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.

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

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.

Arsenal Fixtures: Scary start or chance to display our dominance?

Here we go Gooners. It's fixtures day!!

The fixtures for the Premier League season 2011/12 were released this morning and we start out (hopefully title winning) season with a trip to St James Park to face Newcastle.

Champions League qualifiers then surround Liverpool at home and are followed by Man Utd Away so not the easiest August we could ask for.  These games could shape the way season goes so as hard as it may be it is important to get off to a good start.

Other key dates are the Spuds, Away Oct 1st, Home 25th Feb. Utd's trip to Ashburton Grove is on 21st Jan. We play Chelsea Away on Oct 29th then at home 21st April in the fourth from last game. Man City Welcome us on 17th Dec and they come to us on 7th April.

If we are still in the race for the last few games we have a relatively nice run in with Stoke (A), Norwich (H) and West Brom (A) in our final three games

Here are our fixtures in full:

August

13 Newcastle (A)

20 Liverpool (H)
27 Man Utd (A)
September
10 Swansea (H)
17 Blackburn (A)
24 Bolton (H)
October
1 Tottenham (A)
15 Sunderland (H)
22 Stoke (H)
29 Chelsea (A)
November
5 West Brom (H)
19 Norwich (A)
26 Fulham (H)
December
3 Wigan (A)
10 Everton (H)
17 Man City (A)
21 Aston Villa (A)
26 Wolverhampton (H)
31 QPR (H)
January
2 Fulham (A)
14 Swansea (A)
21 Man Utd (H)
31 Bolton (A)
February
4 Blackburn (H)
11 Sunderland (A)
25 Tottenham (H)
March
3 Liverpool (A)
10 Newcastle (H)
17 Everton (A)
24 Aston Villa (H)
31 QPR (A)
April
7 Man City (H)
9 Wolverhampton (A)
14 Wigan (H)
21 Chelsea (H)
28 Stoke (A)
May
5 Norwich (H)
13 West Brom (A)

So Gooners, what are your standout fixture? Where will you be fighting for tickets? The fixture release means only one thing, the season is close and I for one can't wait!!

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

Gazidis Q&A Breakdown & Gervinho update

Morning Gooners,


All together now, Hurrah!! Something to write about other than transfer rumours!!

Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis bravely stepped up in front of the Arsenal Supporters Trust among others to front a question and answer session. I can only imagine that Gazidis prepared long and hard for all of the inevitable questions that would fly his way and he wasn't left disappointed.

To be honest, nothing that came out of the session was at all surprising. Mr Gazidis stated that the board support Kronke and in turn he fully understands the club. He said that everyone supports Wenger and also said that Wenger will and does answer to the fans (This statement got a very disrespectful laugh from many of those present) he expressed his "profound disappointment" at the way the season ended and he echoed Wenger's comments that the club expects a very busy pre season. He said:

“Coming off the end of the season, I share with you a sense of profound disappointment. We had a season that promised a great deal and looked like it could turn into a very special one but in the end a familiar story began to tell itself. I understand the feelings that we all felt.  “It is very clear we had some shortcomings and in this close season we are going to see some turnover of players. Some new signings will be coming in and some of our existing squad will be going out. As Arsène has said, it will be a busy close season for the Club.

"The trick will be identify which parts to keep and which parts to turnover. And we will do that within our financial capabilities.”

"Mr Kroenke is known to the Directors and they have confidence in him. In his track record in sports, and also very importantly his track record with Arsenal, he has used a self-sustainable model and brought success to his sports teams and he wants success for Arsenal. 

"He has grown to love Arsenal but he will remain in the background. This is not somebody who steps forward and looks for a public profile."

Now, I wasn't there but from what I've seen and heard Gazidis handled himself very well and although  he will not of cleared up all of Gooners worries and fears I feel he has gone a long way to reducing them. Gazidis made a point of saying that the football and it's fans seem to have too much distance growing between them and he didn't want Arsenal to be part of that, these forums give fans a fantastic opportunity to get face time with the club's bigwigs and their voices be heard.

If you are more interested in how this event went then pop over to Arsenal.com where they have provided the videos for free.

OK, OK, you've twisted my arm, I'll talk about transfers.

Chatter seems to imply that Arsenal could have as many as three deals virtually completed and up to another three in the pipeline. The three that seem to be holding the most weight are Samba, Chamberlain and Gervinho.

The Alex Chamberlain deal has been bubbling since January and his Dad has been less than subtle about his preference for his son's next club. Samba is a defender who's style does not currently exist at Arsenal. Personally I think he will be able to do a great job for us against so called lesser teams but I still think any transfer depends on two factors, firstly if Samba himself is OK playing only a handful of games because if everyone stays fit, that's all he will get and secondly if the clubs can agree a fee which is now much more doubtful now that Blackburn will be desperate not to lose him after seeing Phil Jones already leave for a bigger club.

The biggest movement at the moment seems to be with the Gervinho deal. Speaking to RMC Radio, Lille general manager Frederic Paquet said:

"He actually wants to go," 

"We have developed contacts with Arsenal. We will soon discuss with them to see what they want.

"He expressed his desire to leave for England so we'll see what will happen.

