Some of the posts on here are astonishing, given Wenger's track record. Someone complained that signing 'nobodies' will harm Arsenal. I could give you a squad of 'nobodies' Arsene has signed since 1996 who have won medals galore with him.
1) His stats are amazing. The fact that he is playing in the Croatian league is the only thing that limits the impressiveness of his accomplishments. However scoring more than a goal every 2 games for a normally defensive minded Croatian squad is pretty darned good as well. 2. No one knows how much we paid. I find it very unlikely that we paid the same as we received for Henry if for not other reason than it would look very bad. 3. Of the players you've mentioned the only one I would want is Tevez. If you prefer that your team acquire a lot of "proven" players perhaps you would be happier with Real Madrid or Inter Milan.
An interesting tidbit in the times... apparently the oddsmakers have installed a 20:1 line on Dudu being top scorer in the Premiership next season... (to compare recent transfers... Darren "slightly above average" Bent is listed at 18:1) Those odds place him as being the 10th leading scorer next year... that would be a fantastic return on our signing him... anything over 15 goals and I'll be over the moon in ecstasy... would replace Henry's (injury-plagued) contribution to us last year http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/betting/article2016888.ece of course this has fcuk all to do with how well they will play, but I found it amusing that within 6 hours of an announced signing, you can already bet on his performance
The transfer was undisclosed... so likely will not have an official announcement. Speculation runs anywhere from 8-16 million pounds, depending on who you believe. Dinamo president says he "thinks" it was around 16 million, skysports says around 8-10 according to their "sources" last I checked.
It's not common to have unannounced transfer fees, but Arsene has had more than his sharer. For example, we still don't know how much we paid for Traore, or for Flamini necessarily.
Just one thing to the guys that are shiting on Eduardo... U should be happy to sing a player like him, he is a real class and we are sad that he left us... All best to Eduardo and don`t forget where you from...dinamo Zagreb =24= forever!!! BBB.:d:.
Great Another undisclosed Dinamo transfer. I bet this was the condition our club mafia set in return for letting him go.
To be fair, I did just read somewhere else we paid around £8mil, which isn't nearly as bad. I agree though about Tevez. All I'm saying is that we're always linked with big names but we never get em! And after selling the best Striker we've ever had, I thought we'd get a replacement that would excite the fans?! To try and close the gap between Chelsea/United and us/Liverpool, Liverpool have this week gone all out to get Torres and fair play to them. I just wish we'd show some more ambition. Why not try and get Tevez for £20mil? - We've sold Henry (16m) and Reyes is off too. I just think with a 'big name' signing, players like Cesc would come out and show approval. Otherwise he'll be off, where proven players can become his team-mates: ie. Real Madrid or Inter. Henry got fed up and so will he. I have learnt never to doubt Wenger, but I must say this time, I'm a little disappointed. I really hope Eduardo is awesome, of course i do. But at the moment, I'd rather have kept a 30 year old Henry than bought a 24 year old Eduardo. Just an opinion........!
I have read the whole 14 pages of this topic and have this to say. Listen to santana. He has been giving you top info. I agree 100%. - He is right Da Silva isn`t a poacher in the classical sence (even if he will punish defences for bludners and so on). He is just a striker that will nearly always finish his chances and slot the ball in. He acttually started out as a left winger but was moved to striker once his knack for goal was discovered. He also had 10 assists to his name in the league alone this season which isn`t what your everyday poacher. -He is right the president of Dinamo is an old senile man that doesn`t know where his head is growing from, he doesn`t have a clue, his quotes on fees don`t mean anything. He is just a puppet of Zdravko Mamic the executive vice-president who acttually runs the club. (And who btw is a crook and a huge peasant with no manners that has recently said most sport journalists bathe once a month, so don`t take his words as gold either.) Also guys, try not to reject him out of hand as a `nobody`. It is offensive. Just because you haven`t heard about him doesn`t mean he is a nobody. He is a household name in Croatia. Most people in Croatia have never heard of Freddy Addu, Bent, Collauti or Jó either, but wouldn`t be quick to proclaim them nobodies out of hand. And BTW, if you need to shorten the name of NK Dinamo Zagreb it`s better to shorten it to "Dinamo" and not "Zagreb". Zagreb is a different club.
