Arsenal transfer round-up: Vermaelen a certainty, Richards nothing more than a rumour

Hello again. I hope you’re well this fine Wednesday. The weather is beautiful in Brisbane and I’m looking forward to a couple of relaxing red wines this afternoon to complete what has so far been a very nice day.

Yesterday’s post was all about likely signing Thomas Vermaelen and todays is focused on a few of the other serious transfer targets that have been bandied about in the past week or so. According to ‘She Wore A Yellow Ribbon’ we’ve been linked with 35 players already and today I’ve listed some of the more prominent options in the hope of providing some clarification to the supporters about who are likely signings and who are simply not.

If a player is not listed it’s because I believe there’s absolutely no chance they will join or they’re yet to be linked.

Thomas Vermaelen
This one looks a dead certainty. The Belgian defender and captain of Ajax has admitted that he is in the process of organising a move and although it’s yet to be officially announced by Arsenal, Robin van Persie’s comments that he ‘must be good’ point to a very likely signing. For further detailed information on Vermaelen check out this interview with a life-long Ajax fan.

Yaya Toure
This rumour has gained momentum since Toure’s agent gave Barcelona a serving about not valuing Kolo’s brother. However, most news sources seemed to have ignored his agent’s comments from the same interview stating that “he will not go to Arsenal because he has better offers”. It’s case closed as far as I’m concerned.

Edin Dzeko
There seems to be an assumption that AC Milan’s sale of Kaka will open the door for the Italian club to take Emmanuel Adebayor off our hands and pave the way for Arsenal to bring in Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko. But that notion seems to ignore the fact that Milan are yet to make a bid for Adebayor and Dzeko has admitted that the Italians have been his “favourite” club since he was a little boy. As much as I rate Dzeko as an extremely promising prospect the truth is that a move for him would be dependent on Adebayor heading to Italy and even then, Wenger might not see the need to replace him with the multitude of striking options at his disposal. I just can’t see this one happening and I wouldn’t actually be surprised to see Adebayor and Dzeko leading the line for Milan next season.

Cristian Zapata
This one is interesting if only because things are completely up in the air. Zapata himself has admitted that Arsenal have shown interest while the Colombian’s agent has confirmed that he and the 22-year-old are currently weighing up their options. The inevitable signing of Vermaelen may pour cold water on this speculation but the possible sale of William Gallas or Kolo Toure may heat things up again. Personally I see Zapata as a bit of a dark horse and wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the squad for next season. Watch this space.

Micah Richards
There’s a little of speculation floating around that Richards might join Arsenal from Manchester City with Kolo Toure going the other way. However, I’ve not seen any firm comments to suggest this is the case and unless things develop further I don’t see the point in speculating this rumour.

And that’s about that. Let me know what you think and I’ll speak to you soon.

Have your say on all the transfer speculation by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. I’d love to see Dzeko at Arsenal, but like you said, we don’t really need him with a sackful of players able to play there. I hope Eduardo is fit to play the start of the season, he’s the sort of person to put away the chances that others may waste. Good blog mate

  2. ————Almunia————–
    Sagna—-Gallas—-Zapata—–Clichy
    ———-New DM/Song———–
    ——–Cesc——–Nasri———
    -RvP—Dudu/Dzeko/Bendy—Arshavin-

    ——————————–
    Dudu/Dzeko/Bendy, Denilson, Walcott, Vela, Fabianski, Vermaelen, Ramsey

    Champions 09/10

  3. Hi guys. to me i think that, Arsenal needs all the five players 2 deffanders 1 midfielder, 2 stikers.
    If we are to give our competetors a run of there money.
    God day.

  4. Arsenal need to rethink how their strikers should operate. If they insist to stroll the ball into goal from a few feet away then they will end up no better than top 4 placing. None of the strikers in Arsenal wants to shoot from outside the box except Van Persie. They simply refused to shoot unlike MU or Chelsea strikers. Nowadays strikers must shoot early and from further away from goal because defenders are fouling non-stop especially when a striker is in box. If Arsenal continue with her old ways they will be doomed.

  5. Don’t want Kolo to leave. Ever. He’s Arsenal through and through. Should be dipped in gold and stood in the trophy room. Anyway – he’s a great player and versatile. Why sell him? What’s the point? And to a rival team! We’ve few enough players around with experience. Unless Kolo himself asks AW, as a favour, so he can get a big cash payday. Otherwise keep him. I sincerely hope this talk of him going to City is the usual hogwash.

