Mata deal 'unlikely' after fresh contract revelation
Arsenal’s chase for Spanish midfielder Juan Mata looks to have ended, with journalist Guillem Balague reporting that the Gunners failed to pay the 23-year-old’s buy-out clause before it expired on Sunday night.
Manager Arsene Wenger was seemingly in pole position to sign Mata, who according Balague, also had his heart set on a move to Emirates Stadium.
Highly-rated Mata was also said to be fielding interest from arch-rivals Tottenham, but preffered a switch to a club that could offer Champions League football.
Following the expiration of Mata’s buy-out clause, it appears unlikely that the La Liga giants will accept any offers which are under £28million or less.
84 Comments
I will be lost for words if this turns out to be true.
We are a bloody circus aren’t we.
F**k sake arsene. Now onto a 14yrd old winger to sign or a £5 tops signing to replace cesc with
Why would Arsenal send the payment before the medical and personal terms are done? This doesnt add up….
If Wenger misses this opportunity because he has dithered over Fabregas and Nasri – who clearly dont want to be at Arsenal, he may well have blown off any good will he had left with fans.
Completing false as 1. It is Spanish law that players have a release clause that runs the length of their contract. 2. The bid was accepted that’s it the clause has been met nothing Valencia can do. Only applies if a bid came after.
OK, everybody knows that nowadays we’re not the best negotiators but it would be a massive blow not just for Arsenal but for every club which were interested for him.
But to defend Wenger: what was Manuel Llorente (the President of Valencia) expecting? To pay that huge amount of money without a medical? It doesn’t take only 5 minutes but days. However, some kind of pre-agreement should have been signed.
Now that his release clause has been increased doesn’t mean anything. If Arsenal really want to sign the player – and if Mata wants to come – he could still join, it’s up to Wenger and Gazidis how to negotiate. As far as I know, Valencia must produce a net profit of €50m per years due to the poor financial status of the club. But of course, our situation is more difficult now.
The most important thing is to have Cesc replaced by a quality player before he leaves. That saga could drag on until 31 August, and my biggest fear that he will leave on the very last day of the summer transfer window and Wenger will not have even the opportunity to replace him.
Too true TGP. It doesn’t add up.
If it is the case Arsenal would have known anyway.
Keeping fingers crossed that the 3 signings Myles Palmer’s been on about will materialise.
I wouldn’t mind Joey Barton either.
Obviously this bit of information is only a small part of the picture, so I see no point in people getting worked up.
Spend some F***in money Wenger
Come on folks Wenger has been there all these 16 years. I do not expect he will change. Dein come back and pull the trigger on a deal or two. Seriously folks there will be no deals, and all of us, the squad included will be left wondering what the hell is worng with Arsene. This year Cesc will be gone, Samir will be, next year it wil be Van Persie, then Wishire, as they all get tired of the bullshit.. Management knew exactly what Mata would cost, and yet dithered. WE no longer hear about Cahill, Samba, Jagielka, but as King wrote, we will hear about the next great 14 yr. old!!!
Keep in mind also that we’ll make a stash of cash if we sell Fab or Nasri, so we’ll be able to pay good money, and Valencia can’t afford to turn a good offer down.
toingx2…these one is not the 1st and it aint gonna be the last, as long as wenger won’t change. Jezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, sigh. BOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. to stingy.
maybe Arsenal negotiators saw something really fishy hence the delay. that said, i think this is just some funky journalism from whatever source. Not hear of a release clause expiring before. And even if it does expire, does that not make it easier to buy the player?
Marty
Jagielka and Mata will sign – There has been mention tht Cahill will also.
Espn Spain say Mata has signed . Balagues a twat that hates arsenal. The deals done and dusted, Dont panic!
Come on Arsenal sort it out,we are becoming a laughing stock,need to take a page out of Man Utds book ,find the player you want and discreetly sign him,we need a quality keeper,new centre back,Midfielder and striker without these new signings we are F**k*d.