thank you eduardo, show them how croats play football, and please come back someday! I' miss you! remember: bad blue boys and dinamo zagreb forever with you! arsenal fans don't hate eduardo or we will kick some english ass's! DINAMO ZAGREB UBER ALLES
I lmao when I read this on SS. After all the names we talked about, Arsene doesnt change his transfer policy...out of no where with an un-cut/un-polished diamond (hopefully)! You gotta love Arsene
I understand your point, and I agree with some of it, particularly the concern that some of our marquee players may leave if we don't obtain any more marquee players, but Wenger has never been one to splash on big names, he usually finds the hidden talents that others overlook, and develops them into big names. I'm sure a big name would be good for the image of the club, but not necessarily for the actual quality of football that we play. I would have loved to have Tevez, but realistically, it was never going to happen... have we ever won a bidding duel against any of the other top 4 teams for a player? Also, the Torres thing, I wager that Dudu will equal Torres in terms of production in the EPL, they are both proven internationals, and score at a fantastic rate. One is just much more highly regarded because he plays in one of the top 3 leagues... the technique and finishing ability of a player is visible regardless of what league they play in... and as has been proven time and again... WENGER KNOWS Also, keeping Henry would have been useful, but he didn't want to play for us anymore, and having a player that does not want to play is rather pointless. His wage bill was also monstrous, and offloading that was probably enough for most of the transfer fee to sign Dudu. PS I just noticed that bbc has changed its article to say that "Dinamo president Mirko Barisic claims the fee amounts to £16.25m but BBC Sport understands it is around £7.5m." whereas beforehand they only mentioned the 16 million figure
lol i no really. We never have won a bidding war, Eduardo probably will score as many as Torres anyway. I dunno, after Henry left, i thought we'd really buy some class/experience/high quality. Eduardo may become that, he may already be that. I'm just struggling to see how he can be Henry's replacement?! Time will tell.................
It is wholly unreasonable to expect ANYONE to be Henry's replacement. However I will be very happy with anyone who exceeds Henry's production from last year.
I'm pretty sure the fee is undisclosed for now. 16.5 seems like way too much and people are saying that the president said that he's worth 16.5 million since he's "replacing" Henry.
BBC is now reporting 7.5 million, which is a good price for a promising young talent. I don't think anyone should complain at 7.5, quality signing at a position of need, that could REALLY payoff. Remember, he's doing it at the international level as well. He seems a natural poacher, nobody can claim we don't need that.
Okay, I've watched the footage and safely assume he'll at least prove worth the speculated £8M fee and ably fill in as opposed to Anelka, Martins or Owen. My questions now: - How well will he play in the wider, mostly left-side role Henry thrived in? Will this require any shuffling of the front line in terms of width, spacing, etc.? - In lieu of the above, does this increase the need for additional midfield depth? Personally I think Freddie will at least be better this upcoming season, and might even be a decent sub as a striker. But even as I renew my "Arsene knows" chants I'm curious how da Silva's overall style will impact the Arsenal formula. - Dudu? Please tell me that we'll have something else to officially go by? We already have Doodu and Kaka on the global scene but at least I don't have to feature them in my conversations regularly!
But Henry's gone, so we HAVE to replace him, whether that is unreasonable or not. I just thought we'd buy bigger, thats all And why do people slate Henry's record last year? 10 goals in 17 Prem apps? I thought that was OK, for an injured player....? ah well...............
My first post on the subject, I know y'all been waiting for this The fee. £8m, we’ve spent more money on a lot worse. My main gripe at the moment is this. Why does everyone always compare other players? What is the POINT of comparing Tevez with this dude(oo - sorry, had to be done)? Or comparing Martins, Eto’o, or even Henry? Eduardo is EDUARDO, nobody else. AW has obviously watched him for a long time and believes that he will fit in well here. I for one have faith in him. Tevez is not coming, get over it. What would the Tevez lovers do if we signed him, and he decided he wanted to piss off when Inter or Real come in for him next season? We would be back at square one. I always said, I would rather have players who want to play for the team, and love playing for Arsenal, than big names. Arsenal never buy big names. Never, never, never. Someone said it earlier, you don’t buy BIG players, you buy GOOD ones. Dudu is a good player, anyone who saw more than three of his games (the two Arsenal matches and the England-Croatia match) will know that he is an excellent asset. What makes me laugh even more is that people slated AW when he buys anyone who isn't a household name. When are these people going to WISE UP and learn that the man has made very few mistakes in the transfer market? Somebody name me a manager who never bought a dud in a long stint at a club? Eduardo is 24. He is maturing. He has some work to do, but who IS the finished article in World Football at the moment? Players like Kaka, Gerrard and the “jump ship skipper” said it over and over, the day you think you’ve reached your peak is the day you quit football, because you can always improve. Eduardo clearly accepts that being at Arsenal will make him a better player, so give him a chance rather than acting like spoilt brats, throwing your toys out the pram and saying “I want Tevez!” For ******** sake people, have some belief in Wenger, have some belief in Dudu, and have some belief that we will do big things in the future! Because if you don’t, you’re one of those bandwagon fans who supports “Thierry Henry FC”, not The Arsenal. Sorry for the long post…here’s a funny thought: DUDU and #2