So, stories abound this morning about Frank Ribery being close to a deal that would take him from Marseilles to Bayern Munich for some 17 million pounds?? Can this be true?? The one player who if you spoke to (or his agent… or his current club… or Mr. Wenger) would tell you that he has been determined to set up a move to the Emirates for almost 2 years now!!?
I’m confused. Weren’t we supposed to be on the look out for “talented players who play the Arsenal style”? Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting for one minute that 17 million is cheap… but by todays standards, with some of the outrageous fees being thrown around, doesn’t HE seem like the perfect fit?
Next thing you know, we will have passed on a 8 million pound deal for some guy called Michael Owen too!!!
27 Responses to “Ribery to Bayern???”
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June 5th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
He seems like a good fit. The money is a bit much for us, but its not KRAZEE money, which is why it probably won’t happen. We need a speedy winger, he’s French, and he’s played with Henry for France. A good fit.
If we could sign both RIBERY and TEVEZ… we’d have the top 2 guys who need dental work!
For the record, I’d take Owen in a heartbeat.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Well,
if there is any substance to Henry’s rumored interest in leaving (odds on favorite would be a move to Barca — and the rumor is particularly troubling considering what Cesc expressed to the media) it isn’t a surprise. Ribery and Henry being close countrymen, and with question marks abound so far as Wenger’s long term status with the team, perhaps Ribery is thinking about playing with Willy Sagnol in a more stable environment. While Arsenal has a bright future with it’s youngsters (at least that is the optimistic view…) there are a lot of red flags flying right now if you are a potential transfer. We’ll see.
Personally, I’d have liked Joey Barton to have received some consideration. He’s got some fire in him, and his personal issues notwithstanding, he can play and wouldn’t cost a bundle — AND he’s an Englishman. That’s one of the problems IMHO with signing all the internationals… they haven’t the sense of loyalty or commitment to the Premiership that they might have for their own domestic leagues.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Don’t know much about Ribery if I have to be honest. The only games I saw him play were the World Cup. He did have a fine performance during the world cup (especially when u consider nobody really stood out during the WC), but so did Rosicky.
And to be honest again, I HEARD of him much more than I actually watched him play. As this is a guy constantly making noise he wanted to leave. Look like someone like to sulk.
Not sure how good he really is. Assumed that he’s really going to make a HUGH impact (should Arsenal sign him), I have a feeling before long he would be crying again to move to a bigger club.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Make no mistake, Ribery is the goods. not only was he a major piston in the engine for France, but he is a tough and much sought footballer at the club level too. Of course he wants to leave OM. The French league, while it has a wealth of talent, strangely isn’t the as big internationally as Serie A, the Premiership, La Liga, or the Bundesliga are. He is a big fish who wants to play in a bigger pond.
I’d take him in a heartbeat if he came calling.
June 5th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I don’t know if I’m turning into Wenger but when I saw the price tag attributed to Ribery my first thought was “screw that”. It was the same with Florent Malouda, also rated at £17 million. Both good players but you would think there are players out there rated at around £6 or £7 mill who could bring a similar level of quality. Look at Seville, they have spent feck all but yet have acquired players on the cheap like Kerzhakov, Adriano, and Fabiano. Their scout must be a genious.
I don’t blame Wenger for letting it slide with these players but if there are no cheaper alternatives he has to bite the bullet and pick one of these players up at some point. Sometimes these players are worth their price tags for the experience and composure they bring. Arsenal have too many niave players who will continue make elementary mistakes next season if players are not brought in to show them the way.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I agree with you, Mazza, Ribery at 17 million is way too high. Although admittedly I’m not too fond of RIbery & haven’t been too impressed with him the times I’ve seen him play.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Experience isn’t quite what you’d get with Ribery. He’s 24 years old and has only just finished his first full season as a starter playing top flight football. Relatively speaking, he does have more experience than Denilson or Diaby, and he brings more to the table than Hleb. I definitely believe he’s an upgrade with regards to the Gunners present midfield, but you’d bring a guy like this to Arsenal as a long term investment, not as a mentor/leader for today. And anyhow, Gilberto fills that role already.
June 5th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Ribery has balls though, and won’t take a backward step just because we’re winning a game or the game is stagnating. That’s what we need, at least with our style of play. As much as I love Gilberto, his cautioness when we try to slow the game down irritates me and nearly always results in a mistake and a chance for the opposition.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Owen would be useless at Arsenal. He likes to play with plenty of space in front of him where he can get behind defences, whereas teams that play Arsenal just defend deep and in numbers, there would be no space for Owen to get into. Technically, he’s not that gifted to score goals out of nothing, most of his goals are the same. I like Tevez very much, but the touted asking price is ridiculous, so forget it.
