David Luiz deal shines a light on what ‘contacts’ dealing gets you

by .

Well good morning to you all.

The Athletic is running a story that David Luiz cost us £24m for a year, and they confirmed his salary of £200k a week, a story we gave you in December.

I hope that people now start to see why I have deep concerns about how Arsenal are being run at the moment.

Think about this.

We wouldn’t let Laurent Koscielny leave on a free.

He went on strike to move.

We eventually squeezed a £5m fee.

Key takeaway: Arsenal won’t be messed around, this is a new era of deal-making.

Arsenal knew Laurent wanted to move a long way in advance. The club was going to need to sign a centre back with a good left foot. Arsenal has elite analysts and scouts. Those scouts apparently had a name on the list from Dortmund that we could have landed for a good price (who is apparently still interesting Arsenal).

Instead, we raid Chelsea for David Luiz. We up his salary from £125k a week to £200k a week. We drop a massive agent fee of £6m. We give the player a ONE year deal, with an option for two.

£24m for a single season.

There’s no way to paint that sort of deal in a positive light. It is massively inefficient, it is shortsighted, and it was clearly driven by an agent because no footballing man worth his salt would sanction expenditure like that based on rigorous analysis of the market.

I was told that the deal would end up at about £40m at the time, which people guffawed at, but The Athletic correlates the story by stating that ‘intermediaries’ are due another round of fees if we go in for another year.

The interesting part about The Athletic piece is it appears to be a leak from the old school part of Arsenal. Raul bypassing the board to make decisions was a big part of why Sir Chips left, according to Amy Lawrence. Whatever you think of our powerless board, you have to say, that is a huge red flag. Also, remember, Sven Mislintat left because of the contacts approach. Say what you will about his signings, at least they were grounded in more than a whisper in the ear.

Also, I am pretty certain you’re all going to wince when you get the breakdown of the fee for Pepe. Those fees were so large, the Italian clubs had to say no.

This is why the two system leadership setup is a very bad idea. You need a proper sporting CEO that oversees the deals and makes sure that every signing is made for the benefit of the club. Arsenal should also have a board in place to scrutinise the financial aspects of the deals put to them. We should have business people who understand the financial aspects and footballing people to ask whether the move makes sense for the future of the club. Think about the genius of what Raul has managed to do. He’s convinced Josh K to not hire a CEO, he’s managed to sell co-leadership with a junior partner as his sidekick, and he’s managed to minimize board scrutiny to the point where the chairman has quit the club.

The big question is this: What the fuck is Josh Kroenke up to? Parachuting in to tell the fans to get excited, but being tentatively involved is a dereliction of duty. He’s like a Prince being shoved around by his more worldly courtiers.

Anyway, this summer, you have the same agent that on occasion shares a box with Edu and Raul, pushing Coutinho and Willian our way. We were ever so close to landing Willian, I’m not sure if it’s happening now, but again, what will the agent fee look like? If Raul sold Luiz as a bargain, it’s probably not going to be hard to convince Josh K that Willian and Coutinho are smart signings… seems it’s about as simple as sending a Youtube Video title WELCOME TO ARSENAL COUTINHO MAD SKILLZ AND GOALS.

Still, I’m glad a story like this is out from someone credible. Hopefully, it’ll wake the fans up to the sort of decision making going on at Arsenal. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll make the club shape up and play it smarter this summer. Or, maybe, the current climate will put a kibosh on decadent fees as KSE moves hard to buckle up the finances.

The absolutely mad thing about all of this is a longterm career at Arsenal would be much easier to achieve if the club just did things properly. Spend money wisely, bring in elite youth, make the wage bill lean, buy low and sell high. Literally replicate the Liverpool model. A Football CEO / Sporting Director with Champions League medals will command far higher salaries than those without them. I just don’t get why you’d throw bad money at super-agents and denigrate your reputation.

The club is Raul’s now, let’s hope that Arteta can deliver despite him and that one day KSE will wake-up and take Arsenal seriously.

Anyway, onwards. x

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Fairly Used Gunner

CG
“Hence my choice of Sean Dyche as manager.”

One moment CG would make a whole lot of sense only to spew gutter rubbish the next minute. I wonder what’s in his headspace.

