Cologne victory and potential transfers

I apologise that I haven't posted for a while, but I'm currently enjoying a nice break state side although its bloody hard to find out what is actually going on out here for obvious reasons but I have persevered. After trolling through various newspaper sites here's what I have but please bear with me, if I'm miles behind a breaking transfer story on SSN I am sorry.

The Mirror, possible the most reliable paper in the world claim that Fabregas will be a Barca player by the end of the week, but this story has been printed so many times already this summer that I wouldn't be too worried. Apparently Guardiola has been told to expect him on the teams flight to the US this week. Maybe as I'm out here I'll pop down and pelt him with eggs as he leaves the airport, then and again I'd probably be shot for breaking some bizarre American law. 

According to various sources we're lining up a second bid for Phil Jagielka but I can't see it being sufficient enough to lure him aware from Everton who are standing firm saying he is not for sale so we'll see what happens with that. On a positive note its nice to see Wenger acknowledge that perhaps we are a bit shaky at the back and that he does want to strengthen the defence. I do rate Jagielka and I think he would be a good asset but I just can't see us paying enough to draw him away from the Toffee's.

On the actual football side of things we beat Cologne 2-1 on Wednesday, all 3 goal scored by us. Gervinho announced his arrival in the squad scoring a beautiful lob to open and then slotted into the net well from Walcott's ball in. Then in a truly odd incident another new lad Jenkinson, spectacularly lobbed Wojeich in our goal, the footage is on Arsenal Player for free if you want to see. I did feel for the young lad, that was the last thing he needed but we all make mistakes. This sets us up for the Emirates Cup this weekend that obviously I won't be able to attend.

The Sun informs me that Fifa have blocked our attempt to use goal line technology at the Emirates Cup. I can't say I'm surprised anything that makes any logical sense is denied by Fifa so that idea was always going to be shot down, but Blatter is coming under pressure from different angles but then and again Fifa is a corrupt as it comes. However the Arsenal site tells me that they are open to it (thank god) and by the next WC it could be in operation. I think the 2012/13 Premier League campaign may be too ambitious.

That's about it for now, so enjoy your week however its spent. I think I'll go soak up some more sun, although the potentially lethal Brown Widow spiders we have living poolside are a tad off putting.

Pre-season continues as Arsenal leave Asia

So the week draws to a close as does our pre-season tour of Asia. It ended yesterday with a 1-1 draw with Hangzhou Greentown, yeah bothered. To be frank it doesn't matter what pre-season results are its just a way of improve fitness and trying to build a fan base. Vela scored with his second of the pre-season campaign so to speak. I must say top marks to the fans that turned out to greet the team and watch them play from what I saw and heard it was tremendous which has shown that the Arsenal brand is certainly popular. 

Anyway onto transfer talk and well, there hasn't been a lot so to speak apart from Mancini and Wenger having a bitch at each other. With respect to Wenger to I see what he says, Mancini saying he's hoping to have Nasri by the end of the week is pretty disrespectful but at the end of the day Wenger can do as he pleases with Nasri. If he really wants to keep him then he can and from what he was saying the during the week he fully intends too. I'm still torn at the moment as to what I think we should do. Theres no doubt he's good but if he doesn't want to sign a new contract then is it worth keeping him for this season when he'll leave next summer on a free? I'm not so sure it is, but I'm not a Premier League manager.

Not a lot coming out of Spain this week except one piece found by the arseblogger where Johan Cruyff has come out and said:

Arsene Wenger looks after their interests and it is Arsenal who control the situation. Cesc signed for many years and now he has to play for them. If Barcelona want him, they have to pay for him.
When you sign for a club, you are bound to it. It is logical to want Cesc but he is under contract to another club.

Which is exactly what everyone is thinking. Whether or not Barcelona will do this is a totally different question. After chatting with a few friends the other day they weren't entirely sure whether Barca will make another bid and I'm inclined to agree. Although their team mates find it funny to wind Arsenal fans up (Xavi, you two bob piece of shit), I don't think Cesc is at the top of their Christmas list at this current moment and since we've asked for more than what they offered they seem to have other plans.
 

The usual stuff from The Mail about how Juan Mata is ours and the deal has been done and so on. As much as I'd like to believe that I doubt it. Apparently we've also signed "Costa Rican kid", Joel Campbell (yes that really is his name) can't say much on this one cause I don't know much about him, I saw that he was a striker and lost interest. No further news on Samba, Cahill, there is a long way to go but I can't help but feel that if anything was going to move on this front then it would have done but only time will tell.

