Were We Really ‘Interested’ In Partey Or Aouar? by Dan Smith
If I say I’m interested in an engagement ring which I know is 900 pound but march into the shop with 200 in my pocket, am I really interested? If the shop assistant makes it clear that is the price, take it or leave it, is me throwing another 50-pound note on the counter showing I’m interested?
Are you allowed to tell your partner: ‘I tried’?
Worse, what if my girlfriend knows that in reality, I have a million pounds in the bank. That 900 to me is nothing. That if that ring was really important, if I truly cared, I would have paid the asking price. That I’m saying I’m interested to keep her sweet but in reality, I have no intention of taking that next step.
Essentially, I just explained Stan Kroenke’s business model.
Arsenal time and again this summer leaked out that Partey and Aouar are our top targets. Why whisper this to the media?
So gooners, instead of questioning our worst league finish in 25 years get excited about this ‘new Arsenal’. They talk about title bids and Champions League’s in 3 years, they even excuse how a Billionaire sacks 55 staff to save 2 million.
Most importantly (because we are customers) we rush out to buy the new kits.
When older fans like me are waving my arms saying ‘he’s conning you, they are delaying the Aubameyang announcement to distract you from the lack of ambition’ you call me negative. I was trying to protect you. It’s like you know the end of the movie because you watched this film a 100 times.
Fans are talking about winning the Prem with their new look midfield. Writers claiming they know a journalist who says………
Yet I’m old enough to see through how this club is run. If the Kroenke family had zero ambition in the last decade, why would they change when they don’t know when they will next be getting match day revenue. Meanwhile our owner sits with a huge smile on his face.
I felt sick when Auba said we were his ‘family’. That just happens to be Nike’s motto for our third kit.
In reality both Lyon and Atletico Madrid are being reasonable in their asking prices. The French club want close to 50 million Euros, having been told by PSG, Juventus and Real, they could offer that in 12 months.
Atletico have never altered their stance. They don’t want to lose their midfielder, but Spanish rules dictate that every player has a buyout clause. To activate Partey’s release, it’s 45 million up front. It’s believed we are put off by not being allowed to pay in instalments. Yet we have known this for months.
The likes of Edu is paid a lot of money to identify targets to make our squad better. That’s his job. He should have had a shortlist drawn up in January when it was clear we were not finishing in the top 4.
Off the record we know everyone talks. There’s just been a 3-month break where you could chat. It takes seconds to pick up a phone and learn the likelihood of getting your target. It takes a few days to arrange a meeting with others and ask do you agree with the valuation set? If no, you simply move on to the next name on your list.
Yet with a day of the window left open, having spoken for months, we are still about 15 million away from what Lyon are asking for. Some reports are now claiming Lyon are so fed up with our inability to listen, their owner has ordered for any correspondence from us to now be ignored. How embarrassing…
It begs the question though. If Arsenal know they have zero intention of paying an asking price, why were we so quick to whisper to the media our ‘interest’?
Answer?
So on Tuesday we can say we tried…
Meanwhile Adidas are happy because they have again sold a record amount of merchandise while Stan Kroenke has somehow taken us to 8th, yet got fans not turning on him but instead saying we are contenders!
You know, like we ‘tried’ to buy Suarez, Cavani, Higuaín, etc in the past, waited for enough shirts to be sold then ‘oh well, we tried’.
You could claim to want Messi but if you want him for 10 million it doesn’t count as ‘interest’
When you buy any company, you know there will be dark moments when you might have to step in and give things a fresh injection. That moment was when we finished 43 points behind Liverpool. A representation that we are being left behind.
If he wanted to, at any moment, he could pay 45 million…. he just has to care. You don’t become rich without being cautious, but also sometimes you have to spend to get a bigger return later.
That 45 million could be the difference between the Champions League and not. Pay 45 now and think how much revenue you could be getting in 12 months? Or stand still and be left behind.
From a PR perspective, we will buy someone, as we have to not look terrible for insisting that was why staff were sacked and players took a salary cut.
As things stand …… Ceballos’ wage was factored in last season from Ramsey’s wage. Mkhitaryan’s wage was given to Willian. 55 redundancies saved 2 million which paid for Runarsson.
We got 17 million for Ceballos, 3m for Greenwood and another million when Akpom went to Middlesbrough, which covers 21 of the 23 for Gabriel.
There is still a little time for Arsenal to prove me wrong.
But if not Mr Kroenke ……… give people their jobs back or at very least give that money you saved to charity…
Dan Smith