One of the reasons that Thierry Henry cited for his leaving was the unsettled nature of Arsene Wenger’s future commitment to the club. Henry on Wenger.
” Especially as at the moment he has not committed himself to the club. He said he will see out his contract but you cannot be sure if he is going to go or stay [at the end of next season]. Hopefully he is going to stay but I need to be certain and reassured of that.”
So there is to be an expected announcement putting to rest Wenger’s uncertain future. Matt Scott writes that Wenger is expected to sign a £15m-plus contract extension keeping him in the Emirates till 2011. The other important development is that former Arsenal midfielder Gilles Grimandi is to take over David Dein’s post as director of football. He has been the club’s scout in France.
The other piece of news is that Wenger’s choice of bringing Anelka back is running into problems with some members of the Arsenal boardroom. Evidently they have unsavoury memories of Anelka when after three seasons at Highbury, he threatened to go on strike if he was not transferred. It became quite a circus as Anelka’s brothers became his de facto agents and urged him not to honour his contract.
This is the sort of situation that Wenger would have deferred to Dein to make the case for Anelka but now he has to do it himself. I think this Wenger’s first big challenge in the post Dein period. Wenger is taking a gamble on Anelka. If Anelka disappoints or becomes dissatisfied then the “I told you so” attitude will only grow straining his relationship with the board. On the other hand Anelka may prove to be an unqualified success. Wenger may decide to play it safe and decide that Ryan Babel and Klaas Jan Huntelaar are better options as they don’t have the baggage that Anelka brings. The board might be more willing to cough up the money for these two players.
3 comments on “An important week ahead of Arsenal”
Firstly, how reliable is this information that Wenger will sign until 2011? I hope it doesn’t originate from the same ‘very reliable inside sources’ that were all saying not so long ago that Wenger was NOT going to renew his contract in 2008. Secondly, why not go for all three – Babel, Huntelaar and Anelka? Would the board really be that petty to not sanction Anelka’s return just because of a tantrum he had some years ago? Also, I’m sure that Wenger has been in regular contact with him since he left and is convinced that Anelka has matured enough to realise that leaving Arsenal was the biggest mistake of his life. I’m sure the board could easily afford a combined fee for all three, given that they no longer have a £100m a week salary to pay to a certain Mnsr Henry. This, together with the much mentioned £40m that can be raised if transfers are necessary, must surely be enough? Also, now that Henry has at last left, maybe Reyes will be encouraged to reconsider his position and decide to return. And finally, personally speaking, I’m glad Henry has gone, purely because his endless whinging about Dein’s departure and the lack of ‘superstars’ being bought, accompanied by Vieira’s unhelpful ‘views’, were just underlining how unsuitable he was in being a mentor to the younger players aswell as ridiculing his own status as an ambassador for the club. The future can only look rosier now that he has gone.
I would have thought that of all the board members at the time who would have been affected by Anelka’s antics, Dein would have been the one most angered as he was the one who had to deal with the brothers.
I saw another article that claimed that Anelka’s return would be possible BECAUSE Dein was no longer around.
I guess there’s so much speculation that we can discuss it all until the cows come home, and then AW will probably surprise us anyway.
Honestly speaking, we are not going to get any major signings at all. Fizman said there will be significant amount of funds for Wenger to buy world class players. So right now, all the talk is about rising up money to buy cheap, potential and raw talents. This is a vicious cycle and very soon when these young talents start to mature, Fabregas, V.persie, Rosicky start to leave for greener pasture. (R.Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan). Arsenal can never fulfil the potential it has painstaking built. Viera, Pires, Henry, Edu have all left at their prime, leaving Arsenal looking like a boy scout team. No doubt, the coming season will be hard to cope, we have all seen life without henry after we exited the Champions League defeat at PSV. We misfired and looked awful in attack. Banking on V.Persie, Adebayor, Walcott and Bendnter to fire all the way to the top against heavyweights like Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool? Think again. Curse me if you guys want, but the facts are laid before you. 3 week into summer and no major signings but only speculations. Like many gunners, we are not gonna have major signings since Wenger said he has enough quality or players who are worth the money. (forget Torres, or anelka, its not gonna happen). Same players, same injuries, same disastrous months, same agony results.
The first coming of the messiah has ended. So will a secondc coming of a messiah descend and save the gunners?