Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Amos 
Date:Saturday July 4 2009
Time: 4:55PM
UK time is: 22:47:49
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Arsenal have bid for Melo
A statement by Fiorentina Director Pantaleo Corvino, on the clubs' official website, confirms that Arsenal are the only club so far close to meeting the €25m (£21,5m) release clause in Felipe Melo's contract with the club.
The statement also indicates that Fiorentina wish to make Eboue part of any agreement.
The text of the statement reads:
The Director of Fiorentina, Pantaleo Corvino, denies recent media reports which link the player Felipe Melo to certain other clubs and in any meetings to define the transfer of the player states that:
1st - If the player had already reached an agreement on its behalf with any Club the buy-out clause, determined by the same player at €25 million, does not provide any derogation without the approval of ACF Fiorentina.
2nd -The Director also states that Arsenal FC are the only club close to meeting the figure set for the buy-out clause.
3rd - La Fiorentina, in turn, has proposed that the clubs reduce the amount of clause by entering into negotiations for Eboue the right midfielder.
Interesting times but I am always suspicious of clubs who make transfer discussions public before any agreement has been finalised. If they intend the transaction to go through why not wait until some sort of conclusion has been reached.
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Your Comments
Long way from happening in my view. 1. 21 mil for a guy no one was talking about last year seems excessive for Arsenal considering we usually dont pay more than 12 usually for anyone. Would Eboue agree to the switch, his agent claimed he would only go to a 'big club' Juve, Inter or AC Milan. Whether CL football for fiorentina matches his erm ambition who knows. 3. Will Wenger want to let go an all round squad player and back up RB he calls the passmaster go. Say we agree to all of the above, how much is Eboue realistically worth? 7-10 mil?
paul_ownz
Eboue was never called the pass master by anyone other than the Arsenal website editors, lets get that one cleared up. And if Eboue is worth 7mil, then we are only paying 14-15 million (if figures were that simple) so it is hardly major money. And would Eboue go? If he was given a first team place, I guess so. He seems like a nice guy, even if his agent isnt. Eboue would be the least complicated issue I reckon.
Tom14
It's probably a ploy by la Viola to get Juve to up their offer, but if there is any truth to it, we'd be losing a very valuable squad member- nobody else can cover right back and right mid, and I thought Eboue was more effective than Walcott on the right in the latter stages of last season. But would Eboue be happy as a squad player, which would certainly be the case unless Walcott moves inside.
elbondo
I was taking the pi88 with the passmaster comment. And you say its hardly major money, but if reprots are to believed that we didnt get Alonso for 14 mill because we didnt pay an extra 200k or whatever it was then i wouldnt be so sure
paul_ownz
Its really important for arsenal to get a defensive midfielder,since flamini u haven't really had anyone who could trully slot in and melo could just be the man giving fabregas further license to bomb forward.
abmtd
Plus he is only 25 if I'm not wrong and looking at the cards dished out against him it shows he is pretty aggressive which is again something that your team requires but the big question is will Mr.Arsene Wenger shell out?
abmtd
ive only seen the statement on this website...
http://www.fiorentina.it/notizia.asp?IDNotizia=74158
this isnt their official website and i cant find it anythere on there
D4NNYT
That's not true abmtd, Denilson was truly awesome last season, he is just a bit too raw. And paul, Alonso was not even a target at any point, he was an inch away from joining Juventus.
Tom14
Just browsing the Fiorentina forum, and a lot of fans have been saying that he's over-rated and would be delighted to let him go for Eboue and some cash, but from what I've seen of him in the Confederations Cup and the one game I saw of Fiorentina last season, he looked very impressive. Does anyone have a more reliable view on his quality?
ArsenalRob
He didn't look that good in the latter stages of the Confederations Cup, but if Wenger does want to pay big money for him then I have no doubts about his quality.
gunnerkid107
ArsenalRob - Any fans saying they'd love to sell Melo and get Eboue at the club clearly aren't dealing with a full deck. lol. I reckon there is some credibility to this, there has been a whole lot of contracts being sorted out that its not beyond the realms of possibility that Gazidis is getting everything out of the way at once so he can go sit on a beach for a day or too.
Rocky7
I would expect it to appen purely because arsena want it to happen. If we have contacted them over Melo, that means we want him. And 15-18 plus Eboue is a good deal in my book. But he did look poor in the Confederations cup.
