Henry signs with Barcelona
Posted by Arsenalist on June 22nd, 2007
Those freaking Spanish gypsies
Looks like it really happened, reports out of Spain say its a four year deal with a 16 million pound transfer fee. No confirmation yet from the English side but they have Barcelona club officials quoted as saying its pretty much a done deal with some t’s to be crossed. The fee is extremely low and blood is coming out of my head after scratching it for the past hour – Henry’s contract over the next four years at Barcelona will be around 16 million, thats 4 years and 4 million. So in a way, Arsenal just sold Henry for nothing. I didn’t mind selling him but not in pesos, I was thinking bidding would start at 30 million. I just can’t understand it.
Anyways, search for closure now. Henry spent the best years of his career at Arsenal, he’s still an awesome player but probably in decline and coming of injuries. I’d rather have him here than at Barcelona but maybe this is one of those things that might be a blessing in disguise. It’s time to find us a new striker. My biggest worry is that other players like Rosicky, Fabregas and Adebayor might see this as a really bad sign and want out of the situation.
The writing was on the wall for quite some time but it still comes as a little surprise, he had pretty much said he’d retire as a Gunner but I guess your word doesn’t mean much in this business unless its in writing. Arsene Wenger’s got to feel like shit right now seeing how he’s the one who developed Henry into the player he is today, sad day for the Boss but if there’s a manager that’ll know what to do it’s him. We just need to give him some time and the club needs to give him some money so he can make something happen on the market. You can’t replace a player like Henry overnight, it will probably take years before we get another player of his caliber. He’s the type of player you tell your grandkids about and I’m just happy that he spent the prime of his career with Arsenal.
The new stadium has been a curse of sorts on us, nothing has gone right since it was built.
The only guy that pisses me off more than Eto’o is Patrick Vieria, since when did he become Henry’s official spokesperson and why doesn’t somebody just tell him to shut the f**k up and get a hobby. Actually wait, why doesn’t Henry tell him to put a sock in his mouth and let him do his own talking. Sounds to me Vieria’s still bitter about not being offered enough money by Arsenal a couple years back. Honestly, who the hell is he to tell Wenger to ‘Show Henry you’re serious’. Eat a dick pal.
That little twat Samuel Eto’o must be celebrating with his gypsy friends like there’s no tomorrow. It’s not an automatic start for Henry though, he’ll be competing with Eto’o for the lone striker role. You know I’ll be cheering for Real Madrid and Sevilla next season in La Liga. With Messi, Eto’o, Henry, Ronaldinho they’ve just taken over the role of Galactico’s of Spain from Real. Here’s hoping they reek next year.
One final thought: I want Nicolas Anelka back.
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June 22nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Blessing in disguise is the way to look at this. Sign a forward, Pederson, McCarthy, Martins and look to the future.
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:54 pm
“I was thinking bidding would start at 30 million. I just can’t undertand it. […] So in a way, Arsenal just sold Henry for nothing.”
Are you serious, £30 million for a 30 year old player? Last year, Ruud van Niii%/?#&’s transfer fee was reported to be £10.3 million, transferring Henry for £16 million seems reasonable to me. He’s still awesome and he’s a star but he only has a couple of seasons left at this level (20+ League goals and about 10 assists)… if he’s not injured. He won’t be replaced overnight but this is the right moment to transfer Henry, as you said he spent his best years with Arsenal.
Anelka was unbelievably arrogant, he’s less cocky now. It could be a way to smoothly transition between Henry and the next rising star (Van Persie or whoever).
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:54 am
£30 is a little high but £16 is trash. Henry’s been heavily coveted by Barcelona for a while now and if we held out a little more maybe we could’ve gotten around £25 for him. £16 is way too low.
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I think that Arsenal didn’t want to drag things out to the last moment to make a little more money. It wouldn’t be good for the player, nor for the club. What’s an extra £4 million? This is likely his last serious contract, otherwise his value will soon take a nosedive anyway, because of his age. I wouldn’t pay more than £20 million for a 30 years old Henry. He’s somewhat injury prone, and will he find it easy to settle in Barcelona? This remains to be seen.
I know that Chelsea can spend tens of millions on fancy players just for the sake of it, but no sane person would buy at these prices. £30 million (allegedly) for a 30-y old Andriy Shevchenko? Oh, you must be kidding me! What did he achieve last season? £16 million for Henry appears to be low in comparison but Chelsea is not a proper comparison, they’re in their own fantasy league. They would hire ME for £16 million! ;-D
June 24th, 2007 at 12:41 am
I’m still speechless from all of this.
I dont know whether to hate him, or continue to respect him.
June 24th, 2007 at 1:37 am
You can’t hate him for his decision, the only bad part was that he lied about committing to Arsenal earlier in the year. He’s served us very well for a long, long time and had his best years with us and helped us win a lot. Let him take a crack at the Champions League with another team because lets face it, Arsenal’s odds of winning it next year are pretty low and Henry’s not getting any younger.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:49 am
This is crap. I can’t believe he left but now that he’s gone, hopefully we can focus on getting a good striker or two.
So is Baptista gone yet or what? Sorry, I’ve been out of the country for a few weeks and out of the news loop as well.
June 26th, 2007 at 7:46 am
Yeah, Baptista is out. Here are a few replacement candidates:
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/comment/article2705320.ece
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007290220,00.html
June 27th, 2007 at 7:28 am
ANELKA. I want him too. The board needs to get over it as he was a naive shit when he screwed around with the board.
He’s an adult now.