Arsenal have accepted an offer from Borussia Mönchengladbach for defender Håvard Nordtveit, Young Guns can reveal. The 19-year-old will now hold talks with the German outfit and is expected to move in the January transfer window.
Ivan Gazidis has been in discussions with Nordtveit over a new contract for almost six months, as his current deal expires in July. Negotiations appeared to be coming to a close recently, with a three year extension on the table, only for them to break down. The club are now keen to offload Håvard in January and recoup some of the £1.7 million fee they paid in 2007.
Nordtveit already has Bundlesliga experience, having spent last season on loan with FC Nuremberg. The defender is expected back in Germany over the weekend with agent Jim Solbakken to thrash out a deal.
It’s a big, big disgrace… Oh Wenger….
why do people think every talented player will make it at Arsenal. He couldn’t break through what was he suppose to do stay in our reserves till he’s 23-24.
its a good move for him and I hope he has a good career
next comes Bartley and Miguel.
Hopefully one of them makes it
P.S Sanderson is there any truth that we are after a young RB either Santon or Sime Vrsaljko
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo Arsene
Another one bites the dust! Good luck to you son. Miquel is the future anyhow.
And here i was expecting it to be positive news.
That’s a real shame. He could have made it at Arsenal, what a great defender. Wenger never seemed to believe in him fully though despite the fee he paid. Never got a chance in the Carling Cup, always got played out of position. He’s a great centreback, really composed and intelligent, and has played top-level football in Germany with Nurnberg in the Bundesliga. Wenger should have given him more of a chance.
Really pity him, it’s all about nation nowadays for wenger, it is because wenger is very happy when he see his back four completed with france player sagna, kol, squi, and clichy that always don’t work but this wenger guy keeps saying it’s good defend combination…if we can just sell squi and kol and get back the money that have been wasted even for half price, just don’t sell nordveit because he will replace him with another french, if arsenal didn’t get any trophy this year just sell wenger and let him bring all his french player with him except nasri who is doing great now…
he was shit at nuremburg. you can ask their fans. never maid a big impression there nor at Arsenal.
@anthony i will eat you!
wenger aint going anywhere. hes on contract till 2014, and we know he doesnt break his contract.
you on the other hand, if you come close to me i will have a feast, and no one here will miss u. so please bugger off (and try to stop being a little bigotted brat)
Very sad news J. Always thought he was a great talent. Due you have any idea of the reasons for the negotiations breakdown?
OMG I couldn’t beleive it.I had high hopes for the guy and I stand against Arsenal in this transfer deal
Unbelievable!
That’s a shame, and for me quite unexpected.
Nordtveit had spoken this season about how he was trying to emulate Bould by getting experience at RB before moving inside to CB, he seemed like he was positive about a future here at Arsenal. It didn’t appear like he was keen on leaving us at all.
Cue all the “bloody Wenger!” comments! They do make me laugh so.
WHAT THE HELL?!
Is Nordveit pushing this move or does Arsene want to let go of him?
I am not worry about that! Sometime players come and go. Just accept it!
If Wenger’s accepted the offer he obviously doesn’t rate him too highly. If he was an outstanding talent he would have made sure he stayed (i.e. Szczesny).
Strong rumours are Wenger wants the highly rated Dinamo Zagreb right back – Vrsaljko.
Yeah, I know someone who works closely with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, who has had to cater for Arsenal scouts coming to watch Mateo Kovacic and Sime Vrsajklo.
When you posted the original tweet, I thought it would be regarding that Latvian guy, but he’s 222 so I guess not…
Well, when we made a bid for Smalling I wondered what that meant for Nordtveit (and Bartley). Not to say that the writing was on the wall, and I know players develop at different speeds, but rather that he wasn’t such a hot prospect that Wenger wouldn’t have his head turned by another emerging prospect with greater potential.
We have a constant throughput of talent thanks to the academy. Not all will make it into the first team for various reasons.
JS it sounds like nordtveit didnt get assurances over first team apps.
