But the reality is that this move is no different, no less brutal, than Joe Hart being hassled out of Manchester City…

“This stinks of Wenger wanting him out of the club. He’s done exactly what Pep Guardiola has done to Hart at City. I think issues off the pitch have played a role and Wenger has decided that Jack isn’t part of his plans any more. I have no doubt that Jack would have sat down with the gaffer after the first few games of the season — as many of us do — and it’s clear that Wenger hasn’t given him the answers he wanted. We have to stop kidding ourselves — he’s been forced out of the club.”

Wilshere is on £90,000-a-week at Bournemouth. He’s no victim. He asked for the loan move. If he was good enough to start for the Arenal first XI, the idea that Wenger wouldn’t pick him out of spite is absurd.

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Transfer Balls: Liverpool got outstanding value with Balotelli, the new Luis Suarez

In among the headline figure of £1.165bn spent by desperate Premier League clubs in the transfer window is news of Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli. He’s singed for Nice. And Liverpool let him go for free. Well, so go the media headlines. But what Liverpool did was to save themselves £90,000 ever week in the wages Balotelli earned nicking a living (although the Mail says it was £125,000-a-week)

Balotelli, 26, made 28 appearances for Liverpool, scoring four goals, since joining from AC Milan for £16m in 2014.

It might be worth looking at what they said when Balotelli signed for Liverpool:

Balotelli: “I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mistake. I wanted to go to Italy but I realised it was a mistake. English football is generally better. English football is beautiful.”

Brendan Rodgers: “This transfer represents outstanding value for the club and I think we have done a really smart piece of business here.”

Robbie Savage: “Mario Balotelli to Liverpool: Robbie Savage on why the signing would be a masterstroke by Brendan Rodgers…Life won’t be dull at Anfield when Balotelli is around. And after turning Suarez into a £75 million player, who’s to say Rodgers won’t repeat the trick with another exotic striker?”

“Exotic”?

Anorak

Posted: 1st, September 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment

Transfer balls: panicky Spurs sign Arsenal fan Sissoko from Newcastle

So Tottenham panicked and spent £30m on Moussa Sissoko from Newcastle, after matching Everton’s bid for the midfielder very late on deadline day. Newcastle had accepted Everton’s offer for the French player but could not agree personal terms. Spurs then snatched up the phone and signed the 27-year-old.

“I will give everything for you and the team. I hope we win a lot of games and titles,” Sissoko told Tottenham fans. This is, of course, the same Sissoko who told other fans in June: “…Arsenal is the club of my heart… The beautiful Arsenal.”

The Indy tells its readers “Why Mauricio Pochettino has decided to spend £30m on Moussa Sissoko”. Panic? No. The Indy says:

Spurs have been lacking pace in wide areas, and after missing out on Wilfried Zaha, Moussa Sissoko became the next big target to provide that

That’s Zaha, the pacy winger Spurs called the next Cristiano Ronaldo and bid £12million for? They didn’t get him so they bought Sissoko, the player who says of himself: “Everybody knows my best position is centre midfield.”

The Indy adds:

Sissoko may not be an obvious Pochettino player, given the worries about his application and consistency. But he proved at Euro 2016 that he can rise to the occasion, and it may well be that in a better environment, with a better coach and team-mates, that he would deliver more often.

Blame Newcastle, the manager and the team for not getting Sissoko to play better. Just don’t blame him.

Spurs have long admired Sissoko and his “box-to-box” playing style. The Mail reported in 2009:

Back then Spurs offered £15.5 million for Sissoko. They didn’t get him. In 2013, Newcastle signed him for £1.5m. They got relegated. And in the crazy world of football transfer Sissoko became worth £30m. Even he was mystified. “Newcastle are asking for 40m euros (approx £34m) for me to be transferred,  he told L’Equipe Magazine. “Honestly, they are overdoing it, they bought me for barely €2m.”

Is he worth £30m? No.

This is how Sissoko was described by the Newcastle Chronicle in April:

It feels from the outside like Sissoko is a big part of the problems at United – head of a coterie of players who believe their own hype and are frequently guilty of playing like what they are: expensive mercenaries eyeing the next opportunity.

