Plotting Ribery’s destination: Liverpool or Manchester United, but not Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham
It’s time for idle speculation again. With the FA Cup finalists decided (almost) and the Champions League a week away, there’s little left to do except twiddle our thumbs and wait for uneventful midweek league matches.
I’d rather indulge in some idle speculation - today’s lucky transfer target is Franck Ribery, and the big four clubs from the Premiership playing in the Champions League next season are after him. Oh, and Tottenham too.
Marseille’s sporting director, Jose Anigo, has this to say:
“There is a deal between chairman Pape Diouf, Franck Ribery, myself and his agent. The agreement is a possibility to leave, but only if both the player and Marseille see the advantage of it.”
Anyway we could only talk above €20million (£13.6m). But if we reach Champions League, we want him to stay, and he knows it.”
[Source: Sky Sports]
If Marseille qualify for the Champions League, you can rest assured that Ribery will cost around £20m. Even at £13.6m not many clubs can afford him, so let’s look at the usual suspects from the Premiership and plot Ribery’s chances.
Arsenal: The Gunners don’t have the cash to spend, so unless Arsenal are taken over by Kroenke Ribery isn’t going to Arsenal.
Chelsea: Lots of money but financial prudence and too many players already in the midfield would limit Ribery’s chances. He ‘could’ be used as a striker but that’s not doing his talents justice. No go, unless something drastic happens at Chelsea this summer.
Liverpool: Have the cash and would be looking for a winger who can give them that added impetus on both flanks. Plus Cisse is at Marseille so there’s the possibility of an exchange deal taking place. A fair chance if Ribery was to come to the Premiership.
Manchester United: Need a winger and Ribery has the experience United are looking for as well. Will have cash to spend despite the big move for Hargreaves (and Bale). Manchester United (along with Liverpool) could be favourites for picking Ribery up if he comes to the Premiership.
Tottenham: No Champions League football, no Tottenham. It’s harsh on Tottenham, because they are the ones who need a quality left-winger the most, but without Champions League football to offer Ribery (or Nani) won’t be coming to play for Tottenham. We spoke about this last summer as well, but people got pissed off. Of course, it could all turn around and bite me in the ass, but I’m pretty sure it’s not going to happen.
Outside the Premiership: There’s a good chance that Ribery will move to Real Madrid, Serie A or Bayern Munich instead of the Premiership. There’s also a good chance that Ribery would stay at Marseille if they qualify for the Champions League.
Your Pick: Where do you think Ribery will be playing next season?
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Still Arsenal.
Kroenke will take over Arsenal and Ribery might be the one of the only super signings Wenger would make…
The smart choice would be Manchester United, but i don’t see him fitting in for some reason, just a gut felling, it doesn’t feel right (maybe its just me). Moreover seeing how Ribery idolizes Zidane i think he might follow in his footsteps and join Real Madrid.
Arsenal are not the poor club everyone makes them out to be. Yes, we are not as rich as Chelsea or Man U but we have £30m available for transfers, not to mention a £40m loan facility available for players should it be needed. Ribery has often said that he wants to play in England with a French coach, and he is also good friends with Henry. The only thing that will stop Ribery joining the Gunners is if Wenger for some strange reason says “no”.
Arsenal. Ribery wants to play for Wenger, he’s said so multiple times. And his pal TH14 will convince him. ManU don’t need him. The only chance of him not going to Arsenal is if someone like Juventus etc. comes up with an absurdly high bid.
I actually believe that Arsenal or Real Madrid are the likeliest targets. In fact I am predicting that Arsenal end up with one of Ribery or Robinho in the summer.
If Real Madrid buy Ribery then they will probably allow Robinho to go for ~£10-15, something Arsene would be prepared to spend. If they don’t buy him Arsene will probably nab him.
The reason I believe this is Rosicky. It is fairly common knowledge that AW originally had plans for Rosicky to play on the right, not the left. I am 90% certain Arsene will be buying a winger this summer and not a striker. There are oher possibilities than Ribery though.
Ljungberg has lost his pace and unless he can regain it he is not of much use to Arsenal. He adds “umph” to the team but without his pacey runs he won’t be beating men down the wings or scoring goals. Therefore another winger could be gone. AW intends to play Diaby in the middle not the left so that leaves Hleb, Rosicky and Walcott. I also believe (for reasons I will go into in a moment) that Walcott will play more games as a striker next season. Hence another winger is going to Arsenal and with the french connection, Ribery is a good possibility.