If this shocking revelation is true, due to Arsene and his management team “waiting on Barca to do the Cesc deal” what little confidence we all have left in Arsene will disappear entirely. Arsenal will become a laughing stock
in Professional soccer circles and NO STRONG PLAYERS will want to come to the team any longer.
Now I must say I read that the deadline was MONDAY night not SUNDAY night so we may have time left to do the deal but, it was a media story and so it may not be accurate.
It will be a heartbreak if we do not get Mata and Wenger is running a serious risk of blowing what little confidence the team has left in his judgement.
Lord, please do not let this story be true…
Sigh……
I am beside myself with anger at the moment…WHAT is Gazidis being paid for it this is indeed true? Maybe it is true that since we lost David Dean we cannot negotiate for toffee…This is not acceptable!
As it has been said, Cesc and Nasri do not want to stay so get rid of them and replace ASAP. They do not want to be here and will never be regarded as legends.
Is there money – Yes or No. If no then fine, Arsene Wenger will do the best we can – just be honest with us.
If Yes then what in God’s name are they doing?
Belive it or not, Usmanov would not treat the club like this. I am starting to see a need for complete change now. Why would a Billionaire take it on to ruin it? As a rich person he would only strengthen us and not weaken us year by year.
I am sorry but I am dreading the new season if we do not buy quality players.
Someone said before, even the spuds have ambition and we do not.
After the Emirates cup shambles, how can a manager defend them? Does he not care about winning anymore other than balancing the books..?
I believed the definition of a manager is someone who managers a team to win and not an accountant who is responsible for balancing the books – it is time this is dealt with for the sake of us fans!
Wenger dosent do the deals, it isnt up to him its Gazidis who is too blame.
People that keep on blaming Wenger for lack of transfers are WRONG, he even said it the other day,”just because I like someone dosent me we will sign them”.
Ivan does the deals NOT Wenger !!
@Afc kings: Could you give us source?
@South Yorkshire Gunner: Keeping my fingers crosssed!!!
If this is true Cesc stays, and that is a shame since he is a joke in the arsenal shirt. Much rather have Mata over Cesc anyday.
Come to re-surging Anfield, Juan!!!!!!! Forget about downward spiraling arsenal.
If arsenal don’t buy any good players , i am going to go and watch Fulham this season.
True reds. Gazidis is turning out to be Chief Executive version of Ian Dowie. He is turning us into an absolute joke. The Mark Schwarzer cock up was bad last year and if it turns out to be true that we have missed out on Mata, Cahill and Jagielka. Then the guy has to be sacked and forced out the club.
Heard from a very reliable source that Mata deal is 100% agreed and will be announced this week. All that needs to be finalised is a medical. We also have a strong interest in Joey Barton but Wenger would prefer Scott Parker and are still negotiating with West Ham.
Espn espana I’ve just said!
We seem to be getting poorer and poorer every year – where is the money going
The doom & gloomers out there don’t need anymore fuel for their fire. This article has been copied from others on the net. Why get these poor Gooners all in a twist. Cheap non original blogging from you here here. From more noted/reliable sources the deal has been done already with personal details to be agreed with the player.
I agree about the dithering point. It serves no useful purpose. In an ideal situation, get in the players we want and place the blokes who want to go in a take-it-or-leave-it situation. But, alas, nothing is ever ideal.
f*** sake,even if we do sell fab there is no way arsene will spend that on mata. he is no where near as good, ive had enough of arsene now he should have signed lots of players by now. there is already 30 million to spend.
hallo my fellow fan, sorry to say that i hat wnger becz he also hat my dear team arsenal. do you know why i said that he hat arsenal (1) he doest have choice of buying player for us,(2) he dont even care about who to buy becz he believe all the player are equell which we all knows that is lie.just look at this man he tried to buy arveres but faill but still dont care think that there are more other players,look at cahill now which i can swaer he is gonna miss too look at samba still about to miss.that is hat my there fellow fans and the board too are fools of fottball.