  6. @SF good post and a great idea to focus on the likely transfers rather than being dragged into all sorts of media speculation about transfers which journo’s run just to fill compy. Good to see imminent arrival of Vermaelan and although I don’t know him it is encouraging the Wenger is acting swiftly and buying smartly. Think we need another 2 signings – another central defender and a defensive midfielder. We will get injuries and need cover. Richards could be a good buy – but is still really rough round the edges. Great potential though.

  7. Sylvestre on the other hand is the completely opposite scenario – and Man City wanted to buy him before we stepped in and nabbed him. Trade him to City for Richards. He is a player I never want to see turn out for Arsenal again. I’d like to tie him to the goal post and let RVP take shots at him from from a couple of yards away.

  8. @ kisekka – Signing 5 players is not going to happen. Plus, it’s not needed. 2 or 3 at the most is what is required to turn this team into title challengers in my opinion. We’ve assumedly got one so now it’s just a matter of seeing whether a second centre-back comes in and a midfielder is purchased. Having said that, Wenger might be trying to turn Vermaelen into a midfielder and we MIGHT have to sign a striker if Adebayor leaves. Lots of ifs and buts, but even then 5 players is over the top.

  9. @ Neilo – Thanks mate. I try to stay clear of transfer speculation and only post what looks likely. So if I’ve posted it’s because something genuine is happening or I’m trying to get something useful across.

    I absolutely hate mindless transfer speculation and what it does to supporters in the off-season!

  10. @Eddie Yak
    I may be wrong but at least two of Arshavin’s goals against Liverpool were from outside the box. Also with Rosicky back in the mix we have another player who strikes the ball from outside the box, I remember him scoring in the 2006 WC before we bought him from outside the box. Lets hope we will have more options next season but I don’t think we need to bring any new forwards in even if Adebayor goes. With regard Thomas Vermaelen maybe this is why Arsene tries to keep all his signings under wraps until they happen, we don’t know if we are going to be getting, if we get, a player in the Vidic mould or another Cygan, but there again when Cygan came he had just been named as the French defender of the year. I have just had another thought, if we do buy that ellusive DCM that will also open up Cesc to do his thing and one of those things is shooting from distance. More internationals tonight, don’t know if I can watch the England game though.
    @SF, how are you enjoying your blog holiday?
    To all you Australians, it seems your guys will be having a little bit of a rest before the Ashes, come on you England. Just a bit of light harted banter there so to bring up that you have been knocked out of the T20, but there again we lost to Holland.

  11. Ples sir, u should find something better 2 do with d club, the club is likn behind. We all are worry abut in nigeria. Frm Akomah james (a.k.a, wenga-boy)

  12. …………Almunia………..
    Sagna….Toure….Gallas….Clcihy
    ………..Song/Cana…………….
    Nasri………Fabregas…….Arshavin
    ……..Adebayor……Van Persie…..

    Subs:
    Fabianski
    Walcott
    Eduardo
    Bendtner
    Denilson
    Vermaeelan
    Rosicky

    Sell:
    Silvestre
    Senderos

    Buy:
    Cana
    Vermaeelan

    Rest is Perfect….

  13. With all these speculations about defenders, wenger might well surprise us all by getting a winger instead. Wenger knows but with wenger, you never know.
    And what happened to that Cana guy? Now, that was a signing that i would have loved to see. Still believe that we need a strong midfield enforcer.

  14. I happy in a way am sad in way this tranfer rumours has realy cause serious speculation.i hope quality players being on d web wil 2 arsenal because wenger is a silent killer.am afraid because man c man u chelsea liverpool.may God help us.

  15. Why sell Toure when you trying to build a winning team to compute with other clubs ,I think if you want to sell a player than sell Sylves.you have to think about injury.and again try to build a team with two good players assign to a wing.look at blues,MU Lfc.they have option for every wing. think about it and you can see they better off.

  16. I dont want Gallas to leave, although i hate his character i have to admit that he the best CD we have. Vermaelen is a certainty then, id like to see him with Gallas as the first choice pairing at the back next season.

