Arsenal Banter Archive July 03 2013

03 Jul 2013 22:34:02
I have a horrible feeling the Higuan deal has collapsed like the Mata one did 2 years ago. Something must be wrong with our negotiating team. Liverpool have signed 5 players already and City have pulled off 2 big signings. Something isn't right. Anybody have any clue? Is it Wenger haggling over 1 or 2 million or just raw incompetence from the negotiators?

Detroit Gooner

I think it's paranoid and impatient fans.

Why does everyone say like mata, we made a bid that's all, we were never close to signing him.

Liverpool are a lesser team than us - they are not going in for players of Higauin's quality. City have paid way over the odds for Fernandinho and taken a bit of a gamble with Navas. Just because they have signed early does not mean they have made good signings.

Oleg Maputo

03 Jul 2013 22:19:43
I'm not one to hope to much with arsenal but does it not strike you as strange that none of Chelsea, city or other clubs are talking about higuain? A player of his talent should be on every ones list yet there is absolutely no noise from anyone? Is this just coincidence or does any one think it may be because he has signed for us but it just hasn't been announces yet? Please let it be true!

Teams like chelsea, city, psg, have money to burn, and they want to make statement signings.

On their scout list it probably goes

Suarez, Cavani, Lewandowski, hulk cardozo and then higuain.

if they don't get their main men then higuain would be their fallback.

for us he is the most expensive we can afford, so he becomes no 1.

Man city seem to be happy with aguero to lead the line, considering they are looking to bring soldado to warm the bench with dzeko.

chelsea agree van ginkel deal so that means obi mikel is on his way out.

the striker who will come is going to make demba ba and torres redundant with lukaku his backup.

we will agree the higgy deal, a DM will come, we all know that with le coq to leave, and a GK will also happen.
the RB scenario depends on what we get for sagna.

spurs need to add a 20 goal a season striker. they may have added paulinho, but they were 15 goals behind us last season, with their chimp on form. with us adding higgy, they need to add a proper striker to keep up with us.

as much as they think they will better us this season, this is where we leave them in the dust, after our annual 5-2 meeting.

03 Jul 2013 21:29:14
Good luck to Vito mannone in his move to Sunderland.

03 Jul 2013 20:57:17
hey malaga,

i have to hand it to you mate, you entice me with your rumours and keep things interesting on here. it must be the kush :P

keep it up

Trinidad-Gooner

Agreed. It keeps it all interesting :)

Lol

Agreed.

Block 5 gooner

03 Jul 2013 20:04:55
Is Vermaelen capable of playing a DM role i'm wondering? He loves to come forward at times and he can win the ball. And he has a sweet left foot too.

This question has been posted, once a week, every week since the season ended

My answer: a club like Arsenal should not be converting players to meet their needs, rather they should deploy world class players at their proper position

Or maybe we can play him in his preferred position. Seriously though, this has been done to death.

Although you are correct, he does have a sweet left foot.

03 Jul 2013 21:01:21
Petit was a defender before he came to us. he then played as a defen mid alongside Viera. only one way to find out. km

Sorry guys but petite was not that great, pv was a monster and ran the midfield on his own, I could have played alongside Viera and looked good and I've got two left feet.

337

Henry was a winger before he came to arsenal. Mat hummels and Ashley Cole both had ambitions of being forwards before changing positions to defence and i'm sure there are many other examples. Its not always a bad thing to try something different

'Petit not that good' you are having' a laugh. he was class. Fella sat next to me used to say that Pires was pants. really don. 't know what people watch sometimes because it ain't the same game as me.

I'd try him out DM but also play him cb over mert because he is so slow and found out against anyone and when he is ran at just crumbles to the floor, just watch Swansea 2-2 arsenal fa cup and see his poor defending

I think I remember reading something about giroud being a CB when he was younger.

It can work. By there's no need with verm. Just buy a new DM

^^^^ Petite was found out after he left, he was not great before he joined us and did absolutely nothing after he left without pv. He was given the freedom to look good because viera did so much and was often marked by two players.

Dont know what you were watching?