"Gervinho chose to leave for England, so that limits the scope of the situation.

"We will meet soon with Arsenal, see what they offer - but he is a player of value."

A lot of Gervinho's qualities are obvious and he will be a very useful addition to our squad but one factor that seems to be overlooked is that he has just won the domestic double in France against teams with more money and experience. He has the very thing that our squad is missing,  that mythical knowledge of winning trophies.


Hopefully over the next couple of weeks we'll see a few new faces appear in an Arsenal photo shoot.


Till next time,
Goonerfish.


Don't forget, for my pointless ramblings throughout the day on all things Arsenal follow me here on twitter.

Van Persie, Transfer status and Usmanov - Friend or Foe?

Afternoon Gooners,

21 Days since the season has ended and the feeling of frustration we felt throughout May just hasn't stopped. With stories of transfers flying about as freely as you like and new signings being announced all over the place the lack of immediate changes to the Arsenal squad have left many fans clinging on to the previously mentioned frustration and in some cases it is transforming it into pure anger.

Lets all just take a step back shall we. The players do not return to training for another few weeks and our first friendly game is not until July 13th so Wenger has plenty of time to act. We have brought in Carl Jenkinson from Charlton and although at only £1m and with only 9 first team appearances under his belt he's not the big name superstar people are expecting, it is a start. Combine this with reports that we had a £16m bid accepted for Blackburn's Phil Jones and the current stories of us being close to finalising the transfers of Gervinho, Samba and Chamberlain (Although again, don't believe everything you read) it would seem that Gazidis and Wenger are in fact very busy trying to make the additions to our squad that 1) we need and 2) we can afford.

I am not normally a fan of players speaking out to the press, it normally seems to serve absolutely no purpose at all and has more potential to cause harm than anything else, however I couldn't help but enjoy recent quotes from Robin Van Persie.  Talking to 'The Sun' he said:

"Every year it goes wrong in an identical way and that is frustrating,"

"When you look at results in the last years, Arsenal shouldn't be talking about winning the league because too many times that has gone wrong.

"Of course the hunger and desire is great but sometimes you have to eat and be realistic.

"But I believe with the signing of a number of players, we should be in there competing for the prizes.

"Even now, it's still unbelievable we didn't win the Carling Cup as that was the breakthrough moment, showing everyone we could win a cup and create a belief within the team.

"When I talk about that it still hurts. It was so stupid and I ask myself 'how did that come about?"

He also mentioned the lifestyle of modern footballers:

“The really top players aren’t fooled by riches or fame because they are fully focused with their football,”

“For me, it’s very important to be having breakfast every morning with my two children and that wouldn’t be possible if you were hanging about in a disco all night."

In my opinion these quotes are from a player who lives and breathes Arsenal's values. If some of our players concentrated more on their football instead of the fame, money and lifestyle it brings then maybe fans wouldn't be calling for them to be moved on. Arsene's project youth depended a lot on players dedication and commitment and some of the ranks such as Denilson and Bendtner just haven't given it.

I wouldn't be a pre season blog if I didn't run over the transfer latest so her it is:

Gervinho: Depending on what you read this transfer is at different stages. We have either had a £8m, £10m or £12m offer accepted or Lille haven't received any offers except one from Spurs. It seems that both Spurs and Man City have entered the race for his signature which could disrupt any deal because we simply can not compete financially with City. However on several occasions the player himself has described Arsenal as his preferred destination so only time will tell.

Samba: It would seem that Wenger is taking samba into serious consideration and has tested Blackburn's resolve to keep the big man by suggesting bids of around £9m but if Blackburn are holding out for much more a deal would be unlikely.

Cahill: Bolton are looking for a fee in the region of £17m if reports are to be believed. This is a ridiculous amount for a player who is in the last year of their contract and has no European experience. If a deal for Cahill happens it will be for much less than Bolton's valuation. Also Man City have reported an interest so financially he's not even worth Arsene considering.

Obviously Players looking to move on include Denilson, Bendtner and Clichy. With the first two it's simply a case of finding someone that will take them. Clichy however is a slightly different story. Liverpool and Inter seem to be main contenders for his signiture but the £5m price tag being thrown about is ridiculous. I know he is in the last year of his contract but if you compare him to the £17m Bolton are asking for Cahill I would be expecting £8m to £10m for Clichy's services. Also I really hope he moves abroad, I couldn't take seeing him playing for a different team in the Premier League.

I'll finish today with Usmanov's desperate plea to get into the fans favour. You can find his quotes here courtesy of Tim Payton of AST.

Having read them it my opinion that this is simply excellent work from a very good PR firm. He is saying everything the fans want to hear but as for the bit that says he doesn't want to join the board, if he was offered a place today he would snatch at the chance. Usmanov wants to make a quick buck from our club and would not hesitate to ruin the financial structure the club has fought so hard to build. He would look for quick success while disregarding the future of the club. Mr Usmanov, you are not needed and more importantly not wanted please kindly sod off. (However if you want to leave Dein then I'd be grateful)

A final quote from Arsene Wenger to finish off

"Its great clubs who make players, not other way"

Never a truer word spoken Mr Wenger, listen up Samir and listen hard. Sign your contract and let us make you great.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.