• TheSKAGooner

  I’ll be honest…I hope we don’t buy Chamakh. Nothing personal against the guy, but I think we have enough firepower to get the goals we need with out attack as is. I would much rather see the money go on an established DM and perhaps another CB…or perhaps a younger striker to be groomed in the manner of Eden Hazard. But a 1 for 1 replacement, as Chamakh would be, I don’t think is needed.

• jeffvip

  I don’t know anything bout Chamakh but my mates which support Bordeaux thinks he is not that good for Adebayor replacement. He is kind of the striker which wait the ball come to his feet before doin anything. Some sort like what Berbatov do for Man Utd last season. If the fee is 23M, can we get others?

• CON-MAN

  WTF? at least ship him out the country arsene…I never had a problem with ade so im pretty annoyed.

  and as for wat jeffvip said, couldnt we get anyone else? huntelaar? or a proven goalscorer?

• AJ

  I also don’t think Chamakh is signed, just from the stats I’ve seen, he doesn’t seem to be one up to the job, not too sure who we could move for though, maybe take a look at someone in south america like Falcao or Nilmar? And yes the DM position is the one that really needs to get filled even if Ade goes, maybe we would see the Jay Simpson make apparences this year for the first team in the league if we didn’t sign another striker.

• AJ

  **I meant I don’t think we should sign Chamakh

• devday

  I’d definitely prefer it if Ade went abroad – don’t really like any ex-Arsenal players in the league – but Man City are the only club to offer any decent money for the player!

• Pete

  We would need a replacement imo, especially if we’re seriously competing in four competitions. Bendtner is good, but he’s not the finished article just yet, and it will be a huge ask for Eduardo and RvP to stay fit for the entire season, so another player coming in would help ease the workload. I know Huntelar if available at the moment but it looks like he’s off to Germany, and Arsene seems to have his heart set on Chamakh anyway so there’s probably not much point in me speculating about anyone else.

  Part of me is thinking this story is BS because Tevez is believed to be signing for City this week too, and with Santa Cruz, Robinho and Bellamy already there, that will mean Ade will probably end up on the bench for most of the season if he does go.

  If it is true then maybe we could convince City to give us Santa Cruz in return lol

• m

  van nistelrooy?

• Pete

  Also, in some sad news, ex-Gunner John Hartson has been diagnosed with cancer. Get well soon mate!

• Yemi

  Replacements? Hunteelar, etoo anyone, but on just one condition. Such a person must be BETTER than Ade.

  Are city reaaly serious about this ? i hope they dont end up getting 15 or more forwards…….. And i dont see them selling.

  Can we take on benjiani for a star ? Thinking aloud !!!!

• Yemi

  sorry, i meant.

  Can we take on benjiani for a start ? Thinking aloud !!!!

• saf

  wenger said, Adebayor replacement would be chamakh, but i realy hope it is sum 1 like porto striker HULK!!!

• http://woa dave

  let him go if he wants more money sorry just plain greedy

• els

  Benjani? nooo. Hunterlaer maybe. But i know of a couple of hungry young strikers that could fill ade’s boots better than chamkawhoever, Vela and Simpson!!!

  Keep all the money all £20m plus the rest of what we have and sign alonso or yaya. I wish.

• JDD

  i think we are gonna get tevez,he is valued at 22mil. probably part of the adebayor deal will say they cannot buy tevez.

• Yemi

  els….. Hnmmm, dont mind that. Keep the whole pay to get yaya or alonso, that won’t be a bad idea. after all we have bendtnar, jay, vela, edu, RVP… With a solid midfield, these guys can hold their own anyday. bendtnar’s stats for a first season were not bad. vela has shown what he can do. Edu, no doubt abt him and RVP is awesome too. With arshavin, cesc ebuoue/theo behind them and a great DM we could go places….. Lets see how it goes

• AJ

  I forgot about Vela! Yes we don’t need a immediate replacement and don’t forget Arshavin can play as a second striker off a front man, such as Bendtner and with Rosicky back that could work quite well as Rosicky can play out on the left wing with Arshavin being aloud a central role and given the freedom to drift, to be the link man a bit like Hleb was. Plus with £23.5mill + whats left of our original transfer budget we could get a extreamly good DM. One thing that just came to me, doubt this is what Wenger was thinking, but what if he tried Vermaelen was tried in the DM position? Don’t think that is likely though.