It looks almost certain that Aliadiere is off, Baptista will be sent home and Reyes will be sold. Bendtner is likely to return though. That will leave 3 “strikers” at Arsenal; Henry, Van Persie & Bendtner and 3 “suppliers”; Henry, Van Persie and Adebayor. AW is playing Theo on the wings to make him more like Henry and Van P, a striker and a supplier rather than just a striker (Adebayor may also become a striker at some point but he isn’t yet). So that means Arsenal will not have enoughup front considering the ANC and injuries. Either Arsene will play Theo more as a striker and bring Carlos Vela (currently on loan in spain) to Arsenal or he will buy a striker. I think the former is more likely because the descision to buy youth was made years ago in order to keep a tight budget during this period. I think it will be stuck to in order to progress with the development. Buying a striker will make progress on Bendtner, Walcott, Adebayor and Vela far less effective.
So if you think that Arsene will probably be selling Ljungberg, Flamini, Aliadiere & Reyes, buying a winger for £15m doesn’t seem that unlikely.
Other players I could see leaving would be Senderos (out of favour and Djourou now preferred), Lehmann, Almunia (who will leave if not made no.1 with Jens gone).
In which case AW may buy an aging BIG CB to cover for the ANC and during the development of Djourou. He may also buy a new no.1 and possibly a no.3, pushing Poom to no.2.
Considering player sales and loanee returns Arsene could achieve all this for less than £20m, his reporting spending kitty…
Especially if Marseille qualify for the Champions League.
You talk about the 40m loan facility as if Arsenal have that money sitting in the bank - it’s still a loan that they’ll have to take mate, you do realise that, don’t you?
Having said that, I do agree that the Ribery-Arsenal connection is strong - but so was the Buffon-Arsenal connection last summer, and if you ask Tottenham fans they will give 10 reasons why Ribery is guaranteed to move to WHL.
I’m not sure that the Ribery-Arsenal thing is as ‘done’ as you guys think. If Marseille want big money for him and Arsenal say no (they said no to Andy Johnson who was coming in for 9-10m) at the price, then there’s a problem.
Ribery wants to play at a big club where he will be guaranteed Champions League football. Arsenal, Pool, United - does it matter?
Ahmed, a few points. Firstly, as I pointed out, the loan is available on top of the £30m that is already in the accounts. Secondly, Wenger said he would not pay £8m for Johnson because he would only be second choice, not because he won’t spend that kind of money on a single player. Ribery would be a first choice player and therefore Wenger would pay over £8m for him.
Second, there are two factors that come into play with Ribery going to Arsenal. Will Arsenal be willing to match the money Liverpool and Manchester United throw at Marseille? Chelsea got Essien from under United’s nose thanks to them offering Lyon, Essien and his agent more money (not to mention the fact that they were winning).
And will Wenger agree to pay that much for a single player? The ‘project’ Wenger has started at Arsenal needs time to work, and if he has to pay 20m for Ribery he might give up on that and bring in a 10m player with more experience to shore up the team.
Remember, Arsenal don’t need huge transfers - they need experience in the side, and that doesn’t always come with money.
It’s all speculation though - let’s see what happens. Ribery could end up going anywhere.
You do realise that at this level, 10m for a third choice striker - who in all likelihood would play 30-odd games at least - is fair money?
My money is on Ribery going to Real or Bayern, both of whom have professed a profound admiration for the player. However, don’t rule out Juventus, who have a LOT of money to spend provided they get back into Serie A (which looks like it is going to happen).
Tangentially…can’t believe Spurs didn’t beat Wigan
Yes. Juventus. Guess I got here too late to surprise everyone with that
Juve will be a buying team when they get back to Serie A. But no Champions League football this year.
Ribery won’t be swapped for Cisse because Marseilles don’t want Cisse. He’s been poor.
I cant see him coming to United but stranger things have happened. I reckon if he was to go anywhere it would be Arsenal.
My money’s definately on Juventus. They’ll be rebuilding the team extensively this summer and could probably match most of the offers from other clubs. Moreover, Deschamps is a former Marseille favourite which should have a huge influence. And don’t forget, Zidane went to Juve from France before he joined Real.
Why would he move from Marseille to Juventus?? He has said time & again that if he moves it’s for Champions League football. Are Juventus going to be in the Champions League next season?? No, whereas Marseille are vey likely to be.
Not sure why you keep insisting arsenal don’t have money just because Wenger chooses not to spend. Arsenal do have money, a minimum of 30 million this summer, plus a loan facility of 40 million (which will never be touched unless a true world class talent is available), plus Kroenke hasn’t bought over 11% of the club for nothing. You also talk like man utd are loaded?? I take it you haven’t seen their latest accounts, showing a loss of over 137 million pounds & debt of over 500 million!! They will only be signing one big player per summer & thats guranteed. Nobody knows what Liverpool have now, but again their new owners have borrowed for the new stadium. They will certainly support Benitez but no-one will know to what extent until the summer. Chelski will spend but only after Mourinho has gone.
