Beckham for Ljungberg?

[martymarts]

While the voting for a new president at the Bernabeu throws Becks' future into doubt, I wonder if the real, not Real, force behind the rumours is Posh? She's a born Londoner and, while you have to feel sympathy for a man whose wife refuses to move to the country where he's plying his trade, the price of holding onto his kids and his marriage could be a return to the capital; which means Chelski or us? (It's funny last year I posted a tongue cheek thread suggesting that after 2 seasons he'd be back in England playing for us; could be less!).

I've never been a big Beckham fan, but, he has added a solid defensive side to his game, since moving to Spain, and he does have a very sweet right foot! Freddie has played well in spells, but has not been totally convincing this year. Now that we have the prospect of Reyes making Freddie style runs into the box, from a forwards position, it will be less important to have a right midfielder who does that job, which opens the door for someone like Beckham, especially with the end of DB10's incisive passing on the horizon.

Our back 4 is sorted, with the addition of some quality coverage, and a front pairing of TH14 and JAR is going to scare the crap out of every defence in 04/05. The prospect of a midfield of Beckham, Vieira, Edu and Pires would mean diapers all round!

The acquisition of the England Captain could take the balance of the team to another dimension and as a side benefit the Brits amongst us would enjoy the prestiege.

Rumours of FL8 to Madrid have been around for a while. His media profile is right. He'd draw media attention, but, not the circus that surrounds Becks! I'm thinking £20m plus Freddie would do it and even giving him his slice the merchandising spin-off should cover the fee? It would also massively impact our penetration of the asian fan market and, as we all know, money means success?

I think we should pursue this deal vigorously what about y'all?

[AllAboutHenry]

Could we handle Beckham's wages???

Doubtful...

[markh852004]

While the voting for a new president at the Bernabeu throws Becks' future into doubt, I wonder if the real, not Real, force behind the rumours is Posh? She's a born Londoner and, while you have to feel sympathy for a man whose wife refuses to move to the country where he's plying his trade, the price of holding onto his kids and his marriage could be a return to the capital; which means Chelski or us? (It's funny last year I posted a tongue cheek thread suggesting that after 2 seasons he'd be back in England playing for us; could be less!).

I've never been a big Beckham fan, but, he has added a solid defensive side to his game, since moving to Spain, and he does have a very sweet right foot! Freddie has played well in spells, but has not been totally convincing this year. Now that we have the prospect of Reyes making Freddie style runs into the box, from a forwards position, it will be less important to have a right midfielder who does that job, which opens the door for someone like Beckham, especially with the end of DB10's incisive passing on the horizon.

Our back 4 is sorted, with the addition of some quality coverage, and a front pairing of TH14 and JAR is going to scare the crap out of every defence in 04/05. The prospect of a midfield of Beckham, Vieira, Edu and Pires would mean diapers all round!

The acquisition of the England Captain could take the balance of the team to another dimension and as a side benefit the Brits amongst us would enjoy the prestiege.

Rumours of FL8 to Madrid have been around for a while. His media profile is right. He'd draw media attention, but, not the circus that surrounds Becks! I'm thinking £20m plus Freddie would do it and even giving him his slice the merchandising spin-off should cover the fee? It would also massively impact our penetration of the asian fan market and, as we all know, money means success?

I think we should pursue this deal vigorously what about y'all?

Beckham has always had a great defensive side to his game, wen he played for us he was all over the pitch, defending and attacking superbly. No offense but i dont think he will got arsenal. If he comes back to the premiership (which i dont think he is this summer) he will go to chelsea because like the above guy sed, Ambramovich (or howeva ya speel it) would b the only one capable of paying becks wages!

[jegerpenge]

a year ago i wouldn't have wanted him because of his lack of defensiveness and for his superstar ego. now he's taken care of one of his footballing, do you think even arsène could handle that kind of an ego?

[nicephoras]

Hehehehe. This whole thread is moot. If Real go for a winger, it will be Joaquin. Not that they even need once, since they already have Figo.
If Beckham goes to England, Chelsea would be the clear destination, since we've been looking for a right winger for some time. Its a perfect match, in many respects.

