Top Stories

Afternoon ticker: Guiza joins Fenerbahce, Barca told to double their Arshavin bid

Daniguiza

The summer transfer market waits for no one, not even folks on vacation, so here is SBI correspondent Carl Setterlund with news and notes from the European soccer world.

Guiza joins Fenerbahce

Although none of the big fish have moved yet, the transfer season is still working its way into full swing as smaller fish Dani Güiza has completed his move to Fenerbahçe, where he will rejoin with ex-Spain coach Luis Aragones. Don’t call it a transfer though as the Turkish giants agreed to meet Güiza’s €15 million buy-out clause, as well as paying a €2.4 million tax to Real Mallorca, which adds up to a grand total of $27.2 million.

Fresh off a Euro 2008 performance that saw him score twice (hey, he was just as prolific as my boy Torres), the 27-year-old was bound to move on to a bigger club. Güiza found the net 27 times last season in league play for Mallorca, winning the Pichichi Trophy as top goal-scorer over Sevilla’s Luis Fabiano.

What do I think of the move? A pretty good pickup for Fenerbahçe at what looks like a fair price. I don’t have any inside information but from watching the Euros it looked like Aragones was very confident in Güiza and they had a functional relationship. The Istanbul club didn’t necessarily need Güiza, but then again you can never have too many capable forwards and Fenerbahçe surely want to wrestle back the SuperLig title from Galatasaray.

Zenit tells Barcelona double or nothing on Arshavin

Upon finding out that Barcelona and Andrei Arshavin share a mutual interest, a deal to send the Russian attacker to the Blaugrana has seemed in the cards. It has been revealed that Barca have launched roughly a $23.6 million bid on Arshavin, but Zenit St. Petersburg have told the La Liga club to double their offer if they want to get their man.

The 27-year-old was undoubtedly the catalyst in Zenit’s 2008 UEFA Cup capture, but it was his performance in Euro 2008 that made him truly a wanted man. Coming into the tournament as a player to watch for, Arshavin led an inspired Russia side to the Euro semifinals, where they lost, 3-0, to Spain.

I doubt that Barca have brought their best offer forward, especially in a year when they’re looking to replace the creative energy brought by Deco and Ronaldinho, but I also don’t expect that Zenit are doing anything more than posturing. A compromise would be to meet halfway, because if Gareth Barry (a completely different player, but stay with me) is supposed to be a $35 million player, then surely Zenit can obtain somewhere around that region for Arshavin.

There isn’t much else out there of substance today unfortunately, but in other news snippets, Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari won’t have the pleasure of coaching Kaka again, with reports AC Milan VP Adriano Galliani didn’t even let Chelsea put in a bid. Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor is still sitting in limbo as Milan don’t want to go anywhere near Arsene Wenger’s $70.9 million asking price. Finally, Inter Milan owner Massimo Moratti confirms that Jose Mourinho’s new club has a bid in for Frank Lampard despite denials from Stamford Bridge, although Chelsea still aren’t interested in talking just yet.

Is Fenerbahçe a good landing spot for Güiza? Will Barca dig deep into their pockets for Arshavin? Tired of hearing all the big names thrown around with nobody actually moving just yet? Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. bueno….la operacion de DANI GUIZA no solo es la compra de un gran jugador, con una renta de goles altisima…tambien es una inversion….por la venta de camisetas con su nombre….por el publico que arrastrara al campo de futbol…por la posible y mas que segura subida en el precio de la entrada al campo….y para el equipo sera la estrella mediatica del año….seguramente ahora este equipo sea el mas fuerte en turkia….si en turkia no habia un mago del balon, ahora si lo hay…no hay mas que ver el video de sus goles…..suerte maestro!!!!

    Reply
  2. when i first saw this i was like “wow, spanish football news on an american soccer blog. NICE! im surprised since its usually all about MLS and England.”

    and then i thought” my goodness, 31 comments?!”

    and then i looked at the comments.

    and realized that it was all gibberish.

    Reply
  3. just to remind you all….fenerbahce did beat sevilla F.C. in champions league this year , and we all know what the turkish team made out of pretty much all fenerbahce and galatsaray players did in euros…not a bad move in my opinion

    Reply
  4. “If Barry leaves, O’Neill has the possibility of signing a host of players with the funds received and a goalkeeper is a key priority with Scott Carson, Paul Robinson and Brad Guzan all attracting attention.”