June 6th, 2007 at 1:35 am
I feel that Ribery would be a good fit at Arsenal, once he adapts to Arsenal’s passing/playing style. I love the way this club plays football because it’s a collective effort that requires a lot of concentration, technique, and anticipation/knowledge of other players’ movement. It’s not easy to play one or two touch football for substantial periods at a time, but Arsenal can do it. Once Ribery has played a few games, he’ll be well on his way. But why are we talkin about this…isn’t almost as good as sold to the Germans? And what about another central midfielder? Perhaps we could get somebody with a lot of experience (maybe even in the twilight of his career) that can offer some guidance to younger players, somebody like Emerson.
Just a few thoughts - bye for now!
June 6th, 2007 at 5:21 am
I first asked about Ribery last February on this site if anyone rated him. I hadn’t seen much footie since being in Iraq for a year and was asking you guys about everybody that looked good. I first saw him play in the French Cup and he totally bossed the game against Lyon. I began looking for Marseille games after that.
I thought he was the heat and we could get him for cheap until he got called up for Les Bleus. Then the World Cup started and we signed Rosicky. My intrest in Ribery began to subside as his price tag went through the roof after the World Cup.
Sure he would provide width but he’s not worth 17 million. If he signs for FC Bayern then he’s a clown anyway. Ribery said he would leave Marseille to play Champions League football. Marseille qualified for the CL next season while Bayern Munchen haven’t. Somebody make sense of that rumor for me.
June 6th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I know we have talked about Ribery a long time here, but I personally don’t rate him very highly….particularly if the price tag is 17 million….
Also, if he is stupid enough to leave a team who have qualified for CL (L’OM) and go to a team who are NOT in the CL (Bayern Munich), then we don’t want him.
Just goes to show you, AGAIN, that money talks….
June 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Personally, I’m quite happy we missed on Ribery. A fine player for sure, but someone who likes to get on the ball, dribble a bit, try to play the killer pass and his goals record is not so good…do we need anotehr player like this to add to Hleb, Rosicky, Fabregas? Even Henry likes to make play for us. I’d much more easily settle for Malouda, a bit quicker, a whole lot less technical, better in tha air, decent goal scoring record..an honest up and down player. Balance-wise I think this is what we need way more than another Hleb.
June 6th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I also like Malouda. We have plenty of very technical and crafty wide players. Freddie, Alex and Thomas are all gifted footballers but I would like to see someone with pace and/or strength to menace defenses. However, I think Malouda will be priced out of our range. I think Theo can provide this option on the wings. But I would like to see Wenger go after a player like Giuly. If he was acquired at the right price, he would be cheaper than the other names mentioned. And he brings experience to the table, as well as a winners mentality. He also wouldn’t have to do double duty for international games. He kind of reminds me of Overmars.
June 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
i think Pirate got a great point - getting Ribery is kinda like getting another Hleb, Rosicky (or Reyes) - good dribbler, not so impressive scoring record. I think we had got enough CREATIVITY. What we need most right now is someone who SCORES goals. Especially if u r going to spend 17 mil on it.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Missed the site…been very busy at work, great to see it back..first of all :). As for Ribery I’m not crying that we missed the bus.Not for 17 million. Arsenal do NOT have 17 million. Not with all the debt that’s lying around.
As for him being technically gifted n stuff he might be a quick player who scored a goal against Spain cutting in from the left wing but beyond that I saw very little which I liked. As usual the media were ga ga’ing just because of a reputation. Yes , I watched most of France’s games coz of Titi and he was good..just about. Malouda and Sagnol were much better as was Abidal.But thats history since he;s gone to Munich.
I thot we’d get Gareth Bale but we didnt and he’s gone to Spurs ..sadly. I havent a clue who we should buy apart from that we need a goal scoring left winger and Henry to stay fit along with RVP for the whole season.We’ll be in business then.
BTW we’ve been linked with Yaya Toure…again …again. After Ribery I think this was the strongest rumour to come out last time and it was a big flop last time as well. We aren’t gonna buy Yaya or anyone…specially since AW just bought Denilson who’s already in the first team.
We might get a striker or another half striker like JAR…thats it. Henry n Cesc r talking primarily to force AW to stay not because they want to leave. They know that AW hates unfinished projects so they are telling him to stay indirectly. Henry or Cesc WILL NOT GO … all the rubbish in the papers is just regurgitated again and again. Pires has opened his mouth again BTW and Myles thinks Malouda is a done deal…just like Sol to Fenerbache , Buffon to Arsenal and the rest.
But just 1 thing….This is a typical Arsene summer…lay low lay low lay low and all of a sudden pull off a signing before anyone even got a sniff. So this is the way Le Boss always does things…and for someone so stubborn I wouldn’t think he would change this summer and buy Eto’O, Buffon and Kaka to the club.