Tom14
Tom14, have you seen any games outside the Confed. Cup he's featured in?
ArsenalRob
You say 15-18 plus eboue is a good deal. Lets assume Eboue is valued 7, then you are saying 25 mil for Melo is a good deal. When you consider that Etoo is valued at 25, Benzema went for 30, Arshavin was bought for 15, Diego was bought by juve for 23, how Melo a player who has achieved nothing and unheard by all of us prior to january can be considered a good deal, i dont know. Im not saying i dont want him, but i think the price for him should be no more than 10-12 mil.
paul_ownz
Paul - I'd say that the player Melo appears to be would be the last piece of our puzzle for this summer at least (though we should expect the traditional signing of a couple of unheard of's), so I really don't mind if we're paying a little over the odds for him, in fact it would make a nice change. Wenger seems to be working very hard to get ***** sorted early this season, there has been change in the air since Gazidis and AA arrive .... and it's breeding confindence all around the club. I haven't been this excited in years for the start of a new season.
Rocky7
Arsenal paying that much?!?! Has Arshavin changed the wisdom at your club? :0)
JT_daniel
Really Rocky. Are you telling me you were not more excited last season after signing Ramsey & Silvestre
paul_ownz
As moist as the Silvestre signing got me ... I'd have to say no!
Rocky7
paul, I have only seen the good highlights of his game vs Juve on youtube other than his Confederations Cup matches (I only watch foreign matches if we are linked with a player, but his link was after the season you see) but he has been poor whenever I have watched him live on TV (four games)
Tom14
Yeah, i dont know if he is the answer. But if Wenger is willing to spend large amounts of money on him then he must be worth it.
paul_ownz
paul_ownz, I hope you're right but... Reyes? (Not to mention Franny Jeffers).
ArsenalRob
did anyone read the mirror today. milan to offer 20 million plus Flamini. how i'd love tat to happen..
luckys_10
I dont think wenger would ever do that after all flamini left us to go to the 'biggest club in the world' and it hasn't worked out for him so he feels like he can just fall back on us. After all we're not spuds
gunner24
This is just Fiorentina trying to curry more interest from other clubs. There's no way we'd be bidding that sort of cash. Tom - Alonso was a target, Wenger nigh on said so, and ''And if Eboue is worth 7mil, then we are only paying 14-15 million'' - no we wouldn't? We'd still be paying c21m but including Eboue in that figure.
shewore
We would pay 15 million and Eboue, not 21 mil. That is simple maths. And Alonso was not ever going to be signed, he was off to Juve. The most I would think of it was a sweetener to fans - look, I tried.
Tom14
Eboue is still equal to cash in the bank. Say we sold Eboue to Juve for 7 million and 2 weeks later we bought Melo for 21 Million using that 7 million to help pay for him. We would still be paying 21 mil for him. Its like saying we only spent 1 million on Nasri because we got 12 for Hleb.
paul_ownz
I think you'll find that Juve had already pulled out of a deal for Alonso before we put in a bid last season. We know that we put in a late bid because Benitez had confirmed that discussions were going on between us and Rick Parry. The deal last season probably failed for both Juve and us for the same reason it's held up now. What Liverpool want for him and a hefty sell on clause in favour of Real Sociedad which expires the middle of this month.
Amos.
ebouse 7 mil come on guys he aint 1 million ye make me laugh, gunner24 ye aint spuds, how sad are you, made a profit on king keano for sake of 6 months, defoe never wanted to leave back where he belongs an chimbo just back up never played, an ye could use a player like flamy, crying out but hey in wneger we trust 4 years..........an looks like cesc is gettin fed up to.
123spurs
Ye back with all ye wisdom 123spud? Why do ye feel ye need to defend ye transfer policy here - on an Arsenal site? Is it just because ye have spent mega money for oh so long and yet ye know ye are still crap?
Amos.