03 Jul 2013 19:45:06
Hello Ed and fellow Gooners, I think the problem with the latest Higiuan scenario is one of 3 things. No1 a leopard (AW)doesn't change his spots No2 RM are holding onto him to use as a makeweight in other transfer deals or 3 Higiuan himself fancies he could be Napoli, s rerplacement for Cavani.
I not quite sure but did he not say a few weeks back that Italy was his preferred destination.
I was also wondering if the Gareth Barry story has some legs to it as AW see, s him has as stop gap come replacement for Diaby. Thoughts on this anyone
Thanks for the site Ed

My advice would be to not pay attention to the media and their BS. they will make up stories to attract people and raise their ratings.

wenger will work his magic in secret out of the public's eye and I really think he will come good in this transfer period.

Trinidad-Gooner

03 Jul 2013 19:12:01
People keep pushing for us to sign Lewandowski and Gundogan, my understanding is Dortmund aren't selling either player regardless of bid. Lewandowski is being kept to appease their fans over the sale of Goetze, plus he wants to sign for Bayern Munich so I truly don't think we're in with a shout there. Dortmund have also already rejected a bid from Real Madrid of 25M for Gundogan so aren't likely to accept ours, I am sure I have also seen a report he has under gone hip surgery and will be sidelined for a while so surely that makes any transfer unlikely until he has proven his fitness as hip injuries are very troublesome.

Holmesy

03 Jul 2013 18:15:57
Anyone else feeling really wound up by Arsenal so far this summer? Gazidis declares we have lots of money and we can pay the likes of Rooney. So, who cares! You have too spend the money, not just let it decay at the bottom of a bank account that's never been opened to pay a large amount! I mean, the Higuain deal looks more dead every day that passes, all for the sake of an extra £4m - I thought we could pay big money now Mr Gazidis, so why can't you up your offer by £4m? Which in today's market is not a lot AT ALL. I was so so excited by hearing we had started negotiating with Madrid to sign a proven goal scorer in Higuain, but we refuse to pay the asking price which links back to the original statement of "we have lots of money" - SPEND IT! Also, has anyone noticed how slow we have been to negotiate the Higuain deal (which is looking unlikely anyway)? In the time we've picked up the phone to enquire about Higuain and then refuse to pay up, Spurs have signed Paulinho (£17m) and are on the brink of signing David Villa and Manchester City have signed Jesus Navas and Fernandinho (£45m upwards for both). I know that transfer sagas such as Cavani and Ronaldo (to a certain extent) are no where near completion but that's because a) Cavani has around 3 or 4 clubs fighting for his signature and b) Ronaldo would cost a bomb (£80m). Now, in the Higuain deal he is not costing loads, especially as we "have money to spend" and he is not at the centre of a tug and war (well, not anymore). So, in conclusion, I am very, very worried about our transfer dealings this summer. I know there is still plenty of time, but I can see it being same old Arsenal and no change is apparent to me so far. I hope I'm proved wrong and I'd love to see Higuain, Cesar, Fellaini, Bender etc. sporting Arsenal jerseys but at the moment, I'm not so confident. Prove me wrong Arsene, prove me wrong. Thanks if you read all that too, and thanks Eds, you guys do a great job of managing this page.

I hope and believe that big things are happening. but behind closed doors, and I won't be desappointet at the club until the opposite is prooved.

Gazidis has said money is there and we just got to take his word for it.

My question is, what kind of players despite rooney is in that price range that wenger could be interested in signing?

If it was mid August I'd understand this post but considering its only July 3rd and if players aren't away on National duty or holiday or only just coming back and speaking to new managers, plus the bender off looks legit so we are obviously working on transfers and since when is it public with arsenal

It's hard but be patient and don't judge until window closes
Dandan

03 Jul 2013 20:08:22
The flip side to this. Rvp. modric to real Madrid. cesc to barca. Don't let these websites. Crap.com wind you up. They are not privy to this information. They have to create stories to fill the pages. We could off signed him already. They might want to unveil two or three players in a press conference. No news its not bad news, frustrating but not the end off the world. This site is about our opinions. If we are bidding for Higuian and Bender then its certainly the right calibre of player that we crave. km

03 Jul 2013 20:21:08
Spot on last post. anyone can buy crap. If city want to pay over the odds with both money and fee so be it. I really think paying Nasri 175k per week is a joke. And Chelsea paying 22m for shaun wright Philips. If he, or we don't buy quality then last years unrest with the supporters will be twice as bad this time around. i'm still confident. km

03 Jul 2013 17:00:38
I swear every day that goes by where we don't announce a signing, the media salivates at how easy their job will be that day. No lie!
"What you reckon team, fancy another story to wind up the Arsenal fans? Ok someone pick a player. Bender? Ok, let's do this!'

