Both Arsenal and Man City have confirmed that Bacary Sagna will switch clubs this summer.
In a move that is of no surprise to anyone, the Frenchman will be a City player when his contract with Arsenal expires at the end of this month.
We’ve said enough about this already, and Bac has said his goodbyes, so let’s leave it there. We’ll get a chance to say hello again at the Community Shield.
What a time to be alive for an Arsenal fan. Magnificent 2 days.
It’ll get better though, enjoy the world cup!
I watched the game on TF1 yesterday and Wenger was commentating, always nice to hear some insightful remarks from the boss 🙂 I hope Luiz Gustavo caught his eye, a strong, calm, mobile defensive midfielder who’s very disciplined and commits the occasional ‘tactical foul’. I think he would really fit the bill at Arsenal. Thoughts?
I doubt we’d be in for him, as much as I think he’s what we need. If we were in for him we would have taken the opportunity we had last summer but we ended up taking Flamini instead. The bargain was too hard to resist I suppose. Flamster for free? Yeah, alright then.
We’ll probably end up with Song back on the cheap seeing as Barca seem to be having a fire sale.
You are entirely misguided on this.
Gustavo wouldn’t leave Germany as he was a year from being able to apply for permanent residency/citizenship. It’s why he moved to another German club, and not elsewhere in Europe.
If we should bring in anyone from that first game, it should be Wenger using his Japanese connections to get that ref over here to work all the big Arsenal games. He can be to Wenger what Howard Webb was to Alex Ferguson.
Its gona be a very long summer…
I don’t care about where he goes, I care about who we bring in. Wake up Arsene!!!
Fuck Fabregas. If he was even half as gracious as Bacary, I wouldn’t have said that.
Ironically i’m proud of arsenal – we sell/let our best players leave for our rivals and still compete with them???? If anything it just shows the belief and maturity we have, but it pains me because this so called rivals wont accept that they are always scared of arsenal if not- why has united refused to sell chicharito to us? Why has liverpool refused to let suarez join us? Why has man city blocked our part in the pursue of dzeko? and then we have the so called only one? He refused to let us have ba! Just ba? And… Read more »
You see, I completely disagree with this statement. For me it shows a complete and total lack of ambition from Arsenal to let your best players move to your fiercest rivals. For the sake of perhaps an extra £30k a week or so we now have to fork out perhaps £10-£15 million on a player plus wages who might be a complete flop. Arsenal strengthen their rivals every season. And its down to Arsene Wenger as ever. I cannot even begin to describe my dislike for him, even the wonderful FA cup victory in May was tarred with the thought… Read more »
With all due respect, an extra 30k a week – which, over 3 years, comes to an additional expense in excess of £4.5mil – is an awful lot to pay a player on top of the £15mil+ it would have taken to tie him down with signing on fee etc. By the end of that contract, Sagna would have no resale value and would be most of the way through an inevitable decline in terms of pace, strength and stamina. Like it or not, although we’re now ‘in the money’ a little more than in previous years, we’re still a… Read more »
You talk like we wouldn’t have to fork out to replace sagna at the end of that three year process as well. Short term thinking right there.
nice point you got there matey!
Could even get better with Song linked with Man U according to the papers.
You know I really hope that happens. They already got one Fellaini – Let them have Song too. He had one good season for us and he has been shit for us before that and shit for Barca ever since. Good for us if Man Utd for 27 mil(!) on Shaw and 15-20 mill on Song – it just means that they have less money to buy someone who is actually proven and good.
Just watched him play for Cameroon. He was absolutely terrible and feigned injury as well. I think you may be right.
I see some movement in the out tray Arsene but what about the bloody In tray??
It’s away for cleaning at the moment. Should be back in late August mate.
Good luck Bac! Except for the games against us. Especially for the games against Maureen and United. Now let’s sign a replacement.
How about we try to pinch Zabaleta off them? 😉
He’s not too bad in my opinion.
1) His wage demands and transfer fee would be ridiculously overpriced.
2) I have a feeling Pellegrini’s plan is to play both Sagna and Zabaleta as full-backs at the same time, with one of them shifting over to LB.
Understand sarcasm?
@Gooner1 Haha sorry mate, I wasn’t being sarcastic actually 😉
I understand why you might think that though 😉
“I understand why you might think that though”
I think overuse of “;)” might have something to do with it.
@My Name Is Difficult To Pronounce it’s a one way road with us and Man city, Chelsea, Liverpool and Ushited. There is just a dirt gravelly track that has beens like Silvestre stumble down in the other direction.
