City Take The…Whilst Arsenal Get Set For New Faces

Tempers in some quarters are fraying, frustrations over the lack of incoming transfer activity surfacing in various quarters. It is not surprising, all of the media coverage surround Arsenal this summer has been entirely negative raising blood pressures everywhere. To alleviate some stress, the Gervinho triplets will be arriving next week, ending another convoluted transfer saga. A start, the manager arguing that he is working long hours to identify and sign players.

Such elongated activity is going to continue. Manchester City’s announcement of a new sponsorship deal causes Uefa an immediate headache over FFP.  City might crow about how good the deal is but a tame sponsor has helped matters. The commercial redevelopment obfuscates the associated financial values.

Without planning permission and accurate blueprints, they cannot assess the true value of the property allowing City and Etihad to put their own valuation at this moment in time. The minute this goes over £200m, it becomes a finger in the air exercise. No amount of protesting is going to change this, vincit omnia veritas.

Barcelona have a €30m per year shirt sponsorship deal, Manchester United £20m, Real Madrid similar. City will not have much trouble arguing that £10-15m per season is market value. That leaves £10m per season for the naming rights, an amount that to some extent Arsenal justify. The Emirates deal is a poor one for the club, it was not at the time and that is what matters. City’s £5-10m per season is in that bracket, market value indeed.

The self-sustaining financial model is one that all clubs are now aspiring to. Creative accounting is helping one of the richest clubs to get there quicker than most.

So to Arsenal. After considerable silence, Arsenal have spoken regarding Cesc and Nasri. As definitively as Barcelona’s inability to raise sufficient funds to buy the Arsenal captain, reducing to haggling over completed and unrelated deals whilst putting players in who Arsenal do not appear to be interested into the frame. The players were left in no doubt as to their manager’s mood,

Our position is always the same – we want to keep Cesc and I will fight as hard as I can to keep him. Samir Nasri is exactly the same. We will do everything we can to keep him.

Whether he is able to keep both remains to be seen. Has Nasri changed his mind or is this posturing by the manager, appeasing supporters to some extent? With Cesc, I see the position as it always has been: Barcelona have to match the valuation or the player will not be leaving. Nasri? I am not so sure. I can see him remaining at the club but not beyond next summer. His head has been turned by the money on offer. Perhaps he genuinely thinks City are a good option. United? He has to wait.

Either way, the French midfielder will be going to the Far East next weekend. Cesc has home-based rehabilitation, Nasri will perform with a strong squad. It is encouraging that Ryo Miyaichi is also making the trip, presumably the club feel confident that he will get his work permit for the coming campaign.

Whilst the key requirements of the squad improvements this summer must surely be more defensive players, the form shown at Feyenoord suggests that Miyaichi might well be this season’s Wilshere. With the players at Wenger’s disposal, there will surely be a more leisurely introduction for the Japanese youngster than a regular starting place in the first XI.

As far as other rumours go, Thiago Motta’s agent felt it necessary to issue a denial about a move to Arsenal even though there has been no offer to Internazionale. That said, a lot is being written about Juan Mata and no official offer has been made to Valencia yet either. Will  they go  the same way as Ricky Alvarez or are they to be unveiled in the next month as Arsenal players? We shall see.

’til Tomorrow.