Barcelona Transfer Rumors: Alex Song Using Barca in Contract Ploy with Gunners?

If there is one thing you learn during the transfer window, it's that you either can't believe 90 percent of what you read, or you need to read between the lines to make sense of all of the transfer rumors that fly about the tabloids.

Such is the case with Arsenal's Alex Song, who, it's been rumored, has drawn wanting eyes from La Liga powerhouse Barcelona. But given some of the information available, it seems just as likely that Song (or his agent) has propagated some of those rumors as a negotiation ploy to extend his contract with Arsenal.

There is this from Sky Sports (via Fox Sports), for instance: "Song has two-years left on his current deal at the Emirates, but Sky Sports understands he would like to extend that."

Or there's the fact that Arsene Wenger has claimed that Barcelona have had no contact with Arsenal about the midfielder. From The Sun:

"

“There’s nothing going on with Song. There’s nothing in that. Song has three years contract, he’s not in the same situation as Robin Van Persie."

“In Spain the newspapers are not really serious. We’ve had the experience of that. We’ve never had any contact with anybody from Barcelona.”

"

Hmmm...Player wants a contract extension. Rumors surface that one of the most successful, top-spending clubs in the world has interest in said player. That level of interest in player could naturally be leveraged by an agent wanting a sizable weekly wage for his player, wouldn't you say?

I can just hear the agent negotiating now:

You don't want to pay higher wages on an extension at this time? Oh, no problem, we'll just wait on Barcelona then; they have interest in Alex. I'm sure they won't mind giving him his worth in two years, or before then when they come calling for a transfer. Of course, we could avoid all of that now while Alex's terms are more favorable for you...I mean, who wants to be bidding against Barcelona?

I don't doubt that Barca has some level of interest in Song. He's a talented, box-to-box midfielder who offers the versatility of being able to play both as a holding midfielder and as a more attack-oriented player who facilitates the offense. 

There's no way he would get as much playing time at Barcelona as he does at Arsenal—it's hard to imagine Song displacing Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta or Cesc Fabregas—but a number of the team's players have expressed interest in adding Song, so they would find a way to incorporate him.

And why wouldn't they? The more the merrier, right?

But I doubt these rumors derived with an insider plugged into Barca's management. If I were to guess, I would say these probably started with Song's agent.

Again, it's pure speculation on my part—a bored Spanish sportswriter may have decided to stir the pot, or the rumors could derive from legitimate Barca interest—but the more I look at it, the more it seems wholly beneficial for Song's future earnings that Barcelona "has interest" in him.

He'll be a Gunner for now and, hopefully, for a long time after that. One of the most improved players over the years for the Gunners is also one of the most important players for the team right now, especially if Robin van Persie is finally sold.

They would be crazy to let him go. They know it, he knows it, his agent knows it and, yes, Barcelona knows it.

But hey, why not put some ideas in Wenger's head, right? It can't hurt when any future contract discussions take place, right?

Sure can't. It's just another reason why the transfer windows in European soccer are so much fun. And why you need to take 90 percent of what you read in August and January with a grain of salt. 

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