Mata flew from Lisbon into London this morning. 1st part of his medical done today and will be completed in the morning. Deal will be announced on arsenal.com by tomorrow evening the latest!!!!!!!!
Just pay the 28 million for Mata he’s worth every penny and is prob better than fabrigas. Fuck fab and Nasri off. Both money grabbing glory hunters. Get the money for both buy Mata and Jagielka for 45 million the pair. We will get 56 million for fab and Nasri. That’s 11 million profit and nothing coming from our funds. So buy Samba also for 12 million we will have 3 class players and only a million spent but lower wages also. Wenger please do what is right.
Godders where did you hear that from. Nothing on sky sports about mata having medical at Arsenal this morning.
I am almost convinced AW does not want to win silverware and we need answers.
@Afc kings:
Just give us a concrete link.
Lol Gunzblazing your right. I thought Spursnwere the yids but it seems like we are. I can’t understand why the deal for Cahil, Mata, and Jagielka are just not done and dusted. It’s a shame to us crumble as that’s what will happen if we do not sign at least 2 of the 3 players I stated. Bring back David Dein he would of rapped all them up by now.
I think AW shouldn’t wait for Cesc and Nasri to go first before we buy Mata cause we may loose both of them on the last day transfer window
My girlfriend works at Sopwell House Hotel in St Albans where Mata is staying tonight. Gervinho is also staying there whilst house hunting. Gooners keep the faith……my sources are saying there’ll be a lot of activity this week. Mata is done, Barton is a maybe depending on the Parker negotiations, Campbell will be confirmed once the under 20’s world cup is over and Cahill is more likey than Jagielka!
Godders, I hope it is true. Yes, I prefer Cahill then Jagielka.
Mata was training today with Valencia prior to their friendly against Hamburg, so he is definetly not in London.
Godders I also hope it’s true. I would love Mata and Cahil at the emirates. Not to sure about Barton though he’s a thug but he may give us a kick up the ass to win and will give some experience to the side. also samba or Jagielka so The terminator can go left back with Cahil and Jagielka centre with Sagna right back. Let’s keep our hopes up and fingers crossed we have some good news by tomorrow night.
So share your source that says 100%.
I don’t know what to believe any more. I’m just going to wait and see what happens now as to many people giving false information. So let’s just see what happens. On Wengers head be it if no one is signed as I think a lot of fans will want his head.
Dont believe we ever put in a serious bid just a whipped up publicity stunt to stop mass demonstrations by fans at the Emirates cup.
There will be no more signings.and both Cesc and Nasri will be sold.
THE END IS NEAR FOR WENGER AND THE BOARD
No pics of Mata at todays training on the Valencia homepage. Athlon how do you know he was there?
What is the point of having world class stadium without a world class team. AW should do a few world class signing this summer rather then wait for each of our best player leave us until we only able to fight for mid-table team
there is a video from the official website of Valencia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlt1CGxa_ug&feature=player_embedded
Goddess mata training with Valencia today how can he be in London too m8
nico-gooner on Valencia’s website they have a video of what they are saying is training session this morning- if I am not mistaken Mata is there in Germany , he’s lifting weights in the video.
http://www.valenciacf.com/contenidos/Actualidad/Noticias/2011/08/Noticia_30938.html?__locale=es
Just saw it…!
Has ‘big-nosed’ Arsene Wenker become a liability at our club? Please somebody tell me!
OnDGooner yes he has. The man is running the club into the ground.
nico_gooner. Thank you! Now what are we the fans going to do about it? Did you hear what he had to say after the match yesterday about our CBs and how well they have done? He is the only man blinkered to the team’s shortcomings as everyone else can see our problems.
Away with Mr AW! Sack him! Or let him realise he can’t take the team any further and go!!! Is 5th place even assured this season? Only time will tell but I can’t wait for the same old excuses when we lose to the Sunderlands, WBAs etc etc of this world! Pinocchio Wenker!!!!!
