Truth about the Traore transfer Arsene Wenger is notoriously secretive about his transfer activity, and the latest rumor from an equally notorious source has given us plenty of reason to believe why this is the case. Word on the back pages of scrap book somewhere is that Arsenal actually paid QPR to take Senegalese left back Armand Traore off of the Gunners books. Just when we thought the modern transfer window could not get any more outrageous…
The fee, reported to be around £7million pounds, was negotiated between the two clubs moments after the final whistle of Arsenal’s humiliating 8-2 loss to Manchester United. QPR accepted, but not before turning down a ‘derisory’ bid thought to be around £2 million plus Armand.
It’s the first time in the history of the Premier League transfer window that a team has received a transfer fee for a player coming in, and (despite being the only transfer of this nature) Traore’s move has also been officially listed as a Premiership record for the ‘lowest’ fee ever paid by a club. The figure also sets a QPR transfer fee record surpassing the £6 million the club received from Newcastle United for Les Ferdinand in June 1995.
An unnamed source commented: “We couldn’t believe it when Arsenal made the offer. It just said that they would give us Armand Traore and cash, but didn’t say who they were interested in getting in return. I sat waiting for the rest of the fax… I thought that they must be after one of our academy prospects.”
Meanwhile it is thought that Wenger used complex financial model to compute that with future Champions League qualification at risk, Traore was in fact a £9million liability to the club and that the deal should be viewed as Arsenal clearing its debts – an idea described by club officials as ‘revolutionary’.
With the move completed, Arsenal now have the room to bring in much needed defensive reinforcements. Brazilian international Andre Santos and German stopper Per Mertesacker are thought to be on their way to club. Premiership newboys QPR also see the transfer as a means to bolstering their inexperienced squad and latest news is that they will be using the monies received to buy a new left back.
Just a little kicks I wrote in my blog:
http://arsenalnow.blogspot.com/