I feel sorry for him i hope he gets a carling cup run or something before he leaves would be a shame to see him not playing a game in the first team
aneke is out next as he isnt getting any 1st team looks
aneke is 17
he’s a regular at the reserve which is more than enough for the boy
arsenal really flopped here. why wait so long to give him a new contract?
only got themselves to blame for this :(
Kyle bartley has been impressive for Sheffield united and he will come back strong next season i feel
@asif why would aneke be out the man is only 17/18…idont think Arsenal is that stupid to let someone like aneke go look at his height and physicality plus he is very technical…my analysis of why nordveit was let go was: 1. lack first team assurances.
2. he wasnt aggressive enough as a defender he is very technical though. 3. you have kyle bartley, miquel and boateng coming through who will most likely surpass him at his age (20/21)
Its a shame but I don’t think he had the physique to be a CB, thats probably why he’s been playing RB and even Hajrovic and Boateng are playing there ahead of him. Nurmeburg also didn’t trust him at CB.
The club probably rate Bartley and Miquel as better prospects. Goodluck to him.
This is no surprise. Nothing to do with physique as Wenger prefers short defenders (not bought a tall one since Cygan in 2002). Quite simply none of the current crop of youngsters will make it into the first team beyond Wilshere, Gibbs, and Szczesny. Even JET will probably move on as he doesn’t fit the system, though he might be given a try. They have to show world class ability to get in, and if players like Vela and Lansbury can’t get a look in, what chance the Afobes, Anekes, and Bartletts? They will move on to a Championship side or at best a premiership side like West Brom or Birmingham (e.g. Larsson, Muamba etc.)
Ah dats a pity… Was really lukin 4ward to see him playing wit arsenal bt dat doesn’t look realistic now… Really hope he does a u-turn nd hope he stays…
JS is is true pat rice retiring next year?
WHos more likely to be assistant neil banfield or steve bould?
yes i hear this rumour that
wenger wil make some big change with his staff in the summer with D.Price retiring
shame to see good young talent being held up from entering the first team by players the calibre of silvestre and squillaci and koscielny.
whatever, good luck to him.
we need good young right backs NOW!
i hope the croation rumour is true. wonderwheel woud be good as well.
Andrew- its not about age, hes got a ton of guys ahead of who are under 24 plus he needs 1st team games to progress. Like Evra said the club is a training centre especially for the younger players.
Pathetic,a good solid defender who can defend and they go and sell him,disgusting.
but in honesty – arsenal doesn’t need GOOD solid defenders, they need awesome defenders!
hahaha
I don’t know about you, but i would hate to see such a prospect leave for such a measly sum, he could be the future tony adams that we desperately need!
He joins a long list of playes never given a chance. Fran, Vela, etc etc… I cant understand why we invest so much time and money on kids and then dont give them playing time
the thinking behind it all is probably that we invest in a lot of youngsters who are good.
Then out of these only 2-3 will become great – and that is totally ok and worth it.
these good youngsters compete with each other and in the end the best ones of these will get a chance to join the first team.
IF we didnt acquire as many good youngsters, the chances of developing those 2-3 great players would be slimmer, much slimmer.
C’mon guys… wipe off the croc tears! One minute gooners talk about us needing “world class” players, the next minute we’re crying about a prospect who hasn’t quite set the world alight leaving.
You mention Merida & Vela and to be honest those guys have been disappointing at Arsenal. Both have shown one or two flashes of brilliance but nothing you could hang your hat on. Look at Wilshere, Gibbs, even Clichy… when they were ready it became very obvious… consistent performances,,, even in cameo roles. I love Vela and want him to be successful but frankly he’s no Rooney! He came with high billing (u17WC golden boot- no less) and he’s had several appearances for us now, but never really looks threatning… look how Hernandez has come to MANURE and stood out! Lets not be over sentimental… if they are good enough for arsenal Wenger will play them, if not, then they should go make careers elsewhere…. the league is littered with loads like that Muamba, J. Thomas, and the Birmingham Swede… whats his name again….
The New Invincibles,
You make a very wise comment. Thanks!
I am extremely disappointed to hear this but I had a feeling it was coming, with all the defensive injuries we had last season Wenger didn’t even recall him and this season he hasn’t even played in the Carling Cup. I think this one will come back to bite us like Merida will. Anyhow, best of luck to him and it’s over to Miquel and Bartley.
shame but sometimes as someone said above, players come and go
FUCK WENGER THAT FUCKING CUNT! Why does he never give Håvard a chanse? I WANT A NEW MANAGER NOW!!
