Arsenal

[jimmylibel]

Saviola, or Thuram, or Buffon by the looks of it.

 

Arsene rules out Saviola switchLink

 

Arsene Wenger has definitively stated that Arsenal are 'not interested' in Argentine World Cup forward Javier Saviola, although the Frenchman admits he is an admirer of West Brom's Curtis Davies.

 

The Gunners have been linked with a number of names over the summer having already captured Tomas Rosicky, and Saviola has featured heavily after his agent Alfredo Cabrera Brizuela claimed the London side were keen to sign his client from Barcelona.

 

The tricky striker impressed during the World Cup finals and has also been linked with Bolton and Newcastle, but Wenger has now poured cold water on suggestions that The Emirates Stadium could be the player's destination, highlighting the extensive attacking options already at his disposal.

 

"We are not interested in Saviola at all," said Wenger in The Guardian.

 

"I have enough forward players.

 

"We have bought Rosicky. We have [Freddie] Ljungberg, [Robin] van Persie, [Jose Antonio] Reyes, [Thierry] Henry, [Emmanuel] Adebayor, [Theo] Walcott, [Nicklas] Bendtner, [Jeremie] Aliadiere and [Arturo] Lupoli.

 

"Where do I put the strikers?"

 

Whilst Wenger is happy with his forward options, a new defender is certainly a priority after Sol Campbell's exit and the uncertainty over Ashley Cole's future.

 

A number of injuries have also left the Arsenal backline creaking, and to that end Wenger has admitted he is a confirmed fan of West Brom stopper Curtis Davies.

 

However The Baggies are determined to keep hold of the stopper, with Wenger describing their asking price of £10 million as "too high", and Arsenal are yet to make a formal approach for the former Luton Town man.

 

"We still want to strengthen our squad at the back," Wenger added.

 

"We have lost [Philippe] Senderos now for the next three months and we have injuries. [Johan] Djourou has been injured. [Gael] Clichy is injured.

 

"At the back, if we can find one player who can play centre back, left back, then we are still open.

 

"I have not made an inquiry and I have not made a bid but I like Curtis Davies."

 

The Gunners have inevitably been linked with the potential sales emanating from the Italian match-fixing scandal, with Juventus stars Gianluigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram in particular rumoured to be targets.

 

However, Wenger has previously intimated that wage demands will rule Arsenal out of the race, and the former Monaco boss believes there will be little possibility of loan deals with the Bianconeri.

 

"They are in Serie B, with a 30-points deduction. That means, in fact, Serie C.

 

"I cannot see their interest in having a team that are all above 30. I cannot see what kind of interest they could have to keep players out on loan.

 

"When they come back to them, if they make it in two years, they could be finished."

 

Although new faces are needed at The Gunners, one of Wenger's primary summer objectives will be to keep hold of unhappy defender Cole.

 

The England international is rumoured to be interesting a number of Europe's top sides after criticising the club in his upcoming book, but Wenger still believes he can keep the flying left back at the club after convincing captain Thierry Henry to stay over the summer.

 

"When he (Cole) comes back, I feel the most important (thing) is to work hard and not to talk too much, because football is less about talking and more playing and showing how good you are.

 

"We have shown many times that we can keep our best players when we want to. We showed that with Henry.

 

"When he looks back one day, he will see that Arsenal have helped him."

[Scally the Wag]

I should think that Wenger is gnashing and wailing right now: all that Italian talent up for grabs and he can't even sniff at a transfer unless he sells Cole and, probably, a bit more too.

[Cobs]

 

 

"I have not made an inquiry and I have not made a bid but I like Curtis Davies."

 

blatant tapping up, no?

[Hassony]

blatant tapping up, no?

maybe he just really like him

[growler]

Interesting that they suffer from the same financial constraints we do, but it doesn't seem to stop them.

 

hopefully, they cannot strengthen defensively or in midfield...

[jimmylibel]

Looking like they might be priced out of a move for Curtis Davies. Portsmouth have allegedly had a £8.5 million bid rejected.

 

Can't say he looked anywhere near that good last season.

[Kahnee]

yeah real financial constraints going on there!

 

In the last 12 months Arsenal have bought Adebayor, Diaby, Walcott, Rocisky and Hleb for a combined fee of around £40 mill squids.

 

What's that in welks?

[aka Dus]

yeah real financial constraints going on there!

 

In the last 12 months Arsenal have bought Adebayor, Diaby, Walcott, Rocisky and Hleb for a combined fee of around £40 mill squids.

 

Where do you get 40 million from?

[floyd]

£7m - Adebayor

£2m. - Diaby

£5m, (£12m) Walcott

£8m - Rocisky

£10m - Hleb

 

Total - £32m, rising to £39m.

Edited July 18, 2006 by floyd

[Rimbeux]

Interesting that they suffer from the same financial constraints we do, but it doesn't seem to stop them.

 

hopefully, they cannot strengthen defensively or in midfield...

 

I think we'll start to see Arsenal continuing to increase spending by stealth, as they have done in the recent past. Their cashflow is about to get a whole lot better, I'll take a punt that they'll end up paying the big fee for Diarra at Lyon, or whichever similar player in his position next comes to the fore.

[Hassony]

£7m - Adebayor

£2m. - Diaby

£5m, (£12m) Walcott

£8m - Rocisky

£10m - Hleb

 

Total - £32m, rising to £39m.

£7m for adabayor

[Benitez]

£7m - Adebayor

£2m. - Diaby

£5m, (£12m) Walcott

£8m - Rocisky

£10m - Hleb

 

Total - £32m, rising to £39m.

 

 

 

So close on £40 mil then

 

'Rising to' is how most deals are of course. Like ours for crouch, 3.5 mill, rising to 7 mill. Alonso's the same, 6.5 mill or whatever it was, with 2 other payments. Yet the stated fee is always the full fee. So no different for the child.

Edited July 18, 2006 by Benitez

[Maldini]

They got a big chunk of cash for Vieira though didn't they, how much was that?

[Gilps]

They got a big chunk of cash for Vieira though didn't they, how much was that?

 

£13.7 Million. That's the only significnt fee they've received for about 3 years though.

[Benitez]

What's that in welks?

 

 

Twelvty eight.

 

Welks are very expensive this time of year.