Mick Appleton
Can somebody explain to me why when Arsenal come knocking clubs insist they want over and above what a player is worth but when clubs come sniffing around our talent they want to tell us what they will or won't pay. Barcelona are at it again, "We won't pay £35m for Fabregas, he's not worth that much". Well f**k off then, if I'm selling something and you don't think it's worth what I'm asking, don't buy it. Also don't have the bare faced cheek to go around telling people how much you want him and that he will be yours if you have no intention of meeting the asking price.
Sooner or later we must man up and tell other clubs that our stars are not for sale and tell our players to sign up, shut up or get out. If Nasri doesn't want to play for us sell him but to a club and for an amount that suits us. The same goes for Cesc. If we are to put up with this crap every summer I'd rather sell him.
We had the same with Henry and Vieira and I'm getting sick of it. If we are to continue to insist we are a big club we must reassert some control over the club and our players. No player is bigger than the club so anyone who wants away should be sold to the highest bidder. This type of player power has to stop and until a high profile club stands up to them it will never change.
A fully committed Aaron Ramsey is a far better bet than a "I'll see the last season of my contract out and go for free" Nasri. Maybe if we tell Nasri he won't be first choice for the whole of next season, which ends with a major international championship he might make his mind up to stay or go. Either way a positive answer is better than watching him go through the motions next season as happened in Henry's last season at the club.
It is essential that every player who takes the field for our club is fully committed to the cause and does not have their eye on a lucrative move to pastures new while short changing us on the pitch. As usual this transfer window has been torture for us Gooners. Why can't we take a leaf out of Man U's book? When Blackburn said they'd undervalued Phil Jones, Man U matched the new valuation to get the player they wanted. Nickel and diming will not win you championships. Sometimes you have to push the boat out to get what you want. Unless we speculate we will never accumulate, paying that little bit extra to bring in proven winners with quality and experience is the way to go.
If you believe what you read, we're stalling on the Gervinho deal because we want to pay £10.6m and they want £14m but we're looking to pay £12m for Oxlade-Chamberlain who is an unknown quantity? Putting sell on value in front of winning trophies doesn't make sense to me unless our aim is to be seen as a club that polishes up rough diamonds so that the premier clubs of Europe can wear them in their crowns.
(Ed’s note – Just to let those of you who are following the Gooner Gambling Scheme that with England’s elimination from the Euro Under 21s recently, we are looking around at other options to use the freebet from Scotbet, with a possibility we might look at one of Stan Kroenke’s teams in the States to cash in. What we will do is give 48 hours’ notice before the event the next bet is on, and the words ‘Gooner Gambling Scheme’ will be in the title of the piece trumpeting it. For those that fear they might miss the boat, we can send out an email to notify you that the details of the next bet are online. If you wish to be notified in this way, just send an email to [email protected] with ‘Gooner Gambling Guide’ in the subject line and we’ll do the honours. Don’t use this address for anything else though).