Can anyone top that? Come on, don’t be shy!
Mmmm…Don’t panic. It is not end of the world! :)
not to bothered by this news. he doesnt have the needed physique to be a top defender. for me its all about kyle bartley
FUCK HR!FUCKING CUNT!I WANT THIS BASTARD OUT NOW!!
need your pill asap….nuuuuuurse
Why isn’t everyone on here scouts? They’ve clearly seen enough of Nordveit to judge his potential, it’s not like the coaching staff see him every day or anything.
whats all the fuss about. Ive never seen him play and at arsenal we keep the best by fast tracking them through, schezny, wiltshere, eastmond etc. Its not just about football but all teh qualities are measured. If this guy does not have patience to mature sell him and get the money back we paid for him. Arsenal is a top top club and you dont just walk intoi the first team. Goodby and good luck.
Gunner for life.!!
Evra is right this club is a training centre for youngsters to get sold for shareholders profit.
Except of course that the shareholders don’t actually take a dividend. No profits are taken hence why we have overpaid our loan and are well ahead of schedule with it. So actually yey the shareholders for not taking what they are entitled to take.
Hey Hr, My mums angry also about this :)
Look many others have came and gone and not many of them turning out to be huge successes Quincy anyone ?
In Arsen we Trust,
Arsenal has to make BiG decisions of which this is one of them. Nordtveit will be an excellent player at any club and it is with much regret their is not a place in the First Team open at this stage of his career. But we cannot hinder his development and I would hope he will look back someday soon with much appreciations for the time spent with us.
The Bear is a BiG, BiG fan and will keep a look out at his progress. Best wishes and thanks for your many contributions. Continue working hard and be an asset to your new club. You will be missed.
its funny but why do you say in we—- we trust as if it a good thing the players that leave struggle to perform. Doesnt it reflect poorly on the we—- judgement for signing loads of crap players.
@HR U,sir,are an idiot.
Atleast, Håvard will win a trophy in his first season in Bundesliga..
Arsenal fans need to stop hyping all these youngsters what about miquel were people not saying the same about nordtviet years ago
Maybe Wenger will buy a defender now…
HR – Gladbach are close to being relegated already? Win what trophy?!!! You are a fool to think you know better that Wenger. Had high hopes for Havard – hopefully this isnt the ned but if it is he probably wasn’t good enough (ala Upson)
*end !
Like Ayling and other promising players before, Havard has suffered from not really developing enough physically over the last 3 years to get a look in in the first team, much the same problem with Merida. Good technical players, but unlikely to have the attributes necessary to play regularly for arsenal any time soon, so best for both parties to let them leave, and if possible to regain the initial outlay.
Anyone who comes to Arsenal is promising and so was this guy. We miss out on one but we still have at least 3 very promising CB. For me he has never looked like he was gonna break through to the first team this year or next year. Bartley will probably become a great player for us.
Little bit disappointing, looked like a good prospect and one for the future. Should have been given new contract and then send out on loan to championship or league one as Bartley. Probably he wants to play regulary and he dont see that chance here.
Also I get the impresion that its another “foreigener” that dosent make it at Arsenal, dont get me wrong… its hard to adapt to new country etc for young lad, so I think we should concentrate just a little bit on developing players that rose up in England.
Is here anyone that can write something about Kyle Bartleys loan recently? I’m really curious how hes doing.
How can this be Wengers fault? If Haavard does not want to stay in Arsenal then he does not. Its not like his contract offer is that bad.
Discrase or not, Clubs have to respect the players wishes. And if Nordtveit feels his destiny is elswhere but Arsenal then so be it.
Its disappointing because Howie was going to make his first team debut at 17 against Newcastle in the carling cup at the emirates
Hes been unlucky with injuries.
I think some of you need to be reminded that Arsenal have offered him a contract and clearly want to keep him. It’s Nordtveit who wants to leave and you can’t really blame him.
