Summer 2007 Transfers
- Thread starter Flight
- Start date
Flight
Full Member
Yes mate.
Thierry Henry = 16M
Darren Bent = 17M
Madness.
The Arsenal forums are suggesting Henry had a buy out clause.
edit : Henry confirms the rumours
Thierry Henry = 16M
Darren Bent = 17M
Madness.
The Arsenal forums are suggesting Henry had a buy out clause.
edit : Henry confirms the rumours
Treebeard
Ranger of the North
I think its the right time for all involved.
For Henry its a new challenge for the last few years of his career. He'll get a good crack at a CL medal no doubt and enjoy the sunny high life in Barcelona.
For Arsenal we've got 16m for a 30 year old who has probably given us his best years as was the case when Vieira, Overmars, Petit, Pires etc left. He had also become a bit of a liability as captain and I felt the last two years his ego had begun to over shadow the club. Its not right when the team walk out and the loud speaker announces them as "Thierry Henry's Arsenal". We've qualified with for the last two CL's without him pretty much.
It'll be interesting to see how his fitness holds up as well.
I'm wondering where that leaves Messi, Ronnie or Eto'o though. I imagine for Barca its a publicity stunt after losing La Liga to Real and they apparently pulled out all the stops to get him. They initially wanted pay 10mil if rumours are true and pay a lot of it dependant on appearences etc. Arsene sorted them though.
For Henry its a new challenge for the last few years of his career. He'll get a good crack at a CL medal no doubt and enjoy the sunny high life in Barcelona.
For Arsenal we've got 16m for a 30 year old who has probably given us his best years as was the case when Vieira, Overmars, Petit, Pires etc left. He had also become a bit of a liability as captain and I felt the last two years his ego had begun to over shadow the club. Its not right when the team walk out and the loud speaker announces them as "Thierry Henry's Arsenal". We've qualified with for the last two CL's without him pretty much.
It'll be interesting to see how his fitness holds up as well.
I'm wondering where that leaves Messi, Ronnie or Eto'o though. I imagine for Barca its a publicity stunt after losing La Liga to Real and they apparently pulled out all the stops to get him. They initially wanted pay 10mil if rumours are true and pay a lot of it dependant on appearences etc. Arsene sorted them though.
Janie
Full Member
From a pure neutral footballing point of view the prem has just lost one of it's greatest ever players. Henry joins a select few foriegn players who came to British football and were not only worshipped by there own fans, but respected and admired by opposing fans (Zola, Bergkamp, Ole Gunnar, Peter Smeichal, Larson (Celtic)). Not just because of their skill and flair alone, but because the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch.
The Prem will be a worse place without Herny gracing it.
The Prem will be a worse place without Herny gracing it.
Ky
Stupid is as stupid does
I admire your optimism Tree but its all going tits up @ Arsenal as far as I can see. Wenger won't be there past this season IMO unless we see serious changes @ board level, e.g., Stan taking over.
If Wenger leaves, you'll see players like Cesc, Van Persie, Gallas, etc all looking for pastures new.
I think Henry is the first of many. Silly, silly board. Getting rid of David Dein may be the worst decision in Arsenals history. If I were you, I'd be praying for Kroenke to get hold of the club and reinstate him.
If Wenger leaves, you'll see players like Cesc, Van Persie, Gallas, etc all looking for pastures new.
I think Henry is the first of many. Silly, silly board. Getting rid of David Dein may be the worst decision in Arsenals history. If I were you, I'd be praying for Kroenke to get hold of the club and reinstate him.
Flight
Full Member
Nothing worse than when a team knows their manager is leaving at the end of the season, especially when it is someone as admired by the players as Wenger. Half the team will spend their season sorting out where they are going to be next year. It'll be like the average IT Networking dept where you only get 50% out out of the contractors, because they are on the phone to their agencies all the time. Aside from that, with their financial restraints, how much money are they going to give to a manager they know is leaving ?
They'd be better off replacing him now.
On the other side of the coin there are positives : Henry was a terrible choice for captain, Rosicky and Hleb might get a look in in their favoured positions. The Gunners best football last term was played in spite of Henry, not because of him, so they are still a great footballing side. Their destruction of us and the Mancs was a joy to watch, even though it was my team losing.
