Well, here he is. Willian. The man, the myth, the explosive ball carrying winger from Brazil.
I think I can safely say that 99% of Arsenal fans are very excited about him. He’s not leaving Chelsea on a downward curve and he has arrived at Arsenal a wanted man. I think most of us are excited because you can clearly see what Mikel is going to do with him. He’ll be our creative outlet, one that we’ve lacked, and he’ll play centrally. It makes so much sense. The age thing is a bother, but really, as a #10, he could easily play there for 2-3 good years.
The murkier part of this deal is there appears to be some smoke and mirrors with regards to what we’re paying him. The actual cost of his weekly wages went from £150k a week and was slowly leaked down to £100k, which sounded great. Sami Mokbel gave us a fuller picture, suggesting that after loyalty bonuses, signing on fees, and whatever other sweeties they put in the deal… it looks more like £220k a week. Then there’s Kia. He’ll be getting his own chunk of the deal, no doubt.
This signing though, feels like one that we really did need. Yes, I’d have preferred Arsenal go out and find the next Julian Brandt, but it is what it is, and Willian has the exact sort of experience that could be very beneficial next season. We’re hoping mainly on the curve of age doesn’t apply to him, but for next season, he’ll be great.
This story dropped nicely over the other bombshell news. Arsenal (I hear Tim Lewis), are investigating the Nicolas Pepe deal from last summer. If you’ve been following Le Grove for any length of time, you’ll know that I’ve been talking about how we do business as a concern. I wrote this piece on Lille back in January. I think we can all agree that Pepe is an exciting prospect, but it was absolutely clear at the time we’d overpaid by quite a lot of money. He’s 24 years old and not the finished article, he might still come good in a big way, but I’m not sure many were out here saying we landed value for money.
From what I understand, Arsenal is investigating all costs at the club at the moment. Tim Lewis is here to ensure that the club is operating efficiently for the new now and he’s actively auditing everything from marketing budgets, sponsorships, to… player deals (worth remembering, Arsenal were auditing electricity costs last year before the pandemic). I have no doubt most clubs are doing the same. It’s just good stewardship from Stan and Josh.
ESPN is reporting that the club is going deep on the Nicolas Pepe fee 1) how we landed on the scouting decision 2) How we negotiated the deal.
As a reminder, the guy that runs Lille originally wanted to set up a super-agent agency to rival Mendes because he saw the most profitable part of football being in how the deals were cut (fees). FIFA killed that idea when they banned 3rd Party Ownership. He took over a club instead, opting for a French club because it was cheap, and the talent in the league is very good. From what I can gather, he’s using the club to harvest players to make profit. He has Luis Campos running his scouting, and let’s be frank, the guy is a god.
The interesting thing about Lille is they’ve borrowed a lot of money. They had owed Elliot Management a chunk of money (still do I think), the clear worry that if they don’t pay it back, Lopez would see a similar fate to that of Milan’s ex-ownership. The FT gives a brilliant overview of how they operate. It is also interesting that an ex-colleague of Raul’s happens to work at Lille. Marc Ingla. He was suspended from football for some mishaps that caught the eye in France.
So in short, you probably don’t need to have attended NYU Stern to piece together why the Pepe transfer fee is of interest to KSE.
It’s also ominous that the story has been leaked to the press. Those things don’t happen by accident. I suspect there are people at the club that hate how we’re run at the moment, this is just another crank up of pressure on the new approach to business. I’ve been told Arsenal initially refused to comment on the story, ESPN getting their sources from multiple places. Again, not a good look.
I don’t imagine that’s where the club will stop probing.
What did the scouting data say about Unai Emery who told media he landed the job after Caneles recommended him? Could he build defences? No. Could he speak English? No. Did he have a reputation in Europe for commanding respect of dressing rooms? No. Why did it take so long to fire him? How was he paid out? How did we land on Denis Suarez? What was the true cost of David Luiz and why was he the solution despite having 3 months head start on Koscielny leaving? How did we arrive at the conclusion of Cedric Soares in January?
Whatever way you look at those deals, you have to admit, they lack coherence. When you are running one of the biggest clubs in the world, deals should make sense, and the reasoning should be very clear. It doesn’t look like data-centric methodology was at the heart of the thinking. If the rationale behind these deals really is heavily weighted towards super-agent opinions… is that the way to a brighter Arsenal future? Who knows, but it’s clear we finished 8th for a reason that wasn’t Arsene Wenger.
