Bapman
Esteemed red-top The Sun is this morning claiming that Arsenal and Seville have agreed a fee of £13.7m for striker Baptista.
It’s a good deal for Seville, who’d get far less for him next summer as he’d have just a year left on his deal, and we clearly want him, but the player himself is hardly champing at the bit to join us, it seems. “I will have the final say,” he said with an air of finality, “No-one else will decide who I play for”, he added decisively.
It’s a big fee, and would represent Arsenal’s top signing, beating Sylvanian Witlord, who cost £11m (I think). Eclipsing Wiltord – it’s a lot to live up to…
There’s some talk Baptista wants his EU passport, for which he’d need one more year in Spain, and there’s other talk that he’s waiting on Barcelona, on the off-chance they might come in at the last minute.
Clearly, there’s lots of politics going on here, but the deal is alive and kicking, evidently. Fingers crossed – we’ve not had a beast at the club since Martin Keown left.
Robin
This part of the blog is purely to justify the crap headline – but it’s relevant still. Wenger wants the Dutch authorities to sort the van Persie thing out sooner rather than later, for obvious reasons.
“It is important that this situation does not drag on too long,” said Arsene, “It is not easy what is happening to him and at the start of it all it was a burden for him to deal with.”
He is, though, now training with the team in Austria.
Nice title, very well done *applauds heartily*
Totally agree! Great title! The news can be read anywhere, but the title must have come from a special place inside…
I agree, excellent title.
baptista has ageed to join arsenal after all sources arriving now from spain what a delight for arsenal
In a crap way…
RvP will become a great player. He’s got the fearless attitude, like Fabregas, and is unfazed by the rough stuff. Just like Rooney except more technique.
If Baptista comes, I hope comes with right attitude. Last thing we need is some like wiltord or reyes (who has since swallowed his pride after humiliating incident).
If Hleb can settle quickly in CM, and we hold on to Pires, then we’ll have a
a strong season, provided we don’t get long term injuries to key players such as Henry, Gilberto.
I wouldn’t worry about Baptista’s attitude if and when he finally gets to Highbury. You get a nickname like “The Beast” for wandering aimlessly or pouting on the pitch. He’s a tough guy, and the English game really ought to suit him. Concerning another new player, a friend in Germany thinks we got an “outright steal” with Hleb, who he says will be a superstar when surrounded by other players with imagination. Word is Hleb is one of those guys who sees the field when other players can’t — and if you’re thinking Dennis Bergkamp, it’s a fair comparison though my guy in Germany admits Hleb hasn’t tried to shoot often enough. Still, that can be developed — and it sure didn’t take him long (1 min) to score in the first friendly. I love all the publicity being loaded on Chelsea and Man U. We’ve got a chance to be a VERY good team.
I left a word out of my post. Sorry. Meant to say you DON’T get a nickname like “The Beast” for being a pouter or a dog on the pitch.
Would be nice if wenger would give Nicklas bendtner a run out against Porto & Ajax at 6’3 he could certainly provide something different. I admit I only saw him twice last season & a few highlights on the arsenal tv but he seems to have very good technique & an eye for goal.
The beast will come he is just what we need big strong and scores goals if TH14 gets injured then who is going to score goals i think Owen would also fit the bill he’s not for everyone but he knows where the goal is, as i have said before are the Arse holding on to there money or are they skint i think it may be the latter they procrastinate over every player they go for it is dissapointing,because the more i think about it the Arse are trying to convince us everything is rosy but i think not i hope i am wrong.
I have read its up to the beast if he comes for F***s sake make him an offer he cannot refuse they will wait and wait and end up losing out.
I was wondering about the beast’s passport thing. Surely if he stays in the EU for a certain length of time he should qualify for a passport regardless of which country he has been residing in. Any thoughts? We are all Europeans now!
Not sure it’s quite that simple…
Right, im worried about this Baptista story. Its ran for far too long. The fact is Baptista himself has been aware of our interest for at least a few months now and I havent even heard him say a good thing about our club. Is that just me? All he has said is he wants this Spanish Passport, and to get it he’ll have to stay in Spain.
