Should Arsenal let Kolo Touré go to Man City for £16m?

Ollie Irish

28th, July 2009

32 Comments

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The force is strong with this rumour: Kolo Touré has not denied he’s interested in a move to Man City.
Put in Monsieur Wenger’s geography teacher-style shoes, I’d be seriously tempted to let the Ivorian go for around £16m. He’s still only 28 (yeah, you’d think he was older) but he’s not shown the form of a few seasons ago, when I thought – maybe wrongly - that he was the best centre-back in the world. A couple of injuries and a bout of malaria later (he’s never recovered 100% from that, I suspect), and he doesn’t even rate in my Top 20 centre-backs.
For a couple of seasons now, Touré has had the air of a man who could use a new challenge; I’m sure most Arsenal fans wouldn’t begrudge him a big-wedge move up north. Or would they? Comments please…
If Touré does go, where does this leave Arsenal? Are they now a selling club that is merely scrabbling to hang on to their big-four place? Will City replace them in the big four this season? So many questions, but until the season kicks off, no answers yet.

Posted in Arsenal, Man City, Transfers & Rumours

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32 Comments

  1. Kipp says:

    I don’t think letting under-performing players go for hyped prices is constitutional of a selling club. If arsenal reinvest that money in new signings they shouldn’t lose their grip on their top 4 place. They were indominable in the second half of last season and with a bit of luck injury wise. Which so far isnt the case, they can be a force to be reckoned with again. IF they get a tough tackling midfielder

  2. CiTyBlUe says:

    Seeing as your Arsenal fans your going to pick all the negatives out of the bag because you damn well know hes already left Arsenal subject to a signature here or there so you have no control at all.
    Well atleast hes better than what you already have so that concludes the fact Arsenal are loosing their best centre-back.

  3. King Richard says:

    A great bit of business. Kolo was a great servant but Arsene knows when to let players go. Around Tom Vermalen we now build. Up the Arsenal . . .

  4. South Yorkshire Gunner says:

    A great bit of business by Arsenal. They should let them have Silvestre as well.

  5. Blk130 says:

    City Blue you wanker, your club is ruining the passion of football. You’ve got a bunch of over-paid players at your club and will still finish 6th.

  6. mmmhmmm says:

    hate to break it to you CiTyBlUe but he really isn’t our best centre back. He has been amazing during his time at arsenal but has faded the last couple of seasons. He’s still been a bit of a legend for the club and I’ll be sad to see him leave but I think it’s mainly for sentimental reasons.

  7. Arsenal fans are deluded says:

    Arsene Wenger needs to wake up and realise that he is aiding competition for 4th place which lets face it they have been lucky to achieve in recent years. I will love them to fail as they rely heavily on champions league money. As for their current team they could be found wanting for height this new guy is meant to be short as are most of Arsenals team

  8. Jamo says:

    it is way less than the £16m being reported trust me

  9. Harry says:

    Getting that sort of stupid money for him is obviously a good idea, and who else is going to pay it?
    Wenger can replace him with a quality centre half for less than half of that.
    At the moment we Djourou, Gallas, Vermaelen, and Senderos as recognised centre halves. Two of them aren’t going to be happy at being second choice anyway, so it’s a juggling match.
    But yes, we’ve had the best of Kolo and he’s been suspect since the last CAN (not to mention he’s off for that in January again – let it be Citeh’s problem!).
    I say it’s good business.

  10. Laughing at Blk130 says:

    You’re the wanker pal. You glory-hunting middle class corporate types ruined football long ago. Take a look at your own signings and wage structure in the past. Who do you think you are….the blummin’ Corinthians or summat?!! Get real. Just get used to the fact that you will not have that CL revenue for too much longer and then you will sink without trace. And that stadium will be a huge white elephant with about 30,000 hardcore Arsenal fans rattling around in it.

  11. Khan says:

    dont sell toure please he is 1 of the best in the world

  12. JohnnieG says:

    Blk130 – Sounds like sour grapes pal.
    “ruining the passion of football..” – yeah right, City have had more passion than anyone – just look at the crowds for the last twenty years.
    “over-paid players…” – of course, your lot have never over paid players have they? Don’t forget the top 4 have always done this.
    “still finish 6th” – lets see, oh how we’ll laugh when we enter the cherished ‘Big 4’

  13. Kui says:

    I think this seals it for Arsenal. The gunners have literally sold their top 4 spot to Man City. Hope the great professor really Knows..

  14. simon says:

    Toure’s been pony for 2 years, sadly. But thanks for the £40 million for two well below average players.

  15. Ben says:

    16 Million for a player who has had 2 average seasons + has malaria (it doesn’t go away, you can relapse any time) and we are less exposed to the African cup this Jan + Also don’t forget Kolo put in a transfer request this Jan. He was going to go. Its fantastic business and we can go and get Hengeland and I really hope Huntelaar.
    Don’t get me wrong, Kolo has been a great servant to the club and I wish him well but it is definately time to cash in.
    As for DM, we have Vermaalen + Song. If there is no DM available, why not use the players we have? Vermaalen can tackle, pass and distribute with his left and is quick. when Wengar plays 4:2:3:1, he can play V+S as cover in front of the back 4. Lets hope its Gallas + Hengeland at centreback.
    I think Wenger may use Vermaalen like he did Petit (who had similar qualities).