Arsenal will only try to sign Ribery, if as expected Hleb is sold on!!
If Ribery leaves this summer it will be to Juve.. They have a lot to spend and will be ready for Champions League in a year as they climb right to the top of Serie A. It makes most sense for him to go to Arsenal but there is a congestion of players at Arsenal right now and as indicated by the moderator Chelsea have the money but also have a congestion in the midfield for his talents. I will love to see him at my beloved ManU but I doubt that will happen. I think SAF will buy a left footed striker this summer in Torres that can also move out to the wing. Ribery’s pace and movements will bode well with ManU and Arsenal’s attack but I think just like his idol Zizou he will end up at Juve before venturing out anywhere else.
Tottenham??? They need to get rid of Martin Jol but that is another story.. That team could achieve so much more with the size of the squad and talent they posses.
ribery fits well on arsenal, but i’d like to see him on utd even though we don’t really need him.
hey Ahmed, who do you think we should go for out of Nani and Ribery, I personally think Nani is better and would be another reason to keep Ronaldo at OT for much longer.
you should atleast get the basic facts right before you try to predict the future, Ribery is a right winger
Well I don’t think Hleb will be sold, Freddie might be possibly. My money is on either Ribery or Robinho going to Arsenal. Ribery has pretty much stated he wants to go to either La Liga (Real) or the Prem (Arse). If he goes to Real then they’ll sell Robinho, a player that Arsene likes and would pay £10m+ for.
Either way as I said earlier it’s almost certain Arsene will be buying a new winger, even if he keeps Hleb, Rosicky, Freddie and Theo because I reckon Theo will play more games as a striker and you need min 3/4 wingers.
There are other possible suitors around for the Arsenal wing, but I believe those 2 are the most likely. Babel’s name was floated around January time but his lengthy contract extension will probably rule him out for a reasonable fee.
Ribery will come to Arsenal without a doubt.
Does anyone really want this over rated average footballer. As a Man Utd fan I am confident SAF is not silly enough to go after Ribery.
I don’t see him being any sort of success in England, its to physical for him. I think he may be stong enough for Japan, but only just.
Remember that it was confirmed by Ribery’s people that Arsenal had a bid of 20 million euros turned down in January. Funny that if they had no money eh? Well they do have it available and Ribery will be Wengers main target. Ribery’s agent also confirmed that Arsenal had first option if the club decided to sell. Another bit of shoddy reporting above is not knowing all the facts and those two facts show that Arsenal are in the driving seat. IF meening that his current suiters dont qualify for the CL. Well by all acounts it looks as if they wont so the chances of him moving grow day by day! And the most likely destination will be Arsenal.
As far as everything else goes I can see, Hleb, Flamini, Lehman, Baptista and either Hoyte or Eboue saying goodbye to the Red and White!
The only way Ribery will be not end up at Arsenal is if Marseille qualify for the Champion league (looking at their current position it is possible even if unlikely) or Arsene Wenger decides against bringing him.
Arsenal have the money, Arsene may decide to spend the money somewhere else.
Bayer does not have the fund to buy Ribery.
Juventus does not offer the attraction of Champion league despite a French coach in Didier Deschamps.
ManUtd already have Ronaldo, Giggs, Bale (next target) as left-sided midfield why buy another one. Knowing that their entire budget will be spend on Hargreaves.
Chelsea is not in the good grace in France in view of their treatment of Makelele.
Real Madrid is a no goer as nobody knows who is going to be Real Madrid next coach. Until you know who is the next coach and if he fancy you, no serious player is likely to commit to Real Madrid.
Spurs is ridiculous as they cannot get champion league football and are unlikely to get it in the near future.
Another rumour mentionned in the French tvs and newspapers is that Anelka will go back to Arsenal, and that Bolton will buy Cisse from Liverpool (whose stint at Marseille is turning into a nightmare: coaches, players, supporters have turned against him).
The argument to have more strikers (Henry, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bentner, Vela, Anelka ?) is that because of the ANC in January for which we will lose Toure, Eboue, Adebayor, Song we may need more players than in a normal season.
You’re basing this on what a player’s agent says.
That in itself is too hilarious not to point out…
Supprizingly, as an arsenal fan i don’t actually see Ribery coming to Arsenal. I can say, he will be joining Real only if Real don’t get Cristiano Ronaldo. Not to forget Barcelona. They are an ageing team, so I could see some movement there. With Guily, Deco, Eto’o and even Ronaldinho all in a speculations, it seem Ribery would be going there more likely.