You all need to calm down. This is stupid. If you were really supporters you would wait and see what happens and support your team. You may have won Football manager on the xbox but real life is a bit different. Get behind your team and stop slagging them off.
Real fans? I have been an Arsenal supporter for 20 years, and I support the team 100%. But this team is not ready to win anything. This is the worst defence I have seen at Arsenal – ever. Everybody can see that we have huge problems at the back, just not Mr. Wenger. And Nasri and Cesc are more or less gone, so Mata i a player we need. But nothimg happens in the transfer window.
makes me sad to see our own fans turn on wenger. every year the media make out wengers no good then everyone panics, all our rivals jump on the wagon an try to kick us when were down. its time us real gooner fans made a bit more noise and stand up for our great club an world class manager. nobody realy no’s what wengers plans are so the rumours are just that, le profesor will sort it IN ARSENE WE TRUST
Dave: Please go get a life! I can’t put up with these lies for another year. 6 years is long enough.
We’ve been told lies since we left Highbury and these seem to go on unchecked.
The 1st lie was, ”once we move in to the Emirates, we will be able to compete with the likes of ManU on the transfer front….” Oh yeah… tell me about it!! What about this one…”the balance of power is now shifting from Old trafford to Arsenal..” Yeah, yeah, yeah, and what have we won in six years? Zilch! if it aint hurting you Dave, it is hurting me and the likes of me. I have always supported this club since 1974 and therefore have every right to criticise Mr AW when things start going wrong especially when we know that the problem can be easily sorted. Go tell Cesc and Nasri to support the team. Evemn Jack Wilshire has come up to say what everybody else is saying.
You must therefore be in the blinkered brigade Mr Dave..
@Dave
“We” have been waiting to see what happens for the last six years. That’s enough, the man should go.
Do you guys only support Arsenal because they might win something?
The transfer window is still open and like it’s been said already wenger doesnt go to Spain himself with his piggy bank to buy the player. He just says who he wants. Everyones quick to blame. Under David dein he didn’t have these problems. The mans given you your best arsenal years but you forget that and booing a team off after a friendly is really going to set them up well for the season ahead!
Everyone knew when we moved from highbury we would have no money for a while. The power shifting must be some paper story that’s been twisted as I’ve never heard that. Who do you want in charge? If wenger goes the board will have to go first cos they are the ones making a mess of every deal. And yes of course it hurts.
Lets get this straight, the board are here to stay, because it’s their club, they have the power and unfortunately, they are not unhappy the way things are, because it’s simply a business to them and as a business, it’s doing well. As for trophies? forget it, we are not going to win anything (meaningful) under this guy. But this dose not matter to the suits upstairs UNTIL it hurts their pockets, or share price. I’ve been supporting the club since the sixties and I have never known the club to be so un- ambitious. Sorry guys, that’s how it is. We have got to learn to live with it.
What is wrong about wanting the team you support to win? I can’t see anything wrong about it. We are not winning anything, and we are not playing that good football anymore. We have lots of possesion, but nothing comes from it. I don’t see how you can be called a bad fan, because you have ambition for the club.
what is going wrong with this man again,what kind of manager that arsenal have,now arsenal planning to lose mata again in this transfer summer, that is how we lose cazola and avalrez to inter milian. if asene wenger fail to sign mata this summer transfer or fail to sign any player again and lose mata to order club,he should be sack.and i advise every arsenal fans in england not buy ticket this season because this is to much in arsenal.there dont care about fans.
fickle fickle glory hunters.. arsenal has been through worse periods than this.. it’s just a shame you don’t REALLY support the arsenal!
arsenal is a “poor” mans club. cant buy wont buy period. better get used to surviving the wenger’s way!
stan morris hits the nail on the head with what he said about the clubs plight there un-ambitious and taking us all for a ride regarding transfers.there’s been a number of comments made about players going to arsenal and even ivan said he was with the squad on tour in the far east to discuss transfers with the manager but as it stands we have only sign to players,with two or more leaving or wanting to leave and the new season due to kick off soon it really is hard to see how this great club can complete with man utd man city chelsea and liverpool this season.