He must be very frustrated at being stuck in the Reserves, which is the exact same level he was playing all those years ago before his loan spells when he was just 17. He must feel like he’s made practically no progress whatsoever these past four years.
But we’ve had no opportunities to use him – we keep getting drawn against PL clubs in the CC, and only now in the semi-final stage do we get a lower league side! If Havard can be patient then he could well get a chance to play in the cup games against Ipswich and Leeds.
And don’t forget nothing’s been decided just yet. It’s only been a few weeks since you were all crying and whining over how Szczesny had one foot out the door, but he did the sensible thing and signed his Arsenal contract.
If there was any point where the writing on the wall was clear, it was when he was returned to us from the Bundesliga having rode the bench at a lower-ranked side. If he had broken in there, Wenger would probably have given him more chances this season. Unfortunately for him he didn’t prove himself, and at some point Wenger just has to pull the trigger. Lose him later for free, or recoup some cash while he can.
People think it’s always just Wenger’s decision. He hasn’t agreed to the new contract that was tabled, so maybe he just wants to go. Is Wenger supposed to bend over and give him a huge contract? He obviously doesn’t deserve one yet. Wenger can’t certainly guarantee him playing time since he hasn’t proven himself to be capable of that. This result is probably better for both parties. Besides, there are a few other reserve players who are probably ahead of him anyway. Miquel, anyone?
Fran Merida:
Team: Atletico Madrid
Games Started: 2
Subs:7
Goals:0
Assists:0
Take a chill pill everyone wenger knows when a player is ready
Merida scored within 30 seconds of coming off the bench vs Leverkusen on Thursday.
At least get your facts if you’re going to belittle someone.
and that was a worthless goal, since Atletico is out of the UEFA cup. So how many goals Merida is going to start in the next games for them, Anthony?
Excellent point made daniel.
Merida just scored in uefa league. Recheck your info.
Still agree he wasn’t good enough for us.
I can’t honestly see what some of the muppets on this board are complaining about. Who has Wenger let go too soon in his decade+ at the club? Hmm, maybe Flamini (who can’t get any time in Italy) and maybe le Sulk. Other than those two I see a pretty stellar judge of talent at the club.
Here’s a big hint to the whiners here— if the youth and reserve team don’t play you in your ‘best’ position you really have no hope of making the first team as you are *gasp* behind other youth and reserve players who are behind the first choice and backup players.
Didn’t see that coming and I hope we’ve got some buyback clause if he does make it big
I seriously thought he was close to breaking into the first team within the season, but i guess either he isnt ready yet and/or has a better chance breaking ground in another country/club. Nonetheless i wish him well if he goes and i hope he reaches his full potential sooner or later.
Arsene has been signing countless kids the last five years. If he had gotten some experienced guys,me thinks the gunners could have won at least one title and the FA cup.
Instead it it has been a sheer waste of time of getting the future when in reality it should be back to the present. A real shame .
Another young one gone. There was much hype when he signed but still nothing. He is not the first one and certainly not the last. Fran Merida, Jay Simpson, and now Nordveidt. I am sure Arsenal will lose Nacer Barazite in a similar fashion as well. He wont be coming back from loan either. Vela’s future is also up in the air. Whats the point in keeping all these youngsters when you are not going to play them???
Since you’ve asked Vela played in the CL, the PL, the FA cup and the CC. Arsenal cannot play ALL kids, you know? Have you ever heard of the word competition?
This is very sad news for me if it`s true that he leaves the club now :(
OMG! Not another Merida? Its the same old story.. Merida goes while Denilson and Eboue remain.. Havard is a TOP class defender.. I won’t be surprised to see him at Utd, Chelsea, Barca, Madrid, Milan or any other top club in the future.. The reason they leave is that Wenger has favourites and he plays them again and again even if they keep having bad days.. I’d rather have Nordveit stay than Kos or Djourou.. this can come back to haunt us..
Oh no not another Troll!
This just shows how laughable AW plan is.
Remember we have registered 60 (?!) players for this season. 95% of them will have the same fate as Havard.
Now think at all the money and resources Arsenal spend on this young players who won’t make the cut.
