Yesterday, I touched on the David Luiz deal that all fans should find abhorrent. Today, I wanted to map out the journey Arsenal are on. We’re fast-moving from a club that was mocked for not moving with the times because we believed in the integrity of the game, to one that is seen as a feeding trough for super-agent fees.
This is a rundown of what’s happened since Wenger was fired.
Raul hired Unai Emery despite data pointing towards him being a super bland manager. Unai Emery actually thanked his agent, Arturo Canales, in an interview he did with AS before he moved.
“Thanks in part to Arturo Canales, they insisted I was the best candidate of all.”
Canales wasn’t his agent at the time but switched over soon after. Unai Emery was a bad candidate. He couldn’t manage egos, he couldn’t speak English, and his record with defences was abysmal.
Question: Did Canales land a finders fee?
It was clear from Emery’s first season that he was an absolute disaster of epic proportions. The data around his tenure showed that he’d performed worse than Wenger across the board. His football was bland, his communication was atrocious, he fell out with big names, he was meek, and he dropped the most cowardly end to a season in living memory.
He should have been fired, he wasn’t, and to make matters even more perplexing, Raul Sanhelli tried to give him an extension to his deal. The next season got off to the worst start in 38 years, but Raul held off firing him until mid-December, to the horror of Sir Chips according to Tim Payton. Eventually, the position became so toxic, the club had to exit Emery.
Sven Mislintat left Arsenal because he didn’t like the way Raul’s approach to transfers. The contacts approach wasn’t for him, this was common knowledge around the training ground.
With no Sven at the table, what happened? We unveiled a mega signing. Arsenal brought Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal (yes, I was excited). The rumours are that the fee was eye-watering. Italian clubs were leaking they wouldn’t deal with the number. Even this deal is based on contacts. A guy called Marc Ingla used to work with Raul at Barcelona in the marketing department. Famed in France after landing a 3 month suspended sentence from footballing activity in France for alleged false reporting in May 2019. The deal helped the €140m debt arrangement Lille had Elliot Management and staved off a Milan like takeover (according to the Financial Times).
The transfer fee we paid for Pepe was outrageous. If you’d said at the start of the summer, ‘where should we spend £72m?’, I’m not sure many would have said blow that on a winger. Especially not on one that was still incredibly raw and far from the finished article at 24 years old.
This sort of weirdness was all going to be solved by Edu. The Brazilian boasted Arsenal DNA and we hoped, Arsenal values. He’d put us on the straight and narrow, right?
So what do we know about Edu? Well, we know his agent is Kia. This would be fine if he at least pretended to act independently of him. His record so far indicates he does not.
Cedric Soares. A player Southampton thought was so bad, they leaked to The Athletic they were shocked to get a fee because they thought he’d end up at a lowly club after his contract expired in June.
As deadline week drew closer, news of Arsenal’s interest surfaced and Southampton could hardly believe it was true. They saw barely any logic in the approach and put it down to certain relationships between Arsenal and Soares’s people, yet there were no complaints from the south coast. A deal was done that suited all sides — the package is worth around £5m to Saints and Arsenal feel that, once fit, in Soares they will get exactly what they were seeking from the market.
It is quite stunning that the only person in world football that Arsenal could find to play right-back came from Kia’s portfolio (the same month, we were also linked to Kurzawa). He was also injured when we signed him.
David Luiz, another very odd signing. 3 months prior to joining Arsenal, he inked a 2 year deal with Chelsea. Edu then oversaw a £24m one-year signing that involved a £6m intermediaries fee (this has been denied by Kia, or at least he says he personally didn’t take more than £600k), an £8m transfer fee and a whopping £10m a year salary. David Luiz had been average for Chelsea. He was well past his prime, but Edu thought it wise to give him a 60% pay increase. Does that strike you as a normal thing to do for someone of his age and playing profile? Kia has fought back on the fee story, saying it was only £600k. Pretend for a minute the fee didn’t exist, we still spent £18m on a player we’re either having to sign up to a new deal or letting go for free.
Who are we being linked to this summer? Willian. A 31-year-old winger from Kia’s portfolio. My suspicion is this free transfer will look great to Josh K, and the player will come for a pay rise and there will be another fee. That deal was as rumoured to be very close a few months ago. Not sure where it is now, but would it surprise you? Why would Arsenal keep lining up at the same trough?
