Just a very short piece from me to those who say that they cannot see Joe Cole coming to Arsenal because of his wage demands.
May I point out that Monsieur Wenger also broke the wage barrier for one Sol Campbell in the year 2001. Why? How did he justify it? Because he did not have to pay a transfer fee. And it’s an identical case for Mr. Cole.
Do I think it’s going to happen? Yes. Why? Don’t know, just have a gut feeling. It’s the sort of transfer Wenger will make, Joe Cole is the sort of player Wenger would like. As the metro has pointed out, Cole has just had a son, why would he want to move away from London and uproot his family? He’s spent his whole life playing in London. It hasn’t received wide spread news coverage yet. If every paper under the sun was reporting this, I would be inclined to believe it was BS. However, most papers think this is unlikely. First it was The Star and now The Metro. I don’t think The Metro would risk it’s reputation (the little it has) on a story they are unsure of when no one else was reporting it. And for all the stick we give them, the tabloids do have their sources in the little people of the footballing world. After all, it was sport.co.uk who revealed the Chamakh and Vermaelen transfers. It was The Sun who revealed Bacary Sagna. It would be like Wenger to make a signing under the radar. Perhaps we don’t need reinforcement in that area, but Wenger signed Lassana Diarra when we had 5 central midfielders.
People may point out that The Star claimed that the deal would be signed. Who’s to say it hasn’t? Maybe it just has not been announced?
Comparisons with William Gallas? There are none. William Gallas is 33, wants a two year contract and has not completed a league season in 4 years. Knowing Wenger, there probably is some clause in Cole’s contract which says Arsenal can get shot of him if he doesn’t play X amount of games.
Am I happy with the transfer? Well, I’ve been screaming and bitching over here for Arsene to spend some money and sign a big name. And if this goes through, he will have. It may be a risk, but I’ve also been screaming at him to take risks. I can’t complain can I?
Personally, despite our strength in numbers in the creative department, I think we need a player like him. Fabregas can boss the midfield, but when he plays further up, we’re usually exposed at the back and he has no support usually. Arshavin is huffing and puffing on the left, Nasri will step up, make a few delicate touches and then get out muscled off the ball. When the going gets tight, I think having a player like Cole would be valuable and it will give us more attacking options on the bench.
And it wouldn’t be the first time Wenger took a chance on an injury prone player? Let’s hope Joe Cole turns out to be more like Marc Overmars than Francis Jeffers.
Does this possibly signal the end of Carlos Vela or Emmanuel Eboue? I believe Cole will be in competition for a wingers spot and with Arshavin, Nasri and Vela (as we have too many options up front – unless Eduardo leaves) on the left, Theo and Eboue on the right – unless he plans to move Theo upfront, in which case one forward will leave. Either way, this signals the end of one Arsenal player’s career in my opinion.
I cannot however, see Andrey Arshavin being happy with this…. What with him making a measly 80,000 a week. Personally, I think this may mean he’s off. Apparently he was never Wenger’s signing anyway. It’s a shame. Despite his whining, he actually is a quality player. I think an extended period on the left wing next season will make that abundantly clear.
Wow, wasn’t such a short piece after all.
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