Andrei: soft, strong and very long negotiations

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Well, good morning folks. Here we all are again, a few days on and a few thousand “Arshavin edging closer to Arsenal deal” headlines later.

I did think it might be fun to be a fly on the wall during these negotiations, but even flies on walls can get bored. I suspect most flies would have given up with these tortuous discussions after a day or two, and buzzed off to find themselves a turd to sniff.

Que sera sera: hopefully the deal will be done. What of the possibility of a Kaka-less Man City emerging as genuine suitors? If the player wants to move for money, if Zenit want to hold out for money and if City are interested then we all know the likely outcome.

The unpalatable truth is that, at this stage in time, Arsenal do not appear to have the spending power that five or six other clubs in the league have. I don’t think it’s all down to Wenger’s stubbornness; it’s reasonable to suppose the Arsenal board have looked at the wider economy, they’ve looked at the possibility of not making so much money over the Highbury redevelopment and they’ve adjusted things accordingly.

We might well break our £13m transfer record with this Arshavin deal but I have my doubts that we will spend any more than that this transfer window. As we have seen with many of the deals already done this month, it’s an expensive time to do business. There’s not a high volume of available players out there, and clubs want more for them than they might in the summer.

Besides, if Rosicky really is approaching a return…

Right, I’m off to look at the league table and dream impossible dreams. Just six points between five sides. (Though sadly we are the bottom of those five sides).

Jim

Arsenal since about 1979. Thick, thin and all that.