Valentin

China1, When you are a CEO or effectively the No2 of a company more than accountability, you need competence. Accountability comes when you mess things up not when you are successful. You need to know who messed up, how he or she did mess up and how to fix it. Lack of accountability compounds the incompetence issue. It lets idiot/greedy executives go uncheck and continue sinking a company. The problem at Arsenal is that we have neither: competence and accountability. Clearly a bunch of incompetent clowns are in charge. It is compounded by the fact that our absent owner only… Read more »

Habesha Gooner

If those are the numbers for the Luiz deal it looks very bad. He isn’t even a top quality player and we paid 14 mil in transfer and agent fees and 10 mil for wages for just one season? It doesn’t make any sense. We could have had good centerhalfs from France or Germany or South America for that price. Anyway If that’s true that is the first Asterisk I would put besides Raul’s name so far. And I don’t get why Mislintat is great. He signed Auba (I believe we got value for him in this market), Miki (… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

There are far too many rumours at the moment and most will turn out to be as usual complete rubbish. This is of course as usual media stories which are as usual mainly fabricated and of course agents attempting to sell players or renegotiate contracts. Last summer there were similar stories proliferating and of course we were told that there was no money to spend in the transfer market. Those stories proved unfounded. It is true that Arsenal’s revenue streams have been impacted by not playing in Champions League, but that has also applied recently to Man Utd as well.… Read more »

CG

FUG “””One moment CG would make a whole lot of sense only to spew gutter rubbish the next minute. I wonder what’s in his headspace.”””‘ I accept its seems leftfield. But when fans , realise MA is not up to the task- they will slowly come around to my way of thinking. Arteta ,will be railroaded into keeping David Luiz for next season- by Edu and Kia. (-more commissions still to be earned yet.) (Media pressure already started this morning from Kia to get his client reinstated) What a huge opportunity for Arteta to stand his ground with Edu,Kia and… Read more »

CG

Es

“”””That is being done by the guy who was recruited specifically to do that job and
is I believe a qualified lawyer.””””

Well he should be struck off.
Because he is bloody incompetent.

Emiratesstroller

CG

Tell Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs when he was alive that they were too inexperienced and naive to run multi billion pound businesses.

For the record Zuckerberg is even now only a couple of years older than Arteta.

As far as I am aware none of the players at the Club has complained about Arteta’s lack of experience or competence as a coach.

You need to stop repeating that argument. Its your opinion, but few others.

andy1886

Raul is a Spanish Spiv. Following the blundering Gazidis AFC must have employed two of the most incompetent executives in football. Ivan the legal and marketing man, Raul the former marketing guy, neither had an in depth understanding of actual football. Put it this way, you don’t let the salesman or the marketing guy design your product, you leave that to people who actually know what they are doing. Raul in particular seems to have got far to involved in player procurement and remuneration. He’s a chancer who like Gazidis will eventually ride of into the sunset having creamed off… Read more »

CG

ES “”””””You need to stop repeating that argument. Its your opinion, but few others.””””” And your opinion is – everything in the garden is rosy, All we get from you is: “”better off we don’t qualify for Europe”” “””results don’t matter!””” “””look at Manchester United: look at Spurs ” “””KSE are doing a great job!”””” You might like loosing , seeing the club as a laughing stock and its reputation sullied – but I don’t. And If you think Arteta is the new Steve Jobs- gawd help us. He should stick to beating Greek minnows first with an away leg… Read more »

CG

Andy

“”””” He’s a chancer who like Gazidis will eventually ride of into the sunset”””””

He is Gazidas’s chum!

Gazidas recruited him.

Who the hell – did fans think we were recruiting – someone competent?

Santan

According to Kia “The agent’s fee that was reported by The Athletic is so, so, so wrong. The fee for David was less than 10 per cent of that,”

Graham62

CG

“Experience” has meant nothing at the club since we moved to the Emirates in 2006.

People fresh into the job, with little or no managerial expertise, can sometimes see and act on things that someone with 22 years experience would ignore.

Who made us into “a laughing stock” in the first place?

That’s right, your man!

🙏😷🍺

Graham62

CG

Either you live in a box somewhere in the Outer Hebrides and, consequently, were oblivious to the last decade or so at the club, or you’re not an Arsenal fan.

Which is it?

