Mikey10
Christian Ziege
Makes you wonder why we spent over a week chasing him then. Certainly wouldn’t indicate a clear and coherent strategy being followed.
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Eberechi Eze
- Thread starter Daisuk
- Start date
Makes you wonder why we spent over a week chasing him then. Certainly wouldn’t indicate a clear and coherent strategy being followed.
Rorschach
Fanny Walden
That's what I'm talking about. More Eze puns now. MORE.
Gutter Boy
Tim Sherwood
Maddison's injury made us nervous about relying solely on a young player without EPL experience (Paz had sounded our main target in the week before Eze), so we pivoted to a more conservative choice?
Gutter Boy
Tim Sherwood
This is interesting. It reckons Arsenal actually agreed terms with Palace the day before we came in (and us coming in ended up pushed the price £10m)
After days of difficult and painstaking negotiations between Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, Arsenal had appeared to steal in within a matter of mere hours. That has already seen this move cast as the mother of all transfer hijackings, especially with how it is another North London derby victory.
Except, it wasn’t really a hijacking at all. The Independent can now reveal that Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Palace as early as the morning of Sunday 10 August.
There was also the fact that, in those nine days, it didn’t look like Arsenal would follow through on that agreement. The word put out was that they wanted to sell before any other purchase, and that they preferred a left winger. Interest in Eze was repeatedly played down. There had been a lot of mixed messages, which fit with the whole summer as regards Arsenal and the Palace star.
Arsenal, for their part, still had to pay more than the initial agreement. That was to ensure it actually got done over Spurs. Whereas the previous deal had been for £50m plus £10m in add-ons, this is for £60m and £7.5m in add-ons
www.independent.co.uk
After days of difficult and painstaking negotiations between Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, Arsenal had appeared to steal in within a matter of mere hours. That has already seen this move cast as the mother of all transfer hijackings, especially with how it is another North London derby victory.
Except, it wasn’t really a hijacking at all. The Independent can now reveal that Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Palace as early as the morning of Sunday 10 August.
There was also the fact that, in those nine days, it didn’t look like Arsenal would follow through on that agreement. The word put out was that they wanted to sell before any other purchase, and that they preferred a left winger. Interest in Eze was repeatedly played down. There had been a lot of mixed messages, which fit with the whole summer as regards Arsenal and the Palace star.
Arsenal, for their part, still had to pay more than the initial agreement. That was to ensure it actually got done over Spurs. Whereas the previous deal had been for £50m plus £10m in add-ons, this is for £60m and £7.5m in add-ons
How Arsenal silently hijacked Spurs’ Eberechi Eze deal well before anyone knew
Exclusive: It seemed the Gunners swooped past their North London rivals on Wednesday, but they made their move much earlier than that
www.independent.co.uk
thfcsteff
Vivian Woodward
Dialectic here.
He is an Arsenalk fan AND he had agreed to join us and had settled personal terms. We dithered. They took their shot. I have no animosity towards the player.
I also agree 'onwards' but don't believe that Eze himself held up the deal.
SissokoWasGood (BoL)
Terry Venables
This is interesting. It reckons Arsenal actually agreed terms with Palace the day before we came in (and us coming in ended up pushed the price £10m)
After days of difficult and painstaking negotiations between Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, Arsenal had appeared to steal in within a matter of mere hours. That has already seen this move cast as the mother of all transfer hijackings, especially with how it is another North London derby victory.
Except, it wasn’t really a hijacking at all. The Independent can now reveal that Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Palace as early as the morning of Sunday 10 August.
There was also the fact that, in those nine days, it didn’t look like Arsenal would follow through on that agreement. The word put out was that they wanted to sell before any other purchase, and that they preferred a left winger. Interest in Eze was repeatedly played down. There had been a lot of mixed messages, which fit with the whole summer as regards Arsenal and the Palace star.
