Arsenal given price tag for Ligue 1 target

 

Talksport have reported that Remy Cabella will cost Arsenal 100million Euros if they wish to sign him from Montpellier.

This story annoyed me on numerous levels. Firstly the price, I guarantee that should Cabella join Arsenal or any other team for that matter, it will not cost them 100million Euros.

The figure is arbitrary and while I understand the sentiment of the quoted deputy chairman, Laurent Nicollin, it is in fact nonsense.

My second issue, who is Remy Cabella?

I know football, I know a lot of players, I have heard of Remy Cabella but I know that many avid football followers out there won’t have, does he warrant such exalted talk and exorbitant figures?

The player who according to the report played a “major role” in Montpellier’s title win in 2012, please note that this “major role” consisted of 16 starts, 13 substitute appearances off the bench, 3 goals and 2 assists.

Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud was also in this Montpellier title winning team of 2012, and while I am no great advocate of the big centre forward I can appreciate that the Ligue 1 success probably owed more to his 21 goals and 9 assists in 36 games than Cabella’s contribution.

Now don’t get me wrong, Cabella looks a decent player and I’ve nothing against him, I just think this kind of extravagant statement and ...well lies does the game a disservice.

My other main problem isn’t actually just confined to the story, it’s mentioned here but it’s not specific to the piece.

Cabella is a member of the French under-21 side. He’s never played for the full national side, worth 100million Euros but never played full international football, interesting.

Now it wouldn’t be unheard of for players 21 or under to have huge prices on their heads and buyout clauses in their contracts, Neymar to give a current example.

While it’s clear that Cabella is not in his league what really irks me about this story is that he is in the French under-21 team.

Remy Cabella is 23-years-old. Why is he playing under-21 football, the fact that he is 23 would seem to indicate that he is actually over 21.

It’s a nonsense, James Milner played for the England under-21 team for about 11 years, I think he was approaching somewhere around 500 caps, it was ridiculous.

I know there’s some rule that says it’s ok as long as players were under 21 on a specific date, but why?  It’s wrong, Uefa or whoever please change it.

Allen Whyte

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