Nasri speaks out & is it time to get nervous?

Morning Gooners,

I trust you are having a good weekend, despite waking up to stories that all our players are leaving.

The only place to really start is our increasingly Adebayor-like number 8, Samir Nasri. He has had some quotes released in the ever reliable News of the World. In a possible attempt to explain his actions, or more to the point lack of them, to the Arsenal fans he said:

"Money has never been my motivation. I have always taken decisions from a football point of view.

"I don't want to sign for a club where I wouldn't be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn't feel happy, just for the sake of money.

"We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else."

Now the one thing fans want to hear from a star in Nasri's situation is "I want to win things at this club" or "I want to stay". Now I'm not saying that he didn't say those thing because as I said, these quotes are in the News of the World so the possibility of quote cutting should not be discounted.

Until recent weeks I honestly thought that Nasri would sign and continue to play his football at Arsenal for the next four or so years and beyond. Now however, I'm finding it difficult to see how he can stay so the game now must surely be get as much money as we can for him. If we got £20m for his services I think it would be a good deal as long as Wenger used it to strengthen our squad now, not in January, not next summer, not players this summer who should be ready to play over the next couple of years, NOW.

The Mail on Sunday have reported that Theo Walcott could be joining Chelsea in the search for trophies but it's rubbish, Theo is one of the few players I am certain will be at the Emirates next year.

Apparently, all the work we have done in securing Ricardo Alvarez is about to be wasted as Inter swoop in at the last minute to secure his signature. Now, if it happens, it won't be the first player we have lost due to the time it takes us to negotiate, sometimes I really wish we would just pay the extra £2m and secure the player before other clubs with more spending power come in and challenge us for the player and ultimately outbid us.
Whether this is true or not is yet  to been seen for sure and we'll only find out the real truth in the coming weeks.

The players start pre season training tomorrow and then start their tour of the far east on 13th July so I expect Wenger to want a lot of his dealings completed by then, both ins and outs. I expect a lot of business is going on behind the scenes and Arsene and Arsenal have always been quite good at keeping transfer deals private so like all other fans I hope to see some real movement over the next couple of weeks before the squad flies out.

I am one of the more positive Gooners in the world but even I am now getting edgy as I watch our rivals strengthen as we become weaker. Potentially losing both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, certainly losing Clichy (to a rival!!) probably losing Denilson and Bendtner and so far only seeing Gervinho as a likely new recruit is a scary vision but I will reserve my nerves as the biggest thing to remember is that is is still only July 3rd and we have 59 days left in the window so business is no where near completed.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

Barca continue to annoy & Gervinho in for a medical?

Morning Gooners,

So, lets start with Barca so we can get it out of the way. Our favourite Spaniards have come back and said "sorry about that ridiculous £27m offer, we were only joking. How about £34m?" hopefully the club have told Barca to stuff it again and not to come back until they have a proper offer. How can Cesc Fabregas, a world cup winner and European Champion be worth less money than Andy Carroll, a player that's has 1 good year in the Premiership and a couple of caps? We've all seen the quotes that supposedly came out of the club saying that if Barca meet Arsenal's valuation then we'll sell him, now ignoring the pointlessness of that comment (I thought that's how every transfer works!!) you'd think Barca would hear it and pay the money we are asking or sod off!!

Apparently, according to the Mirror, Barca are now also after Samir Nasri. They report that Barca will come in with a bid of £20m which in all honesty is a good offer for a player who is in the last year of his contract and playing silly buggers with a new contract. I still think that Nasri will sign and we'll be enjoying watching him for another 4 years or so at Arsenal.

OK, now for some nice news, reports were flying about yesterday that 'someone' had arrived at the Colney for a medical. Mixed with reports from France that Arsenal and Lille had finished some pleasant conversations the general consensus is that the player mentioned would be Gervinho which would be welcomed news. Gervinho was named Ivory Coast's player of the year last season beating the likes of Yaya Toure and Drogba, that has to be good pedigree that will improve our squad but as normal no further news came out of Arsenal, and chances are we'll wait a couple of days for the move to be officially confirmed and all the press stuff released at the same time. Lets hope its the first of many new faces welcomed to the club.

