I've had to look at a few dictionary definitions this evening: first to check what they say for "imminent" which I always understood to mean very soon, about to happen, or before you can say Jack Robinson. Then after finding the cute photo above I found myself wondering whether "ownage" is really a word or not - surely it should be "ownership". Whatever the case the point is that I am getting pretty bored of the press stories about imminent signings.
Giovani's move to Tottenham has been "imminent" for at least three days now, and I find myself constantly checking back and forth between all the different news sources so I can get the story out as quickly as possible when it finally happens. From what I know of Giovani's agent, Pini Zahavi, he is probably asking for a pay rise before they have actually signed the papers. I have to say I think it is a great shame he is leaving, he has tremendous talent and with a bit more patience he could have been a first team regular in a year or two. The fact that the agent was always asking for more put Barça in a difficult position, I am quite in favour of the club knowing when to say no to a player's demands. One of the problems with Joan Gaspart as a president was that he overpaid players too much in an effort to keep the fans happy. However, having said that, I can't believe he is going so cheaply, they are talking about €8 million with a few extras for games played, etc. Ok he is not Messi and he is not as promising as Bojan, but €8 million is a joke price for such a talented youngster.
The next "imminent" move in the transfer market is the supposed signing of Martin Caceres. Now I have a good feeling about this one, more from what people are saying about him than from seeing him in action. However, if you read the stories closely you will see that Barça are reportedly willing to pay €15 million while Villarreal say that he will only leave if someone pays his release clause of €20 million. Seems to me that they are still a few days negotiating away from an agreement.
As for Dani Alves I have a feeling that this will go on all summer. Sevilla's president, Jose Maria Del Nido, is a stubborn so-and-so, he has seen Barça offload Zambrotta and knows that Barça need to sign a right back, and he also knows Laporta is under pressure with this bloody vote of no-confidence thing. Either Laporta cracks and pays the asking price, which could be around €35 million, or we will be in for a long summer of the Dani Alves soap opera. Expect to see Barça linked soon to another right back alternative as Barça attempt to fool Del Nido into thinking Barça aren't so interested after all.
Hleb might be a different story and is my bet on being Barça's next signing (*waits for egg to hit face*). Arsenal know he wants to leave and I don't believe Wenger likes to keep hold of unhappy players. There may be some negotiation as Arsenal try their luck to get Toure Yaya included in the operation and Barça keep the door open for Adebayor. Reports suggest that Adebayor is the most likely striker of all those mentioned recently. Ibrahimovic has signed a new contract at Inter while Benzema was always going to be extremely difficult. It also seems that Tottenham want €4o million for Berbatov which may well put Barça off.
So, for all the talk of Barça wanting to sign players soon, I expect the two biggest signings - Alves and a striker - to be somewhat slower than imminent. And knowing my luck Giovani has signed for Spurs while I was writing this article.
Giovani Dos Santos
Barcelona
13 Responses so far →
Hi. I am a long time reader. I wanted to say that I like your blog and the layout.
Peter Quinn
I heard that Giovanni's younger brother is still in our youth team. I've heard good things of him (some say he's even better than Gio), will the departure of Giovani makes him think of moving as well?