Finally some good news on players going out. It has been mentioned (ESPN) that Denilson may be on his way to Sao Paulo, admittedly a loan move but fuck it at least he wont be shitting up our squad. Whispers on the grapevine are that a deal between "a German club" and Bendtner will begin this week now this is by no means a solid source so take that one with a pinch of salt.

Anyone thats about it for now, should anything happen then I will keep you posted. Next weeks regular post may be a bit late as I'm on hols for a few weeks and after having my seat kicked to shit on a plane for 9 hours doesn't put me in the mood to write a post so yeah. Time to watch the end of the golf. Well lets face it theres fuck all else on. 

A busy week ahead

Sorry I haven't posted recently its been a busy weekend for myself. The squad left for Malaysia on friday with Sami Nasri which means that he has time away from all of the British press so to say, they'll all be there but the chances of him picking up a copy of well pretty much anything once they hit China is slim at best. This gives him time to enjoy himself with teammates and give Wenger time to have talks with him without his shit-prick of an agent butting in. Cesc was left behind which has only fueled speculation about his future but he has a muscle problem. Of course the Catalan papers have put it nicely that he refused to go which clearly isn't the case. Along with him bizzarely Bendtner and Almunia have been left out which suggests that they won't be at the club next season.

Onto more transfer talk and now a player coming in. Now the Arsenal site hasn't broken this yet but Arsene has said in his press conference that we have signed Gervinho, which suggests that he has signed but they are ironing out one or two things. So I'm sure it will appear on the site later on. In the same conference he also said that Cesc and Nasri will be Arsenal players next season, read into that what you will.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, we have made our interest in Stuart Downing noted. Really? Downing? I can't understand this one and personally I think he's a pile of shit but this hasn't stopped Villa putting a £20m price tag on him. Lets hope that their vows to keep him will be kept or he can go to the scousers just as long as he doesn't come here. There has been no more news on Juan Mata and I see a move now being very unlikely but there is plenty of time left. Cahill and Samba talk has calmed as well.
  

Speculation of a Bendtner move is now growing with £9m being suggested from Sporting Lisbon and Dortmund. I'd be very happy to accept £9m from either club to be honest as I've grown weary of the worlds best player and the inevitable groans from the Emirates crowd when his name is read over the tannoy. Another thing about the tannoy while its come up I'm not a fan of the system they've implimented over previous seasons where we all shout the players last name. It started out as fun but in a game where I've lost all motivation to shout its really not what I want to be doing. 

Thats about it for today I'll keep you posted should anything important happen but I'm afraid I wont bother reporting on the game against the Malaysia XI on Wednesday. I'll leave that open for your interpretation. Have a good week.

Gael Clichy moves to Man City

Apologies for not breaking this last night, I was watching Derren Brown fuck with people's mind's in London, very good show if anyone is thinking about it. Anyway so it was finally confirmed last night after weeks of speculation that Gael Clichy has gone Man City for an undisclosed fee. Those of you have been following will remember that I already stated that I thought he had to go so I'm quite happy to see him go.

But the questions are now being asked as to whether we invest in a new left back or whether we let Gibbs fill in full time. Now I personally don't think, at the moment, Gibbs is ready to fill in full time but the main problem is he is one of the most injury prone players out there, so I think we need to buy a top drawer replacement. That is just my view there are many people that say he needs to be given games and so on. We'll have to see what Wenger does, if anything.

Nasri seems to be on his way, what way exactly is anybodies fucking guess. I can't see him staying now cause obviously if he wanted too he would have signed. But as I've said time and time again about him, if he wants to go because of money then he isn't the sort of player we want at the club. Reports suggest a deal could be done by the end of the week but I can see this being a drawn our, messy situation. The way Nasri has treated everyone at the club has been incredibly disrespectful and should by some chance he stay, I don't think anyone at The Emirates will be as fond of him as we all were.

The latest on Fabregas, well I say the latest on it but its been the same story for the whole of the summer, Barcelona line up bid, deal to be done by the end of the week. Until i see anything concrete I'm not believing anything. Interestingly Cesc was back for pre-season yesterday dispelling the idea that he was gonna boycott pre-season prep. I agree with the Arseblogger on this one, that just isn't the sort of player Cesc is, he does respect the club and deep down he loves Arsenal, as much as a move back to his home land is tempting.

Finally today, I was watching an interview with Kenny Sansom, who I have met and spoke with before and he seems to be thinking if we lose these 3 players (one being Clichy!!) we're basically fucked beyond all belief. Now I do think this is going over the top, a squad is 25 people not 3, admittedly our squad of 25 involves the likes of Denilson but still. Wenger isn't an idiot he knows if they go we need to do business and from what I hear on the grapevine we are already involved in business. So much like last time we spoke I heard Kenny and found myself thinking "Really?"