And by the Telegraph:

The problem – perhaps even the tragedy – is that Sissoko is also a shirker, a mercurial talent who has spent most of his time on Tyneside hiding behind the failings of others, content to go through the motions, only switching off his cruise control setting against the glamorous English clubs. Why? It hints at a bad mentality, poor motivation and a player whose self-interest and questionable desire could be harmful to the collective rather than beneficial.

Look out for Sissoko playing well against Manchester United, his beloved Arsenal and in the Champions’ League, which is his next shop window.

Anorak

Posted: 1st, September 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment

Jack Wilshere leaves Arsenal for Bournemouth

Good news. Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has agreed to join the mighty Bournemouth on loan for the rest of the season. He will play under Eddie Howe, the man many see as Arsene Wenger’s replacement. The Cherries have gained a top talent. Arsenal see their protege playing regular Premier League football. England watch their most talented midfielder find his form.

And perhaps the best news of all: injury-prone Jack Wilshere passed his medical!

The BBC says he was heading to Italy but “The Gunners refused to do business with Roma because of the way they handled a potential move for defender Kostas Manolas earlier this summer.”

Oliver Kay in the Times:

Since turning heads across Europe with a wonderful breakthrough season as a teenager in 2010-11, Wilshere has started only 49 Premier League matches in five years. Injuries have blighted his career but so too, increasingly, has competition for places at Arsenal.

Wenger wants a fit Wilshere competing for selection but, with Granit Xhaka added to a wealth of midfield options, he no longer feels able to give him time to build up his rhythm and confidence. Wilshere knows that a loan move is now his best hope of getting his career back on track.

The Guardian calls Wilshere the “biggest loser”:

In terms of individuals, there can be no doubt who has been the summer’s biggest loser…

Arsène Wenger is by a distance the longest-serving manager in the Premier League and a byword for stability and consistency. He still has his vision for the future but as things stand Wilshere is no longer part of it. While there is plenty of support and understanding for the player within the club, patience appears to have run out.

Paying £90,000-a-week to a player who rarely performs is too expensive. If he plays well at AFC Bournemouth – and Arsenal get their usual rash of injuries – we should expect Jack the lad to be back at the Emirates.

Anorak

Posted: 31st, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment (1)

Transfer balls: Moussa Sissoko to Spurs, Chelsea show late interest and Odemwinge II

Transfer balls: Moussa Sissoko is on his way to Spurs from Newcastle. He’s been allowed to leave the France training camp at Clairefontaine to seek a new club.

Newcastle want £30m for him. Spurs are offering tuppence and an IOU. Well, not quite. Sky Sports says Newcastle will “accept five payments of £6m each for Moussa Sissoko”. The Guardian wonders, “Is it six payments of £5m each or, hang on, now it’s 15 payments of £2m each? Can we get to 30 million payments of a quid each before the midnight deadline?”

Or as Harry Redknapp tells Talksport: “If Newcastle are asking for £35million Daniel (Levy) will bid £5m.”

The paper adds that Chelsea are also talking with Sissoko.

As for Newcastle, for whom Sissoko still plays, the fans are unimpressed.

@NewcastleStats looks at Moussa Sissoko’s career:

15/16: 37 apps, 1 goal, 7 assists
14/15: 34 apps, 4 goals, 2 assists
13/14: 35 apps, 3 goals, 6 assists

£30m…

People are saying Daniel Levy’s a genius for bidding £16m for Sissoko. He’s not. It’s the prices that are insane.

And finally Sissoko’s gone all Odemwinge:

Never mind. There’s always China.

Anorak

Posted: 31st, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment

Arsenal transfer balls: Bournemouth overtake Crystal Palace in Jack Wilshere chase

Arsenal will allow Jack Wilshere to join Crystal Palace, says the BBC. But the Daily Mirror says Palace are just one of 22 clubs who have expressed an interest in taking Wilshere on loan.  It would be more but Arsenal will not countenance Wilshere moving to a direct rival for Arsenal’s Champions’ League place.