We are also being heavily linked to Coutinho. A good player, but Arsenal, per Josh K, has a wage bill problem and we’re apparently thinking about taking the 3rd highest-paid player from Barcelona on for next season. What’s the fee there? Are we really in a position to be exploring a deal of that size when we’ve cut the entire squads earnings by 12.5%? This is a player that can’t get a bite from anywhere in Europe because he is seen as overpriced. We are literally mainlining Kia’s players into the squad.
Then we go to Pablo Mari, a player I’m sure we’d all love to see come good, but he’s had 22 top-flight games and his agent is… Arturo Canales.
Even the interview process for Emery’s vacant role saw Kia inserting his clients into the mixer. Why would anyone consider Vítor Pereira? An absolute joke suggestion. He would be nowhere near any top clubs shortlist of names, but once again, Arsenal Football club indulged agent suggestions, despite the disastrous consequences of doing that exact same thing the first time around.
Where does scouting play out in these deals? Is it just a coincidence that most of our players come from a small selection of agents Edu and Raul like? Are we using our money to sign the absolute best talent to move us forward? Looks questionable.
There are four positions that are important for the smooth flow of unaccountability in football.
The club: Raul doesn’t own Arsenal, but he might as well do. Josh doesn’t understand the game in enough detail to be potent or nuanced in his questioning. Unless he truly did think £24m was a good deal for a 33 year old for one year, then we really are fucked. Geraldo Lopez of Lille tried to build a football agency so he could ship players around the world, then third party ownership disappeared, his solve? Buy a club. Jorge Mendes runs Wolves for a reason. Own a club and it’s a fee printing machine.
The Sporting Director: Wolves Sporting Director is really a super agent. According to Reuters, Jorge Mendes sees the only profitable part of football is player trading. This from the Reuters link.
“Trading in talent is often more profitable than owning soccer clubs, say academics who study the sport. But it is also a business model that some fans, officials and club owners criticise and oppose. They say it diverts money to agents and financial investors that would otherwise go to clubs and help sustain the vibrant competition that fans pay to see.”
A Sporting Director should be single-minded in delivering a club the best players, for the best price, that offer the best value. Arsenal is a club under financial strain. Where was the value in the Luiz deal? Can anyone fathom Soares at right-back?
The board: This is the final layer of scrutiny on deals. Raul, according to The Athletic, bypasses the board now, which is part of the reason Sir Chips packed in his Chairmanship. When you have owners learning the game, the board should be packed with knowledge and be afforded the power of veto, especially without a strong CEO in place.
The manager: It helps to have a compliant manager in charge. Nuno was Jorge Mendes man at Valencia. The fans hated it even though he took them into the top 4. Now he’s at Wolves. It’s clear why. Unai Emery had very little say at Arsenal, he was lucky to have the job. He was well paid and Raul was his king, but he had no true power according to his grumblings post-sacking.
Arteta was the best candidate for the job, this is true, but he is also in a very weak position. This is his first job, he’ll have very little power at the club right now, Raul is his King. The same was true for Unai Emery; who was going to Real Sociedad before his agent put the call in.
Say what you will about Arsene Wenger, the guy always had righteous views when it came to super-agents. To a fault, no doubt, but I tell you what, I wish we had some of his values at the exec level of Arsenal football club right now. I can’t believe I’m writing that but this is not a good moment for Arsenal.
We cannot allow our club to be a vessel for agents/intermediaries/family fees. I understand that it is hard to bypass them in totality, but the simple truth is Arsenal have shifted from a mindset of paying them as a necessity because we want a great player, to almost shifting our entire transfer approach to be solely focused on certain agents portfolios… to the detriment of the football that has us sitting in 9th.
The David Luiz deal was a huge waste of money. Unai Emery was a terrible hire. Cedric Soares should never have been signed. We did not need Dennis Suarez. Nicolas Pepe was overpriced. Now we’re looking at Willian, Coutinho and continue to be open to suggestions from the same stable of ‘friends.’ It’s a worrying trend and all the traditional checks and balances have gone. Absent ownership under Arsene Wenger was bad, but at least he tried to run the club like it was his own. What is the new world? Where is the fierce independence that makes Arsenal, The Arsenal?
We are better than this. There’s never been a greater leveller in football than what has happened now. Let’s hope we don’t blow it by meekly handing over our future to fee merchants.
Marc, do some digging around, you’ll work it out.
