Will Arsenal sign an exciting player?
No.
Why not?
Too expensive.
Will they sign necessary players?
I hope so!
Writing about Ajax centreback Vermaelen, I was premature.
I forgot what happened last summer.
The signing of Nasri took a month.
As I recall. Nasri was eventually signed the day after Hleb was sold to Barcelona.
What does that tell you?
That Wenger could not afford both and that his housekeeping has to be very,very careful.
It’s very much about wages as well as transfer fees.
I think it was my old pal and neighbour Mihir Bose who first told us that Wenger has an overall budget.
That he controls wages and transfer fees which together must not go above a certain figure each year.
He knows what he can spend IN TOTAL each season. That is why he spends less on transfers than we expect: because he’s always giving substantial pay rises to players who have not won anything.
What many Gooners do not understand is that it’s NOT just a matter of buying and selling players. It’s also very much about what the player being sold is earning, and what the player being bought will earn in year 1, year 2 and so on. And it’s about the instalments Arsenal receive in Years 2 and 3 after selling someone, and the instalments Arsenal have to pay in Year 2 and 3 when he buys a player. Wenger keeps track of all that and has done for years.He is a prudent businessman whose profit-making has up till now been admired by the board.
This summer the domino theory will operate, as always.
When Kaka is sold to Real Madrid, AC Milan will spend big money to improve their elderly team. The clubs who didn’t get Kaka will then spend as well, and the clubs who supply the rich clubs with new talent will then sign new players themselves.
In general, that’s how the summer market works, so a good motto is : Don’t expect too much excitement in June. Don’t jump the gun by writing about an Ajax defender before anything has happened. I’m pleading guilty to that.
Kaka affects the whole transfer market. That seems odd. But it’s true that he is the trigger, the first domino to fall.
I love Kaka, an elegant creative midfielder who scores spectacular goals.But Kaka to Chelsea has never made sense. Look at his Serie A stats over the last six years, starting in 2003-2004.
Kaka scored 10 in 30 appearances, then 8 in 36 and then 14 in 35 and then 8 in 31 and then 15 in 30 and this season he scored 16 in 31.
At 27 , Kaka is younger and classier than Lampard, who will be 31 later this month.
Watching him last night as Brazil won 4-0 in Uruguay, I wondered: What is finesse?
Kaka sprinted back to the left back position, gathered a throw from keeper Julio Cesar, accelerated towards the halfway line, chased by Diego Forlan, who is fast. Watching how Kaka beat Forlan, I thought : Finesse is the ability to beat your opponent by just enough. Finesse is putting the ball where he can’t quite get it. Forlan could not quite reach the ball because he was always slightly off-balance and slightly too far away.
Kaka or Lampard? Well, Lampard plays more games and scores more goals.
Quite soon, in 2 or 3 weeks, I will review a book about football on our Reviews page, which was created for that purpose but most often used for…music.