KSE should be looking at RB Leipzig in the Champions League semi-final after selling their best striker to Chelsea. They’ve been in existence for 11 years. They consistently sell top, top players, and consistently replace them at the same level. They are data-centric, they know what sort of players they should buy, and they never move from their philosophy. I’d imagine Stan might think that a more sustainable way to run a football club in a pandemic.
Then you have Arsenal… shelling out £220k a week on a 32-year-old, again. Maybe this one will work out, and I truly hope it does, but the optics are not good, regardless of how much you like the player. The same ingredients over and over again. Let’s hope Arteta has more of hand over how to make this one work for the squad. Let’s also hope this investigation leads to a more effective Arsenal.
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments. x
Boom
2
3
Trofee
it is what it is
it’s performance based so it’s still 100k per week
when you overanalyse everything even Messi will be a shit signing
“He has Luis Campos running his scouting, and let’s be frank, the guy is a god.”
What better than Mislintat?
Welcome to the Arsenal Willian!
Another rant. Arghhh when it will end. A clu. that recruited Xhaka and Mustafi through a “data driven” method should look at Willian like a God. This summer will also be a stunner like the last and I don’t care how we do it if it is getting us really quality players. Tierney, Pepe, Martinelli, Saliba, Ceballos, Luiz, Mari, Cedric, and Willian. Of those players Luiz, Cedric and Willian were cheap deals that were agent driven that we needed to fill gaps. Who is Representing Partey, Gabriel and Ceballos if we get them? Will you hold your hands up then?
Pedro has found a new 220k a week agenda. Sourced ofc from the all reliable Mirror who apparently now have more info than David Ornstein who has reported our financial offer was less than the 2 other teams (One of which was a new team in MLS. A league where the highest salary a player has earned is 6mil[Zlatan] per year).
But if it suits your agenda it must be true.
will it*
Already our best midfielder.😎
Sami Mokbel gave us a fuller picture, suggesting that after loyalty bonuses, signing on fees, and whatever other sweeties they put in the deal… it looks more like £220k a week. So not 220k a week then. Because a club doesn’t pay signing on fees over the course of a deal it’s usually up front and they certainly aren’t paying loyalty bonuses as part of a weekly wage because it makes no sense. Also that article you wrote was from June not January which is important to note because it makes it seem like you were ahead of the curve… Read more »
Ofc we are shifting to a super agent team if we keep on making signings like Martinelli , Saliba , Pepe , Tierney , Ceballos , Catalin Cirjan and the most important of them all , the sauce – Arteta
‘Also that article you wrote was from June not January which is important to note because it makes it seem like you were ahead of the curve last January…’
Marko hammering down the law.
how can we pay him the same as his wages as a signing on fee? That and a three year contract? He is being paid a signing on fee every year?
I don’t believe we can pay him above 5 mil as a signing on fee. But just because it fits an agenda , let’s believe the daily mail.
“KSE should be looking at RB Leipzig”
They should Pedro, but they wont, they still consider themselves the benchmark of great management that all other clubs should aspire to.
But yeah the wages stuff being pushed about by certain people is the kind of statement that honestly should come with an ass load of asterisks on it. It’s basically attributing the signing on fee and whatever else you can think of onto the basic wage (which is less than what Chelsea offered apparently) and making it sound like that’s what we’re paying him per week which is absolute nonsense. Clubs pay a signing on fee up front not over the course of a contract for a player because you don’t know if the player will even see out his… Read more »
We get a quality player on a free transfer and people are still nitpicking. Mark my words he will be one of the top 5 performing players for Arsenal in the coming season.
Good stewardship from Josh and Stan.??? As I recall, Arsenal were doing very well before Stan arrived.
Has the penny finally dropped? Has Stan cottoned on that buying a club of Arsenal’s magnitude is not the same as owning a Walmart store or running an apartment block?
But I do agree we should be more like Leipzig very good club who uses data analysis (apparently we don’t despite it being reported that we do).
Marko
Your 100% wrong about how clubs pay signing on fees
Here’s the PL rules
Signing-on Fees
T.15.
A Signing-on Fee may be paid only to a Contract Player whose contract:
T.15.1. is for a period of not less than three months; and
T.15.2. is not a Monthly Contract or a Conditional Contract or a Week by Week Contract.