Today he says: 1.) “For now there is no more news about Arsenal” (eh? – Dein has reportedly agreed a fee, so that one doesnt make sense”)
2.) “I am continuing to consider my options but this Sunday we go to China unless something happens quickly” (ditto above)
Basically, I’ve just got a horrible feeling that he is stalling for a move to Barcelona. He’s been advertising himself with his constant comments that don’t really mean much. I PRAY we get him – imagine him and TH14 – but ive a sinking feeling about it all…
Why would you even want a player who seemingly doesn’t want to play for you? He IS a good player but, as Arsenal have shown before, the team is more important. Selling Vieira who loved the club and buying in this guy who seems to be willing to settle for Aresnal as a mere “second best” is madness. What a great way to start a career at a club! If he does want to go to Barcelona then let him, and move on and try and snare someone who will be 100% committed – this will benefit Arsenal in the long run.
Sure, this is from a Manchester City fan, but I feel after our stint with Nico, I can comment on players who use the club as a compromise. He probably wanted to go somewhere more successful but ended up with us. YEs, he scored goals, but he had a detrimental effect on the team with his attitude when his mind was elsewhere.
That is why you should forget BAPTISTA..
..providing he is stalling for Barcelona.
Granted, Beast playing hard ball with the club to get a better deal is not an ideal way to ingratiate himself with fans. I will reserve judgement, however. Not least b/c we need a selfish, arrogant, don’t feel pressure b/c I don’t care about anyone else type of brazilian in our squad.
We have too many self-aware, good blokes — Henry and racism, Pires and globalization, Freddie and gay advocacy, Vieira and Senegalese orphans, etc. I love how intellegent our team is (esp. when compared to those neanderthal manure monkeys, of whom Van NIstlerooy is the top boy).
Time for the arse to add a ruthless brazilian to punish teams by putting the ball in the back of the net everytime he gets the chance. No more 0-0 draws with Fulham with 21 shots on goal (although Van der Saar did play a blinder, but you know what I mean).
there is no “EURO PASSPORT” he has to risde in one country to gain that particular nationality.
one of the reasons we dont get many south americans here is that it takes 5 years here to get a passport where as in a few euro countries u can get them in 2 years. there is always the EBOUE way find hima girl with British passport ;-))))
re the SKINT bit, what planet have u been on for the last 4 years? we have debts of £400 mill ofclurse we are skint!!!!!!!!
Nice title, very creative…………
Maybe the Beastie Boy is just trying to negotiate a higher salary; could be an important point, as we can’t pay him more than the other big names on the team. He sure seems to be a good fit for us though; we could use the beef and attitude.
RVP is a big lad with attitude as well. He needs experience, but he definitely can be important in this year’s campaign. AW must be in a dilemma regarding his future and trying to push the Dutch authorities is the right thing to do, whether it’ll do any good is another matter.
No, we mustn’t pay him more than the other big names, but if he isn’t offered the same as the likes of Thierry and what Patrick was on, I’ll be disappointed with the board.
The reason for this is his goalscoring record speaks for itself. This man is guaranteed to help share a lot of Thierry’s scoring burden. Not only that but he’s a potential fit in central midfield when Gilberto is injured or to add a little extra bite. As such he’s two players in one. I personally think this kid, if he arrives, would radically change our fortunes.
Not only would we be less reliant on Henry in the league, but we’d finally have what we’ve been missing in Europe; a big strong guy to hold the ball up and bring others in. He’d also give us the option of more goalscoring threat from central midfield, if we pushed him back for the odd game. Tactically he’d add SO much. This is why I think Wenger is so desperate to sign him.
I know what planet i am on but the club keep telling us we have money to spend ,and they can find the extra money for that no mark Cole’s wage rise,what i am saying is are the club being economical with the truth are they more then the £400 million in the crap this situation will not improve until Ashburton has been up and running for a few years and then only if the team does well i wonder how many fans will still go if the teams fortune’s take a dip if the stadium is half empty then the club would be deep in the crap ,another point where has all this money from Granada ,Nike ,and Emirates gone dont tell me on the stadium,because i dont believe it
This Baptista thing looks iffy the longer it goes on i get a feeling he is hoping Barca make a bid i hope its not the case as he is just what we need but he does not seem that keen to come.
geoffery- you are selfish- if you do not say sorry- i WILL NOT contribute to this blog.
This is extremely unfair to all the other AFC fans- who rely on my views,etc.
just say sorry!
Bongo et al
You should come and join us on the arseblog forums, you know.
This transfer is dragging on like nothing else.