Hours later - 'Arsenal bid for Bender rejected'. Repeat.

So easy! I just ignore everything I read, only when it seems like no smoke without fire will I begin to pay attention to rumours.

But. We did bid. ?

And. It was rejected. ?

This has been confirmed.

It was an example. And confirmed by who anyway? According to who?

I agree I really think this whole rooney thing is a wind up

03 Jul 2013 16:18:12
We didn't announce Giroud until 26th July 2012
We didn't announce Cazorla until AUgust 7th, 2012.

People said those signings were early. It's 3rd July 2013. This date does not justify all the cries of 'nothing's changed' and 'same old Arsenal'.

Don't believe a single story saying we've had a bid rejected. You and I don't know WHAT goes on, nor does the media, and none of knows if those interviews with players like Grenier even happened. It's not hard to have a story that follows a basic template of part 1: Arsenal show interest in some random player, part 2: arsenal offer ridiculous bid, part 3: offer rejected, part 4: 'quotes' from the player saying how he wants to move to afc but is happy right now part 5: Arsenal 'lose out' / 'are forced to increase bid to land starlet' etc etc

Its' so easy. It's lazy journalism. If you think Arsenal and Higuain/Madrid have not established a fee and wage packet to appease both the player and Madrid, you must be on some other planet. These parties would have established what it will take to land the player weeks and weeks ago.

Just because we have money does not mean this window would ever be an easy one. There are more clubs looking for strikers that strikers available to improve those teams.

Madrid won't sell Higuain til they've found a replacement. If, for example, that is Suarez, then Liverpool won't agree the deal til they find a replacement. 3 clubs are rumoured to have been chasing Cavani - Chavs, Citeh, PSG. City seem to have cooled off, but only 1 club can land Cavani. Who do they try and sign after that? Probably Higuain. Or Rooney. Or Lewandowski. Who are wanted by clubs with more money than us.

So just have patience. Even if we offer £30m for Higuain, we will be lucky to sign him simply because there is more money than talent out there. What if he decides to follow Mourinho to Chelsea? We will never compete with that. There are so many factors in this deal. So with that in mind, and considering the date, people should stop freaking out about our lack of signings so far.

After all, what's really happened so far in this window? City have signed a £34m midfielder who can't get into the Brazil WC squad. They signed Navas who, in 36. 5 games of football, scored 0 goals and bagged 6 assists, in SPAIN. They can keep Navas. Other than that, Man U have signed some random RB and Chelsea have signed Schurrle. WOW. Oh and Isco to Madrid. WOW. That's 3 players of note.

First day of the season will be the day to judge whether or not it has been same old Arsenal.

Why would Higuain follow Mourinho to Chelsea so he can get benched?

And about the transfers of note, Neymar to Barcelona? Paulinho to spurs? Mignolet & Toure to Liverpool? Tevez to Juventus?

Sorry mate, I generally like your posts but i'm not sure about this one. I do agree with the fact that we need to be more patient though.

Nick.

Actually it was in June when we announced giroud.

Nick fair point about those signings!

But to break them down, Neymar not a player we were ever going for, nor Tevez, Toure what would we need him for? Paulinho? Is he really better than what we have at the club? He's better than what Spurs had, not sure about us though. The only one in you list that is relevant is Mignolet because we need a better keeper than what we've got and could easily have arranged a deal for him! So annoyed about that. But the rest aren't really relevant in terms of our reported targets and business.

Re: Higuain to Chelsea there are reasons for and against, my point was that we don't know what the player, current manager, ex manager etc are thinking. We're in as good a position to sign Higuain as bad, there are reasons to suggest it will and reasons to suggest it won't happen. So all am saying is let's be patient, our 'early' signings last year weren't announced til the end of this month. Only Podolski announced April 30th.