I agree with Janie. Its a sad day that Henry is leaving the Prem, but it isn't a huge problem for Arsenal. Wenger is, though.
They'd be better off replacing him now.
On the other side of the coin there are positives : Henry was a terrible choice for captain, Rosicky and Hleb might get a look in in their favoured positions. The Gunners best football last term was played in spite of Henry, not because of him, so they are still a great footballing side. Their destruction of us and the Mancs was a joy to watch, even though it was my team losing.
I agree with Janie. Its a sad day that Henry is leaving the Prem, but it isn't a huge problem for Arsenal. Wenger is, though.
Agravaine
Professional Slacker
I agree, we need to keep Wenger and I'd like to see Stan take over. PHW is a prize gibbon and rumour has it Fiszman will dump his shares as soon as he gets his tax break from living in Geneva.
Henry as captain baffled me but then I've never liked any forward being captain. Should always be a midfielder or defender IMO.
I just hope that this time we buy a proper striker who's primary thought is to score, not pass.
I don't get all the vitriol directed at Henry over the perception he's lied to us. Losing someone like DD is enough to worry anyone although saying he's worried about Wenger doesn't wash as Wenger never discusses a new contract until his current one expires. Still, he's been a fantastic servant for Arsenal over the past 8 years and some of our fans would do well to remember that.
Henry as captain baffled me but then I've never liked any forward being captain. Should always be a midfielder or defender IMO.
I just hope that this time we buy a proper striker who's primary thought is to score, not pass.
I don't get all the vitriol directed at Henry over the perception he's lied to us. Losing someone like DD is enough to worry anyone although saying he's worried about Wenger doesn't wash as Wenger never discusses a new contract until his current one expires. Still, he's been a fantastic servant for Arsenal over the past 8 years and some of our fans would do well to remember that.
Treebeard
Ranger of the North
If you believe the press then yeah, its all going tits up.
The thing is is that it was going to happen sooner rather than later. As godly as Henry was, he wasn't going to be playing until he is sixty, so it was going to happen within the next couple of seasons anyway. Wenger is known for being very hard on players when they get to 30 regardless of who they are. Who knows also what Henry's fitness state is as well now. I don't.
All of this instability talk comes from a player who in one breath goes on about how much he loves the club, and then with the the next breath tries to undermine it. No one else seems to have said anything and Arsene is well known for not signing a new contract until last knocking. So all you have are the ramblings of one of the biggest ego's football has ever seen.
Listened to an interesting interview with Bob Wilson yesterday who said that he asked Arsene recently if he was going to waste what has become a life's work for him, and leave Arsenal when his contract was up? He said Arsene didn't indicate he was going to do that at all. Who's knows though. I can't imagine Arsene would leave because he thinks he can't go any further with the team as he as one of the most exciting squads of young players in europe reaching their peak in the next 2-3 seasons.
Also this week Arsene is expected to name Grimandi in the Football Directors role, taking up a lot of the work Dein was doing. Again, doesn't sound like the sort of thing he'd do if he was about to leave.
Although playing with Henry must have been exciting, it wouldn't suprise me if some of the players about to bloom are breathing a small sigh of relief also judging by the body language on the pitch in the last couple of seasons.
Who knows though. The thing is is that its all just typical Sky and press nonsense. Arsene, like Henry, is going to leave Arsenal at some point but they go on like its the end of the world. Arsenal are always going to be there whoever is manager and like Fergy etc, it'll happen one day. As long as there is a plan in place when it happens, thats all that matters.
Treebeard
Ranger of the North
With all due respect mate, no one apart from Arsene knows what he'll be doing at the end of next season.
Treebeard
Ranger of the North
Wenger turns to Grimandi as he ushers in new era
Ars�ne Wenger will start the rebuilding process at Arsenal with the appointment of Gilles Grimandi as director of football.
Matt Scott
June 25, 2007 12:03 AM
Gilles Grimandi is expected to become Arsenal's director of football this week as Ars�ne Wenger moves on from the turbulence of the past three months.
The former Arsenal midfielder's appointment is believed to have been a key topic at the board meeting four days ago during which the �16m sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona was approved. Grimandi, who has been the Gunners' scout in France after retiring as a player, will take on the player-recruitment duties previously performed by David Dein. The Bolton Wanderers and former Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka is believed to head the list of summer targets.