Ye boi ^!!!
sunaadh
Lets see how wise Spurs are in the transfer market(8m+). Bentley 17m, Bent 16.5m, Modric 16.5m, Keane return 16m, Defoe 15m, Pavlyuchenko 14m, Palacios 12m, Rebrov 11m, Berbatov 11m, Bale 10m, Hutton 9m, Dos Santos 8.6m, Corluka 8.5m, Zokora 8.2m, Kaboul 8.2m. With the exception of Rebrov thats a cool 170m spent since in 3 years. Out of those how many have been successes. You spend like a European Powerhouse but perform way below
paul_ownz
Tom - quite simple really, glad it's now been articulated for you. Amos - excellent point re the sell on clause to Sociedad, be interesting to see what happens with him and liverpool's valuation when that expires.
shewore
paul get ur numbers right for once, keane was not bought back for 16, bent was not 16, bale was not 10 santos was not 8.6, defoe was not bought back for 15, yes we may have spent less then that but we make up the numbers in sales, an we are not n debt,
123spurs
Well back it up with figures then 123spurs - I'd struggle to get past the comedy of forking all that out for David Bentley thought to be fair,
shewore
yes i agree it was ott, but didnt work out for him with lennon playing so well, etc got one goal of the season, henry an pires didnt have best 1st season
123spurs
There are better arguments than attacking our transfers of the last however many years, especially from a Tottenham fan - pretty laughable really. Bye now.
shewore
Check out Henry's first season - 26 goals mate.
Tom14
123 Spurs i am going by this list http://www.mehstg.com/transfers.htm Which is a spurs website & details all your transfers of the last 100 years. I cant be fairer than that. If you have a more accurate list then share it with me
paul_ownz
Hey guys this Melo Ebue deal looks too good to be true. Can ny one confirm it
phreddy
yes paul bet u missed this part (all figures are estimated fees as details are not generally announced, now i cant be fairer then that
123spurs
123Spud, I think the point is, structured debt or no debt, Arsenal (sadly) spend within their means, have a plan and are in the process of offsetting the equity within Highbury Sq against their debt. Spurs spend (Levy's) money like a dying man in a whorehouse. You don't generate *that* much cash in season tickets, corporate sponsorship or selling 4,000 kak-brown replica shirts to your fanbase. The money for these 'transfer disasters' comes out of Levy's/ENIC's pockets and you have the usual (this will be our year) ****-all to show for it. As said before - you waste money like the big boys, buy as many bent goods as you can, and still get nowhere.
Englishman-in-NY
an what have ye got to show, 4 years not even close to winning anything, i think ye do have money to spend but in wenger he just likes kids, we spend alot an we bring in alot, for aso called top club ye say ye have no chance of winning prem league or CL
123spurs
you know it amazes me, the depth that these spuds would go to point a finger in our eyes without even looking at themselves. Is the finals, quarter finals and semi-finals of the Champions league not better than anything spuds did over the past 49 years. Spuds hv forgotten they last won the league 60/61 and thus should show some respect.
phreddy
Fiorentin are apparently in negotiations! Who will this guy replace?
JT_daniel
If he did come in he'd probably slot in ahead of Denilson in the pecking order
shewore
I can see this deal happening. Gilberto advised Melo to join Arsenal whilst on Confederations Cup duty. If Eboue agrees to the switch, which I think he will, I will gladly pay for his plane ticket and take him to the airport.
Cockney Rich
123 - When you win something meaningful in the colour tv era, come back. When you get to use your passport to follow your team abroad every season (as opposed to largin' it in Tenerife), come back. In the meantime please keep attending spelling classes, you've a long way to go - there are illegal immigrant Mexicans here with a better grasp of the language than you do. Here's a tip, see the dotted red line under every other word you write - it's the spell checker reminding you why you support Spurs.
Englishman-in-NY
According to Sky Sports Italia, Elbondo was right! Juve are being reported to have snapped him up.
tuscan3000
get with da times ur still in stone age , ever hear of sms prob not
123spurs
tuscan3000, old news. It was a misunderstanding, the Fiorentina president already cleared that up, saying that Juve had made an offer, although I don't doubt their interest, or rule out him eventually going there.
ArsenalRob
Does anyone know if arsenal is still interested in Edin Dzeko
phreddy
EZNA 123 IZ dan w/ da lingo blud.
shewore
He has signed a new deal with Wolfsburg. On top of that AC Milan ended negotiations with them because Wolfsburg were unwilling to sell even though Dzeko wanted to join the team he supported as a youngster. If they could not get him then we have no chance.
paul_ownz
Melo is on his way to Juve but I think AW has someone else up his sleeve
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