I can't believe TH is leaving England. I always loved watching him play. I wonder who Arsenal will bring in as a replacement. Is Arsenal still part of the "big four" in England?
I think that Arsenal still are one of the big four and have to be with Gallas - Toure - Fabregas - Baptista - Van Persie up the spine of the team. I'd expect Rosicky to be a lot better in his second year in England too. Arsenal don't have the financial clout of the teams around them, but with Wenger's knack for spotting talent and getting it on board for cheap, (relatively), a couple of years before it explodes they can keep pace. The real trouble comes if Wenger leaves and that's a lot more likely currently, with upheaval at the board level this year. Former Vice-Chairman David Dein was the man who brought Wenger to the club and when he resigned in April, it took Wenger's best connection to the upper tiers out of the picture. Dein strongly pushed for a move to Wembley for the club, stating concern that the new Emirates was prohibitively expensive and that it would leave the club short of money to spend on actual players. Wenger himself has asked the fans to show "pragmatism" as "[the club] will be in a very strong financial position in five years' time." Dein's disagreement with Peter Hill Wood and the rest of the board is rumoured to have been over Dein's desire to get American Stan Kroenke, (Nugget's and Av's owner), and more importantly Stan Kroenke's money on board at Arsenal. Hill-wood isn't interested, but his hand may yet be forced by majority share-holder Danny Fiszman. Fiszman is alleged to be on Hill-Wood's side of the fence, but the Telegraph reported that Fiszman went to Switzerland almost a year ago and hasn't yet come back. The happy side-effect being that if he were to suddenly come into a large amount of money, it wouldn't be liable to UK tax If Kroenke was to buy Fiszman's 24% stake, then he'd be just a couple of thousand shares short of the total he'd need to start a takeover bid, which could force Hill-Wood's hand, reinstate Dein and fill Wenger's pockets. The other extreme is Arsenal continuing to struggle under their mortgage payments, Wenger with little in his pockets but lint and some, (not all), of the money from the sales of Henry and, (probably), Reyes and the increased Premiership prize money, and Dein remains on the outside, looking in. Wenger's contract expires in 2008 and Cesc Fabregas has stated that he would consider a move to Real Madrid a lot more likely if Wenger were to leave and I feel that that sentiment would be echoed among the other young players in whom Wenger showed faith Toure and Clichy for a start. Wenger's ability to pluck out developing talents becomes a double-edged sword for Arsenal, as the young players who see their careers blossom under the French manager's tutelage become very loyal to him and it would behove the Gunners to find a way to make Arsene happy.
I agree with Mr.B for the most past (except that Baptista's fate has already been decided and it isn't at Arsenal, and that with a looong contract (10 years?) Cesc is likely to stay put unless someone is willing to shell out big time). Mr. Bismarck speaks truth. As much as I loved watching Henry play for Arsenal, I never want a player who is unhappy to be on a team I support. Henry's closeness to David Dein and his family seems to be the main reason he wanted to leave. And honestly it seems silly when a player gets caught up in board room stuff. Honestly, I was disappointed in Henry as a captain last season. Even before the Dein outing, Henry didn't act like captain material. I think Gilberto will probably get the arm band, and I think he'll do well. Good luck, Henry, and damn I hope Van Persie is healthy. If he is, Arseanl will do fine. They still need a top-level striker, but they are in better shape with a healthy Van Persie. There are still many changes that will happen this summer for Arsenal (Freddie is bound to leave too), so I will wait to see what happens.
Best of luck to No. 14, the best and most pleasing player to watch in my limited TV viewing experience. Now for him to go to a team I actually like as opposed to despise is gravy.
Ah dammit, I meant Silva and not Baptista. Good catch, Terrapin.
What about the Barca side of all of this? Does this mean a sure Eto'o exit?
scharnhorst, I think it means goodbye to Eider Gudjonson and Javier Saviola rather than Eto'o. One thing the last few years have shown is that depth up top is a requirement for succeeding at both national and European levels and a rotation of Henry, Messi and Eto'o would be unmatched. Given that Eto'o is 29 and Henry 31, they should not object to sharing the minutes, especially if at the end of June they have at least two trophies to lift.
Henry was born in 77 - he's 30 in August. But I do agree with Bill - the usual papers over here have United sniffing around Gudjonson and Middlesbrough trying to land Saviola. These papers will write any old nonsense during the off-season, in search of a story, but they are the two most likely to go over the side.
As another minor corrective -- Eto'o was born in March of 1981, making him 26. I recall reading somewhere that Henry and Eto'o play styles that are not particularly complimentary; I haven't seen enough of either of them to verify whether that is the case. I also read that one of Eto'o and Ronaldinho is going to have to go due to personality conflicts. As Mr. Bismarck suggests, however, perhaps this is just the idle chatter of a press looking to sell papers during the off-season. So with Henry gone now, the question is -- who is the most expensive EPL fantasy player for next year? I imagine it will probably have to be Cristiano Ronaldo (and likely would have been even if Henry had not left).
Eto'o and Henry can coexist, it just may take some time. Unfortunately if they do not win next year one will be gone (Eto'o). I think Henry can coexist with anyone now, he even played midfield last year when they needed posession with Arsenal and he wasnt in form. I am not an Arsenal, Barca or France fan yet I can appreciate everything Henry can do on the field. He is an amazing talent that will help any team. I say he gives Barca an extra 7 points in the standings if they keep the bulk of the team. He is not the same Henry that needed the ball at his feet everytime like the one that played for Juventus many moons ago. He is always welcome to come back again though!
My god, I can't freaking wait to see him teamed up with any configuration of Eto'o, Messi, Ronaldinho, Deco, Iniesta, Xavi, etc. etc etc. Barca lost the Liga, not at the end, but in the middle of the season, when Eto'o and Messi were hurt (and Larsson gone - oh how Barca regretted that). Without a sniper to put the ball away, all of the midfield touch touch touches were pretty but ineffective. With a healthy Messi, Eto'o and now Henry, all I can say is, wow.
We scare everyone, says Henry and he's probably right.
Holy crap, does Nike have a lock on all the players at Barcelona? Henry, Ronaldinho ...