• Yemi

  JDD,you guys can sure come up with some interesting tranfser dealings. Do you think city will value ade ahead of tevez ? unless the player does not want city…..
  But we can sure afford him since we have 5.8m left plus whatever comes from ade’s sales. I am sure that money apart, tevez will prefer arsenal to city….. but the money part is what bothers me. Everyone wants a part of the city/madrid pie !!!

• JDD

  if he wants to go then we should sell him but if he wants to stay then we shouldnt because we need commited players.we have enough money already to buy a defensive mifielder and there isnt many strikers better than adebayor available for as little as 23mil the only players i can think of are tevez & huntelaar.so if he doesnt want to leave there is no advantage in selling him.

• Yemi

  AJ, vermaleen in DM position ? i surely have given it a thought. esp when i brought the idea of kolo moving into that position

• Yemi

  JDD, i disagree with you that there is no advantage selling him. If he stays and continues to put on the kind of show he did last season of what good is he to us ? i’ll rather have a wholehearted bendtnar than a half hearted sulking ade……

• Pete

  Guys, we may be getting ahead of ourselves a bit here. Nothing has been agreed with the clubs and no offer has actually been made. Talks have been described as being “at a very early stage”, and its quite possible that nothing may indeed come of it.

  The facts so far are this: City have approached Arsenal and asked how much they value Adebayor at and Arsenal have responded with the £23 million figure. Thats it. As far as we know and whats been reported so far, no concrete offer from City to buy, and no offer from Arsenal to sell, has actually been made. It’s just an enquirey from one club about the valuation of another clubs player. As far as we know, Adebayor himself hasn’t had anything to do with this news whatsoever and we need to remember that because if he is still at Arsenal come the start of the season (which is a possibility) then I can see the ill feeling between the player and fans being further damaged.

  If he does end up going then it’ll be purely for the money, but I suspect that he’ll opt to stay where he is regular starter and in Champions League.

• Jonny

  Later Ade. Nice to have know u. 23mil is good enuf money. Chamakh? NOOOO. That guy ain’t good enuf. A good DM is so needed. I’m just hoping Bendtner doesn’t start our matches. He plays better when he comes on 15mins to time. Also, no Ebuoue in midfield. I’m sick of his obvious runs. We need a very good DM and another CB (if possible).

• Pete

  Here’s an interesting article breaking down Ade’s 4 years at Arsenal: skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_5431307,00.html

• els

  I personally think ade will choose cash over loyalty. Sorry but i just plain don’t like the guy. He tries to manufacture a move whenever possible. The huge contract he got and then the next season was so lazy, we don’t need that. And what in hispast could make you think he’s particularly loyal?

  The only reason I would keep him is if we don’t have other oprions but bendtner, vela, simpson are coming along nicely. Put that with what we have and it’s adios for me. I’d rather he went abroad but we could get some good cash from man c and if it is true (I agree we could begetting ahead of ourselves) they wont stall on wage negotiations if they want him.

• valenciangunner

  Els is bang on in my book – Vela and Simpson – and put the cash from Ade (if he goes , and I hope he does) into the defence .Can’t wait for it all to start. Anticipate a great season from the guys we’ve got.

• Pete

  I’m not too sure there mate, something tells me Ade thinks City are a bit beneath him. hey’re not exactly AC Milan are they, and thats how I think he’ll see it. Loyalty and professionalism are different things, and as long as he does his job for us, which we know he can do, then why not keep him? John Terry’s loyalty for Chelsea is being put into question at the moment by the same team that enquired about Ade. So if it can happen to a player like him who is strongly identified with their club, then it can happen to anyone. Remember, this is talks between the clubs, the player himself hasn’t had anyting to do with it so far, and some could be setting themselves up for a big dissapointment if Ade ends up staying. Another way to look at it is City can afford pretty much anyone and there’s better players than Ade that they can buy for tons of money, so why buy someone for £20 million that they might not be totally convinced by. It’s very telling at this stage that an offer hasn’t actually been made by either club to buy or sell.