The Mirror says Everton are top of the list to get Wilshere. The paper’s list runs: Everton, Juventus, Espanyol, Roma, Valencia and Celtic.

The Sun says AC Milan want Wilshere and will add factor in a £30m option to buy the player at the season’s end. “ARRIVEDERCI,” says the paper, “Jack Wilshere poised for AC Milan.” Confusingly, the Sun also says Palace are top of the pile to get Jack. The Times agrees. It adds that Roma and Watford are keen on the England player.

The Guardian says Palace won’t pay all of Wilshere’s Arsenal wages (£90,000-a-week). Bournemouth will. Also, under Eddie Howe, Wilshere will be allowed to use his skill in keeping the ball on the floor. Many have tipped Howe to be the next Arsenal manager. What will he learn at Palace?

Sky says Wilshere will choose between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, adding that the Arsenal midfielder and his representatives met Palace boss Alan Pardew on Tuesday afternoon and Cherries manager Eddie Howe in the evening.

The south coast or south London?

Anorak

Posted: 31st, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Manchester United ‘hero’ Marcus Rashford shames Man City’s ‘obscene’ Raheem Sterling

Do the Press build them up to knock them down? The Sun writes about Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford who “proves he’s a top guy after buying his mum £800,000 home”.

The story continues:

“Manchester United’s latest hero Marcus Rashford has moved his mum and two brothers to a luxury £800,000 house in the leafy Wythenshawe suburb of the city. The English striker, 18, grew up in that area of Manchester and was quick to give his mum a more comfortable pad after bursting onto the scene last year and earning himself a bumper pay day of £25,000-a-week.”

 

Buying your mum a big house is lovely. But he’d better not get too rich or fail to score for England.

When Raheem Sterling showed everyone the house he’d bought for his mother, the Manchester City player was castigated by the Sun. The front-page headline screamed “Obscene Raheem”, noting “England failure steps off plane and insults fans by showing off blinging house”. A source opined: “Any normal person would hang their heads in shame after how they performed in France but these guys come home and show off about how rich they are.”

A “friend of Sterling” told MEN:

“Raheem and his family are really upset that the fact he’s bought a nice house for his mum is being used to hammer him by the media and make him the scapegoat for England’s failure… He bought her the house as a thank you for all her support and help. Now to have his mum’s private life and house being mocked and thrown into the public spotlight has left him furious and frustrated.”

Enjoy it while it lasts, Marcus, you hero.

Anorak

Posted: 30th, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comments (3)

Jack Wilshere seeks new Arsenal deal by demanding to leave the club

So, goodbye Jack Wilshere. Arsenal are happy for their midfielder to leave the club on loan. Of course, were a club to offer a loads of money for the England player, then Arsenal would sell him. In an inflated transfer market, what is Jack Wilshere worth – £40m? £50m? £60m?

Although the Telegraph says “Wenger has no intention of selling Wilshere”.

That’s an theory expanded on by the Sun, which reports that “Wilshere demanded a loan move during crisis talks with manager Arsene Wenger”. The paper adds:

The injury-jinxed midfielder, 24, is yet to start a game for the Gunners this season and has been axed from the England squad… Wilshere was hoping to win a new contract at the club. But talks were shelved following another season spent on the sidelines through injury.

Is that demand to leave from Wilshere part of a play to secure that new deal? His current contract that earns him £90,000-a-week has two years left to run.

In May, the Telegraph said: “Arsenal are ready to reward Jack Wilshere for a positive showing at this summer’s European Championship with a contract extension.”

The Sun echoes: “Jack Wilshere set to be offered new deal at Arsenal — but only if he comes through Euro 2016 unscathed.”

We all know how well that tournament went for Wilshere, who was poor.

In April, the Mirror wondered about Wilshere’s off-filed activities:

Arsenal have reportedly shelved plans to hand Jack Wilshere a new contract after he was caught up in a nightclub fracas in the early hours of Sunday morning. The 24-year-old, who is yet to play this season after breaking his leg last August, was thrown out of London hotspot Cafe de Paris at 3am before being questioned by police.

