Reports: Joe Cole weighing up Arsenal offer
Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole will not make a final decision on his future until he returns from the World Cup, according to reports.
The 28-year-old England star is a free agent but his excessive wage demands of £120,000 a week have proved too much for Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool.
However, the Metro are suggesting that Cole, barring any complications in the process, expects a deal with Arsenal to be finalised next week, with a view to announcing the move before the tournament in South Africa begins in ten days’ time.
It seems unlikely that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would be willing to pay Cole’s massive pay packet, especially after rejecting William Gallas’ £80,000 a week demands on a new contract.
Arsenal have already rejected Barcelona’s paltry £29 million bid for skipper Cesc Fabregas, but it looks as if another creative midfielder could quite possibly be on the way in the form of Joe Cole if the aforementioned reports are accurate.
Give us your views on this potential transfer and any other rumours you’ve been hearing lately!
I am sure it is already sealed and closed!!! Yes, finally we show ambition!!!
YEEEEEEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully this is true he would be a great signing, a midfield three of Song, Cesc (if he stays which i doubt) and Joe Cole would be great
Not sure why we need him. Yes, he is quality, but do we really need another injury-riddled small player? Unless someone is leaving, like Arshavin or Rosicky
Just hope there is more good news to come. A decent keeper, Hart? dunno or David James for next to nothing, and Gourcuff!!!! He wants to come to The Mighty Arsenal just spend some wonga wenger
One problem – ‘Cole demands of £120,000 a week’ – ‘seems unlikely that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would be willing to pay Cole’s massive pay packet’
Sorry but Not Happening.
Cesc is going nowhere – read the official statement on Arsenal.con
another one for the treatment-table!
He’s a good player no doubt. But do we really need him? he’s another short ass after all. Maybe this is a sign that we have plans to sell an attacking midfielder (other than Cesc).
I think Cole will replace either Arshavin or Rosicky, hopefully the latter, as he hasn’t really cut it, despite his talent. Joe Cole is one of the great players in the game – i was gutted we didn’t buy him from West Ham 5 years ago, but he’s even better now.
Let’s hope there’s more good news on the keeper and centre back situation soon.
Gd deal if we get him that will be 2 free contract signings, is we can get a DM AND TWO CB AND quality GK , then were on 4 sum trophies
transfer suggestions:(All linked officialY with arsenal)
DIEGO LOPEZ(VILAREAL 7M)
GARY CAHILL(BOLTON 10-15M)
Laurent Koscielny (LORIENT 5M)
YAYA TOURE(POSSIBLY IN FABREGAS SWAP DEAL ,ARSENAL RECIEVING 45M)
(with the 45m)below
Yohan gourcouff (BOURDEAUX 22m )
keep he rest for wages and whatever
Sorted!
Reply if u agree and/or suggest diferent transfer targets
Regarding his wage demands, we’ll sign him for 4 years, pay him £80k a week, and give him £8m as a signing on fee – in lieu of transfer fee.
George Graham that is just speculation that he wants 120 000 a week maybe he told that to chelsea if they want him to stay and he didn’t so i think wenger will give him 80 000 a week 3 year deal as 90 000 gallas will leave and he will compensate plus he is on a free and it makes sense wenger to give him 80 000 a week. Mark my words cole signed 3 year deal worth 80 000 a week and he also stated that he don’t want to leave London.
Cesc will be leaving mark my words! Arsenal aint stupid, they are never going going to accept the 1st bid for him. Barca have gone in low and arsenal will keep rejecting it till its get closer to £50-60m! This is just a game of cat an mouse! Things is, now thats its public the barca fans will not settle for nothing less than fab in a barca jersey, so it helps us! We hold all the cards! Stupid spanish!
120,000 salary fuck chelski scum, gourcuff is way better
sorry folks I just cant see Cole coming not only because of his wage demands but because he’s probably had to put up with Cashly (dumped) Cole’s slurs about Arsenal lack of ambition.
@George Graham: Signing on fee included to compensate dude. even if we pay £120k a week is £18m in 3 years, Joe Cole is probably worth at least £15m on the market of anyone’s money
What bothers me is all the talk about midfielderds and forwords. For God’s sake, Arsenal has only 1 central defender. We need 2-3 more.
Coles wage demand would quite easily be met by arsenal. He would receive a big lump sum signing on fee and then say, 70,000 a week in his weekly pay packet so over the three/four year deal it works out at 120 grand a week.
no signings = cue complaints,
Free transfer international star signings = cue complaints.
Just no winning with some people.
I have a feeling this could happen.