Sal We signed oodles of current or ex dortmund players under Sven. Lichsteiner. Data driven? Moi thinks not. Who is the “contacts” signing under Raul that defines his approach? Luiz? One PL experienced defender in Kos out last minute after the majority of our budget was spent, leaving us with Mustafi and Sokratis as the elder statesmen in defense necessitating another experienced player in in Luiz. It cost us 3m and 20-30k a week extra if you subtract Kos fee and wages. Not really a big deal. The 24m, 6m fees, 200k wages is from 1 source, that has already… Read more »
Pedro
Oh dear – so basically you’re saying the figures are fiddled.
Why do I get the feeling that the next set that are due imminently and will show our amount as being higher (we spent more on transfers) will suddenly be gospel.
Marc – interesting data and actually quite reassuring we’re not out of kilt. I’m afraid the leeches are still part of the game Pedro whether we like it or not. I don’t like the fat Spanish slug but do think that Luiz has turned out to be a useful signing to plug a gap. Expensive yes but in the grand scheme of things probably not. I do want us though to move forward and build from the bottom and stop trying to compete for inflated players. We should be moving forward with an eye on nurturing younger talent and only… Read more »
Marc
Those agent fees were after a Champions league final purse, another season of guaranteed champions league coupled with making a ton on Coutinho in that January.
Three resources Arsenal do not have.
Arsenal needs to build and find a season like Klopp did in 2016-17 that put them into our birthright, t the 4th spot. That is done by making most with limited resource.
sal
Doesn’t matter we’re not talking about how much you spend but how you spend it and this idea that Liverpool have this amazing scouting system that avoids agents is bollocks.
Marc, I’m suggesting you pull your finger out and actually do some reading up instead of pleading ignorance to the power of Google.
Pedro
I have done some reading – I read the official figures released by the FA.
Something you are refusing to do.
Marc, then you really didn’t do much digging. Go a little deeper. Look at the deals for Neto and Jordao.
Northbanker
The stories doing the rounds are that FIFA / UEFA want to tear up the agent system and make it so clubs don’t pay agents.
I seriously hope they do – an agent should be paid out of his “clients” ie the players income.
That doesn’t change the fact that the numbers being thrown about on here have no substance what so ever.
Pedro
So what are you saying the numbers published by the FA are incorrect?
How have you been keeping these days, Pedro? Hope all remains well with you. Certainly looking forward to football again.
Pedro, This is what’s annoying about you. You state a statement like it’s fact and when asked to back it up you say go and dig the information you stated as fact. You should post links and articles that back up your narrative. You shouldn’t say go and read to prove my point.
Habesha
Unfortunately on this subject Pedro is a fanatic.
“A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.”
Habesha, remember when you said that you wouldn’t accept me saying Luiz was on nearly 200k a week, and you said you needed evidence… then you get it and don’t believe it? Though this time, you are asking for evidence that we’re working with super-agents, despite it all being laid out in a blog. The only person on this feed that needs convincing that we’re tight with Kia, is you? The only person who thing Jorge Mendes doesn’t make money out of Wolves is Marc. Why would I spend time trying to convince two people of something they don’t want… Read more »
Pedro You seem to be suggesting we are now worse off without wenger. Extraordinary, but big of you. The reality is this; the last few seasons of wenger’s stint were a disaster transfer wise and we’re still suffering as a result. Ironically and rather tragically, his big buys were worse than his much villified ‘cheap’ buys. Giroud or Xhaka anyone? However, arsenal, right up until the very last season still played attractive football, still qualified for the champions league every year and managed to bag three FA cups. Mr ‘can’t drill a defence’, ‘senile old fool’ Wenger was still getting… Read more »
Marc
You need to consider the fact that Liverpool made two mega deals in that window.
There was an outward transfer of Coutinho and an incoming transfer of VVD.
That was not a typical year for Liverpool regarding agents fees, they have extenuating circumstances to easily explain that high figures for agent fees. .
Surely you’re just playing around, right?
Marc
Its the combination of the two approaches that interests me, dabbling in the world of super agents is a necessary evil to sign an obvious world beater like VVD.
But the less obvious signings that have panned out in spades for Liverpool are less likely found from agenting about.
Marc
‘The stories doing the rounds are that FIFA / UEFA want to tear up the agent system and make it so clubs don’t pay agents.”