Sorry everyone still proper fucked off and fear will be for most of the window….
Wish him well, apart from in 3 (at least) games next season.
Knew it was happening weeks ago but still doesn’t mean it sucks when the news is finally confirmed… By Bac and by Mrs. Sagna, you’ll be missed
Good luck, Bac. I will miss you even more after your lovely goodbye letter
Bac,
What a signing for Arsenal.
Gave his all to the club, best of luck in your new club.
Bye.
Inevitable? Yes. Does the news still hurt? Yes.
Wish him all the best. Who will be surprised if he scores the winner in the community shield? On a header from a Na$ri corner….
yes but as long as he doesn’t celebrate, that’s all that matters. Or not. Who cares if he celebrates. I don’t care because he now plays for another team so he can do what he wants. Who does he play for? B Sagna bank: Unknown Sort code unknown Account number: unknown Only a rare breed of player plays for a team because they love that team. If Sagna loved Arsenal he could have survived on the wages he was on and he would have stayed on the contract that was offered to him. He chose not to, not because he… Read more »
I fucking agree with you mate.
It’s not that he hates us either. It was a nice workplace and he appreciates that.
Now he’s gone and we move on
COYG!!!
Money has ruined football!
But also made it what it is. Sad truth.
I am only concerned about the players that are willing to play for the Arsenal. Arsene, get in the right replacements and we are good!! COYG!!!
I think the astronomical wages that players demand is the biggest stumbling block at the moment. We’re the only top team in the BPL not bowing down to sly agents and their ridiculous demands. It’s going to be very difficult to offer a top player a huge wage when you don’t know how they’ll fare in the team. Arsenal aren’t exactly leaking money so having someone flop on £150k a week and a 5 year contract is a massive problem.
Arsenal wages 2013-14 were 4th at ~160M, Man U and Chelsea were 2nd and 3rd with ~190M. That means their wages were just 120% of Arsenals. We have the wages to compete, no doubt. The big outlier is City with ~240M in wages, nearly twice as much as the Arsenal. But that is mostly because they will pay anything to get who they want.
Pool is 5th with ~140M
Sp*rs are 6th with ~110M
No surprise but good to see our rivals getting business done early and planning for the new season. I await our trolly dash on the last day of the window
Can’t wait for the return of Kallstromator!
I don’t buy into this “getting your business done in the last minute” complaint. So frigging what if we do do it at the last minute? We would have played 3 meaningful games by that stage, CL qualifier and 2 league games. If you don’t think our current players are good enough to ride out that “storm” until reinforcements arrive then give up now. What people should concern themselves with is the quality of the player we recruit. If they are of a high enough calibre then it won’t matter when they arrive. And you can’t complain about the quality… Read more »
Correction: three league games.
Them three league games could be against major rivals and could be well behind by the time the trolley dash comes along. Also signing players earlier gives them time to blend in with there new team mates and has them getting used to our playing systems. Last minute trolley dashes could cost us upto another month before we gel and could be out of the title race.
Pre-season to gel with the team, find somewhere to live, get family settled, kids in to schools etc.
How about because we can integrate the new signings quicker. Or if the player decides he wants more money and we won’t pay then we have time to find a replacement. Or maybe he fails his last minute medical and again we have time to find a replacement. Or the new said players could help us avoid defeat like the 8.2 against Man U or the home defeat against villa. Or that it gives the fans and players an early lift and it looks like the club have a plan. Or if we get guzumped at the last minute by… Read more »
Can Ludivine stay??
I hear she’s coming with him.
Filthy
is he the 34th former Gunner they have signed?
They’ve pretty much completed a full back-line set from us now…
Should’ve just pulled a sickie… yesterday and today.
knew the fucker was waiting for cesc’ move to be made official, so that his becomes more of a softer blow.
bye.
Is this what football is all about now? Just go play for the highest bidder, with no sense of gratitude and commitment.. I wish him no good luck but thanks for his service..
Had him on the back of my shirt for the last 3 years, can only thank this man for his 110% service any game.
Fuck you header vs tottenham still my favourite goal of the past 10 years.
Dont exaggerate…its only 32
to me this player and club worked out fine, how we would have liked some of the other players who left being a gentleman like him, who hated the $pur$ as much as the fans “The enemy” good luck and thanks
IT DOESNT SUIT YOU
IT DOESNT SUIT YOOOUU
BACARY SAGNA
YOU LOOK SHIT IN BLUE
(love you really Bac)
You really should be more concerned with the conflict in Syria etc
But it wouldn’t hurt to see a player come IN.
