Journalist's are getting bored, AFC shares on the move

Greetings,

In the way of Arsenal news there’s still very little. An Arsenal XI drew with Leyton Orient 4-4 you can get the full match report on the officialwebsite. Elsewhere Eboue has said he’s still in love with Arsenal, who wouldn’t? I suppose most Arsenal fans will have a soft spot for him too even if it’s a slightly small one.

There are some truly shocking rumours flying around at the moment. Apparently Sp*rs are in for Saurez now as well. So the main reason Saurez wants to leave Liverpool is to play Champions League football. Sp*rs don’t have Champions League football this season, probably one of the reasons why their best player is wanting out when a decent team comes calling. Shocking rumour number two goes to The Star for claiming we’re ready to battle for Modric. If we were going to battle for anyone it would have been for Cesc’s signature or maybe, maybe Fellaini?

NewsNow is just full to the brim of bored journalist’s. They’ll look for the smallest most tedious link to produce and exclusive report. The most outrageous thing is we all still click on the links to see what they’re spewing out. You can often see within the space of an hour or so, competing papers report on the same story a completely different “facts”. Take Saurez for instance. There are reports that range from us having triggered a clause for £40m+£1, others say that’s BS and the clause doesn’t exist. Other fees go up to £50m, £55m and I’m sure I’ve even seen £75m. If they don’t know why don’t they just say “fee unknown” as they clearly don’t know.

Again I’m getting grumpy due to the lack of action from our end but would it be too much to expect a little bit of accuracy or dignity in reporting actual facts rather than looking at the bottom line all the time. Even as I typed that I realised how farfetched that notion is. It’s all our own fault really, we’re all so desperate to get the news first about the signing which is going to change our clubs fortunes. Maybe as fans we just need to lower our expectations at this time of year. However that doesn’t mean we should lower our expectations of Arsenal.

We need to be competing for the league and domestic trophies again. We need to push on and compete in Europe. With this huge feeling of deflation after all that was promised and expected, there are those calls for Wenger out again. They’re not as bad as “we want our arsenal back”. What, the Arsenal under Wenger that went undefeated? Yeah we all want that back but remember who was manager at the time. I have no problem with anyone wanting a change of manager. If the start of the season comes and we’ve signed no-one there are going to be a lot of disgruntled Arsenal fans out there. There will be a lot more if we’re not in a strong position come Christmas. They wouldn’t be uncalled for but I do have one gripe. If you’re going to call for Wenger to leave the club then you need to offer up an idea of replacement manager. It’s no good saying you want someone who’s going to spend money because we don’t know if that would definitely change with a new manager.

I’m not saying he’s faultless, far from it. I too am frustrated by his willingness to take a gamble on someone who’s young or injury prone, but not happy it seems, to take a gamble with an expensive player living up to his price tag. I still trust Arsene to always do what he feels is right for the club but I think he needs a reminder that many fans won’t accept us not challenging for long. There's already talk of boycotting the new strip and even the matches. we saw last season that even though all if not all seats were sold for most games, a lot had quite a few empty seats on match day. considering we needed the building of that stadium put us in finacial straight jacket for a few years, not filling it wouldn't do much other than hinder the club financially. again just my opinion, it's your ticket/money, do what you feels best.

To finish up, there’s been some movement with Arsenal shares. I’m not too familiar with shares and how they’re bought and sold, percentages for a takeover etc. I do know that a guy by the twitter name of AFC_Andrew has done a blog on it. Rather than me tell you about it, it’s well worth a read just to get an idea of what’s what.

That’s it from me for today, until next time.

Have Arsenal backed themselves into a corner?

Good morning all,

Sweet Marry it still hasn’t happened. I think it’s actually making me frustrated just generally, not just at Arsenal just in a permanent state of frustration. I’m sure this is what it feels like to be pregnant and the baby is overdue (key total obliteration from women readers). Personally I have just gone through a bit of a transfer saga at work. My position was discontinued although, I was in a specialist role so I have been given a position in a generic role. The problem with that is it involved me moving areas. There were two favourites and two other possibilities. Today I got told where I was going to be based and it was none of the supposed options. Maybe that’s what’s going to happen with Arsenal. The club is going to sign someone completely out of the blue that hasn’t been reported by anyone. As long as they’re decent and more there’s than one, that’s fine by me.

It’s hard not to think that the club has put themselves in this position all by themselves. Ivan Gazidis came out shortly after the season finished and told us all about how much the club has to spend on new signings. When pushed on wages he said we could afford £250k+. The media loved it and gobbled it up, the fans did exactly the same. We were told this is the season we’re going to show why we’ve been so prudent over the past few years.

I realise that this statement was probably meant to keep people buying tickets and memberships etc. He couldn’t come out and say that the club doesn’t need anyone or that we’ll wait and see or people would have thought the same old thing is going to happen and maybe think about cancelling memberships or even season tickets. From a PR point of view it was quite necessary, however now we’re all twitching for it to happen. They’ve almost got no excuse not to sign anyone. They’ve told the world how much money they have to buy any player and pay what they demand. This has pu them in a difficult position when negotiating deals.

If Arsenal approaches a club for a player then they now know that they can get a big sum of money from us because we’ve told them we’ve got loads of it. Not only that the player is going to want decent wages because he and his agent know that we’ve said we can pay those wages. The club have back themselves into a corner we lost out on the Higuain deal because we weren’t prepared to pay that much, not because we could afford to but because we didn’t think that’s what he was worth. That’s going to happen with every player that we go in for now that the club knows we can stretch a bit further, if we want a player we’re going to have to do that. Real Madrid must have been rubbing there hands when they found out Arsenal and Napoli were interested as they have two clubs with money to spend.

As I’ve said in previous blogs, I have no idea who else is out there for us to realistically go for. This again puts us in a difficult position. With so few options, (no options) the price increases again. Liverpool won’t be stupid and will know there’s no-one else out there so will just sit back until we crack. I don’t really like the reports that Saurez is trying to force through a move. Apparently he’s done this before. If that’s true, what’s to stop him from doing it with us when he gets fed up? This is why I hope Arsene has those secret targets that he’s working on.

The other problem the club has is that we’re quite the newbie at this quality, big fee transfer business. Traditionally we’ve gone for the bargain, looking for the gem in amongst the rough. Dealing with league and European champions is all new to us and perhaps that’s why things are also taking a bit longer. Maybe it’s just one of many things, but it’s still a possibility.