Edub: Which planet are you from? We do not support Arsenal because they might win something! IF THAT IS THE CASE I WOULDN’T BE SUPPORTING THEM AFTER WE WON OUR FIRST DOUBLE IN THE EARLY 70’S. The problem is the lies and half truths coming from our long-nosed manager! The club cannot be trusted anymore. For instance, the statement about a busy summer; what’s gone wrong with this as the fans are still waiting. All the good players are being snapped up and Arsenmal will be left with the dregs again
Arsenal was a big club even before Wenger came on the scene and thankfully it still is, only just! And what do big clubs do? Win and win good!
Perhaps the problem actually lies with Mr AW as I believe that he lacks a winning streak which rubs off on his players. If someone like Jose Mourhino or even Sir Alex had charge of these boys, they would have long been kicked into shape for more than one trophy in the past six years. All we’ve had from AW is excuses upon excuses, lies upon lies and half truths upon half truths! Simples!!!! The man must now go! Simples!!!!!
Arsene wenger keeps pleasing himself to displeased others…this aint good at all…why can’t say, Φkγ̲̣̣̥;i’♍ buying so so so player for so so so position like what Sir alex is doin i̶̲̥̅̊n̶̲̥̅̊ man utd? I bet we still don’t have a team capable of winning trophies until we by a reliable LB,CB,DM and a striker…all this i mentioned Α̲̅я̩̥̊ε̲̣̣̣̥ really the real deal…as for Mata,it would be a good buy,buh that shouldn’t make us sell our star players…as much as i <3 my darling Arsenal,i wouldn't be happy to see us start the season with no aim rather fighting for champion league spot…long live Arsenal!!!
I almost broke my laptop in half when I heard
Come on guys, this is not the end of the road for our beloved club. Everything is not lost as some seem to say. We have not lost any of our best players thus far, despite the media setting deadlines of “this week” in which to sell Nasri & Cesc. Let us not be swayed by the silly rumours about the team. For starters, Arsenal has the team to compete right now. Szczesny,Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny. Gibbs, Song, Wilshere, Cesc, Nasri,Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho, Arsavin, Rosicky, players good enough to beat anybody. Vermaelen & Koscielny are very good players who can forge a formidable partnership to start the season as we await the center back Wenger promised. The transfer window closes on August 31st, and Wenger knows that to remain in the hunt for titles he must spend- and himself, Gazidis and Hill-wood have promised to sign players, so, talk less, because the manager will make you eat all your words of criticism, which you won’t be able to retrieve, when the necessary players are finally signed. Lastly,don’t forget that Usmanov revealed Arsenal’s main problem: the board who have vehemently refused to avail the cash to the manager to sign players, and now you critcise him for failing to win trophies. If the board are self-seekers with no desire to spend the money, would you expect Wenger to use his personal fortune to sign players? Give the manager a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this was well known before so its not a revelation. Media is slow to pick up. Nothing has changed from yesterday imo
I wonder why everybody thinks we will not be fighting for the title or even 4th place?. Is it cuz of Liverpool have spent 100 mill euro on “proven english” players? today they had a draw 3-3 in Norway, where I am from, against Vålerenga, a mediocre Norwgian team with all their new “proven english” players in the squad. They also had 2 3-0 losses in a row now against mediocre teams.
So if we are not challenging because of lotsa draws against good or mediocre teams it stands to reason that Liverpool will not be challenging.
United is doing good in their preseason but everyone knows they have been weakened by loosing Van Der Sar and Scholes, along with all their backup CB’s, even the United fans say that.
Chelsea haven’t done much strengthening and has a new manager who needs some time no matter what people say about his brilliance.
Tottenham is just as unsettled as Arsenal and has not strengthened. So that leaves City and they have bought, but if they loose Tevez they are weakned as their new hotshoot will take time to adept.
