Flamini has weekend to decide his Arsenal future
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Flamini has weekend to decide his Arsenal future
LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Midfielder Mathieu Flamini has been given the weekend to decide if he wants a new contract with Arsenal, manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday. The 24-year-old Frenchman, linked by British media with a future move to Juventus or AC Milan, is a free agent at the end of the season and has yet to agree a new deal.
Asked about Flamini's contract situation, Wenger told a news conference: "Mathieu could answer that much better than I could. At the moment, we have no news from him but at the latest we expect it to be decided over the weekend. "He tells me he wants to stay and I want him to stay but it will be down to numbers as well as we want to respect our wage structure. "It is important to keep the core of the team together. We have shown we have the quality and now we need to improve in certain areas."
After a long spell at the top of the Premier League table, Arsenal have slipped to third place, four points behind leaders Manchester United and Chelsea. "When we have lost games, it is not because we have given away a lot more chances than any other team - it is because we have been punished in the air and that's what we want to rectify," Wenger said.
The Frenchman also said he was surprised by Thursday's resignation of Keith Edelman as managing director, following eight successful years on the Arsenal board. But Wenger added: "I don't think it will change much in terms of the football side of things. The money available won't change either."
Arsenal play their penultimate game of the season on Sunday at home to Everton.
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Can't be assed with him anymore . Wants to leave then just go ahead
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i think most likely he sure go milan. he want to see c if milan can qualify for next season champions league 1st
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Flamini will be silly to leave Arsenal. Arsenal is on the rise, Milan going downhill. Maybe it's coz Milan can offer more $$$? Quite a popular reason to move clubs. :D
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everywhere ppl are motivated by money. not just players but ourselves too.
more than often we ask ourselves, if our boss value us so highly as they often say, why not show it on the pay slip rather than just lip service.
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Arsenal star Flamini makes huge wage demand as talks reach crisis point
Mathieu Flamini has told Arsenal they will have to make him one of the country's highest paid players if they want to keep him next season.
The French midfielder has made the astonishing demand for a deal worth £7.5million-a-year - around £144,000 a week - because he has a similar offer on the table from AC Milan.
He will be able to leave on a Bosman free transfer in the summer and now seems certain to quit the club unless they make him their top earner.
Manager Arsene Wenger said today that Flamini had 48 hours to decide if he was going to accept Arsenal's deal which, with loyalty bonuses, would be worth £21m over four years.
Wenger originally claimed he wanted to know before the end of April whether the 24-year-old intended to stay, as he is anxious to begin the search for possible replacements.
But the manager has now extended that deadline to Monday morning, when Flamini - who is set to return to the substitutes' bench against Everton on Sunday following an ankle injury - will be asked to make up his mind.
He said: "Mathieu could answer the question on his future much better than I could. At the moment, we have no news from him but, at the latest, we expect it to be decided over the weekend.
"He tells me he wants to stay and I want him to stay, but it will be down to numbers as well and we want to respect our wage structure. It is also important to keep the core of the team together."
Wenger, meanwhile, admitted he was left completely in the dark over Keith Edelman's departure as managing director yesterday after an eight-year stint.
Edelman - who claimed he was leaving to seek a new challenge - has been replaced on a short-term basis by director Ken Friar, a close ally of Wenger.
The Frenchman insists his day-today business will not be affected but the fact he was not told of Edelman's impending departure is surprising, given the manager is a non-executive director and is generally kept informed of boardroom business.
He said: "It came as a complete surprise to me because he didn't inform me he was leaving.
"But I don't think it will change much in terms of the footballing side of things. The money available won't change either.
"I think the stability will remain. Ken Friar has already worked with me on the contracts and he will replace Keith for the coming weeks so I don't think it will be a major change for me."
That's fucking crazy ...
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1 of the top paid? Flamini?
Ego too big? :D
If he's really that good, then I guess people can understand his wage demands. But 1 of the top paid?
If it's money he wants, then fine. Go to Milan. Coz Arsenal's not gonna break their wage structure for 1 player. And the moment the wage structure's broken, others will want to follow suit.
Reyes:
Yes I agree money is a good motivating factor. I'm not against it per se, but was just speculating. And it looks like I'm right. :D
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flamini now head swollen greedy liao. pcb.
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Wah... $144,000 a week...
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Arsenal boss Wenger says Flamini is all about cash
As Mathieu Flamini considers his lucrative career options, Arsene Wenger warned he will never smash Arsenal's wage structure and plunge the club into financial peril. Wenger claimed it was 'morally not right' for a club to operate outside its means, pointing at Chelsea's dependence on billionaire owner Roman Abramovic.
Flamini, out of contract next month, insists he would like to stay at Arsenal but looks likely to join AC Milan or Juventus, who are both offering him more than the Gunners' £50,000 a week.
'We are not naive enough to think it is not linked to money,' said Wenger. 'He says he wants to stay and if he goes somewhere else that means it is linked to what? 'We have a £360million debt and we have to respect the wage structure or we will go bust. The numbers are the numbers. You ignore them and go bust or you do not ignore them and respect your wages.'
Arsenal compete at the top of the Barclays Premier League with Chelsea and Manchester United, who both pay their top players more than £120,000 a week, but Wenger insists he is prepared to lose out on new players rather than take financial risks.
Neither does he long for a wealthy benefactor, although Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov would like to increase their stakes in the club. 'When you make a decision, you make it so it is still valid in 10 years,' said Wenger. 'In 10 years, the club should still work within its income and not by someone who comes by parachute into your court and brings a huge amount of money. That's not workable and morally not right.
'Every company should work within its resources. When this guy dies, what do you do? You still have to pay the players. We are not Chelsea, we have no Abramovich. We work with the resources we have.'
Flamini is fit after an ankle injury but unlikely to start against Everton tomorrow. Arsenal's deadline for him to accept or reject their final offer has been extended to Monday. 'Ideally I want him to stay but he is free to go where he wants,' said Wenger, who claims he was in the dark about the resignation of managing director Keith Edelman this week. 'It was a surprise because he didn't inform me he wanted to leave. I don't know why he left.'
Even though Chelsea and Manchester United will duel for the Premier League title and the European Cup, Wenger still rates his team as England's finest. 'I personally believe we were the best team in this League,' he said. 'But we conceded more goals and it was defensively that we were not as good as Man United. 'If we had won at Man United, which we could have done, we are champions. It was down to one game. You cannot say these two were good and the rest were rubbish. Unfortunately, the championship is not played in Lourdes.'
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bye flamini, u can fk off to ac milan, the LOSERS in serie A
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aiya fuck off la
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i dont think he worth that much.
keep gilberto, and buy aston villa barry instead!! i think barry wish to join arsenal more than liverpool.