It seems that Arsene Wenger has been busy in the transfer market over the last week or so, we’ve been linked with more players than any other club… it may be down to continual comments from Arsene who’s repeatedly mentioned his desire to bring in re-inforcements this close season.

He recently commented on speculation:

“I think a huge player is better than a huge name. You have huge names who produce very little at the moment.

“There is plenty of demand from players who want to join us and what we need next year is two or three maybe.”

You’ve got to agree, players such as Eduardo and Sagna were virtually unknown to the regular Premiership punter and their impact has been amazing this season. Huge players are always better than big name players. A player with ability and skill and who can play the way we want in the style we want is the type of player we need. Who would be better to add, a Ronaldinho or Eto’o would cause more hassle than Deigo or Ben Arfa. Young talent like Nasri or Sahin could become our future rather than the golden oldies such as Lilian Thuram.

I’m happy that Arsene is going to bring in 2-3 players and I think regardless of whether they are big names or not, he will add the quality we need and increase the size of the squad. With Flamini departing and Diarra having previously gone, the numbers are lower now and we need to maintain a healthy number of squad members. Our kids have grown up for a year and players such as Randall, Gibbs even Vela and Walcott will be like a new group of signings this summer…

The big question is, who will Arsene bring in?

Well, to keep you as up-to-date as possible, we’ve got a new section on the top right called “Summer Transfers” which highlights what the links of new players are with the club… it’s actually been there for about 10 days now, but here’s a summary of who’s linked…

Confirmed
Carlos Vela loan return
Confirmed Transfers

Waiting for a signature
None

Lots of media speculation
Hatem Ben Arfa (FW) £12-£16m
Deigo (AM) £15m
Nuri Sahin (CM) £7.5m
Raul Albiol (DC) £10m
Gervinho (ST) £8m
Jean II Makoun (DM) £7m
Vincent Kompany (DC) £12m

Mindless Fun
Samir Nasri (FW) £14.5m
Gareth Barry (CM) £15m
Felipe Baloy (DC) £8m
Miralem Pjanic (AM) £7m
Transfer Speculation

Utter Rubbish
Amauri (FW) £19m
Gomes (GK) £18m

Well, Arsene, you’ll keep us all guessing for a while longer now… the suspense is killing me and it’s only been a week since the end of the season…

Samir Nasri today has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal. We’ve been linked with a capture for Ben Arfa too, and Samir Nasri plays in the same position. It looks like it will be either or in this department. The media speculation has been generated by comments by Eric Gerets, current manager of Marseille.

His quotes today were:

“Before thinking about bringing in reinforcements over the summer we need to know who is going to stay, and above all the players I want to keep.”

“If there is a big offer for Samir, then of course he will leave.

“I can’t criticise the club because it is the same everywhere. When there is a huge offer made, players leave.”

Samir Nasri is currently 21 years old and has just signed a new contract. The contract was believed to be a gauge to increasing his transfer value. His market price is also believed in the region of £14.5m.

Once dubbed the new Zidane, Nasri has recently broken into the French first team and has also been linked with moves to Real Madrid and Internationale.

Another link to keep in mind… more later…

Theo’s impressive form continued yesterday with a dazzling performance for the England Under 21’s. Starting the game, Theo’s performance was solid and he scored the winning goal. England full team manager, Fabio Capello was in the stands and was impressed by what he saw.

Pearce commented on Theo’s performance:

Theo is getting better with every game.

Theo will join up with the full team for the game against the USA which is on May 28th. The game will be held at Wembley Stadium and should be a packed stadium.

Carlos Vela will return to Arsenal next season and be a part of our first team, so that’s our first signing of the season (see right under Confirmed Transfers)… He’s been on loan at Osasuna this season and yet could play a vital part of their season as a win in their final game will see the club avoid relegation. Anything but a win would see them relegated.

Carlos Vela joined Arsenal in the summer of 2006 and was immediately loaned out to Cela Vigo and UD Salamanca. He has spent the last season on loan to Osasuna, whilst he waits for his EU passport, which should be ready this summer.

Arsene is looking forward to see the boy arrive:

“We have applied for a work permit for him now. And he will be involved with the first-team next season.

“He has played the whole season at Osasuna on the left wing and he had to work hard there. But for me it is not his position he is a central striker, an Eduardo type.”