Arghhh, engage brain metal! 26th June it was. Cazorla date correct. It's Still early. Ok bye

Metal, slight debate mate, apart from Wiltshire, who I think is brilliant, what midfielders do you have better than Paulinho? No criticisms, just an enquiry! Also, do you think Wenger will learn his lesson and open the purse strings? I know I am a die hard Spurs, but would always prefer our teams to finish above the Chavs!

Well no name spurs fan, I do rate, paulinho, sandro and dembele, def a good buy for you guys. and in keeping bale it only solidifies your midfield position.

however I think a midfield of Cazorla, wilshere and if at all fellaini are ideal.

because you can't play with 3 holding midfielders, and all 3 of them have similar traits, hard men and they all like to go forward too.

fellaini will be the stop before the defense, wilshere is the dribbler and cazorla is the creator.

got wing play with walcott on one wing, podolski on the other and higuain up front.

the balance between attack and defense is just lethal.

we scored 15 more goals to the spurs in the season past, and this was without a world class striker. it can only improve with the addition of higuain, also we created the most chances in the EPL behind liverpool if i'm not mistaken. and they only had one suarez, while we misfired a lot.

while the spurs had dembele and sandro, the addition of paulinho was not a necessity, rather the addition of a forward, like soldado, or that damiao guy the oracle keeps talking about.

basically you need to add a striker who will score 20+ goals to be on par with us

04 Jul 2013 09:39:23
Its all a game, i'm aware the agents, the clubs, both buying and selling and multiple other situations make for a very slow process.

But I have to state that Wenger has the utmost respect of every major club in the world.

we have made a respectable bid, if the figure is to be believed at £21 mill. Madrid can hold out for £25, but the situation for me breaks down this way.

1) higuain wants major playing time to not only make the world cup squad but to start alongside a certain midget.

2) going to city will only mean he will play second banana to aguero, and I am under no illusion, which player is better, for that reason alone, I can see him turn city down.

3) If chelsea wanted him, they would have had him by now, with the familiar coach and all that jazz, but if mourinho did not trust him to start for madrid, why will he want him at chelsea?

4) our main competitors will be Napoli and maybe even liverpool, depending on the suarez situation.

however since we have shown him to be our no1 target, and even made a bid, its only a matter of time, as he said so himself, he wants to go to a place where he will be loved, and the fact he is our no1 priority, should mean that we hold some sort of an advantage.

with other big strikers still on the market, no one is ready to pull the small deals, if they have a chance to pull a big one.

City for me have wasted £34 mill and restricted themselves with FFP and not sure how a 50mil striker fits in there.

chelsea have to sell to buy if they plan to spend 50 mill.

man united have their rooney saga

and spurs have brought in a very talented player but their strikeforce is still as old my grandma.

i'm sure wenger will spend it wisely.

it may seem stupid to not pay madrid 4 mill more for higuain, but why should we? we have no competition, why should we outbid ourselves?

as much as I thought otherwise earlier, I have come to my senses.

i think our DM search is also proving to be a shrewd one, if its big money he want the player to be worth every penny.

the GK situation needs to play itself out.

most people have just got back from holiday, perhaps we could have a few players to take on the tour, but it all depends on the negotiations.

for now i'm with METAL. its not easy being an Arsenal fan, but let's judge the man when the window closes.

we have reason to be optimistic, and until that said time, we shall remain so.

03 Jul 2013 16:08:49
hi eds & felow gooners,
i'm from Uganda (E. africa) & bn folowing ths page for over a month now. great job eds, cheers.

Shalom_ajul

03 Jul 2013 15:30:29
Vito gone 2 sunderland! But we already know that! Now get players in!

03 Jul 2013 15:18:14
1-14 is the best odds you can get on higuian to arsenal so calm down he will be our player

Because he is 1/14 to join us, doesn't mean he will, it's bookmakers trying to tempt people out of thier money. If he was a cert to join us there would be no odds.

JohnT

You will be eating your words John T does the t stand for terry?