In other news the club is looking forward to the Emirates cup. I am too but I’ve got a crippling fear that Higuain is going to haunt us on his first appearance for his new club. On the Clubs official website there is also a breakdown of our possible opponents in the Champions league. It’s a long way off yet but it can’t help to dream of watching Arsenal in competitions again.

That’s all from me, until next time.

Giving up hope.

Morning folks,

There’s very little in the way of new news at the moment for Arsenal. The same old names are being thrust in our faces for possible additions to our squad. I can barely bring myself to read any article with a player named in it because unless it’s reported on the clubs website then I’m not going to believe anything. I think I’ve pretty much given up hope of us signing anyone, for a couple of reasons. I really wanted to see new signings at the Emirates cup but considering that’s 5 days away, that’s quite unlikely. Also if we do eventually sign someone this transfer window, it will come as quite a surprise.  

In that respect I feel a little sorry for Yaya Sanogo. Poor chap, he’s come to our great club wanting to set us a light and show us what he’s got but, all we’re whining about is our lack of signings. Now before I get shot down into a million pieces, I know he’s young and untested in our league. I know he’s not going to be our in our first team, he’ll probably be a squad player for the cup competitions. All I’m trying to say is I feel for the guy as he’s probably well aware of all this but still chomping at the bit for his opportunity.

Most of the news at the moment has shifted away from us and Saurez and is dominated by Bale to Real Madrid and Fabregas to United. I don’t think Cesc will go to United and Barcelona are under no obligation to sell. Bale to Real however, could go either way. Real have Marca on their side who love to stir things up to try and aid any transfers to the club. The only reason I mention this is we have Sp*rs in our 3^rd game and anything rocking their boat could help us. On the other hand if they complete the sale before then they could have £80m to spend on players to replace him. Not sure if either way helps us but I’m hoping it will. I’m also hoping they get relegated but that’s just me.

The news on Gervinho moving on is hotting up with Roma looking like the likely destination for the winger/attacker. I’ve got no ill feelings towards him, tried his best but wasn’t quite the quality we needed could be frustrating a lot of the time. So if he goes I wish him all the best but he was a decent squad player that will need to be replaced. Podolski and Theo are no strangers to injuries...having said that the entire of the Arsenal team are no strangers to injuries so back is definitely needed.

What I think is going to quite interesting is what is going to happen with the three stooges? Bendtner, Park and Chamakh. All three need to be permanently separated from Arsenal but somehow I can’t see that happening. I think we’ll get some loan offers but I’ve also got a sneaky suspicion that we’re going to be left with one of them. Maybe we can get them to run the club shop or sell programs on game day, as i’m sure they’ll have little involvement with the first team.

So to end this on a high, one thing that I’ve found to be an interesting read is this blog. I’m not saying I believe it all but it backs up what I’ve been saying that this transfer business is a lot more complicated than we think.

Until next time.

Do Arsenal have any choices left?

Good morning all,

I think I’m going to go back to writing the blog in the evening and posting it in the morning, as opposed to posting it that evening. No real reason, I just want to.

Over the past two or three days, there’s only been one subject to talk about in the Arsenal world and that is the possibility of the club shop extending it’s opening times. I kid, I’ve made that up. Please don’t go looking on the club website for extended opening times. That subject is of course a certain Liverpool striker Luiz Suarez.

There are quite a few Arsenal bloggers out there and I’m quite sure all are covering it. I’m also quite sure that some opinions will differ and some will cross over. I find myself switching sides several times throughout the day. It was a bit easier when there were a few options around. A few weeks ago we were still being linked with Jovetic, Rooney, Saurez and Higuain. Two of those have signed for other clubs and the other looks to be plucked from us by Chelsea. Or not depending what time of the day a certain paper wants to report its stories.

Now it seems we have two options. Sign Suarez or don’t. The later could suggest we don’t sign anyone in that position. Who else is there? Really, I’m asking for names here, because I’m fresh out. Other than looking at Football manager and going down the list, I don’t have the first clue who I would look at. Does that make signing Suarez a must?

My huge issue with all of this is again we’ve left it too late. Not as late as we did last season but we’re still too late. If we had gone in with a bid for Higuain straight away, Real Madrid could have told us what we needed to pay and we could have paid it. Now, we’ve lost him to Napoli. I think using the term lost is the wrong choice of words. I think we weren’t willing to pay £31.8m for him. Having said that, are we willing to spend £50m+ on Saurez? That would be a huge chunk of the reported “war chest” spent on one player. A position needed to be filled but there are others needed too. That doesn’t leave us a lot to play around with.

If Gervinho goes to Roma we are still going to need some squad players. Not to mention how desperate we are to get rid of Bendtner, Park and Chamakh but they also need replacing. There’s been little else mentioned of other players coming in. A bit about Bernard and Cesar but that’s it. Wenger has to have a plan for this, he must. He can’t not have a plan, that would be ridiculous. This is supposed to be the year we break away from sustentation and move on to progression. This needs to be shown all areas. We started with the stadium, paused for a while then, we’ve done it in our finances, now we need to do it with the squad to progress our accomplishments.

I read that we’ve signed a sponsorship deal with a bank called Sterling. Maybe we’ve put all our available transfer kitty in an investment portfolio ready to make us the richest club in the world in 10 years. At this point anything is plausible. Listening to the radio they had to fans call in about Arsenal. The first said he wasn’t worried, he was petrified and feared the worst. The second said he feared nothing and knew deep down it was all going to be ok. I’m not petrified of the situation, but I’m still concerned and nowhere near confident that it’s all going to be ok. That guy is either; extremely cool and relaxed, delusional or on some good meds.

As mentioned earlier, every blogger will be writing things on Suarez, it’s hard not to as it’s all that’s happening. Check out LadyArse’s blog yesterday for a great read. For a great listen, please visit abergkampwonderland for a fantastic podcast.

Until then.

Division between Gooners

Greetings all,

It’s been a bit of a thunder storm of a day almost everywhere. The weather has decided it’s had enough and wants to punish us all for those people wearing socks with sandals. Not only do we have that to deal with, there could be a storm brewing at Arsenal.