Would it be legal?
Players have a right to representation and their chosen reps have a right to a cut of the fees. The same thing happens with stock brokers, luxury car salesmen, realtors [estate agents] e.t.c.
I bet the agents will go up to the courts and win. There are fundamental principles bigger than FIFA/UEFA [who are crooks in their own rights] at play here.
Pedro, Tell me this Our Top paid players are Ozil, Auba and Lacazette. Auba on 200k a week. Why would we pay that much when we are trying to lower the wage bill and Our record signing Who cost 72 mil is on 140 k a week. It smells of agenda. And Kia refuted the athletic story too. And papers are confused about the actual figure too. Here the daily mail says we paid Luiz 10 mil in wages but then go on to state that he is actually on 120k per week wages where the numbers don’t match. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8373631/Arsenal-paid-6MILLION-agents-David-Luizs-8m-transfer-fee-Chelsea.html… Read more »
Dissenter
Firstly VVD moved on 1/1/18 and Coutinho moved on 6/1/18 (I took the dates from transfermarket) – the agent fee numbers I’ve linked to cover 1/2/18 to 31/1/19
Secondly why are Liverpool paying an agent on an outward transfer of a player that they didn’t want to sell?
Dissenter
“Would it be legal?
Players have a right to representation and their chosen reps have a right to a cut of the fees. The same thing happens with stock brokers, luxury car salesmen, realtors [estate agents] e.t.c.”
Of course it would be legal – those people are paid by their client. A football club shouldn’t be the client the player is – any payments should come from the player.
This debate itself summarises the problem – the cloak and dagger world football allows no-one truly knows the facts. It’s a disgrace – FIFA should preserve the integrity of the game by requiring all deals and all wages are on a public register. Agents should not be allowed to receive from clubs, only players. The conflict of interest is massive
Habesha The last wages the player earned lays a role in his new wages at the new club. Auba was one of the highest earners at Dortmund, so coming to Arsenal with a wage increase meant he would be earning in the 200k weekly range Same as Laca, he was the highest wage earner at Lyon, his new wage increment at Arsenal reflects the previous baseline. Ozil’s wages defies common sense… I’m not going to try justifying it. Pepe’s salary at Lille was very low – the club has a cap of about 35k weekly. The 140k weekly he earns… Read more »
“Ozil’s wages defies common sense… I’m not going to try justifying it.”
Ozil wages almost defy the laws of physics!
AH
“However, arsenal, right up until the very last season still played attractive football, still qualified for the champions league every year”
Slight revisionism.
Wenger failed to qualify for the CL in his last two seasons and the football had become overall staid.
Marc
Not necessarily, the fee is a cut from the entire pie i.e the transaction.
I think thee can stop the double or triple billion which is what is going on. The agents are being paid by the players and the football clubs.
Northbanker
Agree 100%
Habesha, Kia refuted what his take was. Amy Lawrence is reporting on her own source, which is likely Sir Chips.
We signed Auba because we were chasing Champions League and had just sold Sanchez. I’m not sure what the correlation is to spending two seasons worth of money to land Pepe.
My point is absolutely clear. Super agents leading the club is bad for business. We are currently in our worst season ever, think that validates the concern.
Northbanker, FIFA are going to have to address it. Massive legal fight is on.
Maybe the club is paying the agent some type of finder’s fee.
I think the agent fees just reflects the market forces. Good players are wanted by many clubs so the agent is managing a rare commodity that clubs with try to outwit/outbid one another over.
Dissenter
“The agents are being paid by the players and the football clubs.”
In places and that’s what I’m saying – the player employs the agent and agrees terms for him to make representation – that should be the end of it.
The player pays the agent.
double/triple billing
I think this might be a fair assessment of wages at arsenal. It would add up to 8 mil + 7mil in wages and agent fees and he would cost arsenal 15 mil. Still a high number for David luiz. I am not defending the spending but the actual numbers. and If he’s not staying next season it would have been a bad deal.
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/arsenal-f.c/payroll/
Alex, I don’t miss him in the dugout, but I think the club is sorely lacking his principles.
““However, arsenal, right up until the very last season still played attractive football, still qualified for the champions league every year””
What cunt said that?
Marc
“In places and that’s what I’m saying – the player employs the agent and agrees terms for him to make representation – that should be the end of it.”
