Tag: Transfers

Arsenal transfer update: In for Nasri or Ben Arfa?

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers2 Comments

Arsenal are rumoured to be making a move for 21 year old French International Samir Nasri.

He has just signed a new long-term contract at Marseille, but apparently that the deal was only made to settle a transfer protocol.

Now there doesn’t seem to be much substance to this, I think Ben Arfa is more likely to come in. The rumour mill seems to have gone into overdrive.

His agent said:

“As soon as the season is over, we will discuss with Samir, about his future, and we will plan all the solutions,”

“There are offers, that is the truth, but for the moment nothing is decided.”

He is a player I would like to see at Arsenal, but I think it is unlikely. Nevertheless it a possibility, Goonertalk says here that the player may have played his last match at Marseilles, so he is going somewhere!

Fabregas’ new contract – The result of Flamini’s move?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers1 Comment

Fabregas is likely to sign a new contract at Arsenal after the problems we’ve had this year with Flamini and Hleb.

Cesc already earns about £60 000 a week, but to keep him at the club it looks like Wenger will have to be a bit more competitive and may offer up to £100 000 a week.

Sagna has been offered a new contract, and Clichy just signed a two year extension, he had this to say:

“We’re at the end of our discussions. Everything’s going well because my intention is clear: I want to stay at Arsenal.

“I would love to have a career here like Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry, to stay many years at Arsenal and leave my mark on the club.

It seems that Wenger has realised that to keep the best players at the club we need to have them on contracts which rival other big clubs, but we don’t necessarily have to blow our wage structure in doing so.

We have great players, who on the most part realise that what we have at Arsenal is quite special, and that Wenger can bring the best out of a squad, but when big offers come, such as Milan’s for Flamini, they may be tempted.

I would say though that the Flamini situation was exceptional, in that he was a fringe player for 3 years, and was going to leave in the summer.

That was why his contract was not renewed, and then when he played so well this season Milan were able to pull him away with a hefty wage packet, and a chance he couldn’t have dreamed of last summer, when it looked like he was joining Birmingham!

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New Mexican signing – Vela!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Carlos Vela, a player who everyone has been talking about all season is on his way to Arsenal. The 19 year-old Mexican has been on loan at Osasuna this season, and we have just applied for a work permit to allow him to play in England. He should recieve a Spanish passport soon, which will mean he won’t need the work permit.

When he gets the permit/passport, he will be like a new signing for us. He has played on the left wing all season, but Wenger has said that Vela will get a chance up front next year:

“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.”

Just as Eduardo was going to be like a new signing for us in January this season, so will Vela next year. He will have a chance to fit into the hole left after Eduardo’s injury.

You can keep up with the latest on Vela at Carlos Vela News, a wonderful blog dedicated entirely to him!

He is an excellent prospect for the future. But I think the expectations might be a little high.

Wenger wants two or three new signings

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers17 Comments

Arsene our beloved manager wants to bring in two or three high quality players:

“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.”

He’s made the point that big signings often fail. That is true and it epitomises Arsene’s transfer policy. He will bring in players who are not that well known, but perfectly suited to Arsenal.

Last summer he brought in two fantastic players, Sagna and Eduardo. They were brilliant, and Sagna has been especially impressive.

Expect a midfielder or two, and a defender, I reckon.

Arsenal to sign winger?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal12 Comments

Wenger may be about to sign the top rated left winger Ben Arfa.

Transfer rumours have been circulating about the possibility of Ben Arfa joining Arsenal, and the 21 year old is a perfect fit for the left wing in my opinion.

He can play upfront and he is the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season.

He had this to say in L’Equipe:

“It is true that we have spoken about Arsenal, but we will see how it is going to happen,”

Interesting stuff, just what we need on the wing I think, although it might dent Vela’s hopes, we need a player with a little more experience, Ben Arfa has played for Lyon at the top level and has a lot of talent!

Wenger’s key issues this summer. Transfer targets

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers6 Comments

Arsene Wenger has some key issues this summer, which need to be fixed before we can be successful. These are a few I came up with, add more in the comments if you know more things which need doing!

1. Holding on to our current players.

A key issue, we need to make sure the squad is happy and settled before the new season starts. Flamini’s depature has caused some concern, so we need to get everyone together and a have a common deisre and vision. If Hleb wants to go, then let him. Just make sure we replace and don’t lose more important players.

2. Replacing

This has come up as an issue after we have seen Flamini leave, and now Hleb under intense speculation.

We need to replace Flamini, of course Gilberto can fill that role, as he does wnant to stay on at Arsenal, but he is not a long term option. What do you think?

3. Finding in a winger who can score goals.

At the moment we have Rosicky, Van Persie, Eduardo, Walcott, Eboue and Hleb (he’s off) who play reasonably reguarly on the wings. Three are strikers; RVP, Eduardo and Walcott. One is most definitely a defensive player; Eboue, and two are midfielders. This means that we have very few players who can specialise in playing on the wings, as we used to with Ljungberg and Pires.

The stikers can score a lot of goals, but we need players who can come in and score from midfield. Rosicky is regularly injured, and hasn’t been a prolific goal scorer. Hleb is off to Milan, because he wants somewhere more peaceful than London, and he doesn’t score anyway!

When we have won titles in the past we have depended on goals from midfield to support the stikers. An extreme example is C.Ronaldo , who has basically pulled Man Utd to the title with his goals, as their strikers haven’t scored any.

We may not need to buy anyone for this, players like C.Vela may be pointed to but I think a signing may be preferable for Wenger.

Any suggestions?