He vehemently denies claims he threw a punch during the incident. Arsene Wenger is running out of patience with the £80,000-a-week midfielder, and the Sun claim he has instructed the club to put renewal talks on hold.

Wilshere’s current deal will expire in the summer of 2018.

Of course, Wilshere could stay at Arsenal and fight for his place in the side. But in the pecking order, he’s behind the hugely promising Granit Xhaka,  Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny and Aaron Ramsey. 

So what next for Jack, the 2011 PFA young player of the year and the one Arsenal player who identifies with the club, signing off his tweets “Gooner” and goading rivals Spurs? Surely Arsenal will aim to keep the 24-year-old, whose best years lie ahead of him?

Anorak

Posted: 30th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Spurs and Crystal Palace both want Wilfired Zaha on the cheap

The BBC says Crystal Palace have rejected an £18m bid from Tottenham for Wilfried Zaha, 23. Palace want £25m.

Palace chairman Steve Parish says the offer is “ridiculous”.

The Mirror says Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke “admits he is desperate” for Zaha to remain at Palace. He is? What he said was: “I came to Palace because of the way that they play. Everyone knows Wilf’s ability on the ball and he helped us a lot when he came on. Of course we’d like him to stay. I’ve tried to convince him to stay, but that’s football.”

So not desperate, then, just answering a journalist’s question about a teammate and answering with no little diplomacy. Or as the Mail puts puts in hyperbolic terms: “Christian Benteke pleads with Wilfried Zaha to stay.”

Over in the Telegraph readers get “The curious case of Wilfried Zaha and a very weird transfer window”.  We learn that Spurs manger “Mauricio Pochettino considers Zaha to have the potential of a Cristiano Ronaldo”.

Sam Wallace says Spurs are doing what Spurs do:

It should be said that his Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, wants to pay a Ronaldo-sized fee – although the fee in question is not the record-breaking £80 million Real Madrid paid in 2009. Rather it was the £12.25 million Manchester United paid Sporting Lisbon for the 18-year-old Ronaldo in 2003.

Was it just Levy doing what Levy does so well? That being, antagonising the competition with derisory bids for their best players while simultaneously demanding top dollar for Spurs’ own collection of waifs and strays? The early signs would suggest so.

So Levy wants a “bargain”. Don’t all clubs want that? Well, not Manchester United, obviously, who paid well over the odds for Paul Pogba. Wallace says if Levy were “serious” he’d start the bidding at £30m.

Maybe it’s all just a way for Zaha to get a fat raise?

Certainly Zaha, on around £40,000-a-week already, will get a new contract out of this wrangle, despite having four years left on his existing deal, which he signed last year when his move back from Manchester United was made permanent. Palace are one of many clubs who are now paying new signings such as Andros Townsend the kind of wages that they have never paid before, and if one talented, erratic winger can earn big money, then it is only a matter of time before the other talented, erratic winger wants the same.

Fair point. When Jamie Vardy’s agent offered his client to Arsenal, the Leicester City striker ended up getting a pay rise to stay at Leicester.

Andros Townsend’s wages at Palace are close to £80,000 a week.

Are Palace getting Zaha on the cheap?

Palace manager Alan Pardew is quoted in the Guardian:

“I’ll try and be as fair and honest as I can be with Wilf and try and take his game forward. I’ve worked so hard with him this year. I’ve probably spent more time with Wilf and [Yannick] Bolasie than with any other player at the training ground, and I’d like to think there’s been an improvement in both. One I’ve lost [to Everton]. I don’t intend to lose the other one, and the chairman’s feelings have obviously enhanced that.”

In September 2015, Bolasie signed a new deal at Palace that saw his wages double from around £20,000 a week to £40,000. At Everton he earns around £80,000-a-week, and very probably secured a percent of the signing-on fee.

