Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Rocky7 
Date:Tuesday May 6 2008
Time: 10:12AM
UK time is: 17:26:27
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
A Rose By Any Other Name Is Still A Rose
It doesn't matter whether it's a meeting in a roadside hotel, ice cream in an Italian cafe or issuing statements via the press .... it's still tapping up.
After suffering some of the more blatant tapping up in recent history, Arsenal Football Club have been the victims of tapping up from Inter Milan and now, not entirely surprising, Real Madrid.
Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon says that his interest in Arsenal whizz-kid Cesc Fabregas will only be acted upon should the player request to leave.
'All the coaches love him but my policy is that it must be the player who makes the step to move because we do not want conflicts with any teams," said Calderon to Marca.
"Cesc has something beautiful as he is Spanish and this is one of my goals, to make Real Madrid more Spanish."
Does Calderon really think everyone is stupid enough not to see the transparency of the intent of his statement?
When you consider that Fabregas recently signed a new deal to keep him at Arsenal for a further 8 years, coupled with his recent statement that he loves our club and wants to remain here, then it's plainly obvious what the Real Madrid boys are up to.
Maybe Arsene Wenger should file a second complaint whilst he's reporting Inter Milan?
Seconds Out! Vital Boxing is here!
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.
Join the Vital Fantasy Football League - its Free!
Your Comments
By the looks of it, Madrid wants to buy the whole premier league.
k_chelski
I hate Real Madrid. C-cks.
Moorish
Luckily you can only buy your own contract out when it gets down to 2 years. Meaning Cesc will be with us for another 6. You hear that Cesc, YOUR OURS FOR 6 YEARS.
paul_ownz
Real Madrid really are a team I despise. Ever since they signed Anelka almost 10 years ago now (a player who WANTED to leave) they think they can sign all our best players even though they want to stay and are under long contracts which is out of order to make it public knowledge and even using it in their own presidential elections saying I'm gonna sign Fabregas, Kaka and Ronaldo or who ever! Ridiculous! Btw, Paul if you are quoting from Romeo and Juliet, just thought I'd say the actual line is 'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet', just to be annoying :P
itsup4grabsnow
Fabregas can go to Real... for Marcelo, Higuian, Robinho, Casillas, Snejder and Saviola......... plus 15 Million pounds
stukazufuss
as long as we have the quality of players we have then we are gonna be listening to these kinds of rumours. ignore it.. cesc has already stated on several occasions he is going nowhere. and yes before some spud moron says "TH14 said the same" I will point out that Henry was pushin 30 and lookin at his last big transfer. Cesc is only just 21 and has his whole career ahead of him. we know he probably will look for another challange someday but i dont see it happening for a while yet!
Unwell
I am basically ok with all the rumours around Cesc..its only a testament to his stature and our inability to ARRIVE at a point where we need to be...he wont be going this season tho...hopefully the boss knows that some silverware will be required to keep him happy and will improve the team adequately this summer. I am glad Flamini has gone...the team is bigger than him. i am somewhat hoping Hleb will go too...his return of 3 league goas this season doesnt particularly make him my fav player...and a return of about 11 goals in 3 seasons...IMO Hleb epitomises to good and bad about Arsenal...plenty skill, loads of possesion and no endproduct - GOALS..when he goes we can replace him with a midfielder who can get goals...the Arsenal midfield was pretty bad at scoring goals...Pires/Ljunberg anyone...match winners/goalscorers not just dribblers and entertainers...
number14
gotta agree with ya there number14. is flamini a loss? i would say yes considering we got no cash for him. is it next season over for us before it has began?? i would say no. i think flam did great this year but i think we need someone with a bit more of a physical presence in mid. As for Hleb, hes a great player who can go where he likes when he has the ball at his feet but we dont have any probs gettin the ball to the oppositions goals.. we need someone who will convert these chances or make their own playin in mid. As a player i like Hleb but i feel we can do better.