That's it for now I'll keep you all posted. Enjoy the sun.

Sky Sources: Man City close to signing Nasri and Clichy

I was going to write today about an Arsenal source talking about us signing Cahill and I will touch on that in a bit. But I'm starting with the news that Man City are closing in on signing Samir Nasri and Gael clichy. This story has literally just been broadcast on SSN. The report suggests they are going to offer £20m and to be totally honest if its true we should take it. You must remember this is player who is on the last year of his contract and is stalling over a new deal due to money. If he is motivated by money then he is certainly going to the right place with Shake man-I'm-a-spoilt-rich-cunt-suer throwing money at things to please himself. But as many people have stated including myself, he had a good 6 month spell and we all got a bit caught up in Nasri fever, but really he hasn't shown that he is a tried and tested performer. To top that off we'll also make a cool profit on him.

When I look at Nasri now I see a player who has 1) let success get to his head and 2) has let his agent convince him he really is that good. The term money talks is a certainly true when it comes to Nasri who was stalling over an extra 20k a week, Man City are reportedly offering him an extra 90k a week taking his salary to an eye watering 180k. Now I don't think I'm alone here when I say that he is not worth that, so best of luck to city with that and once again not letting the squad gel and settle will be their downfall.

As for Clichy I couldn't give two shits where he goes. In earlier posts I said he was past it and I stand by that, he hasn't been at his best for seasons now. As much as it pains me to say it, when we let that money grabbing arsehole Ashley Cole go, we lost the best left back in the world. Clichy stepped in for a while but in recent seasons his touch has gone and I think its time we all went seperate ways. No fee has been mentioned for him but I would assume its between the 5-8m mark.

However there was talk of players moving the other way. Now who exactly would we want from their squad? well in a perfect world I'd like Yaya Toure but we all know that won't happen, no doubt we'll be offered some two bob defender or midfielder such as Kompany. So lets look at it this way is £25m about the right price for Nasri and Clichy? Well yes an no. Yes in the situation we are in where Nasri has a year left on his contract and isn't going to sign a new one and in Clichy's current form he isn't worth much. No in the sense that Nasri is certainly a talent and when Andy Carrol commands £35m then Nasri commands more than £25m on his own. But such is life and football.

Onto what I was actually going to post about. An "Arsenal" source yesterday said that we were going to move in on Gary Cahill, now many people have doubted whether Wenger will pay the £17m that they want including myself. But reports suggest that we will pay his get out clause and then offer them a player, namely bentfoot. Now this may sound stupid but it may have more support than you'd think. They have lost Elmander who has moved to Galatasaray and Bendtner could be his replacement so we shall see what develops.

That's it for now but be sure to check back and I'll keep you updated on the Nasri/Clichy saga and anything else that happens. Remember we follow a club not a player...

New Facebook page

Just a quick update here really to say that Gunnar's Blog now has a new Facebook page, so get on there and get liking. Its also an area for discussion on the topics that are covered here so let me hear your opinions and get some feedback.

Here's the link:

Thanks guys and gals.

Barca bid for Cesc

It emerged today that Barcelona have made their first bid for Fabregas a pathetic £27m which when you compare to the £31m they offered last year which we also turned down, is rather insulting to Arsenal, the fans and Cesc himself. The argument that they gave that over this season he's undergone "wear and tear" is complete bullshit. Thats simply Barcelona not wanting to pay top prices for top players. Claiming that a player who is 24 is suddenly worth less than when he was 23 is absolutely pathetic. I can imagine once they stated the offer our representative simply getting up and walking out. When they pay 40m euros for David Villa, they should be aware that we aren't letting Cesc go cheap.

Anyway rant over. So what else is on the grapevine? Well quite honestly nothing new. Apparently we are preparing a bid for Samba who has stated that he is open to a move, which I would welcome should it materialise. I think he's a strong, tall player who is what we need at the back. The other piece of old news once again links us with Cahill. Another play who I would welcome at the back as he clearly has talent. However not talent worth £17m.

I understand a lot of fans are getting impatient with Arsenal as we dont appear to be doing much, but apart from Manchester United who have signed Ashley Young (why?) not a lot of clubs are doing tonnes of business. I'm sure behind the scenes we are sorting things out, Arsenal have a habit of doing nothing, then out of the blue making a signing. I also see that we have apparently signed Ricardo Alvarez according to the Metro (about as reliable as the mirror). Hey even his Wikipedia page says he's an Arsenal player so it must be true!

Well should anything dramatic happen (not bloody likely) then I'll keep you posted but until next time enjoy the weather while you can!