  17. —-Cesc—-
    Rosicky-Nasri

    Thats our CM next season i think with RVP, Eduardo and Arshavin up front. Like i said a few days ago i reckon Vermaelen will be our only signing this term.

  18. Yaya has turned down a new contract with Barca (Telegraph). He is currently on £45k a week, why cant we offer him £60k a week for his services?

  19. @SF – Yeah i know what he said. He said he thinks what we can offer is not good enough, but if we make a good offer then why not? I mean if Theo is on £60k a week why cant we offer Yaya 70 or even £80k a week?

  20. – – – – – – Almunia

    Sagna – Gallas – Vermaelen – Clichy

    – – – Denilson – Fabregas

    Nasri – – – Arshavin – – – Rosicky

    – – – – – van Persie

    Can you really argue with that team?

    – Almunia is more than good enough for me.
    – Gallas has been world class since he was relieved of the armband.
    – I am guessing that Vermaelen is good, why would we sign him for 10 mil if he wasnt?
    – The two fullbacks are top top class.
    – Denilson has been a shining star in our terrible season, in a steady team, he will be even better.
    – The attacking trio of Fabregas, Nasri, Rosicky wil resemble what we has in the 07/08 season.
    – Arshavin and van Persie could be an awesome partnership up front. van Persie just needs to play up front – where he is best. Let Arshavin drop off.

  21. yeah Richards has been rubbish over the years, its only the poms that get excited about him for some reason…i so hope we sign someone early on!

  22. We have had to endure watching payers play for Arsenal that have not bloomed into Arsenal players.Ok AW is not right all the time as he is only human. That being so we have the opportunity to clear out the dead wood and think about launching a serious attack on the league title. To achieve this the following to go: Adebayor,Fabianski,Denilson,
    Bendtner,Gallas ( as he wants to go )Diaby. Then to buy those players that are missing that we need.To start we still need a top class goal keeper. We have a history of top class keepers but Almunina does not fall into that statement of ” top class” and the rest are the areas that we all know being a center back and a hard mid fielder with experence. We are almost there as a world beating team but without those final bits to the equation all will be lost. We have sighed no one as yet. So it is a watch and see.E

  23. cant see any problem with the goal keeping myself, no need to create fictitious issues in the goalkeeping department when there are none!

    Almunia is class and has saved enough penalties and kept enough clean sheets to prove his worth. Surely the poms wouldnt be making all the hoo-ha about him playing for them if he wasnt better than all the England goalkeepers put together (ok thats a big statement..)?

  24. @ Tom14 – I have to disagree with you about Denilson’s inclusion in that team. Song has well and truly taken over his spot in my opinion and I believe that Denilson has been a huge disappointment this season. I honestly don’t see what he brings to the side and I just worry about his future at the club.

  25. Sorry, but Denilson has been absolutely fantastic this season. Song came back into the team in a 4231, with Denilson playing as his “protector” giving Song attacking and defensive freedom. He actually played very well in that role – restricting the work Denilson had to do. This went on for a few games and his reputation rightly grew (I have always been a fan to be fair)

    But we then put him in as the sole DM against Man Utd in the Champions League and the Chelsea game and he was dreadful. We missed Denilson more than we have missed any player in the whole of the season.

    Denilson prompty returns against Man Utd and did not put a foot wrong.

    I know Denilson does not fit the “profile” and we find it hard to escape his label as the “New Cesc” – but he is as close to Gilberto as I have ever seen.

    http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=514757

    Just read the above article – it explains my thoughts better than I ever could 😀

  26. Sf i strongly disagree with you on Denilson, i think Denil was one of the few players who put in there best this season and is by far a better player as compared to song who can’t read the game in the midfield.

  27. Denilson got 7 assists last season, just 3 less than Cesc and RVP. That says alot about his ability, he was asked to play a role he wasnt used to (he is an AM not a DM) and did well under the circamstances.

  28. No problems with the contrasting opinions on Denilson. I like him as a guy, but I’m not his biggest fan as a player. There’s something about him that suggests to me that he’s going to struggle to make his mark on the Premiership, he’s a bit more of an Invisible Wall than the original!

  29. I don’t see why Denilson gets slammed so much on this blog and Song gets so much love. I think they both played about the same on the season if you look at as a whole.

