It was reported last week that Arsenal and Crystal Palace were supposedly locked in negotiations over the permanent transfer of Carl Jenkinson. Arsenal were reportedly willing to let the right back leave on the cheap, after failing to impress since his return to the club. Palace manager Sam Allardyce is keen to build a new team in order to fight relegation, but Jenkinson may no longer be a part of the manager’s plans.
Carl Jenkinson returned to Arsenal officially for the start of the 2016/17 season, after spending the previous two years away on loan at West Ham. His loan spell at West Ham, where Jenkinson did play under Allardyce, went reasonably well, before an injury unfortunately cut short his second spell in East London. Wenger clearly believed that Jenkinson had the potential to provide valuable backup to Arsenal in the right back position this season and although he hasn’t had too many opportunities to feature, the defender has arguably been awful in every single appearance.
With Wenger therefore having seemingly given up on the right back, Palace’s interest was welcomed by the club. A deal rumoured to be between £4-7million was supposedly on the table, but according to today’s report in the Guardian, the move has collapsed over personal terms.
It is understood that Jenkinson was willing to make the move to Crystal Palace in order to get more game time under his belt. This is despite the fact that he would be leaving his beloved Arsenal in a permanent transfer. However one demand that Jenkinson did supposedly make to Palace was that if he was going to join a club involved in a relegation battle, then his wage should be bumped at least a little bit. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Jenkinson is currently earning around £40,000 per week at Arsenal and has a current contractual agreement with the club until 2018.
Palace, in my opinion, have unsurprisingly rejected Jenkinson’s apparent approach for a higher wage, despite the Eagles being supposedly willing to match the current pay he’s on at Arsenal. Despite wages in general having long been of what is considered an acceptable price, £40k per week for Jenkinson does seem a little high and I’m surprised Palace even offered to match the money to start with. Palace cannot afford to spend such large sums of money on players every week, whom in reality are probably more like reserve quality than starting eleven, especially at Arsenal. It’s even more unsurprising considering if Palace were to be relegated, this season or the next during Jenkinson’s potential contract with them, £40k p/w on the books would surely be a player they’d have to look to move on if they are in the Championship. Thus Jenkinson’s apparent demands are nowhere near being accepted by his potential new club and as a result, it seems like the deal has broken off.
If the rumours are therefore true, you can assume that Jenkinson is still on the availability market and ready for a transfer, but it’s unlikely that Palace will be the right back’s next destination, after demanding just a little too much from them.
Does this development just highlight the fact that Arsenal pay their fringe players too much?
By AH