No wonder we haven’t enough money left to attract a few really big players when we look after 60 freaking youngsters.
tell me how much did they cost?
you’re making yourself look like a WUM more and more.
current Bundesliga standing:
1. Borussia Dortmund
.
.
.
6. Bayern Munich
.
.
.
.
.
.
18. M’gladbach
the Bundesliga has 18 teams.
offical confirmation: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ryo-miyaichi-to-join-arsenal-in-january
wenger now has to buy a new central defender other wise if we get injuries there won’t be a lot of cover and ignasi miquel is only 17 he can’t be thrown in to EPL like that. Another good young centre back will do or just buy mertesacker and bench koscielny. BTW any news on ryo miyaichi wasn’t he meant to sign on his 18th birthday?
So Miyaichi doesn’t need work permit?
nice one guillherme. doesn’t he need a work permit though?
So sad to see him leave arsenal as I am a norwegian and hoped we would have a norwegian in the team. Our previous national coach said he was the biggest CB talent he has ever seen in norway. Unfortunately we will never find out if he will fulfill this talent. Im sad because he was never given any chance in the first team,but I hope wenger knows. My love for Arsenal will always come first anyway :)
Ryo Miyaichi has officialy signed with arsenal!!!
watch him in action here,,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_oxAzRm9X0
@SONNY LOl does anyone actually miss the Atletico Madrid SUB??? if he cannot get a starting spot at AM he is for sure not getting a starting spot at Arsenal. Or do you want our first team to be full of players that aint even good enough for a medium good Spanish team??
I guess fans like SONNY enjoy us being steamrolled by better teams and are happy with mediocre players like Nordtveit and Merida getting first team footy. Players taht aint good enough for low level german teams and mid level spanish teams.
Jezes! Wht have the fans become….
Also if he was as good as you guys want him to be he would already be in the Norway national team. Its not like they got that many good CBS or defenders of any kind. But he is not, there are better defenders than him even in Norway. So he either has to step up and become better or move on. Moving in is the easiers option as Miquel and Bartely look class to me!
I dont know why anyone is surprised – followed him when he played at Lillestrom on loan ie in the Norwegian league which is barley as good as the Championship, and he was not uprooting any trees nor did he show any signs of hidden brillance. Plus he is weak and not all that fast.
If he was not willing to bide his time and improve then let him go. You only have to look at where Djourou was at 19 compared to this year to understand how much work a defender has to do to become world class. Its not like being a striker where you can make mistakes. As a defender you must be near flawless or you lose the team games, because your mistakes directly cause goals.
So I say good move to cash our and find a better prospect. I never rated this guy anyway.
BTW aaron ramsey is on the bench for forrest.
Lansbury starts for norwhcih
well i am disappointed and i wish him goodluck.
shame on those who said he’s not good enough. he played right back in pre-season and did well why didn’t wenger try to keep him in the squad? only one answer,if you are not french you’ll have hard time getting a place in arsenal defence. djourou is playing better than squillaci, i feel sorry for gibbs. hey! arsene has eyes on sakho for free this summer, another french.
maybe its arsene phylosophy that all his defenders have to communicate in french, who knows?. cause vermalen is belgian, off course he speaks french.
song is cameroonian born in france.
maybe i am wrong about the french conspiracy but letting this boy go is beyond me. while we need more cover in defense btw he’s better on the ball than eboue if you are blaming his physic he’s taller than koscielny.
The team speaks french a lot so it is much easier to get a player who can speak the language adopt faster. That is a no brainer. If you put a team with 11 stars who can’t speak with each other on the pitch and is in a different league as well……. what the hell do you think will happen with that team? It will simply turn out to be a mediocre team!
Gibbs is our second choice and will be our future number one if you open your eyes! Wenger wants Gibbs to be our number one when clichy goes! Gibbs also play a big big part of our trophy hunt this season but you choose to close your eyes.
Does Bartley and Miguel speaks french? They are ahead of Nordveit. Sakho is not only french, he is also one of the worlds most promising CB and will be world class if he comes to us, don’t you want that? And he will be FREE!
