How Vidal Was Nearly Sold To Arsenal Between 24-29th June By Media Agencies

An account of how various media agencies nearly sold Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal to Arsenal FC in the last few days.

Arsenal made the official announcement of Petr Cech completing his move from Chelsea today. While the fans were awaiting this confirmation, the news that got them excited was their rumoured interest in Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal.

Vidala s reputation as one of the best midfielders in the world has grown by leaps and bounds since he moved to Juventus from Bayer Leverkusen in 2011. The Chilean international has already helped the Serie A club to four league titles. Naturally when the 28-year-old was linked with a move to Arsenal, it got the fans off their seats.

It started off as a gossip then soon became the most talked about news on social media. It went a full circle of speculation a validation a denial a more speculation a back to denial, in a space of six days. Here is a low down on how various media agencies almost sold Arturo Vidal to Arsenal.

It all started after the, now infamous, car crash by Arturo Vidal, under the influence of alcohol. One should note that he was also involved in a pub brawl in October last year.

24^th June

Spanish media, Fichajes.net, claimed that Juventusa hierarchy have had enough of Arturo Vidala s off the field antics, and are interested in offloading the midfielder this summer. This is what sparked all the rumours that followed.

25^th June

La Stampa, a Turin based newspaper, published an article where they stated that Arsenal will offer a 30 million for Arturo Vidal. They didna t mention any particular source for this report, instead stated that it based on rumours.

Fichajes.net followed up the exit rumours of Vidal with a report stating that Arsenal are interested in signing the midfielder and Arsene Wenger is willing to offer a 30 million for the Chilean international.

Soon, The Express, Metro and Mirror picked up the news and it started to gain some momentum. Interestingly, the English media started quoting La Stampa and Fichajes.net, without stating the fact that neither of them based this news on an concrete source.

26^th June

Spanish media Marca reported that Juventus have already agreed to sell the Chilean midfielder to a top European club, but once again based these reports on rumours, rather than any reliable source. Marca also claimed that Juventus are interested in signing Isco from Real Madrid and selling Arturo Vidal is a way for them to raise funds for this transfer.

The rumours were furthered fuelled by Argentine journalist Hernan Feler, who reportedly claimed on radio that Vidal has signed a 5 year contract with the Gunners and that the deal will be announced after the Copa America.

Hernan Feler himself retweeted the above tweet and news quickly spread across the social media with Arsenal fans getting excited about the prospect of see Vidal in action at the Emirates. The English media followed suit and picked up the story once again.

28^th June

A relatively unknown tweeter handle, @MihakSaeid, questioned Felera s claims. He stated that the journalist never talked about Vidal on radio. He further went on to say that Feler is the most unreliable source in Argentina, calling him a a comediana in the process.

This was once again picked up by the Arsenal fans on twitter and all of a sudden everyone started dismissing the Vidal reports as nothing more than a gossip.

29^th June

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Spanish media Cadena Cope published a story stating that Arturo Vidala s transfer to Arsenal is 90% done. They also quoted the same transfer fee of a 30 million, which was initially reported by La Stampa. As the rumours refused to go away, the Arsenal fans once again tweeted about this news, with great excitement. English media were back in action as well and more reports were published citing Cadena Copea s exclusive.

Gazzeto dello Sports then published news of Juventus denying reports of Vidala s rumoured move to Arsenal.

Reliable journalist Gianluca Di Marzio then confirmed that Juventus havena t received any offer from Arsenal for Arturo Vidal. David Amoyal, who writes for Di Marzio, went on to state that money isna t an issue for Juventus and they are unwilling to sell Vidal with Pogbaa s future in doubts.

A lot of English journalists followed Di Marzioa s lead and went on to dismiss Arsenala s interest in the Chilean. Except Tancredi Palmeri of course; who claimed that Arsenal have contacted Juventus for Vidal and are preparing a bid for him.

This Arturo Vidal to Arsenal transfer saga is oddly similar to the one which linked the Juventus midfielder to Manchester United last summer. At times smoke does rise without a fire.