More news crept out into the Arsenal ether yesterday that gave more credence to the thinking on the blog yesterday…
Arsenal are a tighter-run ship this summer.
Valuations put down on paper are going to be adhered to so emotion doesn’t take over.
The slow movement of Arsenal and the spinning plates stratagems of Andrea Berta are causing players to doubt the seriousness of the Arsenal word.
The only surprise from The Athletic article was how far off our valuation of Rogers was… a full £37m short of where Chelsea ended up. The number is a ludicrous fee, but Chelsea have already started the summer strongly with big sales, they’ll put £100m in the coffers for Enzo, and they’ll probably get some of that dollar back from Villa when Nico Jackson ends up there next season. Meanwhile, Arsenal collecting less money for Leo Trossard than the mooted number they’re demanding for Gabriel ‘12 games in 4 years’ Jesus.
Things got worse for Arsenal in The Athletic story.
Rogers felt he connected to the Spaniard and was impressed by being pursued so passionately by a figure with such a strong reputation as both a player and manager. As one source told The Athletic: "He came away from their conversation thinking Xabi Alonso is the real deal."
This sort of commentary must stick in the craw for Mikel Arteta, because back in the day, his main superpower was being an incredible salesman. Now, as a Premier League Champion, it would appear the magic was not quite there on this one… Alonso, his childhood friend, managed to get the upper hand without Champions League football.
This quote really landed the point I was making yesterday.
Aston Villa co-owner and chairman Nassef Sawiris had the final say on whether Rogers would go. An informal encounter with the Arsenal hierarchy in the US provided an opportunity to discuss a potential transfer.
Hierarchy, for me, tends to insinuate that this encounter was likely not Berta and Arteta… and probably folk from KSE. The big innovation on this deal, according to Ornstein yesterday, was that this Chelsea deal was brokered at speed, owner to owner. Sawiris, informally meeting with the decision-makers at Arsenal, makes sense during a World Cup in which they had a host stadium.
It’s also clear that this deal really did happen fast and the slowness of the deal for both teams was related to the World Cup. Chelsea started negotiations after England lost and the deal was wrapped in 48 hours. There are more stories doing the rounds that Berta was dealing with intermediaries… but I tend to lean on the above… Villa knew Arsenal weren’t going to match their number, so they locked in with Chelsea who just agreed rather than playing silly buggers with spinning plates.
Occam’s Razor people, that’s where we are… valuations are going to be tighter because budgets are going to be more controlled this summer.
This is quite frustrating as a fan, but ultimately, we were treated to something quite outlandish last summer… and now Berta has some work to do to fill the coffers. I don’t think it’s outrageous to suggest that if Chelsea can flog us players like Madueke for £55m, we should be finding a suitor for Martinelli a little easier. If Konsa is valued at £60m, Premier League winner Ben White should probably have a higher valuation than £30m. Finally, if Gabi Jesus is on the market for £20m, we should be taking the keys from Berta because all these valuations are breaking my brain.
Still, I will maintain, Bruno G would be a significant signing for Arsenal and give us an immediate boost in the market. I don’t think I’d be happy to see us going to £85m, but £70m wouldn’t be outrageous considering his qualities and the need in a post-World Cup Declan universe. My big fear on this deal is that Newcastle might end up being a destination for Ethan Nwaneri, who looks like he’ll be locked out by the lesser player in Madueke this summer. That exit, one of ‘pure profit’ nature, really worries me. Ethan is a top talent, he’s a baby, he could end up haunting us as we desperately scratch around for money to bolster our flagging window.
Though there is a general flatness in the fan base right now, we have to remember that there are plenty of very good players that’ll be on the market this summer. Álvarez, Barcola, and names we’re not yet familiar with will enter the fray. I am extremely hopeful that there are some names that could light up our starting 11. My main worry is that the difference-making Premier League talent that tends to have a higher chance of success is looking quite limited. That’s a problem if we get early-season struggles with the fatigued players.
But, we have to roll with the punches. Arsenal’s success has been built on plan Bs and Cs. Only children cry over transfer targets longer than 3 days. Berta and his Human Algorithm buddy will have plenty of options and hopefully be rattling phones to move some bodies to Arsenal. Again, if £80m was available for Rogers, it’s still there… that is a big number, it can get you some big talent. The market was £117m for Rogers because there’s only one team in England crazy enough to go there. If there was another Rogers available, I very much doubt you’d have another buyer ready to do a fee like that.
Big couple of weeks… players are back… let’s start getting in the mood for some very serious pre-seasoning. x
First, or maybe a few quid (like 37mil) late. Would have welcomed Rogers, but where? To kick Eze out? Just get me Barcola and all will be fine.
Pedro: "Now, as a Premier League Champion, it would appear the magic was not quite there on this one… Alonso, his childhood friend, managed to get the upper hand without Champions League football."
_________________________________________
One club is £37m short of the valuation of the player, the other club agrees to match what the selling club wants. From then on, it doesn't matter if Arteta did his magic with Rogers or not.
Alonso managed to convince Rogers to join Chavs, and I'm pretty sure he needed convincing, that's what the article is implying. With Arsenal, if we had agreed to pay the asking fee, he would have instantly joined the Champions of England and CL finalists.
But he's going from a club that finished 4th, won a European trophy and will play Champions League football, to a club that finished 10th with no European football at all... Yes, he needed convincing and he needed to believe in Alonso for the sake of his career. Has nothing to do with Arteta.