Transfer madness - Too much to fit in a title!!

Good God, what a day!!

July 1st was likely to see movements in and out of the club start but it seems they couldn't wait. The last few hours of June 30th saw us lose both Clichy and Nasri to Man City depending on what time you were listening to SkySports News and Gervinho confirm he will be an Arsenal player next year.

We'll start with the impending departure list. It is firmly believed that Clichy will end his 8 year relationship with the club over the next couple of days and move to join Manchester City's moneybags revolution. Liverpool apparently matched City's bid of around £7m but City's presence in the Champions League swung Clichy's decision in favour of them.

Within the same reports it was suggested that City had also almost completed a £20m deal to take Samir Nasri to Eastlands too. This was then downgraded and downgraded some more until it reached City are quite interested in Nasri but haven't made a bid or even contacted Arsenal or Nasri's representatives about his availability.

I have to say my opinion of Samir Nasri has been fading over recent weeks as it seems less and less likely that he will be playing in an Arsenal shirt next year. In fact the whole saga seems to be a repeat of the Adebayor mess from a couple of years back, a player has half a good season and then expects to be paid the same as players who have been long, loyal servants to the club and produced the goods over several seasons. Nasri is saying that he wants to win trophies etc etc, and I'm sure he does but don't fool yourselves guys and girls, if he moves, he's moving for money and if he stays he will have a lot of work ahead of him to bridge the gap he has created between himself and the fans.

I'm personally a bit gutted about Clichy's impending departure. We all know he not the best tackler in the game but he brings so much more to Arsenal's style of play. He has always been a true professional and a great servant to the club. I really wish he would move abroad if he leaves as I will find it hard to see him playing in another teams colours.

Happier stuff now. Over coming weeks I expect transfers to start to be completed and announced and it looks like the first will be Gervinho from Lille. The Ivory Coast player of the year has been quoted in today's Sun saying:

“I chose Arsenal because it’s a young group within which I will be able to integrate easily. I could develop more over there. There’s only a few details left to sort out.

“A risk? Not at all. I’m going to Arsenal to play. The best risk to take is to look to score goals and to play a lot.

“In football you have to take risks if you want to win. I’m going to Arsenal to win.”
“I’m going there to play, not to be on the bench. Arsenal love the game. And I love teams that love the game.

“The Premier League is a notch above. It’s maybe the best league in the world. I want to live that sensation.”

Gervinho will be a good addition to our squad, he is hungry and he is fresh from winning trophies last season and with Nasri's departure more and more likely he could well be looking to be a regular starter completing a forward three with Theo and RVP.

Speaking of Robin Van Persie, some quotes have emerged this morning from the man himself regarding his future:

"we are talking yes, but I want to win trophies and if I don't think i can, I won't sign - this summer will decide"

Now before we all go mental at losing another star, RVP has always been one of our most loyal players and has always spoken out about loyalty to Arsenal. I fully expect these quotes to have been mis-translated or taken out of context, my guess is that is was something along the lines of 'we are talking about a new deal', 'I want to win trophies with Arsenal', 'If i think we can't compete anymore, I won't sign'.

Rosicky has also stated he will be staying at the club:

"On Monday, I am starting pre-season with Arsenal. Before vacation I was speaking with coach Wenger and he told me he counted on my services and that there was no intention of selling me. I want to achieve something with Arsenal."

He must know that he will only be a squad player but squad players are what will win us titles, we can't rely on our starting eleven every minute of every game and I feel Rosicky still has something to give so I'm glad he'll be with us next year. Denilson also may be with us next year but that's because we can't find anyone stupid enough to buy him.

Also, as I type this reports are coming from Spain that Athletico Madrid are interested in buying Almunia....... Happy days, do it quick before they do any 'YouTube' scouting on the guy.

And with that I complete a whole blog without mentioning Fabregas or Barcelona........... Bugger, well nearly did.

I'm off to watch all forms of press as closely as possible in waiting of our many, many new signings that will surely all be announced today!!

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.

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.

Stoke Blues, Early rumours & Kronke's plans hit snag.