  Even if we do well for a lot of money, we’re still stuck with a problem of replacing Ade. The only realistic replacement we have so far is Chamakh and he’s not even as good as Ade, so God know how many people will complain if we get that guy in. And in such situations most likely people will question the manager as to why he let Adebayor go. With a better balanced team that includes a proper DM, the team as a whole will perform better. Thats how team games are won.

  The team as a whole had a bad season last year, not just Adebayor. Yes some had a worse season than others, but on the whole we needed more from all the players, not just some. What should be done is whats best for the club, and if we’re going to replace a player with someone who isn’t as good then whats the point in selling, aside from the money?

• Pete

  *Even if we do sell*

• Pete

  Besides all that, Arsene has said that he wont sell Adebayor unless the player himself wants to leave, and as far as we know, thats not been the case with Man City. One club approached the other and made an enquirey. If he does want to leave then and only then should we sell him for as much money as possible.

• fan

  Ade will be def. miss if he leave. Especially because he is a tall, athletic player. The problem with the backup of Nickolas, Vela, Simpson is that they are not ready to deliver the silverware NOW.

• Debs

  Well apparently we’ve agreed a fee with City, who are offering Ade 170,000 pounds per week.

• Pete

  You beat me to it Debs

  From SSN:

  Sky Sports News understands Manchester City have held talks with Arsenal over the possible signing of striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

  Adebayor has been linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer, with a number of European clubs said to be interested in his services.

  Sky Sports News’ chief news reporter Bryan Swanson has been told by sources that a five-year deal has been proposed, for a transfer fee of £22m, and personal terms of £170,000-a-week.

  Sources have told Swanson that Arsenal have agreed to sell the Togo international, whose future looked to be settled after his agent recently stated he would be staying at Emirates Stadium.

  The 25-year-old signed for the Gunners from Monaco in 2006 and has scored 62 goals in 142 appearances for the North London club.

  Reports have suggested Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could turn to Bordeaux forward Marouane Chamakh as a replacement for Adebayor.

  City have already signed Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz from Aston Villa and Manchester City since the end of last season.

  Mark Hughes is also believed to be lining up a swoop for former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez, while Chelsea captain John Terry is a known target.

  Manager Hughes is keen to build a side capable of breaking up the so-called ‘big four’, and the potential captures of Tevez and Adebayor would demonstrate real intent.

  Manchester City and Arsenal have both stated they will not comment on transfer speculation.

• devday

  Indeed Debs, I’ve just received news that terms may have already been agreed at £170,000 a week at City – very high wages for someone like Ade… days after Van Persie signed his new £80,000 a week contract. If Ade moves, he will double his money…!

  The fee is supposedly £23.5m and I’ve had this from several sources, but nothing official just yet…!

• Pete

  Hmmm, £170,000 is a lot of money isn’t it. Didn’t think they’d offer tha much of a weekly wage. Thats £90,000 MORE than he gets at Arsenal. Thought they’d offer a similar wage to Gareth Barry’s £100,000. If he does go then we should be able to afford someone better than Chamakh surely!

• plunkitt

  how ’bout Rossi?

• Debs

  I was actually suprised to hear that we were interested in selling him. But if we do, and if we intend to get a replacement, I’m sure we can do better than Chamakh. I’ve never seen him before but I already don’t rate him! lol. But in all honesty,I’d rather we kept Ade. The devil you know…

• Debs

  But if he goes, one can’t really blame him, cos that’s a pretty huge sum of money, and he’ll not have any fans on his back like he’s definitely going to get at Arsenal for the first few weeks of the season at least. But I hope he stays though, cos he’ll not be leaving on the back of a good season and will probably be remembered for just his last season’s performance… Come on Arsene, keep the team together!

• Pete

  Now looks like Tevez will definately be signing for City in the next 24 hours.

  I know its not like when Henry left because he was the best of the best, but £23 millions for Ade is bloody good business for Arsenal. Thats nearly four times more than we bought him for.