It is not useful to compare the situation to Gallas as he is 33(?). For some reason – just a feeling – I fear Arshavin could leave. Where, I have no idea given that most of the usual clubs he is linked with would show no interest. Someone suggested Bayern as a replacement for Ribery – but Franck just signed a 5 year deal…
I am worried that Utd could gazzump any prospective Coel deal but I heard a while back that Cole would prefer to stay in London.
Its a done deal. Good player if he stays fit!!!!
Since he’s available on a free, Arsenal can deal with his salary demands with a signing on fee (which has some additional tax benefits to the player). BTW: while Arsenal are tight when it comes to transfer fees, they are very generous with salaries and among the top in the Premier League.
This has the hallmarks of a Wenger signing, I hope it happens. My suspicion is that Cole will be a straight replacement for Cesc, don’t forget, he started off at Chelski in a central midfield/attacking role before being moved out on the left.
I reckon it would a good signing wich proves that the cunning Mr.Wenger has not lost his golden touch! credit to him if we sign Cole, though he is injury prone he is quality. Also how about Arsenal telling Barca to F**K OFF, ey? 😛
cesc is leaving, cole is not coming, why were even bothering this much about attackers, have you guys forgotten the goalkeeper situation and CB problems?
We have 2 and a half CB’s. Verminator and Djourou + Campbell (he’s the half as he can only do 1 game in 7 days)
I think only 1 CB will come in. High quality, low profile a la verminator.
Cole a good signing, I’ll take it.
If Cole is a done deal then I’d say Rosicky or Arshavin may be leaving. thing is didn’t Rosicky only sign a contract at the start of the season there? same with Eduardo?
Its not happening, I thought this was meant to be a reliable blog, not a website which regurgitates rubbish from the Metro. Thats like beliving quotes from marca
Cause Wenger wants extra strength in areas which are not really necessary, THEY are gonna be on free transfer, whilst he will pay money for the important CB and GK places…
great, we’ll sell cesc and replace him with a free transfer! fuckin typical arsene
Miserable sods, the lot of you.
I have gut feeling that Arsene will snap up Joe Cole despite his mammoth asking price. Arsene is willing to pay high for high calibre players who are on Bosman due to history of Sol Campbell signing on Bosman, which lead Sol to become the highest earner in Arsenal at that time. Paying Joe Cole 120k for 3 years is considered a retirement package to him plus Arsene does not have to shell out $$ to buy him. A very good shrewd investment to get a talented creative versatile player with vast CL experiences and Chelsea insider information! William Gallas is a different story because he is always injured and is 32. Why the hell should Arsene entertain him with 2 years contract when Arsene can find other world class centre back at less than 15mill max. Attacking players of Joe’s calibre and attributes generally cost about 15-25mill so it makes sense to give him straight retirement package fees. After Joe, Arsene might probably use the remaining war chest fund to buy 2 top class defenders. Fabregas wont be leaving next season, trust me.
If barca do not offer stupendous money for cesc then they are having a laugh about prising him away. £80m or no deal. being a spanish club(rem real madrid last yr – 250m out, <40m in) they may be mad enough to bankrupt themselves to achieve this aim. because it is a well known fact they do not have the money and they have a huge mountain of dept. I also hope the dire financial state of that country's economi comes to their door step.
Exactly Ron. Som of these mugsare pathetic. I wish they would all do one and supportanother team the pathetic little morons!!!
Complete and utter nonsense.
Fabio has officially BANNED every single England player from any club business until after the World Cup. All these ‘reports’ are BS.
we need dm (defensive midfield) cover for song OR make song our utility player(covering dm and cb) and buy a holding / defensive midfielder. that is our priority along with a giant (in everyy sense) of a cb
cole ? why not. good player. arsenal would suit him down to the ground.
with joe cole in, sell rosicky. both are similar in styles. and please get us some defensive reinforcements le professor!!!!!!
Arsenal Line Up 2010-2011
Robert Green
Sagna Diakate Vermalen Clinchy
Song
Joe Cole Nasri
Fabregas Arshavin
Rvp
Capello also banned wags from the world cup and look whats happened , they make a program about life in south africa and are in glossy rags every week talking about how lovely the south african hotels are, capellos aint got that power over players , hes an overrated manager with an even more overrated team anyways
erm earl what did happen to the cesc bid today?, not sure eh? check the web for news
Looks like the Cole deal is done and dusted, the Arsenal way. We find out when we need to, not before. Joe Cole will not leave London, twitchy says it aint him, doubt its Fulham and a move to West Ham would be a huge shock soooooooooo…looks like the Mighty Arsenal will have a crowded midfield next season. But I truly believe that Cesc staying Cole arriving is only the start. I think Wenger has quite a few suprises lined up, including the huge signing everyone speculates about. Just hope its Gourcuff wait and see eh?
