Raheem Sterling’s loan exit to Arsenal was poorly handled by Chelsea.
That’s the verdict of financial analyst Stefan Borson after the Gunners borrowed the 29-year-old for the rest of the season but will only pay around half his reported £350,000-a-week wages.
Borson told Football Insider: “Yes, Arsenal has paid £6million, but they also hand the player back with relatively limited resale value next year.
“It’s not a well-managed situation. A player of that cost needed to be handled in a better way. It’s a very expensive mistake.”
Ray Parlour urged injury-hit Arsenal to overcome the absence of big-name stars in Sunday's derby at Spurs like his own Gunners team did against Inter Milan in 2003.
Mikel Arteta's men will be without the suspended Declan Rice and injured Mikel Merino, while captain Martin Odegaard is a huge doubt.
Credit: Getty
Parlour told SunSport via NetBet Online Casino: We had lost 3-0 at Highbury to Inter and we went to the San Siro. Patrick was out, Dennis Bergkamp didn’t play because he didn’t fly. I played in midfield with Edu. That was a time when everyone had to step up.
"Everyone thought, ‘They’re missing two key players in Bergkamp and Vieira, do we give them much chance?’ We always thought we could go there and win the game, no problem. But I didn’t expect us to win it 5-1.
"I always remember after the game with Arsene Wenger, I said, ‘Boss, now on I’ve got to be captain, surely. If we lose 3-0 at home and Patrick’s captain, and we go to the San Siro and win 5-1, I’ve got to be captain!’
He started laughing and said, ‘No, Patrick is our captain’. But that’s the sort of game [to emulate]. You’ve got to go there and players have got to step up.
“Certainly, Edu was brilliant in midfield with me. Henry was unbelievable that night, you had Pires, Freddie Ljungberg. You had people like Jeremie Aliadiere coming on and playing well. That’s the sort of game where you needed people to step up and it’s very similar to this weekend.
You can never think that you’re missing players, we’re going to struggle today. You’ve got to go out and think, hang on a minute, there’s another opportunity here.
It’s a similar situation to this weekend. Jorginho won’t be used a lot but he’s probably a big influence in the dressing room and can come in, when needed, to do a brilliant job for the team.
Arsenal won’t be thrilled by the choice of ref for Sunday’s North London derby at Spurs.
Jarred Gillett was the man who failed to send off Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera for grabbing Kai Havertz round the throat in the season-opening 2-0 win at the Emirates on August 17.
Arsenal legend has explained how he reckons the Gunners can fare at Tottenham on Sunday without the suspended Declan Rice.
Fellow midfielders Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard are also likely to be missing for the Prem return following international action.
He said on Talk Sport: “Jorginho has to come into that position and he has plenty of experience but it can’t just be one player.
“Back in the day there were many times when we were without the likes of Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry, it didn’t matter.
“Players came in – Edu came in, or Kanu came in.
“You’ve got to have a squad who are strong enough and this is where the question mark will be with Arsenal because they’ve let a lot of good young players go and they had to do that to balance the books.”
Declan Rice played the whole game and Bukayo Saka the first 66 minutes as England beat Finland 2-0 in the Nations League tonight.
Harry Kane's two fine second-half goals on his 100th game settled a tame clash.
Declan Rice had one of his less effective England gamesCredit: EPA
But here's how we rated the two Gunners in action.
Rice of course will be suspended for Arsenal's trip to Spurs on Sunday.
Rice's Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka was more impressive until being replaced by Noni Madueke midway through the second half at 1-0 upCredit: Getty
Declan Rice - 5
Lost possession to give Finland their one and only big chance which Topi Kesinen should have squared to Pukki, but instead fired wildly over.
Bukayo Saka -7
Almost scored and almost assisted in a lively display. Unlucky that Kane was millimetres offside after the centurion had headed home the Arsenal man’s wicked delivery.