T.16.
In the case of a contract between a Club and a Player lasting for more than one year, any Signing-on Fee shall be paid in equal annual instalments.
I wonder of Arsenal are going to do a Theo Walcott with Pepe, especially if Lille are in strife – that is we owe them £50million over the next 3 years – we will give you £30 million now and forget the rest. Southampton were happy and we got Walcott a lot cheaper then the originally agreed fee.
Willian is here now – his shirt is red and as long as he puts the effort in he will be an asset for the next 18 months at least.
Who’s the old fucker in the photo at the top of the article?
Pedro
Add the VAT – I fucking dare you!
From the picture supplied by Pedro Willian looks the right skin color Brazilian and his face don’t look a day older than 32 so so far so good.
If I could just get a glance at his calves I’d be totally at peace.
So now we need to imitate RB Leipzig? I thought the Liverpool model was the way to go……..as soon as we sell Guendouzi to Barca for 140m that is.
I am sure like any other contract there must be a clause in Willian’s contract as per which Arsenal will pay € X to Willian if the club win the CL. Now you can very well take that in to overall cost of the contract but you can bet your house on Arsenal not winning the CL in the next 3 years. All in all total value of the contract over 3 years is a meaningless number. Signing on fee and weekly wages are the only two important numbers.
Jamie
What do you reckon he’s got to be at least 95?
TR7
Don’t forget the NI and VAT.
Am I right in thinking that the only scouts that we have out there at the moment are in South America? Can anyone else see that we are going to become a breeding ground for young Brazilian talent (a la Martinelli) -we are signing old Brazilian mentors, with an unprecedented insiders knowledge of the Brazilian football scene – as long as our lawyers can sort out work permits, I can see this being our new business model, like the South Western European sides of the last 15 or so years.
A Signing-on Fee may be paid only to a Contract Player whose contract…In the case of a contract between a Club and a Player lasting for more than one year, any Signing-on Fee shall be paid in equal annual Right… anything there about being paid weekly as part of the wage? I mean sure you could spread a signing on fee much like a normal fee in installments but weekly I don’t think that’s how it works. It sounds like you’re trying hard to justify the weekly wage being reported. Wait does that mean that Kolasinac is on much more… Read more »
Jamie
“”””Who’s the old fucker in the photo at the top of the article?””””””
A very happy man.
Because he earns more per week, than what any Liverpool player earns.
I suspect he will smiling for a while yet.
Good for him and Ozil and Luiz.
If clubs want to be plain daft- don’t blame the players for taking advantage.
” Clubs pay a signing on fee up front not over the course of a contract for a player because you don’t know if the player will even see out his full contract.”
They may have changed how they legislate signing on fee’s but they used to be paid over the course of a contract for that very reason. Players doesn’t see out his contract he doesn’t get the full fee.
TR7
Most footballers contracts include individual bonuses such as playing x number of games, scoring x number of goals. It’s rare that a player would have an individual bonus for winning a trophy or something the team as a whole contribute to
All clubs have a separate bonus scheme that’s registered with the FA that where the club agrees to pay say £x for CL qualification.
On t
Is it just me but if you were going to add someone to the board to “investigate” how we do our transfer business would you not select a forensic accountant over a lawyer who’s connection to the Kroenke’s is mergers and acquisitions?
All in all total value of the contract over 3 years is a meaningless number. Signing on fee and weekly wages are the only two important numbers. Exactly. You get it. I mean my god people are attributing this that and the other to his weekly wage and he hasn’t even kicked a ball yet. But apparently he’s earned those bonuses already. And not to mention who even says he’s here the full 3 years? It’s ridiculous how people will judge and attribute whatever to this signing but will completely disregard it to say another signing. For example given how… Read more »
Willian’s teeth is a dead giveaway he’ll be a great signing for Arsenal.
All natural , none of that bullshit implants Firmino style.
A sign of great genes ……you heard it here first, ha in your face Sid.
Because he earns more per week, than what any Liverpool player earns.
I saw that article too my god the basic wages of those Liverpool players must be shit or they mustn’t have negotiated those bonuses and signing on fees well enough.
What’s Sokratis weekly wage after signing on fee, and incentives out of interest?
Weird how David Luiz and Willian get every penny included to boost their salary but others are spared the forensic analysis.
How does Svens big CB compare?
18 mil fee, 90k wages, plus incentives, what’s that come out as someone? 1.3 mil a week? Thought so.
They may have changed how they legislate signing on fee’s but they used to be paid over the course of a contract for that very reason. Players doesn’t see out his contract he doesn’t get the full fee. Maybe I dunno that sounds more like a loyalty bonus or whatever you know you see out your contract you get a bonus fee at the end of it. I always imagined a signing on fee was up front here you go thanks for signing up with us and not someone else but sure if it’s paid in installments I can see… Read more »
Marko
Just think how bad we’ll feel next summer if Willian is paid a bonus because we’ve won something.
Don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
“I saw that article too my god the basic wages of those Liverpool players must be shit or they mustn’t have negotiated those bonuses and signing on fees well enough.”
The size of the signing on fee grows like tops if they turn up on a “free”
Did any of Liverpool’s first team squad arrive on Bosman?
People need to get on board with the fact that Arsenal aren’t really the draw for players the way some believe we are.
Yes, London is a great city but that’s about it.
We have shit owners, fractured fan base , a novice coach, and a roster of players verging on average.
The only way to get talent to come our way is to pay more than others might be willing.
Cc
Only the players signed under Raul have got bonuses and clauses , etc in their contracts.
All the players under Sven are under a basic wage and reportedly theres a Sven clause which says – Player has to return 50% to the club weekly, which means Sokratis is on 45 k a week.
Similarly we payed 18 mil to Dortmund and included a Sven clause which obligated Dortmund to pay us 20mil next summer
So all in all Sokratis was signed for -2 mil and earns 45 k a week.
CC
If you as a billionaire club owner was so concerned about the performance and actions of a key member of staff in recruitment and the salaries and fees he was awarding would you stop all recruitment until you’d concluded an investigation or would you just let him carry on?
Most footballers contracts include individual bonuses such as playing x number of games, scoring x number of goals. True but again you wouldn’t pay this out per week without meeting anything. It makes no sense. Why are we attributing certain things to a contract that hasn’t been met. No doubt there’s likely bonuses for Willian if we got back into the champions league or won a league title or if he gets 20 goals 20 assists whatever but we’re not paying him for any of that right now in his weekly wage. I dunno man I guess some people just… Read more »
Just think how bad we’ll feel next summer if Willian is paid a bonus because we’ve won something.Don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
I’ll scream “Fucking Kia!!!” from the top of hill in Ireland somewhere for sure
Also it’s only logical to assume our weekly wages is lower than what Chelsea were offering to pay Willian cause there must have been a trade off for the extra year of contract offered by Arsenal.
Tom
Without CL football you’re spot on.
Good signing Willian.
Versatile, technically sound, great at set pieces, can dribble between the lines centrally ,top 6 PL chance creator plus he’s an experienced model pro who’s had 4 injuries in the last SEVEN YEARS!!!
A cracking free transfer for £100k pw basic salary. Especially if we’re operating on a shoe string budget.
How does Svens big CB compare?18 mil fee, 90k wages, plus incentives, what’s that come out as someone? 1.3 mil a week? Thought so.
I heard Sokratis is much younger than he looks too
Pedro
I’ve got to say the number of posters buying your line is shrinking by the day.
If a hundred people tell you your flies are undone – it’s worth checking.
If you as a billionaire club owner was so concerned about the performance and actions of a key member of staff in recruitment and the salaries and fees he was awarding would you stop all recruitment until you’d concluded an investigation or would you just let him carry on?
I just laughed reading this. But yeah Stan and Tim Lewis are so appalled by the money wasted at Arsenal in the Pepe deal that they’re allowing the same people to conduct our transfer dealings this summer.
A cracking free transfer for £100k pw basic salary. Especially if we’re operating on a shoe string budget.
Vintage doesn’t get it.
“I’d imagine Stan might think that a more sustainable way to run a football club in a pandemic.“
I don’t imagine Stan thinks about football, never mind how to run a football club.
Fill me in
Vintage
He’s taking the piss out of Pedro and his merry little band of nut jobs not you.
If Arteta ok’d Soares, Mari, Willian and a new contract for Luiz?
Then we’re in trouble.
Marko, apparently the Willian deal was inked quite a while back and the announcement was held because of how bad the numbers were for Arsenal.
May be bollocks, but it would explain this deal happening in parallel to any investigation.