Also on a sidenote, the reports of the manager going to the world cup to scout targets is hilarious, judging a player on their world cup performances worked with Liverpool on Salif Diao & Diouf. Or Kleberson with United.
Get the finger out, replace these players with better quality. I’m not mentioning names because, what’s the point??
Arab money is on hell of a drug
*one
🙁
I have to remind myself to support the name on the badge, not the back of the shirt. It always hurts to see players you love go to other teams. Overmars, Henry, Vieira, Fabregas, Nasri (über-c*nt), RvP, Fabregas again and now Sagna…
Well, Mr Wenger… it’s over to you. GK, CB, RB, DMF, ST…
Nothing to see here move along please
With so many players & coaching staff on ManC, can we call ManC Arsenal B team?
If we get a quality RB we will have improved on every position lost to them, especially since Gibbo is well on his way to improving on Clichy if he can work out the injuries. It will be tough to improve on this one though.
Bloody hell, knew it was coming but it still hurts, and on top of Cesc signing for those classless cunts, we’ll Arsene over to you, I’m expecting some fucking stellar signings.
Ok id like to see how the battle for right back position would pan out in City. Will he play second fiddle to Zabaleta?
its funny how the quest for “greener pastures” often leads to obsolescence.
You’re a STAR at the emirates; you move to a seemingly bigger club and you’re no more than a STREET LIGHT
Suspect he’ll play a lot of games at centre back
allow
You better pull some nice surprise’s Wenger cuz it only seems to be sad shit happening at the mo!
I know we knew this was coming but after yesterday’s kick in knackers it’s a shitter.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think he left for the Arab money. He’s 32 now, who knows for how long is he able to play at the highest level. He’s done his duties for us, and now he wants to win the league. It could be the easy way, but I can totally agree on some level. What concerns me ,is, what do our potencial targets think? Are we genuine title contenders? Cos this kind of transfer business really shows the opposite for me. Waiting for the big guys to do their shopping, and then pick from the… Read more »
This is what I don’t understand…Sagna has played for us for 7 years (correct?) at 60k pounds at week that’s over 20 million pounds over that period of time. If that somehow is not enough for you to live a comfortable life then I don’t know what is…I only Make 50k DOLLARS a year and I live comfortable even paying a mortgage in Washington, DC which is an expensive city. He now goes there for a little bit more than Arsenal offered only to sit on the bench? I don’t get that. It tells a lot of the lives of… Read more »
I think it’s a bit simplistic to assume it’s purely about the money, certainly in this case. Granted the world footballers live in is a different one in a lot of ways to us normal folk but at the end of the day they are individuals like the rest of us, with different personalities, interests and priorities. Plenty of people change jobs and even careers for reasons other than money, or have other motives as well as money. Most footballers aren’t hardcore fans, certainly these days. So while many of them will feel gratitude towards a club’s fans, and coach… Read more »
Also don’t forget that you may well be able to do your job for decades, while Bac has a few more years to earn before retirement. Yes he has made lots of money. But his football career will be over when he is let’s say 35. Then he will live for 50-60 more years, and I’m willing to guess that he has a pretty good standard of living and is used to having that. So while it is easy to say “if you loved Arsenal you would stay”… if the difference is a three year contract at 100k/week vs two… Read more »
His wife will still be the fittest footballer-wife though.
Hurt that Sagna left for City, yea, but hey he actually kept true to his contract and gave 200% in every game.
As for Fabregas I feel sad about the situation. Sad for Fabregas because he got rejected by Arsenal and had to move on. Sucks doesn’t it Fab.
Even though its not much of a consolation, but at least this time we didnt actually sell either Sagna or Cesc to our rivals.
Cesc at Chelsea will be interesting, i hope he fails spectacularly.
After watching Oscar last few seasons and last night, i just dont see how Cesc fits into Maureens team.
My love for football is reducing every season, our FA cup win rekindled it, but the lack of loyalty is really worrying.
If Wilshere ever goes to Spurs, i’ll stop watching footie.
I think Cesc fits into that team playing in a free role behind Diego Costa, with Hazard and Oscar on the wings outside of him, and Ramires and Matic behind him in defensive roles. I think it sucks that he will play for them but I also think that line-up sounds pretty good.
Don’t get me worng, I appreciate the time Sagna put in, but I don’t respect him anymore and I’m not sorry. Dislike the comment if you’d like, but if he truly loved Arsenal, he wouldn’t have divorced our beloved club. Money is never a good enough reason to divorce – not if there is true love at least. Have lost respect for the man.