CLICK BELOW FOR FULL RATINGS AND TO FIND THE STAR MAN:
Arsenal are reportedly braced for strong winter interest in William Saliba.
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG have all been tipped to come in for the France centre-back when the winter transfer window opens.
Saliba has been on international duty with FranceCredit: Getty
But the Gunners rate the 23-year-old, who is under contract until 2027. at more than £100milion.
Journalist Charles Watts wrote in his Daily Briefing column for CaughtOffside: “If you were a sporting director at a top club and you weren’t keeping tabs on Saliba’s career and how things are going at Arsenal then you wouldn’t be doing your job right.
“But that doesn’t mean he’s going anywhere soon. Arsenal worked very hard to secure Saliba to a new contract just 14 months ago and that deal still has three years left to run.
“So there is no need to panic and Saliba is very, very happy at Arsenal.
"If I was Edu though, I would already be putting in the groundwork when it comes to Saliba’s next contract. Because the pace of his rise towards the very top of the game demands that Arsenal have to keep up.”
Raheem Sterling's loan exit to Arsenal was poorly handled by Chelsea.
That's the verdict of financial analyst Stefan Borson after the Gunners borrowed the 29-year-old for the rest of the season but will only pay around half his reported £350,000-a-week wages.
Credit: Getty
Borson told Football Insider: “Yes, Arsenal has paid £6million, but they also hand the player back with relatively limited resale value next year.
“It’s not a well-managed situation. A player of that cost needed to be handled in a better way. It’s a very expensive mistake.”
Arsenal's sudden blitz of midfield problems has left Ethan Nwaneri being tipped for an accelerated route to the first team.
The Academy star, 17, was expected to get a taste of senior football later int he season.
Credit: Getty
But the Gunners will be without Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and surely ankle-sprain victim Martin Odegaard for Sunday's return to Prem action at fierce rivals Tottenham.
Reports on Tuesday night suggest the England Under-19 ace won't make the match-day squad this weekend - but could be in line for a spot sooner than previously expected.
Arsenal’s hopes of landing Sporting Lisbon' Viktor Gyokeres may be reignited in the January transfer window.
The Sweden striker suggested a transfer could then be on
The ex-Coventry man said: "Of course. You want to play at the highest level. It [his £85million release clause] was probably a bit too much because nothing came of it.
Of course it’s a lot of money. But we’ll see what happens next window.
"Nothing happened and it feels like I had a pretty good season. That’s probably why there was simply no move.
"But that’s what Sporting thinks I’m worth, and then you have to respect that. I enjoy myself very much in Sporting."
Ex-England striker Darren Bent is bemused and conerned at Declan Rice and Declan Rice starting BOTH the Three Lions' National league games.
Rice hit the opener in Saturday's 2-0 win in Ireland and he again joined Arsenal team-mate Saka in the line-up tonight as England struggled against Finland.
Former Spurs and Aston Villa hitman Bent told talkSPORT: “Saka on the right-hand side, playing pretty much the whole game, again. Which I don’t understand why.
"And Declan Rice as well, the whole game. But Declan isn’t playing at the weekend.”
That's because Rice will be banned for the weekend Prem trip to Tottenham.
Arsenal have talked up their black away kit - after being ordered not to use their red home kit at Spurs this weekend.
The Prem and ref chiefs decided the Gunners' outfit would clash with Spurs' white kit.
Football chiefs believe there would be enough white to cause confusionCredit: AFP
And in a statement Arsenal said: "Our adidas away strip for this season has already got off to a winning start when we wore it for the first time in competitive action against Aston Villa last month.
"It has been designed to celebrate the rich and well-established connection that our club has to the African diaspora in North London and beyond.
"Designed in collaboration with adidas and distinguished British African heritage brand, Labrum London, it celebrates our players and supporters of African heritage, who are an instrumental part of our club."
Here's the Spurs' home kit Arsenal will line up againstCredit: Alamy
