HSV set for big win in Arsenal transfer talks

Sami Mokbel reported for the BBC on Sunday that Hamburger SV are in advanced talks with Arsenal over the signing of Fabio Vieira, with a growing expectation in north London that a deal will ultimately be agreed.

Mokbel added that the agreement currently looks set to be in the region of €10m (£8.6m), which would be a big win for the German club.

Arsenal and HSV had initially agreed to a €22m purchase option in Vieira’s loan contract last week, with widespread scepticisim at the time that the Bundesliga side would actually pay that amount.

So it proved. HSV didn’t take up the clause, but they continued to push for the signing anyway. The German club’s stance was that they wanted to pay €10m or less.

Yet despite initial suggestions from Arsenal’s end that they wanted much more than that, and that they were planning to take a hardline stance in negotiations, it seems they’re now preparing to give HSV exactly the deal they wanted – with no compromise whatsoever.

The final details of the deal remain to be seen. Perhaps Arsenal have pushed for add-on payments, or a sell-on clause, anything that would make the €10m agreement more reasonable.

If not, it’s certainly a big failure from Arsenal’s negotiating team, as they’ll receive the exact amount that was on the table back in June.

What’s more, it sends the message that the Gunners haven’t changed, and that if you wait long enough, they’ll give you the cheap deal you wanted. Such a reputation is only going to hurt the club in negotiating future sales for other players.