We also seem to be getting closer to signing Gary Cahill from Boltom. I know that a lot of fans are waiting for this but I really don't see what all the fuss around Cahill is about. Is he really better than Koscielny or Djourou? Really? We'll wait to see what happens but I really don't see Cahill as the player to save our defense.

Ricardo Alvarez also seems closer to his Arsenal switch for about £11m. Talks between the clubs have been ongoing for a while now and last night Alvarez tweeted about his love for Arsenal ans how playing for "The Arsenal" would be a dream. There is still some doubt about the authenticity of the account but I remain hopeful.

Other news is that Arsene Wenger has moved the start of pre season training forward a couple of days so now our boys will all be returning on Monday morning to start preparation for what will be one of the most important seasons in the clubs history.

It will be interesting to see if everyone is present or players currently involved in transfer dealings will be back late, or indeed at all, it will also be interesting to see if we have any new faces confirmed in time to join them. Only time will tell.

Also thew new away kit has been revealed by the club. When I say revealed, I mean confirmed what everyone has known and seen for months now. I actaully don't mind it, it's not my favorite kit we've had by any stretch of the imagination but it's not as bad as some people are making out. At least our players seem to like it, Jack Wilshere and Rambo have both tweeted about it but then again, they probably have to.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

Barca's first move not so Fab & other transfer updates

Afternoon Gooners,

Wow, I've been away for seem like an age but in all honesty there has been no new news to share. In some aspects that's still the same but we have had a couple of teaser stories come out of the woodwork to keep us entertained.

The only real place to start is what can only be the start of another truly annoying summer affair with Barcelona. It was reported yesterday that Barca have approached Arsenal with an opening verbal offer of £27m for our captain Cesc Fabregas. Obviously this was laughed at whole heartedly and Barca were told that the offer was no where near good enough. Although at first read that sounds a good thing, it's not. "The offer is not good enough" is not the same as "Piss off, he's not available" 

I expect Barca to come back with an improved offer and if it reaches the area of £35m plus add ons then I think it will be excepted and if an offer is excepted I am certain Cesc will take the opportunity to rejoin his boyhood team. The good news however is that I don't think Barca will move that high for a player they don't need. Fabregas will not be a regular starter at the Nou Camp, you just have to look at the stats for the current Barca stars to see that, for example Xavi made 3'411 passes last season and had a 94% success rate - that's insanely good, Cesc is a luxury for Barcelona, not a necessity and they will spend or indeed already have spent in other areas.

Samir Nasri's contract is another worry to Arsenal fans everywhere. News has been coming out of the club that negotiations have been progressing nicely and more talks are set for the near future although no target completion date has been set. Personally, I feel quite positive that Nasri will stay, I think more than money, it is a case of Arsenal proving that they will be challenging and winning trophies for the duration of his new contract and I think the influx of new signings and keeping Cesc, or a combination of the two will be enough to convince him of that.

Enough of players leaving, what about those coming in? It looks like the Gervinho deal is still not as complete as we thought. Recent talk is mixed, some saying that Arsenal and Lille are still not agreed on a fee but the more popular theory is that a deal is done and Arsenal are just waiting to make the announcement. Lets not forget, the international transfer window opens on July 1st which is next Friday and we all know how much Arsenal enjoy making announcements on a Friday.

Another transfer that seems to have real legs to it at the moment is Valez Sarsfield's Ricardo Alvarez. Palermo president has spoken in the press this week stating that 

"We had a specific interest we had in hand as early as January. Unfortunately, our mistake we did a quick run at the moment and has already signed for the 'Arsenal'. "

Now before we take that as gospel, Maurizio Zamparini (Palermo's president) is known for both attention seeking and talking bollocks however, Argentinian press is suggesting a deal is very close, if not complete and we know that Arsene was in Argentina a few weeks back so again maybe the magical Friday 1st July will see an announcement on Arsenal.com along with some shiny new photos of new signings posing in their new shirts.