  Wonder if we can sell them Senderos for something like £12 million too

• Pete

  Well that was quick! Tevez has signed a 5 year contract with City.

• zohaib

  we’ll probably sign a DM with the money we’re getting now. i wonder who.
  but if for some reason (because we don’t really need any more – we’ve got Eduardo, VanPersie, Vela, Walcott, Bendtner, Simpson and Arshavin who can all play there and will/should get time up front) we decide to get a striker, i hope it’s one of these players:
  - Hulk,
  - Zaki (if we can control his attitude),
  - Benjani (lovely attitude, hardworking, he may not be top drawer but he’s definitely better than Ade, he’s someone who can get a goal for himself and doesn’t have to rely on a Cesc Fabregas to make goals for him, as was the case for Adebayor always.
  - Aguerro (don’t know what he’d cost though)
  - Tevez

• TheSKAGooner

  Well, once that sweet cash shows up in our checking account, I want Arsene to move as quickly as City did and get an established DM in at the Ems. There’s no reason things can’t move apace, as demonstrated by Manchester Arab.

• Debs

  To be honest yeah, I wonder how it will work at City, seeing as they are signing all the players in the world. Not all of them will be getting games every week, so that dressing room will be one hell of a place to be. Mark Hughes will have a huge task on his hands. Except, of course, the players aren’t too bothered about playing week in week out, as long as they are getting paid. But yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how City fare next season. And if I’m right, we’ll be the first, out of the Big Four, to play City next season…

• TheSKAGooner

  @ Zohaib

  No go on Tevez, Zohaib. He just agreed terms with City. Just came through a few minutes ago.

• Yemi

  I worry for city and many of the players they are buying now…. It will be very dificult to put together a team. Yes, they will get good players but a team ? i doubt. They are going to have close to 12 forwards!!! how will they manage ? benjiani, ade(doubt), tevez, vassel, bellamy, jo, santa cruz,bojinov, ched evans, robinho, caicedo ……

  and from man city website,

  http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2009/July/carlos-tevez-agrees-deal

• Yemi

  From city site, tevez a done deal

  http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Team-news/2009/July/carlos-tevez-agrees-deal

  Personal terms with the 25-year-old have been concluded and the deal has been ratified by the Premier League and the Football Association.

  After a medical Carlos, who has won the league title in every country in which he has played, is expected to sign a five-year contract and will meet up with his new teammates on their pre-season tour to South Africa. He will sport the number 32 shirt.

  The only player to named South American Player of the Year in three successive seasons, Carlos has recently concluded a summer break following his successful World Cup exploits with Argentina.

  “It is terrific news,” a delighted Mark Hughes told mcfc.co.uk. “Carlos is an international player of the highest class who possesses all the attributes that will help drive this club forward.

  “He is not only outstanding technically but he is a reliable goal scorer and someone who will contribute fully to the team ethic. He gives us another exciting, attacking dimension.

  “I cannot wait to welcome him to City. This is yet another deal that shows the commitment of the owner Sheikh Mansour to make this club the very best it can possibly be. I am sure our fans will give Carlos an exceptionally warm welcome.”

  Tevez signs after an extended loan spell at Old Trafford where he spent two seasons and clocked up 99 league and cup starts and bagged 34 goals.

  He has previously spent a season at West Ham United having made his name in his homeland with Boca Juniors before transferring in 2005 to Brazilian club Corinthians.

  Carlos’ scoring ratio with Boca was better than one in three games and he improved that to better than one in two at his second club.

  Like Blues teammate Pablo Zabaleta, Tevez has an Olympic gold medal though from Athens in 2004 not last year in Beijing. He has clocked up 50 senior caps for his country

• zohaib

  Okays. Another name I forgot was:
  - Diego Forlan

• devday

  Yes, it’s official Tevez has signed a 5 year contract worth £170,000 a week, the medical is penned in for tomorrow and he could be joined by Ade as well if the player agrees.