I’m not sure I can remember a time where there has been such division between Arsenal fans. Sure we all have our opinions on which formation we feel is best, who we feel the club should buy, how much money the club should be spending. The list goes on and on. Where there is someone with an opinion you can be sure there is someone with the opposite thoughts no matter the subject. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. It prompts discussions, sharing of information etc. and let’s face it, it’s a basic human right.

 The thing that has grabbed my attention is that there are a couple of situations which really seem to be dividing the supporters to the point of them abusing each other. It can be seen all the time on twitter, where someone shares a thought or opinions, only to receive a barrage of abuse from someone who disagrees. The 3 subjects recently that have divided opinions are Wenger, Suarez and transfer fees.

It wasn’t too long ago there was a large proportion of fans that were calling for Wenger to leave the club. There were banners at the stadium, people calling for it on social media, even general media got involved unsurprisingly. We’ve come to learn in the past few weeks that for a long time now Wenger was trying to compete at the top of the league and Europe with one hand tied behind his back. He was allowed little in the way of transfer funds and even less in the way of wages to bargain with. Considering, he’s done a fantastic job and brought us into a stable financial position for the foreseeable future. However, there are still those unconvinced by the boss. Seeing comments relating to the lack of transfers is due to him and his unwillingness to spend, if he doesn’t spend now he never will. Etc. We need to remember he’s not the only one that has a say in whether or not a player comes to the club. There’s the player, the selling club and us so to pile it all on Wenger seems a bit harsh to me.

The issue of transfer fees has also been used against Wenger in his resentment to pay over the odds for a player. As I’ve just said it’s not just him who decides and we’ve seen why he was so "unwilling" in recent seasons. The division appears mainly to be over what a player is worth. For Example, Higuain and Suarez. Fans are saying £32m for Higuain is too much but £40m for Suarez is ok. Is there that much between them? We still don’t know how either will really fit into our squad. We’ve all been asking for the club to splash the cash on big names and quality players. Then, when we’re linked to them we moan that they’re too expensive. Ever since the first £1m player and clubs being bank rolled by billionaires, transfer fees will go up due to the amount of money invested in football. With what we’ve seen so far in pre-season we can still spot a great talented youngster; Zelalem, Eisfeld, Olsson, Akpom etc so we’re not abandoning that which has made us a top club. So, personally I don’t begrudge the club splashing a bit of cash if it means getting the right player for the squad.

Finally Suarez is splitting the fans over many issues. His behaviour, his talent, his fee, the fact that he plays for a rival. The split is mainly down to his behaviour and people weighing up whether it’s worth taking a gamble. He should score quite a few goals and help the team towards success but is that worth it if he is to continue with behaviour which has left him branded a racist and still banned for the first 6 games of the season? What will that do to the reputation of the club and is it worth it if we bag any trophies at the end of the season? He will again go for a high fee, especially to Arsenal due to Liverpool being a rival in the same league. For me being banned for the first 6 games is a huge obstacle in a £40m deal. We’ve seen what a slow start did to us last season so it’s paramount we avoid the same again. However, with Higuain looking very unlikely to sign for Arsenal Suarez is our last real option of quality and many fans are switching sides to back him.

I think I could be doing the same. If it was a straight up choice between Suarez and Higuian and they were both for sale or both eager to join Arsenal over any other club, I’d take Higuian every time. But that’s not the case so with our options growing ever slimmer, all I want is for a successful club. Some people are forgetting that we support a club not a player. Some fans are saying they would stop supporting Arsenal if Saurez signed. I’m not sure that’s necessary but that is their right so who am I to judge, and certainly not to berate.

It’s been a bit of a long one so I’ll wrap up quickly, check out ArseblogNews for details of the fees paid in last year’s Champions league run. It's interesting to see how they've been divided up.

Until next time.

A new name added to Arsenal's wish list...apparently

So it’s been three days since I’ve written anything but really that doesn’t matter. There hasn’t been much of note to write about. Pre-season is looking pretty impressive with the score line of Arsenal 17 Asia 2. Suarez continues to divide opinions and Higuian literally doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going. Ancelotti has come out expressing his desire to keep Higuian but also stated that no deal had been agreed with Napoli. We can take a slight sigh of relief but at the same time we’re no closer to his signature. Staying at Real Madrid isn’t going to be the worst place to stay so he’s got a lot to think about. It also means Arsenal  will need to be much more aggressive/positive in their pursuit if he’s the man they really want.

It looks like we’re about to dip our toes in the murky transfer water at last by going for Brazil international Bernard. This is just like Arsenal, we can be linked with 99.99% of all players so you can guarantee the ones we sign are the 00.01% nobody’s mentioned. Of course all the papers will claim we’ve been after him for months maybe Arsene has had an eye on him for a couple of years. In truth I know nothing about the player.

The Evening Standard refers to him as a “highly rated playmaker in Brazil and can operate on the wing or in the centre of midfield.” The fee is reported to be a club record breaking £21.He’s 20 and has 21 goals in 97 appearances for Atletico Mineiro. As you can expect with this new found information, Arsenal will still have to beat off competition with the same paper reporting “Tottenham, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto have also been keen to buy the Atletico Mineiro  but Arsenal are in advanced negotiations with Atletico Mineiro” The Mail however denies that Arsenal have agreed any deal. Again the same consistency we’ve had all summer.

Sounds like a good signing to me but that’s because I’m desperate for a signing. He fits the kind of player we’re looking for in that position. I’ve mentioned before about wanting Fellaini, perhaps this is an alternative. Better or worse we are yet to find out. With Arteta now being 31 we’re going to need cover for his position if we intend to be in all four competitions this year. Getting some young, quality, semi-experienced blood in seems a good idea if the likes of Coquelin and Frimpong don’t seem to be ready yet in the boss’s eyes. However, this is still just a rumour, let’s not get too excited yet....EEEEKK!

Fans all across social media are calling out for big signings this summer which is to be expected. What has been quite surprising is the number of Arsenal players calling out for the same thing. Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud have all been quoted in one way or another about adding and strengthening the squad. The latest name to add to that list is Wojciech Szczesny. This is all well and good but is the club listening?  We’ve got to hope so. It’s one thing to say you want the club to improve and win trophies, but to request better players does bring it home to the bosses. It could turn out to be a case of “careful what you wish for” as if you add better players, someone is going to be squeezed out.