  16. Drichi says:

    I have no problem with Toure switching to Man City. My major worry is wether Wenger will be in position to bring new bloods in to the squad. What Arsenal need to me now is to let those who are money hungry go where’ver they want to but should be replaced immediately. The ones who are leaving good enough are the ones who failed to win any silver ware in the last four seasons, so no loss BUT ARSENE SHOULD REPLACED SINCERELY.

  17. si says:

    10 mill and nedum onouha sounds alot more better!And getr that donkey sendros out!!!!

  18. Dave says:

    In a word – Yes.

  19. John W says:

    This tells me there are things happening at the grove. Ivan G won’t accept another year like last year and the last thing they want is for the fans to turn early. Watch that space for 2 or 3 strong signings in the next few weeks. Good luck Kolo, you have been a Gem!

  20. anon says:

    Si your talking out your arse mate. Senderos is a ledge!

  21. Ryan says:

    Depends who comes in. I’d love to see a big CB at arsenal next to Vermaelen or Gallas. May be Djouro can step up to the mark. Toure will definitely strengthen city, but they still won’t get 4th place this season because they have no unity and a bunch of players more interested in money than football. But in a couple of seasons we could be playing in the europa league :( sad face.

  22. si says:

    Anon please say your bloody joking OLEG LUZHNY WAS BETTER THAN HIM!

  23. Fraser says:

    Seems shame to lose a player who i rated highly at the club, by loseing kolo it gets rid of all chances of getting yaya, wenga has about 65 million to spend by the start of the season, i juts hope for once he brings some players in.
    I also think man city will full apart

  24. Anon says:

    So is the boy sitting next to you and hes not complaining

  25. goonerboy says:

    Gallas was to blame a lot for Toure’s mess ups, and he (Toure) was the one who publicly criticised Gallas before putting in a transfer request. Gallas is a much better defender then Toure, Toure was proven time and time again to be a liability. Lets also not forget he will be more than likely at the African Nations Cup for 2 months, as well as away for World Cup Qualifiers – so you wont be seeing much of him this season even if he did stay.

  26. si says:

    anon u cok DAN

  27. David Valdez says:

    Why are you all doubting Wenger? I don’t understand any of you so called ‘fans’. We let Viera, Flamini, Gilberto, Henry, Pires go and we are still top 4. Yes, i know, its only ‘top 4’ but we are not far away from being champions again. Last season was unlucky because we had to replace two midfields and unfortunately, started off horribly. We are a much more established team now and whoever decides to leave, let them be. They’ll regret it once we are holding up a trophy this year. I am just as frustrated as most fans but I truly believe in Wenger. And why is it that only Arsenal is the one that can drop their CL spot. Isn’t Liverpool and ManU in the same position? Liverpool is on the verge of losing two midfielders, and ManU lost two strikers that kept them in most games of the year. Chelsea looks like the front runners for this year so thats three out of the four. There’s a lot of football to be played.. Starts in a couple of weeks. Up Gunners!!!

  28. Marko says:

    I think he’s still a good centre back but not as good as Gallas and Djourou can also replace him or Gallas long term. I wouldn’t begrudge him a move, unlike Ade I don’t think Kolo is moving for the money but for a case of being in the same place for too long and becoming stagnate. He’ll always be remembered as a great player for us and a great professional who loved the club. And now with the money from his sale and the likely sale of Senderos we have more than enough money for a defender and a defensive midfielder. I’m hoping Zapata of Udinese comes as at 22 he’s already got many of the characteristics of Toure and is gonna be if not already one of the top 5 defenders in football. I’m also still hoping 1 of Matuidi, Inler, Toulalan or Coutadeur still joins us.

  29. K says:

    Couldn’t give a crap to be honest, he’s not even that good, but I have to reply to this comment “yeah right, City have had more passion than anyone – just look at the crowds for the last twenty years.”
    Er, what. City only ever sell out when they play United, they didn’t even sell out in the UEFA, embarassingly enough. Their players, apart from Ireland, don’t have passion. Maybe the new signigns will change that but City passionate? Nah. City fans passionate? Nah, they’re just mouthy wankers, and all of the bitters leaving ‘oh we’re a massive club!’ comments are proving just that.
    They’ve got the tallest floodlights in the Football League…
    Oh! city are a massive club!

  30. bonmot says:

    Is Robbie Savage available?

  31. Mr.Pingyang says:

    Look to be honest with you, Manchester City are building up a strong team. I am a Chelsea supporter and I have seen this before. We were in the same position with Claudio. We bought all these players but it took us a certain Special One to lead us to victry and Mark Hughes is not the right man.

  32. gam says:

    do beatiful

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