• Yemi

  double wages will surely make anyone think twice, my fear is playing time for ade with a team that already has 10 strikers with more than six definitely better than ade(imo)

• Yemi

  I hope we can get diego forlan, goal scring engineered machine !!!! Love that guy. Came from nowhere to overtake etoo for the G Boot

• devday

  Yemi – ex Manc though!? Would prefer Aguero but surely out of our price range!

• sam

  I won’t miss Ade too much, and would love to see us splash on DM.. But:
  A trophy winning side must be A+ grade in all departments. That means 2 proven goal scorers up front. If we sell Ade, we’ll only have RVP as a regular goal getter and even he is prone to injuries.
  If Arsene sells Ade, he’s signalling another barren year.

• Mehedi

  It really hurts that everybody forgotten about eduardo

  he is the best finisher ever.

  he with rvp upfront “awsome”

• JDD

  i dont think anyone has forgotten eduardo its just whether he can stay fit.but i agree he is a top class finisher and him & van persie up front has the potential to be something special.if we are going to sell adebayor we should be clever about the deal.we should try to get a part player deal with players like richards de jong ireland & elano(i doubt they would sell elano or ireland though).obviously not all 4 but i would be happy with richards & de jong + 15mil.

• zinzi

  ok so adiós adebayor… I agree with everyone about getting an established dm but… We also need height and speed for set pieces and the long balls… Nick has height but makes a snail feel like usain bolt! So, I think the boss should priorities dm but also get in a tall strong and fast striker, hopefully one who fully grasps the offside rule of football! Wishful thinking?

• Berth

  Guys you don’t understand the point – People are calling on Jay, Eduardo and V.P; please ask yourself this question – do you really think that with Eduardo, V.P, Jay, Bedtner and Vela that we can win a trophy?

• Gooner Get Ya

  What about de rossi from Roma with the cash from ade sale. He is an experienced DM that could add some steel to our midfield. If senderos goes to the black cats we would have 6m as well as the 5.3m left in our original kitty. We might land a replacement striker with that… How much is Charmhk ( however it is spelt).

• AJ

  De Rossi wouldn’t leave Roma I don’t think.

• AJ

  Just seen something I don’t like : “Everton in England are also interested, they are a very good club,” Cana is quoted by Sky Sports as saying.

• CON-MAN

  i hope cana doesnt go everton, i thought arsene was interested? this has really turned into a good discussion and to be honest who know’s whats gonna happen? if ade goes to man city then we will all know what a greedy scumbag he is as there is no way right now man city are better than us (though this time next year i may retract that lol)

  as for people sayin VP and eduardo up front, thats 2 left footed players, techinicaly good but not a threat in the air, thats two simillar, plus its two players who have battled injuries

  id like arsene to replace ade (if he goes which i hope he doesnt) with another 6ft 2 plus striker, you cant win a game with JUST smaller, techinical players, its good to have a tall lad for route one football…that said if arsene feels NB is up to it then im all for it

  but its annoying as just when the teams seems to be balanced, this happens…smh…

• Berth

  Looking at things from a larger perspective we are a very small club in a way; imagine the number of add ons we are hoping for to get someone. After the mathematics you guys should let me know!!.Oh poor Arsenal, hope we will be able to change our mindset as the world changes in our very face.

• zohaib

  It still isn’t confirmed that Ade has signed for ManCity. That was Tevez. I think some of the media is getting a bit confused. I’ve not seen any confirmation on SkySports yet. Their latest is that Ade is in talks with ManCity.

  I’ve just seen a 5 min video of Chamakh on YouTube. It starts off by showing some of the sitters he’s missed. His finishing did look horrible, and then as the song starts, it becomes a more positive video of him scoring and keeping possession. He seems decent. Right-footed but seems to have good ball control skills. He keeps posession well. Can head it well. Can pass it around well. Can cross. Can make good, intelligent runs. And seems to have decent movement and good speed. Of course, you can’t really judge a player by a YouTube clip so I’m going to delay my final judgement on him but if it’s true he’s scored 53 goals in the last two seasons for Bordeaux, then he’s pretty good, no matter the quality of the league. The issue is, he’s not an experienced first choice striker, for me. And we don’t really need a striker, as much as we need a defensive midfielder.