    Denilson started off the season in better form than Song did, scoring and assisting some goals, but he kind of drifted off in that department as the season went on. He did however start attacking the ball much better and playing the true holding midfielder role. His tackling statistics are actually quite impressive. His passing and vision are what need the most improvement as I think his work ethic is quite good.

    That being said, I think Song started the season off pretty poorly. He looked lazy on the pitch and his passing was woeful. He did turn things around tremendously though and grew quite nicely as the season progressed. He showed a much higher work rate, his tackling got better, and he actually showed a few times that he had some skill with the ball. He assisted a goal or two and scored a pretty one towards the end of the season.

    I think both of them definitely have a long way to go. They both still tend to make some bad decisions with the ball in the middle of the pitch and give the ball away to the other team quite easily sometimes (no one is as bad as Diaby in that department though). With another offseason under their belts, injured players coming back into the side, not having to shoulder quite as much of the workload throughout the season, and hopefully the addition of an experienced tough-minded holding midfielder, I think they will turn out quite nicely and could become a great one-two punch for years to come.

    Anywho, that’s my two cents for the day. Hopefully, I will have the time to post more on the blog this year as I at the least try to read it each day. Keep up the good work SF…can’t wait to see who AW brings to the squad. Vermaelen should be a nice addition as he is fairly young and seems to be a leader. Leaders are important for mental toughness of our side. Enjoy the transfer drama throughout the summer…I surely do!

  30. @Breezy …i do agree with you…I will give both Deni and Song the same point for the season. Deni was good at the start of the season and also scoring goals and Song was good at the later part of the season. But still cant see both challenging for CDM if suppose we bring one good CDM like Alonso or anybody..can have any comment on the CDM place. But surely please off load some players like diaby who is good for nothing. I can’t even understand why he is here is arsenal. In 2009 Fifa 09 Manager mode I always transfer diaby for anything. I can’t just believe AW on what justification he is providing diaby an place in the starting line up. As far as defense is concerned i still prefer that gallas and toure stays and forget about the indifference and still would want Thomas Vermaelen in the team and challenge for the place and than sell gallas or toure in January after accessing Thomas Vermaelen for six months. Otherwise it is an ok team Because i would still prefer Martins from Ncastle coming to arsenal than Dzeko or any other striker.

  31. @ SF. there is a reason denilson is captain of every brazil team since under 15!beneath the quite persona belies an organiser and leader remember a gilberto?problem is,at the moment he suffers from the “new boy at school syndrome” i mean how do u tell fabs,nasri or arshavin how to place themselves!as he gains experience and matures,he will find his step and command better.i saw his 1st seniour game n he was marvelous to the point i didnt miss fabs!too bad he has had to play defensive most of this season, he is best offensively.my only qualm is he tends to ball watch sometimes.

  32. Just an finding when the whole world is looking at Benzema why should not arsenal go BenArfa he is truly an talented player. The way of playing resembles me more of T.Henry the greatest ever arsenal player ever had with due respect to other in who played for arsenal. This boy is genius. Just spend some time looking at this video
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56pTeso0-Y&feature=related

    and here are his stats

    http://www.frenchleague.com/joueur/index.asp?no_joueur=106097

    Not Eye catching but it was not for Henry also. I think he has bright prospect good left foot which we miss in our squad after T.henry.

  33. I need some infprmation about the transfer news. I am happy on Thomas Vermaelen moves. and on the dezko interest. but what about santa kurse moves?. he is wonderfull play if adbayoro go the write player to replace him is santakurse . but in same newspaper I heard he move to manchster city . is this true ?.please tell me informations regarding the transfer news in arsenal. bye think you .

  34. u can neverer guess who wenger gunna he will you knw with the bnppapers mayb buy that ajax player but u never with the papers

  35. The more I see of Dzeko the more I think he is ideal. He is basically Adebayor with a great first touch and cool finisher in front of goal… Id love picking him up.

    Is it possible Vermaelen is going to play DMF???

  36. Sorry, but Denilson has been absolutely fantastic this season. Song came back into the team in a 4231, with Denilson playing as his “protector” giving Song attacking and defensive freedom. He actually played very well in that role – restricting the work Denilson had to do. This went on for a few games and his reputation rightly grew (I have always been a fan to be fair)

    But we then put him in as the sole DM against Man Utd in the Champions League and the Chelsea game and he was dreadful. We missed Denilson more than we have missed any player in the whole of the season.

