How Does The Whole Higuain Saga Make You Feel?

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This must be one of the most protracted transfer sagas that ever was, well it seems like it anyway.

My first post regarding the Higuain rumours was on May 24th, and considering the fact that I am extremely slow, then by my reckoning the possibility of Gonzalo joining Arsenal has been floating around for over 4 weeks now.

So that’s over 31 days of wondering if the Argentine sharp-shooter will be arriving at The Emirates.

It’s got to the stage now where if he joins, it would just be a massive relief that all the rumours were true and we’ve managed to bring in a world-class striker to the club, who will improve our squad no end.

And then you have the unthinkable alternative. What if, by some cruel twist of fate, he doesn’t come to us and the deal falls through or even worse, we lose out to Juventus?

We all know that the only official confirmation will come from Arsenal.com and in some ways, I wish I never knew about all this. The waiting is what is killing Arsenal fans, even making some of them fight between themselves to as whether he is coming or not.

And how did these rumours start so early? Do certain journalists have top secret contacts on the inside? Did they just put 2 and 2 together and manage to get something right? Is this deal even happening or are Higuain’s representatives trying to play Juventus off against Arsenal, now we have a massive war chest? Did I leave the gas on in the kitchen?

These are all questions we desperately want to know the answer too and it looks like the answers will never come.

A few days ago, it was a signed, sealed and delivered and we had agreed a £22 million fee and £130,000 per week deal. Now his bloody Dad comes along as says we, along with Juventus have tabled sizeable bids and now it’s up to Real Madrid to decide. F*cking hell, why can’t things ever be straight forward?

Will Juventus offer a better deal? No-one knows. Does Higuain want to join Arsenal? Is it true Real Madrid are holding out for closer to £25 million? Will we lose out because we’re not decisive in the transfer market anymore?

I know one thing, I just can’t take this anymore!

So Will Gonzalo Higuain End Up Joining Arsenal or Juventus?

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If you’ve read the latest updates on the Higuain transfer today, you will have read that Gonzalo’s father, Jorge has stated:

“Nothing has been signed yet, but I can assure you that an agreement with both Arsenal and Juventus has almost been reached.

“Real Madrid will make the final decision.”

He is also quoted as saying:

“Nothing has yet been signed but I assure you the negotiations between the clubs are at an advanced stage.

“We won’t agree a contract before the clubs reach a transfer deal. I’m sure Arsenal made a big offer, and Juventus.”

So while the signs of the Argentine’s arrival at The Emirates look positive, it seems as if Juventus are also in the race.

What do you think?

Do you think Gonzalo is destined to wear the red of Arsenal or will he be tempted by the seduction of the Old Lady?

There’s no doubt Real Madrid are ready and willing to sell, but at the moment his final destination is still up in the air.

Does Tony Adams Make Some Valid Points?

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The biggest news today is the views of former captain Tony Adams. In a nutshell, he said he was disappointed that he was snubbed by Arsenal after applying for the role of Chairman, and is quoted as saying Arsenal are “miles away” from winning a trophy.

He told The Sun:

“Look, I would make the tea for Arsenal Football Club, but I thought I ticked all the right boxes for the board.

“I don’t need the money, I would put the good of the club first in every case and I could mediate well within the club.”

There’s no doubt he loves Arsenal, but Tony Adams has divided Arsenal fans on more than one occasion since his retirement in August 2002.

He wasn’t present at the last game at Highbury when all of the Arsenal legends were present to wave goodbye to the stadium, and he’s been absent from other historic days in Arsenal’s history since.

Some people say it’s because of work commitments, while others say he has a problem with the current Arsenal setup.

It’s hard to say what the current relationship is between Arsenal and Tony Adams. Some people believe that Arsene is a control freak and won’t allow previous players to come and “help” the club, because he want’s all of the credit for how Arsenal perform under the managers tutelage. There was the famous season where Martin Keown apparently gave players like Senderos, Flamini and Toure specific defensive drills and tutoring which helped us have one of the best defensive records in the Champions League and managed to get us to the final against Barcelona. Reportedly, Arsene’s nose was bend out of shape when people would give Keown the credit.

On the other side of the coin, some people believe Tony Adam’s has distanced himself from the club and hasn’t been happy at how Arsenal is being run, hence his absence from certain Arsenal events.

You can accuse Tony Adams of many things, but not being honest is not one of them. He is someone who will speak his mind, and he probably would say things which are in the best interests of the club – but that is part of the problem. Tony Adams wouldn’t be someone who would “toe the line”. He would say it how it is and that wouldn’t necessarily be to Arsene Wenger’s taste. So appointing him as Chairman would be counter-productuve.

And to the comments about Arsenal being “miles away” from winning the title.