  I wonder if we’re in for M. Diarra since that’s someone we surprisingly haven’t been linked with yet.

• Taliban

  We should buy hunteelar with the money or buy a very good Dm..If none r available, its beta we sit tight on our money instead of buying chamakh..

• Debs

  Interesting articles on the finances at Arsenal:

  bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2009/07/ive_obtained_a_copy_of.html

  knowingandmaking.com/2009/07/economics-of-arsenal.html

• hello

  MAN CITY AGREE A FEE WITH ARSENAL FOR ADEBAYOR… and kompany has flown back from Manchester City’s training camp with a supposed toe injury…

  OR PERHAPS HE’S PART OF THE DEAL??

• Pete

  I’m wondering if its worth making another improved offer for Dzeko again with the money we make from Adebayor? Perhaps Wolfsberg may have a change of heart with a £15 million offer?

  We could use the rest of the money to buy up a good DM (*cough* Cana!!!! *cogh*), and then we’d be a much improved squad.

• zohaib

  Just read Beckham is considering a switch to a Premier League club other than ManUtd. Anybody fancy him as a deep-lying playmaker/passer/defensive midfielder ?
  He’s probably not got the legs to run around for 90 mins but the team needs to defend as a team. It might work out. He can play in the center and can tackle. Wonder how much he’d cost…

• hello

  BECKHAM CANNOT TACKLE…!!

  Beckham would definitely not solve our DM problems, maybe good to have some experience tho…

• zohaib

  *passer = pass-master

• zohaib

  well … it’s not his strong point but I’m sure he can tackle well enough. In fact if he can’t tackle, it’s probably all the more reason why we should get him, since we need that kind of grit in the middle.

• els

  hello kompany would make sense as wenger loves him, and if this comes off i’d like to point out i predicted it on sunday’s woa comment 8 when i first heard the news.

  15m and kompany. Ade-ios!

• Yemi

  Nice reading from the links you posted debs. At least i could grab a few things even though it was too finacially technical for me. But what i could deduce is that we are cash strapped but it is better that way as the offer by usmanov will in the long run be more expensive for the club. I wonder…..
  I doubt if wenger can go for becks except he wants he to come and retire in england or just to help nuture the younger ladsas an internal boost to their morale but definitely wont make a very great impact (hmmm but maybe his free kicks can be an asset when we are fouled in good places)

• hello

  I did see you comment about Kompany ‘els’ and when i saw he was flying home it clicked… nice one!!

  Cesc needs a bit of Kompany!! (haha, worst joke you’ll hear all season!!)

• Pete

  The most obvious thing that rules out Becks is that Arsene would consider him too old to sign, the over 30 years policy that he has makes it a very unlikely move.

  Intersting article there Debs. I agree with you Yemi, taking up Usmanovs offer would actually end up costing us more in the long run. It’s interesting to see what Kroenke will do come September time when he is eligable to purchase 30%+ of the shares. He’s gone along with the gentlemens agreement with the board so far, and a good business relationship seems to exist between the two parties, so perhaps something has been agreed upon in principle already. Just speculating.

  Has anyone else read that Chamakh is open to a Sunderland move? If we’re not careful we may not have anyone to replace Adebayor if he leaves. And can’t believe we haven’t tried to get Cana yet. The guys available and we could probably afford him right now.

• Yemi

  Pete, lets see what the boss has up his sleeves this time around. personally i think we wont make a significant change until something bad happens….things like.
  1. Not qualifying for CL
  2. Not finishing in top four
  3. Cesc, kolo $ arshavin leaving
  4. Arsene leaving/threatening to leave
  These are the things still giving us income and hope depending on how you look at it

• els

  Ade-ios but cesc gets kompany. This could be the daily sports headlines tomorrow. haha good stuff.

• Yemi

  http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/early-doors/article/182954/

  Talks of man city striker overload.

• els

  This financial document who wrote it? has is come from the usmanov camp as we know he’s guna put a cheeky slant on it to try and obtain the fans favour.