[phishy]

and why would we WANT him again?? oh to sell shirts...

[mixmastermatt]

nicephoras have you been living under a stone for quite a long period of time - its a very well known fact real want freddie!

[michaec]

I got an email reporting this yesterday from a mate. It had a link to some website saying it would be Fred + £10m. Deleted the mail though.

It would give us better delivery on set-pieces and better defensive play on the right.

Nicephoras, why would he want to go to the second best team in England (or even third the way your form has dipped) when he could go to the first? He has plenty of money and I would have thought that the chance to play alongside Vieira and Henry rather than Lampard and Crespo (I picked Crespo, but sub Hasselbaink, Gudjonssen, Mutu or whoever if you like) is more appealing?

If Real really want Ljungberg it could be a goer, although I'll be sad to see Fred go.

[Rick B]

I got an email reporting this yesterday from a mate. It had a link to some website saying it would be Fred + £10m. Deleted the mail though.

It would give us better delivery on set-pieces and better defensive play on the right.

Nicephoras, why would he want to go to the second best team in England (or even third the way your form has dipped) when he could go to the first? He has plenty of money and I would have thought that the chance to play alongside Vieira and Henry rather than Lampard and Crespo (I picked Crespo, but sub Hasselbaink, Gudjonssen, Mutu or whoever if you like) is more appealing?

If Real really want Ljungberg it could be a goer, although I'll be sad to see Fred go.

I have heard that Real are interested in Freddy, and a figure of £12M has been banded about. If we can do something with regards Beckham that would be fantastic. I don't think the money side would be an issue. Because Nike gave us £50 M upfront with regards to the shirt deal, plus the money from winning the League, T.V. Money and probably about £5M from sales this summer (Jeffers and Pennant), I think we will have about £25 Million to spend on transfer fee's. With regards to the wage bill, well we are going to be taking Wiltord and Kanu off it who we have already replaced and with Jeffers, Pennant and Gio not being paid by the club anymore I extimate about £180,000 less a week being paid out. Obviously we will not only bring in just one player, but Wenger will most likely bring in players who won't command a huge wage. Therefore being able to spend the majority of it on someone like Beckham.

The point made about whether he would prefer Arsenal to Chelsea is important. Yes he would be offered bigger wages at Chelsea, but I think if he had the choice between the two clubs, he would come to Arsenal. He wants a strong team spirit and has always looked for a manager that is stable. When it looked like Sven was going to Chelsea, then yes, Beckham would of gone there, but now....... I don't think so. And Phishy who asked why would we want him??? Please tell me that was sarcasm. He's the best right midfielder in the world at the moment.

[afgrijselijkheid]

oh if that wouldn't just tear the ass out of manU supporters!

waiting for a photoshop job of beckham in the o2 :D

[ZZ10]

Beckham no way - let's get Ludovic Giuly a far better footballer.

[phishy]

And Phishy who asked why would we want him??? Please tell me that was sarcasm. He's the best right midfielder in the world at the moment.

was total sarcasm!! would be a fantastic addition to a seemingly problem area.. isn't he playing in the middle at Real? spoze he'd be willing to move back to the right regardless~
sorry freddie~

[yossarian]

Don't get me wrong, I think Beckham is a very good player but does anyone think that Wenger might not want someone in the squad who has his own cult of personality? Henry is wildly popular but Beckham takes popularity, paparazzi, tabloid rumours to a whole different level. It would certainly be something to think about especially considering what a tight squad the Gunners have right now.

[michaec]

Beckham does have the whole media circus surrounding him, but I haven't seen it affecting him on the pitch. He always looks one hundred percent committed to the cause, be it Man Utd, real or England.

The Giuly option interests me as well. He's looked a fantastic player in Monaco's run to the Champions League semi-finals and we wouldn't lose any of Fred's goalscoring threat by the looks of it.

[phishy]

The Giuly option interests me as well. He's looked a fantastic player in Monaco's run to the Champions League semi-finals and we wouldn't lose any of Fred's goalscoring threat by the looks of it.