Afternoon Gooners,

I have come out from my hiding place in the hope that all the Stoke-ness in the world has been evaporated and we can all move on from what has to be 90 of the most depressing minutes of the season. Never have I felt so crap watching a game. All I wanted was a spark of enthusiasm, a droplet of effort, a trinket of passion and all I got was 11 players plus subs who thought pre-season had already started.

No player can take pride from that performance on Sunday and I hope they are made to watch the game in full by Arsene Wenger over and over again in a hope that they will realise just how bad they were and decide to at least turn up for the final two games of the season otherwise we could well find ourselves having to play a qualifier for the Champions league next year. If that happens then despite reaching further points in the cup competitions and challenging for longer for the title, the season has to be seen as a backwards step from last year.

I desperately tried to find some positive points in recent day’s news to pick me up but failed miserably. Instead I found a load of ex players saying we weren’t strong enough, Sagna speaking out saying we had no fight and Wenger sounding more beaten and pessimistic as I have ever heard him since he first came through the front door at Highbury. However, in his depressing press conferences and interviews of late I very much get the impression that Wenger finally believes that something must change but more than that is already planning ahead and making decisions on how to improve our squad in the summer. He said:


"We have our plans and we know what we will do"

Now I know eleven words hardly make a complete argument that change is imminent but this is a quote at the end of a long period of acceptance for Arsene Wenger and maybe it’s just my new way of channeling optimism but I honestly think we will see a busy summer this year with up to 3 or 4 players coming in as well as going out.

One of those players linked has been linked with us for a while and is the mountain of a man Christopher Samba of Blackburn fame. In fact, Samba has gone one step further and claimed that he was close to joining us in January, now I personally don’t think we need a world class centre back to come in so someone like Samba could do the job but I’ll look closer at transfers once the season has finished.

Slightly higher caliber player linked to us again recently is Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema. Wenger is a fan of Benzema and has publicly admitted liking the player and although he would not pay the £35m that Real did, a cut price of £15m-£20m may tempt him to bring in the big name player many fans are craving.

Players are still being linked with moves away but there are seemingly more and more stories claiming that Liverpool have joined Real Madrid and Manchester City in the chase for Gael Clichy. Now the fact that many teams would be interested isn’t a shock however the fact that the price being flung about is only £5.5m has literally had me on the floor in stitches, a much needed laugh for Gooners in this miserable week. £5.5 million... Really? Anyway, as I said I’ll look at transfers in a bit more detail at the end of the season.

Other news floating about at the moment is all about Stan Kronke’s takeover.  Just when Silent Stan thought that a fat greedy Russian was the only thing standing in his way of a complete takeover, the Arsenal Supporters Trust (AST) have contacted their members advising them not to sell their own shares to Kronke.

There are about 1’000 shareholders and supporters in the AST and last year they set up Arsenal Fanshare which has seen 1800 fans buy small stakes in the club but the total investment has risen to above £650’000. The deadline for Kronke’s offer is May 27^th but AST have said they feel the future of the club will be safer if it is not controlled by a single owner. A letter sent out by the group included quotes such as:

"The AST believes that Arsenal is stronger when supporters are represented in its ownership structure,"

"This arrangement means we can ask questions at an AGM and scrutinise the official report and accounts, something the AST has gained a reputation for doing with clarity and expertise.

"We also think that having supporters involved in the ownership helps to give the club a real sense of 'belonging' and acts as a check and reminder to those that run the club that its most important asset is its supporters."

I have to say that on many levels I agree with them but in all honesty as long as the takeover doesn’t turn hostile and cause issues behind the scenes at the club I don’t have much preference on which way it turns out.


Anyway, I’ve muttered on for too long today so I’ll leave you now to mentally prepare yourself for tonight’s game between City and the spuds. I can’t decide what result would make me smile more, obviously City dropping points is good as the bigger the gap between us and them the better but at the same time, knowing even a sixth place finish for Spurs wouldn’t give them European football of any sort next year makes me smile a lot. I guess the best result would be a draw as that would leave Spurs behind the scousers and would mean one win from our last two games would guarantee us third place and avoid those annoying qualifiers in July/August.


Until next time,
Goonerfish.