Safe to say Con Raul’s head is on the block
Arteta is the coach. Edu is the guy responsible for transfers now.
Moray are you suggesting that we were set to pay him much more or that the 220k being reported is in fact bullshit
Pedro, There are two related but distinct issues: 1) Are we recruiting the “right” sort of players for our needs? That goes to whether the manager/technical football side has a clear idea of the type of players they want and their characteristics and personality. In this case a data centric approach clearly helps but is not absolutely necessary PROVIDED we are the dominant party in discussions with super-agents, rather than let them influence who comes in. If I were to give Raul/Edu a (subjective) score on this criterion, I’d say perhaps 6/10. 2) Are we paying the right all-in price… Read more »
“How did we arrive at the conclusion of Cedric Soares in January?”
Pedro
How’s the signing of Mari missing from the list? Does it have anything to do with Mari’s connection to Arsenal being Arteta?
There’s a lot of people knocking Pedro’s conspiracy theories. Fair enough. But do those people actually think we are a well run club?
We just finished below Wolves.
@Words, we’re paying like a virgin in a brothel.
Moray
Or maybe a journalist is making up bollocks and has managed to do 2 + 2 = 5. The club is conducting a a review of scouting and how recruitment of players is done hence scouts getting the bullet and has turned that into Sanllehi is evil, but he’s still allowed to run round with the Arsenal transfer budget credit card.
TomWithout CL football you’re spot on.
Marc
Not only without CL , but also lacking actual cash to pay for players without creative accounting.
I can just imagine that conversation Arsenal had with CP over the Zaha transfer Emery so wanted.
Arsenal: we’ll pay you 20m upfront and the rest in five installments
CP: are you nuts? We have to give United their cut right away so why don’t you go and do one.
Marko, I’m saying that perhaps the deal was agreed weeks ago, before our lawyer came on board.
If that was so, then of course we can hardly breach the contract.
What I read was that we held the announcement of the deal because of how bad the terms made us look.
All speculation. I know a guy who has a newsnow subscription and that’s what he believes.
Marko
Iv’e always rated Willian from his Shakthar days, Even at 32 he walks into our current starting 11. He came 6th in PL chance creations last season and will instantly add dynamism to our attack.
As for his wages, from when we still have Mihki on the books at £180k pw & Sokrites on near £100k then even if Willian was on £160k pw i’d still support it as he’s a proven top PL player.
Now get some younger players to compliment this move and the jobs a good one.
Moray,
Great description.
The trouble is, the last person you’d imagine to be the virgin in a brothel is Raul, even if he’s paying the girls and their madams over the odds.
How about: “we’re paying like a Saudi Prince in a brothel?”
@marc
I was just talking in general not at nobody in particular
@Marc, absolutely. Nothing is corroborated. But our last few deals have made no sense to me. Not at all.
Then again, We’ve been acting like small time cunts in the transfer mArket for years, so now is no different.
WOAB
But if they get 6 out of 10 on one and 4 out of 10 on the other then they’re hitting 10 right!
It does feel like we are overpaying, although I don’t have the unequivocal evidence.
I mean you definitely don’t. I feel like your basing it off of the Pepe transfer alone and not factoring in the transfers of others like Martinelli, Tierney and Saliba for example. Not to mention our wage bill is down the last couple years and outside of Aubameyang new contracts seem like value for money. Saka now on 30,000 a week, Tierney on about 70,000, Saliba on 40,000. Even Pepe is on a less wage than Mhiki at 140,000.
@Words, I used to live in Macau and I know people that went to Saudi parties there. Those guys can organise A fucking party. At least they got value for money.
Overpaying is subjective.
Pepe scores 20 PL goals and gets 15 assists next season and we haven’t overpaid.
We’re judging a player on his first season in the PL in an unbalanced team that’s had 3 managers.
Moray We may not be a well run club till a few years ago. But Now I believe we are signing players we need. Think about it, The past transfer windows we have brought in either cheap senior backups and Squad fillers or young players with high ceilings that have resale value. The only crappy signing was Sokratis and he was before this regime came. Let’s go through it and Identify players most fans want gone, even if we lose money. Mustafi, Ozil, Sokratis, Xhaka (although he has turned it around a bit), Kolasinac. All signed by Wenger in high… Read more »
You have a straight choice on spending £70 odd million.
Pepe £140k per week wages
Mustafi and Xhaka combined wages circa £200k per week.