So unless we loose Fab (wich seems unlikly as Barca won’t pay) or Nasri (wich I actually hope cuz we player better without) we are about stronger then last year with Ramsey and Vermaelen back and with Gervhino in. Chlichy made to many mistakes and Denilson is no better then Frimpong.
So we are either the same or stronger, the rest is actually weaker or the same. So no change really, 4th or better is my bet and we challenge for the title with a 15-20% chance as always.
And yea I have only been a a fan since 1983 but I don’t panic or feel I can demand anything from the club no matter what. I support the club for life and I support the team and I certainly won’t start to cry havoc if we don’t get to more then 3-4th place this year even if I would love some silverware 😉
Regardless of the buy out clause deadline, every transfer we seem involved with is a f**k up. How long did Gervinho take to sign, we nearly blew Arshavin’s transfer at the deadline, and we’ve offered Everton less than last year for Jagielka. AFC are a joke.
Wenger said we would be busy in this window but we’ve done little of the business we need to. We can’t buy the players we need, we can’t sell those we want to get rid of, and we are trying to keep those who want to go. What a mess!
In the absence of any excuses, I blame Wenger. How long would Fergie keep quiet if he was unable to spend on the team? Come on Arsene get it sorted or get out!
So many Glory Hunters these days, and the irony is that Wengers success attracted these muppets, Afterall he is the most successful Manager the club has ever had.
If you read the above comments – you wouldn’t believe the club has won 2 x doubles, been to CL final, FA cups and qualified for the Champions League every year for 14 years…. under a Manager many are calling clueless. Oh whilst building the best stadium in the Country….
And as for not challenging – do you watch the football? we have come close in a couple of seasons.
Paying 70 quid to only go to moan is what I would call Stupidity. Why do you bother? instead of questioning what you can’t change, try questioning what you can change, and go follow City or Chelsea if all you want is big signings and glory.
b a true fan…..back ur squad! there is noe arnsenal….widout arsen!
Fee agreed with Bolton for Gary Cahill !!!!!!!!!
@Godders: source?
sick and tired of whining/booing Arsenal “fans”. i’ve sat amongst fans who start whining if we’re not 4-0 up within 20 minutes. its becoming tiresome. if you go, surely you go to support. we all want to win something. course we do, but we have no divine right to win anything. how do you think booing the players is going to make them win?
we’ve come close in the last 6 years (champions league final/ carling cup final/top 4 , which Spurs/ Liverpool/Man city would kill for 14 years onthe trot on our spend)the football world has turned on its head post Abramovich money and we simply can’t compete in those terms. the stadium move helps this in the long term but who wants to pay £20 mil for Jordan Henderson?!
i sat in upper west last year and people turned their heads when my dad and i started singing. it was like waking the dead.i’d rather not bother than sit amongst such “support” I am not blind about Wenger, he’s made mistakes and is stubborn. but what he’s delivered since 1997 with one hand tied behind his back deserves more credit. Stop moaning, get behind the team.
are you telling me that a team of Wojech/sagna/vermaleln/Kosiencly/Gibbs/Arshavin/Ramsey/Jack/Theo/Gervinho/RVP ain’t gonna be challening? do me a favour.
@Edub:
Now this seems to be the problem!
So many “Fans” support a team only if they win things! Too many people weren’t around before Wenger came and we started winning things.
Be a Gooner becuase you love the club, not because they win things. Of course winning is fantastic, but supporting goes a whole lot deeper than that!!!
I love Arsenal and I love being a Gooner. Yeah sometimes it’s frustrating, but at least we’re not like the Newcastles and Spurs of the world where they’ve won nothing for such a long time!
“We understand where the weaknesses have been. Financially we’re in a strong position, we have resources to spend. We’re certainly not sitting there saying ‘lets hold back on our resources’ for some reason, why would we?”
Ivan Gazidis (19/07/2011)
All these AKB’s desperately trying to justify Wenger’s inaction by claiming there is no money.
WHO IS LYING THEN??????????????