    Denilson prompty returns against Man Utd and did not put a foot wrong.

    I know Denilson does not fit the “profile” and we find it hard to escape his label as the “New Cesc” – but he is as close to Gilberto as I have ever seen.

  37. I have been watching Barca almost the whole season and one thing that I thought overlooked was the fact that how many times Xabi and Iniesta track back, tackle, and win balls. Everyone knows that once they get the ball they don’t lose it easily. They only have one DM in the shape of Yaya or Busquets when Yaya was playing CB.

    My point is that knowing Song is improving by the day, and Fab can tackle, so are Rosicky, and Arshavin, isn’t asking for a new defensive MF a moot point? Just a thought. Unless we feel that there is no backup for him. The strike force will sort itslef out, but CB is where Arsene is rightly focusing on. As SF pointed out numerous times, we are for one or two players only. And I for one certainly agree.

  38. Considering Denilson is better than Song – we have no problems there do we? It is about midfield balance, everyone defending as a team – not one man running around all the time like Flamini.

  39. I have to agree w/ SF re: Denilson; Song was far the better player down the stretch. I know all about the stats backing up Dennis Neilson, but as the saying goes, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. I’ll say this flat out, I like Denilson. But as it stands, we will not win anything by pairing him with Cesc. He is neither a tough enforcer-type (like Cana/Mascherano), nor is he a box to box terrier of a midfielder who harries the opposition (a la Flamini), nor is he an Invisible Wall–his positioning is erratic at best, and he far too frequently spends time going forward, marooning Cesc in a defensive role, which takes the bite out of our attack. He will be a fine player, but he’s hardly what we need: a midfielder who will do the dirty work and allow Cesc to lead our attacks and deliver the killer final ball we love him so well for. I’m not saying Song is the answer, but if we buy no further players (and you never know with Arsene), I would prefer him as Cesc’s cover than Denilson.

  40. Amerigoon, it is funny how people can see such different things. Luck for Arsenal (and myself) Arsene Wenger really rates Denilson and will play him at DM for a long long time.

  41. You know, the comments on this post have reminded me just why I like writing this blog and discussing with the people that read it.

    Basically it started with Tom14 and I having a discussion about Song/Denilson which was then joined by Amerigoon, certified arsenalholic, TT and Breezy (sorry if I’ve missed anyone – brief scan) about comparing the two players. But what I’m so happy is that instead of descending into a “Song is the best, you’re all idiots” or “Denilson is better, are you blind?” people were completely respectful of each other and it allowed the discussion to flow.

    I can’t thank the readers enough for promoting the excellent community that exists on this blog and this discussion was just a prime example of it.

    Cheers,
    SF

  42. Good reply SF. I usually get a torrent of abuse for supporting Denilson.

    What I will say is that you are all idiots for thinking any different to me 😀

  43. Adebayor is not needed in arsenal bcos his not a strong and fast striker and with d arsenal formation 5-4-1.a strong intelligent fast striker is needed.

  44. Just finished watching highlights of a Ajax vs FC Twente game on tv. It made me excited about signing Vermaelen, im impressed.

  45. re Deni and Song, i think we can all agree that neither one is good enough yet to be first choice DM.

  46. There goes another one… Amaury Bischoff is off to p.s.g for free? I did like him the couple of times I saw him play and I think he would of been better off being used in a swap deal with cash rather than being let go for nothing.

  47. i agree that arshavin should be a striker next season due to his superb goal scoring skills, but spanish fry,
    what is the deal with xabi alonso? i heard talk of him transferring, and cesc gave his compliments to him. also what are the chances cesc leaves to barca or elsewhere?

  48. @ Charles – I think the chances of both of those transfers are extremely low. If Liverpool let Alonso go it will probably be to Real Madrid. As for Cesc, nothing has been said that suggests he will go to Barcelona apart from some annoying Catalan newspaper trying to stir trouble.

  49. Song improved as the season went on and basically, from my point of view, saved his ass from getting the boot. Denilson…struggled…I thought, (and that’s the word Mr Fry used) throughout the season. So we’re left with a couple of players who are not bad – and will hopefully be better next season. But is that enough? Surely not. We need something better than ‘not bad’ in midfield – otherwise we’ll be in for just another ‘not bad’ season. I’m not saying get rid of them – but they need to be sidelined to a certain extent or guided on the field with a top notch player.