The agent will argue that the club is paying them a finder’s fee type of commission. The player pays them as heir reps, clubs pay them for tier exclusivity – choosing them over the rest.
Either way, it’s going to end up in court.
“Alex, I don’t miss him in the dugout, but I think the club is sorely lacking his principles.”
Don’t drink the kool-aid, Pete. Latter years Wenger was a disaster on all fronts.
Dissenter
No FIFA sets new rules – clubs don’t pay agents. If an agent approaches Arsenal and says “I’ve got a great player on my books” and Arsenal buy that player the agent gets paid out of the signing on fee and takes a commission on the salary.
Basically how 99% of recruitment companies in the UK work.
I agree on your point that super agents leading the club is bad for business. What I am saying is we haven’t seen evidence of it happening at Arsenal Yet. We haven’t signed Willian, Coutinho and David luiz in one summer. We actually tried to fill a Gap left by another Veteran. You are saying we have already seen lots of evidence for it already and I don’t see any apart from Luiz. Let me put it this way if I see any player that cost a ridiculous amount of money and isn’t worth it, I will believe you. Let’s… Read more »
Habesha
Have you considered that the said wages for Luiz could also include BONUSES?
Auba’s compensation is more than 200k weekly when you add in his bonuses
Ozil doesn’t earn 350k basic wages, it’s the bonuses that push it to that crazy place.
It’s the same reason why the Soares deal could easily be 5 million
If I see any player driven by agents and costs a ridiculous amount t of money this summer *
Dissenter
80k per week in bonuses? you are joking surely.
Habesha, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Canales reccomended Emery and Pablo Mari Kia is Edu’s agent, we’ve signed David Luiz on a 1 yr deal for 24m, and we brought in Cedric Soares. Not to mention we were very close on Willian and continue to be heavily linked with Coutinho. According to reports, Jorge Mendes was brought in on the Pepe deal On the Luiz deal. We took a player out of 2 year deal and put him in a 1 year deal for £24m. We were in negotiations with Kos for months, how was that sort of… Read more »
Er
Even if Luiz’s quoted numbers do include bonuses he ain’t getting any unless we achieve something in which case I’d happily see him get the money.
Habesha Gooner
“If I see any player driven by agents and costs a ridiculous amount t of money this summer”
Well because of the financial implications due to Covid and Arsenal pleading poverty we may well not see any big deals at all this summer.
Doesn’t mean they can’t return at a later time though.
Dissenter, I don’t think that’s true (I haven’t seen the Luiz or Ozil contract). I think there are bonuses, but players like to guarantee the full amount, that’s why performance-related pay never took off.
Marc “No FIFA sets new rules – clubs don’t pay agents. If an agent approaches Arsenal and says “I’ve got a great player on my books” and Arsenal buy that player the agent gets paid out of the signing on fee and takes a commission on the salary. Hmmmmn That agent would have told Arsenal along with 10 other clubs to set off a bidding war. The clubs start to undercut and outbid each other…that’s how these crazy fees come from. PSG may tell the agent we’ll pay you 5 million extra just for choosing us… and Juventus says 6… Read more »
Pedro
Why were we in negotiations with Kos for months? He had a year left on his contract and was fucked – we were never going to extend his contract and he decided to throw his toys out of the pram when we wouldn’t give him a free transfer.
Habesha
“Dissenter
80k per week in bonuses? you are joking surely.”
Only if you assume that his basic wages is 120k weekly.
Dissenter
You’ve got it backwards – the agent starts a bidding war causing the price to go up so his cut of the signing on fee increases as do the wages paid to the player something he also earns out of.
You’d need all club accounts audited to a standard format to stop “other payments” going through. If a club is willing to say “get your guy to sign for us and we’ll sign another of your players” well players need to wise up and make sure they are employing agents who aren’t crooks.
Mistake after mistake Marc with wanting to extend Kos when he was so obviously past it being the first error.
So lazy really not going out and replacing Kos as soon as he entered his final year instead of wanting to sit on him. Sitting on an obviously well past it player.