03 Jul 2013 15:12:50
make of it what u will but jack whilshire following hig on sociel newtwork site

Old news!

03 Jul 2013 14:52:25
I see a lot of doom and gloom on here the last 2 days and understandably so, us gooners want to see some ambition with marquee signings.

But I have come to the conclusion that anyone the media claims we are linked with is NOT who we are actually targeting, and that Wenger works his magic in silence and secrecy to avoid the attention of the money-grabbing sugar-daddy clubs.

But I guess info does get leaked so sometimes these stories might actually have some truth to it, but can you really see Wenger signing Gareth Barry or Fernando Torres? c'mon now.

Eds, great job on the site I love it. Think we can look forward to any announcements soon? {Ed027's Note - Yes of course, hoping for atleast one before the tour maybe two

03 Jul 2013 14:46:02
Can people stop being so negative lol the transfer window opened MONDAY, 2 days ago, whatever happens in the transfer market happens, if we sign all these players were linked with then great, just be patient, being all doom and gloom ain't going to help. Look how often people have wrote us off and how often we prove them wrong so have a little faith lol

Essexgooner

Yes the transfer window opened on monday, but the impatience is because of 8years of waiting, not 2days (from monday)

Shalom_ajul

03 Jul 2013 14:12:56
Not for 1 second did I believe the HIG deal will go through. only tease and say otherwise.

Tired off this bull, Over the years you've made an impression that you'll only buy players on your terms and you expect RM to make it easy for you? you must be having a laugh. 1st rule of negotiations/battle, know your opponent. which they do well (I must say on and off the pitch). Timid in negotiations and fragile playing against the big clubs

Like a previous blogger, go into a shop you know the price on benz, its not a mini/skoda. Stop playing with the fans that pay for your tickets


All they'll say " we tried, but x, y, z" Got an solution for you, DON'T EVEN BOTHER IN TRANSFER WINDOW. Gazidis could play Mid-field he'll be on free since he has a contract with Arsenal ^

All the best in you 4th place battles come 2013-Future

TripleX

At least tell us your team if you're going to criticise how our club does things

Where did you finish last year Spudly?

Just because it hasn't gone through yet does not mean it will not. Or has Higuain disappeared from the face of the planet?

I don't know who you support, and frankly I don't care, because if you were so happy with your club you wouldn't be on here trying to make yourself feel better.

Now go away, you silly little boy.

Superted :-)
Flybo

03 Jul 2013 13:48:44
As we all know the media is always conjuring up stories about players signing here there and everywhere. So here an idea to get your teeth into that isn't from a reliable source but more from an idea.

Some hope to the fabregas rumours, first news came out man united where interested but arsenal would have first bid due to a clause in his contract.

Now thiago is supposedly moving to Man U. Tito would prefer to develop thiago and to offer him more first team opportunities he will have to sell some player's. I. e fabregas.

03 Jul 2013 13:33:47
As per the media we are to put one more offer to capture Lars Bender.
Failure to get him we are in line to go for Gareth Barry.

There is no comparison in my eyes.

Any truth Eds or is it just papertalk.

Also there is more momentum growing in regards to Rooney and listening to Talksport all pundits are saying Arsenal are the favourites and perfect match.
If the Hig and Rooney paired up it would be a great frontline just depends on Rooney's attitude.

Lets sign them first eh! {Ed027's Note - No truth

03 Jul 2013 12:36:26
Eds who do you prefer between Fellani & Lars Bender? {Ed027's Note - Fellaini, remember Fellaini in the holding role against us this season? My he was a destroyer, I think people would want him more if he played there more. I understand people don't want him because he's 'dirty' but so is Jack, and tbh we need a bit of that, someone with a bit of fire

03 Jul 2013 12:24:04
It really is becoming laughable the stories the press will puke up to sell papers. My mum is more likely to be seen in an Arsenal shirt than Gareth fricking Barry and she died in 93.

I have no idea whatsoever who Arsene is going to buy so just sitting waiting, appreciating that he is going to look one major league joke if he doesn't buy and I love the guy.

The bonus to that is he will leave and Mr Klopp will be in pole position if he makes a balls up this season.

