Did Arsenal do the right thing?

[R9magia]

According to BBC, Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein said the club turned down two £50m offers for Thierry Henry. Had the deal gone through Henry would have replaced Zinedine Zidane as the world's most expensive transfer and Arsenal would have a lot of money right now. ARTICLE (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/5001674.stm)

The question is, did they do the right thing? Yes it's Thierry Henry but it is also £50m we are talking about here. Henry is 29 now and surely does not have too much time left in his prime. Maybe three years at the most. There is no doubt he is the best player in the EPL and probably the greatest player in Arsenal's history but that is a lot of money.

If you were David Dein, what would you have done?

[Bertje]

Right now, Henry is worth a lot more to Arsenal then 50 million.

[benni...]

Wasnt really wrong. Either decision really would have been okay IMO.

[thepundit]

the biggest mistake made with strikers in the Premiership is the Ruud situation. i have no idea how SAF thinks he can replace a guy like that.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Dein is in fairyland with that claim. Barcelona don't need him and Real Madrid need to get their house in order first. With one year left on his contract, there is no way in hell either are stupid enough to make a bid that large. Chelsea perhaps, but not anyone else.

[R9magia]

Dein is in fairyland with that claim. Barcelona don't need him and Real Madrid need to get their house in order first. With one year left on his contract, there is no way in hell either are stupid enough to make a bid that large. Chelsea perhaps, but not anyone else.

Let's say it was true, or that it was a substantial amount of money. Would you sell Henry?

[schafer]

Let's say it was true, or that it was a substantial amount of money. Would you sell Henry?

No, for the simple fact that losing Vieira and Henry within the space of a year would have crippled Arsenal in the short term, and probably have negative long term effects as well. Wenger wouldn't know what to do with all that money, he's made his name (in the transfer market) by getting promising youngsters, and right now, Arsenal doesn't have the supporting cast, IMO, to attract a world class replacement for Henry. With Henry, they can still build using youngsters, but losing him would be devastating.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

What schafer said but depending on the details of the stadium debt. The simple fact is there is no Arsenal without Henry, he is that key.

[pc4th]

If the 50 million pounds transfer is true, Henry didn't do the right thing (financially).

The total cost of getting Henry is $95 mil in transfer fee + $10 mil in salary a year (TODAY)

The total cost of getting Henry 1 year from now when he is on a free is $0 in transfer fee + $10 mil in salary + X in signing-on fee.

If that X in signing on fee is $50 million, Real/Barca would have save $45 million. The downside is that they have to wait 1 year to get Henry.

Henry, on the other hand, would get that $50 million in signing-on fee.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

*screams*

[guado]

If the 50 million pounds transfer is true, Henry didn't do the right thing (financially).

The total cost of getting Henry is $95 mil in transfer fee + $10 mil in salary a year (TODAY)

The total cost of getting Henry 1 year from now when he is on a free is $0 in transfer fee + $10 mil in salary + X in signing-on fee.

If that X in signing on fee is $50 million, Real/Barca would have save $45 million. The downside is that they have to wait 1 year to get Henry.

Henry, on the other hand, would get that $50 million in signing-on fee.


no one cares.

stick to your thread.

i think arsenal would've been able to attract someone by just offering a large sum - they still have other quality players.

but losing henry would've made for a much longer rebuilding process.

[Leto]

blah blah blah

http://www.anatomorphex.com/picts/shatter/FX013_PRINT.jpg

[King-James]

Henry fits so well at Arsenal, and with Wenger. And they need him, with this new stadium, after barely making the CL this time. He's possibly worth more (in terms of how much value he would bring, rather than how much he would get paid) to Arsenal than he would be to any other club.

[R9magia]

I feel compelled to play devils advocate.

Consider this written by Gabrielle Marcotti (football pundit) who was suggesting Milan should sell Shevchenko. The same argument can be made for Arsenal selling Thierry Henry. He compared it to when Juventus sold Zinedine Zidane when he was 29.

"Now, on to your point about Shevchenko. No player is indispensable; everybody has his price. It's a question of simple economics coupled with age: $60 million is an enormous amount of money in the current market. It would be the fourth highest transfer fee ever, behind Zidane to Real Madrid, Hernán Crespo to Lazio and Luis Figo to Real Madrid [ In this case it would be THE highest transfer fee EVER].

But of those three transfers, the most recent dates back to 2001, which gives you some idea of how the market has effectively crashed. The only team spending serious money is Chelsea, thanks to Roman Abramovich. What this means is that $20 million will go a heck of a lot farther today than it did five years ago. Two summers ago, for $60 million, you could have bought, for example, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and had change left over.

You mention Zidane. When he left Juventus he was 29, a year younger than Shevchenko. With Zidane, Real won a European Cup and two Spanish titles. And he is now tied to a long-term contract through 2008, when he'll be 37. Whether that's smart business or not remains to be seen. With the money raised from the sale of Zidane, Juventus bought Lillian Thuram and Gigi Buffon, going on to win four Serie A titles and reaching the final of Champions League. I, for one, would argue Juve got the better deal, at least in terms of trophies won."

With Shevchenko, the argument is even more clear-cut. His transfer fee buys a heck of a lot more today than it did in 2001, when Zidane was sold. More importantly, the skills of strikers decline more rapidly than those of players like Zidane. You want evidence? In the three years before turning 30, Inzaghi scored 38 in 78 matches. In the three following seasons, he notched 13 in 43. There are plenty more examples: Christian Vieri went from 64 goals in 75 games to 29 in 54. Gabriel Batistuta fell from 55 in 91 to 49 in 81. Dennis Bergkamp went from 40 in 86 to 18 in 86. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink went from 70 in 104 to 37 in 102. Need I go on?"

Your thoughts?

[schafer]

I don't think you can look at it in simple economics. As I said before, the identity of Arsenal 2 years ago was Campbell, Vieira, and Henry. Vieira is gone, Campbell is past his best, and Henry is now the identity of Arsenal. You can't compare that to Sheva, b/c (although he's been there a long time) he is not Milan. The only way to compare Arsenal's situation is if a team like Liverpool were to sell Gerrard, and then a year later, lose Carragher. No amount of money can replace what those two players mean to the club. Same with Arsenal.

Another thing is that Henry made his name with Arsenal, (as did Vieira, to some extent) which is why he means more to the club and the club means more to him. In the same way that Henry makes Arsenal, Arsenal made him. (that sounds cheesy, but there's no other way to word it) Bringing in an established star would not have the same effect, no matter how many goals he scored. Not to mention the fact that Arsenal would then have lost 2 captains within the space of a year.

[mak9]

fyi....barca turned out a 60 million offer from chelsea in 2004 for ronaldinho...do you think barca did the right thing?

[R9magia]

fyi....barca turned out a 60 million offer from chelsea in 2004 for ronaldinho...do you think barca did the right thing?

A) Ronaldinho is still 26 while Henry is 29. Ronaldinho has more time left in his prime

B) Henry is not Ronaldinho

[Shen-O]

With 50 million, they could've bought Kompany, Yaya Toure, Torres, and Ribery.

As much as I'd like all those players to join, I'd rather have Henry.

[Teso Dos Bichos]

So you are happy being a one-man team?

[Toon³]

So you are happy being a one-man team?

Are you?