  “Oooo look were skint and there’s a giant fat millionaire fellah with loads of money for us, phew that was close.”

  I dunno I might be way off. but he wasn’t gunna take that cold shoulder from the shareholder meeting well. As for Karaoke there’s no way the board will be sat waiting for that inevitable 30% to arrive, you can bet your bottom pound something has been agreed.

• manoo

  There is some rumour going round that sp*rs are interested in vieira, and he is considering the bid. This is insulting if true, but surely is not stupid enough to sign 4 dem after wot he has done 4 us.

• AJ

  I’m loving the Ade-ios and Kompany jokes, ah we can only hope at the moment, but if we did make a much bigger bid for Dezko and go for Cana and got them, our squad would be complete and I’m sure we’d be lifting some silverware at the end of the season.

• AJ

  Just something I’ve thought of, you reckon if Ade does get sold, Wenger would buy Lescott from Everton? I could see Wenger doing that, someone with premier league expierence, and from what I’ve seen Lescott isn’t the worst passer of the ball, so maybe he could be turned into a DM and we all know he’s a threat from set pieces too with some thumping headers.

• Yemi

  spurs are interested in everybody but they have to sell in order to buy. Heard they are interested in becks

• els

  Viera don’t do it. Surely to flip he wouldn’t. We should sign him anyway.

  How the jeff do spurs get linked to great players anymore, what have they possibly got going for them??? A history which has long gone. It can only be a geography thing that players like being in the Capital.

  Do not even try to sign Our Pat.

• Gooner Get Ya

  Am I correct in assuming if Ade goes for £25m and we still have around £5m left from original budget. If we also sell Senderos for say £5m that would surely be enough to buy Cana for around £8m and a world class forward for £20m +.

  Leaving out the ridiculous e.g. Villa, Ibrahimovich etc who is seriously available?

  I can only think of Huntelar due to all the spending from Real, he could be a good target.

• Jeffwardo

  Interesting Ade article on line.

  http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/arsenal-fans-hold-prayer-vigil-for-adebayor-move-200907141901/

• TheSKAGooner

  Check out this latest out of the blue rumor…

  http://www.downswinging.com/wordpress/2009/07/breaking-newsarsenal-to-flip-25m-for-aguero/

• Yemi

  – Guyz, cant we bring reyes back ?
  – Also heard city are interested in Guti.
  – Huntelaar must accept spurs move as madrid wwant to offload.
  – Spurs willing to send jenas the other way so as to be able to land viera

• Yemi

  saw this on one site
  ==========

  Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hopes £7 million is enough to land Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.

  The London Evening Standard says Wenger sees Chamakh as a ready-made replacement for Manchester City-bound Emmanuel Adebayor and wants to move quickly for the French-born Morocco international in order to fend off interest from other Premier League clubs.

  Fulham, Tottenham and Sunderland have also been linked with the 25-year-old, who has just one year to go on his contract and has refused to open talks with his French club over an extension.

  Bordeaux are now resigned to losing him and manager Laurent Blanc wants the player’s future to be decided before he takes his side on a pre-season tour of Canada next Wednesday.

  Chamakh has a £7m buy-out clause in his contract – and for Wenger it would appear too inviting to turn down, even if Chamakh is an unknown quantity in England.

• rapudo

  Reyes was great for us, for a while.Problem is he would not resist a call back to Real/Barca once we give him a chance to resurect himself.

  I think we should go for a yaya-like player or keep the money. Tha would put pressure on Vela to grow up and Eduardo to stay fit.

• zohaib

  Maybe we should’ve tried to get Huntelaar. Looks like he’s all set to go to Stuttgart but hopefully we’ve started talks in time. Looks good in the air and seems to be a real bicycle-kick specialist. Though I think he’s still a bit too slow for a striker for Arsenal. But he’s definitely better than Ade in terms of positional awareness and movement, as well as finishing.

  But again, let’s first get ourselves a DM. There’s only one video of Matuidi on YouTube. Anyone have any opinions on him ? Dev, Debs, Fabrez, Pete ? Anybody else ?