Emiratesstroller

CG I have never been a fan of Kroenke or KSE as you suggest. On the other hand I recognise that Stan did not own the club until Sept 2018. He was the major shareholder. Where do you get the idea that results don’t matter? Arteta inherited a “losing” team which was why Emery was sacked. Since he took over the club has lost just one game out of twelve in EPL. That is hardly a losing run. Yes I am not a fan of us qualifying next season for Europa Cup. The scheduling and travel distances is an obstacle… Read more »

The only people who have made Arsenal a laughing stock are the kroenke’s. They’re to blame for Wenger’s failings, Emery’s and next year when they sack him, Arteta’s. They’re the owners of the club, they’ve allowed us to recruit badly by burying their heads up their arses. Arsenal have become irrelevant in the top tier’s of football and will remain irrelevant till kroenke sells up. Also I’m not advocating Sean Dyche for the club, but I do agree he’s done a great job for Burnley and agree with CG that I couldn’t see Arteta doing a better job at Burnley.

Look at gazidi’s, his ineptitude was hidden for years , hiding behind Wenger,allowing Wenger to take the flak in his last year’s here. As soon as Wenger gets the heave ho he fucks off to Milan as he knows he’ll be found out. But Milan unlike Arsenal have sussed him out within a couple of years and it won’t surprise me if he’s fucked off from Milan next season.

Freddie Ljungberg

So straight from the horse’s mouth it’s confirmed that the actual agent fee for Luiz was less than 600k, would be stupid of him to lie when it has to be published soon. Safe to say that the reported 200k salary was made up too when it has been reported as 120 ish the whole time from everyone else.

Back to the drawing board for the Raul is the devil brigade, what next?
He consorts with loose women? He wears white after labour day? Tune in to next episode to find out.

Habesha Gooner

Freddie, where did u read that? from Kia?

Marc

“Put it this way, you don’t let the salesman or the marketing guy design your product, you leave that to people who actually know what they are doing. ” Except that the sales guys know the customer base and what they want or need. I used to work for a company that had KPI’s for new product development and would launch a new product every year or so that was technically brilliant with amazing performance, unfortunately the market demand for many of the products was tiny to non existent. The problem was they didn’t work with sales and marketing to… Read more »

Freddie Ljungberg

HG

“The agent’s fee that was reported by The Athletic is so, so, so wrong. The fee for David was less than 10 per cent of that,” Joorabchian said.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11998333/david-luiz-wants-arsenal-stay-very-high-chance-says-kia-joorabchian

Trevor Dearling

Suggest Holding is given a few more games…before we sell, We might have a top defender already, Remember his great first season prior ti getting injured , courtesy of Man U. We have a habit of seliing top players !

Santan

“So straight from the horse’s mouth it’s confirmed that the actual agent fee for Luiz was less than 600k, would be stupid of him to lie when it has to be published soon. ”

Exactly my thoughts

Freddie Ljungberg

Also reports that we’re negotiating with Auba for a new deal, suits me fine if the wages are reasonable. Get rid of Laca and strengthen the fuck out of that midfield.

Marc

Whilst I am firmly in the cynical corner of what was supposedly paid to the agent(s) in the Luiz deal the numbers published do not breakdown individual payments but a total.

However it will gives us an indication of where our spending is going – in the last set of number out spend was less than the Spud’s and less than a million more than Bournemouth.

It will be an interesting read – does anyone know when they are scheduled to be released?

Marc

Freddie

Whilst salaries dropping across the football “industry” as a whole will make it more difficult to move on players like Xhaka, Mustafi, Xhaka and Xhaka it should also mean that players like Auba who could be worth keeping should be able to be signed on for more reasonable money.

Emiratesstroller

The statement about Commission has been released by the Agent himself.

For the record French Equipe have also announced that Arsenal have offered Aubameyang a new contract.

Freddie Ljungberg

Marc

Not to mention Xhaka

It’s like people bleating on about Ozil and how much he earns. Arsenal and Arsene gave him that deal, they didn’t have to and they shouldn’t have. If any of you were offered to double you’re wages at work, with no accountability for you’re performances either, would any of you complain? Or would you offer to pay you’re wages back as you haven’t been overly brilliant at you’re jobs? Fact is, the kroenke’s sanctioned that deal as well as every other failing that has befallen this club since they’re takeover. KROENKE’S OUT. then the rebuild can really start.

Jamie

So what did Luiz cost in the end, and will we ever know the figures for sure? Genuinely curious.

Marc

Emirates

Yes but PL clubs are required to publish how much they paid to agents – I believe it usually comes out around April but the current situation has obviously delayed it.

Marc

Jamie

Well the fee seems to be agreed across the board to be £8 million, his salary was reported to be £125k per week which ha suddenly become £200k per week – if the agent fee is wrong then I’m guessing the £200k per week could be wrong as well.