Pardew adds:

“At the end of the day, sport is a business, and there are business decisions to be made. But I’ve been at other clubs where the business sometimes comes first. Here I generally feel we try and do it the right way, and we’re trying to help Wilf to become a better player. We think his ambitions to play for England can be realised here, and there’s no reason why that can’t happen.”

Pardew can’t guarantee that Zaha will get better, but Palace can guarantee one of their best players more money in an inflated market.

Anorak

Posted: 30th, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment (1)

Transfer balls: Arsenal in for Antoine Griezmann, Kostas Manolas and Oliver Burke

Transfer balls: No sooner have Arsenal splashed a huge amount of cash on Shkodran Mustafi (£35m) and Lucas Perez (£17m), than Sky Sports says they are in for the excellent French striker Antoine Griezmann and Greek defender Kostas Manolas.

Sky says Atletico Madrid’s Griezmann rejected a move to Arsenal earlier this summer, but Wenger is still keen on the pint-sized scorer, whose six goals won him the Golden Boot at Euro 2016.

The Indy says Wenger was informed that Griezmann “was settled in Spain and would not consider a move to England”. Not even for – get this – £80m, which one site says Arsenal were happy to bid.

The Sun adds that Arsenal “also made a move for Bayern Munich ace Robert Lewandowski, but could not match his huge wage demands.” Well, quite. Arsenal can make a move for lots of players, but if they can’t afford the wages, any approach is at best hopeful.

Instead of the superb Pole, Arsenal are “in the race to sign Nottingham Forest sensation Oliver Burke”, according to the Sun on Sunday. The only other team in the ‘race’, says the Sun, is Manchester United. Which is odd because Burke has just joined Bundesliga newcomers RB Leipzig.

Anorak

Posted: 29th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Manchester United: Luke Shaw on the tackle that nearly ended his career

Manchester United’s Luke Shaw has been talking with the Guardian. His return from a badly broken leg has been arduous – a double break caused by a tackle when United played PSV Eindhoven on September 15 2015.

Is he angry with the tackler, PSV’s Héctor Moreno?

“I partly blame myself. I’d run into their penalty area and I should have shot with my right foot but I wanted to come inside. I wanted to be on my left foot. And then, obviously, the tackle. I don’t even want to think about the tackle, to be honest. At the time I thought: ‘Give him the benefit of the doubt, it wasn’t actually a bad tackle.’ But the more I’ve seen it since, the more I think: ‘You know, that was actually a really bad challenge.’..

The memory has not faded.

 “To be fair to him, he did come to say sorry. He came to the hospital and I saw him face to face in my room. I was quite sympathetic at the time – ‘Aah, look, you can come in, it’s fine’ – but at the end of the day it was me lying there with a broken leg, and I went through so many bad times since then I did start thinking about it some more. It really annoys me they [Uefa] gave him man of the match. Some people were saying it was a good challenge, others were saying it was a bad challenge. For me, it’s a bad challenge.”

Immediately after the tackle, Shaw felt little or no pain.

“Then, that night, lying in hospital, I swear to God the pain was something else. Oh God, the worst you could ever imagine. My mum was next to me and I remember saying to her: ‘They have to do something because I actually can’t keep going with this amount of pain.’ They had to open up my leg to pull out all the clotted-up blood. They put me to sleep, but it didn’t stop the pain when I woke up again.”

And now?

“I still get aches. I don’t go a day without feeling it. It’s 100% better but it’s normal, apparently, to feel it after such a bad injury. In the first three or four weeks when I started training outside it felt good, but then all of a sudden it started aching. It didn’t hurt, but it was aching and aching and even before I went out I could feel it and I was thinking: ‘Fuck … is it ever going to go away?’”

Such an horrendous injury affects the mind.

When Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsay had his leg broken in a bad tackle from Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross, he told the Indy:

“I realised how much football actually means to me. When you are watching all the games, while sitting on your settee, you think: ‘I should be there’. That’s one of the most difficult parts of it.”

Read it all…

Anorak

Posted: 26th, August 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment (1)

Transfer Balls: ‘shrewd’ Arsenal ‘panic buy’ ‘star’ striker Lucas Perez

Arsenal have hired Lucas Perez. The Mirror says it is a “PANIC BUY”, which is odd because Arsenal are usually criticised for being over cautious in the transfer market.