Isn't Monaco going to have a firesale in the summer? for some reason i remember hearing they were in massive debt, but perhaps a CL final win would ease that pain~ I would love to have Giuly in the side as well, he is very quick, makes good runs (a la freddie), and has a soft touch w/his passing...
have no clue what the market is on him tho...

[jegerpenge]

they're actually bankrupt. they were threatned with relegation at the end of last season because of their money problems. that's the reason i want them to win. they would do it with absolutely no money and then laugh all the way to the bank. i think we should buy beckham, figure out the lowest wage he will accept, then figure out if that will give us a profit on his shirt sales, and then turn him lose in the reserves. that's just me being evil though. he's played on the two clubs i hate the most

[yossarian]

Beckham does have the whole media circus surrounding him, but I haven't seen it affecting him on the pitch. He always looks one hundred percent committed to the cause, be it Man Utd, real or England.

The Giuly option interests me as well. He's looked a fantastic player in Monaco's run to the Champions League semi-finals and we wouldn't lose any of Fred's goalscoring threat by the looks of it.

I agree that Beckham seems to do a great job of blocking out all the extraneous crap when he is on the pitch. I just wonder if it might affect others.

As for Giuly....he looked great on Tuesday but I thought he was more of a striker rather than a winger. Please correct me if I'm mistaken on that. If he is a striker though, does anyone think that Reyes could play on the right if Freddie leaves? Kind of the mirror image of Super Rob, i.e., he's left footed but plays on the right and cuts into the middle from that position. This might also remedy the problem some people think he has of playing in Henry's way at times (for the record I think that is probably more the result of still being new to the squad). Anyway...just thinking out loud.

[jegerpenge]

i would like to see reyes on the right. that was where he played in the mauling of real madrid and it's also where he scored from for his super goal against chelsea. i don't know why he hasn't been tried out there yet

[VaVaVoom]

i would like to see reyes on the right. that was where he played in the mauling of real madrid and it's also where he scored from for his super goal against chelsea. i don't know why he hasn't been tried out there yet

I think Wenger's intention in purchasing Reyes was to replace Bergkamp (playing up front vs. wing). If you watch where on the pitch Dennis has freedom to move, it's that withdrawn striker position and out to the right wing. He hardly ever goes on the left side of the pitch (staying out of the way of Henry, Pires & Cole). Every so often, he'll play the right wing after a late substitute. Also, he's never been that out-and-out striker/goal scorer, but more of a playmaker. I think this is exactly what we'll see from Reyes once he gets settled in the squad, but right now, his natural instincts are to drift toward the left.

As for Giuly, he reminds me very much of Freddie (small, quick, more attacker than winger). He's had a great season, but I doubt Monaco will be selling their captain unless Giuly wants out. I've got to think that Monaco's finances should be fine for next year as there is no way that they could have budgeted that they'd go this far in the CL (so all that added revenue -- probably $20m -- is a bonus).

[AjaxGunner]

I agree that Beckham seems to do a great job of blocking out all the extraneous crap when he is on the pitch. I just wonder if it might affect others.

As for Giuly....he looked great on Tuesday but I thought he was more of a striker rather than a winger. Please correct me if I'm mistaken on that. If he is a striker though, does anyone think that Reyes could play on the right if Freddie leaves? Kind of the mirror image of Super Rob, i.e., he's left footed but plays on the right and cuts into the middle from that position. This might also remedy the problem some people think he has of playing in Henry's way at times (for the record I think that is probably more the result of still being new to the squad). Anyway...just thinking out loud.

I agree with VaVaVoom on AW's thinking with Reyes - not that I agree with AW, but then how can I not. It's just going to take some time for them to develop that understanding and turn into a deadly racemic combination. I think we've already seen bits and pieces of it.

From my understanding and viewing, Giuly was primarily a right winger last season, like a mating of Freddie and Steed Malbranque, but able to cross as well (what a package!). He was forced into a more forward attacking role early this year when Shabani Nonda went down and has done very well there.