Uncle Fester has a good point about money from Granada, Nike and Emirates, but the Club is a private business so we’ll never really know about the financials. We have no choice but to trust that the custodians are doing the right thing. It’s a business and it has to make money or it will cease to exist. Certainly senior management must realize that if they do not put the product on the field, i.e.: a winning team, people will not buy it. However, if AW really believes we’ll have a competitive team without spending, then he won’t.
One of the many differences between AFC and a club like Leeds is that we have had intelligent, albeit cautious investment in players, which has resulted in a winning team. Anyone can spend lots of money and get results;Manu and Chelski are examples. With an endless supply of cash, intelligent player selection and development doesn’t matter. Leeds learned that lesson and Manu is about to.
AW and company have to take a bit more of a long-term approach as well as resist trying to compete with the financial flauntings of Chelski. The pecuniary preening of everyone associated with the Stanford Bridge Brigade, including the fans, players and the top brass, is laughable, but ironic. It doesn’t matter who they buy as long as they buy. Kind of like a spoiled rock-star who wants to show off their newfound wealth (next they’ll have Paris Hilton as a mascot). I trust our leadership to resist the temptation to play the, “my daddy is bigger than your daddyâ€, money game. The “we have more money than youâ€, game, and focus on what really matters, winning football matches.
He has been aiming for Arsenal next year to a very small fee. Wenger cant wait, so now it is full throttle.
Baptista is just great, with him an Helb we are really well of and other teams still underestimate us.
What I also would love to see is Lupoli get some first team experience. He looks lethal.
Barca arn’t going to pay £12m, Larson is back they like Sevilla have more than 3 non europeans.
Did anyone hear I Wright talking to Suggs tonite about his support of Chelsea (fair enough he said he was like a 11 year old who supported the most successful team at the moment).
Uncle Fester has a good point about money from Granada, Nike and Emirates, but the Club is a private business so we’ll never really know about the financials. We have no choice but to trust that the custodians are doing the right thing. It’s a business and it has to make money or it will cease to exist. Certainly senior management must realize that if they do not put the product on the field, i.e.: a winning team, people will not buy it. However, if AW really believes we’ll have a competitive team without spending, then he won’t.
One of the many differences between AFC and a club like Leeds is that we have had intelligent, albeit cautious investment in players, which has resulted in a winning team. Anyone can spend lots of money and get result; Manu and Chelski are examples. With an endless supply of cash, intelligent player selection and development doesn’t matter. Leeds learned that lesson and Manu is about to.
AW and company have to take a bit more of a long-term approach as well as resist trying to compete with the financial flauntings of Chelski. The pecuniary preening of everyone associated with the Stanford Bridge Brigade, including the fans, player and the top brass, in laughable, but ironic (next they’ll have Paris Hilton as their mascot). It doesn’t matter who they buy as long as they buy. Kind of like a spoiled rock-star who wants to show off their newfound wealth. I trust our leadership to resist the temptation to play the, “my daddy is bigger than your daddyâ€, money game. The “we have more money than youâ€, game, and focus on what really matters, winning football matches.
Just a quick note to say if anyone hears any stories tomorrow or monday about Baptista being spotted at Luton or Heathrow airport they are true but its only because Sevilla are flying in tomorrow morning to Luton then transferring to heathrow to catch a flight to shanghai (hope thats spelt correctly) for their pre season games!! So if you hear anything else its all rubbish.
Bongo would like to apology for my triplocate entry earlier.
I did not want to echo my grievances.
Me and Bongo have spoken at length and have decided Geoffrey should not spoil my contribution to this majestic and resonant blogweb.
Back to footy matters:
I think we have underestimated the snaring of this Hleb gentleman. I get the impression he is Mr. Expediency or Mr. Versatility or even Mr. Functional.
If I have one pertinent point about our esteemed Manager- is that, just sometimes we should pursue a player who has that occasional maverick tendency/streak.
All the new managers go for athleticism/professionalism (ala Makalele) forgeting that the game should be about skill, flair, spontaneity, individualism and genius.
Just maybe the signing of Robinhio- could do the trick. My contacts tell me the Real deal is surreal and we could be still yet signing the little magician. !!!
And it is Randy Real who deisre BAPTISTE!
speculative Bongo et al
Bongo what you mean is throwing your toys out the pram didnt work & no-one was begging for you to contribute again so you decided to post!!