Ahmed Bilal, obviously u are not an Arsenal fan, in fact i think you hate arsenal so much that u tend to search other ways to believe that Ribery would not even go to Arsenal. Your comment tend to be a bit emotional.
U speculated Chelsea and L’pool would be a better place for him, no offence to Chelsea and L’pool fan…but u hardly can speculate a team with multi-millions of transfer kitty. Why?
1) L’pool tend to be a Spanish-bound team. In fact, i could even say Torres & Villa would better of joining them than Ribery.
2) Chelsea, is currently un-stable in terms of their manager or next summer. Players would be contemplated in joining Chelsea because they are sacred if Mourinho isn’t staying. And i rated Malouda as a possible signing more.
3) Man Utd, well they sure are hitting top form right now. I’m proud to be an Arsenal fan, that we managed to have a double on them. They are a top, top team. Man utd would spent more on Bale I believe. And he would be turn into a Winger, and understudy to Giggs. Because they already have Evra, Heinze and Silvestre as a better LB.
4) As for Spurs fan. No hard feeling guys, but you already have almost 7-8 quality players that I think is strong enough to mount serious challenge to the top 4. I just hope that Arsenal are strong enough to sustain their challenge next season. Without Champions League, its hard for Ribery to join them.
5) Finally, My Arsenal. Well, I rated that Babel would be a stonger possible signing to us. A part from his bigger built, he is a natural left footed player that we are missing. He tend to move inside, a quality that Wenger always love.Not as well known as Ribery. And most important, he is cheaper. I could rate around 7-8million pound. Yes, we have the money available, but Wenger tracks proved that he tend to search players which is lesser known to world football. There’s a strange feeling that i think Reyes would stay and play on. Last season, he was our main distributor after Pires. His assits was first class.
Finally to Man td, Chelsea and L’pool, good luck. They deserved it for being more productive in finding goals. Hopefully we would be in their position next season.
Come on Ahmed. I have read enough of your articles to know that you do actually know a little bit about football. I also though know that you are stubborn to the bone. There are two types of comments you never raise your eyebrows to. First to tabloid comments with no quotes and secondly tabloid comments with quotes from a source close to the player. However when both the agent and the club confirm that a bid was refused in January do you dismiss that aswell? Arsenal have first option if the club sells…WHY? Because Ribery wanted the move in January, thats why! And the only way the club could appease him was to tell him they wouldnt stand in his way in the summer. Also why do you think suddenly the club say he will go for 20 million euros? The exact amount that Arsenal bid for him in January? Because they promised Arsenal and the player the deal would go through then. If you cant connect the simple dots my friend then I dont know…
Norman - ok, ok, so you got me
I’d still like to see what happens in the summer before being sure of this.
And there’s just one reason why I’m doing that (and it’s not because I’m a United fan) - because enough ‘done’ deals have been hijacked at the last moment because of changed circumstances.
There are two scenarios:
One, that Marseille don’t qualify for the Champions League. Ribery is out, for 20m euros, question is whether Wenger will go for him. I think they need him and he will be an excellent signing, but you can’t be sure if Wenger will actually move for him. Ok, you can be sure if you’re a fan and you really want it to happen, but let’s wait and see what happens?
Two, Marseille do qualify for the Champions League. The price goes up, will Arsenal buy then? There are unknowns here as well - if a takeover goes through you can be sure that the transfer will go through, but otherwise it’s still up in the air.
Calling Liverpool a Spanish team and saying that Chelsea are not liked in France are petty arguments.
My whole argument is that at the moment, despite Arsenal’s strong links to Ribery, it looks to me that Arsenal won’t buy. And if that happens, I doubt that Chelsea are buying and I also doubt that Tottenham will be able to attract him. That leaves Liverpool and United.
Bottom line - if Arsenal don’t go through, where do you think he’s gonna go? Bayern? Real Madrid? Inter? United?
If it’s the Prem, it’s Arsenal or United.
I agree with you that there is no such thing as a done deal. I only have to look at Vieira to Real and Henry to Barcelona to confirm that.
Arsenal will qualify for the CL and Marseille wont, which will make the deal happen. We play City tonight and a win here will see us 8 points clear with 4 games to go. A good situation to be in. Personally I think we will finish 3rd but we will see.