Have patience Gooners….The 2 year wait will be well worth it…if stupid injuries dont happen like last season. Henry Cesc Gallas n all the others will stay and Arsene will(I’m taking a risk) buy someone.Stop looking at what ManU have done and what Chelsea or Liverpool will do. Look at yourself…look at Arsenal…back Arsene back the club irrespective of whether we buy 1 and sell 5 or buy none and sell 7. We’ll be fine…
June 7th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Patience is a hard word to follow. Been doing that for 3 years now. We cant stop looking to what Man U and Chelsea are doing. Mainly because they are our main competitor. We will fall behind if we dont catch up.
June 7th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Don’t look at other teams?
Why not… they are AHEAD of us, and we’re trying to catch them. You don’t do that by standing pat. That makes no sense.
We all back the club, buy tickets, buy kits, spend lots of money on the team, regardless… but we have a right to expect some improvement.
You can say Cesc & Henry won’t go, but you don’t know that for fact. Its all conjecture. We know we have to improve, and the likes of Henry & Gallas, the older players, want TALENT and EXPERIENCE brought in. They are sick of waiting for kids potential. I agree with them. If we go with what we’ve got, we might not have Henry, and that changes the hole equation.
And for you folks that love to say Henry is not above the team, no player is bigger than the team… I haven’t heard too many folks complaining about one CESC FABREGAS, and his repeated comments that he will go when Wenger goes.
So is Wenger bigger than the team? Apparently so, at least for Cesc.
So if Wenger goes, he’s off. He plays for Wenger then, and not for the club or the supporters. FECK THAT SHITE.
Obviously, he gets a free pass?!
June 7th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Well, you won’t hear me complain, b/c I’m not a complainer.
And what you’re saying right now about Cesc is conjecture as well. Yes, he’s said this or that, but has he left yet? Bash when he does not before.
Give me your address, Stag. If Henry leaves within 2 years, I’ll send you a $100 check.
June 7th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Money won’t soothe the pain Curt.
It would change the team beyond recognition in an instant.
Cesc’s comments are not conjecture. He’s been quoted.
If Henry can take slack for saying what he believes, then Cesc shouldn’t really be immune.
I’d rather Cesc go than Henry… because Cesc is definitely going in the next few years regardless. He will play at Barcelona before he’s 25.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I for one is happy we missed out on Ribery. As many people have pointed out he isn’t exactly the type that will hang out at the wing and provide us with that width we grave for.
he is no doubth a class player. i think Hleb will come come next season .. he didn’t play bad for his national side this past weekend.
And the rumour is asene is lookin to bring in the speedy guy from argentina.
Asene knows…
June 7th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Ribery and Klose leave clubs which are in the CL for Bayern. Money talks!!!
17.5M for Ribery and 7.5M for Luca Toni.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Alright, Stag… just trying to help
Which Argentinian is that Chemira?
Nipuna, that’s not an exactly fair assessment. Bayern does have the tradition of being the biggest German club. So even though they’re out of the CL next season that says nothing for the possibility of seasons there after. Plus, look at it this way- it proves that just b/c you’re out of the CL players might be willing to go to clubs such as Arsenal even though they might be out of the CL. Just a thought…
June 8th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Wenger made a 17m pound mistake with Reyes so he is going to be very careful before spending that kind of money again. Unless Ribery cost alot less, he is unlikely to come to Arsenal. Be prepared to see a cheap unproven young potential whom we have never heard before. And be prepared for another trophyless season. I really cannot see how the current team who is 20+ points off the champions can challenge for the EPL next season. Either I am blind or Wenger has very well tinted glasses.
June 9th, 2007 at 7:38 am
To be honest lads Ribery will be in the CL with Bayern next year and im sure they would have promised to build the team around him, plus the good wages?
Wenger did make a mistake with Reyes but thats he aint ad many on his track records. Plus we still own him, and I personally dont want him back. f*ck him. If Real want him he’ll cost probably ten, but you have to remember we have paid 17 for him yet, it would be based on caps, appearances and trophies?.The Key is keeping our first 11 fit, it can compare to anyone. I honestly think we will get and need 1 or 2 decent players this summer but its only June boys. We always take our time on signings, we wont be spending 30, 40, 50 mil on players but we’ve proved you dont always need.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I was profoundly hoping Ribery would come to Arsenal. He would have been perfect.
June 14th, 2007 at 1:12 am
If I may ask WHO ARE WE GOING TO BUY THIS SUMMER?
We only have a new goalie and links here and there.
I really hope we dont start the new season without any new player. We really need some new siginings and I guess AW shld act fast. We already lost Ribery. Who is next?