4. Reconstructing the defence.

This is a sticky issue. We have seen a catalogue of weak defensive errors this season, which let us down, especially in long ball situations. Gallas and Toure have looked awkward playing together this season, neither really attacks the ball, and this has been a problem.

On the flanks we have Sagna and Clichy who are the best in the division and cover. What we need is for Wenger to have a think about how to restructure our defence into a good unit.

We have a great defence when going forward. When actually defending they do struggle in the centre especially. Wenger says he wants to buy a defensive player so we may see some changes.

If Wenger can do these things we will definitely be a stronger side next season.

Wenger close to new signing

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers11 Comments

Wenger says he knows who he wants in the transfer market this summer and he is hopeful of signing them up.

“I know what I want and I am very confident.

“It would be better to buy someone who has played in England because they are less risky, but it costs more money if they are from The Premier League,”

“Maybe I will try to do both.”

Exciting stuff for Gooners seeing as we normally get to hear little about transfers, except endless crap rumours and players leaving!

Barry and Kranjcar are two creative players who currently play in the Premierhship, but maybe Wenger is looking for ‘that’ experienced defender from a Premiership club, and a creative player from elsewhere. We have the money, so go for it!

If Hleb goes expect some major restrengthening this summer. We are in for the title race next year, and Wenger will want to improve so we can win something!

Arsenal transfer speculation as Hleb’s agent talks

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers3 Comments

Yesterday morning we were greeted with these words from Alex Hleb’s agent:

“Alexander is preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life””He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions. Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.”

As we all wondered whether he would do a Webster, Arsene has hit back:

“It is not as simple as it looks, this Webster clause, you can’t just come in next day and buy out, there is no rule that says that.

“You should not forget what clubs can do, you have to first go to a Fifa tribunal and if you don’t agree with Fifa, you have to go to Acas. It takes a lot of months.

“You can be banned for the whole period if it’s not done in a proper way.”

He also said here:

“I believe 98 per cent of this squad will be here next season. And the two per cent have already gone.”

Well, Wenger has to be optimistic, it must have been a big blow to lose Flamini, but I am sure that we will find players to fill the gap, he’s after a midfielder and a defender, I’m not sure who, but people writing us off will only make us stronger to be honest with you.

These people will see what happens next season, and so will we!

Wenger Will Be Able To Spend This Summer

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers3 Comments

Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman says that money will be available for Wenger to bolster the squad this summer. Which is good, especially if players like Hleb leave.

“We have never denied Arsene Wenger a penny, whenever he has wanted to buy, he has. What he is not prepared to do is to buy a big name that everyone will be happy with until they see them play.

“He has brought in so many world-class players, some of whom people had not even heard of at the time, and I am sure he will continue that.”

Hill-Wood went on to comment on our season:

“He {Wenger} is not very happy we didn’t win anything. He takes it very much to heart but he seems to have recovered.”It’s laughable to think he doesn’t have the support of the board. We are very happy with him and I think he is with us.

“Overall, it’s not been a bad season. I was very happy with the way we played, but we are in the results business and I’m disappointed with the final result, I suppose.

“We will start next season with the aim of winning something. If we don’t, I will not be jumping off Tower Bridge. It’s not easy winning the Champions League and the Premier League.”

A very balanced opinion if you ask me, and quite correct. Wenger is a fantastic manager, and the board knows he is good in the transfer market, and that he can achieve success. He has done it before and can do it again.

It’s not easy, but we have the potential to win a lot of trophies in the next few years. It’s good to hear the Board are on the same wavelength.

One issue with signing foreign players now will be their level of English. Under new government legislation non-European footballers who can’t speak English won’t be able to join teams. This is part of the new points-based immigration system.

Migrants will have to pass an English test to check they have “basic-user standard” English, using familiar everyday expressions, and be able to discuss basic personal details!

Do you think this legislation will affect Arsenal?

Hleb’s Future In Doubt, Calderon Mumurs About Fabregas

On By jamesgillespIn Transfers3 Comments

The Times thinks that Hleb is on his way out of the club. They claim that his ‘representatives’ have agreed a four-year deal with Inter, and that he has told team mates that he will join Inter.

Again this seems speculative, with no quotes and nothing official, but it may happen. Hleb could leave, and we would be in a bit of transfer trouble were this to happen. Wenger would have a bit of a midfield crisis. I’m waiting to hear more on this one.

A player who is linked with a transfer is Fabregas, and this is one I’m sure won’t happen (bar something totally crazy occuring in the next few months).

Ramon Calderon, the Real president has Fabregas as one of his main transfer targets, and said:

“Something nice about Cesc is that he is Spanish and this is one of my objectives – to make Real Madrid more Spanish.”

Only two weeks ago Fabregas said that he was totally comitted to Arsenal though:

“My future belongs to Arsenal, and it is the truth.”

“I have always said I want to play for Arsenal, it is the best team I can be at, the best club for me.”

So I doubt Calderon’s wishes will come true at this point!

Meanwhile, Sagna is set to sign a new contract after only a season at the club, maybe Wenger is getting wary after the situations with Flamini and Hleb.

Wenger also said that Adebayor needs to keep improving:

“I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20% more to come from him. Does he want it enough – to get this extra 20% out?

“Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody.”

Adebayor should be able to keep up his form next season, I don’t see any reason why not, Wenger just wants to stop him getting too comfortable!

I hope we can hold onto Hleb at least, because otherwise we will start the transfer season weakened, rather than ready to strengthen the squad. I think it is more likely he will stay than Flamini, but if he does leave we might have a confidence problem on our hands.