The paper goes on to say that Arsenal “compiled several scouting reports on the Deportivo La Coruna striker”. So not a panic buy, then, but something they considered at length.

The Mirror adds: “Arsenal’s first offer was rejected by Deportivo on Thursday after they tried to pay the modest fee in two instalments.” Paying a “modest fee” does not suggest panic, either. It suggests the Gunners have done a good deal for the player the Mirror has called a “star striker”, hailing him as “a relative bargain for a man who scored or assisted 25 goals in La Liga last season”.

In yet another Mirror story on Perez, the paper show him “scoring a nuclear thunder volley” and says he is a “shrewd buy”.

Today’s headline is utter balls.

Anorak

Posted: 26th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Reviews, Sports | Comment

Transfer balls: Arsenal get Lucas Perez and line up Mustafi for £26m

Arsenal can have Valencia’s German defender Shkodran Mustafi for £26m. so says Sky Sports, who describe Mustafi as the ” wantaway defender”.

The Star says the deal has been agreed.

No news elsewhere that is has been. The Telegraph says it hasn’t, noting that Arsenal are keen on Mateo Musacchio and Kostas Manolas. “It is unclear whether the third target…is still Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi or another player,” says the paper.

The BBC has news of another Arsenal target, reporting that the Gunners “are hoping to beat Everton to the £17m signing of Deportivo La Coruna striker Lucas Perez Martinez”. The Telegraph says Perez “has been compared to Leicester forward Jamie Vardy”, who rejected a move to Arsenal in the summer.

But unlike Vardy, who rejected Arsenal, Perez is on his way to the Emirates. The Indy says “Gunners agree deal to sign Lucas Perez”, adding: “Arsene Wenger has finally got his hands on a striker after reportedly agreeing a £17m deal to sign the Spaniard from Deportivo.”

The Telegraph says “Arsenal have reportedly gazumped Everton in the race for his signature”. The Mail says “Arsenal beat Everton to signing Lucas Perez after agreeing £16.9m fee”.

The Express says “Arsenal to announce £17m La Liga striker signing tomorrow”.

Or as the Metro and Sun put it: “Lucas Perez move could be off because Arsene Wenger wants to pay release clause in two instalments.” Says the Sun: “Deportivo striker is on the brink of Emirates move but stingy Gunners boss is arguing over fee.”

Such are the facts.

Anorak

Posted: 25th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Arsenal tells Calum Chambers he can leave on loan

Transfer balls: Will Arsenal ever hire Shkodran Mustafi? Do they want to? How much is he worth? Questions for media experts:

The Daily Mirror has news: “Shkodran Mustafi will cost a staggering £50million as Valencia play hard-ball over German defender.” The Mirror hasn’t the foggiest what Mustafi is worth.

Arsenal are clearly in the market for a central defender. The Star says they are are letting one already on the books go: “ARSENAL have reportedly told Calum Chambers he can leave the club on loan.” The Star adds that Chambers could be leving permanenetly.

The Daily Mail says any move will be a loan. Arsenal want to keep the player they signed for £17m. It’s not new news because in June the Mail said “Chambers is closing in on a deal to spend next season at Watford”.

Also in June, the Mirror added: “Arsenal’s Calum Chambers close to transfer back to Southampton on season-long loan 2 years after leaving.”

The Star says he’s off to West Brom. The Telegraph says it’s Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Swansea.

In short: they don’t know.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment

Transfer balls: Spurs want Arsenal fan Moussa Sissoko who joins PSG after Real Madrid

Transfer balls: Spurs are after Newcastle United’s Moussa Sissoko, or at least they fancy the version of the Magpies’ midfielder who played well for France at Euro 2016.

The BBC says “Tottenham may offer midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, 21” as part of any deal. Or they may not. Bentaleb ‘may’ have read the news on ESPN that he “will not be sold by Tottenham this summer”. Things are far from certain.