To finish up I’ll leave you with a link to a podcast I listened to the other day. Well worth a listen, raising some good points. Whether you agree or disagree is up to you. Also if you want to see what else these guys have to say follow them on twitter at. Latest @TheAFCPodcast, @GoonerGimli @GeoffArsenal @fkhanage .

Arsenal transfers, it's put up or shut up

So there’s still feck all on the transfer front, which to most Arsenal fans shouldn’t really come as a surprise. We’ve had our hopes built up and now we’re waiting for the big event. When...If that time ever comes we’ll either be relieved and look back on these weeks as easy and with a “what were we worried about” attitude. Alternatively we could end up looking back and thinking the same thing we’ve thought every other season.

It’s like a shitty, unfaithful boyfriend saying he’s changed. We want to believe it’s true and we want to prove everyone else wrong. Secretly inside we’re waiting for the same disappointment. For us it could be the lure of an Italian bombshell that could prove one distraction too many.

Reports are now circulating that Real are demanding something in the region of £37m for Higuain. The frustration for me at this point is growing to such a point that I would be tempted to just cough up the cash. Yesterday I wrote about how if we don’t sign him I’m not sure who else is realistically a viable target. It seems Wenger shares the same opinion as he’s said:

“The competition in Europe is very hard at the moment. There’s a lot of money and not many players.”

So it looks like it’s put up or shut up time for everyone at Arsenal. If there’s not many players then it means we are going to have to take a deep breath and plunge ourselves into the big spenders pool. If the reported “war chest” is £70m then I would have no problem on the club splashing it all on Higuain, Fellaini/Bender (I would rather Fellaini) and Cesar. If Hig is going to cost £37m and Cesar £1.5m then that leaves £31.5 for Fellaini and I think that should be enough to at least get him and Everton seriously interested.

This is our best opportunity, with a fully fit squad and some strong additions I really thing we can challenge for the cups and possibly the title. We’re doing it the right way. This is money we’ve acquired the proper way. Through playing it safe for a long time, budgeting and saving. We deserve to let loose and go a little wild...as long as the wildness pays off and the players don’t turn out to be flops. But with the players mentioned above there’s a good chance they’ll perform.

A friend of mine mentioned that perhaps Wenger or the club are counting potential wages in the £70m “war chest”. Now if that were true then the chest is considerably reduced. Personally I don’t think it does considering the wages we’re saving from the players moved on, there shouldn’t be too much of a difference in the overall wage bill with any big additions.

Big signings coming in are one thing but we’re also going to need a good squad to get us through the season. We’ve off loaded quite a lot of players that were either; warming the bench, filling the reserves or spending their time earning an arsenal wage out on loan somewhere. Now is the time for us to give a shot to some of our youngsters. They’re proving they can link in and play well with the first team while they’ve been touring Asia. I know it’s not the same standard as the Premier league but realistically they’ll be playing early stages of the cups and coming on as subs to rest key players. ArseblogNews does a good piece on those youngsters coming through so well worth a read.

Until next time.

Another victory abroad, drama back at home

Greetings,

So today has seen us smash the Vietnam best XI 7-1. I wasn’t able to watch it, unfortunately I was working. By all accounts it was another good pre-season performance Giroud getting a hatrick, Akpom a brace and with Ox and Miquel also chipping in. As with Indonesia it’s something we should expect but it’s good to see the squad building some confidence for us to transfer straight into the start of the season. Next up, Japan.

There’s fresh news in the Higuain Saga that apparently Napoli are after his service in replacement of Cavani. In all honesty it’s quite plausible however you would think that the premier league has a bit more to offer that Italy. Maybe I’m biased. I am biased. I want Higuain in the red and white of Arsenal. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis claims there's a massive £108million available to new coach Rafa Benitez boosted mainly by Cavani’s £55m sale to PSG.

Chelsea have submitted a bid for the now even more unhappy Rooney which has been apparently rejected. It’s been reported that Chelsea have offered cash plus players, namely Luiz and Mata. Although there are also reports denying any players were offered as part of the deal and Chelsea are sticking to this strongly. I’m glad reporting can be so accurate. Mourinho has made it public that Chelsea want Rooney and have left it up to United. I’m sure Chelsea can pay Rooneys reported wages of £200k+ p/w and any transfer fee but will United be willing to sell him to what would be a close title rival?

Moyes comments that upset Rooney are quite hilarious. I can't find the exact quote (not one I can rely on) but it was something along the lines off referring to Rooney as back up for Van Persie. I'm not sure he's unjustified in being annoyed but it's still funny to see such a blunder. 

I think Rooney is a good back up for if we can’t get Higuain but other than him I’m not sure who else we can go for. The Bitey Racist Diver isn’t worth considering. I can’t express how much I don’t want him at the club. Not only for all his personality flaws but also, to pay so much for a person who is banned for the first 6 games of the season is awful business. I was convinced that we hadn’t even made a bid but Liverpool have confirmed we have.

Theo Walcott has spoken about how Arsenal can win titles without any signings. Possibly, but we would be making things extremely hard for ourselves. We’ve seen how we can drop points and get injuries at crucial times and strengthening the squad seems the best way to prevent that. I’m not sure I share his thoughts. We want to better the last 8 seasons we’ve had and we do need some quality signings to have the best chance as possible to do this.

Again, I’m not saying I’ve got the answers for who we should buy and who is the best deal.  I just know that if we’re going to make any progress, we’re going to have to put our “war chest” where our mouth is.

There was some great drama created by someone from Marca in Spain who was a bit bored by reporting that a deal for Santi Cazorla has been agreed with Arsenal and Atletico. However since the story broke both clubs were quick to deny any such deal. Santi was one of our best players last season so I’m not sure he would want to leave, we would want to sell or even need to sell. Quite ridiculous but funny considering it was quashed instantaneously.

Transfers, It's like a Mexican stand off

Greetings all,

It has been a sweltering day by anyone’s standards I don’t think I’ve stopped sweating all day. I’m still sweating writing this now and I'm just in my pants! An image I’m sure you’re now grateful for.

On the subject of sweating I’m sure the sweat is building for many fans of clubs over transfers. Most people tend to get the blinkers on with their own club and what’s going on. Not that it’s surprising, most of the time I couldn’t care less about what other clubs are doing. Sometimes we can think we are the only ones suffering or having difficulties but actually it’s far from it.