  50. I live in England.

    Gibbs, Denilson is clearly good enough. Nobody could have those stats without doing something right.

    Bischoff and pischoff as far as I am concerned – never going to be good enough, Wilshere is already ahead of him.

  51. I just don’t see how anyone can say Denilson struggled? He was the only player in the squad who could say he was consistently good throughout the season.

    Of course he had blips, but he was never as bad as “least deserving winner of any Player of the Month” van Persie for February…

    Song was good, and I supported him long before pretty much any Arsenal fan (I wanted him in the team ahead of Denilson before the start of the season and a few games into it) but since his performance away at Bolton, my eyes have been opened.

    He is the “Invisible Wall mkII”

  52. @Tom14 – you must be Denilson’s agent. But what the hell. He’s been with Arsenal a while, he’s loyal, he never complains or talks out of turn. He’s ‘consistently good’ you say. Let’s just make do with that then…

  53. Wow! ManU has accepted a £80m Real Madrid bid for Ronaldo. Thats £140m gone in less than a week, how much money does this club have?

  54. What do people think of Arjen Robben?
    All these big players going to Real Madrid, is he going to fit in!?
    Saw a website saying he could go for as little as £7 million.
    But then do we need him? Probably not!

    We do need defenders and defensive minded midfielders, but do we need the first person that comes up as speculation on the internet or do we need someone that is proven to be a good, solid and experienced defender? I’d go for the latter.

    I would love it if Yaya Toure could come to us!

  55. Man Utd will be better without Ronaldo- I really think so. Praying they go for Valencia and not Ribery as the replacement…

    Real Madrid- Kaka one of my favorites, Ronaldo the man I despise more than any other. Dont know what to think of that team. IMO Ronaldo will do well as long as he doesnt have to take a leadership role. However I do think his ego will destroy him with no Fergie watching over his shoulder and keeping him in check

  56. Ribery and David Villa could join the mancs. That would really give me sleepless nights. Maybe its time for us to make some serious bids now, we need to in order to keep up with the best.

  57. Yea Im quite worried about those two tbh. Either joining Madrid or Man U would not be good. 2 of my absolute favorite players. Hopefully they end up at Barca instead. I dont know what I will do if Man Utd sign them… We need a couple signings of our own btw…

  58. Ronaldo to go, YEAH, cant stand that player!!! But I like Robery and am praying he doesnt join Manure. David Villa will join either Chelsea or R Madrid. A lot of transfer speculation. I would rather just talk about it when it actually happens.

  59. sf, just wondered if you knew who was voted arsenal,s player of the season and young player of the season??

  60. Villa is going to Madrid, he has said so himself. The player has no interest in moving to England, and it seems like United’s transfer options are now quite diminished.

    I can only think of Benzema or Ribery as possible replacements, and I’m not sure Bayern will sell him at any price. Zizou wants him to go to Real, and will problably convince him to go there if he is to leave.

    I’m very interested to see who Ferguson brings in as a replacement; Luis Antonio Valencia has beeen mooted. Looks like Tevez is on his way to Man City too.

    Exciting Times…

  61. Let’s not panic as to who ManU will be signing. The reason being that they have always been short in central midfield not out in the wings. They have Park, Nani, Rooney, if needed. Their shortcomings, of course in CL only this season, was the absence of Owen Hargreves. If they address that, they will be very difficult to play against. Ribery and Villa are great, but I have a feeling those two don’t want to come to England. They both said so. They may not make much of a differece in England either, getting clattered every weekend.

  62. ribery doesnt want to go to england, and villa is probably going to go to real madrid

