Gallas & A Cole deal done!
-
ARSENAL last night backed down in their war with Chelsea as Ashley Cole finally moved to Stamford Bridge.
The Gunners agreed to take William Gallas in part- exchange plus just £5million.
Blues boss Jose Mourinho was understood to be furious at losing the French star. Yet Arsenal had originally demanded £25m for England left-back Cole.
The midnight deadline passed without official confirmation of the deal, which brought an end to 18 months of rowing over the most controversial transfer of all time. Cole, 25, has signed a five-year, £90,000-a-week contract.
After a medical yesterday, he concluded negotiations with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon at the England team hotel in Manchester.
Yet the transfer only went ahead after Arsenal had been forced to lower their demands and pay Gallas far more than they planned.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger originally offered just £5m for Gallas, 29. He even rejected Chelsea’s straight cash offer of £20m at the end of last week.
But with the transfer deadline looming and the prospect of being stuck with a desperately unsettled player, Arsenal reluctantly agreed to accept ChelseaÂ’s compromise deal.
Even then the move was almost wrecked when Gallas insisted on Arsenal matching the wages he had been offered at Chelsea.
The champions had promised Gallas £80,000 a week and the Frenchman insisted he wanted the same deal.
Wenger was so desperate to land the experienced centre-half he agreed to GallasÂ’ demands.
Arsenal also signed Brazilian Under-19 captain Denilson, 18, in a deal with Sao Paolo which could rise to £4m for the midfielder.
It seems like Chelsea got the better deal, only $5m with a player that only had 1 yr to his contract... -
gallas is a really good defender.
well done arsenal!!! -
actually, between Gallas and Cole, Gallas is a better defender...
Cole behaves more like a forward than a defender at times
Chelsea's defence will have to keep an eye out on that big hole in the back when Cole is playing because he tends to drift up and depends on his pace to get back.. which he doesn't do all the time because his reading of the game isn't that good...
i would think if the deal did go through, Arsenal would now have a more dependable defender...
anyway, i thought Reyes was swapped with Baptista? -
So is A Cole. But $15m for a 29 yrs old defender who has only 9 months left to his contract and comes with a high salary... Should have got $10m instead after all, Cole is 25 only.
-
Cole and Warnock would work well
They can both attack and defend and when Cole moves ahed, Warnock can pull back and vice versa -
the deal is not confirmed!!!
-
Chelsea have ended a long-running saga by signing England defender Ashley Cole from Arsenal in exchange for £5m and defender William Gallas.
The deal was completed just before the transfer deadline with Cole, who was with the England squad in a Manchester hotel, having his medical nearby.
Cole is believed to have signed a five-year deal worth £90,000 per week.
Chelsea had been linked with Cole, 25, all summer, but disagreements over the transfer fee stalled the move.
A joint statement from the clubs said: "Chelsea FC and Arsenal have agreed terms for the transfers of Ashley Cole and William Gallas.
"Chelsea will also pay Arsenal £5m. Both players have agreed personal terms and passed their respective medicals."
Although all the relevant paperwork had been lodged with the Premier League, neither club had made an announcement by the time the midnight deadline passed.
It was not until 0125 BST on Friday that the statement was finally issued. -
Originally posted by the Bear:
ashley cole was a striker b4 conveted to a def.
actually, between Gallas and Cole, Gallas is a better defender...
Cole behaves more like a forward than a defender at times
Chelsea's defence will have to keep an eye out on that big hole in the back when Cole is playing because he tends to drift up and depends on his pace to get back.. which he doesn't do all the time because his reading of the game isn't that good...
i would think if the deal did go through, Arsenal would now have a more dependable defender...
anyway, i thought Reyes was swapped with Baptista? -
gallas is much better actually he can play anywhere @ the back but however ashley cole is still young dun forget so it is fair and square deal and ashley cole is faster
-
Gallas is one of the best centre backs in the premiership. Now Chelsea are
stuck with that Portugese guy. Good luck.
-
Reminds me of Glen Johnson.Originally posted by monoslayer:ashley cole was a striker b4 conveted to a def. -
Blues boss Jose Mourinho was understood to be furious at losing the French star. He wanted Gallas to rot in their reserved instead of letting him go to another club.
Seems like Peter Kenyon decided to override him rather than risk losing more than $15m worth of talent.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger originally offered just £5m for Gallas, 29. He even rejected Chelsea’s straight cash offer of £20m at the end of last week.
Wenger was so desperate to land the experienced centre-half he agreed to GallasÂ’ demands. -
Mourinho fumes as Chelsea sell Gallas
tribalfooball.com - September 01, 2006
Jose Mourinho is furious with Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon over the sale of William Gallas to Arsenal last night.
