Transfer failures !

[Baldemort]

Yup not trying to make out he isnt top class when signing players but some bad flops. Here is the article here with all his transfers. The man really knows how to get a bargain cant take that away from him

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo....html?ITO=1490

He's had some flops as most managers have, but he has picked up some sensational buys and a few ridiculous bargains along the way.

Vieira 3.5
Anelka 0.5
Petit 2.5
Overmars 7
Ljungberg 3
Pennant 2
Henry 10.5
Pires 6
Toure 0.15
Clichy 0.25
Reyes 10
RVP 2.75
Eboue 1
Arshavin 12

I know Arseshaving is still expensive at 12mill, but there were figures of £20mill being banded about for him not long ago. Wenger seems to have a knack of buying decent players at the right time to ensure he pays less for them.

[Woobus]

I know Arseshaving is still expensive at 12mill, but there were figures of £20mill being banded about for him not long ago. Wenger seems to have a knack of buying decent players at the right time to ensure he pays less for them.

Yup there were figures of 20 million but no one in there right mind was willing to pay anywhere near that for him. Think 12 million is about right for someone that age (nearly 28) and who is still pretty unproven against top class opposition.
Should be interesting to see how he goes but I am not that sure he will be a big hit or he was the type of player Arsenal needed.

As you say he has made some amazing cheap buys, dont know if I would include Eboue or Pennant on the list. The Arsenal fans I know dont really have a good word to say about either of them with Eboue seeming to be the hated figure for Arsenal fans at the minute. He only cost 1 million so suppose he was still an average bargain.

[dww]

Yup there were figures of 20 million but no one in there right mind was willing to pay anywhere near that for him. Think 12 million is about right for someone that age (nearly 28) and who is still pretty unproven against top class opposition.
Should be interesting to see how he goes but I am not that sure he will be a big hit or he was the type of player Arsenal needed.

As you say he has made some amazing cheap buys, dont know if I would include Eboue or Pennant on the list. The Arsenal fans I know dont really have a good word to say about either of them with Eboue seeming to be the hated figure for Arsenal fans at the minute. He only cost 1 million so suppose he was still an average bargain.

Yeah, but much of the speculation involved Spurs

[Baldemort]

Yup there were figures of 20 million but no one in there right mind was willing to pay anywhere near that for him. Think 12 million is about right for someone that age (nearly 28) and who is still pretty unproven against top class opposition.
Should be interesting to see how he goes but I am not that sure he will be a big hit or he was the type of player Arsenal needed.

As you say he has made some amazing cheap buys, dont know if I would include Eboue or Pennant on the list. The Arsenal fans I know dont really have a good word to say about either of them with Eboue seeming to be the hated figure for Arsenal fans at the minute. He only cost 1 million so suppose he was still an average bargain.

That was just a joke mate.

[Woobus]

That was just a joke mate.

Ahh by the time 11 hits the work I do has sapped all the sense of humour and fun out of me for the day

[Craig_H]

Arsenal will end up paying £17m for Arshavin.

[Skillz]

Arsenal will end up paying £17m for Arshavin.

and they will win **** all...said Ben Hall

[Baldemort]

Arsenal will end up paying £17m for Arshavin.

Is that dependant upon trophies etc or just appearances? If it's trophies, then we may as well just call it £12 mill. Equally, Rafa has stated that Keane's resale back to Spurs may well cancel out anything we have spent on him, unless it depends upon Spurs actually winning something, in which case we have lost a bomb.

[Craig_H]

Is that dependant upon trophies etc or just appearances? If it's trophies, then we may as well just call it £12 mill. Equally, Rafa has stated that Keane's resale back to Spurs may well cancel out anything we have spent on him, unless it depends upon Spurs actually winning something, in which case we have lost a bomb.

I think it was £12m up front and another £5m in installments.

Zenit quoted it at £16.95m in actual fact, so just shy of £17m but i dont think it was success-based add-ons.

[Baldemort]

I think it was £12m up front and another £5m in installments.

Zenit quoted it at £16.95m in actual fact, so just shy of £17m but i dont think it was success-based add-ons.

Not sure if he's going to deliver £17 mill worth of talent to them. I would have thought there were more pressing areas to spend on in the Arsenal squad.

[Craig_H]

So would i, and most other people.

Not Wenger though.

[memzey]

Thankfully!

[ntto]

somebody on f365 has suggested rafa has bought 90 players to liverpool during his time here

90 players!!

[dww]

I bet they count all of the kids. If you did the same to Arsenal and United I think you would get pretty large numbers.

I do think we have possibly had too high a squad turnover but we have been revoltionising a team and trying to do so on a budget so to some degree high turnover is inevitable.

[Roboklopp]

You, sir, are the one missing the point. There was a clear agenda by the author of the article to ridicule Rafa Benitez by using factoids and spurious statistics, popular media opinion and general WUMery. All of which could have easily been applied to Wanger, Mourinho and scum features.

You are correct in pointing out that He hasn't won the premier league in his time here (yet), but then nor has Wanger. The Chavs haven't won the Champions League, nor has Wanger.

I fail to see what Rafa has done other than not to pander to the beying mass of the media scrums worthless insight into how a football team should be managed on the resources available to him with the opposition we are up against. The toughhest opposition in the world for the last 4 years at least.

The English top league is the toughest to win by a country mile (Three semi finalists in the CL last year, the same the year before I think).

To try to make Rafa look like some kind of village idiot by citing a few mediocre transfer dealings (which, incidentally he didn't happen to spunk a whole load of cash on) is frankly just daft.

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