Unwell
My point exactly...Hleb is perhaps the most skillfull player in the league..but hey , that has never been our problem...out problem this season - bar the porr reffeeing and injuries - was a lack of cutting edge...we cld have won Manu home/away, Lillypool (and the CL) (not to mention a host of other games) if we had just taken HALF our chances...a it is I cant wait for Hleb to go...all this distractive rumors shld soon end and the boss shld buy wisely...IMO we can be great...we waited on Adebayor to score all the goals...i remember when Pires could do up to 12 or more goals a season...and Ljunberg too..thats where we need to be again..
number14
Pity we cant really afford Barry...with Liverpool also in pursuit tho..Flamini IS replaceable..i am positive we can do better
number14
barry is affordable. app we have up to 50-60mill if necessary
daveski
How can you guys complain about being the victims of bigger clubs tapping up your players, when you use every loop hole in the book to obtain (steal) players like Fabregas in the 1st place! What goes around........
Guyver
Guyver - There is no stealing. These players are out of contract and are aqcuired quite legally. Tapping up is a whole different matter.
Rocky7
Rocky7, "These players are out of contract and are aqcuired quite legally" These players NEVER had a full time pro contract in the 1st place due to being too young. Arsenal pounce on young players just as they are old enough to sign their 1st contract, without a penny of compensation going to the club that invested so much time and money on them. Legal...maybe, but using loopholes like this is immoral imo. You couldnt get away with it in this country.
Guyver
Apparantly Wenger also tried to snatch Bojan from Barca almost 2 years ago but his ties with Barca were too strong.
Guyver
guyver do you genuinely believe half of the players who came to arsenal through the youth systems of other clubs would have been given the same chance elsewhere? do you think fabregas would be the player he is today without the wealth of first team experience he has gotten at arsenal? do you think he would have been as big a success at barcelona? he has said himself he was getting nowhere quickly at barce which prompted him to try his luck at arsenal! if a player wants to join arsenal to further their career and be given opportunities then whats wrong with them going elsewhere? i dont think anyone is complaining about the loss of flamini.. the guy was out of contract and made a decision to leave but other clubs openly tapping up established players like Hleb and Fab is wrong.
Unwell
But if their not established its ok? "Do i think Fab would have been a big success at Barca" Is that a trick question? If you look at the amount of players that have progressed through the Barca youth system into the 1st team, I would say Fab had a great chance. They were aware of his talent, everyone was aware of his talent it was no secret, hence Barca were unhappy about losing him for NOTHING. So he say's he left because he wanted 1st team opportunities and you believe him. It was mostly for financial reasons. The amount you are prepared to pay in wages/sign on fees to your youngersters would be appealing to any kid. When you signed him Wenger had no intention of playing him in the 1st team, so it was no different to Barca. It was only due to several injuries that he was given an extended run. Anyway all this is irrelevant, it doesnt excuse Barca not being compensated for a kid they developed. Like I said earlier, you can't do that in this country and theirs a reason for that. Imagine if Inter did that to your kids, (although you currently arnt developing any1 worth stealing) wouldnt you see that as immoral? ps "i dont think anyone is complaining about the loss of flamini" You have an article called thanks Flamini but **** you. HYPOCRISY!
Guyver
"Hypocrist". Another Forumn catch word that people seemed to have latched on to. Sheep
paul_ownz
"Hypocrisy" even
paul_ownz
Guyver - The Flamini article is the opinion of Nick Simmonnet and not the opinion of every Arsenal fan.
Rocky7
Guyver, it is a known fact that Fabregas was being poorly used at Barca. He said he got fed up playing in the reserves and winning 10-0 all the time. He has often said that Barca "rescued" him because Barca had routinely dismissed his value.
jaelle
Rocky7, I doubt Nick Simmonnet is an exception to the rule. Theres nothing wrong with feeling bitter when a player leaves you on a free, especially when you feel the club has contributed to what could be a successful career for the lad. Jaelle, thats not a known fact, thats what Fab would like you to believe. Fab (just like Flamini) left for financial reasons, but neither player is stupid enough to admit that. Its that simple. Money is a very persuasive tool. You could Argue that Flamini is taking a step backwards by joining the declining Milan, but he's getting a big pay rise for his troubles.
Guyver
If i was synical about eveything Guyver i might agree with you.
paul_ownz
*cynical* even.....anyway wrong word, you meant honest, or possibly realistic!