For me it's win win but I really do believe Arsene is going to do some proper business and when he gets a real team playing, they can really play.

Stoner

Klopp would want to leave Dortmund for us?
Wenger will be manager again next season.

03 Jul 2013 13:57:52
If you read it, I want and hope Wenger stays and gets the players and the team playing, if not then I hope Klopp comes in and yes I can see him leaving Dortmund for us next year. If Wenger goes.

Why not?

Stoner

03 Jul 2013 11:05:52
Hi ed, looks like gazidis's proclamation's of our spending power, have sabotaged arsenals ability to sign any major players. Truly, how stupid to declare your hand before you do the deal. Any seller would obviously wring you dry of every last penny. His motivation was obvious, to get season ticket holders to renew. That is because the fans have no faith in the current board, they have spun out the last 8 years, spouting untruth after untruth. I can't blame any player for leaving arsenal with a board that's only ambition is to line there own pockets, dashing the dreams of the most loyal fans in football. If the club fail to spend a minimum of 70 million, then once again we have been duped by these jokers. Fellaini, Higuain, grenier, Caesar, have to be signed, not dragged out till Chelsea go and nick all our targets. The club are great at making money and if they fail to spend, then every effort should be made to get uzmanov to take over. Now that man would spend, even Thierry Henry has backed a bid by him. It is time for arsenal to stand by the statements they have reiterated time and time again. Seems Rooney is destined for Chelsea, another fanciful comment made by gazidis, that has no hope of materialising. What a bunch of cold hearted liars! Johnny fedup.

In Gazidis defence about Wayne Rooney he was asked if we could afford a player like Rooneys fee and wages. He answered yes we can. I would have been more annoyed if he had said, "No chance, we just don't have the money. " Then the last eight years would have been worth diddly squat.
However, I completely understand your frustration.
Flybo

Also now that we've been going around talking about how we have £70+ million other clubs are going to expect us to pay the premium price for their players cause they think we're rich now.

03 Jul 2013 11:11:24
I have a horrible feeling our transfer policy won't have changed one iota, despite the £70m pot being banded about.

If you consider:
Cesar - Relatively cheap short term solution
Barry - Relatively cheap absolutely dire short term solution
Sango - Cheap young player with potential & a poor injury history

We will possibly spend some money, but only the amount we receive in for selling players. Possibly making one or two quality signings.
Around the time of the season ticket renewal & sale, we were signing Williams, Fellaini, Bender, Rooney, Higuain, etc. Now they all appear on the back burner.
I cannot understand why Wenger continues to obstinately follow the same route that has failed to deliver a single trophy since 2005.
We need to sign the likes of:
Begovic
Williams
Fellaini
Nani - I know fellow Arsenal fans hate him, but he is a quality player in his prime & available.
Higuain
No doubt I will suffer the usual inane comments from fellow Arsenal fans, accusing me of all sorts of crimes! However, history shows my comments are justified & the outcome when the window shuts will confirm my fears. I can hear Wenger now in his usual condescending manner, explaining that we made offers & that they were not accepted. It isn't easy to sign quality players, which are better than those we already have.

Robbie Gooner

Do not worry fellow gooner, there are many of us thinking along the same lines as you.

Yes, talks, contracts, medical etc take time but when other clubs do it in a speed unheard off by Arsenal fans there is a need to worry.

And yes I know its only day 3 of window but when we hear we have bought another french kid and being linked to G Barry it does not instill you with confidence.

Sign up GH, MF and JC and we can start to believe we are going to be a force again.

Dear Oh Dear! We are suffering because the club knows what the outcome will be by the end of the transfer window. Diaby fit and well,
cheapskate French Div2 cripple signed on a free, Chamakh still drawing his lob,
same with Santos and Park. How can The Arsenal find themselves in this situation? Bendtner still hanging on, and Djourou only out on loan. How many Manc players are in this situation? I've lost faith in Arsene. He is determined to remain the highest paid employee at the club.
Since 2005 he has succeeded to do this, and not much will change. I'm having a short break on the Isle of Wight, but still crave some news to cheer myself up. Am I naive or what?

