Ben Arfa deal isn’t going to happen, but it was fun whilst it lasted!
Posted on August 13th, 2010 | 163 Comments |
It’s my opinion that the protacted transfer saga has gone on for far too long for the move to materialise now.
I would be happy to be proved wrong mind, very happy in fact as I beleive that Ben Arfa has enough about him to become a real fan favourite at St James’ Park.
It seems that the player would like to come to Newcastle, as evidenced by the fact he stormed off in a huff when the Marseille president said he would be staying in France and not going out on loan. In fact I even think the player told the club that he wouldn’t be going back to Marseille, although if that is wrong then please correct me as I have just got in from work.
Deals have been agreed, then they haven’t been agreed, then there has been contact followed by reports of there being no contact at all. Pretty much everyday has been like that for at least a week, which has been exciting, deflating and intriguing in equal measure.
At the moment it seems like there is a power struggle going on between Ben Arfa and Marseille, but who will win? Will player power win the day, or will the French club get their own way? I personally think it will be the latter, unless Newcastle stump up the cash of course, which I doubt will happen.
I found it amusing when the Marseille president hinted that Chris Hughton is out of step with Mike Ashley. Apparently Dassier doesn’t quite grasp the way that transfer speculation is handled by Hughton. If he did then he would know that Hughton gives everything the brush off. But to the trained eye, or to those who have seen it before, you can generally tell when a rumour is near the truth by the coy look on his face whilst issuing the denial.
At the end of the day I just want this whole saga to be over. Twists and turns are great and all that, but if Newcastle don’t have a decent chance of signing the lad then we should move on to another target, if we have another target on the radar that is.
It’s a shame really as I believe that if the club had acted swiftly then we would have been able to get the player, even on loan perhaps. All this dilly-dallying about though has given Marseille a way back into negotiations.
Marseile are playing hardball at the moment, and our club won’t match that.
C’est La Vie, bit like the Beckford saga really and Marseille will now realise what it is to try and get blood out of a stone, for the sake of a few quid we are going to miss out on a really good player.