Guyver
No i mean synical, its the way it is spelled on the streets. But my lazy spelling aside, you could question every players motives. Fabregas came to get opportunities. He probably saw Iniesta, Xavi & Deco and realised he would get a better chance at Arsenal. Now he is arguably one of the best midfielders in the world
paul_ownz
who would fabregas have replaced in barca's midfield 4 years ago guyver? my opinion is that fabregas would not be the player he is today without the experience he has gained during his time at arsenal. if he was that much of a sure thing how come milan or madrid or whoever the hell you support didnt move on signing him?? if a youth player has the opportunity of first team football in a top class team i believe they will pick first team football over riding the pine until their time comes.. if ever! are you telling me that cesc was paid 40,000 a week the second he joined arsenal?? i will put my money on him not earning much more if anything more at all at arsenal when compared to what he would have been earning at barca on his first contract! dont see why you are here wagging your finger at how arsenal attract youth and calling me or us hypocrits? perhaps its a touch of jealousy that your own club cannot attract young stars? feel free to read my post again in case i have left any trick questions for you!
Unwell
oh and before i forget.. perhaps i was hasty saying that nobody is complaining about the loss of flamini but the way i see it is, he was a cover while gilberto was playing for brazil and he turned out to be one of our best players this season. im sure that wenger had a plan for the time when gilberto left the club and im pretty sure there is still a plan to cover this. i have no prob with him going and if it was for money then i am glad we found out now rather then later.
Unwell
Sorry Unwell, i didnt know you were so sensitive. Who would he have replaced in the goon midfield 4 years ago? He only got his chance due to injuries. Arsenal rated him more than Barca so were prepared to pay that much more, I don't dispute that. My point is and always has been that Barca and teams in their position should recieve compensation for developing them. I don't see how you can disagree with that. Madrid and Milan develop their own players so don't need to send scouts to another teams training acadamy to pinch the potential before they are old enough to sign a pro contract. I wonder how much Cesc got out of the signing on fee?
Guyver
dont worry about hurting my feeling guyver im sure i will get over your very harsh finger wagging in time! i hope you are as quick to wag your finger when its your team doing things that may not sit well with you. as for who cesc would replace in the arsenal midfield i would have to say patrick vieira as we all know what wengers position is on players who are heading for the 30 mark.
Unwell
Guyver, I'm sorry, you're wrong: it is indeed a known fact that Barca were not using Cesc to his potential, you don't need any quotes from Cesc to know that, all you needed to do at the time was to FOLLOW BARCA and watch for yourself how poorly they used his obvious skills. Barca fans talk about this all the time, you're completely misinformed about this. Barca fans talk all the time about how their club let Cesc slip away precisely because he went unrecognized, they saw this as it happened.
jaelle
Yeah he probably did end up replacing Viera but Wenger didnt think he would replace him so soon. I only came on here to let people know that it's not only other teams that tap up players and that Arsenal are as responsible as any other team for taking advantage when they can get away with it. Double standards maybe. By the way I guess im that moron Spud fan that you were talking about earlier. I save my hardest finger wagging for you goons, call it being slightly biased.
Guyver
Say you were in a company who paid for you to go to Uni, Courses, Training etc while paying you minimal wages, and when you had learned the tricks of the trade you got head hunted and went to another company. Would the company who lost out get compensation? No i dont think so.
paul_ownz
Great comparison there Mr Ownz, but you do realize that football is a unique business and can't really be compared in that way. How about comparing it to football in this country, where the club would be compensated. I believe if you are under 21 the fee is decided by tribunal. Jaelle, I agree with most of what you posted, but thats not my point. Anyway I'm off.
Guyver
atleast we all agree for our hatred towards real madrid.
chelseaforever
I quite like Real Madrid actually. Big club with big ambitions, aparently flam is leaving for those very reasons, and rumour has it, Hleb is on his way out too. Tut, Tut.
YidEdy
The gunners must sign a finnisher
codbater
Barca did receive compensation, that's why they got Gio van Bronckhorst from us for free. Barca sued Fran Merida for £2m and Marseille got compensation from us for Matty Flamini. YidEdy, every single one of Tottenham's half decent players is leaving in the summer......Berbatov.
