Fredrik Ljungberg (Out)

[Grampus_Eight]

Going to sleep at 2:20am (EST) has the advantage of getting the gossip whilst others sleep.

ALL FROM THE BBC TUESDAY RUMORS PAGE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 243543.stm

West Ham have made a dramatic £7m bid for Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg after missing out on Shaun Wright-Phillips. (The Sun)

But the Hammers face competition from Italian sides AC Milan and Juventus for the Swede. (Daily Express)

Arsenal have targeted Franck Ribery, which is why they are prepared to let Ljungberg go. (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal's right-back Lauren is another target for the struggling Hammers. (Daily Mail)

And so it begins...

 

[nidza7]

Rumours suggest we`re after Babel.

 

[Grampus_Eight]

The rumor has at least been partially substantiated by the Independent:

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football ... 137748.ece

FROM THE INDEPENDENT:

""West Ham United last night made an audacious bid to sign Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg. No fee has been discussed so far for the 29-year-old Swedish international, although Arsenal do appear prepared to sell him and West Ham have the funds available.

Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has lined up Ajax's Dutch international left winger Ryan Babel as Ljungberg's replacement. The 20-year-old is keen to join Arsenal although no deal will be done before the end of the season as Wenger wants to look at other targets. Babel was recently described by the Netherlands coach, Marco van Basten, as having the potential to be the "new Thierry Henry".

West Ham are confident that they will also be able to match Ljungberg's personal terms - which means he could earn an astonishing £70,000 a week - but although the midfielder is keen to stay in the Premiership, they are unsure if he will want to join a relegation-threatened club.

Wenger was interested in signing Reo-Coker last summer as was Sir Alex Ferguson. It is thought that he has cooled on the player since but is still looking for young central midfield talent which would raise question marks over the future of Gilberto Silva as well as Ljungberg. Arsenal have also, in the past, shown interest in Yossi Benayoun although West Ham are adamant they want to recruit players not sell them.""
______

That last part is bizzare. Questioning whether Gilberto will be deemed surplus. WTF? Is Jason Burt (Independent football writer) on crack? Questions on the future of Gilberto Silva?

I will put the Babel rumor up somewhere else, but he is NOT a player that has impressed of late, but certainly has bags of pace and some considerable talent. Hope that is smokescreen for another target though.

 

[nidza7]

Arsenal have targeted Franck Ribery, which is why they are prepared to let Ljungberg go. (Daily Mirror)

The Gunners have also been linked with Dutch international left winger Ryan Babel. (The Independent)

 

[marco]

Wenger has always been a key admirer of the carling opta stats and he is well aware of how much ground and all the stats associated with ljunbergs not stop running, tracking back and attacking penetration.
cant see him being sold.

a lot of people on here wanted pires out last year and we have missed him this year and the same would be true of freddy...
big game player and just because his goals have dried up shouldnt mean he should be sold...

 

[sabret00the]

I said it up until 2am last night and i'll say it again, Babel isn't good enough for Arsenal.

 

[asajoseph]

a lot of people on here wanted pires out last year and we have missed him this year and the same would be true of freddy...

Pires was garbage for most of last year, and his goals should not disguise that. He was lazy, and cowardly in his play, and despite the fact that he IS one of the best players we've ever had, and I DO like him, it was the right time to sell him. We only miss him because for much of the season (but not the last couple of months), we've had gaping holes in the skillset of our midfielders - the ability to score.

 

[Gurgen]

big game player and just because his goals have dried up shouldnt mean he should be sold...

No, but the fact that we're paying him to lie on the treatment table should..

 

[patrick42uk]

7 mill? we signed him for 3 as well. incredible to be talking about making a profit on a 29 year old past his best.

still doubt it will happen but fingers crossed. he could go there with a release clause, which will be kinda like a loan move till the end of the season. except we have 7 million in our pockets. :wink:

 

[Clrnc]

big game player and just because his goals have dried up shouldnt mean he should be sold...

No, but the fact that we're paying him to lie on the treatment table should..

both should. but the thing that concerned most of us is his performance in every single game. so far, to me none is acceptable. to us, a big club, we must have the best we can have and he is simply not. west ham would suit him best.

 

[YuenBiaoFan]

big game player and just because his goals have dried up shouldnt mean he should be sold...

No, but the fact that we're paying him to lie on the treatment table should..

A couple of great games a year is not a good return for his 50-70 grand a week.

 

[marco]

big game player and just because his goals have dried up shouldnt mean he should be sold...

No, but the fact that we're paying him to lie on the treatment table should..

Rosicky has been with us for 6 months 3 of which he has been injured for.
gallas has been with us for 4 and a half months and been injured for 2!
.

 

[asajoseph]

They do, however, make the team significantly better when they play. Freddie does not.

 

[YuenBiaoFan]

New players at a different club training everyday a different way and playing a different style of football are always more susceptible to injuries.

Freddie's just taken one battering to his body too far whilst at his long stint here and so his time is almost up I'm afraid

 

[Jameel46]

West Ham have made a dramatic £7m bid for Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg after missing out on Shaun Wright-Phillips. (The Sun)

i would much rather see him go somewhere else, in another country, i don't like the thought of him playing for another Premiership club but the money that's being mentioned is very interesting.

Arsenal have targeted Marseille's Franck Ribery, which is why they are prepared to let Ljungberg go. (Daily Mirror)

couldn't we just do a swap deal? a player plus cash offer for Ribery, i'm sure it'll be more enticing for Marseille

 

[lagos]

That last part is bizzare. Questioning whether Gilberto will be deemed surplus. WTF? Is Jason Burt (Independent football writer) on crack? Questions on the future of Gilberto Silva?
.

Not so much as deemed surplus but I believe Gilberto stated he wants to return to Brazil in the near future, So there may be some sense in it

 

[Lukazan]

Marco, your reasoning is absolutely ridiculous.

Tomas Rosicky and Gallas are new here and top top quality players. Infact it's arguable with Gallas that he's the best defender in the world when he is fully fit.

Freddie spends more than half the time injured and when he returns to action he's pretty dire. And where has this 'big game player' tosh come from? Because he had a good game against Barcelona?

We miss Pires because of his clinical finishing, which was to be frank quite remarkable for a midfielder. If we sold Freddie, what exactly would we miss? His goals? No, he doesn't score them anymore. After that I'm really struggling to think to be honest, unless you enjoy watching him perform the slowest steo-overs in history.. oh and don't you dare say anything about 'hard work' because Hleb and Rosicky do just as much if not more.

 

[Alfonso]

From KUMB forum(West Ham forum)-

'Have been told he is defo on the way out at Arsenal but is demanding that he stays in london because he has a couple of successful businesses here and another about to kick off '

 

[Shadow Moses]

From KUMB forum(West Ham forum)-

'Have been told he is defo on the way out at Arsenal but is demanding that he stays in london because he has a couple of successful businesses here and another about to kick off '

Very interesting. Even though I want him to leave 'cos he has been a liability for so long I wasn't expecting it to be so soon. I was thinking summer at the earliest.

 

[Alfonso]

What businesses does he run? a salon?

Anyway, here is a vid of Freddie getting very pissed off-

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8637046374