When the fees paid by clubs info comes out it’ll give us an idea.

Valentin

“So straight from the horse’s mouth it’s confirmed that the actual agent fee for Luiz was less than 600k, would be stupid of him to lie when it has to be published soon.” It is not like he had ever lied about deals and fees before! Tevez was not brought to WestHam via a 3rd party agreement! The most interesting part is how he did not deny Luiz £10 millions annual salary. Which again does not show Arsenal as savvy negotiator. Here was a player who has had a fallout with the new Chelsea manager. He wants out and they… Read more »

Marc

Freddie

Bollocks – knew I’d missed someone off!

Habesha Gooner

Fabrizio Romano
@ FabrizioRomano
6m
Replying to @AubaFCAFC
Arsenal are offering a new contract to Auba since December, the problem is what he will decide… he always refused during last months so we’ll see if he’ll decide to leave or extend his contract

Thanks Freddie. Fabrizio reporting auba’s contract offer was on the table since December but he has been rejecting it. We mist be gearing up to sell and replace him. No excuses if it’s that long we have known he wants to leave.

@Valentin
Spot on

Habesha Gooner

Valentin
I agree that the agent that was paid 6mil will probably not say I got paid 6 mil but It also says sky have approached the athletic for a Comment about the 24 mil figure they came up with. So we might now the truth.

Marc

Valentin

Sanllehi wasn’t at the club when we signed Miki – Mislintat however was and knew him.

Stop making up things about Sanllehi.

Emiratesstroller

Marc

Arsenal’s financial year ends on 31st May. Accounts are generally published around Christmas but since club has gone private the last accounts were published later. There is no obligation to complete accounts in private company
for at least 12 months.

@Valentin

He didn’t actually say Raul brought in mikhi, he said gazidi’s did.

Sorry that last post was meant for Marc.

Marc

Emirates

Sorry I’m not talking about the accounts a club publishes – the PL puts out an annual report running 1st Feb to end of Jan listing the total fees each club has paid to agents during that period. A link to last years:

https://talksport.com/football/522499/liverpool-paid-agent-fees-premier-league-clubs/

There are several of these out there from various sources but they all have the same numbers.

@Marc
He compared Gazidi’s handling of the mikhi to Arsenal deal, and the handling of Luiz deal to Arsenal by Raul.

CG

the G

I see you were right again- (like most times you are.)

Our Wenger wanted Martial instead of Mikki as Sanchez replacement,

Folk have to remember or can choose to ignore- Wenger was cut out of all the decision making processes for that notorious window , the moment Gazidas announced his chum Raul was joining the club in November,

Wenger never gave Ozil his contract
Wenger never signed PEA
Wenger never wanted Mikki

Book out in October!

Emiratesstroller

Valentin

Have you ever heard the expression “client confidentiality”. Clubs and Agents
do not usually discuss their clients contracts albeit some information such as
the length of contract is made available.

The agent has discussed only that his personal fee is a lot less than was published.

I don’t know how, but we as fans have to let the board and owners know we’re not happy and try to drive them out. They are scum as far as I’m concerned. They’ve taken the piss out of honest hard working Arsenal fans from the moment they took over.

Sid

The circumstances sorrounding Luiz signing is Koscieny’s sudden mutiny, there wasnt room to play hard ball, an EPL experienced CB was a safer bet than another young CB considering we had holding, chambers, just signed Saliba. It was clear Sok wasnt going to play each week, playing Mustafi and an inexperienced CB would have been a worse option.

CG

ES

“”””The agent has discussed only that his personal fee is a lot less than was published.””””

Well , lets see if he sues The Athletic then?

because its pretty cut and dried that he was creaming off a lot more than what he has stated this morning.

Anyway- you continue to being KSE’s and now Kia’s lapdog!