United have failed in bids for Thiago Alacantara and now apparently Cesc Fabregas. When have you ever heard of United going for top players and not getting them? With Fabregas it’s bit more that Barcelona didn’t really need to sell and Fabregas didn’t want to move so that’s killed that one. Thiago said that it was due to his relationship with Pep Guardiola that helped his decision, which again goes with my theory that united are going to suffer a little bit with the loss of the “Fergie factor”. So far this is off the field we have to wait and see if it’s the same on the field.

Sp*rs haven’t been active so far in the market and neither have Liverpool. The only ones Out of last season’s top 5 that have made some progress are City and Chelsea. This brings me to the main point of today’s blog (after a bit of rambling).

Unless you have the facilities (bored billionaires) to throw around vast amounts of cash, signing top quality players is always going to be difficult. If you’re City or Chelsea you can pay the asking price and even a bit more to get the deal done ASAP. The club they’re buying from will appreciate all the cash and can use that to look for and replace that player with either another top signing or a couple of decent ones. That player gets a huge pay cheque which makes personal terms easy and agents fees are a drop in the ocean to these clubs.

When you’re not bank rolled you need to rely on each other to make the business work. This has to work across Europe, in the big leagues for the top players and top clubs. Take Arsenal for example, the two main targets we’ve been linked with of realistic nature are Higuain and Fellaini. Now if we haggle and barter our way to an agreement with both player and club, the deal is unlikely to be done unless the selling club can replace that player. That club are going to want things at least on the move if not nearly done, to ensure they don’t start the season with gaps in their squad as Arsenal have done. This can be seen in this story by The Express. No comment on the reported replacement player.

Even if that player isn’t a first choice starter the selling club needs a healthy squad to go through a packed season of up to four competitions. You’ve also got to take into consideration that these clubs could all be shuffling in and around the same players. If you take the top teams from England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France you’re going to have shared interests. Acquiring your target player and arranging replacements for outgoing players becomes a huge standoff until everyone is in a comfortable place.

We’ve been reassured that the club are working tirelessly behind the scenes to get things done and I don’t doubt that for one second. Clubs are getting all the targets and replacements in hand, there’s also an element of poker about it. Not letting you rivals know what you’re doing or they could try and take advantage or even steal a march on your potential deals. The cloak and dagger feel of it all seems rather unnecessary but football has become a multi million pound business and because of that it is something we’re going to have to live with. It also brings the odd surprise every now and again. Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

While we need a couple of top marquee signings, we also need to either promote through the ranks to keep the squad healthy or replace the outgoing shrapnel we’ve managed to offload but that’s for another time.

Until then...

Arsenal start pre-season well but still no transfers

First of all, apologies for the silence over the past couple of days. I had a bout of Man flu of epic proportions. I’m pretty sure it could have finished off 99% of most humans and would have been rated next to AIDs in how devastating it could have been. However, I’ve pulled through.

In all fairness there wasn’t much to write about. On Sunday we smashed an Indonesian best XI 7-0 with some people reacting to it that we don’t need to sign anyone. These people clearly need to take themselves into a corner and have a quiet word. We shouldn’t have expected anything less. It was good to see some of the younger, less experienced members of the squad get a run out. It was good for Eisfeld, Akpom and Olsson to get a goal each with Walcott, Ox and Giroud x2 also getting in on the action.

The official Arsenal site said:

                “The match ticked all the right boxes as a useful training exercise against energetic,

                  enthusiastic opponents - with Oxlade-Chamberlain perhaps the pick of Arsenal's

                  performers.”

This is exactly how we should view it. It also gives our global fans a chance of seeing Arsenal play to their best. There’s been nothing but great things said about the fans and the hospitality shown by the whole country so a successful visit all round. Next up, Vietnam.

In other news it’s reported that Wenger is being offered a contract extension. But that he will be leaving until September/October to make a decision. Obviously that’s his choice. He’s had PSG and Real Madrid wanting his services over the past few years however, both have just appointed new managers. It will also be telling to see how the fans react this summer as there are still Arsenal fans out there wanting a change of leadership. If we make those quality signings to give us the chance to push forward then it’s make or break time for him. If we don’t make any signings, the frustration will grow from those fans.

I’ve heard from one fan saying that if Fabregas signs for United then it shows that Wenger has lost all ambition. Not sure it all pivots on that and obviously it comes down to which club Cesc wants to play for but, I can at least see where he’s coming from.On that note it’s been reported that United have made a €35m bid for the midfielder although, Barca are yet to confirm this. Whatever happens Arsenal still have the first option to buy back as part of the deal that took him to Barcelona in the first place. I’m not sure how that works. If United bid for him, do Barca come to us telling us this and ask if we want to match/beat it, if not then we’re out?

There’s more guff about Suarez and bids of up to £40m from us, Liverppol have also confirmed they have rejected a bid from Arsenal. Blah blah blah. Higuain was supposed to have had a talk with Ancelotiti today about his future. There are reports that he’s been persuaded that he has a future at Real but again who really knows anything? I’m still well and truly all for the Higuain deal over any Suarez talk any day. According to the Express Arsenal and United have been set a deadline to sign Fellaini, although when this deadline is they have failed to mention. you have to think with all this transfer crap that something has to give at some point because the maths just doesn't add up. if we have £70m to spend are we really going to get Cesar, Fellaini,Cesc, Rooney, Higuain and Suarez? maybe that's up for evaluation for another time.

Hopefully something is going to happen of some significance soon. Until then..

"We're doing our best"

My previous post was a bit of a rant, not at Arsenal but mainly about Suarez and the links made with Arsenal.

This is not going to be a rant but an observation that there appears to be a lot of dissatisfied, ranting Arsenal fans out there in the world of social media and blogging. I do think however, that people need to be able to recognise the difference between a rant or voicing some opinionated comments about the club and some people attacking the club. It’s quite easy to be mistaken as the latter.

We’re all fans of the club and with that comes a desire for the club to want to do well. Everyone will have a different opinion of how we’re going to improve, what areas need improving and with which personnel. Some you may agree with and some you won’t.  Some people will write things purely opinion based with little to no knowledge of what the club is doing. Some people have quite a good knowledge of the club and its workings. However, neither of these groups really knows what is going on right at the heart of the club with its transfer negotiations.

