What price do you put on him? Maybe Wenger has a point!
The media backlash towards Arsene Wenger continues apace. The latest reasoning behind the quite frankly baffling vitriol hauled his way is the apparently ‘derisory’ offer for Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill, rumoured to be around the £6m mark. Factoring in the inevitable English premium you have to pay for home-grown talent, just how far off is Arsene’s pricing?
For starters, who else now hates the word ‘derisory’? It used to be a byword for someone with a modicum of intelligence. Not anymore. Oh no, it’s now become fully immersed into the footballing lexicon. It’s now a word traipsed out and aired in public like dirty linen in an attempt to drive a player’s price up. Note to all football managers – cut it out, you’re not fooling anyone.
Anyway, back to the point at hand. Wenger bashing has become a national pastime of sorts over the summer. He has quite rightly been lambasted from all quarters for a rudimentary failure to focus on the present and a constant obsession on planning for the future. It’s become abundantly clear that serious reinvestment is needed and none more so than at centre half where Thomas Vermaelen is just crying out for a decent partner to play alongside. This is where Gary Cahill comes in.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle stated about Arsenal’s offer for Cahill: “When I make an offer for a player, I’d like to think it’s in the right ball park. But this wasn’t even close. I’m only passing it on as a third party, but the word derisory doesn’t even cover it.” Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside hardly helped matters by re-posting an infuriated Trotters fan’s protestations at the price of the proposed bid on Twitter.
Wenger responded by stating: “That number is completely wrong. If Gartside can say I am lying I am ready to confront him. I believe every negotiation is between two parties and you only have to sell the player if you are all right with the price. In this case the information is below what has been spoken about. You can believe Gartside or you can believe me. It’s not right. It’s not the truth. The truth is that we never speak about our negotiations. If a club doesn’t want to sell a player it can keep him. When we sign a player we come out here and tell you and keep the price a secret. They do not need to sell the player, they can keep him.”
He went onto add: “If you ask do I want to buy your house and you are not happy with the price you say no, that’s it. Why should you feel insulted? I don’t understand. If the player is not for sale they can keep him. I don’t understand the problem. If we want to buy the player we buy the player. I do not have to explain for how much.” Strong words indeed and it’s fair to say that in this case at least, Arsene appears to be in the right and shame on Coyle and Gartside for trying to kick Wenger while he is down.
But is £6m really that short a price for Cahill? Let’s forget for a second that Cahill is English. He is entering the final year of his contract. He has just 3 international caps to his name and he has limited experience in Europe. Putting all of that into perspective, supposing Wenger actually bid £6m for him, which considering the staunch nature of his defence means that I’m inclined to believe that he didn’t, just why is that such a ‘derisory’ sum? Would that sum be considered ‘derisory’ is Cahill was, say, Colombian or German?
Cahill is an excellent defender; He’s strong in the air, with a decent turn of pace and has a fantastic knack of finding the back of the net too, but is he really worth anything approaching the £15m mark that Bolton are reportedly looking for? Not a chance.
There are still question marks to be asked about both his positional play against top opponents and his ability on the turn when the ball is put in behind him. He’s played for some decent clubs in the Premier League, but rarely has he had to deal with the exposure and scrutiny that accompanies every performance as is par for the course when playing for a top club side like Arsenal.
When you factor in the point that Liverpool look set to clinch the signing of Uruguayan centre-half Sebastian Coates from Nacional for £7m, then Arsenal remain the only viable suitors left in the race for the big man.
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The one thing that ensured that Cesc Fabregas’s transfer back to Barcelona never hit the heady heights of £40m plus was the fact that Barcelona remained his only viable suitor. If a transfer lacks that competitive element that often enables a club to drive the price up, they are then forced to so themselves, hence the word ‘derisory’ rearing its ugly head again in press conferences.
A Bolton side with Gary Cahill in it is obviously much improved than without him. He is a fantastic defender with great potential with his peak years firmly ahead of him. The move makes sense and Arsenal certainly require a player of his talents. But when you factor in all of the aforementioned points affecting Cahill’s price then you do start to realise that Coyle and Gartside are seeking to exploit the pressure over purchasing new blood that Wenger must obviously feel from the fans at the moment. That is not to say that they are not within their rights to do so, it just seems a tad crass.
By my estimations, with particular emphasis on the fact that Cahill has just the one year left on his contract, a figure in the region of £10m seems perfectly adequate. Is he worth more to Bolton in the coming year even if he does end up leaving the club on a free at the end of the season? Perhaps, but that’s another debate entirely. I don’t dislike Bolton. Nor do I dislike Owen Coyle, Arsene Wenger or Phil Gartside. The word ‘derisory’ on the other hand, well that’s another matter entirely.
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