Totally agree with you, yet again wringer is going to miss out on top quality players as he is nothing more than an ignorant old man. If something doesn't happen in this window then I hope he takes the psg bate as I'm sick to death of the same old let downs :0 (

03 Jul 2013 10:31:54
right its day 3 of the tranfer window and we have only signed 1 person, we might aswell just dissolve the team now as noone at the club is doing anything properly ( well according to most posters on here the last couple of weeks). let's just shut the doors close the curtians and pay out divid ends to the share holders, oh wait maybe people should just grow up and stop listening to paper s***e talk, there job is to create headlines to sell papers they only actually report on things when matches are on! nuff said!

I agree, but in fairness to those who have lost their patience, they don't see it as three days. They see it as eight years. So in that respect we have the most patient fans going.
Muff said
Flybo

03 Jul 2013 12:42:29
How many have Manchester United signed (this) window. Chelsea!. Asong as one of the sugar daddy clubs don't come knocking, Higuain will be ours. Think the keeper is in the bag. Don't think like spending too much on keepers. Richard wright didn't work out with price or reputation. Guess work only, The Brazilian National keeper must be nailed on. I see him a few months ago with his wife and kids coming out of a Park lane Hotel, got into his right hand drive white Range rover. If Wishire thinks Higuains wife is hot, he needs to look at Cesars wife. Blonde Beauty. I think the most difficult position to fill is the defensive midfield. He can't rate the Celtic midfielder because he looks Cardiff bound. I think the fact he has supposedly put a bid in for Bender means he is looking at the high end of the market. These players are always in demand because there us always a requirement to have one who's comfortable on the ballRemember we got 15m for song. De Rossi is a good player, but he players in a team that want playing very well last season. I think he needs younger legs to complement Arteta. I like the young French boy at Seville. But he's too young and inexperianced. Plus he won't be cheap. Other than the 3 main signings we require, I think the squad needs a few new additions. Our left side if midfield/winger is short. Carzola is not a wide player but due to Jack, Arteta and hopefully the new def/mid he might have to play there. On the whole I don't like the 5 man midfield. Would rather two upfront, plus I think it would be a huge benefit to Olivier playing along side someone. If we bring in Higuain, it's imperative to supply him with quality balls, particularly from wide positions. I was very impressed with the way the we defended as a team towards the end of the season. Walcott gave really good protection to segna in the last few days. I lost count of the amount of cheap sloppy goals we coincided after leading a game where we dominated possession. There was some encouraging signs that came from the training ground. What we now need is a prolific goal scorer, better defensive mid and a keeper that fills the defence with confidence. If rumours are to be believed, Wenger is reading of thd same page. km

03 Jul 2013 10:08:16
Wenger is back today so hopefully some news will be due, if we can get Higuain, Lars Bender, and a experienced keeper and we should have a big shot this season because we have the base.

We all know he can't do it, he will shake at the prospect of paying so much money. once again we will struggle in the market and in the league. I have a bad feeling about this one!

There will be no news. He is playing his usual game of waiting until the last possible minute to try & force low cost signings. In any event, I feel at best we will acquire a keeper, a midfield player and a forward, unless we sell the likes of Sagna or Vermaelen.
There is no way we spend anything like £70m. We will spend what we get in and a remote possibility of something like £20m in addition.

03 Jul 2013 09:46:39
Arsenal have given Real Madrid 48 hrs to either accept their bid for Higuain, or they will walk away. (Just heard this and tbh its gone on for far to long, and just want to get our team together)

If that's true then I'm pleased. Sick and tired of being f**ked around.
Flybo

03 Jul 2013 10:21:36
From whom, Did Wenger ring you up. km

And u know this how?

Cork City Gooner

Or maybe Arsenal could just pay the asking price, put up or shut up, as it were. Stop stamping their feet like todlers when their low bid isn't accepted.

It's good we won't be clinging on to targets and left in wonder

Bergkamp5353

I agree that they should just pay the price. can't tell my source atm, but if you don't believe me that's fine. :)

03 Jul 2013 09:25:31
They should invent a word to describe "arsenal transfer saga". Saves using three words when one will do.
Looks like the fellaini deal has collapsed and the hig deals looking less certain by the day.
Same old same old.