The only issue I have with both Gervinho and Alvarez seemingly close to joining is that it makes it more likely that Arsene Wenger expects either Fabregas or Nasri to be playing elsewhere next year but you never know, with both players unproven in the best league in the world, Gervinho and and Alvarez may both be seen as squad players at the moment given us much needed depth and are more likely to replace the likes of Rosicky in Wenger's plan than Nasri or Fabregas.


I'll leave you on that as I go away and plan my euphoria for next Friday when we announce all of our signings. (What? I can be hopeful can't I?)


Till next time,
Goonerfish.


Don't forget, for more ramblings on all things Arsenal, you can follow me here on twitter.

Transfer rumour latest - Benzema to Nasri

Morning Gooners,

I love and hate the summer in equal measures. I love the hustle and bustle of the press pushing as hard as they can with any transfer link story they can put together and laughing at the most ridiculous of them. I hate reading quotes that have obviously been picked apart to make a story, I hate having no football for these two and a half short months and I hate the frustration caused by Arsene's transfer habits. However, this summer I've found something else I hate, I am hating the fact that thanks to Arsene admitting he needs to change his transfer policy and his recent quotes such as "very active" I now find myself looking twice at almost every story and thinking to myself "That could actually be true, it may happen".

We will know nothing for sure until we see a picture of a new signing on Arsenal.com but here's a round up of the past couple of days rumours:

I'll start with the big one KARIM BENZEMA: Rumours have been fuelled by Arsene Wenger's recent comments which half been published in the Sun (Therefore taken with a pinch of salt) and then picked up by everyone else who then rushed it to print. Arsene reportedly said

"Signing him does not seem impossible. He's a player that I like."

"He's intelligent in his movement, he is capable of combining well with others and making a difference, and of doing individual moves as well."

"So, for me, he's a player who's at the top level in the world"

If Benznema is to wear an Arsenal shirt next season it will not show as big a change from Wenger's policy as some think. He is young, talented and struggling to make his true mark at his current club, sound familiar? a certain Thierry Henry springs to mind. Whether this is true or not, the possibility of it excites me.

RICARD ALVAREZ: Mixed reports here. Some said that a deal has been done and we will announce his signing when the transfer window opens. Newer reports are now saying that Alvarez actually still has 3 years left on his contract at his current club and will cost us up to £15m.

CARL JENKINSON: This signing has now been confirmed........ by the Finnish FA. They announced that Carl was an Arsenal new signing and have received permission from Arsene Wenger for him to play. Jenkinson has said he cannot talk about anything until everything is made public. It seems this is a completed deal but don't expect Arsenal to announce it until July 1st as this is when his deal with Charlton expires.

GAEL CLICHY: Reports linking him with a move away are becoming more frequent with many linking him to Inter Milan. There has been no official comment from either club, the player or an agent and unfortunately when a story gets this much press, no comment from anyone normally means something is happening.

NIK BENDTNER: Our shy Dane seems to have let his dad do all the talking even going as far as pointing reporters back to his dad's comments. Bendtner will leave this summer if we get an offer the board see as acceptable. The latest club sniffing around is Bayern Munich.

ALEX SONG: Inter Milan again seem to be looking at our players. Song has been reported to be high on the Italians shopping list as they prepare a £15m offer - NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN - Moving on.

SAMIR NASRI: I'll start with this..... EVRA IS A KNOB...... there we go. Evra has come out saying:

"Each year it is a guarantee of a title. I have been at Manchester for five years now & I can't remember how many trophies I have won. 13? 15? So, 'Petit Prince', if you want to become King you know where you have to go."

Will players from other teams please stop talking about our players. Annoyance aside There is a real threat that Nasri could leave. We could get a pretty pocket of cash for him and only has two years of his contract left. It's understood that contract negotiations are ongoing but if Samir does not sign soon Wenger may look to cash in. But not to Utd.

That's the main updates floating about at the moment but as the transfer window still isn't even open, don't expect any new faces on Arsenal.com just yet.

Til next time,
Goonerfish.

