Arsene Wenger seems to be on something of a moral crusade at the moment, and his issue of choice is the ubiquitous 'tap-up'.
A couple of weeks ago Wenger said: "If you don't show respect to other clubs I think that football is moving in the wrong way.
"You cannot come out like [president Ramon] Calderon has done at Real Madrid with Manchester United and tell them you cannot stop a player from leaving.
"You can destabilise any player in the world - that is irresponsible."
And he followed that up this Saturday with as clear an accusation as you're likely to get that there has been some perceived skullduggery afoot with regards to Barcelona's chase for Emmanuel Adebayor.
"There is a game going on in Europe where the big clubs tap up our players.
"They let us do the work and develop the players and then they think they can just come in and offer them big wages, but after they cannot come up with the transfer fee. It should be the other way round."
To an extent, you can see his point. The likes of Adebayor, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka were moulded into world-class players by Wenger, only for their heads to be turned by the riches of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
Of course, you could equally argue that this is how Wenger has carved out a good part of his reputation. Despite giving off the the image of a footballing professor, only concerned with the purest aspects of the game, Wenger is possibly the finest businessman in the game. The £22million profit on Anelka proves that.
However, that's not really the point. Putting aside the idea that Wenger or Arsenal have never, ever spoken to a player before contacting their club, the point is that Wenger seems to be getting very hot under the collar about his own products being nicked from under his nose with the prospect of bigger and better things, when this is a tactic he in fact consistently uses to build his own stable of youngsters.
To pick two recent examples, Cesc Fabregas and Matthieu Flamini were plucked from Barcelona and Marseille respectively. Both clubs received compensation from tribunals, but both are still sore at having two talents taken from them. The differences between Arsenal's conduct at that of Barcelona and Milan are more or less semantical.
Wenger may argue that technically and legally Fabregas and Flamini were not under tight contracts and he has therefore done nothing wrong, but what he is complaining about this summer is a moral issue.
So what is the moral difference between the sort of 'tapping-up' Wenger is complaining about, and the tactics he uses to tempt young players to north London?
The difference is negliable, and Wenger should think carefully before making any further comments in the future.
And you can expect more of this. Should Cristiano Ronaldo move to Real Madrid this summer, next year Ramon Calderon will probably alternate between constantly 'not talking about' Fabregas and Kaka. We can anticipate more complaints from Wenger in 2009.
Nick Miller
Your Comments
Chimpychompy
"Football teams will always buy players that other teams have developed. It is irrelevant at which stage this happens as long as its within the laws. What the Madrid and Milan are doing is destabilising players, clubs and fans alike. Wengers point is that they do this without coming up with the goods, leaving clubs with unhappy players that they have to pay more money and nervous fans that arent sure whether to support the player whose loyalty is in question. This is just plain wrong. "
lyverbird
"dan_the_afc_fan, i don't think fabregas was without a contract because barca didn't valuve him. i believe england is one of the few countries in europe where the law allow players under 18 to sign a professional contract. the reason barca didn't 'tie him down' is because they simply weren't allowed to. do you think it was the promise of first team football that lured him to england, or the fact he could start earning money right away? Its not barca don't give their youngster a chance either, with krkic going great guns in their 1st team last season. Arsenal, and Liverpool more recently have signed many players from the continent, and they can't all be being promised first team football. No one can argue it is illegal, but neither is talking about a player in the media. Both of them leave a dirty taste in the mouth though."
jonah316
"Good article BUT "The likes of Adebayor, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka were moulded into world-class players by Wenger". Adebayor is very far from being world class....."
edwin
"Nick, are you work under "Slave" Blatter or Michel Platini ??"
ldyzlp
"wenger's way of dealing with transfers is generally very respectanble and within the laws of the game. fabregas was not the subject of an illegal approach, just as john bostock was not the subject of an illegal approach, the compensation method is just footballs way of dealing with transfers of players under a certain age. not a system to compensate those who have been wronged. if you are looking for any evidence of wengers etiquette when signing young players, look at paul scally's comments regarding arsenal's behaviour when buying luke freeman. barca were just annoyed that they could not prevent two of their star youngsters leaving for the premiership (pique and fabregas.) both man utd. and arsenal acted perfectly legally in these approaches. unlike for instance real with ronaldo or inter with hleb or barca with ade. "
dan_the_afc_fan
"There is a significant difference morrally. There is no rule against signing free agents and players not under contract is there. Nothing wrong with that and we can't help it if other clubs fail to tie their players down to commitments and contracts. How about Barca actually showed Fabregas recognition or actually noticeing his talents when wenger did? Fabregas Never would have left Barca had he been treated properly and could see a future there simple as. What is wrong however is that These clubs are approaching players under contract which there are rules against, and nothing is being done t stop them. There is a list as long as my arm with players we have had ILLIGALLY approached and u can only manage to dig up two players which we signed on a technicallities to compare that against? Shame on you"
ToluDuro
"You're wrong Nick, Wenger talks to clubs first before the players under contract. But others (AC,Madrid etc) talk to players under contract first before the club. "
vmde
"in order to make your dubious point, you have to completely misrepresent what wenger has said. otherwise you have no point at all. yoú've decided that AW's point is a "moral" one rather than a contractual complaint against some clubs. there is nothing in wenger's words to suggest that he is moralising. yes he does mention the words "respect" and "responsibility" but those two qualities are essential in any contract. under AW, arsenal has never behaved in a way that shows disrespect to other clubs' contractual rights when it comes to players. if you think it should be possible for contracts to be ripped up by the highest bidder, then by all means say so. dont bastardise wenger's point in order to accuse him of something he's never done. thats dishonest and hypocritical. as for the slimebag calderon, he can try. the difference between cesc and kaka on one hand, and ManYoo's greasy portugeezer is that both players have shown great loyalty to their clubs. both have come out to say they are committed to arsenal/milan, making them less susceptible to attempts to turn their heads....."
bluemeanie
"Fabregas aside , have they actually got anyone worth tapping?"
TheScrybe
"yawwwn"
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