Have Spurs seen enough of Bentaleb, of whom the Mirror reported in 2014, “Tottenham’s Nabil Bentaleb: I’m getting my revenge on the clubs that snubbed me”? He’s now playing for the Tottenham Under 21s. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

As for Sissoko, well, he was once batting his eyelashes at Arsenal. Sky Sports reported in June: “Moussa Sissoko wants to leave Newcastle and join Arsenal.” Arsenal were on “red alert” said the Sun. Sissoko was very keen, cooing: “…Arsenal is the club of my heart… The beautiful Arsenal. We will see. I cannot tell you if I am going to go to Arsenal.”

We can. You’re not.

As Arsenal didn’t call, Sissoko looked again. “I hope Real will come for me, I’m still waiting,” Sissoko told World Football in August. “If Real Madrid are interested in you then of course you will be happy, but right now I am still a Newcastle player.”

But he’s off to PSG. We know that because the Mirror wrote: “Paris Saint-Germain preparing move for Moussa Sissoko – once Paul Pogba joins Manchester United.”

Such are the facts.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment

Arsenal: ‘guilty’ Wenger admits his transfer policy (again)

In “ARSENE WONGA”, the Mirror says Arsenal’s manger Arsene Wenger (geddit?!) “finally admits he treats the club’s money as if it was my own”.  No, he’s not admitting to embezzlement.  Wenger just says he’s cautions with spending tons of cash on players.

Of course, Wenger should spend, spend, spend because the Mirror has already told us this will be his last season at Arsenal.

Wenger has been quoted in Game Changers: Inside English Football, written by former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley: ”

“I personally believe the only way to be a manager is to spend the club’s money as if it were your own, because if you don’t do that you’re susceptible to too many mistakes. You make big decisions and I believe you have to act like it’s your own money — like you’re the owner of the club and you can identify completely with the club, because if you don’t do that I think you cannot go far.”

Some revelation there. At least it will be to the Mirror readers who didn’t see the paper’s story from one year ago:

Arsenal manager admits being tight with transfer cash because he feels club BELONGS to him

He has often been accused by his club’s frustrated fans of treating Arsenal’s money as if it is his own…. Now, for the first time, Arsene Wenger has unashamedly pleaded guilty to the charge and given a rare insight into the hurt he feels when his work is questioned at the Emirates Stadium.

 

As ever, Wenger was not talking with the Mirror, but with a magazine in France.

The Frenchman said: “I’ll give myself merit for one thing: I’ve always treated Arsenal as if it belonged to me. I have sometimes been criticised for it — because I am not enough of a spender, not carefree enough… My great pride will be to be able to say the day that I leave, that I am leaving behind a good team, a healthy situation and a club capable of performing in the future. I could have said to myself: ‘I am here for four or five years, we win everything’, [then] I leave and leave the club on the verge of bankruptcy. For me, consistency at the highest level is the true sign of great clubs.”

When he ‘admits’ it to the Mirror, that might be the end of the story.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment

Liverpool for sale: China courts the Reds and the media plays ball

When the Sun led with news that Liverpool’s American owners had rebuffed Chinese attempts to buy the club we enjoyed the headline “You’ll Never Wok Alone”.

Readers were told that “Liverpool chiefs will reject moves from the Far East to buy a stake in the club”.

It all looked an exercise in PR. Liverpool’s foreign chiefs are much more in tune with the Reds than other foreigners who want to be chiefs. The club is in safe hands.

The Chinese are a “state-backed group called Everbright”, who “value the club at £700m”. Liverpool chairman Tom Werner, part of the Fenway Sports Group, says the club would work with the right partner and offers are made “just for the publicity”.

Today the Times has more.

Liverpool, or Liwupu as it is rendered in Chinese, has received admiring glances in China. Over the weekend it emerged that China Everbright, a state-backed investment company, was looking into making a bid with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners.

You wonder how these things emerge?

The club has also caught the attention of Fosun and Dalian Wanda, Reuters reported yesterday. Both are Chinese conglomerates with a proven taste for western consumer brands with Chinese cachet, counting Club Med and a Hollywood studio among their most recent deals.