He’s going to be an exciting player, young Carlos…

Name: Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido

Date of Birth: March 1, 1989

Place of Birth: Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Nationality: Mexican

EU Passport: No (soon July 2008 spanish pass)

Height: 178cm / 5 ft 10 in

Weight: 72 Kg

Brother: Alejandro Vela (playing for Jaguares de Chiapas at Mexico)

Position: Striker, Winger

Number: 21 (squad number at Arsenal 29)

Current Club: CA Osasuna (on loan from Arsenal Football Club)

Youth Club: 2002 - 2005 Club Deportivo Guadalajara

Clubs: Arsenal, Celta Vigo, UD Salamanca, CA Osasuna (all on loan)

National Career: 2005 - 2007 Mexico U17, U20 and National Team

International Debut: September 2007 against Brazil

Honours: FIFA World Cup Champion 2005 U17 Mexico and Topscorer

For more information and to track the progress, check out http://carlosvelanews.wordpress.com

The world of Arsenal has exploded with news today and yesterday… lots of stories are breaking and it’s hard to keep my head on it all, but basically here is the summary:

Adebayor

• Newspapers claim his wants £80,000 per week
• Ade rubbishes this talk saying he is happy at Arsenal
• Ade pleased to be linked with Barcelona and Milan but he is at Arsenal and is staying
• Ade says he’s looking for improvement and that Cesc, Theo and himself are all more experienced

Hleb

• He said he was happy at Arsenal
• His agent has said big clubs are interested and he has a big decision to make
• His agent says he won’t use the Webster clause
• Hleb says London is too noisy
• His agent says all things will be sorted out in the next 10 days
• Arsene says there has been no bid and wants to keep Hleb and offer him a new contract

Van Persie

• Arsene says he’s world class
• Van Persie wants to stay injury free
• He will hopefully show the world that he’s injury free and world class at Euro 2008

Eduardo

• Reports suggest he may not be back until the new year
• Arsene says he needs mental toughness and has it
• Eduardo says he is looking forward to his return

Vieira

• Vieira says it’s a worrying time for the Gunners
• He says Arsenal need to reward their youngsters with better contracts
• Paddy goes on to say that we need one or two experienced players

Diarra

• He says he left Arsenal because he wasn’t starting
• I don’t think he really thinks much, as it was clear to see that Flamini was in a purple patch - he still had 13 appearances in his half season stint
• He says his choice was vindicated as Portsmouth will win the FA Cup.

Rosicky

• He’s had surgery and is out for 10 weeks
• He will miss Euro 2008
• But he says he’ll be back in August and will repay Arsenal by staying injury free next season

Yaya Toure

• Kolo says he’s the best in the world in his position
• Yaya says he has had a good season and is pleased with himself
• Yaya says it would be a dream to play in the premiership and with his young brother Kolo

Replacement for Keith Edelman

• David McNally is the latest name
• He’s the Fulham managing director
• He’s supposed lined up to take over from Keith Edelman
• Ramon Monchi from Sevilla is also a target
• Karen Brady is probably the most unlikely link

Random bits of information

• Kroenke may be invited to join the board
• Keegan warns us off Martins, even though we haven’t bid for him
• Ben Arfa is heavily linked
• Arsene says he’s about to make a signing
• Ken Friar says Arsenal are about to make a signing…

There’s a quick round up… more later…

Okay, it’s starting to bug me… who is this mystery signing that Arsene has “all but concluded”? Many reports are suggesting it’s Valencia’s Raul Albiol, some suggest it’s Vincent Kompany, others say it’s Jean II Makoun, finally, there are obvious links Ben Arfa and young prodigy Gervinho…

Who is it Arsene… tell me!!!

Who ever it turns out to be, Arsene is confident it will make the fans happy, and that’s a bold statement…

 ”I hope to turn that around in the next two or three weeks. But the fans should be re-assured by what they see.”

Promising signs, especially after Ken Friar let slip that Arsene was finalising a deal yesterday.

In another round of Hleb news, his agent has been speaking to a Russian website called sports.ru. He has released a statement that doesn’t sound too positive. He says Hleb won’t invoke the Webster clause, but does admit there is something in all this news and that it will be sorted out in the next 10 days or so… will he be signing a new contract or will he be on his way out?

