It looks as though Henri Lansbury will leave Arsenal on a permanent basis with Nottingham Forest reported to have agreed a deal for the England under-21 international.
Despite consistently impressing during his four loan spells at Scunthorpe, Watford, Norwich and West Ham United, the midfielder has started only once for the Gunners – scoring in a win over Spurs in the League Cup two years ago – while otherwise being restricted to seven cameo appearances from the bench.
Compared by Arsene Wenger to Ray Parlour, and repeatedly tipped as ‘one for the future’, it appears the boss has finally decided that the 21-year-old would be better served playing regular football elsewhere despite handing the player a new contract as recently as last September.
The Daily Telegraph report that Lansbury was at the City Ground yesterday negotiating the terms of his deal and will be Forest’s ninth signing of the summer.
Arseblog News suspects that the Premier League’s player quota rules may have something to do with the decision to let Lansbury leave.
It’s all a bit complicated, but in simple terms, if you’re a ‘homegrown’ talent at Arsenal but not a regular first team squad member as you approach your 22nd birthday you’re in line for the chop. Gavin Hoyte, Rhys Murphy and Kyle Bartley have recently been shown the door, Lansbury turns that age next month, while Craig Eastmond does the same in November.
We wait to hear news on the latter, but if you’re a betting man you’ll whack a fiver on the chicken-loving DM joining the Nandos staff football team before Friday.
He didn’t really play too much at Upton Park, did he? I saw him take the field in that traumatic 8-2. But that’s it. Was he really good?
He was a hard worker and a committed gooner and under Arsene’s guidance, if was given a chance I’m sure he could have done well. Not that he’s done badly, I guess he’s just in the same boat as seb larsson was back in 2006.
It’s a shame cause I always want to see the youth make it at Arsenal. Good luck to Lansbury.
A shame, I liked the lad and thought he at least deserved a chance in the first team. I can’t help but think that the injury that he picked up which prevented him from travelling abroad with the team this summer might have hastened this.
Best of luck Henri!
it really is unbelievably rare to see a player that has played for the same club at youth and senior level really manage to keep their place consistenly at the same club. those that have done so generally do go on to do great things. you only have to look at that astonishing ManUre team of the mid-late (bane of my high school days) 90’s team. i’d wager that there are more former arsenal youf in the top tiers than many other clubs, perhaps, and looking at the way our u18s and u21s play, there can be a lot to… Read more »
Hmm, Barcelona?
(Eek, please don’t throw stones at me.)
I thought these home-grown rules were brought in to help develop English talent! If the rule is forcing us to sell then it needs to be looked at again.
presumably it’s to stop clubs like chelsea and city buying up any and all talent at 18 and then just keeping them on their books as “home grown” to stop everyone else having them
which would be entirely fair.
whilst it might seem a bit unfair to us that’s because we’re only thinking of the arsenal – for lansbury it makes total sense to get out and spend time playing. hopefully if he’s good enough we’ll have inserted a buy-back or sell-on clause to benefit it he really puts in a shift or two
surely he can always be bought back as and when required due to his Arsenal dna
Such a shame if he goes, really hoped to see him in our team one day. May not be the most technically gifted player but made up for it with work rate, effort and his English-type play.
Regardless, I wish you all the best Henry, and will always remember your goal against Sp*rs!
Real shame, was interested to see what he’d be like with a bit of a run in the side. Especially in a cup run. Best of luck Henri.
He really could have been LANS(bury).
He wasn’t knocking at the door loudly enough, so at the age of 21, you would think he’s not going to make it with the Arsenal.
Shame. Always rated him but cant see him breaking through at Arsenal. Best of luck Henners!
Guess you all know what this link is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0tzg3avjLo
A tap-in. Wow.
Build up play was top class. That’s the Arsenal way.
also great play by eboue and denilson in that clip 🙂
LANsbury will always be remembered for scoring
against the shitty Sp*rs.
Good luck Henri, a true gooner no matter where he goes.
Not sure Lansbury has really impressed on loan. He wasn’t in the 18 at West Ham by the end of last season and was regular bench material at Norwich in their promotion charge. If anything I think he’s slightly lucky to get a move to Forest as he’s not really done it at a Championship club looking for promotion.
Arse & Nose, you could equally argue that this is exactly where the rule works. It stops clubs stockpiling young players and helps them to get out the door and into the club that can give them playing time.
haha sorry didn’t read this before posting more or less the same as a reply
We need 8 home-grown players. Walcott, Szcz , Mannone, Gibbs, Ramsey , Djourou, Coquelin . Considering that’s still just 7 players, with walcott having his “contract situation”, we’re short in there. Of course, that’s considering bendtner goes, which he most likely will.