    Reply
  5. Good move for Guiza, I thought he played his part in the tournament, scoring important goals. No way Fener touches the top 5 with deepest pockets, lets be real, but turkish football is growing. They need to hurry up and join the EU, that would do wonders for not only the economy, but also their league…

    Reply
  6. Fenerbahce is a publicly traded company with a current market cap of around $2,000,000,000. It’s not owned by an individual – but is managed and administered by a very capable team of professionals with strong ties to financial markets. The club/company is also backed by a strong base of supporters and fans. All games are sold out (52,000 seats) – mostly season tickets. They also make a ton of cash from sales of club membership cards, jerseys, etc that carry unreal profit margins. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fener as one of top-5 clubs with deepest pockets in terms of transfer budget in world soccer within the next 4-5 years. This is a well managed _company_.

    Reply
  7. Whoever that is using the pseudonym Freddy Adu, all I would tell you is to have a good time. Get there an hour before the time so you have time to enjoy yourself. From my experience people will be pretty nice to you. I’d suggest introducing yourself to the communications people who do all the stats and announcements and stuff. Find another writer who seems nice enough so you have someone to talk to. Try to force yourself to be social even if you’re intimidated, like don’t be afraid to ask a player a question during the interviews. Other than that, just have fun. I was nervous, but it went a lot easier than I thought it would.

    Reply
  8. @George

    Upon further review, I’m afraid I’m going to have to give this round to Gargoyle. While your reference to a “6th grade degree” brings back memories of Jethro Bodine on “The Beverly Hillbillies” and is clearly witty, your grammar could use work. In that regard, you state “Its good that you kept your ….” However, you should have used the contraction “It’s.”

    Gargoyle, on the other hand,pulled off an impressive use of the semicolon in his first sentence. So, while you may be a banking superstar and crunch numbers like a god, he clearly is capable of more than manning a double basket deep fryer.

    Reply
  9. Ives, I’ve heard Bradley to PSG rumors from a friend who currently lives in Paris. Do you know anything about that?

    Reply
  10. Gargoyle,

    I understand we all didn’t go to college or graduate from High School, so I forgive your ignorance.

    Its good that you kept your elementary school humor to go along with your 6th grade degree. Good luck getting work outside of McDonald’s!

    Reply
  11. George, don’t worry, you don’t sound like an Economics professor; you just sound like an ass. That is based on my having taken International A-hole Identification Theory in college.

    Reply
  12. Agree on the $ issue.

    After reading forums all day with the numbers in Pounds or Euros, I see a $70 Million dollar figure next to Adebayor and wonder how such a player is worth so much… then I realize, oh yeah… dollars.

    Reply
  13. I agree with Whitescandal, translating Euro’s and Pounds into dollars is pointless because we are ignoring the price levels (inflation) within those respective countries.

    I hate to sound like an Economics Professor, but it gets annoying to constantly hear and read writers and reports translate transfer fees into dollars. I took International Monetary Theory in College and it is somewaht foolish to use the normal exchange rate (E) and not the real exchange (Exchange Rate/Price Level) because of the different price levels (inflation) in effect.

    Reply
  14. Carl, I was wondering if there is anything that I would need to know because I’m going to be in the press box for a DC United game. Since you’ve been already, are there any hints or tips you can give me?

    Reply
  15. The posturing is what helps build the excitement of the open window.

    And if it is concerning a USMNT player, or potential player, then it is always interesting to hear what clubs are interested and how much they are willing to pay.

    So what’s up with Freddy and Mike?

    Reply
  16. How are the wages in the Turkish league? Is Guiza and Kezman (??) pulling salaries close to what other Champions League team pays in Europe?

    Reply
  17. p.s. and by “a lot of people talking” I didn’t mean to bash other posters talking about transfers, I meant the media in general. I should read before I hit “post.”

    Reply
  18. No offense, it was a good post, but in general I do get pretty tired of all the posturing back-and-forth, widely reported rumors of transfers, etc. about the big names all the time. It’s like the soccer equivalent of the endless coverage and speculation around the NFL or NBA drafts. In the end, it’s just a lot of people talking to fill a void, rather than because they have some actual info to share. Oh well… here I am commenting on a post which I clearly read anyway, despite myself.

    Reply
  19. I just don’t see Arshavin being worth close to $50 million U.S. Sure, he looked great in the Euros. But that was a 3 week tournament where nationalistic pride plays a factor in elevating the performance of both teams (see Turkey for example) and individuals. I don’t think Arshavin will be able to maintain the level he showed in the Euros on a consistent basis over a ten-month season in La Liga.

    Reply
  20. Not sure showing us transfer fees in dollars makes much sense for players in Europe. When I see $35M I have no frame of reference, it could be $12 by this point. I’d stick to Euros.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to CapeCodFutbol Cancel reply