Friday, September 01, 2006

Steaming Jose?


I’m not sure if Jose Mourinho is really that angry about letting William Gallas come to Arsenal. Perhaps I’m not giving the French defender the credit he’s due, but from what I gather, it’s a better deal for Chelsea.

Fabio Cannavaro, the World Cup captain for Italy, moved from Juventus to Real Madrid, along with Brazilian midfielder Emerson, for a reported $24M. I’d value Emerson around $8M at best, and given this logic, we can presume that Cannavaro went to the Bernabeu for around $16M.

Ashley Cole is arguably worth more, because he is a left-sided defender who is great in attack. If we value William Gallas at around $12M (generous, I think), then essentially Arsenal has received around $20M for the England international.

This is far from the reported $34M that was offered by Chelsea last week, which Arsene Wenger denies ever receiving.

The outcome of this farcical saga just proves that Chelsea had the upper hand in negotiations; Wenger wouldn’t have let Cole go for so little (he originally wanted $42.5M, which is slightly overpriced, but justifiable from Chelsea’s standpoint) if he didn’t feel that he had to.

Either way you look at it, even with Gallas’ proven ability at numerous positions in the backline, this doesn’t qualify as one of Wenger’s more astute dealings in my book. Mourinho's fury is always enjoyable to any non-Chelsea fan, but I feel Arsenal just overpaid for it.

Ashley Cole Profile Chelsea FC

William Gallas Arsenal FC

-bl

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