The Mirror says it leaves Mourinho's long-term future at Chelsea in serious doubt because he felt undermined by Kenyon's decision to allow Gallas to join their bitter Premiership rivals against his wishes.
Chelsea chief executive Kenyon was claiming victory in the drawn out Ashley Cole saga, insisting they paid just ?5m in the part exchange deal for Gallas while Arsenal claim the cash figure is closer to the ?10m mark.
Mourinho was left fuming that 29-year-old Gallas was allowed to leave because he rates him highly and was unhappy at the way he believes the French defender bullied Chelsea into letting him go.
Mourinho would rather have let Gallas rot in the reserves than let him go to Arsenal, but Kenyon still sanctioned the deal.
maybe it was not a good deal afterall as principals of the club and manager should come 1st -
i'm also furious..gallas is way better den carvalho..fcuk this kenyon man..
wayne bridge is on form..in my opinion, arsenal got the better half of the deal..
i would rather have sold gallas to milan..
freak, now the centre backs are carvalho,huth...like crap..
-
how can a left back be more impt den a centre back is that i don't understand.. argh..
-
I dun see why there is the desperate need for Chelsea to sign Ashley Cole as they have aready got people who can play in ihs position, namely Wayne Bridge and the new arrival Khalid Boulahrouz.
Chelsea's defence this season is very thin. They have got only 3 centre backs and if one gets injured. I wonder who is going to back them up now that Huth and Gallas has both left.
I think this deal is pretty bad for them and better for Arsenal though they got a cheap deal.
Well, we shall see what happens after the International Fixtures is over. -
Carvalho and Terry. Huth has left too for Middlesbrough.Originally posted by stellazio:i'm also furious..gallas is way better den carvalho..fcuk this kenyon man..
wayne bridge is on form..in my opinion, arsenal got the better half of the deal..
i would rather have sold gallas to milan..
freak, now the centre backs are carvalho,huth...like crap..
This is called Executive Decision, Kenyon is the CEO so he makes the important call. Mourinho is the Manager only, in charge of team games and strategies.
Anyway, they still have Khalid Boulahrouz what... -
makelele can be central defender too.
-
HUTH IS an german internationalOriginally posted by stellazio:i'm also furious..gallas is way better den carvalho..fcuk this kenyon man..
wayne bridge is on form..in my opinion, arsenal got the better half of the deal..
i would rather have sold gallas to milan..
freak, now the centre backs are carvalho,huth...like crap.. germans are gd defenders 
rem in 2004 season ,he played well in 1 game wen he started 
-
play essian as dc lor..
-
there are 2 ways to look at this from the business sense and the football sense..
obviously we know the results.. -
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger today expressed his relief that the Ashley Cole transfer saga was finally over and claimed the club could now focus on the future without any more distractions.
Speaking after a two-day meeting of European coaches in Geneva, Wenger refused to criticise Chelsea's role in the drawn-out tug of war over the England left-back but said he was delighted to have got France defender William Gallas in exchange.
'It was a big day yesterday and obviously it dragged on for a long time,' Wenger told PA Sport.
'It was the wish of Ashley Cole to go to Chelsea and the wish of William Gallas to come to us so I'm relieved it has happened.'
Commenting on Arsenal's other deal - which saw Julio Baptista join from Real Madrid and Jose Antonio Reyes go in the opposite direction - Wenger claimed the Brazilian would more than compensate for Reyes' departure.
Meanwhile, the Premier League have announced the transfer of 18-year-old midfielder Denilson from Sao Paolo to Arsenal, although the club have not confirmed the move. -
i believe cole joined chelsea for the money.
-
England full-back Ashley Cole has revealed how Arsenal's favourable treatment of Thierry Henry was one of the reasons why he wanted to leave the club for Premiership champions Chelsea.
He said: 'The club made Thierry feel wanted and special, wooing him, wining and dining him, speaking in public about how much they want him to stay, going on a deliberate charm offensive.
'But me? I didn't have one dinner, one meeting or one phone call from anyone. That's not sour grapes, it's just a sad truth. The truth is that the Gunners had done nothing all season to hold on to me.'
He added: My worst fears were confirmed when, as Thierry and I sat in the centre circle after the final whistle, his name was sung from the rooftops while my contribution was recognised by a deafening silence.
'As his chants faded away we waited for mine. And we waited. And there was nothing. `They're not bothered about me', I said, resigned to the fact. It was like I was the invisible man.'
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=378880&cc=4716 -
What a silly guy, Henry is a striker he is a defender... Henry helps gunners win games, how can he compare. As if he was going to get any special treatment at Chelsea...