Well done Chelsea! As a Utd fan i am loathe to say these words and probably would never say them again willingly but the proposed price for Arjen Robben - papers report a bid of £22.5m from Real against the £25m demanded by Chelsea - just makes me smile. Why? Cos it's Real Madrid. For years, Real have got the better of English clubs in transfer negotiations by undervaluing players through their strategy (he wants to play for us, not you so his value is reduced). They got Van Nisterooy, Beckham, Anelka for a few million pounds cheaper than they should have paid and it always irked me. There was also the derisory amount paid to Inter for Ronaldo because his relationship with Inter had broken down i.e. they turned Ronaldo's head and he ignored the two years Inter had stood by him and paid his wages and rehab to just walk.

Now this time with Robben, the talk a couple of weeks ago was £14m for Robben and that was it, deal done. Somehow Kenyon and co have changed their minds and are playing hardball with Real. Good stuff, well done! Double what Chelsea paid for Robben if the papers are to be believed.

Real get on my nerves the way their use the press to tap up players and unsettle them in the hope they'll request to leave. I know Chelsea and other top clubs are no angels but Rael are the worst offenders imo.

£22-25m for Robben is good business for a player who is only fit 50% of the time.

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I think that if you check Anelka cost more than a few million and disappointed big style in Madrid, not only with his performances, but as usual with his attitude. Van the man was another Fergie spat and mistake as was Stamm. Beckham has always been a media creation, though honest and with excellent delivery and distribution skills the assets stop there. Robben, a gifted if prone to falling over in a strong wind footballer will be better suited to the less physical Spanish game and is Reyes another with the same problem.

We have been told for weeks Robben is going, finally today it will be done? I'll believe when I see it. Deus Volt, I cant accept praise for Kenyon, twice he has been destroyed in negotiations by Lyon and Jean Michel Aulas, we allow players like geremi, who other clubs would atleast get a few mill for, to leave on a free, so i can see these stories being proved wrong, if robbie goes Kenyon will have probably gotten us LESS than real first offered!
But I agree he should go, he does not want to be here any longer and is very injury prone. As long as we invest and bring in sombody like quaresma to replace him, i'll be happy.
cornhuskers, I hear lamps was offered parity with JT's new deal and turned it down, we should now be talking to barca to sort out a deal for him to leave, rather than allowing him to run down his contract. Him being vice captain, after saying that this is "his club" and "his people" and now snubing the same deal as JT is a slap in the face for all chelsea fans. Essien should lead the team in JT's absence.

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