• Debs

  No Zohaib, not seen him play before, nor heard anything about him, really. I wish I had direct access to Arsene’s mind at the moment! lol

• Fabrez

  Like u zohaib, just got YouTube givin me a sneak peak into Matuidi. Seems a raw talent still but I do have the feeling he is 1 who can flourish under Arsene… Don’t think he’ll be the immediate answer to our DM issue tho.

• Fabrez

  Kinda didn’t mind a fully committed Ade but money was gonna turn him away eventually so there u go! And ₤22m is as much as I think we may ever get for him. Not ideal to lose players as many have said but it happens…i prefer lose Ade than RvP… Not convinced about Chamakh…don’t get that feeling he’ll have a great 1st season for us just like that…but we do have the quality in the squad which will probably need galvanzing with a good DM then striker signing (assuming we sell Ade). Seems as if Huntelaar cud b a good 1 to nick!

• zohaib

  I’ve just read that Fabiano’s deal to AC Milan has fallen through. Milan’s bid has been rejected. No idea if they’ll make another offer. But Milan have said the deal has reached a ‘dead end’. This means they might finally consider making a bid for Adebayor. So if ManCity don’t rid us off of him, maybe Milan can. I know, harsh.

• Pete

  Ray Parlour Accuses Adebayor for being “Lazy”:

  Emmanuel Adebayor has been accused of lacking the stomach for a fight during his last year at Arsenal.

  Ex-Gunners midfielder Ray Parlour says Arsene Wenger has done brilliant business by collecting a whopping £30m for the Togo striker because he was so lazy.

  Parlour said: “He was too lazy at times last season and just didn’t do it.

  “His body language wasn’t great.

  “He has a big contract, which maybe is because he had a good season the year before – but he needs people behind him getting on his back.

  “Wenger will not stand in his way because they can get a lot of money for him and then get a very good player to replace him.

  “His attitude amazed me at times last season when he just didn’t put it in.

  “Sometimes if things are not going well for you, you have to show desire.

  “At first I heard £30m bandied around, and I’d snap their hand off at that price. Then you go and get an excellent player who will work his socks off.”

  Parlour thinks Adebayor may even struggle to get into the City line-up.

  He will have to battle with Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy, Robinho and Benjani for a starting place up front, and Parlour added: “How many forwards do they need?

  “I know they’re not finished yet and want John Terry but it looks like they will be going all out attack.

  “What formation will they play to fit these players in?”

• samori

  i watched ronaldo(brazil) on youtube last night. but i am not sure wenger will even try to talk to him. in my view, he’s the best around if we really want to challenge the league next season and we wouldnt miss adebayor.

• Pete

  Well barring a few formalities, it looks like it’s a done deal. I think it’s an interesting assessment Ray Parlour made about Ade, “needing people behind him to get on his back” in order to motivate him. Mark Hughes knows that a motivated Adebayor is a dangerous opponant, and thats why I think he’s paid so much for him (arguably over the odds). But on the surface of it, this deal is far more suited to Arsenal than perhaps the player or his new club, and thats what Arsene is great at doing.

  As for our replacement, Chamakh does look like an ok player. His finishing has been atrocious but he does seem to be improving, and thats all I have against him. His dribling, agility, speed, hold up play and link up play are good, and I can see him creating lots of chances for RvP, Arshavin, Nasri etc. I would prefer someone whose finishing was more clinical, but at this stage I think it’s only worth disgussing the realistic transfers, and Chamakh is pretty much the only available striker the club has expressed interest in, so it looks like he’ll be joining us.

  Zohaib, as for Matuidi, I’ve only seen the same clips you have on Youtube. from what I’ve read, he is a decent player and played a big part in Bordoux surviving relegation. So I think it’s a case of a good player being in a not so good team. A move to Arsenal may be what the lad needs and working with Cesc he couldn’t ask for a better midfield partner. I’d have loved Cana personally, but as I said in regards to Chamakh, realistically we seem to be interested in Matuidi the most. Hopefully they will be good signings for us.

• Pete

  Sorry, I meant Matuidi did well for Saint Etiene. Chamakh did well for Bordeaux.

Be A Fan On Facebook

Follow On Twitter