The deal isn’t done and dusted at all, he isn’t an Arsenal player.
John Cross has just confirmed the earlier reports that Cole will make a decision after the World Cup.
“Arsenal definitely like Joe Cole but no deal yet. Other clubs – unsurprisingly, as he’s terrific – also keen. Decision after WC”
Joe Cole is a quality player. The fact that he has been injured doesnt concern me, he is a player who loves playing football and is not in Chelski’s plans as malouda has had such a good season. It may suprise lots of Arsenal fans that we are signing such a player, however, this is the type of player that we should be signing. Proven quality. Capello is no mug he knows wot cole is about, the very reason he has taken him. My only concern is that wenger has said he will bring in players before the world cup. Taking into account we need a centre back and a goalkeeper desperately its not looking that good. Is he putting his faith in Djourou and Vermaelen, with Gallas being shown the door as he is being greedy, and by all accounts cannot shrug this calf injury off that has kept him out of our team and now france’s.
More quality signings please Arsene..
By The Way..29 million for Cesc, is a complete joke offer.. Come back with double that Barca!
cole would not be getting massive wages from arsenal…my understanding is that if he accepts he will be getting £12m over three years, which works out as £75k per week, except that it will be lower per week with the remainder being paid in bonus payments over the contract and also a signing on fee.
whether he accepts who knows…
i wish thats true + we neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed a goalkeeper,,
green would be a great buy
wicked hope this happens.. it will hopefully make Fabregas change his mind.. buh if Fabregas goes i hope Gourcuff joins as well.
Wenger’s previously stated that he let Toure go so Djourou icould start, then he got injured… Therefore, it seems likely that Djourou will start with Vermaelen. Another defender is likely to be bought in, but more of a squad player to provide cover, as opposed to a big name.
@JayGooner: do you want us to play with all attacking midfielder? Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin, Wilshere, JET, and you still want Gourcuff to come?
who cares? we need a gk, a dc, and a dm!!! that’s three new players that we actually need and have not signed.
and why does ramsey need a new deal this year, and not next? what if he doesn’t recover? surely we should find out before committing money to a potentially injured player….
My predictions:
Fabrigas will be playing for the Arsenal next season, leaving in the next to make way for Aaron Ramsey.
Joe Cole will sign, after the WC
A New Goalkeeper will arrive, however he will be in the age group 38-40 with Scezny as reserve goalkeeper with possibilies to Premiership action.
A good cd in the TV mold.
Gooner Chris – I don’t believe for one minute that Joe Cole will wait until after the world cup to make his decision or that Capello would want him to. Whether a deal with arsenal or any other club is announced before then is open to debate but I would wager a large amount that he has agreed a deal somewhere (which is what Redknapp also suggested).
Cole would hardly want to play in high intensity world cup games with a fear of being injured & unable to secure a high paying contract somewhere. If he broke his leg or worse no club would take him on, he isn’t stupid.
Cant see us paying anything over £100k a week for him, but if its true then who are we to argue. If he signs then i think this means the end for Arshavin, as well as Eduardo (Chamakh being his replacement)
As for Fabregas, im confident he will have agreed with Wenger to stay on for one more season, to then sign for Barca next summer when Wilshere is ready to step up!
cole would be a good signing but not as a midfielder . he is really good as a right winger.
we need a back up for song. mataudi would be good
we need 2 def. chaill and taylor would be good(18m for both the players).
i feel rocisky should plya ib=n the center of the mid.
he is not a wide player, thats why hes not been great this season.
we shoul loan denielson.
mids:cecs, song, diaby, mataudi, nasri, rocisky, ramsey and lansbury. all cenrtal mids.
the first 6 are all exp first team players . ramsey and lansbury can be used as impact subs.
wide men/wingers: arshavin, joe cole, vela, walcott, nikki b(even as a striker)
strikers: van the man, chamak, nikki b, eduardo(only keep him if we decide to play 4-4-2).
def: vermy, djouru, cahill, taylor, sol(might go to celtic).
wing backs:clichy, gibbs, traore, sagna, eboue.
send wilshare and denielson(to a spanish club) on loan.
#COLES A GOONER DO DO DO DO#
#COLES A GOONER DO DO DO DO#
CHELSKI BLOGS ALREADY ADMITTING DEFEAT.
terry r u deluded? Rosicky has lost it he should be in the middle east, not middle of the park. Look at man citeh in carling cup he gave the ball to teves, let him run 20yards and score… He just stood still
@rex: The deal was done before the world cup friendlies, the agent will take care of the small print and the signature will be done on return.
This is in the Chelsea section.
http://www.football.co.uk/chelsea/joeys_a_gooner_rss827198.shtml
Great news, IMO.
