Hi Gooners, I tried to make this short but it was quite difficult. So please pardon my long rant by dgr8xt
Without further ado, I’m of the opinion that we should put a stop to bringing in old players, especially from rivals within the league. Think of the players we’ve given to these our rivals and the impact they’ve had there:
Robin Van Persie (Utd)
Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
Samir Nasri (City)
Gael Clichy (City)
Emmanuel Adebayor (City)
Kolo Toure (City)
In contrast, the kind of players we’ve gotten in return in the not too distant past make for dim viewing. Not one of them was (or is) a success. Behold the list below and compare the success rates between the two sets of players:
Mikaël Silvestre (connived with Messi to destroy us at the Camp Nou. I’m sure he was on Messi’s payroll) (Utd)
William Gallas (Chelsea)
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Lassana Diarra (Chelsea)
Danny Welbeck (what Utd got for him was about what we got for Van Persie) (Utd)
David Luiz (praise him all you like, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was only better than Mustafi at passing. In fact, I would say he was more calamitous) (Chelsea)
Borges Willian (please do not even mention his name in the comments cos at the mention of his name, I get angry) (Chelsea)
Jorginho (Chelsea)
To my surprise, many praised Jorginho to high heavens after two good games and there were even suggestions that he should take Partey’s place permanently in the starting lineup. It only took the next match for him to start showing his true colours. An old player who Chelsea were happy to let go to a rival without any hassle for a small fee on deadline day, without any replacement lined up is now talked up as a potential key player for us next season.
If he was as good as some make him out to be, Chelsea wouldn’t be where they are now and they certainly won’t sell him, especially to us. I know Jorginho was an emergency signing, but we shouldn’t continue on that path when there’s plenty of time to sign many younger and more capable players in the summer. 30 year old Casemiro was sold for £70m. 31 year old Jorginho was sold to a rival for £12m. There’s a big difference between them.
I remember many reports stating that Sergio Ramos had a 2 years £15m per season contract offer on the table when he was leaving Madrid. And guess who offered the contract. Our darling Arsenal. In hindsight, we all see it was a bazooka we dodged..
It’s more surprising to me to think that with all the talk of Rice, Caicedo and Simons, many are gunning for us to go after Gundogan, a 32 year old player (turning 33 in a few months) who would have won all at City (Yes. They will most likely win the Champions League). What motivation will he have to achieve at our club?
And before I get slaughtered with talk of how successful Jesus and Zinchenko have been, remember they were not 32 year olds who won everything at City and at the later stages of their careers. Jesus had a point to prove and that’s partly why he put in all to hit the ground running as soon as he got here. Same could be said of Zinchenko.
I do not blame PSG for signing Messi cos he’s a damn good footballer. But no one can argue that he’s not really motivated by the Paris project. He won’t even renew his contract even though Barcelona can’t pay him anywhere close to what PSG are offering. If you doubt me, compare him at Argentina and Barcelona and it’s clear that in his mind, he doesn’t owe the Paris club much.
Another thing of note is that of the big six clubs, Liverpool, Tottenham, and City are not known for buying old players close to ending their careers. The only other team (apart from us) that used to be a fan of this is Utd with the likes of Zlatan, Cavani Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Valdes, Matic, Alexis Sanchez, Lee Grant (forget I ever mentioned him) coming in mostly with terrible outcomes. We all know how they’ve fared since then even while spending well over £1bn on players.
One question.
If De Bruyne was available at Gundogan’s age, should we be interested?
The answer is yes.
Why so?
Because you can’t pass up the opportunity of signing the best player in the world in a particular position who is still performing at a world class level. Gundogan is doing well currently. But make no mistake, he’s no De Bruyne. Casemiro was arguably the best defensive midfielder in world football when Utd paid that money. You get the gist…
Finally, the motivation of our players (who by the way are mostly young) is one key reason for how they’ve improved from last season. The team is collectively motivated to achieve something. Also, there’s an adage that says that only an unwise person steps on faeces twice. It is not wise to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
Let’s learn transfers from Liverpool who will certainly not be looking to sign old retirees from their rivals.
End of rant
dgr8xt