In, Out, In Out, Change it all about - Arsenal Hokey Cokey,

Morning Gooners,



2010/11 is finally over and soon may it be forgotten.

As soon as the game finished at Craven Cottage and Wenger could finally say goodbye to the end of an awful second half of the season and start to think of the future. Arsene Wenger knows that many of his squad are just not good enough and changes in his playing squad have now become inevitably necessary.

The following are my thoughts on what could happen during the summer and to some extent what I think must happen. I have no secret evidence or inside sources, I am simply putting together what I have seen, read or heard together and sharing my opinion on them.

I'll break it down into positions:

GOALKEEPERS:

OUT
Almunia surely has played his last game for the club. The hardest thing for Arsene will be finding a club to take him. I'd expect to see Vito Mannone go out on loan again too, hopefully to a Premiership side but more likely to the Championship again.

IN
This all depends on Jens Lemahnn. If Mental Lemon stays on for another year, which I think he may well do - albeit in a player/coach role - I don't think we will sign another keeper. If Jens either leaves or moves into a completely coaching role then I would expect Wenger to bring in a third keeper but he will be just that, a THIRD keeper. Szczesny and Fabianski will start the season as our number 1 and 2.

DEFENDERS:

OUT
The biggest name likely to find himself a casualty here is Gael Clichy. With his contract quickly running out, if the king of interception does not sign a new contract quickly he could find himself on the way out. A number of clubs have reported their interest including Real Madrid and Liverpool but reports are suggesting that a deal with Inter Milan is very close and could be agreed within the next couple of weeks.

Eboue could/should be following him. He has proven himself a liability for a title chasing team and his mistakes cannot be afforded next year.

The only other defender that could possibly feel the axe is Squillaci. His failure this year is not completely his fault. Squillaci is our fourth choice CB, TV, Djourou and Kos are all ahead of him in the pecking order and I don't think Wenger expected to have to play him as often as he has.

IN
This will be dependent on who (if anyone) leaves. I invite you to argue but in my opinion we do not need a big name centre back. I have always said you need three decent CB's and an 'OK if needed CB'. I will be happy going into next season with TV, Djourou and Koscielny as our main defenders with Squillaci's replacement as fourth choice.

A big shout for our fourth CB is Mamadou Sakho. Currently playing in France for PSG, Sakho has just been named France's young player of the year. Wenger has monitored his progress for a few years an he would be able to push Kos and Djourou to improve while fighting to partner Vermaelen. Some parties are saying a deal has been done already and will be announced after PSG play in the Emirates cup but I doubt that although PSG's inclusion could be an opportunity for bigwigs to thrash out a deal while everyone is in London.

If Clichy parts company with Arsenal then Wenger will have to look for a top left back. Kieran Gibbs is a very good back up but he is not yet ready to be our first choice. If you look at our rivals, their left backs are Evra and Cashly, we need someone of that calibre, nothing short. The fans choice seems to be Everton's Leighton Baines and I would be very happy with that but he will be very expensive, more than that though there has been no talk among channels that are worth listening to about there being any real interest.

We have already agreed a deal to bring full back Carl Jenkinson in from Charlton for around £1m.

MIDFIELD:

OUT
Denilson has made his position with the club very clear. He wants out. He has said that he has spoken with Arsene Wenger who has agreed to let him go this summer. I think this will be done quite early and I don't think it will be for a large fee, Wenger has a habit of feeling sorry for players and making it as easy as possible for players to move on.

Rosicky is another favourite to leave Ashburton Grove but I'm worried that if we let too many people go then we will be leaving our squad very light in the case of an inevitable injury.

I also suppose there is the little matter of Cesc Fabregas potentially popping off to Spain and playing the rest of his career in a Barcelona shirt. If I had to make an educated guess, I feel Cesc will still be with us next year. His actions towards the end of the season are not those of someone expecting to leave and his love for our club is real, however saying that, if Barca come in with a big bid and we accept, Cesc will take his chance to play for his boyhood club and if he does he should go with the supporters thanks for what he has done for our club during the time he's been here.

