Arsenal brace themselves for £15m bid
Alex Song looks set to be on his way out of Arsenal
Spanish giants Barcelona are closing in on a move for Arsenal midfielder Alex Song according to reports in the Catalan press reports The Independent.
According to daily papers Sport and Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona’s sports vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and director of football Raul Sanllehi flew into London on Tuesday to finalise a deal, and it is believed it could be completed within hours.
Reports have claimed Arsenal turned down an initial bid of €15 and are hoping to hold out for over €20 million. However it is believed Barcelona will get their man for a fee of between €18 and €19 million.
The deal would see Song reunited with former teammate Cesc Fabregas, who made the same switch from North London last summer.
There has been no official word from Barcelona on the transfer, but Javier Clemente, who was Song’s International manager with Cameroon from 2011 to 2012 believes Song would fit into new coach Tito Vilanova’s plans perfectly according to ESPN.
“He is a player with some things from (Seydou) Keita and some from (Yaya) Toure. For me he has more imagination in attack,” Clemente said.
“Physically he is very strong, dynamic, he works very hard and is very good technically. He is at Barca level.”
Barcelona are confident the deal will be tied up in time for their first La Liga game of the season against Real Sociedad at the Nou Camp this weekend. The Cameroon international will become only their second summer signing, following their move for full back and Euro 2012 star Jordi Alba from Valencia.
Arsenal fans, who are still preparing themselves for life without Robin Van Persie, will not welcome the news.
Song, who provided countless assists for the Dutchman last term, is a firm fan favourite at the Emirates, and even the news that Rennes’ midfielder Yaan M’Vila has been lined up, as a replacement will do little to appease the Arsenal fans.
August 15th, 2012
Big mistake Song, just ask Alexander Hleb. You’re just going to be a bench warmer and fade away. I emember a few years ago when Song was a fringe squad player, he refered to Mr Wenger as his ‘Father figure’. Where is the loyalty to his’Father figure’ now that Barce have come calling? Yann M’Villa will be an awesome replacement, better than Song as he is more defencive minded which is what Arsenal need.
August 15th, 2012
arteta ıs pretty dependable and ım more than comfortable wıth rosıcky, wılshere, ramsey or coquelın lınıng up besıde hım.
arsenal wıll be better ın mıdfıeld wıth these players to replace song. so get rıd of hım. ıd rather players were loyal, but 20m pounds would be very good busıness. and he would rot on the barca bench.
August 16th, 2012
please, why won’t the media stop writing nonsense about our club?
All these are arsene’s fault