Arsenal, for their part, still had to pay more than the initial agreement. That was to ensure it actually got done over Spurs. Whereas the previous deal had been for £50m plus £10m in add-ons, this is for £60m and £7.5m in add-ons
How Arsenal silently hijacked Spurs’ Eberechi Eze deal well before anyone knew
Exclusive: It seemed the Gunners swooped past their North London rivals on Wednesday, but they made their move much earlier than that
Levy genius to make Arsenal spend more while we focus on our actual targets
thfcsteff
Vivian Woodward
This is interesting. It reckons Arsenal actually agreed terms with Palace the day before we came in (and us coming in ended up pushed the price £10m)
After days of difficult and painstaking negotiations between Daniel Levy and Steve Parish, Arsenal had appeared to steal in within a matter of mere hours. That has already seen this move cast as the mother of all transfer hijackings, especially with how it is another North London derby victory.
Except, it wasn’t really a hijacking at all. The Independent can now reveal that Arsenal had actually struck the principles of an agreement with Palace as early as the morning of Sunday 10 August.
There was also the fact that, in those nine days, it didn’t look like Arsenal would follow through on that agreement. The word put out was that they wanted to sell before any other purchase, and that they preferred a left winger. Interest in Eze was repeatedly played down. There had been a lot of mixed messages, which fit with the whole summer as regards Arsenal and the Palace star.
Arsenal, for their part, still had to pay more than the initial agreement. That was to ensure it actually got done over Spurs. Whereas the previous deal had been for £50m plus £10m in add-ons, this is for £60m and £7.5m in add-ons
How Arsenal silently hijacked Spurs’ Eberechi Eze deal well before anyone knew
Exclusive: It seemed the Gunners swooped past their North London rivals on Wednesday, but they made their move much earlier than that
...remember, we did not actually go in for him at all at first because of other wishes. There can be two truths here. We have to accept that we did not pull the trigger on the deal when it was there to be signed, and Eze grew up a gooner so in a straight choice, he would absolutely choose them.
RunTMC
Richard Gough
I’m really thinking about that one. Recommend?
thfcsteff
Vivian Woodward
I think people have a tough time not seeing Levy as complicated. He has been amazing at so many things; he cannot help himself in situations like these when the finish line is literally in forearm's reach. It is not a judgement it's an observation. People denying it are no better than the 'Levy has fudged this club up' ranters. He has a glaring and major fault in these situations, and unmtil it is corrected we simply have to accept it will happen and happen again down the road (I include my naive self who actually thought he would close this deal)...
thfcsteff
Vivian Woodward
It is the bit that could worry me, because he was not a Frank top target early on, yet became a top target for us apparently.
Welshspur60
Willem Korsten
Why though? Ive watched him a few times and hes nothing special.
Levy needs to offer City 75 mill for Savinho.
Welshspur60
Willem Korsten
Yes and what has he actually done? Hes not as good as Micky Moore who we just loaned out. We need to buy quality. Dani Olmo or Xavi Simons, and do what it takes to get Savinho.
DubaiSpur
Jack Jull
It isn't that he can't help himself - I think that's personalizing things to him too much mate.
It's more that the club, as a whole, just is not run the way the clubs we measure ourselves up against are run. It isn't just Levy (though he does play a part in it) - the club is run in a way that would have kept us perfectly competitive in 2005. 2010. Maybe even 2015. But sadly, not in 2025.
And that isn't because of a conscious decision to keep us in the past or anything silly like that - it's that the environment has evolved to such utterly hypercompetitive levels in 2025 that it has left us behind. Decisions that used to work well, no longer do - certainties that once worked for us, now do not exist.
Our peers are now run by literal nation-states, criminal gangsters, ruthless heads of megacorporations with unfathomable billions. They employ hundreds of world-class people to get every edge possible, on and off the pitch, legal and illegal, across every field - medical, legal, financial. To them the concept of haggling for weeks on a few million pounds would seem quaint - they have plans for transfer targets years in advance, and can spend an extra 70m after already dropping 200m like it's nothing.
