It’s a post-deadline day filled Scribbles this morning, folks. As the dust finally settles on some of Wednesday’s big deals, many of the main protagonists have been speaking about their moves and even those that didn’t pan out are revealing. Wesley Sneijder admits he almost made a switch to Old Trafford, while Kia Joorabchian, agent of Carlos Tevez, has now hinted at a long-term stay in Manchester for his homesick client. Here’s some quotes to chew over:
“I will never go back to Arsenal. If I can have it my way, I will never play for them again. After my car accident I never really got the chance to earn a spot in the first team. That is over one-and-a-half years with no real chance to prove myself. I am really looking forward to playing for Sunderland and then we will see next summer.
I will find a new club – but I will not go back to Arsenal, that’s for sure.”
They [Manchester United] are one of the biggest clubs in the world, so it didn’t seem a bad thing. I just felt that it was close, yes. We had several talks. The situation was such that Inter had to sell a player, either Samuel Eto’o or me, and indeed there was interest. But at the same time I don’t want to leave Inter.
My feeling was that I was simply feeling very good at Inter. I love the club, but also the Italian culture and the people. It fits with me.
So there was one or two players that we maybe wanted to get that we weren’t able to get but that was through no fault of our own, it was just circumstance and maybe just a little bit late.
But overall yes I’m relatively pleased and now it’s shut, we can now move on and we know where we’re at.
He’s a good signing for us. We do lack a bit of experience in the squad. To get Alan, an international in his prime is a great coup for us. Alan has got five or six years ahead of him. There were some problems between him and Harry Redknapp, but you never know what happens.
I would certainly like to think, with the experience he has gathered, he should be able to come to our club and not be fazed in any way. He’s definitely got great athleticism.
At the end of the day – as Carlos said at the end of the season – professionally, he is happy at the club. He is happy in the situation, it was more to do with his family really.
He has managed to convince his wife to come over for a while at least. If she manages to settle in hopefully in the next four or five months, maybe he will settle down and things will be fine.”
This affinity has grown over more than 10 years and now the loop closes because I am delighted to finally get to play at a team I always supported and where I always wanted to appear eventually. I think Arsenal had been watching me for a while and had intended to sign me for a while.
It was a strange situation for me because it was not clear for a long time what would happen and it dragged out to the very end. It is a dream come true and it is a very attractive challenge.
“I’ve grown up with Kenny Dalglish, now to be signed by him is a massive honour. To every Liverpool fan, Kenny is probably the best player ever to pull on the red shirt so that speaks for itself.
I am coming into a club not just with Kenny, but with Clarkey [Steve Clarke] and Kevin Keen, people who I have worked with really closely and who know me inside out. I’m coming to a Liverpool where the people here know what I need to do to play in this team.”
It is a big opportunity for me and my family and I think it is the right time for me to take it. It is a big challenge, a different challenge, fresh for me and I want to see myself on the biggest stage, the Champions League.
I am 29 years old so I haven’t got much time left to take a chance like this one. I think I have done my best for Everton. I always try hard, I have been as professional as I could and I was grateful for the support and the love that the club and the fans showed me.
No player wants to sit on the bench. I was happy living where I was living but while sitting on the bench might be good enough for some players, I want to be playing and enjoying my football.
The manager here made it quite clear he was extremely keen on bringing me here and I felt it was the right time for me to move on. I genuinely believe the best is yet to come from me. And I believe that will come with Stoke City now.