Little Dutch
Sorry to digress, but I was reading about the Webster Ruling and according to it, any player between 23-28 who is on a 4-5 year contract can buy out the LAST YEAR of his contract. So, how on Earth will Alex Hleb buy out the LAST TWO YEARS of his contract? It surely isn't possible.
arsenalrulz4ever
No true - any player under 28 who has completed his protected period of 3 years (2 years over 28) can terminate his contract IF he is prepared to pay compensation. Hleb has 2 years left of a 5 year contract and will have completed his protected period at the end of this season. However, to buy out his contract he first has to agree the amount of compensation under English Contract Law - think George Michael vs Sony and you then understand that it is not quite as straightforward as it sounds - especially so if the club he subsequently joins has induced him to breach his contract. There are substantial penalties for any club taking the player in that situation.
Amos.
i dont think cesc will ever leave until he is 30, he is very mature, and thus understands that arsenal has a very bright future, but of course he will return to spain, its just in everybody's heart to someday return to their own country to finish their career, he will leave but not anytime soon, not to mention also his undying loyalty to wenger, and wenger's undying loyalty to arsenal.
gooner_till_i_die
Amos - some good legal facts there.. so I guess that is what Wenger meant by "it is not as easy as it looks".. huh?
arsenalrulz4ever
Also, a player needs 'just cause' before invoking article 17, so I'm guessing a player cannot buy out his contract just for the heck of it.
prits
Amos and prits, thanks for the info on the webster rule, interesting stuff. Looks like AW's right that it isn't as easy as it seeems...however, we do have a manager who hates to keep a player who's unhappy and wants to leave. He never forces players to stay if they don't want to. If Hleb wants to leave badly enuf, AW may reluctantly give in. Also, on another matter entirely, last night I was thinking about the Euros and how they may affect our squad. Unfortunately I also remembered that under AW Arsenal have never won the title the season immediately after a world cup or Euro championship. He did win the FA cup the season right after the 2002 wc.
jaelle
On a seperate funny note. Benitez rates Crouch as a 15Mil player. Discuss.
paul_ownz
Crouchy is a top class player, £15 million tho ... i dont think so lol id pay £6-7Mil for him
Achilles
I believe i am a top class player. Arsenal can have me on a free transfer for £1000 a week
paul_ownz
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
Wilshere - More Points Needed From Big Teams (Thursday May 23 2013)
Who Is Your Vital Arsenal Player of the Season? (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 1 (Monday May 20 2013)
VIDEO: Wenger Praises 'Exceptional' Attitude (Monday May 20 2013)
Arsene Wenger, Now Is The Time (Monday May 20 2013)
The Moment That Made It All Worthwhile (Sunday May 19 2013)
Happy St Totteringham's Day To Gooners Everwhere (Sunday May 19 2013)
Team News: Last Game Of The Season (Sunday May 19 2013)
The Squeaky Bum Preview (Friday May 17 2013)
Wenger Confirms Sanogo Deal Almost Done (Friday May 17 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | nikolaijns | 60 |
| 2. | Rocky7 | 53 |
| 3. | Naijagunner | 48 |
| 4. | Wyn Mills | 34 |
| 5. | prits | 21 |
| 6. | flv | 21 |
| 7. | Nwankwo25 | 20 |
| 8. | gunnerkid107 | 19 |
| 9. | No 10 | 16 |
| 10. | julieloveshenry4ever | 16 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Newcastle | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 4 | - | 1 | Wigan |
| Q.P.R. | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 1 | - | 1 | Man Utd |
| Fulham | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 0 | - | 0 | Everton |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1. Man Utd | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 43 | 89 |
| 2. Man City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 78 |
| 3. Chelsea | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 75 |
| 4. Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 35 | 73 |
| 5. Spurs | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 72 |
| 6. Everton | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 63 |
| 7. Liverpool | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 28 | 61 |
Breaking League News
| Rat the Optimist
» West Ham : 23/05/2013 16:47:00
|
| Carroll Make Your Mind Up Son!
» West Ham : 23/05/2013 16:46:00
|
| Carroll Injury Update
» West Ham : 23/05/2013 16:45:00
|
| Brian Greenhoff - RIP
» Man Utd : 23/05/2013 16:43:00
|
| Thiago Bid Imminent?
» Man Utd : 23/05/2013 16:41:00
|
| Rooney - Major PSG Interest
» Man Utd : 23/05/2013 16:40:00
|
| Defender Signed
» Fulham : 23/05/2013 16:39:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|