“I haven’t seen the Luiz or Ozil contract”
You can imagine the conversation:
“OK Mesut if you break a sweat you get an extra £10k, of you make a tackle (stop laughing everyone) you get £20k, run round a bit £20k and break Xhaka’s leg in a training ground accident £20 million although that’s a whip round from the fans”
That would mean we have no scouts pedro. Arteta Said He liked both Mari and Soares and They aren’t Costing ridiculous amount of money. Although their abilities on the pitch for arsenal are yet to be proven. And If Arteta is as great a coach as you say He could veto both deals off because they are loans. If we are as you say so contact driven how did we end up with “great coach” Arteta? Surely they would line up another coach based on contacts. My view on Emery is they genuinely selected him but made a mistake. Not… Read more »
Mark.
https://arseblog.news/2019/08/koscielny-arsenal-departure-came-after-months-of-discussions/
Mari was on City’s books – do we have anyone on the staff who was at City recently and might know the player? Have maybe some knowledge of him?
I’m stuck I can’t think of anyone.
Pedro
The writer has put Lolo after the quotes – I’m not down with the kids speak and all but could that be sarcasm?
Lolo shorthand for Laurent, no?
Habesha, we’ve lost Sven, Jason Rosenfeld, and we just let go of 10 younger scouts.
Or are you saying that our scouts coincidentally found players that were on the roster of favoured agents?
Jamie
Don’t know but that doesn’t “fit” the piece – at least not how I read it.
Pedro “Canales reccomended Emery and Pablo Mari” Pablo Mari was at City and even though he didn’t play I’m sure Arteta knew about him. Not questioning Artetas judgment already are you? “Kia is Edu’s agent.” I’m fairly sure we knew about him anyway. ” we’ve signed David Luiz on a 1 yr deal for 24m,” No we didn’t. “and we brought in Cedric Soares” Yes we did, a much needed cover for both fullback positions for peanuts . Not to mention we were very close on Willian and continue to be heavily linked with Coutinho. Ah yes, we’re linked with… Read more »
““Kia is Edu’s agent.”
I’m fairly sure we knew about him anyway.”
Who?
Pedro, A backup Right-back from the premier league who has been a starter for Southampton for free is a no brainer for me. Mari I don’t know How we came to sign him but he is not Costing us the moon and he has resale value if we make the loan permanent. Both deals, Even if they are contacts signings which you haven’t proved yet, can be moved easily. Now If we are signing Willian to a three year contract, I will believe you. We haven’t spent big on a contact signing. We filled some Gaps if Soares is also… Read more »
If Mari turns into a good player I guarantee he’ll suddenly be an Arteta signing.
Marc
I can see the headlines already:
Genius talent spotter Arteta uncovers South American VVD
(no connection to Raul and his dirty contacts approach)
Freddie
Saliba turns into a world class CB – it was Sven that did it.
Saliba turns into a monstrous waste of space – it was Sanllehi’s fault
Clubs dead
Owned by idiots
Run by crooks…
Why pay 5 m for soares
Even for a loan fee shocking
It’s like the last days of the Roman Empire… everyone is choring from the club..
Ain’t my arsenal no more.
https://mobile.twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1222561003839401984
RSPC
Freddie, you have to follow the story and pay attention.
The narrative of this blog post is Arsenal being led by super agents is not good.
It’s that simple.
If you love it, that’s great, but you have very bad taste for what is right in football, and you are once again very wrong on this subject.
Thanks hebesh
So it was a sweetener… a glorified btibe to get him free in June .?
Pedro
It ain’t just not good..
It’s corrupt …
All going the route of John delorean
Shady characters used to support the club , now 5hey run it.
Marc Valentin has already preempted that one, it was obviously Sven. Nevermind that he was long gone and that we have scouts all over the world, and even had them during the Wenger years. It’s doing something about it that counts, and making the right decisions. So far I have Raul down for 4.5/5 signings. He gets half a point for Luiz. Including VAT Why is Cagigao getting the full praise for Martinelli? Did the scout that discovered Fabregas/Henry/Van Persie etc get all the praise? No, no one gives a shit, Wenger gets all the credit, and rightly so, he… Read more »
Soares is just another mathi debauchy ..
Club stung again…
Don’t they have an accountant at the club.
Habesha, The Athletic wrote this in December.
Headline: Fewer crosses, fewer dribbles, fewer meaningful passes but can Cedric leave Southampton fans with some more happy memories?
No brainer? Yep. No brain needed to avoid.
https://theathletic.co.uk/1492387/?source=player
“The narrative of this blog post is Arsenal being led by super agents is not good.”
That would indeed be not good. If it was true. No evidence of that though (actual evidence, not speculation and that we’re linked to players, gasp) so until there is I’m keeping my pitch fork in the barn and my tiki torches unlit thanks.