The appointment of the 36-year-old Grimandi would provide Wenger with a key strategic ally and introduce fresh football expertise into a boardroom that has lacked such experience since Dein's departure as vice-chairman in April. It is not thought to be the only announcement due from Arsenal this week, with clarification of Wenger's position also expected.
After Henry used Arsenal's official website on Saturday to reiterate his feeling that Wenger's commitment to the Emirates Stadium was uncertain the club will not permit the drift to persist. There are strong hints of an announcement that the Arsenal manager has signed a �15m-plus, three-year contract extension that would tie him to north London until 2011.
It could be said Wenger has never had it so good. Much has been made of supposed restrictions on his budgets inflicted by the �400m Emirates Stadium construction but in reality the Gunners are wealthier than ever.
Even after debts - �262m at the last count - the stadium generates about �20m more net income than Highbury did. Although interest-rate hikes have affected repayments on a �50m floating-rate bond, the �210m in 5.69% fixed-rate borrowings are beginning to look very good value. There is also the 50% increase in television income that is being spread across the Premiership, giving Wenger a bigger-than-ever transfer kitty.
The Arsenal manager's head for figures - he has a masters degree in economics from Strasbourg University - means he is given a budget from which to apportion transfer fees and wages as he sees fit and there are important calculations ahead as he and Grimandi turn their attention to replacing Henry.
Grimandi was one of Wenger's first signings at Arsenal, joining from the manager's former club Monaco in June 1997 for �2.5m. He left Highbury in 2002 for a very brief spell at the Colorado Rapids before returning to France. Grimandi played 84 matches for Arsenal in midfield, right-back and centre-half and won the Double in 1998 and again in 2002.
There are a number of possibilities in the search for strikers, with compelling reports in France suggesting Anelka will return as the Gunners' No9 in an �11m move from Bolton, who would be expected in turn to enlist Djibril Ciss� for �7m from Liverpool.
With Henry's �6m-a-year salary no longer burdening Wenger's budget, �2m raised from J�r�mie Aliadi�re's move to Middlesbrough and �8m to be generated by the expected sale of Jos� Antonio Reyes to one of three interested clubs in Spain, the Arsenal manager has the means to recruit two strikers and a left midfielder. In the latter position the Ajax and Holland international Ryan Babel's name has been raised along with that of Lyon's France international Florent Malouda.
Nicklas Bendtner will replace Aliadi�re in a reserve-team and Carling Cup role after a loan spell at Birmingham City but, even if Arsenal land Anelka after the striker's return from honeymoon, there will be another vacancy up front. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, another young Ajax forward, Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen have been linked with Arsenal.
The Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva will inherit the captain's armband from Henry and there may be a few private sighs of relief in the Arsenal dressing room that the Frenchman has left. Some within the club felt Henry had become a destabilising figure in the self-regarding final months of his eight-year stay and the team might find his departure liberating.
Many perceive Henry's complaints about the departure of Dein as an excuse that does not bear scrutiny. The former vice-chairman has not been seen at the Emirates Stadium since departing the club in April after a boardroom wrangle but it is thought a route back will open up for him before the end of next season.
That would be possible if the billionaire American Stan Kroenke steps up his purchase plans, which is expected once capital-gains-tax liability of the largest single shareholder, Danny Fiszman, is reduced. Fiszman is shifting his assets to Switzerland and would make at least �100m from the sale of his 24.11% holding in the club to Kroenke.
Despite the so-called "lock-down agreement" limiting share sales, insiders suggest this will happen in the next 12 months, with Dein's return then a real possibility. The club Grimandi is joining are not as unstable as Henry made out.
Ars�ne Wenger will start the rebuilding process at Arsenal with the appointment of Gilles Grimandi as director of football.
Matt Scott
June 25, 2007 12:03 AM
Gilles Grimandi is expected to become Arsenal's director of football this week as Ars�ne Wenger moves on from the turbulence of the past three months.
The former Arsenal midfielder's appointment is believed to have been a key topic at the board meeting four days ago during which the �16m sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona was approved. Grimandi, who has been the Gunners' scout in France after retiring as a player, will take on the player-recruitment duties previously performed by David Dein. The Bolton Wanderers and former Arsenal striker Nicolas Anelka is believed to head the list of summer targets.