I think I’ll take our current mismanagement thanks.
Martinelli is on 30,000 a week as well. You compare that to the knee jerk reaction over the years to the likes of Joel Campbell, Djourou, Bendtner, Gibbs, Wilshere all those youth project lads from years ago and we’ve got a much better handle on our wage bill honestly. The last hold outs from the previous regime’s mistakes are Ozil and Mhiktaryan
Anyone remember what Lichtsteiner’s signing-on bonus and incentives were?
My sources tell me it cost the club £38m for a one year deal. #DiamondEye
Marc,
Why should we take any sort of mismanagement, whether it’s old regime or new regime?
Jamie
What I want to know is why we didn’t send him to SpecSavers?
Few whispers here and there that Don Raul may be gone soon…
Pedro’s been working hard on this for a while, will he get the job ? My sources tell me Stan was seen talking to him in a NYC trendy coffee place.
My sources tell me it cost the club £38m for a one year deal. #DiamondEye
No no his basic wage is only mentioned
WOAB
I was being sarcastic.
Fact is there will always be transfers that don’t work out.
@Habesha, I like Arteta so I think we’re heading in the right direction there. If we can start to sign the right players in the right positions that’s something relatively new for us. The fact we’re stuck with shit we can’t clean off our shoe (And our lowly league position) is testament to our Mistakes of the past and they continue to weigh us down. Experienced heads alongside our promising youngsters is a good thing, unless they’re giving away record numbers of penalties of getting season ending injuries. I’ve lost a lot of faith in the leadership of the club… Read more »
Hoksilato, imagine, Le Grove on a theme that plays out… again.
Why should we take any sort of mismanagement, whether it’s old regime or new regime?
Is this for me? I mean you can’t blame someone for someone else’s mistakes. I mean look don’t get me wrong still a fuck tonne to improve upon behind the scenes at Arsenal but better than before? Yes. I look at some of the wages being paid out and I don’t have that much of a problem with them honestly. Pepe and Willian (not the 220 nonsense) seems like the going rate and we’re not overpaying the likes of Martinelli, Saka and Saliba.
“What did the scouting data say about Unai Emery who told media he landed the job after Caneles recommended him? Could he build defences? No. Could he speak English? No. Did he have a reputation in Europe for commanding respect of dressing rooms? No. Why did it take so long to fire him? How was he paid out?” Reputation in Europe for Commanding respect in dressing rooms? He has a reputation in Europe of winning a particular tournament three times in a row, a tournament we happened to be competing in and one which would facilitate a quick return to… Read more »
Another Chelsea reject, following Cech and Luiz.
This will end well
I don’t understand why clubs pay the agents who represent players. Here in North America, agents are paid 10-15% of contract by athletes, and clubs just hire a few contract lawyers to negotiate. The agents represent the athlete, their job is to get best deal possible, Arsenal have different objectives. Agents should be paid by their clients, not organization.
Sven Mislintat has no plans to respond to Kia Joorabchian’s criticisms of his #AFC recruitment policy on @talkSPORT yesterday.
Told that Joorabchian’s behaviour is ‘self-explaining enough’ for both Mislintat and ‘those who understand the football business.’
–
Very ‘if you don’t understand Ozil you don’t understand football’ to me.
I’ve no issue with the sentiment behind Mislintat as a concept/approach, but he gets way too big a back pat around these parts. His resume at Arsenal hardly lends itself for peacock-ery.
Pedro,
You having these soy lattes with the right (influential) guys… 🙂
If confirmed you should urgently try to get the Kroenkes to learn how to hire the right management, the track record would look woeful
RH, actually, he had a poor rep with players.
David Cartlidge ran a piece about Valenica players thinking he was a pushover. PSG players bullied him. Arsenal players didn’t care for him either.
He’s good at average clubs where players need to love him for their careers.
underrated CoqAugust 14, 2020 16:27:23
Another Chelsea reject, following Cech and Luiz.
————
Technically only Luiz was a Chelsea reject
Cech didn’t fancy being their number two, and Willian was offered a new two year deal.
Pedro
How often do Arsenal PR folks drop in on this blog?
Do players ever read this shit….!
Hoksilato, would be fascinated to see who they bring in if the rumours are true.
Luis Campos or Ralph Rangnick for me.
Guns, people at Arsenal read the blog. Players are trained not to read their own press, think they are more AFTV inclined.