The rest like JW, Ox, Frimpong are u21
Always wanted him to do well, but if the loan clubs he was with didn’t think him good enough to come with them to the Prem, thinking West Ham and Norwich, then I guess he just ain’t good enough.
…..still rather have him than Park.
Always really, really wanted him to succeed. He’s my brother-in-law’s cousin, so would have been LMFAA (Like My Family At Arsenal). My bro-in-law is a Spud too, so I always hoped Henri would keep scoring against the fools for us.
You call that a claim to fame? My ex-PE teacher once taught Henri as kid 😉
Good arguments explaining while the rules are there.
Still feel a little disappointed about Lansbury in particular because he looked very promising at England U21 level.
Absolutely gutted to hear this news. I honestly thought he would get the chance to show his talent this season. I think he’s the kind of player we lack as he can play on the wing and the way he scored against spurs at least earns him that opportunity to prove he can make it. Another English youngster lost due to shitty rules and an influx of mediocre YOUNG foreigners. Give the English lads a go. We did with Wilshere and look how he was in his first full season.. Immense.
Good luck Lansbury wherever u go.
Fozzy, if he was good enough, he would have been in the 1st team playing. I see all this bleeding heart comments about another british teenager being sold and not being given chances. I find such comments quite juvenile. Do you guys think that after investing so much in the education of these youngsters, Arsenal would be happy to ship out really talented youth? I find it insane that you guys keep harping about this “British heart and spirit”. Henri might bloom into a great player in a few years because he may be like Giroud who blossomed late in… Read more »
Good luck Lansbury. I really hoped he would make it with us. I’m sure he’ll do great for Forest. Thanks for helping us mash the spuds that time
On an unrelated note I have just read the clubs brief piece i=on the upcoming CL draw this week. This states that Man City are in pot 2. Can anyone explain how this happened? I have to be honest and say that onter than the last couple of years I haven’t really been follwing them, but have they been regulars for the last few years in European competition? have they done particularly well? Didn’t they bomb out of CL last year in the league stage?
Honestly, Man City should be in pot 10 because just as recently as 2008 they were hammered 8-1 by Middlesborough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGOZgELbK_c&feature=related and are simply new money under-5s.
It just goes to show how Platini & co are ruining football. I guess money can buy you anything.
The board is ruining the club by selling our top players each year. Golden Goose Arsenal FC. Fans = Food. Players = Golden eggs. Stadium = The body. Organs = Captains. Every year our Captain will be sold. Vermaelen’s head is in the chopping block. At the back of our worst season in a decade. It looks like the club has changed and is investing in the squad, but in truth we have made a 6 million pound profit. The reason why they don’t want Usmanov on the board is that they are trying to increase the cost per share… Read more »
Whatever your opinions are on board/selling our best player related issues it seems to have little relevance to this article. Stop jumping on bandwagons and being controversial. Lighten up.
Instead of blabbering on about the board, why don’t you get behind the team? Football is played by 11 men on the pitch isn’t it? I’m all for boardroom issues but honestly, I just want to see my team play some good football. Thats the reason I support Arsenal FC and bought the Arteta 8 t-shirt.
I do. I wear my Arsenal clothes proudly every day – even after our 8 -2 defeat exactly 365 days ago.
That, incidentally, is 365 days without wearing a clean shirt.
haha looks like at least 10 of us are on de-nial cruise !
First, how the accounts are going to pan out won’t be known until next year. We haven’t even finished this transfer-window’s traffic yet. Second, the notion that AFC will single out our current captain to be sold is something out of La-La Land or the Daily Mail or maybe even both. Third, I don’t quite get the full extent of your Aesop analogy; “organs = captains” sounds more disturbed than illustrative to me. Four, Usmanov taking the club over is a fantasy idea. The moment we lose control over ownership it becomes a Pandora’s Box that can never be closed.… Read more »
I pressed dislike not because I am in denial, but because I find your comment rather pathetic.
Nothing to do with the £75m on offer from his Uzbeki mate then, it was simply a matter of principle. Good stuff.
“True story.
Like if you want change, Dislike if you in denial.
Comment if you see it differently.”
So what you’re saying is, “if you disagree with me you are wrong”.
You’d get on well with great guys like Hitler, Kim Jong Il And Saddam.
And look what happened to them.
well that escalated quickly…
perhaps David Dein who loves the club so much can have a word with his son about the asset stripping
I liked this chap. Good player, technically very good and I think working with Sean O’Driscoll will help him continue his development. Forest are in for a good season so we may even see Lansbury at the Emirates next season!
Good luck Henri!
there no pleasing some people…they want people like lansbury sold and when they are there is drama everywhere why are we selling him……lets be honest he would not get into the current Midfield… or even the front 3…..in midfield he has Mikel, Abou, Santi, Ox, Aaron, Francis and Jack still to come back all ahead of him plus whoever we sign….front three you have Gervo, Theo, ox and poldi can anyone genuinely say he is better then any of those?
It’s not just the £1M transfer fee we might get for him, it’s also the £25K a week in wages.
In our midfield he’s already behind Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey, Coquelin, and Frimpong (in his age group.) Plus Cazorla, Rosicky, Arteta, and Diaby. That’s a lot of midfielders to fight through. Eastmond has a similar problem.
And Lansbury needs to play or he’ll never be able to prove himself. Which has to be the point. Yet for someone who’s been at Arsenal since he was nine, this must have been tough for both management and himself.
We’ll always remember WHL.
you just re-wrote what i wrote lol
Damn Carl Gustav Jung.
was it really £25k a week wages?
thats half a song for a player that never plays, blimey
I’m sure part of the deal was that we get first option on a buy back clause, sad to see him go but never felt he was a real top class player, and at a club like ours was never going to be one of our top 5-6 midfielders.
Also as everyone knows we have to cut our massive wage bill…!!!
Good luck to him! This has nothing to do with the “homegrown” rule, though. It is because of the squad size rule and HL being over 21.
Henri Lansbury was extremely disappointing at West Ham last year. Brought to the club to fill a “creative” black-hole the truth was he very rarely looked interested. As excited as I was when he signed I was then relieved no permanent deal was forthcoming. Lansbury always seemed to be on the periphery of the game (and yes I realise that can happen in the smash, bash, crash of the Championship) with little craft in knowing the places to be to get the ball. After an energetic goalscoring debut against Portsmouth Arsene Wenger gave him a new contract and his interest… Read more »
And this is the flaw in Arsenals policy.
Sign up 425656 kids and maybe 2 or 3 actually make it…. if we’re lucky.
He was supposed to be the next big thing, as was JET, as was Watt, as was…. the list goes on and on.
Such a shame in the day of the mercenary that a true Gooner has been forced to leave the club.
He’s only left because quality wise he’s not quite good enough. Seemed a nice enough lad and an ok player, but there’s a touch of the David Bentleys off him in terms of attitude.
And most clubs operate that way. Hundreds of youngsters come and go and a very tiny percentage ever make it to the first team.
Truer words have never been said! * merely sucking up to the lord of the Arses*
Isn’t that the same with every club of our bracket? I mean, every Premier League club has a Youth Team, how many academy graduates are playing in each team though? It’s just reality.
When will guys like you will come out of your Stupor? Nobody forced HL out. HE wants to play which is near impossible with a midfield we have. It is better to go and make his mark in another team and then move up. He is 21. If he is really brilliant and works equally hard in his career, he will do well. Maybe even come back at Arsenal if we have a buy back clause. The reason so many Arsenal kids are ultimately sold is because Arsenal have a limited pool to tap. On top of that lots of… Read more »
[…] 来源:[Arseblog News] […]
Always hard to see academy products leave us. But let’s face it, Lansbury is not Arsenal quality, and wasn’t getting any younger. Sale was best for all parties involved. We desperately need to free up some more space to accommodate new signings as well.
Ah well Henri. A good lad, but just not good enough to make the grade.
No shame in that, wish him all the best.
Very gutted about this…but I am when any young gooner has to leave us. I guess this moves henderson up in the pecking order once more. The next gen series will be a great stage for him impress us if he doesn’t go out on loan.
It’s on the official site now. Thanks for Shite Hart Lane and good luck for the future Henri.
Rest assured this guy will have a good career and play in the top flight for many years. While I admit I didnt see much of him in Arsenal colours ive seen him play 4 times for England U- 21’s and he was class. For those of you saying “he was awful at West Ham”…he was excellent at the start of the season but got injured and came back to a team managed by Mister fucking Toad, who doesn’t use a midfield. Ok he didn’t shine at Norwich but he wasn’t bad either and he was 17/18. Should have got… Read more »
It is obvious the idea of depending on home grown and youth progressing into the first team will now be minimal at Arsenal. Experience has shown that even if you build and develop them, loyality is a goner and every player and it’s agent are all money hugging bitches now.
Good luck Henri Lansbury
Good player..massive heart..true gunner unlike so many closer to the first team of late..and I’ll never forget that goal and celebration against the spuds..he’ll be a massive success at Forrest without a doubt..all the best to him
Looks like im staying wooohoooo keep trying wenger hahahahahahahahahaha
This “not arsenal quality” line makes me laugh what is that exactly? If arsenal had put the same effort developing lansbury as they did song I think arsenal would have a arsenal loving “quality player” and not one that runs to the “best club in the world”.