1st signing in the bag - Day of the transfered youngsters

Morning Gooners.

So, the summer transfer saga has now officially started.

Arsenal yesterday confirmed the signing of Carl Jenkinson from Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee which in most circles is believed to be in the region of £1m.

Admittedly I do not know a lot about our new youngster other than he can play all the way across the back line and towers in at about 6' 1" but more importantly, he's a Gooner!!

Wenger has obviously seen something special in the kid so fans should have faith in that and on the same day that Liverpool paid £20m + Ngog for Sunderland's Henderson and Man Utd secured the signature of Phil Jones from Blackburn for a reported £16m, both of whom are a similar age to Jenkinson, our £1m could prove to be very good business. Depending on Jenkinson's current ability this could be another push towards Eboue's exit from the club, only time will tell.

With Gervinho expected to be announced over the next week or so it seems we can expect a busy and active summer, however, it seems many gooners are still unhappy at Wengers lack of activity and have picked on our failure to land Jones as the main source of their apparent anger. This next bit is for you if you are one of those people. Arsenal had a £16m bid accepted for Jones and Arsene Wenger met with him and it would seem we offered the kid higher wages than Utd but because Jones wants to stay in the north west he has chosen to join Utd. Wenger and Arsenal did what they could to try and sign him but he chose a different club, just like Ramsey rejected Man Utd a few years back to join Arsenal, you win some you lose some.

There appears to be a lot happening behind the scenes this summer and players are constantly being looked at, even to the extent that Giles Grimandi was seen scouting at a U21 game last night.

A big welcome to Jenkinson, you have joined a great club (as you already know) and we hope you enjoy a lot of success here.

The summer has started, but please Mr Wenger keep it going. I still expect to see another 3-4 players come in and on top of kepping Cesc and Nasri at the club I think we can call it a successful summer and push on for trophies next year.

Keep positive Gooners, it's going to be an interesting transfer window.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

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.