For those of you who are desperately wanting Diaby to be among those leaving, don't hold your breath. Diaby is a favourite with Wenger and although I will only whisper this very, very quietly, I actually think Diaby will be a player that grows into a consistent talent for us next year as players like Flamini and Song have done for us in the past.

IN
If Fabregas leaves a replacement will need to be found and although this is cheating, Nasri will come in to that central role and as we saw at the start of this season, he will make it his own.

Eden Hazard has been linked very heavily with a move this year however, after comments on Monday it seems very unlikely that he will move this year so we will have to wait for him. Hazard's Team mate Gervinho on the other hands looks more and more likely as a target. Wenger has expressed admiration for him in the past, he's young, has bags of skill and flair and as he's about to fall into the last year of his contract so he'll be available for around £9m which for his talent is very cheap. The downfall of any possible deal is that Man City seem to be interested too and if it becomes a bidding war, we will lose miserably.

A likely looking deal is a move for Ricardo Alvarez who currently plays for Velez Sarsfield in Argentina. Alvarez is 6'3", well built, pacey and has a great shot on him. I saw first reports on Friday evening that a deal has been done and he will be announced as our first summer signing in the coming weeks but as always, don't believe anything until it's formally announced by Arsenal.

One area we definitely need to fill is the defensive midfielder role. Alex Song has been excellent on the whole this season but lately he has started to play like a man who knows he will not be replaced. In our current squad if Song is fit, he plays despite form and he knows it. Scott Parker seems to be favourite for this role and with the Hammer's relegation his price will have dropped and he would add much needed experience to our squad as well as a winner's attitude which could easily spread into our current players.

FORWARDS

OUT
We have an obvious excess of strikers at our club and they cannot all play. Nik Bendtner's father has come out and said that his son is "100% open" to finding a new club. Personally I think he will go, I also think that wherever he goes he will clear 15 goals next year. Bendtner is a very good player but does not fit our style of play and despite Wenger's best efforts is not a winger.

Carlos Vela has had chance after chance so turn his promise into performances but has failed. If a striker cannot get into the starting line-up at West Brom, how can he expect to start for a team challenging for titles and trophies? If someone comes in with an offer, he will go.

IN
Two questions need to be asked. What formation will we be playing? If we stick with our current formation then we do not need to over invest. RVP and Chamakh can battle for that solo spot up front with possibly a youngster as backup. If we are playing 4-4-2 then we will need another 'proper' striker who can pick up 20 goals a season. RVP can play the role in the hole fantastically but will need an out and out striker to help him and there lies the second question, is Chamakh that man? If he can rediscover his early season form and maintain it then hell yeah, he's the man and we will need to bring someone in to come off the bench when needed. If not then we need a new striker to partner RVP while using Chamakh as our effective super sub. Theo could well make the move into the centre next year but we will have to wait and see.

The biggest named linked with a move in is Karim Benzema. I just don't see this happening, he will cost £25m and despite Wenger admitting that he needs to spend, but such a big chunk of change being spent on one player when he clearly needs 3 or 4 brought in is unlikely. If this happens at all, it will be a deadline day special.

So, there we go. I obviously haven't covered every player that has been linked with us but I have tried to cover those that seem to have some realism to them.

I expect a busy summer from Wenger but it will still be adjustment rather than major surgery. Wenger has spent so long building this Arsenal squad that to suddenly destroy it by changing half of it would be madness. We would spend another two years in transition as our new players melded with the old ones so we would be no better off.

In my opinion we do not need an influx of big name signings, we need maybe 3 players brought in who are 27 years old or over and have experience of winning things. Players who can come on if we concede a goal while winning a tight game and calm others down and help us see the game out. Players such as Giggs (Oops, forgot I'm not allowed to mention his name) for Man Utd or Vieira for City.

Who would you guys like to see come in (Be realistic now, it's not Football Manager)

Lets hope Wenger acts quickly, a summer of rumour and waiting for something to happen will not be fun and will frustrate the hell out of many Gooners.

Till Next Time,
Goonerfish.