Love ?
Football is about money not love.
The loyalty is to the highest bidder and thats LIFE
Horrible situation but money says everything people want to hear…
This is the worst day of my life.
Last week, my childhood dog died, and I failed two out of three of my semester exams. But, nothing compares with this day, it is the worst day out of my 21.33 years of existence. Even if I came down with a rare skin disease tomorrow, that day would not be more worse than this one. Seeing two players who represent everything I love about The Arsenal football club move to two of the most despicable footballing businesses in the world hurst me so, so much.
How would one hurst you? Smash your head against a bar drop you on a line and, when you bounce back out, say you went over it?
I guess hyperbole is lost on some people.
Priorities lad…
I guess its time we all moved on, not going to wish Sagna luck, but I won’t boo him either, he has been fantastic for us, and at 31 I guess it was the right time to let me go.
Bad week so far!
Vermaelen next…?
Apparently Ushited are interested so wouldn’t be a great surprise.
Frustrating transfer window…. again!?
I watch a lot of French football, and if rumours are true and we do in fact sing Aurier, then that’s the perfect replacement. He really has everything pace, power can attack and defend, he has been compared to dani alves and was recently voted in to the team of the year. I for one will miss Sagna and I wish him well but we have to look to the future in Aurier,
Our rivals get a little bit stronger and we get a little bit weaker.
Thats not good business is it?
Especially when you have an idiot in charge who doesn’t know what he’s doing.
We needed a striker in January so he brings in another midfielder.
But now that we need a right back we might get that striker that we need.
Wenger should have gone – a dinosaur long since extinct…
Can we just have 1 transfer window with no drama, is that too much to ask.
For feck sake 🙁
Yes he was a fantastic player for us but like so many others pound signs come before loyalty to a club now. Another two/three years at Arsenal would have earned him at least another £10,000,000 and he could have retired an Arsenal legend. At Abu Dhabi United he won’t be a legend and will likely spend half the season on the bench … Footballlers these day’s do not live in the real world. Plenty of them earn more in a week than I will earn in 30 years yet still they want more money. Greed doesn’t begin to describe it… Read more »
oh well. Hope he has a nice time on the bench. On another note David Bentley has retired at 29! Fell out of love with the game he says. Haha. Maybe if he’d actually applied himself instead of goofing about, running around in his pants chucking water over Harry Redknapp he might have made something of himself. What a bell end.
See ya around Bacary. Thanks for the hard work and dedication. Real class act. Really enjoyed watching you the last 7 years. I hope you enjoy the extra cash, and now you can sit back on the pine and relax, get fat, and let Zabaleta do all the work. Double your wage, and do half (if not less) of the work. Can’t fault you for that. I suggest faking an injury for 3/4 of the season. Let the Sheik pay for your vacation. Milk it for all its worth. PS: Could you punch Nasri in the face for me? Thanks,… Read more »
Wish him all the best. He honoured his contract and is a man of respect. A very, very good role model.
Doesn’t live in the real world?!? I think we criticise these players precisely BECAUSE they are living too much in the real world–if someone wants to pay you 30%< more for doing the same job, you do it. Yes, 10,000,000 is a tremendous amount of money, but why would any professional in his or her right mind NOT accept more money to do the same thing? For the majority of us, if a rival company or boss approached us, guaranteed us basically the same work environment, told us we'd get a massive pay increase to do our job or perhaps… Read more »
You are comparing eggs with oranges. Yes I’d go and work for someone who is willing to pay me 30% more than what I’m on because it would make a difference to my life, as in paying for a holiday, new shoes for the kids, wife having her nails done, shopping at waitrose rather than Nettos. Oh I’m on £80000 a week. I need £130000 a week otherwise I won’t be able to afford the fucking gas bill. Get fucking real. Sagna and RVP and most footballers don’t live in the real world. Playing football 180 minutes a week and… Read more »
That’s not saying that the past two days haven’t been fucking awful.
Typical Arsenal summer.
1) One of the best players leaves for a rival
2) Pass up the opportunity to sign a world class player for a reasonable.
3) Manager sitting on his arse commentating for French TV and will only bother to look for players after the World Cup in his own time while enjoying his fat new contract.
Look forward to us signing Gareth Barry & Samuel Eto on free transfers on August 31 while Wenger and Kronke are laughing all the way to the bank.
Lol, if only City had kept Kolo….. Then they would have been a quarter away from completing the Arsenal back4 from 7 years ago.
….. Who was Kolo’s partner in our defense? Was it Gallas?