Today's been a strange day in the world of Arsenal, with many stories breaking left, right and centre. Not sure which ones to believe, to be honest, but if I have learnt anything about being an Arsenal fan over the many many years, it's that sometimes a lot of what you hear is made up and you've sometimes got to distance yourself from the different tabloid stories that you'll read every day.
Of course, a story that broke this morning was the apparent quote from Arsene regarding his future and links to Real Madrid. For those of you who haven't read the story, here is was was reported:
“With Perez the project will be strongly interesting for every coach”.
Perez is the former president of Real Madrid and he’s looking to be re-appointed as president and of course, he has been an admirer of Arsene Wenger for some time. The comments have been reported by French television company, Telefoot – although I couldn’t find the story on their very own website. Arsene has also supposedly asked the journalist to allow him to “keep the answer discreet” to whether he has met with Perez and also supposedly said that he could break his contract.
Now, if you know Arsene, you’ll know he’s never broken a contract in his life and I really doubt he’s going to start now. Especially having assembled this current group of young players and moved to a brand new stadium. But of course, this speculation will happen every year. In a way, it’s useful for Arsene to have this speculation – many Arsenal fans giving Le Boss a hard time after another trophyless season – maybe those who called for his head (I’m yet to really speak to anyone who actually does) will take another view – no one could replace Arsene, simple as.
And that’s not where the stories finish… more news broke today that we’ve only got £13m to spend in the transfer window – including the re-signing of Cesc and Van Persie – this story I seriously doubt – but then again, when it’s Arsenal and finances, there’s one story from Arsene and one from the board of directors.
Onto the transfer front and we’ve been linked with Juventus’ Giorgio Chiellini, who is primarily a left back but also plays in central defence – a position he has been highly rated for this season. However, with Juventus splashing £26 million on Deigo from Werder Bremen, it’s unlikely that they are too much in need for cash, so very much unlikely the 24 year old will be leaving Turin. With Arsene publicly discussing the need for defensive signings, it looks like we’ll be linked with everyone who can fit the bill until we make our signings. There are a few rumours going around about Mamadou Sakho – a young defender currently playing for PSG – but with so many young players at the club and Arsene desire to bring in experienced players, it seems that rumour is another made up one.
One final rumour which you’ve probably read in many places is the potential signing of Newcastle United defender Sebastien Bassong. If Newcastle go down, I’m sure he’ll be available on a cheap deal but in reality, he’s been a major cause for Newcastle letting in so many goals this season and his sending off last game effectively sealed defeat for the Geordies. Personally, I’d rather have Senderos back!
Okay, that’s a rap for today – I’ve got a feeling we’re entering a long summer of transfer speculation – and an even bigger feeling that it’s already started…
Until tomorrow.]]>
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