I feel the need to clarify a few points and analyse some others.
So many questions have I been asked on twitter that make me think that people think I am part of the negotiation or have any influence on the outcome of the bid.
Let’s start by grouping some of the questions and giving them some answers.
Who is @JavierPerez108? Why is he reliable? Who knows him? Yeah, he will know!!
Those asking themselves, their friends and even directly to me on twitter, have a right to do so.
After all I am unheard of, have no links to Arsenal or any other English clubs, never wrote for any British magazine, have a very basic blogsite and many more reasons to doubt me.
To those, let me introduce myself, JavierPerez108 is 43 years old, Argentinean sports journalist with 20 years experience in the business of following Argentineans players all over the world.
I understand the nature of the business, have lived it for many years, and definetly know the difference between rumours, smokescreen and a bid.
I am part of a team of many people working in a project that begun not long ago called Pasion de Multitudes (passion of multitudes).
We are a group of well connected people that do all kinds of footballing work. We love the game, we love to find the truth behind many dark issues in the beautiful game too.
We do investigations; write opinion blogs, analytic blogs, interviews, and transfers too.
To explain what goes into doing transfer reports include, we have absolutely no say on the outcome of any negotiation brtween clubs or clubs with players.
We report, as we did with Matias Suarez, that a bid has been made.
Whether that bid leads to a satisfactory conclusion or not, does not depend on us.
What are your sources? Are you a spy?
We are certainly not spies. It is important for any journalist in any line of journalism (politics, showbiz or sports) to have sources. The world is too big, and one person can’t cover it all alone. With the time, one gets to know which of the sources are reliable, which ones are loyal, which ones are not good, etc.
Also it is important to keep our cards close to our chest and not reveal much about sources. In this case, the sources are 3 people inside the player’s circle.
We have a network of sources that we use and have proven to be reliable and loyal.
For example if you read some of our blogs from not long ago you will find that we, through our sources, mentioned deals that went through, when not many people were aware of the possibility.
Some of those are Simeone was Manager of Racing Club, when we blogged that Atletico Madrid wanted him to become their Manager. Simeone resigned from Racing. Both, him and Atletico denied any negotiations, but 36 hours later he signed his contract with the Spanish team.
Like that one there are other examples (Vargas to Napoli, Ponzio to River)
Now, we can only report Interest and bids. The fact that not all of this bids end up being succesfull does not mean that our report was false or untrue.
Many factors decide the signing of a player, and we feel our job is to report the bid, and then update. It is not our fault or we are not “rubbish” if a deal does not go through.
Update on the Matias Suarez bid from Arsenal
Now that we are all clear on what our role is, I can move to the next set of questions that are to do with my opinion on the bid and the likelihood on it going through.
You have been foolish enough to fall for the oldest trick in the book, Suarez is using Arsenal’s name to get a good transfer for himself.
Anderlecht have had enquiries from clubs from Turkey (Galatasaray), France (Marseille), Spain (Espanyol) and Portugal (Porto) for Matias. However none of those were transformed into bids.
If you look at those teams, none of them are on Arsenal’s pulling league, so the likelihood is that Anderlecht have used their enquiries to encourage a bigger team’s bid. In this case Arsenal.
Are Arsenal really serious about him?
Arsene Wenger has had him watched in several games by different scouts, and all the reports were very positive. I don’t think Arsenal will watch a player for such long period without being serious about him.
Will Matias need a work permit? Has he played enough international football to be granted one?
He will require a work permit, and despite the fact that he has not played international football at senior level, we believe he would get one, as he has been playing in Europe for 3 years now.
How much did Arsenal bid? How long is it going to take for the deal to be finished?
His buy out clause is in the region of €10million. But Anderlecht are a selling club, and understand that they may not get as much as that. Arsenal offer is below that clause. The Gunners are renowned for being money pinching and slow negotiators and have lost a few players in the past because of it, so it may not be a fast deal.
Do you think it is going to happen? Does Matias want to come to Arsenal?
Matias is desperate to come to Arsenal. He loves the club, its tradition. In fact one of his favoutie players, RVP plays there, and he would love to share the dressing room with him.
I think it will happen (personal opinion). If for some reason the January talks break down it may get delayed until the summer, but it is my view that he will be an Arsenal player in some point during 2012.
There is the 17 home grown players on the 25 man squad rules, and Arsenal already have no room for non-home grown.
The rule is complicated, but in any case, it may mean that the gunners will sell one of those non-home grown players already on the 25 man squad.
But again, it may mean that Arsenal waits until the summer to complete the deal.
Don’t forget that there is already an agreement of co-operation between Anderlecht and Arsenal. They may complete the deal now, let the player stay in Belgium until the summer, and only then move to England.
What Type of player is he? Will he adapt quickly to the EPL?
He is a creative striker that can also play wide. He operates in the same areas as RVP. He is very skilful with the ball at his feet, has an eye for goal, a powerful and accurate right foot, but also uses well his left. He is capable of a strong strike from great distance one minute and trying a chip the next.
He arrived in Europe in 2008, and realized straight away that he needed to build up muscle before he can reach his full potential.
He did that, and developed into a very dangerous player.
I find he will adapt pretty well to the league in England, and will give Arsenal more choices upfront. He can be a wide man, allowing Walcott to play in the middle of the attack, or play in the centre forward position with Theo wide.
I think I have answered most of your questions, and given a little bit of an insight into the player, and our role as journalists.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask me via twitter or by posting your comments here.
The only thing I ask is that whether you agree with me or not, post your comment respectfully and watching your language.
Football is about difference of opinions and debate and I am open to it.