Against this, our approach is reactive - we still employ many of the same people we did 20 years ago, make decisions the same reactive way, approach negotiations the same cautious and slow way. And the environment around us has changed to make this no longer competitive.
To boil it down to the simplest analogy - 15 years ago if we had a target, we only needed to be worried about one of the big four gazumping us, we otherwise had the pick of the litter, and clubs had little leverage in trying to withstand our negotiating.
Today, most clubs in the top ten could easily gazump us - the old top four, plus Saudi Sportswashing Machine, City, Villa et al. Plus, most of the other 10 clubs also have rich and ruthlessly ambitious owners, so they don't really get pushed around the way they used to, plus they can all employ the best lawyers, statisticians, etc. to get every edge possible.
The Premier League is an utter monstrouserty, that has left us behind. You can rage against this, as I did for years. Or you can accept it as a sad fact, and look for happiness where you can. I'm going to try to keep doing that.
We'll find some other targets. There'll be a team out on the weekend. Life moves on. And maybe one day, these realities will change, either through new ownership, new ways of operating, or some cataclysm that upends the landscape of the league itself.
Until then - que sera, sera.
DubaiSpur
Jack Jull
Oh, one other thing - the Director of Football job is meant to be one where you have contacts that tell you about situations like this, so you can avoid them. Agents, binmen, accountants - you're essentially valuable for your network of informants.
For those interested, read up on how these types operate in Italy - it's a hypercompetitive job where knowing which mistress a player saw on a particular weekend is priceless information that DoFs will bid for, just to get an edge in transfer negotiations.
The Prem is like that now. It wasn't before, but it is now exactly like Italian football used to be in the 1990s - flush with cash, hypercompetitive, riven through with legal and illegal means to gain an edge, from doping to tapping up to shady accounting and more.
In fact, the PL does all those things on a level that would make the old Italians blush.
Paratici lives for this world - it's his world, and it's no coincidence that we made some of our best post-Poch transfers under him, from Romero to Deki and Kulu.
But Lange? It's just hard to see him survive in a world like that. The man has no great rolodex to rely on, his experience is relatively minimal (Denmark, a year at Villa and then tossed for the actual DoF in Monchi). So I suspect it weakens us in these sorts of situations where knowing about this deal Arsenal had for Eze through contacts, etc., would have saved us a shedload of embarassment.
It's no surprise Paratici is creeping back into the scope - I suspect he'll oust Lange before long, and to be honest, I think it would help us.
For those interested, read up on how these types operate in Italy - it's a hypercompetitive job where knowing which mistress a player saw on a particular weekend is priceless information that DoFs will bid for, just to get an edge in transfer negotiations.
The Prem is like that now. It wasn't before, but it is now exactly like Italian football used to be in the 1990s - flush with cash, hypercompetitive, riven through with legal and illegal means to gain an edge, from doping to tapping up to shady accounting and more.
In fact, the PL does all those things on a level that would make the old Italians blush.
Paratici lives for this world - it's his world, and it's no coincidence that we made some of our best post-Poch transfers under him, from Romero to Deki and Kulu.
But Lange? It's just hard to see him survive in a world like that. The man has no great rolodex to rely on, his experience is relatively minimal (Denmark, a year at Villa and then tossed for the actual DoF in Monchi). So I suspect it weakens us in these sorts of situations where knowing about this deal Arsenal had for Eze through contacts, etc., would have saved us a shedload of embarassment.
It's no surprise Paratici is creeping back into the scope - I suspect he'll oust Lange before long, and to be honest, I think it would help us.
Mosquito_Coasting
Milija Aleksic
So much for Arsenal don't have enough money. Premier League aren't gonna punish them for FFP when City haven't been. Meanwhile Levy will still continue pinching pennies and winning best business man of the year at family dinners and hoping FFP means more than fudge all.