Same people who complain about Wenger doesn’t bring us trophy year after year is telling him to get more experience and when he choose to play experience, people complain about us losing talents. Put Miguel in the current lowest rank team in Bundesliga and lets see whats he’s up to. I am sure he will be as good as Nordveit. For every promising player we lose we have at least 2 other in the team. No worries here.
Yeah, it must be a conspiracy.
It couldn’t be because Wenger is French, and has an endless amount of knowledge and contacts in French football. That would be too bizarre.
It’s not as if Mourinho ever buys Portuguese players, or Benitez buys Spanish ones. It just wouldn’t make any sense.
All you dudes bitchin coz a player not good enough for Arsenal is going. Get a grip! Thats what happens, only a very small percentage make the grade, he wasnt up to it, IF he is being sold, so move on and stop the whining please.
JS pedro botelho might get called up for the spanish under 21s lol.
Brazil are trying to call him up as well.
Man this kid is exiciting i hope he can play as a left winger rather than a left back
Bartley has been immense for sheffield this season. I went to the game today against Swansea where Sheffield won 1-0 and he was fantastic. MOM. A real leader, great tackler, strong in the air, quick. He has everything.
yep the kid is doing good in Spain hope he carry that same form to us.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&langpair=es|en&u=http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/gen/20101215/54090294805/noticia/pedro-botelho-ficho-por-el-arsenal-solo-seis-meses-despues-de-iniciarse-en-el–futbol.html&prev=/translate_s%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dpedro%2Bbotelho%26sl%3Den%26tl%3Des
U got a source John? Can anyone namedrop a good Sheffield United forum?
pedro needs to learn french to play in arsenal defense. unless wenger’s planning to play in attack. la defense should remain strickly francais. talking about deja vu. botelho mon amis, que sera sera. i feel sorry for you. pas de problem.
At the end of the day, I we love him that much, and he does leave, we can always buy him back on FIFA/football manager
Hi J.
Good article as always.
Would only question the $1.7 m fee you quoted above.
I met Steve Rowley at an reserves game against Hampton and Richmond just after we bought Harvard, and said that at the price (£2m) quoted in the papers at the time, that we should expect big things. Rowley told me not to believe everything we read in the papers, that the price was actually in the low hundreds of thousands, and that we should be patient in our expectations of Harvard. Sadly he was correct to dampen my enthusiasm.
Heres the article on botelho being followed by spain/brazil under 21s
http://www.marca.com/2010/12/14/futbol/equipos/cartagena/1292353851.html?a=PHM343017c35766d6a327cfef09f13a4a05d&t=1292721434
Whats amazing about botelho like walcott.
He started football late.
Botelho started football at 16 playing in the streets (Didnt play for a club) got picked up by fluminese and then arsenal scouted him 6 months later.
Walcott started at 14 and 2 years later hes at the world cup lol.
Just shows some ppl are blessed with natural ability
Quite incredible
Alex Song’s mum banned him from playing football when they moved to France, she only relented when he was thirteen. Within two years he was playing for the French u16 team (alongside Nasri, Ben Arfa and Menez) and by the age of sixteen was a regular in Ligue 1 playing 34 games that season. As you say some just have natural talent.
Stats i quoted earlier referred to La Liga competition only.
Daniel
It is allways disappointing to see one of the young players leave us, but if the club deem him not good enough then agree to sell him we have to trust them on this IMO.
Owusu-Abeiye
Upson
Bentley
Blackwood
Luke Ayling
Fran Merida
Fabrice Muamba
Seb Larson
Jay Simpson
Many of you all losing your marbles about Nordtveit should keep this list in mind. Wenger’s eye for talent is still very strong.
Well he is 21 next year and there is no room for him with the new 25 man squad rule. Who should he replace? Keeping him means we almost cannot buy next summer neither, as we need to keep the level of foregins relativley low. With Bothelos rise to stardom id rather have him in our 25 man than Nordtveit
J… you’ve been ripped off by the Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1340052/Arsenal-ready-sanction-2m-sale-Havard-Nordtveit-Borussia-Moenchengladbach.html?
Bartley is obviously the defender gooners would look forward to now that Nordtveit is leaving. But, the only thing which nags me about him is – he was born in Manchester and is an out-and-out Man Utd fan.