Gilberto to Man City?
February 20, 2008
Over the last few days, Gilberto has been linked with a move to Manchester City. While I am no mind reader, I can say with fair certainty that Gilberto will not move to Man City. In fact, in the event that he leaves Arsenal, he will not even move to another Premiership club. Here’s why.
Gilberto is not a fan of England. He doesn’t like the weather, and he is much fonder of the idea of living in a Mediterranean city – such as one in Italy or Spain. The only reason Gilberto lives and works in England at the moment is because, for him, Arsenal has a strong pull. He loves working at the club enough to have stayed there for a year without even playing. His family also have their lives in London; his daughter goes to school in St Albans and his wife (I think) has a job there, too. To move to another city (i.e. Manchester) would be silly from his point of view, because it would mean remaining in England while still having to uproot his whole family – the two worst things about moving clubs combined.
If Gilberto does uproot his family to go and work for another club, he will only do it in order to move to a city with a hot climate and Mediterranean lifestyle.
So, the only reason that Gilberto has stayed in England for so long is that he loves London specifically – and he doesn’t want to move his family. So, the only other situation in which Gilberto would be able to move clubs while remaining in England would be if he moved to another London club. Now, obviously, the club would need to be in North London (or near to his St Albans home), and the list of big clubs which fit this criteria is pretty much limited to Arsenal and Spurs. (Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham are too far away.) Gilberto, I assume, would not want to move to Spurs after he saw the way which Campbell was treated for making the move in the opposite direction.
While a move to an Italian or Spanish club would mean uprooting him and his family, it would also mean moving to a more European lifestyle, which would be enough to counter the annoyance of having to leave a city which he has grown to love. Moving to Manchester, or indeed any other English club, does not have this benefit from Gilberto’s point of view.
So, in the event that Gilberto does end up leaving Arsenal, he is more likely to move to Italy. The most likely club, at the moment, seems to be Juventus – because they have expressed an actual interest in him, and Gilberto has specifically mentioned Juventus as a club which he could see himself at in the future. The Italian league would also suit Gilberto’s style of play more, since Serie A in Italy is a very defensive league – unlike Spain’s La Liga, which is the complete opposite.