Right at the heart is a relatively small group of people working their hardest to improve the club they work for and, for probably all of them the club they love. Despite what papers, fans and analysts speculate, they will be the ones that know what funds they have to spend exactly, who they need to off load and what contracts can be offered. They will know what the stumbling blocks are and what to do to get round them, after all these are negotiations. We don’t have the finances of City and Chelsea to just pay whatever is asked, we need to get the right deal.

When there’s interest from other clubs for a player the selling club will want a bidding war, the player will want the best terms but the buying club will want to spend as little as possible. As Wenger would say it’s about getting the right player for the right price. Even if you really want a player, there comes a time in the negotiations where someone will give up and go for another player because the player just isn’t worth what’s being asked. This shouldn’t be any shock to anyone but it should be a timely reminder for those who think that any criticism or negativity aimed at the club means we’re losing faith or going on some kind of strike.

Considering we have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes we can only go with what we do know or what rumours are flying around. Nearly everyone wants the Higuain deal done and I’m sure Arsenal are doing everything they can to get it done, but don’t forget there are other parties involved, Real might be stalling over something, they could have received a bid from another club, or the player/agent could be stalling over terms. Arsenal will be well aware it would be best to get the deal done quickly and Real know this, maybe using it to squeeze extra cash out or perhaps waiting for a replacement to be lined up.

The same goes for any player we’ve been seriously linked with there will be a lot to do before the player is wearing an Arsenal shirt. That time is going to be frustrating and those frustrations will be voiced, claiming it should be easier than it is. It all comes down to being such a fan of the club that is does affect our judgement and rational slightly. The problem is it’s been a frustrating few years as a Gooner recently so when they are voiced they sometimes come out a bit strong.

Just remember we all love the club, we’ll be there supporting it at the start of the season and any player that joins between now and then. We just need to trust and have faith that it will all work out in time for the best. If it doesn’t we can moan a bit more about our frustrations, whilst still loving the club.

Rumour Rant

There’s not a lot to report about today. Rumours of transfers at the moment are exactly that. Still just rumours. Still just as much truth in them as there ever has been and still a lot of BS floating around the place.

I was born with very little patience and I fear that I may have already used it up a short while ago. Therefore, I feel this time of year should have its name changed from “silly season” to one of the following:

“Off your tits on Ketamine season”

“Fuck with frustrated Fans season”

“What’s the most ridiculous shit we can think of now season”

The whole Suarez story is pissing me right off. He’s a player that splits almost everyone down the middle. He is a game changer, world class and can slot into any team. He’s also a racist, a biter and causes trouble where ever he goes.  It’s not like he’s just a bit of a tool like Bendnter, if he was you’d take the gamble due to his quality. But he’s not, and Bendtner is a bit of a tool but no-where near the same standard, hence why we’re trying to off load him.

If you’ve read recent reports, bids have come in from Arsenal at £30m increased to £35m and there was even a report of £40m coming from Chelsea. Who in their right mind is going to take a gamble on a player that still has a ban for the first 6 games of the season? I know he’d fit in well at Chelsea with John Terry’s history and all that but I don’t think they’re even that stupid.

He’s even expressed his hatred of the English media and how they pick on him. Yeah, because they’re skipping over all the other racist, diving, biting, players in the league and focusing just on him. I’m 99.9% certain that we’re not going to sign him and I’m very dubious as to if we’ve even actually bid for him. It could be all news paper BS or mind games with Real Madrid. The 00.1% uncertainty is just in case Wenger indulges in a cocktail of class A recreational drugs then and sends the papers off without anyone knowing. Or maybe just to prove me wrong.

It’s even annoying me that I’m writing about it because that means that it’s getting more attention. Maybe I should finish this and delete it like you do a strongly worded email to your boss, telling them to go forth and multiply with themselves but then realise no-one in HR would see it your way and you’d end up fired so it never gets sent. Unless you have huge balls and don’t care about getting fired. If that’s you, comment on the blog and let me know how it went.

In future I need to go on holiday more this time of year to distract me away from this and just come back the week before the season starts to see all the new faces (wishful thinking using the plural there). At least there’s some pre-season football coming up. Not really even like we can get excited about that. Pre-season is used to get new players into the system etc. Maybe we’ll get a glance of Sanogo and who from the youngsters is going to break through into the first team fringes.

Rant over, bring me a whiskey.

Something new at last

Good evening/morning, depending on when you’re reading this/ when I end up posting it.

Nothing new on the usual names, so that’s where I’m going to leave that subject for today. Today has seen the club release its new away strip which is quite a thing of beauty. It was revealed this afternoon along with a new poster/banner on the side of the stadium by our 6 young British stars; Jenkinson, Ramsey, Wilshere, Gibbs, Walcott and Ox. You can see pictures on the clubs website here.

There’s new news that we’re giving a trial to Atletic Nacional’s 20 year old Columbian midfielder Sebastian Perez Cordona. He’s a defensive midfielder and will be getting a week in August to show us what he’s got. Sounds like an Arsenal signing as we would have to get a work permit sorted which takes a while. He’s still got a lot to learn so wouldn’t slot into the first team straight away. PSG and Juventus have also been linked with the youngster and a fee of £5m has been reported enough to seal his signature.

The thing is do we really need another young, raw defensive midfielder? We’ve had the likes of Frimpong, Coquelin around for a while now both getting chances of some sort to play for the club even if it is in the early stages of cups or as stop gaps due to injuries. Coquelin is going out to Germany this season, on loan to Freiburg. He’s 22 and has only made 43 appearances for the first team in 5 years so expect he’s trying to get some first team action.

Frimpong has been out on loan and has had a torrid time with injury. In May he had surgery on his knee after spells on loan at Charlton and Fulham. I’m quite sure that his contract is up soon as well. It would be interesting to see what he can do when he’s got the chance to play a string of games, even if it is on loan somewhere else. At this point I would much prefer us to shell out a bit of cash on an established player if we were going get someone for that position. We’ve been linked with Fellaini, Bender and even Gareth Barry although I’d rather we didn’t sign the latter. Really, really don’t want that to happen. Really.

