Edu Gaspar has admitted talks with a player in Dortmund, but was convinced that he wasn’t the right player for Arsenal.
The Gunners have moved to bring in five new players already this summer as we ready our squad ahead of the new season, and Edu clearly has his own thoughts on the type of player he wants.
The Director will only consider signing players that want to be playing at the Emirates, and only wants signings who are eager to buy into our project.
“Face to face — I go there, I meet the player, if I have to travel to Germany, anywhere,” Edu told The Athletic. “I want to see the player, the agent, the family, put everyone together and say, ‘Guys, listen to me and what I want to say’.
“And then I sell what we are doing, our project. Because it works both ways, doesn’t it? I want to show them, but I want to see as well if they want to enjoy because if I smell something wrong (then) thank you very much, I go (and don’t sign them).
“I faced an experience like this, for a player in Dortmund. I started to talk to them, engage the player, talk to the family, but always, ‘Yeah, but what about my contract?’.
“I said, ‘Listen, I want to understand first if you engage with this, if you like this. If you like it, I can talk, but not the opposite side’. ‘Ah no, let’s talk about the money…’ No, no, no, no. And one day, I said to the agent: ‘Guys, thank you very much, it’s not what I want to do’. Boom.”
This is exactly what I want to hear. It almost seems silly to think this isn’t how all clubs operate, but clearly certain players have their priorities.
There is no hint at all, but I wonder if Edu could have been talking about Erling Haaland here, who has since joined Manchester City. I imagine he had been promised some major salaries by a number of clubs before deciding to move to the Etihad.
Is there a calibre of player who can get away with making negotiations based predominantly on their earnings?
Patrick