Cesc will stay, so forget Gourcuff. Once Cesc does leave, Jack and Aaron will be ready to fill his shoes.
Now two CBs, a DM (preferably non-African so we don’t get screwed during the ACN), and a good, aging GK (the “little” Pole will be ready soon) and we got ourselves a title-winning squad with good depth.
@Geoff:
i believe this is a very sound point. sure, he could enhance his worth with a good tournament, but if he waits until after he could lose all worth entirely – it is not the same as one already under contract.
Looks like it’s true
Gooner Chris, do you have any close source to the team who say it is true? 😀
I must indeed point out that the Chelsea blogs have admitted, without referring to tabloids, that Cole is Arsenal bound…. we will see.
@American Gooner: Even if he has a superb tournament it’s unlikely many clubs would give him much more than he is already requesting. As you say, a player who has the security of a contract regardless of whether he’s happy at his current club knows he’s safe. There is no way any player could go into challenges 100% with their whole career (I mean earning potential here) possible resting on it.
i do hope so cos he is a REAL QUALITY player i think if wemger keeps on geting this type of player for 3 then he realy dose know wot he is ddoin just look at chamak now it could be j.cole they r both 2 very very good players to ad 1 more center back then that would just b a perfect transfer window o and keep hold of fab would be nice
@chg:
^^^ Whiney little maddam
@Geoff:
Very true. That is why you and I find it hard to believe that he wants to forget this and concentrate on the WC. Likely, he would only want to do so because it has already been agreed and there is simply something of a moratorium on non-WC news involving British players (issued by Capello).
Just noticed that Skybet has taken the joe cole transfer betting off their market. That only usually happens when something is going on. Some serious money has probably been put on him coming here.
Well, Cole will, if he joins, suite us fine. He’s a good player for sure. When it comes to fabregas we won’t let him go for another couple if seasons and we should we? He will be worth a lot more in say 2-3 years (still 1-2 years left on his contract after that). He’ll be in his absolute prime by then. So, he’ll help us a few more years and then we sell him for 60-70m – easy!
Arsene Wenger would not have mentioned all the dosh we had if he wasn’t planning to spend it … he does choose his words, don’t forget. I think this could well be the season where you’ll see Wenger start to splash some of the cash we’ve been building up, and apart from his injury record, there should be consensus that Cole is the type of “world class” talent Wenger has insisted would only be good enough to add to the youngsters.
I’m a little stunned, a very interesting signing and it would be a fascinating statement of intent from Wenger.
I’m still very dubious about this and will only believe it when confirmed on Arsenal.com. I just can’t see us paying what he wants – especially with Chelsea offering in the region on £120k pw
Mike
I think it will rather be the end of Rosicky, who is almost 30 and has been useless since returning from injury. Its now a luxury to keep Rosicky and Eduardo in the team. They hardly play three consecutive games in the EPl.
I would love this to be true and can see it being another Sol Campbell situation where the signing on fee is integrated into the wages to make them £100k+ per week.
Another point to make about everyone wanting a goalkeeper. Brentford recently signed a keeper. Would mean Szezcsny (spelling?) not going there once again. It could, of course, mean a loan to a team in the Championship or perhaps Wenger has seen enough of him to throw him in at the deep end.
Cole is too injury prone, give him a pay as you play deal!
cole will be a good signin. but we need 2 buy anotha good cdm so if song gts injured or banned we hve a replacement dat can do a good job. DEFFO need a NEW GK our season depends on it no use buyin great defenders if da keeper iz useless(almunia)!!!!!
cole is a crock.
On a more serious note,Joe Cole coming to Arsenal will be one of the most solid buy arsenal will ever make this summer. By whatever standard any body may wish to base his assessment that will mean a solid midfield.Please lets waste no more time in sealing the deal up.
Does anyone think that Cole could be holding out for after the world cup to get himself a better offer from us and to interest other teams?
@Harry vasilaras:
Well that would be the reason he would hold up such a deal, but it would also totally lack sense. He can either get injured and get nothing, play poor and get less than what he is demanding, or play well and get at or better than what he is demanding. So, you are taking a 67% risk of negatively affecting your offer – what would you do?
Love to see Cole and Gourcuff arrive al;ong with a decent centre back and keeper. the cole deal could happen as Arsenal would do a ‘Sol’ and pay something within the wage structure (80-90k) and the rest in the form of a signing-on fee. Dont know where this injury prone label comes from either.
Happy for Cesc, Rosicky, Eduardo and even clichy to leave if we get money.
Was hoping we’d let Senderos go for free on the proviso that we can pick up a certain goal scoring centre half from Fulham to play alongside our very own.