afc Gunners in shock move to steal United's Silvestre from under the noses of Sunderland

[Jens_Lengman]

Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre was last night on the verge of an astonishing move to bitter rivals Arsenal.The 31-year-old France international had appeared to be on his way to Manchester City or Sunderland. But Sportsmail can reveal that Arsenal came in with a late offer to tempt Silvestre into one of the summer’s most unexpected transfers.Mikael SilvestreHeading south: Silvestre on his way from Manchester United to ArsenalSources close to the player revealed last night that the 31-year-old had been won over by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, one of his home country’s most revered coaches, and the promise of Champions League football at the Emirates.Arsenal will expect to pay United around £750,000 for a player who moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in the 1998-99 season and will offer him £50,000-a-week.What makes the deal so remarkable is that Wenger and his bitter rival, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, have never before traded players in the 12 years they have been in opposition in the Premier League.The two men have often been in competition for the same player from overseas and have at times coveted members of each other’s squads. Wenger, for example, considered a move for David Beckham when he left United in 2003 and Ferguson always wanted former Gunners captain Patrick Vieira. But no deal between the two men has ever been close to coming off.Silvestre, who has made 361 appearances for United in all competitions, was thought to be holding out for a testimonial next year when he turned down summer approaches from Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain in his homeland.It was also thought that his family wanted to remain in the north-west.But it appears the opportunity to join another top English club, especially one with such a strong French influence, proved too hard to resist.Wenger wants to integrate Silvestre into a defensive unit that already contains Frenchmen Gael Clichy and William Gallas. The arrival of Silvestre — if the transfer goes through — would also probably spell the end for Arsenal’s unreliable Switzerland centre back Philippe Senderos.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...Sunderland.htmlhope this is some joke ting

[MrJibbles]

Lol yeah right.

[Trilliam]

wtf is this.

[Taurus]

lol skeen

[TF S4DK]

wtf is this.

[Guest Batman]

[anelka]

Im not gonna lieWhen i heard he may go Suderland for £750k, i thought Wenger should get a piece of the actionExperienced man, can play LB, great priceGreat squad player

[Tom]

WOW, Where is this experienced midfielder?!

[Guest Batman]

He is good no doubt, dunno why arsenal fans would bristle at the thoguht of having him in your side (apart from him being a utd player of course) But man are acting like he is sh*t.Got good pace, good in the air, can play across the back line, well, left & centre, good experiance, can be prone to clumsyness thoughanyway, I guess man got 'bored of winning'

[Guest Medic]

very shrewd signing if it happens

[gattsu]

him>>>>senderos

[Jens_Lengman]

guardian reporting it as well nowhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/au...anchesterunited

[Guest Abou Diaby]

50k a week on an injury prone squad playeryeah sounds like it could be true

[Lurch]

For a man who prods the f*ckin ball.You can have him, it will be a brilliant piece of business.

[bane]

lol he aint injury prone tbhrosisky and rvp are injury prone hes notdont see why fergie would sell him to arsenal anyway seeing as your suppose to be our title rivals..

[8BALL]

Even if the signing is to simply add a little more depth to the squad its a welcome signing (If it happens)

[Lenny]

would be a decent signing for under a milliWenger said he will bring in another midfielder certainly before the twente game, thats like 2 weeks away... so theres still timeI hope he aint gassing again. We really do need a experienced midfielder, preferably a defensive player.

[Tom]

He is good no doubt, dunno why arsenal fans would bristle at the thoguht of having him in your side (apart from him being a utd player of course) But man are acting like he is sh*t.Got good pace, good in the air, can play across the back line, well, left & centre, good experiance, can be prone to clumsyness thoughanyway, I guess man got 'bored of winning'

This is why I'm unsure about him TBH. Clumsiness is a big factor.

[Buc Nasty]

I actually don't mind it.If we sign him, it's clearly not for first team purposes but I presume back up for Clichy which our squad has been been calling out for for a while now. Whilst Traore is good going forward he complete shite at defending.Silvestre is nothing special but will be an experienced back up.

[Guest Abou Diaby]

I think people didn't read it says 50k a week, no way Wenger would give a 31 year old injury prone squad player that.

[Buc Nasty]

I think people didn't read it says 50k a week, no way Wenger would give a 31 year old injury prone squad player that.

Lol at 50k a week.More like a yearly wage for what his services deserve.

[TF S4DK]

I've been having some trouble sleeping the last few nights. I lie there almost wide awake then drift off into that sleep that doesn't seem like sleep at all.I have these strange and weird dreams that make no kind of sense to me at all. Vivid motion picture dreams but at the same time I'm convinced that I'm not asleep. It's all terribly confusing. I mean, last night I dreamt that we were about to sign Mikael Silvestre from Manchester United.The fish-faced, Freddie Ljungberg head-butting c*nt from Manchester United. I must be eating too much cheese before bed time. Still, it's good to have a cup of coffee in front of me, open up my browser and check the morning news to get a good, healthy dose of reality.Oh.I'm really not sure how to feel about this. On one hand Silvestre is an experienced defender, he's won titles, played many times for France and would provide better cover at left back than Armand Traore who could then go out on loan and get experience. On the other hand he's a poxy f*ck*ng c*nt who can't seem to close his mouth. Why would we want to sign a player who can't close his mouth? Many of his injury problems at United have come from swallowing insects as he runs along with his big open gob. I mean, look at him....http://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/16080550...3feb13c.jpg?v=0He was once out for three months when a bee went right down his throat like Luke Skywalker's bomb in the first Star Wars and stung him on the Adam's Apple.While the logical part of me, small as it is, can see some sense in this signing (if it happens) my heart says 'Noooooooooooooooo', and I support Arsenal with my heart, small as it is, and not my brain. It's very difficult to hate a guy for years because he plays for a rival then all of a sudden he's wearing your shirt and you're supposed to like him. Because you're supposed to like every Arsenal player, that's just the way it is. First Gallas, who I always hated when he was at Chelsea, now Silvestre who I really hated at United. Arsene is making my heart hurt.Anyway, we can all look forward to the 'Mikael is an experienced, versatile player who can play at left-back, centre-half, left-wing, central midfield, up front, did I mention central-midfield?, all across the back four and, most importantly, in central midfield' statement from the boss when he signs. I don't know whether to cry or weep.In seriousness though, I'm weeping. I did suggest last week that we might sign two players and this would be a fairly typical Wenger move for the second one. The big one is still to come. The big one is still to come. The big one is still to come. The big one is still to come. Join in. If we all say it enough times the cosmic power of the universe will make it happen. The big one is still to come.

Basically yeah, what he said.

[Mr. Gayle]

My mate had to set up a room at arsenal for an interview with arsenal.com and SILVESTRE was in there

[Lenny]

I think people didn't read it says 50k a week, no way Wenger would give a 31 year old injury prone squad player that.

But he would give Emmanuel "i bred Henry disgustingly, i even drift to the wing like him" Adebayor 80 - 90k a weekSomeone who lets be honest, didnt derserve a new contract after 1 decent season at best. Hes a cuntThen theres Ashley Cole, swear he only got offered 55k. The best left back in the world.50k a week for a experienced defender who has won titles and cups during his time at United would be worth it IMO.Arsenal when it comes to wages are a funny old club

[Guest Abou Diaby]

My mate had to set up a room at arsenal for an interview with arsenal.com and SILVESTRE was in there

:eyebrow: