Marseille have signed Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Arsenal, six months earlier than his contract was due to expire.
The left-back has fallen further and further down the pecking order in recent seasons, and found himself behind both Nuno Tavares and Kieran Tierney this term in his favoured role.
The timing of his release could be better however, after we moved to postpone our recent fixture with Tottenham due to a lack of first-team players, while this week we have released Kola, and are supposedly close to the departure of Pablo Mari on loan. There has been much controversy over our recent cancelled matchup, and news of further outgoings instead of incomings isn’t going to go down well with rival rans.
Official and confirmed. Sead Kolasinac signs with Olympique Marseille after becoming a free agent with his Arsenal contract being terminated. 🚨 #OM #AFC
Kolasinac signs until June 2023 as new OM player – medical successfully completed today. pic.twitter.com/cLeMfbIe4D
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 18, 2022
Kolasinac will join on-loan Arsenal duo William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi in the side, with both having joined on loan during the summer, but we appear to be getting nothing in return for Sead’s departure.
Regardless of our numerical issues, Sead wouldn’t have been in contention to feature in the coming weeks, with players ahead of him for a number of roles that he could well have filled, but fingers will no doubt be pointed at us after the postponement regardless.
Do you consider Kolasinac a flop? Or was he never expected to have a major impact when signing from the Bundesliga?
Patrick
Is there any club better than us at managing assets and recouping cash from player sales? I think not! 😃
Came on a free and left on a free, so what!
So what?
Kola cost 31 million quid in salary and was useless.
And yet he came on against Forest, with us losing 1-0!!!!
Any ideas on the thinking behind MA’s game plan?
I thought at the time it looked like a farewell ten seconds testimonial to a fraud.
No doubt some script writer will pen Kola a touching heart felt thank you to the fans especially for the 31 million he fleeced the club for being up there with Andre Santos as our worst LB ever. Another gem discovered by the man with the eye for talent who must have had too much French red wine that day 🙂
Like your last sentence, pal, love it! Luky we have the matador to end the mediocrity and make us great again. None the least we saved a few Pounds by terminating the contract, I believe. Can he do us a favor and take Elneny, Chambers, Holding with him?
Matador
LMFAO
Happens at all clubs fafa, hardly worth crying about.
But running down his 120k p/w these past 3 years meant we had money going down the drain and a weakness at LB because he was taking up a place in the squad. Same with Ozil Mustafi Socritis Mari Bellerin Cedric Chambers Niles Elneny Willian Pepe Aubameyang Lacazette + Nketia all running down their contracts meaning we are reduced to just 14 players to carry us the whole season. When illness, injury, covid, + the Afcons strike we have no quality back ups. Then when they leave on a free the club subsidises them all for the last 6 months of their contract while they play for some one else.
Kola is a natural No 11 but defensively has a problem..I wish he was given more playing time to furnish on his weak areas,else he was a good ,strong with speed ,delivers wonderful cross and still could score goals. He was a perfect player for English Premier
Yes but it doesn’t change the fact that he had a value, basic economics man!
If someone gave you a car would you be willing to just give it away after spending a fortune over your time owning it?
Also, if you didn’t notice, my comment is a general one and not just specific to this case.
Arsenal acting like a big club again… great to see
Welcome back Thomas, we’ve missed you
just another reason why we should always be skeptical whenever our club sets their sights on a can’t miss “free” transfer…of course, we get that things have changed in more recent times, with more players opting to let their respective contracts run out, but the fact remains that this is done primarily by players, oft-times veterans, looking for propped-up wages and a longer term, due to the lack of a substantial transfer fee, which can be incredibly problematic should things go sideways
Out of topic,
but Ghana have just been kicked off AFCON in the group stage by Comoros.
means Thomas Partey is back already
Arsenal will pay 75% of Kolsinacs last 6 months salary like we paid Ozil Mustafi Socritis and Willians salarie even after they left.
if this is true, which is highly debatable considering the source, this would be another embarrassing moment for our club, especially in light of the push for postponements
I thought Willian waived his outstanding salary?
Nope. Thats just the propaganda clubs put out to fool the fans. Nobody just gives up 200k p/w job to pay for peanuts elsewhere. Think about it. Ozil was paid every last dime when he left last Januay as did Mustafi and Socritis. As I said nobody just gives up a humungus salary to play for begger all elsewhere. Thats just nonsense. Aubamayang/Lacazette will similarly leave on a free and the club will say they ripped up their respective 300k/ 200k p/w contracts. Of course that again will be pure bollox.
this certainly isn’t revelatory FF, as I spoke about this with several posters long before any official announcement was made about him moving on…that said, I never said it was a certainty, I just found it very difficult to believe that he would leave without some sort of golden parachute and a NDA to boot, so that the particulars weren’t discussed publicly without severe consequences…now if we hadn’t already paid other players to play elsewhere I likely wouldn’t have been so cynical about the matter
And where is your source for this fairfan as I read a different story?
Yup you read the propaganda and believed it.
As I said nobody gives up 200k p/w to instead get paid peanuts. Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Think about it.
You didn’t answer my question, you just deflected it. You spout your own propaganda to extraordinary levels!
Dude stop spreading propaganda here.. I believe even The Athletic said Willian waived the rest of his salary and decided he needs to leave as he wasn’t at all happy.
Yes footballers love money, but some prefer to keep their sanity and happiness first.. Willian was disliked by nearly all Arsenal fans an was taking blames for poor games.
At least accept the fact that he walked away like the big man instead of still trying to ruin the little good he did.
If you don’t believe it, you believe Athletic when th y report transfer news, but you’re choosing not to believe this one? Why?
Was actually a bully in his first season under La proffeseur. But nowadays he’s been bullied around like he’s kindergattine.
The club short on players yet.
CB Mari gone out on loan while CB Saliba is on loan and CB Mavropanos is also on loan.
The same club desperately short on midfielders yet AMN is gone out on loan while 27m DM Torreira is on loan highly rated midfielder Guendouzie is on loan and winger Nelson also on loan. Embarrassing does not come close.
Kolasinac another of the very expensive “free” deadbeats we got lumbered with. Kola actually mugged us off. Be very wary of “free” players in the future. Please.
Indeed – Willian must be the biggest blunder of them all.
A blunder by a small fraction as compared to the “greatest assist king in the universe till date”. Just the wages, no transfer fee, plus the wage was less tnen 350K/week plus the toxic dressing room, plus the excuses from Giroud to the weather to the winter break, plus ……………… Plus the trophy drought ended with the signing …………….of Sanogo!
A reported £240,000 weekly salary blunder and he scored less goals than Sanogo.
I keep asking how we finished in the top four, won cups and played CL with deadbeat, but since they’ve gone, we finished 8th twice in a row, got knocked out of the cup in the 3rd and 4th round and missed european football for the first time in over two decades…. oh and that’s after spending over £300,000,000 on new players.
Great send off for Kos though, playing such a crucial role in our humiliating defeat to Forest – such a brilliant substitution, its now been recorded as a Farewell thank you!!! LOL😂😂😂