Wednesday 16 July 2008

Is Wenger a Good Poker Player?

Wenger has not been rushing into the transfer market; his two forays have produced Nasri and Ramsey. Wenger is cool student of football politics. Whilst others have been bleating in the press, Wenger has remained silent and his silence will now pay-off.

AC Milan wanted Adebayor but Wenger resisted the calls from San Siro, knowing that AC Milan did not have the money to buy Adebayor. AC Milan went on record as saying it was Ronaldinho (£14M) or Adebayor (£24M), not both. AC Milan have bought Ronaldinho and earlier also bought Zambrotta from Barcelona, unless they sell a few players or offer Arsenal cash plus two or three players, AC Milan are no longer in the transfer market. This leaves only Barcelona as a possible destination for Arsenal’s want way striker. This, however, is not as easy as it sounds. Barcelona have spent big this summer on Alves and Keita from Sevilla and Caceres from Villareal for a combined total of £50M, they are only about to complete the Hleb signing due to the sale of Ronaldinho. Any move for Adebayor will have to involve players plus cash and Barcelona are only offering Eto’o, whilst Arsene Wenger wants Yaya Toure as part of any deal.

Liverpool have been tracking Gareth Barry openly in the press, this has annoyed Martin O’Neil who has increased the price to £18M. Liverpool did not have the finances to buy Barry and were relying on the sale of Alonso to Juventus for £16M to help facilitate this move. Juventus have signed Poulsen from Sevilla for £7.6M and have announced that they have closed their transfer book. This leaves Liverpool with Alonso and no money, leaving the way open for Wenger to approach O’Neil and settle the Barry move to Arsenal for less than £18M plus Hoyte.

The departure of Juventus from the transfer market allows Arsene to contact Udinese over the transfer of Columbian defender Zapata. Arsenal made one approach earlier this summer, but Udinese turned this down in the hope that Juventus will come in with a higher bid, this now looks unlikley leavign Arsene a clear run for the highly
rated Columbina central defender.

Wenger’s slow, quiet and calculated approach to the transfer market could see the arrival of Barry from Aston Villa and Zapatta from Udinese for a combined outlay of £25M, and Adebayor signing a new extended contract all by the end of July.
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