How depressing to have your beloved football club bracketed with Club Med and cinema chains.

Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, insist that the club is not for sale despite the £800 million approach said to be in the works. However, leading figures have indicated that they would take a proposal for a minority stake seriously from investors who could open doors for the club commercially.

£700million has now become £800m. That figure could go up and up.

Nick Davis, chief executive of Memery Crystal, a law firm that advised on the sale earlier this month of West Bromwich Albion to Yunyi Guokai, said that Chinese interest in Liverpool was part of a trend established at the top of the Chinese hierarchy. Xi Jinping, the president of China who last year posed for a selfie with Sergio Aguero, the Manchester City striker, has said he wants China to become a “world football superpower” that could win the World Cup by 2050.

China buys Liverpool. China picks the Liverpool team?

David Shambaugh, a China expert at George Washington University, said that the explanation was partly domestic. “China has so much pent-up money looking to be invested abroad and the Premier League is a very sound financial investment,” he said. “It also offers excellent opportunities to expand China’s ‘brand’ abroad.”

An £800 million valuation for Liverpool compares with the £300 million paid by Fenway Group in 2010.

Kerching!

And what is China’s brand? Well, Amnesty International says:

A series of new laws with a national security focus were drafted or enacted that presented grave dangers to human rights. The government launched a massive nationwide crackdown against human rights lawyers. Other activists and human rights defenders continued to be systematically subjected to harassment and intimidation. Five women’s rights activists were detained for planning to mark International Women’s Day with a campaign against sexual harassment. Authorities stepped up their controls over the internet, mass media and academia. Televised “confessions” of critics detained for investigation multiplied. Freedom of religion continued to be systematically stifled. The government continued its campaign to demolish churches and take down Christian crosses in Zhejiang province. In the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the regional government enacted new regulations to more tightly control religious affairs and ban all unauthorized religious practice. The government maintained extensive controls over Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. The UN Committee against Torture regretted that previous recommendations had not been implemented.

All very fit and proper.

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Money, Reviews, Sports | Comment

Transfer balls: Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal for £21m, £25m, £30m and £42m

Transfer balls: With the business over Paul Pogba to Manchester United sorted to great relief at the Daily Mirror – the paper said Pogba had signed for United three weeks before he did – we look at Arsenal’s pursuit of Valencia’s German defender Shkodran Mustafi.

Daily Mirror, July 28:”Arsenal target Shkodran Mustafi has a release clause of €50million, MirrorFootball can reveal, but Valencia would sell him for half that as they look to recoup losses from missing out on the Champions League.”

Valencia are willing to sell a player worth €50million for €25million. That’s just over £21m.

Daily Mirror, August 11: “Muatfi has a £42m buy-out in his contract and Valencia are ready to accept around £30m, but Arsenal have yet to agree a fee”

Sorry, Arsenal. The fee’s gone up.

Daily Mirror, August 13: “Injury-hit Arsenal set to recall Mathieu Debuchy for Liverpool visit to fill in for trio of absent centre-halves.”

Arsenal have no need to buy anyone new. Debuchy to the rescue. (He was not picked.)

Daily Mirror, August 15: “Arsenal move for Shkodran Mustafi stalls as Valencia demand £25million for German defender”

Is that around £30m?

Daily Mirror, August 16: “Arsenal transfer news and rumours: Jeremy Mathieu emerges as Arsene Wenger’s top target.”

Arsenal no longer want Mustafi. It’s Mathieu for the Gunners.

Daily Mirror, August 17: “Arsenal are hoping to sign Mustafi for around £20million… Valencia have been holding out for closer to £30million for Mustafi.”

Wasn’t it £25m they wanted?

Daily Mirror: August 20: “Liverpool are in full negotiations with Valencia over the German’s availability and could beat the Gunners to the deal.”

Go for it, Liverpool. Arsenal don’t want him.

Daily Mirror, August 22: “Arsene Wenger has been quoted a staggering £50million for Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi.”

And on its goes…

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, August 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Reviews, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)