“All going the route of John delorean”
Fucking hell Sanllehi’s got a time machine just think of all the players he’ll know to pay agents massive fees for.
Freddie, elite analysis there.
Emery > Canales recco
Mari > Canales
Luiz > Kia
Soares > Kia
Pepe > Mendes
Currently being linked to Coutinho/Willian > Kia
Pay attention man.
Rspc
We paid 15m for Debuchy, we paid 1m for a loan of Soares, as a backup. Nearly the same thing…
“Soares is just another mathi debauchy ..Club stung again…Don’t they have an accountant at the club.”
Except debuchy was 12m and soares is 3m max includng wages and if he does bad we can bin him off.
Freddie
“Too bad someone switched out the rule book in the last 2 years.”
I can handle the rule book being throw out for a new one – it’s the rule book being switched back and forwards that pisses me off.
Mari > Canales
I will hold you to this pedro. Dont you say he was an arteta signing lol
Pedro
Do you keep up with how many players we are being linked with? Must be up to a hundred this season already, I’m sorry if 2 of the most unlikely ones doesn’t really register on my “oh shit the world is ending” radar. You do you though.
Freddie
I’m waiting for Willian to join the Spud’s and have a great season – we’ll have Pedro screaming “why won’t Sanllehi deal with agents?”
Santan
Except debuchy was 12m
You forgot VAT, agent fees, wages and bonuses. It’s how we count all deals now, do try to keep up.
Freddie
Don’t forget NI – NI’s a major cost for any employer!
Marc
That would be oh so predictable.
I mean there is a small possibility that we sign one of them and then I’ll start to worry, right now though when all it is is paper talk? Nah, not when we’re being linked with at least 5 new players a week, all of them having in fact agents! Arggghhh, the horror. The sleepless nights, the humanity
Santan, no one is an Arteta signing. I hear he likes him though, so fingers crossed.
Marc
Ahaha, I had to look that up, thought it was a Monthy Python reference:)
would have been appropriate here at the ministry of silly walk backs.
Marc and Freddie smugly talking up a massive wrong at the club. Think we just need Cesc Appeal here and we have the whole Emery gang back together.
Freddie
Nudge nudge wink wink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kwh3R0YjuQ&t=59
If you really want to read pedro this what soton fans think about him.
https://tui.fansnetwork.co.uk/news/51898/
Pedro
We’re not talking a massive wrong at the club up or down – we’re taking the piss out of you because you’re being a mong.
You mean the whole ” let’s give the new manager a chance before burying him alive squad? Yeah, terrible that.
You saying it is wrong doesn’t make it so just like you saying Gazidis was the love child of Bill Gates and David Hasselhof (paraphrasing here) didn’t make him so. Until all this speculation actually has a shred of evidence to it I’m not giving it much credence, if there is evidence in the future I will change my mind. You know, rational thinking.
Funny enough, I’m as pro-Emery as they come. I defended him when he was manager, defended him when he was being fired an wont balk at defending him if he was slime balled. He didn’t get what he asked for, same way Arteta isn’t going to get what he’s going to need. Raul needs to be held accountable, at the moment his authority trumps the board and the owners are too distant to oversee him effectively. We didn’t go from Wenger knows all to a system where strange deals like the Soares deals are being cut. If he was that… Read more »
Habesha
Even in that Southampton fan blog, the 5 million number is mentioned again.
If that article suits whatever you’re trying to push, then surely you ought to appreciate the 5 million number that keeps coming up every where.
This is what one os the soton gans posted on that Habesha link
“Done a job for us or something similar Cjay80
Always too small , always looked sheepish when outjumped at the far post.
Now he is a shortarsenal player.
ah well goood luck Cedric”
I didn’t realize there was such a thing as “shortarsenal player” lol
“the 5 million number that keeps coming up every where.”
Everywhere but the facts.
Just the facts ma’am.
Dissenter
It says It’s worth 5 mil to Southampton in loan fee+ wages saved+ bonus payments saved. We are paying below 5 mil for wages and loan fee in total. go read the link I posted for RSPC. Ornstein tries to clarify it I think.
Freddie, not sure how much more evidence you need, but it took you until December last year to realise that Emery was a busted flush. Not sure anyone is waiting on bated breath to see the obvious with the way we’re being run.