3:41PM BST 20 Aug 2012
Having undergone a medical on Monday, the Cameroon international has been
unveiled as a £15 million signing at
Song’s departure has been accompanied by reports he was repeatedly late for training, was lazy and lacked discipline.
However this has provoked an angry reaction from the player, who hotly denied
the suggestions. “Alex Song was massively committed to
“We tried six times to renegotiate his contract. They kept saying it has three years to run.
"They’d say things like ‘we’ll sit down in September, October,’ when at first they’d said it would happen in the summer.
“Then Barcelona came in and yet Alex still said he wanted a new contract. When they said we’d all sit down on 1 September that was the final straw.
“That shows disrespect to the player. Barcelona is a once-in-a-lifetime thing; you have to jump on that train when it comes.”
The reports about Song’s attitude were unusual. He is only the latest to tread the path from north London to Catalonia following Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Alex Hleb and Cesc Fábregas last season, yet none other has been accompanied by negative articles.
Not even Samir Nasri, a pariah among Arsenal fans following his turbulent transfer to Manchester City last summer, was subjected to disparagement through the press about his attitude.
This led the Song camp to allege the Arsenal hierarchy had deliberately conducted the briefing to deflect attention from what was an unexpected departure.
“They’re covering themselves because they’re being killed by the fans,” claimed the source. “I know it’s [a senior Arsenal executive] covering his a***.”
But Song at least has the succour of an improved pay packet. He has reportedly signed a £70,000-a-week deal at the Camp Nou, which is an improvement on what the source claimed were his terms at the Emirates Stadium.
“He was one of the worst paid at the club,” said the source. “He was on about £55,000 a week and his performances deserved a pay rise. He became dissatisfied and upset. You can work out what’s going on there — the same’s happened with Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri.”
Alex Song and his agant both declined to comment.