And I actually feel sorry for Arteta because they’re taking piss out if him too. Back him financially, give the guy the tools to work with. Help him at least by giving him a genuine chance. I know people say that Allegri and Ancellotti wasn’t wanted by us, I just struggle to believe either of them would of actually come on bored with the shambles that this club has become. Mari, never made it in Europe, yet we snap him up. Soares, not wanted at Southampton, we snap him up. I really can’t see these being any of arteta’s signings.… Read more »

Sid

The worrying thing is theres 2 camps, one leaking the figures the athletic and pedro are going by another giving lower fees
Such a situation isnt healthy for any organization

Valentin

Emirates, Have you heard of the expression throwing somebody under the bus? Kia could have just said the numbers are wrong. “My fees and the salary quoted are embarrassingly wrong.” would have been a lot more effective. But he just decided to defend himself. Anyway officially Kia is not an agent. He is not legally authorised to represent players during those negotiation. Those his fee is not an agent fee, but a negotiation consultant fee! So technically he has not lied. Again this is the same person who was convicted of having lied on an official document to the Premiership… Read more »

Pierre

HG
” It also says sky have approached the athletic for a Comment about the 24 mil figure they came up with. So we might now the truth.”

Obviously Athletic received their information from Pedro..

andy1886

Marc, in product design all the inputs are taken under consideration but ultimately the people who design ‘things’ are not the sales and marketing people.

Leaving the analogy aside what do you know about Raul’s history and how he got to where he is now?

Pierre

Tyagn “Mari, never made it in Europe, yet we snap him up. Soares, not wanted at Southampton, we snap him up. I really can’t see these being any of arteta’s signings. I believe they were foisted on him. I’m old school and believe it should be down to the manager to sign who he wants.” I am hoping that Arteta has the final say on transfers otherwise we will continue to bring in players who are not suited to the manager’s style of play. Mari and Soares are players who have something to prove , whether they are of the… Read more »

Marc

Pierre The Mari and Soares signings need to be looked at separately. Mari was on City’s books previously so my guess is that Arteta knew him / knew of his abilities so as far as I’m concerned he’s an Arteta signing and will be signed up on a permanent deal. Soares I’m not so sure about, we had no back up RB and Bellerin was struggling with fitness so he might have been seen as a short term back up (and yes I know he was injured but was due back at the end of Feb) he might be signed… Read more »

Marc

andy

My point was more along the lines of things work when you bring in expertise from different areas. It’s the same in football – the scouts identify a player but you wouldn’t let them write the contract just as you wouldn’t want the lawyers scouting the players.

You don’t like Sanllehi (which seems to be a theme from many on here) and nothing I say will change that.

CG

Pierre

“””””Mari and Soares are players who have something to prove , whether they are of the quality required, only time will tell.””””

they are not.

One has been playing in Brazil. And is the epitome of a journeyman
The other could not get in the team that lost 9 zero at home this season.

they are Edu and Kia men.

What proper club buys this crap?

Terraloon

ES

Arsenals accounting year ends on 31/5/20.

Accounts for that period have to filed at company House by 28/2/21

Prior to KSE taking full ownership then as a PLC the accounts had to be filed within 6 months of the end of the accounting year

Habesha Gooner

I haven’t seen Mari but I have definitely seen Soares. He is a competent player who has won the euros and is still 28. And To backup and compete with Bellerin he is more than enough. I had a problem with this kind of players when were spending a lot more money when we could go for potential. We signed debuchy a couple of years ago for 12 mil. If he was coming for free at the back end of his Newcastle spell I would have been delighted but not for that price then. Soares is the same. He is… Read more »

Pierre

CG
I have my doubts about Mari and Soares.

Personally, I would prefer a full back of the Viv Anderson mould , a right back who was tall , elegant ( ish) and knew how to defend and attack .

CG

HG

“””” He is coming in for free””””””

Nothing is Free when these sharks are around.

CG

Pierre

“”””Personally, I would prefer a full back of the Viv Anderson mould , a right back who was tall , elegant ( ish) and knew how to defend and attack .””””

Arsenals best ever right back?
Great player and pro.

Off course learned the ropes of Cloughie (as did SD- briefly)

China1

We’re being linked to Ryan Fraser now on a bosman

I’m not commenting on his ability but it worries me that everyone we get linked to is a winger or striker when these are the positions we least need. CM is everything right now. If we go into next season with 5 dedicated wingers or 4 strikers but xhaka and ozil are still there then it will be absolutely bonkers

If these other players are ‘extra’ to CM signings then whatever

Graham62

TYAG Yes, to a degree, the Kroenke’s are culpable but, I’m sorry, is it their job to set up the teams and apply the tactics? Also, is it their job to go out and purchase the sort of players needed to help in the clubs progression? Of course, the answer to both these questions is a big fat NO. They allowed us to do things badly because they are totally clueless in all football related matters and also because those entrusted to make these important decisions were simply failing in their duties. I’m still for new and more dynamic owners… Read more »

andy1886

Yes, I’m not a fan of Raul. As the prime mover in the dodgy deal that took Neymar to Barca (and subsequent claims of illegality, court actions etc.) is it any surprise that he is again using his contacts to make shady deals?