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Welshspur60
Willem Korsten
This window so far has been another dissapointment. Yes we got a great player in Kudus fairly early. But we ve bought a cb from the J league with a chronic foot injury! We permenantly signed Tel , who has shown very little since January. Danso is a good player.
Son has left and needs to be replaced by someone as good as peak Son, not another punt on a youngster.
Levy has been played twice now. He is under a lot of pressure for sure.
Son has left and needs to be replaced by someone as good as peak Son, not another punt on a youngster.
Levy has been played twice now. He is under a lot of pressure for sure.
DubaiSpur
Jack Jull
Rules exist to be broken mate. That's where the Premier League is now - anything blatantly unfair or against the rules is waved through with a wink and a nod, including some outright illegal activity (like Liverpool under Klopp having that strangely consistent on-off spell where they ran like they were on PEDs one year, then crashed the next, with 63% of their squad having asthma in the bargain).
The entire enterprise is setting itself up for a Calciopoli moment - it's exactly the toxic miasma of collusion Serie A was in the 1990s, but on a much, much larger scale.
thfcsteff
Vivian Woodward
It isn't that he can't help himself - I think that's personalizing things to him too much mate.
It's more that the club, as a whole, just is not run the way the clubs we measure ourselves up against are run. It isn't just Levy (though he does play a part in it) - the club is run in a way that would have kept us perfectly competitive in 2005. 2010. Maybe even 2015. But sadly, not in 2025.
And that isn't because of a conscious decision to keep us in the past or anything silly like that - it's that the environment has evolved to such utterly hypercompetitive levels in 2025 that it has left us behind. Decisions that used to work well, no longer do - certainties that once worked for us, now do not exist.
Our peers are now run by literal nation-states, criminal gangsters, ruthless heads of megacorporations with unfathomable billions. They employ hundreds of world-class people to get every edge possible, on and off the pitch, legal and illegal, across every field - medical, legal, financial. To them the concept of haggling for weeks on a few million pounds would seem quaint - they have plans for transfer targets years in advance, and can spend an extra 70m after already dropping 200m like it's nothing.
Against this, our approach is reactive - we still employ many of the same people we did 20 years ago, make decisions the same reactive way, approach negotiations the same cautious and slow way. And the environment around us has changed to make this no longer competitive.
To boil it down to the simplest analogy - 15 years ago if we had a target, we only needed to be worried about one of the big four gazumping us, we otherwise had the pick of the litter, and clubs had little leverage in trying to withstand our negotiating.
Today, most clubs in the top ten could easily gazump us - the old top four, plus Saudi Sportswashing Machine, City, Villa et al. Plus, most of the other 10 clubs also have rich and ruthlessly ambitious owners, so they don't really get pushed around the way they used to, plus they can all employ the best lawyers, statisticians, etc. to get every edge possible.
The Premier League is an utter monstrouserty, that has left us behind. You can rage against this, as I did for years. Or you can accept it as a sad fact, and look for happiness where you can. I'm going to try to keep doing that.
We'll find some other targets. There'll be a team out on the weekend. Life moves on. And maybe one day, these realities will change, either through new ownership, new ways of operating, or some cataclysm that upends the landscape of the league itself.
Until then - que sera, sera.
I think there is a personal element TBH, especially at late stages of deals which are waiting to be dotted and crossed; he LOVES to 'win' something. I am speculating when I say the next bit; it isn't hard to imagine him wanting to 'win' something over Parrish.
And yesm, agreed!
You'll have noticed I'm not angry about it per se (only perhaps myself a bit for believing this would be different)...I remain far happier that Kudus happened (if you'd given me the choice -especially seeing what Frank values- I'd have gone for Kudus every time). Wish we could have them all, but yes, as we'd agree, wish in one hand and brick in the other, see which fills up first. Put it this way, despite this blip in belief, I tend to have to wahs my hands far more with regards to what we do in these situations LOL! Now pass the hand sanitizer!