“Alexander understands perfectly well that he plays for a great team, but the moment has come where he needs to make a choice. Hleb has been playing in London for three years now and isn’t sure whether in the future he can show the level of talent that he is showing currently. I can only confirm that some of the world’s biggest clubs are interested in him. In any case I can say simply that Alexander will not buy out the remaining part of his five-year contract for a fixed sum of his sale. Hleb is a gentleman and will not stoop to that level. Everything will be done properly. I am sure that the situation surrounding this issue will finally be resolved in the next 10 days.”

Interesting noises from the Hleb camp - but the Webster clause will obviously reduce the transfer fee we could demand for him if he were to go.

Hleb himself has spoken and praised Arsene…

“Wenger is a coach who you can learn a great deal from. He is not loud, he is a thinking type. I owe a lot to him.”

You owe a lot? In a kind of thanks for everything, I’m off, or I owe a lot to him, and I will repay him for his faith… we’ll see in the next week or so…

It’s offical, we’re about to sign someone, it’s very very close… Arsene is extremely confident on a player - he’s even talked about it in his press conference… which makes everyone think it’s pretty much a done deal… but who?

Arsene said in his press conference the other day:

“I know what I want and I am very confident. I hope to turn that around in the next two or three weeks. But the fans should be re-assured by what they see.”

And at the AST meeting yesterday, Ken Friar re-iterated this:

“Indeed only this evening I took a call from AW about the finalising of a transfer, so fans had to be patient as AW was in full control and confident of strengthening the squad to his specifications.”

Good signs coming from the manager and the board…

The big question is who will be our first summer signing?

Breaking news this hour, from reliable sources, suggest that Alisher Usmanov is planning to formally bid to buy Arsenal Football Club tomorrow.

Sources say that Red & White Holdings are preparing to launch a bid tomorrow with David Dein as the head and due to made chairman… this story is coming from multiple soruces are the moment, and I believe this is some truthn in this…

At the moment, there is a lockdown agreement within the directors, so can this be broken? What happens when there is a hostile takeover bid? Arsenal football club aspires to do things in the right way with a ethos on operating within it’s own means. We have a long term plan on the repayment of the stadium and a long term plan on how to make us one of the most profitable clubs in the world.

We don’t need extra money to get those 5 points extra to win the league, so will Usmanov decide to pay off the stadium. Arsene knows his which players he wants. There is no point suddenly buying another 10 players just for the sake of it.

I’ll keep you posted!

Afternoon all, and what a sunny Monday it is…

It’s that time of year again where there will be transfer speculation almost daily, if not hourly… there’s been a lot of press recently on players such as Mario Gomez (a striker from Stuttgart) and Raul Albiol (a defender from Valencia). We been linked, as we have, along with Chelsea and Liverpool for young Cardiff attacker, Aaron Ramsey too.

We’ve also been heavily linked with Yaya Toure, who I doubt would leave Barcelona after only one season. Oh, and don’t forget we’re supposedly interested in an English Senderos in Richard Dunne, and for a cut price £1m?

Interesting, but I suggest you take it all with a pinch of salt.

Something with a bit of substance seems to be the link with Ben Arfa. He’s talked today about a possible discussion with Arsenal, which is very interesting. It supports Arsene’s comments about wanting a creative player and also someone who can play on the wing.

“It is true that we have spoken about Arsenal, but we will see how it is going to happen. If I stay at Lyon, it is to play. Wherever I go, it will be to play. The season is not over yet, two games are remaining (one in Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France final). Today I am at Lyon. We will see what tomorrow is made of. I try to give my maximum and to give everything when I am on the pitch.”

The only sticking point - and it is a sticking point is that Arsenal do not have a good relationship with Lyon. Lyon are also a club that have some money so don’t need it, and as a result, often hold clubs to higher fees that other French clubs. Not sure what the price for Ben Arfa would be, but I’d expect it to be £10m+.

Interesting stuff, let the speculation continue…

After scoring the only goal of the game yesterday to secure Arsenal all three points in the final game of the season, Theo’s found himself in the thick of the action.

Young Theo Walcott is playing Wales in a friendly next Thursday, which is being held at Wrexham park.

He will then jet off to meet the senior squad the next day.

The senior team will be playing USA and Trinidad and Tabago in a double header set of friendlies.

And his call up this time, nearly two years after Sven called him up to the full England 2006 World Cup squad in Germany, it is much more deserved. His play this season, especially the end of the season has been phenominal.

The full England squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Man City), Chris Kirkland (Wigan).

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Owen Hargreaves (Man Utd), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd).