Written by Fab4.
Arsenal’s search for a new GK and a new CB continues after having bids turned down for both Mark Schwarzer and Sebastien Squallaci yesterday.
Fulham seem to be playing hard-ball over Schwarzer which is understandable as they don’t want to lose one of their best players, but it baffles me how a transfer like this can drag on for so long. We are talking about £2-£4million here, it’s hardly going to break the bank for either club to meet in the middle.
The player has clearly stated he would like the opportunity to leave Fulham and join Arsenal to have a crack at Champions League football. Arsenal’s first bid was £2m which was rejected by the Cottagers, who are believed to have asked for at least £4m. Arsenal’s second offer was most likely around £2.5m – £2.75m. So lets just be sensible here and do a deal for around the £3.25m mark. I’m all for trying to get a good deal, but if it means getting Schwarzer in asap then pay the extra £500,000 and get the deal done for crying out loud!
Next is the interesting news that Sevilla have claimed Arsenal’s offer for defender Squillaci is ‘insufficient’ and that the player himself asked to be left out of their Champions League tie on Tuesday. Sevilla sporting director Ramon Rodriguez confirmed the news on Tuesday after the game:
“The player asked not to play because of the offer from such a big team but, for the moment, we believe the offer is insufficient and Squillaci is still a Sevilla player,” said Rodriguez
The La Liga outfit also posted on their website that:
“Sebastien Squillaci’s future is in the air.
“As was confirmed by sporting director Ramon Rodriguez at the airport in Porto, the club have received an offer from Arsenal.
“The player asked coaches not to play him in the match.”
I don’t know too much about Squillaci but if Arsene thinks he’s the man for the job then that’s good enough for me. Only time will tell if we can finally make a breakthrough in their search for a GK or CB but time is running out and with the way our midfielders are dropping, we may need to be adding a CM to the wish-list!
