Gervinho

@sushi, those two, the milan clubs, chelsea, united and city.

@sri, we have the transfer kitty but in general can't afford the high wages other clubs can.

True that, but our business model is widely appreciated and respected the world over. We have done a great job of managing our finances well enough and reducing the debt while staying consistent. The only thing missing, is trophies. Curse you Birmingham, may you rot in the lower league! CURSES!

srigooner wrote:We have a lot of potential for cash. Not the same as the spanish giants, but definitel in the top 5. Read that Swiss Ramble analysis of our transfer kitty. Once we get new deals for shirt sponsors, stadium, etc. after our current long term deals start expiring in a couple of seasons, we'll be a LOT richer.. But we still need to win trophies and get the cash that generates.. and popularity.. Its all economics

Exactly! generally, ^popularity = ^revenue. which is why we need to hold on to our 'big name players' a la French Footballer of the Year *cough* Nasri *cough*

Lille attacker Gervinho has revealed that he has not yet made a decision about his future.

Premier League side Arsenal are reportedly ready to make a €17 million offer for the 24-year-old, but the tricky forward could also decide to stay at his current club.

"Everything is still possible. We just won two trophies with Lille and will play Champions League football next year. The club are working on a very exciting project that is interesting for many people. I could convince players to stay here," Gervinho said to L'Equipe.

The former Beveren star has a contract until the summer of 2012 with Lille and has made it clear that he will either sign a new deal or move to another club.

"There is always a choice. Do I want to stay or should I leave? I still have a one-year contract and we are currently in talks. One thing is sure though: I will sign a contract extension or the club will sell me."

The Ivory Coast international has also been linked with clubs such as Liverpool, Fiorentina and Bayern Munich in the past couple of weeks.

Why would he convince others to stay, unless he himself wants to stay? To Lille fans, this and Hazard sagas are similar to the Fabregas and Nasri stuff for us.. My empathies..

Lower clubs know how to deal with this a whole lot better than CL regulars.

They expect any player who is truely out of their league to at some point move on. Thats not how it is for us. If we get a top player he's ours and we usually expect to keep all of them unless someone pays way over their value.

It looks like the Lille striker Gervinho has decided he is going to join Arsenal. The 24 year-old Ivory Coast international has just won the French Ligue 1 Championship and French Cup Double with Lille and has been linked with Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United since the end of the season.

But the reason I believe that he has decided to join Arsenal is quite simple. He has earned the right to play in the Champions League with Lille, and just a month ago was quoted as saying: “At the end of the season, me and my advisors will speak to the club and see what to do but if I am leaving a club which will play in the Champions League, I will only go to one who is in the Champions League.

He will take champions league for sure.

This makes Arsenal the likely destinaton, unless ManShitty have really stepped in. They are PL and CL so it throws some good question marks into the air.

definitely groiwn on him, been reading on him and watching alot of highlights seeing that i never watched him once last seaason...if anyone has a game of him tht wud be awesome

im down for him coming

Tottenham have £10.6m bid rejected for Lille star Gervinho

Harry Redknapp tries to steal a march on other potential bidders by offering £10.6 million for the Ivory Coast forward, on whom rivals Arsenal and Everton are also keen

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/06/11/2527311/tottenham-have-106m-bid-rejected-for-lille-star-gervinho

By Jake Watson
11 Jun 2011 10:19:00

Tottenham have had a £10.6 million bid rejected for Lille’s Ivory Coast striker Gervinho, with Arsenal and Everton also known to be interested in signing the player.

“We received an offer of €12m (£10.6m) from Tottenham which was refused,” Lille general manager Frederic Paquet said in an article in The Daily Mail.

Gervinho impressed for Lille last season as they won the French title and the French cup, though they face a fight to hold on to their star player with Premier League sides ready to battle for the striker.

Tottenham and Arsenal appear to be in a straight tussle for the player though Gervinho has reportedly attracted interest too from Everton and Newcastle.

The 24-year-old has been told that he will be not allowed to leave Lille this summer but with Spurs and Arsenal keen on the player it appears unlikely that the French champions are going to be able to hold on to their prized asset.

Lille will be desperate to keep Gervinho ahead of next season's Champions League campaign after losing Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle last week after the Tyneside club met a release clause in his contract allowing him to move on.

i am not excited about this signing, in fact i hoped after watching the french cup final that we would NOT buy him : /

if he does come i can only hope that he does well

good to see u julias. did u get my email ?

He's growing on em a bit as well to be honest.

Especially after he rejected the money bags of City to come and play for us.

The more players have that will play for the badge, the better.

For me, it will be a good signing if we can strengthen our defensive problems by the end of the window as well. If we don't get a DM, I'll be a bit ticked off that we were quick to buy an attacking player without addressing the bigger problems

Still got time though.

RealGunner wrote:good to see u julias. did u get my email ?

yesss i did good to see we're still alive lol

the_gooner wrote:He's growing on em a bit as well to be honest.

Especially after he rejected the money bags of City to come and play for us.

The more players have that will play for the badge, the better.

For me, it will be a good signing if we can strengthen our defensive problems by the end of the window as well. If we don't get a DM, I'll be a bit ticked off that we were quick to buy an attacking player without addressing the bigger problems

Still got time though.

Even with Denilson leaving, I don't see Wenger bringing in anyone mate.. He has Coquelin and Frimpong coming through this season.. And Wengers policy is that if he has got good players coming through, he'd rather play them than get a marquee signing.. I don't see any midfield signings to be honest... Add Bartley (plays DM as well) and Lansbury also coming through to this equation.. Chances are slim at best that he'll run the rule over them in pre-season and then go out and buy a Melo or a M'Villa..

Agreed. If Song's off form, you know who else has the body, stamina and defensive abilities to pull it off? No one. And who else on the midfield is not lazy and actually presses and fights for every ball? Sure, there's Wilshere but that's not really his role.

We need a good DM. Those kids may be good, but mentally they will be weak, and mentally weak players we have 3 teams worth of.

Something is better then nothing.
Although ligue 1 players take a couple of seasons to settle according to me. Look at nasri,chamakh and the other frenchies to bought.
As long he is a consistent player.
He does have good pace which will be an asset in the EPL.

Is he physical though?

He's no weakling, and he's frakking fast!

Also, #1 plus for me: NOT INJURY PRONE.

Although with our medical staff, who knows...

he is from ivory coast. they dont make weak players mate

i'm sure a few more peeps might wanna vote! Class signing!!

Gervinho is just what Arsenal needs, I dont know if you guys remember, he was my number signing for Arsenal, I even went as far as saying he is a better player then Walcott not many of you were happy with that .

Ohhh ! maybe he's "better than Walcott" ! but he isn't even better than GIBBS ...............Well @Lex..Happy b.day my mate..have a great one..well guys i wanna say this...if Lex is happy with Gervinho's sign ..i would also - only today-

The best thing i like is he is versatile.. He can play in the wings too.. Certainly an upgrade over Bendtner, Vela or Chamakh..