  63. I think taking a dig at Denilson is slightly pointless SF. Ok, in terms of silverware the team hasn’t lived up to it this year but for that, take a dig at the team as a whole. Sagna underperformed, Ade didnt turn up to half the games and Clichy slipped against Spurs – but I don’t see many people saying much against him. Singling out people is just wrong. Lets face it – when fit, for most of the season, he partnered Cesc ahead of Diaby and Song for a reason – he was immense. Its ok to have your own opinion on these things. Personally speaking, I can’t actually stand Johan Djourou and fail to understand why he wasn’t loaned out instead of the Rock that is Philippe Senderos, or why he began ahead of Mikael Silvestre in the 2nd leg of the CL Semi final (Silvestre was fit, he was benched). Why did we not call back Armand Traore off his loan on emergency when Clichy got injured, instead of playing Gibbs? But ultimately, the fans ALWAYS fall short to the genius that is Arsene Wenger. His scouting system and undoubted knowledge and obsession of the game beats our petty discussions by a long, long way. If Denilson wasn’t up to the task, then from a young age, he’d have been gone. Take a look at Aliadiere, Bentley, Ryan Garry, Justin Hoyte, Arturo Lupoli.
    Another reason as to why you could be perplexed is becuase of how you may view the game. Last season I went to 11 home games and 3 away, travelling all round the country in the process. Sometimes, because of what you may or even may not see on TV, I don’t think you should let that cloud your judgement. Yeh, granted, Denilson isn’t yet a Gilberto Silva who quickly closed down effortlessly, got forward, made tremendous passes through the eye of a needle as a through-ball and even nipped in with goals. But take a look at Deni’s workrate, what he does off the ball, shackling people away in to tight spaces, distributing brilliantly in cold, wet and nasty northern conditions – for example Bolton away, Aston Villa away…the ball through to Arshavin for his first Arsenal goal at home to Blackburn. Sorry for going on a bit, but the main point of this is that alot of what he does goes unnoticed and there’s DEFO more than meets the eye with him. I can tell you that first hand, having been 20 metres away from the guy nearly 15 times last year. Gilberto was doing what he did when he was hitting 32, 6 years after winning a world cup at 25. He received ridiculous criticism in his first year aswell believe it or not but then went on to captain Arsenal at one point. Denilson won’t take that long, don’t worry.

  64. I remember watching Yaya when he was young- he was on with trial with us at the Barnet Preseason-should have got him on a free then!!

  65. i believe yaya is a perfect aquisition for arsenal. senderos and silvestre shd be sold. paul, uganda

  66. is xabi still an option 4 arseanl. i really feel he cud help strengthen the midfields work output and keep the cohesion when we need it

  67. also..umm hw is arsenal planning to strengthen the weak defense that we have…it’s really our weakness…

  68. The signing of Vermaelen could perhaps be followed up by the signing of Hangeland. With Gallas entering the final year of his contract he’s near certain to leave, and I can hardly see Silvestre remaining in the squad even with the extent of Wenger’s loyalty.

    With Hangeland and Vermaelen forming the new backbone of our side Toure could be pushed up into the defensive midfield role that allows Cesc the freedom to roam. Djourou and Song could act as cover, but I’m unsure as to whether Senderos will be staying to accompany them.

    Regardless I cannot imagine there’ll be any attacking signings unless we lose van Persie or Adebayor, in which case I should imagine we’ll be looking at Dzeko or Chemakh in the case of the latter. As for losing van Persie, I could see Wenger moving for the likes of Babel or Arda Turan, both of whom he has been linked with before, and pushing Arshavin forward into the second striker role.

    I’d thus expect another 1-2 signings this summer, but perhaps many more departures with our vast quantity of defenders at present, potentially leaving a starting eleven of:

    Almunia; Sagna, Hangeland, Vermaelen, Clichy; Walcott, Fabregas, Toure, Arshavin; van Persie, Adebayor

    Although I for one wouldn’t be too displeased should Zapata come in rather than Hangeland. I would however like to see a tall centre half arrive to complement the already defensively excellent Thomas Vermaelen.

  69. maybe da cause to our 13m budget is da buy ov arshavin and our league finish despite being the fourth best team in europe.also is vermaelen good-if yes huz he betta dan

  70. ithink arsenal to buy a true leader like viera. even viera would be nice on a free transfer from inter but we a consistent striker and a another defender like kolotoure a leader at the back

    they should:
    loan out:

    BENDTNER:

    because he is not good enuff becuase he needs to work on shooting from short distance and needs to build up his confidence

    FABIANSKI:

    because of his mistake against chelsea in the semifinal of the fa cup coming out to early and to far againest dragba who can easily get past goalkeepers out of there box.

