Afternoon folks.
The last couple of days has been a whirlwind of news, everyone seems to be talking about Arsenal. Who we’re going to buy, who we’re going to sell. Paul Merson, Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry, Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and Bob Wilson have all been in the press giving their views of all things Arsenal.
The consensus throughout all the players wavers, but on the whole focuses on the fact that there is a decent core of players and they are definitely capable of winning a trophy – but only if we do not suffer the injuries that our club is being famed for.
News broke yesterday and appears in many newspapers today (although unconfirmed by the club) that Rosicky is out injured for 6 weeks with a hamstring injury. This of course, is a blow as he’s just returned and has been looking very good. Nasri is also out for the same period of time, so from having a fully fit squad for the first time in many years, we now have two of our main attacking midfielders out through injury.
Update from Arsene Wenger:
“He could be out for six weeks. It’s worrying because he was so sharp. It’s difficult to accept that suddenly he has a muscle injury. It’s not major problem, but you get these kinds of injuries when you’ve been out for 18 months.”
With Theo Walcott also yet to start training, for the league games against Everton and Portsmouth and for the Champions League qualifiers, we may be without 3 of our first choice wingers. With Vermaelen out too and not clear when he is going to return, we’ll be fielding a weaker side than we anticipated a couple of weeks ago. Our only wingers who will realistically play against Everton being Arshavin and Eboue.
Cesc said this yesterday:
“For the last three seasons, we have been unlucky with injuries so hopefully this year we can all stay fit”
And as soon as he has said it, bang, three injuries to big name players. Many people have said that the injury to Rosicky is a blessing in disguise and may force our hand in the transfer market, but having said that news is that Arsene is still in negotiations with Bordeaux for Chamakh, so a striker joining means more attacking players. If Chamakh did join, we could consider Carlos Vela in the winger role too, but the buy has yet to return to main pre-season training.
The Daily Mail reporting:
Arsenal are set to make an improved £7.5million bid for Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh. The French club felt the original £6m was ridiculous for a player they valued at £15m, but the Gunners have played hardball on player who is out of contract next summer. Bordeaux are now desperate to do a deal after conceding that Chamakh will not sign a new contract and they are aware that the 25-year-old has his heart set on north London despite competing interest from Sunderland and Blackburn.
And if that wasn’t enough excitement for one day, according to the player’s agent – we are still talking to Sporting Lisbon about the signing of Miguel Veloso.
“Bolton, Manchester City and Arsenal are all still interested.”
News is that the initial £20m asking fee has been reduced to £15m, but at £15m, it’s still not something we’d do.
Finally, UEFA have confirmed that with Shakter Donetsk’s early exit from the Champions League, Stuttgart will be seeded, meaning we will be drawn against one of the following five teams:
Fiorentina
Athletico Madrid
Celtic
Anderlecht
FC Timisoara
Le’ts hope we avoid Fiorentina and Athletico Madrid!
And finally, finally, The World of Arsenal will be joining the club in supporting The Great Ormand Street Charity this year as part of the Be a Goooner, Be a Giver campaign and will be running a series of money raising events throughout the year to help raise money for the charity.
