During off-season breaks, there’s usually not much stuff going on in the world of club football besides you know, the usual transfer rumors and speculations here and there. You can always try to drift to international football to focus on a couple on players doing their thing for their country. I was looking forward to watching the Wales vs. Belgium game but sadly, DsTV had other plans so I had to make do with streaming and stuff, and it was nice to know that Aaron Ramsey played a role in the victory with an assist to Gareth Bale that scored the goal that put Wales in a very good position to qualify for Euro 2016. Tomas Rosicky also played for the Czech Republic side that lost to Iceland and many Gunners kept a keen eye on Petr Cech with the goalie heavily linked with a summer move to the club.
However, there has been some news making rounds from Arsenal perspective. The FA, in their infinite wisdom, has charged Arsenal for breaching agent regulations in relation to the transfer of Calum Chambers to Arsenal. Chamber’s agent, Alan Middleton, was also charged for breaching the FA’s football agents regulations in relation to the same transfer. Apparently, the investigation to this issue has been ongoing since February but the FA has given Middleton and Arsenal enough time to respond.
As at when the transfer was made in July, it seemed hassle free as both parties (Southampton and Arsenal) reached an agreement for the fee required to bring the lad to North London. It was announced that he had signed for the Gunners on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee, rising to a potential £16 million with performance-related add-ons. Many thought that the price was over-hyped because he was English but his early season performances as a center back showed that it was good value for money.
Arsene Wenger voiced his thoughts on the transfer when he was notified that an investigation was ongoing back in February,
‘I am very happy about the transfer. I made over 350 transfers since I am here. We have a lot of enquiries about them and we never had any problem.’
While it has been reported that there was no wrongdoing from Chambers in this regard, as well as the fact that there were no statements about any problem regarding the transfer from Arsenal or Southampton, it is believed a disgruntled third party made the original complaint to the FA. Someone somewhere feels they are owed some part of the commission and didn’t get it. I don’t expect to see the FA hand a band to Arsenal (then again, the FA is quite unpredictable) but a fine might suffice if the Gunners are actually found guilty whatever offence they committed. Will the FA reveal the mysterious third party that decided to put themselves in the spotlight? Time will tell.
Chambers made 36 appearances for the Gunners last season, scoring his maiden professional goal against Burnley. I gave him a rating of 6/10 when I reviewed the defender’s performances for the season, and it was a fair reflection of his season. While he has been a regular for the various youth levels, he made his senior debut for England last season against Norway and went on to make two extra caps. He’s part of the England Under-21s that are preparing for the European Youth Championships this summer.
I would follow this closely and see what comes out of it.
Sayonara.
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