I’ve never felt like there was anything I needed to forgive, never had any ill will towards him. But I already feel fonder of him now his association with Chelsea has ended.
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He probably wouldn’t be ideal for us, but apart from maybe physical strength and stamina I can’t see a single part of Xhaka’s game that’s any better than his.
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He isn’t an Arsenal Legend but I’m sure we will always associate him with Arsenal in whatever capacity.
I don’t blame him either with everything that was happening at Barcelona. Sometimes you can’t do things in a peaceful manner.
I don’t go along with some who call him a Arsenal Legend, not for me imo but the lad was a very good player. Still leaves a bad taste how he left Arsenal, but he did win things for Barca and Chelsea so I doubt he cares in the slightest. Doesn’t seem too much ill will towards him, although he did get booed and cheered when he came back to us with Chelsea. I think that will be his status I reckon when he retires and comes back to Arsenal as pundit (he was pretty good one during the World Cup last year), he get some boos and some cheers.
Never felt he was the same player when he left us, definitely think that dream move to Barca didn’t work out for him. Their fan’s and players were calling for it but by the end they didn’t care when he left. I do think that knocked him for ten and left him massively disappointed. The Chelsea fans didn’t quite take to him, to be fair they are a spoiled bunch who can buy pretty much anyone.But he showed glimpses of the form that made him special at Arsenal, during the Chelsea title winning season when Jose returned. After that he never quite looked the same player for Chelsea that he did at Arsenal.
Good luck to him, and wish him all the best.
Me being upset with him had more to do with the fact he was my absolute favorite player, even more so than Henry. That goal against Spurs (you know the one) was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. I really (naively) believed he cared about the club.
I was totally wrong. Calling out sick and then going to some car race towards the end of the season was a total dick move. Joining Chelsea was kind of whatever, maybe we had first option on him and maybe we didn’t. We didn’t need him at that point and I think Arsene was probably still hurt himself.
It’s a mean thing to say but I was kind of satisfied that things didn’t work out for him at Barcelona. I’m sure he’d never admit it but I was hoping it would prove to him that he shouldn’t have left Arsenal. He won La Liga with his favorite club, played with Messi, Xavi and Eddie Munster so I’m sure he’d say it was worth it.
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Yea we did and if anyone other than AW had been our manager we’d have signed him.
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Would you have signed him over Alexis and played him with Ozil? Not trying to be funny, genuinely interested in your thoughts. I remember that summer thinking he was going to come back to Arsenal and have this weird reunion with Arsene and team up with Ozil, Giroud and Santi to lead us to bigger things.
No I’d have signed both of them. A squad with Ozil, Fab, Sanchez, Santi…fitting in 4 players like that is a problem I wouldn’t mind and not the type of thing that ever did us any harm in the past.
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Fair play. I assumed it would be Cesc that summer and once we signed Alexis I was pretty sure Arsene/Ivan/Stan/Whoever we want to blame wouldn’t sanction another huge deal.
No way we didn’t need him when Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Coquelin, Welbeck, Chamberlain, Walcott, Podolski, Campbell were still playing for us. Even if it required a tweaking of systems, I won’t believe that him in our lineup over a lot of these would not have made us stronger.
I sometimes give Wenger a tiny bit of a break because he wanted to play his style and the players we had left after 2011 just weren’t capable of pulling it off, but when he’s turning down the opportunity to sign the fucking posterboy of Wengerball for a reasonable fee at a time when we actually had some money, then he deserves the shit he gets.
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Tbf we probably had to work on a budget at that time. I remember waiting to get Vela to Sociedad over the line to go ahead with the Sanchez deal.
Edit:To elaborate, we had a buy-back clause on Vela in 2014 but we negotiated with Sociedad who ended up giving us a fee so that Vela stays there.
Kinda agree with you. I think in the modern game, there is very little loyalty left, from the clubs and players alike. I think as fans, we need to be realistic in our expectations from players. How many players playing for a club in the premier league today actually grew up supporting that club? Very few I would imagine. It’s just the way the game is today with results and money mattering more than loyalty. So, I understand what Cesc did by going to Barca, which was his boyhood club. Too bad it didn’t work out for him there but I don’t think anyone of us would say no to playing for your childhood club, let alone one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the modern era.
As for him joining Chelsea, well, that’s not on him. We said no and he took the next best offer on the table and that worked out well for him. So again, no complaints. He is not going to be remembered as an Arsenal legend and am sure he doesn’t think of himself as one either. So in the end, I just wish him well for the future.
You’re making stuff up.
Firstly it’s doubtful that Sociedad gave us that money in one go just as it’s doubtful we paid for Sanchez in one go.
Secondly I remember talk at the time that Barca still owed us money from various deals over the years. Dunno if that’s correct but sounds plausible to me.
Thirdly, we have loads of fucking money.
Cesc is not even close to being an Arsenal legend, he is just another player who wore the shirt for us. Ramsey is more a Legend for us than him.
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Hard to disagree with that tbh
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Right. Because Ramsey is loyal indeed and isn’t signing with another club.
Both these hoes ain’t loyal.
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Hey man, Ramsey would have stayed with us if didn’t pull away the contract. And he will never join a direct rival of us. He was an Arsenal player through and through.
Cesc on the other hand, was a Barca player at heart even when he was playing with us. And I find it hard to believe that Chelsea was the only club willing to take him when he was leaving Barcelona. There must have been some club that wasn’t a f ing bitter London rival who he could have joined.
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If he wanted to come back to London and the PL then no there wasn’t
The way Cesc left us left a bad taste in our mouths. Then he goes on to taint his legacy more by wearing that blue shit.
I have nothing against him, I think he’s a humble person and a great player. But I don’t see him as an Arsenal legend whatsoever. He left us too soon.
Hope he does well in Monaco.
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Exactly. So for Ramsey the money is more important than loyalty. Which is fair enough. But don’t make him out to be Arsenal through and through.
Premier League > Serie A/Bundesliga. I don’t find it hard to believe at all that Bayern nor Juventus needed him at the time.