“It’s time that Arsenal won something again, even the FA Cup or League Cup. But I can’t see it, to be honest.

“They are still not good enough in certain areas of the team. And they are miles off the title.”

That may be the case, and with 8 seasons of ending up empty handed this would play on the minds of those frustrated Arsenal fans who are paying the highest ticket prices in the country and have nothing to show for it.

But we can’t be certain about what our title chances are until the transfer window is firmly closed shut and we know which players have joined Arsenal before analysing the potential of the squad. At the moment, the signs are positive so it is too early to see how many miles away we are from the Premier League title.

At the end of the day, you either see Tony Adams as one of the greatest players ever to wear an Arsenal shirt, whose views are more valid than any other fan who comments on the club, or a player who was fantastic for Arsenal but has done little else in the game since, and someone whose track record in football since retiring from the game is not good enough to be advising a massive club like Arsenal.

Response To Higuain Deal Sums Up Feeling Amongst Arsenal Fans

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I posted an article this afternoon which with the title “Gonzalo Higuain Move On The Rocks”, where I disputed the validity of the Higuain to Arsenal move.

I cited the fact that certain websites “claim” that deals have been done and dusted for certain players already this summer, including Gonzalo Higuain, Marouane Fellaini, David Villa, Ashley Williams and Yaya Sanogo without any actually happening.

The only websites I check for transfer deals are Arseblog, BBC Football and the Official Arsenal website when it comes to having deals confirmed.

Even reputable sites get things wrong, like when the Telegraph confirmed that Arsenal had signed a kit deal with Adidas for example.

The vast majority of the media are playing guessing games, putting two and two together and getting five.

The response to the article, despite having made several half-decent points, was unsurprising and I knew what would happen. The claims of “hit whoring” and similar accusations were banded about, despite the fact that my Arsenal blog is one of the very few out there with no advertising and makes no money from hits. Actually, the more hits I get the more money it costs me but that’s by the by.

Anyway, to the main point – the anger at even the suggestion that the deal for Higuain deal might not happen shows the pressure Arsenal are under to please the fans this season, and make a serious bid for the title next season. Summer after summer we’ve had signings like Sebastian Squillaci, Gervinho and Andre Santos it’s clear Arsenal fans are growingly frustrated and need some top quality recruitments.

But would Arsenal fans be happy with just Higuain? We need 4/5 top class players to really compete at the top and bringing in the Argentine striker would need to be the start.

For me, we need central defensive reinforcements, more strength in midfield and another playmaker to take the burden off Cazorla, who badly needed a rest last season.

Gonzalo Higuain Move On The Rocks

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Possibly.

It seems like a done deal that Arsenal have signed Gonzalo Higuain. If reports are to be believed, then we have smashed our transfer record of £16 million (previously set by Andrei Arshavin, or Jose Antonio Reyes) by a mile, apparently agreeing a £22 million fee with Real Madrid for the Argentine’s services.

We’ve also in the process made him our highest paid player, comfortably beating Theo Walcott’s wage of £100,000 per week, after reportedly offering to pay Higuain £130,000 a week.

There is no doubt that Higuain is a fantastic player. His goalscoring record is excellent and he is only 25 years old. It would make sense for Arsene to buy him, which makes it easy for the media to put two and two together. His age, his ability and goalscoring talents are all excellent attributes to have and something which Arsenal badly need.

On top of that, he has experience of winning things, having won La Liga 3 times and the Copa del Rey.

And his arrival would be that perfect marquee signing everyone wants. It would signal our intentions for the coming season and tell other players we might want to sign that we mean business.

But how much of a done deal is it?

Maybe I’m just being pessimistic because over the last few years we’ve brought in players like Gervinho, Sebastian Squillaci, Marouane Chamakh and Andre Santos who are signings we’ve spent half-decent money on (either through transfer fees or wages) and in the past we’ve been linked with big name players (and some cases the “deal has been done”) yet they were just hot air and rumours.

I mean, if you visit one particular website (I’m not going to mention it here and you will all know which one I am talking about) in the past we’ve had “done deals” for players such as Stevan Jovetic, Yohan Cabaye, Ashley Williams, Wayne Rooney, David Villa, Marouane Fellaini, Julio Cesar and Yaya Sanogo if stories are to believed.

And the problem now is even the reputable “sources” can get things wrong, especially during silly season.

I would love it if Higuain joined us. He’s not in the A List category (a la Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, etc.) but he is comfortably in the next tier of excellent players, in the same league as Tevez, Mata and Van Persie. He is definitely a player that would make a massive impact with us next season.

When will it be confirmed? Is there any real substance to the story? Surely only Higuain’s representatives, Arsenal and Real Madrid know at this stage?

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.