AG

Did I miss something? Is the transfer window closing at midnight today?

firstly, a part from paper talk, do we know 100% that they are actually targets?

Even if so, do we know if and when a bid has been made?

let's wait and see- I will judge the summer on sept 1st. what else can we do?

The sole purpose of newspapers is circulation, regardless of whether what they print is strictly true or not.
If there is no real news, then the reporter or journalist will concoct an item likely to titillate the reader.

Well sorry for being skeptical.
Obviously the last three transfer windows where oh let's see. (actually I can't be bothered there's too many players to list)
Were first linked, then terms agreed then deal done, then deal in doubt then finally they sign for someone else.

AG

Anyway this is a banter site. Not a conformist collective all-agree with everyone site

Exactly AG- banter. these guys just have a different view from yours.

Personally and I know we've been down this road many times before, but I just think its too soon to get the knives out.

I know we are anxious to get top signings and to be a club challenging again, but in fairness, the window has only been open for a few days.

I think even by previous frustrating transfer windows, its a little early for the "same old, same old" (YET, anyway).

If the reports are true and arsenal are changing their policies/ways, I am prepared to wait, watch and hope.

But give it a month or so, without any major signings and I will probably be like you!

03 Jul 2013 09:03:16
So today in the papers we're being linked with Barry of Manchester City. If we buy him I swear I will never ever have faith in Wenger again.

Would be a shocking signing. We need Fellaini.

Cant stand him as a player

Bergkamp5353

03 Jul 2013 08:22:33
Wtf! Gareth Barry! Noooooooo please no, we would b better wit 10 men on the pitch than havin him playin!

03 Jul 2013 07:43:55
Look as much as I love Arsenal we are still getting strong rumours of links with 17 year old players and in double swoops for £ 17 mill and in some cases 15 year olds. I must be missing something I thought we were trying to build a stronger team to challenge for silverware THIS SEASON!. It is becoming the same old same old. I know there are people out there reading this that are ready to say " wait and see" but haven't we all waited and SAW! the same trend before for eg HAZARD, REMY, M'VILLA to name but a few that were all on there way but got somehow bypassed by players that left us all scratching our heads thinking " WHO IS HE! " I know I did for sure. I would like to read some sensible replies to this please an honest opinion.

We cleared out a lot of youngsters from the reserves team after the season, we are now replacing them with better talent. the big signings take more time and effort. this window we have money to spend, so expect big names to enter the emirates this summer.

03 Jul 2013 07:34:01
Arsenal looking to snatch up Antonio Sanabria from Barcelona. Another youngster. I like the idea of getting young talents, but most of them are a little to impatient conserning first-team pitch-time. It is time to nail a couple of "big-name" contracts now. Cesar and Higuain this weekend would make my beer taste much better going in to my summer vacation.

Have a good summer fellow Gunners, and may Arsenal fire the big canon this season!

Best regards
Norwegian Gunner

The reason for that is that a lot of youth level players were released this summer, big names will come. Have faith :)

03 Jul 2013 06:25:33
Has anyone else noticed on the arsenal website that it seems as though gibbs and tv5 are wearing a blue shirt with yellow stripe asthe new away kit. Its not a full picture but you can definately seeits blue. Only asking because all I've heard is that it was going to be a yellow one?

It's probly a training kit, will take a look and let u know. And yes the new away kit is yellow, u can pre order it 9th July and b out in shops end of July/ beginnig of aug!

Azzy84 gunner!

Didn't c tv5 on there! Mayb not on mobile website! There is a trailer video which u can watch! U can c Ramsey wearing the new kit and there is yellow shirts hanging up in back ground! Gibbs is wearing what looks like a jacket in blue wit a yellow trim! Hope that helps!

Azzy84 gunner

03 Jul 2013 11:04:22
Look on the arsenal sightings page for the new away kit, I posted a picture there a while back.

03 Jul 2013 00:13:29
I wouldn't be surprised if we make a bid for Kevin Gameiro, a typical Wenger signing? expect us to be linked to him in a few weeks.
And if we do, remember you heard it here first.

Shankara

Remember that you guessed it first? well then, remember that I guessed we will sign higuain.