In other news we have been told that unfortunately Vermaelen will miss the Asia tour with a back injury. Although he’s a major doubt, I really hope he’s fit for the start of the season. When he’s on form we will have three top centre backs to choose from. He had a dip in for leading to the Mertesacker/Kosielny partnership but, if he’s willing to fight for his place then he could give Arsene something to think about. Perhaps even moving him up into the DM position? Not unheard of. It’s happened with David Luiz at Chelsea and could work with the Belgian.

Cynics claim the injury is an excuse to leave him behind so he can orchestrate a move away from the club, just like to when Fabregas and Robin van Persie missed our pre-season trips due to ‘injuries’ only to be sold while we were away. I don’t think this will be the case here. He seems settled and his wife’s due to give birth to their first child. As I’ve said he’s ready and willing to fight for his first team place, so I think he’ll still be with us next season. There is some good news on Wilshere. He’s back in full training and is showing no signs of discomfort following an operation in May to replace a screw in his ankle. Hopefully that’s sorted the problem for good and we’ll have a fully-fit Wilshere for the season.

Finally, check out Arseblog News to see how Arseblog, along with some other great bloggers got the chance to pop a few questions towards Carl Jenkinson at today’s kit launch. 

Back two paces, forward none

News this week in terms of Arsenal transfers has flipped on its head over the past few days.

Rooney had his meeting with Moyes about his future with the club. Moyes then gave us the news in his press conference about how he is a united player and how the club didn’t want to sell him blah blah blah. What wasn’t answered even though it was put to him was if Rooney was happy. That question was deflected with answers of how well he was training. He might as well have said “No comment”. Does anyone remember how Van Persie was an Arsenal player and not for sale. I know Rooney hasn’t released a letter yet but we can all read between the lines with Moyes avoidance of answering if he’s happy.

It does throw the whole transfer up in the air. They are in no position to sell, he has longer than a year left on his contract and it would be in United’s best interest not to sell him to a rival club. Unless someone came in with silly money for him they wouldn’t have a reason to sell. That is unless he turns sour and tries to force a move through as we’ve seen happen before.

If we don’t sign Rooney does that mean we are still in the market for two strikers? The Higuain deal is up in the air as well with Ancelotti supposedly wanting him to stay at the club. Real president Perez also has said no offer has been received for the player. I don’t know if these are mind games by the club to squeeze and extra couple of million out of the deal, either way the player has said he wants to leave to hopefully we should see it happen. The links have been clear for a while now, as I’ve said before I just hope it’s done sooner rather than later. He won’t be on our pre-season tour of Asia which is two weeks long perhaps the Emirates cup but who really knows.

Talk has been fairly quiet on every other player we’ve been linked with but then again Arsenal has always tried to play their cards close to their chest. If Rooney isn’t for sale from United and Fellaini isn’t for sale from Everton who else are is available of similar quality? Bids rejected for Bender and Suarez? Bender we have been told is not for sale. He seems happy at his club and after already losing Andre Schurrle to Chelsea. Suarez on the other hand is quite a ridiculous link to be made.

There are reports that we’ve had a £30m bid turned down. I’m prepared to say that no bid was ever tabled. EVER. I think this an attempt to perhaps use the press to get Real Madrid to hurry up with the sale of Higuain, by letting them think we’ll go elsewhere if they don’t hurry up. It wouldn’t be the first or last time something like that has been used. It also sells papers as well which is usually the main thing behind things like that.

I’m sure if something happens this week with regards to any serious transfer business it will be all over twitter before you read about it in this, or any blog. However, I’ve given up trying to predict when it will happen, I just really want it to happen. The Higuain deal definitely but also we need a couple for outfield signings to go with it.

I’ll finish off with David Villa going to Athletico Madrid for a fee reported around £4m. It was reported in the UK that around £12m could get his signature. Just shows how wide of the mark they were and also it’s good to see Sp*rs not get him either. You know if they had and he scored against us, the critics would have wet pants over the “Arsene could have...” headline.

Hindsight’s a bitch

Hey, you there, Friday! Welcome back you sexy son of a bitch! We’ve been looking for you since Monday.

I’m not going to go on about Transfer waffle again, there’s nothing new to report on that front so let’s not flog a dead horse. TimStillman has written a great piece about a few players leaving us on Arseblog so give that read when you’re done.

This summer didn’t really start off any different from any of the recent previous summers. It’s always been reported by main stream media, that Arsene has had a “war chest” to buy players with. It is then revealed that he was reluctant to do so because of high prices/wages etc. This summer however it looks as though the infamous war chest is available.

It’s been no secret that we haven’t had the finances to compete with other top clubs in the major leagues since the move to the Emirates, a move that was desperately needed for the club to grow. Paying off the stadium and being financially secure has been something that has been dear to Wenger’s heart. He is a man that cares passionately for the club that he’s been a part of for almost 17 years and is the clubs longest serving manager.

Keeping a tight hold on the purse strings has been frustrating and I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking at some point or another, screw the finances and splash some cash. This was at a time where all those around us we signing lucrative kit and sponsorship deals, while we were tied into ours which in comparison appeared fairly moderate. The club resisted the temptations of Usmanov to buy the club and become another City or Chelsea.

I remember a few seasons ago being at the final game of the season vs Fulham. That week the club had announced that there was to be a rise in ticket prices (8% if my memory is right). The crowd responded by voicing their disapproval at yet another trophy-less season, bar Champions League qualification, a season of failure. Yet we were expected to pay more. “8%, you’re having a laugh” was the chant and they had a point.

If we had known how it would play out at the end of those past 6/7 seasons and had all the facts and knowledge we do now, would we have moaned so much? Probably not. It just shows we need to read a little deeper that the headlines of the papers and news sites and look at what the club is really doing for it short and long term future.

Now we’re here having learnt that Wenger never had any war chest and in fact did a fantastic job with what must have been like having one hand tied behind his back. Finished the season on a high, has a pot of money to spend and this time looks like spending it. Money provided by competitive new sponsorship and kit deals. As I said in my first blog, we’ve been linked with well known players from big clubs on high wages for big money. Is this the turning point for the club?

City, United and Chelsea are all in a transition phase of new managers. City and Chelsea obviously have the power to spend big to improve but they will both have a change of who they see as their first choice team. Any changes in a football club take time to take effect so let’s hope for our sake it takes ages. United have lost Fergie and that is massive. He brought something to each game, a certain fear factor. Facing United under Moyes isn’t going to be a walk in the park, but he will also want to make his stamp to prove he’s not just continuing Fergie’s system and I believe that will make it easier.