Your contact would that be the same one who said we was playing Bolton on the opening day of the season!!
I agree with you on some points about the club being a private buisness so we will never know the score but as i have said before without a decent product there will not be as many bums on seats there are many fairweather fans out there and sadly without them even great buisness men cannot pay off that massive debt but i might add the tranfer window is still wide open things will happen out of the blue,i do worry this new stadium is draining the club much more then we know i know they have to leave and it will be outstanding and probably attract players to the club but it is making things tough it will only get better when they play there.
Arsenal have said to service the debt they need to get 40000 fans per home match, but only now are we findng out that of those they need the 9000+ club level seats sold. Also we were told the club did not need champions league qualification to be able to pay the loans but this is misleading. They may well have not included any champions league income but they are not accounting for the loss of fairweather fans as soon as the success starts to dwindle. This would cause a massive problem.
Now if you look at the actual facts which arsenal have provided then you will see the total cost of the project is 357 million (this is guranteed not to rise). They have obviously provided some money themselves but have not said how much. If you look at the different deals which they have announced then you have 100 million from Emirates, 60 million from granada, being the 30 million to initially buy into the club & 30 million we got this year having secured all the finance, 55 million from nike which they get when the stadium opens & 74 million from a building firm (I have forgotten which one) for the excess land at ashburton this amounts to 289 million of the 357 million. Dont forget this does not take into account the sales of directors boxes or club level seats which have also raised millions but I dont know the figures so will not put it down also the sale of highbury has not been included.
All these figures are amounts that have been provided by arsenal (on their website). so whilst we have not yet received all the money as it comes at different times it is all guranteed.
Arsenal do seem to be trying to reduce the wage bill, they have got rid of Vieira who was on 80000+ & seem to want a salary cap at 60K. Thats why they are willing to sell cole & campbell as his wage is also very high. I also think this may be the sticking point with henry at present. they will probably make up wages with bonuses dependant on success.
I for one am happy they are trying to get themselves in order for their move, but I dont like keep hearing about this debt as an excuse for not buying players as it does not make sense. If that sponsorship money has not gone to the new stadium & it has not bought new players then where has it gone?? I dont think thats an unreasonable question.
Geoff you make some good points i am sceptical with what the club says about this £357 million cost i still believe they are being economical with the truth dont ask me why i just me being cynical i guess,but what gets me is that they seem to procrastinate over new players where they never used to, i think to let Sol go would be a good move if they have a replacement after all he has not played very much and handing out big money to him for doing nothing is pointless his injury record is getting worse,i do not worry about TH14 there are always around paying him the money he wants.
I agree uncle fester, I dont for one minute think henry will leave or be sold, its just that I think henry is probable on around 60k at present & when you look at whats been happening the board seem to be trying to bring the wage bill down. I think they want a limit somewhere around the 60k mark but will pay big bonuses with success. I am with them totally on this as player wages are getting out of control, if chelsea want to pay 100k plus to everyone thats their choice but if abramovich goes they will be bankrupt within a month & thats a fact despite what kenyon says.
hi arses,hahaha just love the tension we the supporters of arsenal are in but in reality i have a feeling all will be fine come next seasion coz Dein and wenger the proffessor have the solution to our immagination and desires,I have a strong feeling la beast is coming to the ranks of TH14 then arsenal will be on fire all thru long live arsenal……….eeeeeeeeeh had forgotten something ma little babe in her mothers wombsometimes screams arsenal through out the night wen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! chao kampala
iam joseph from uganda i would like to know if wenger is going to sign the beast and ather prayers too thanx
i would like too see wenger fulfilling the signing of the beast,if not so,we are losing him to barcelona,and it will mark the beginning of our humiliation to likes of chavski,reddevils,reds,barca,galactos.to mention but a few,i dont see why arsene keeps on bargaining with sevilla everytime and yet time is running out,,,be sincere,be frank,be sure,buy baptista
This lark over the beast is getting on my tits somebody at the Arse make a decision give the big lug an ultimatium sign for us or were off its that simple you can’t keep pussy footing around the transfer window as only 5 weeks left and the way were going we wont even sign a new cleaner i hate to say these things ,but i have no problem with the first team but i do think if injuries happen we are a bit thin,has we now see Sol is injured again and will miss start of season.