Hleb and Ljungberg are the reasons why Wenger will make a left sided player his number one target. Neither can give us that wide option we have missed so badly this season and THAT is the reason why we bid for him in January and will again come the summer. The money thing is a pointless discussion because Arsenal have proven that they can buy players, Hleb, Rosicky, Reyes and not forgetting Walcott. Also there were a number of players sold in January and a number more will be sold this summer, which all adds up.
I have absolutely no doubt that Ribery will be Wengers number 1 target and I will even venture a guess that we can see the deal done within the first week that the window opens. Two other areas I can see Wenger strengthning will be a new number 1 (Even if Lehman signs) and right back. I can see both Hoyte and Eboue being sold, because the genious that is Kierry Gilbert will return. The right sided version of Ashley Cole, only 10X better.
Actually I think spurs could prevent him from moving to arsenal. Ribery will never in a million years join spurs but they could cause trouble by putting in a higher offer. If arsenal offer 14 million (his approx asking price) & spurs offer 18 million (a very similar scenario to that of baptista 2 years ago) then obviously marseille will not accept arsenal’s offer. Wenger usually then digs his heels in & refuses to pay anymore, therefore scuppering the deal.
Norman, Gilbert is up for sale, but even cardiff don’t want. He has been awful & apparently his attitude is abysmal. I don’t see Wenger keeping him on.
Geoff your wrong on two counts there. Arsenal have first option and I think that a fee for Ribery has already been agreed upon. Gilbert is not up for sale. Wenger has already mentioned him, Bendtner and Song as three loanees that will return to chelenge for first team football. + Gilbert has been without a doubt there best player this season.
Norman, sorry but you are wrong. Gilbert cannot even get into their team now because of problems related to training. Wenger hasn’t once said that Gilbert will be back next season & Cardiff have confirmed they could have signed him but don’t want to. As for Ribery, well I hope you’re right but if a price was agreed & ribery wanted to come etc etc, then why hasn’t the deal been announced already?? I think you have got ahead of yourself, nothing is agreed with Ribery at all. Lets face it if he was already coming then he wouldn’t be talking about staying at Marseille & playing in the champions league with them!!
Geoff- good point on spurs thing… reality check…spurs can just dented our hopes of securing the Ribery issue. Not to forget as with Man Utd, Chelsea and other big name clubs. Chelsea did that wih S.W.P. Look at him right now. Wenger bid 12 million for him, and then came Chelsea with 23million. I just hope, Chelsea or Liverpool would not do that this summer.
Todays rumors shows that Sir Alex is going for G. Pedersen. That is another sign showing they don’t really see Ribery in the Red Devils army. Man Utd, usually signs 2 big name players each season. 1)Owen Hargreaves 2) Bale 3) possible G. Pedersen.
Did you guys come out of your mothers talking like this or did you actually spend the time to go to school and learn to think like this?
Just curious
Geoff I agree that there is a problem with Gilbert that we arent hearing about. But if you follow the Championship you will have known that up untill January he was Cardiffs best player. Did you watch there FA cup game against spurs? Lennon didnt get a sniff because of Gilbert. I have no idea what happened since then but I do remember Wenger mentioning him, Song and Bendtner as deffinate returnees. It was around the same time Larson and Smith were sold. Maybe the problem was a fall out between player and manager because the player wasnt interested in signing long term for them? Who knows, but its difficult to understand why a player goes from being a regular to obscurity. Something is not right there!
As for Ribery, do you honestly believe a comment would be made by either club or player? It would be illegal because the player is under contract. Nothing is guarenteed but all I said was that a fee had already been agreed upon and Arsenal had first choice.
The only clubs ribery will go to im sure would be ac milan,man utd or real madrid .Bayern munich ? are u kidding German football doesnt have the quality theese days .Ac will be out to challenge inter next season by spending big
Ribery is a good player and I heared that he would like to play for the Gunners. Arsenal Has plyers on his position and I wonder if he would start as base player or as reserve. I do not that Arsenal will buy him.
I reckon ribery is ulikely to come to arsenal, but out of all the contenders arsenal have the best chance. What i’m bothered about is henry, hope he doesn’t go. Fernando Torres would be good for the gunners too.
Ribery is obviously going to the
GUNNERS!
He said himself that he would like to go there and if Wenger likes him i don’t see no reson why he shouldn’t go to Arsenal.
P.S. ARSENAL FOR 07/08 Premiership Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!
There’s a butt-load of articles roaming arround about how he already signed for FC bayen… here is one of em:
http://www.wldcup.com/news/2007/05/20070525_42579_soccer_news.html
Go to google news and enter ribery… ull see the fiasco
Thanks Jade!!!!!!!!
Marseilles have just today admitted that Ribery will be leaving for a substantial fee. Could that be €20m to Arsenal, I wonder?