From Zena and Rory
Hi Myles,
Just read your piece on the FA Cup win saying that Bellerin was another case of AW raiding the Barca academy.
Raiding seems unfair to me because, as I remember it, when we sold them Cesc, part of the deal was that we could choose two of their youngsters. We chose Hector and Jon Toral.
So you could have spun the story along the lines that Hector may prove more valuable than the £30m (or whatever) we got for Cesc. Or that raiding Cesc in the first place was what allowed us to eventually get Bellerin as part of the Cesc re-sale deal.
But to imply that we dodgily nicked HB in the way we did Cesc or Anelka seems plain wrong to me.
Barca willingly gave us HB and Toral as well as cash for Cesc.
Interestingly, HB has more assists than Cesc so far this season.
Suddenly £30m + HB for a player we nicked off them in the first place doesn’t sound so bad.
If we are lucky enough to keep HB for his whole career, and he keeps improving as he is, then he may turn out to be the true legacy of Cesc for the Arsenal.
When he gets a world-class right winger who’s on his wavelength as Cole and Pires were (oh how I wish it was Ramsey scoring as he did before his injury 2 seasons ago) then we could have a second string to Santi-Oil-Alexis working the ball down the left channel.
It’s like Hector and Joel Campbell to do extra training together, as Campbell has been this season’s breakthrough star so far. The 1-2 for Ramsey’s goal was a joy to behold.
Anyway, keep up the good work. And please tell me if I’m wrong about Toral and HB coming as part of the Cesc deal.
All the best, Rory Newman
Myles says:
You’re a true fan and a welcome reader because you’re telling me things I don’t know.
I love people who do that.