Gazidis was a snake oil salesman and Raul is no different. Wormed his way into Barca through his Nike contacts, this guy is in it for the money, he has no interest in AFC or football in general unless they happen to coincide with his own best interests.

Marc

China

You’re thinking too much “right now” rather than “we’re linked with every fucking player on the planet most of the time anyway”.

Why would we buy a winger when we have Saka, Pepe, Martinelli and Nelson – all young exciting players?

NEEG

Terraloon 11.14

A PLC needs to file accounts 9 months after year end.

Terraloon

NEGG

Apologies that is what I thought had put.

Yep your 100%

andy1886

From Companies House (Arsenal Holdings PLC):

Next accounts made up to 31 May 2020
due by 28 February 2021

Last accounts made up to 31 May 2019

Dissenter

Marc I still think the Cedric Soares deal makes no sense. We had coverage for Bellerin; he is called AMN and could still have deputized for him till this summer. What was the need for paying a loan fee for a crocked run of the mill RB that had called out of favor at Southampton. That’s one of the most senseless deals we’ve made in recent years but people held their tongues because Arteta was said to ‘like him’. It’s turning out to be another super-agent dump job. Cedric Soares NEVER stood out at Southampton. You didn’t watch him and… Read more »

Dissenter

I want to read that we’ve extended the deals for Martinelli and Saka.
Those ought to be the topmost priorities for the club right now.
Saka has carried the team a lot this season, all the highly paid seniors just punted the ball to him when they ran out of ideas.

Dissenter

*that had fallen out of favor at Southampton.

Marc

Dissenter

AMN was next to useless at RB and had made it clear he didn’t want to play there. Not having specialist cover at RB was also inhibiting Pepe.

The problem here is you think the Soares deal cost us £230,000,000 where as I think spending £1 million on a loan fee plus £60k per week on wages is not the end of the world.

NEEG

Terraloon

It will be interesting to see what management charges are made by KSE to AFC PLC.

CG

Walt

“””” Not having specialist cover at RB was also inhibiting Pepe.”””

I would say not having a right foot is more inhibiting,

just re visit the link Pierre sent the other day featuring John Robertson

JR drilled them in with his left foot and then caressed the penalties in with his right. A proper winger.

Only Dopes or Spivs – spend £ 72 million on Pepe*
And only silly fans come out with comments about its the right backs fault – that Pepe ain’t cutting the mustard.

*Follow the money on this one.

CG

Dis

“”””We had coverage for Bellerin; he is called AMN and could still have deputized for him till this summer.””””

100 % correct.

MA should have been assessing the squad not rushing out and adding to it,

Basic management, I would have thought.

PieAFC

I was hoping all this real life lark was going to put an end to the greed and destabilizing wealth in football and bring into back into the real world, salary caps, agent fees etc – Obviously not.

We’ve been mismanaged financially for years, one way or another. This story doesn’t surprise me.

Anonymous Commentator

Scandalous news to be honest.
But I expect nothing less at this point.

Chris

So many people bashing Soares when he hasn’t even pulled on the shirt to play one game. If it weren’t for the COVID outbreak he may have played the rest of the season out a blinder.

It was clear we needed cover at right back and the club made a low risk and cheap Lon move. AMN not up to it, I’m sorry.

Chris

Also just because it is on The Athletic does not make it true. It’s the sporting equivalent of Wikipedia.

They have very good opinion and nostalgic pieces but they are well known for getting facts wrong, or just plain speculating.

I wouldn’t take anything they say to the bank.

Nelson

If the league continues to play with the stadium closed, it is bounded to have impact on the club finance. I wonder whether the new signing will subject to the 12 % wage deduction.

Marc

Chris

Exactly and as we’re going to play out the season it’s a good chance to see if he fits in before signing him permanently.

The only people who don’t see that are those looking for reasons to attack the club.

andy1886

No idea if Soares will be a good investment or not. Same with Mari, he hasn’t played enough minutes yet to form a judgement and anyone saying otherwise is basing it simply on faith and nothing else.

Anyone worked out yet if Ozil has taken the pay cut? Seemed to be he hadn’t at first and then Pierre and his buddies were suggesting that he had.