With all this it still comes to scoring more goals and being the better team on the day but I truly believe that this season could be the best opportunity we will get at some major titles. Let’s just make the most of it.

I need more

Greetings,

It’s nearing the end of the week and the News on our transfer targets is pretty dull there’s nothing being said about Higuain. Nothing new anyway. On the one hand I’m glad about that because I’m sure we’ve all read about as much as we can about the whole situation. Apart from the fact he’s signed. I read somewhere once that everything you ever read is just the same 26 characters in different combinations. If it could be that there was some kind of action to get these letters in some combination or similar to “Arsenal Welcome Higuain to the club- by Official Arsenal website/twitter/facebook/mayspace/instagram/bebo if they have all of those. there's a little bit circulating from a Spanish news paper that Madrid have agreed a fee and have allowed him to speak to Arsenal. However, LadyArse pointed out this is recycled statements from nearly 2 weeks ago.

Apparently the deal taking Bendtner is now off the table which is disappointing. He’s obviously got no place at Arsenal so I hope he’s not repeating his attitude of last season, holding out for a top champion’s league club. We need him moved on. I don’t think we’ll be arguing too much over the fee, what’s more important is getting his wages off our books.

It looks as though Manone has secured a move to Sunderland in his desire to play more first team football. Good luck to him. The fee is reported at around £2m, he’s young and of decent quality just too far down the pecking order at Arsenal for him personally. This to me says that we should be hearing more soon about Cesar. There is plenty of chatter about him coming to London. £3.5m is the average fee which would be good for us as we don’t want to spend too much on what could be a reserve keeper as I stated in a previous blog.

Today has seen us linked with Gareth Barry. This is the worst news since ITV announced The Bill was cancelled. Poor example, but it’s still bad news.  I’m not a fan of his and he’s not Arsenals typical signing. Hopefully this is a bit of smoke and mirrors for us signing Fellaini. Hopeful at best as just like Higuain there’s nothing new to report on that front.Not that I'm taking it seriously, it falls in the same bracket as being linked with Suarez. A player that wants to leave the country due to the media is not going to sign for a club in the same country. great footballer but a complete idiot. William Hill has suspended betting on the move but those who pput money on it happening don't deserve it anyway so it's no real loss for them.

I’m trying to keep the faith that this summer we are going to learn from our mistakes of making signings quickly rather than leaving it too late. With United, Chelsea and City all going through managerial changes, this is our best opportunity to go for the title or at least the cup competitions. I know the transfer market is more difficult than what it seems to us but it’s still frustrating when other clubs seems to be able to get it done in a couple of days.

If clubs are bargaining over the fee I'm not sure holding out until the season has started is the way to go, it could save one or two million, but could cost us in results. At the same time there’s no point in chucking money at clubs for the sake of it like Chelsea and City we’ve got this “war chest” but let’s still spend it wisely and get on wit it. 

Rooney had his show down with new manager Moye's today. there's been no reports on the results of said show down so they could have killed each other, still have more to go through or ended up in a fight. Not sure who I'd back really in that one.  

I’d like to finish up on a non Arsenal note. Samba has been sold back to Anzhi Makhachkala for £12m. That’s what QPR bought him for. Not sure I’ve seen that before. Signed for a season then sold back for the same amount. This has all the hallmarks of Harry wheeling and dealing in accounts named after pets that he has no idea about. 

Silence is golden

Good Morning Gooners!

It’s taken me a while to sit down and find the time to get this blog written. The last one was on Friday which detailed my evening plans, left me with an all mighty hangover on Saturday. Sunday I was throwing axes, firing arrows and shotguns. Monday I was busy trying to sort out issues from Friday, as before the evening’s festivities I had a bit of a car crash but that’s not what you want to read about today.

Yesterday saw the club statement about us signing Yaya Sanogo on a long term contract. This is more of a squad replacement than a marquee signing. He’s young and French so expect a few remarks with Henry’s name in the sentence somewhere. I expect the majority of his games will come from Capital One cup and early stages of FA cup but we’ll have to wait and see.

I thought we’d see the signing of Higuain by the end of the week but it wasn’t to be. Real Madrid have been active in the buyer’s market so we shouldn’t be waiting for too long. As long as he can join in some pre season games to gel with the team then I’d be happy. There have been reports from The Star that the deal is in jeopardy, but I wouldn’t get too upset by them. It’s just someone trying to sell papers.

On Monday it was David Moyes first day in charge of United. It’s also brought about speculation of crunch talks with Rooney over his future. Again, the sooner this is sorted out the better. If they keep him, great. If not, let’s get on with a bid for him. Chelsea are reported to be interested but I would have thought United would prefer us to them, as they will be seen as more of a threat next season. It’s pretty evenly split between the reports saying he’s going to stay and going to leave. Nothing was ever going to be sorted until Moyes came to work and put his special mug on his desk. Quite what the logo or qwerky motto is on said mug I’ll leave up to your imagination.

The one interesting thing about his situation is the vast silence from his camp. There’s been no statements outlining his desire to stay and play under the new manager but also nothing to say he’s had his time and is destined to leave so I think these crunch talks will be quite genuine. Quite what they need to talk about still is a mystery. Money, playing position, your guess is as good as mine.

One thing that gripes me is that loads of people having been slating Rooney. Not that I haven’t in the past, I won’t deny it. I didn’t even like us being linked with him until I thought on it a bit. He’s had a poor last season goals wise when Van Persie joined him, but he played a different position. So, was Van Persie scoring the goals he would normally? Having said that if we sign Higuain and Rooney there’s no telling what system Arsene would have in mind to play them both. But who else is on offer? Who else is Premier league ready, experienced at the highest levels and of that quality? Not something I can answer right now.

The same can be said about the silence for Fellaini. Nothing either way. That maybe more because it’s a lot more media speculation on a player that fits the profile rather than some rumours about him wanting to leave. Something I’d like to see, the stronger squad in general we have the better chance we have of making the later stages of competitions and that means a better chance of winning something.

Finally, I’ve got a ticket to the Emirates cup this year. Should be a good day, first time I’ve been to the tournament so will be good to get a first sight (hopefully) of some new players.

Until next time.