The appointment of the 36-year-old Grimandi would provide Wenger with a key strategic ally and introduce fresh football expertise into a boardroom that has lacked such experience since Dein's departure as vice-chairman in April. It is not thought to be the only announcement due from Arsenal this week, with clarification of Wenger's position also expected.
After Henry used Arsenal's official website on Saturday to reiterate his feeling that Wenger's commitment to the Emirates Stadium was uncertain the club will not permit the drift to persist. There are strong hints of an announcement that the Arsenal manager has signed a �15m-plus, three-year contract extension that would tie him to north London until 2011.
It could be said Wenger has never had it so good. Much has been made of supposed restrictions on his budgets inflicted by the �400m Emirates Stadium construction but in reality the Gunners are wealthier than ever.
Even after debts - �262m at the last count - the stadium generates about �20m more net income than Highbury did. Although interest-rate hikes have affected repayments on a �50m floating-rate bond, the �210m in 5.69% fixed-rate borrowings are beginning to look very good value. There is also the 50% increase in television income that is being spread across the Premiership, giving Wenger a bigger-than-ever transfer kitty.
The Arsenal manager's head for figures - he has a masters degree in economics from Strasbourg University - means he is given a budget from which to apportion transfer fees and wages as he sees fit and there are important calculations ahead as he and Grimandi turn their attention to replacing Henry.
Grimandi was one of Wenger's first signings at Arsenal, joining from the manager's former club Monaco in June 1997 for �2.5m. He left Highbury in 2002 for a very brief spell at the Colorado Rapids before returning to France. Grimandi played 84 matches for Arsenal in midfield, right-back and centre-half and won the Double in 1998 and again in 2002.
There are a number of possibilities in the search for strikers, with compelling reports in France suggesting Anelka will return as the Gunners' No9 in an �11m move from Bolton, who would be expected in turn to enlist Djibril Ciss� for �7m from Liverpool.
With Henry's �6m-a-year salary no longer burdening Wenger's budget, �2m raised from J�r�mie Aliadi�re's move to Middlesbrough and �8m to be generated by the expected sale of Jos� Antonio Reyes to one of three interested clubs in Spain, the Arsenal manager has the means to recruit two strikers and a left midfielder. In the latter position the Ajax and Holland international Ryan Babel's name has been raised along with that of Lyon's France international Florent Malouda.
Nicklas Bendtner will replace Aliadi�re in a reserve-team and Carling Cup role after a loan spell at Birmingham City but, even if Arsenal land Anelka after the striker's return from honeymoon, there will be another vacancy up front. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, another young Ajax forward, Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen have been linked with Arsenal.
The Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva will inherit the captain's armband from Henry and there may be a few private sighs of relief in the Arsenal dressing room that the Frenchman has left. Some within the club felt Henry had become a destabilising figure in the self-regarding final months of his eight-year stay and the team might find his departure liberating.
Many perceive Henry's complaints about the departure of Dein as an excuse that does not bear scrutiny. The former vice-chairman has not been seen at the Emirates Stadium since departing the club in April after a boardroom wrangle but it is thought a route back will open up for him before the end of next season.
That would be possible if the billionaire American Stan Kroenke steps up his purchase plans, which is expected once capital-gains-tax liability of the largest single shareholder, Danny Fiszman, is reduced. Fiszman is shifting his assets to Switzerland and would make at least �100m from the sale of his 24.11% holding in the club to Kroenke.
Despite the so-called "lock-down agreement" limiting share sales, insiders suggest this will happen in the next 12 months, with Dein's return then a real possibility. The club Grimandi is joining are not as unstable as Henry made out.
Janie
Full Member
Not sure Anelka has ever scored 20 goals in a season. He's awful, terrible atitude and a nothing specail scoring record. I can't believe Arsenal would sign that waste of space again - 11 million as well. That's got to be a windup.
But if Newcastle are linked to Bellemy then I suppose anything is possible!
But if Newcastle are linked to Bellemy then I suppose anything is possible!
Treebeard
Ranger of the North
He had a great record with us which was why Real paid 22mil for him. There were flashes for Bolton last season where he showed he still has something. Its all about if he feels like it or not.
�11mil is ridiculous and I hope we don't pay it.