Reality is a proper class full full back or center back with youth and potential on his side costs money. Money we’re not willing to pay. For years now we have purchased defenders past their best with little or no sell on value at all. We could have had Soyuncu for under 30 million , who is young and has a sell on value as well. Saliba looks a good buy and purchases like that are good for the club. But buying in useless old age over the hill defenders, wether on a free or 10 million to buy in… Read more »

China1

Marc yeah precisely – why would we buy another winger? I want the incessant links to wingers (it was willian first as well as a handful others already) to stop because I’m worried that one of these is going to turn out true which would be a ridiculous waste of money right now. I hope it’s just journo hacks being journo hacks but considering how badly run arsenal have been for 10 years I’ve no confidence that we’re now being led in a rational way with attention going to where it’s needed most. Going into next season with xhaka and… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

For the record the person who conducts contract negotiations at Arsenal is Huss Fahmy and not Raul Sanhelli. Mr Fahmy worked previously as a Senior Lawyer at Sky and is considered an expert on Legal Matters in Sport. Mr Sanhelli may be Arsenal’s Football Director but he is not responsible for contracts. My guess is that Mr Fahmy reports into the Managing Director at the club. Reverting back to the reports about Arsenal players taking a 12% paycut this was proposed and discussed with players by Arteta. When the deal was announced the Guardian Newspaper reported that that Kroenke had… Read more »

Wasi

Legal action being pursued by Kia and team for fake information published by the Athletic. He is being very aggressive with his claims that the agent and subsidiary fees are less than 10% of the reported 6mil and does not exceed the FA boundaries percentage wise. Also the story was run by Athletic but not by Ornstein. It was run by Amy who in my years of following Arsenal hasnt particularly been on the forefront of legit Arsenal inside news. Just get your facts straight. Im not a big fan of the Luiz deal and Would have preferred Diallo who… Read more »

Wasi

andy

Raul clearly stated every player had taken the pay cut.
No follow up story to the claims that 2-3 players did not.

Dissenter

Honestly, I never heard of this ‘Athletic” news company until Ornstein moved there.

It’s not a major sports tabloid here. I don’t know why many of the UK sports writers suddenly moved over to work for them.

It’s a small time institution trying to cut a name for themselves quickly.

Marc

China

It’s always journo hacks being journo hacks – we just seem to be one of their favourite targets. Is that because our fans respond to click bait more? I have no idea.

Dissenter

Marc The total package for the Soares deal was about 5 million for 5 months, per media reports. This included all his wages and any bonuses due in the remainder of his Saints contract, which is up in the summer. He was out injured till February so that leaves 3.5 months of the season available for him to deputize for Bellerin. Are you telling me that Arteta could not have coaxed a back-up RB performance out of AMN for 3.5 months? Instead of wasting money [that we supposedly don’t have] on a frivolous signing that could have come to us… Read more »

Marc

Dissenter

No AMN is gone and this was an opportunity to give Soares an extended trial.

@Dissenter
Spot on mate.

So we sign a defender who couldn’t make it in a team that conceded 9 against Leicester. How shit does he have to be to not make Southampton’s team.

Marko

Unsurprisingly people are coming out and disputing the Athletic article. But it was written with such vigor and irrefutable truth how can it be denied.

Anyway

Marko

Actually Arteta signing Cedric on loan was actually a bright point for me when judging him as a potential good coach. Still things that he was getting wrong but in this instance it showed that he recognized that AMN isn’t a RB that we needed a RB and that he doesn’t rate AMN in the slightest and I agree with all that

andy1886

So if our Director of Football does not involve himself in signing of players or wage negotiations (not even approve them even if someone else does the negotiating) what EXACTLY does he do for his money??

Marc

Dissenter

Why do you believe headlines that include words like “stunned” or “shocked” when it’s clearly click bait?

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/despite-expiring-contract-arsenal-loan-soares-for-ldquo-significant-fee-rdquo-/view/news/353701

Transfer market has Southampton using the term “significant” which could be anything.

Dissenter

Marc
If the Cedric Soares deal cost us only a dozen pancakes, it would have been a dozen pancakes that we didn’t have to spend.

There’s a lot of indecision and chaos going on with our transfers. Honestly I don’t trust any of the actors; not Arteta, Raul or Edu.

Marko

What is dissenter saying that we paid a 5 million pound loan fee for an injured player who had less than 6 months to go on his contract? Meanwhile the previous season with more time on his contract inter Milan were able to loan him for less than a million euros. Come on man