    SELL;

    SENDEROS:

    he has past his best and really stuggled on loan to acmilan

    SILVESTRE;

    the same as senderos was at his best at manutd

    BUY;

    PATRICK VIERA:

    HE IS AVAILIABE ON A FREE TRANSFER AND ARSENAL NEED A GOOD LEADER

    GIGNAC;

    he scored 24 goals last season and arsenal need to score more goals and need a partner for vanpersie and arshvin

    RICHARDS;

    HE IS LIKE THE NEW TOURE AND HECAN ALSO SCORE GOALS FROM FOOT AND HEAD.

    MY 09 10 TEAM LINE UP:

    GOALKEEPER;

    ALMUNIA

    DEFENDER;

    CLICHY

    GALLAS

    RICHARDS

    SAGNA

    MIDFIELDER;

    ROSICKY

    FABREGAS

    VIERA

    NASRI

    STRIKER:

    ARSHAVIN

    VAN PERSIE

    SUBSTITUTE:

    MANNOE(GK)
    VERMALEAN(D)
    DJOROU(D)
    SONG (DM)
    WALCOTT(M)
    EDUARDO(STRIKER)
    GINAC(STRIKER)

  71. ithink arsenal to buy a true leader like viera. even viera would be nice on a free transfer from inter but we a consistent striker and a another defender like kolotoure a leader at the back

    they should:
    loan out:

    BENDTNER:

    because he is not good enuff becuase he needs to work on shooting from short distance and needs to build up his confidence

    FABIANSKI:

    because of his mistake against chelsea in the semifinal of the fa cup coming out to early and to far againest dragba who can easily get past goalkeepers out of there box.

    SELL;

    SENDEROS:

    he has past his best and really stuggled on loan to acmilan

    SILVESTRE;

    the same as senderos was at his best at manutd

    BUY;

    PATRICK VIERA:

    HE IS AVAILIABE ON A FREE TRANSFER AND ARSENAL NEED A GOOD LEADER

    GIGNAC;

    he scored 24 goals last season and arsenal need to score more goals and need a partner for vanpersie and arshvin

    RICHARDS;

    HE IS LIKE THE NEW TOURE AND HECAN ALSO SCORE GOALS FROM FOOT AND HEAD.

    MY 09 10 TEAM LINE UP:

    GOALKEEPER;

    ALMUNIA

    DEFENDER;

    CLICHY

    GALLAS

    RICHARDS

    SAGNA

    MIDFIELDER;

    ROSICKY

    FABREGAS

    VIERA

    NASRI

    STRIKER:

    ARSHAVIN

    VAN PERSIE

    SUBSTITUTE:

    MANNOE(GK)
    VERMALEAN(D)
    DJOROU(D)
    SONG (DM)
    WALCOTT(M)
    EDUARDO(STRIKER)
    GINAC(STRIKER)

  72. ithink arsenal to buy a true leader like viera. even viera would be nice on a free transfer from inter but we NEED
    a consistent striker and a another defender like kolotoure a leader at the back

    they should:
    loan out:

    BENDTNER:

    because he is not good enuff becuase he needs to work on shooting from short distance and needs to build up his confidence

    FABIANSKI:

    because of his mistake against chelsea in the semifinal of the fa cup coming out to early and to far againest dragba who can easily get past goalkeepers out of there box.

    SELL;

    SENDEROS:

    he has past his best and really stuggled on loan to acmilan

    SILVESTRE;

    the same as senderos was at his best at manutd

    BUY;

    PATRICK VIERA:

    HE IS AVAILIABE ON A FREE TRANSFER AND ARSENAL NEED A GOOD LEADER

    GIGNAC;

    he scored 24 goals last season and arsenal need to score more goals and need a partner for vanpersie and arshvin

    RICHARDS;

    HE IS LIKE THE NEW TOURE AND HECAN ALSO SCORE GOALS FROM FOOT AND HEAD.

    MY 09 10 TEAM LINE UP:

    GOALKEEPER;

    ALMUNIA

    DEFENDER;

    CLICHY

    GALLAS

    RICHARDS

    SAGNA

    MIDFIELDER;

    ROSICKY

    FABREGAS

    VIERA

    NASRI

    STRIKER:

    ARSHAVIN

    VAN PERSIE

    SUBSTITUTE:

    MANNOE(GK)
    VERMALEAN(D)
    DJOROU(D)
    SONG (DM)
    WALCOTT(M)
    EDUARDO(STRIKER)
    GINAC(STRIKER)

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