Arsenal Rumours Archive May 24 2012

24 May 2012 21:51:42
Knob-all in the way of transfers today - Not talking about the 3-4 players we need, just wondered what people Thought of Junior Hoilett? Obviously we need Mv'ila/Capoue and someone like Kagawa. But i think Pedolski isnt going to be just a LW, leaving us bare should Arshavin leave (Ryo is great but still young)

Aside from other speculation i think he would be a welcomed asset and fits the logic of past arsenal transfers. I wasn't a fan, until read into it.

21 years old
Quick/Skills
By far Blackburns best player this season (isn't saying much)
Already adapted to premier league
Great attitude (down to earth)
Cheap

I really think he could handle the step up, as well as, say Valencia did on his move to Manchester. I of course wish for the Lavezzi's and Pedro's but dont think thats realistic.

MIKEE

Somehow i feel the spuds will take him. they can offer him more gametime especially since we have ox,gerv,walcott and poldi for the wings..

Spot on, Hoillets got potential to be class

I think this is a player that will be on the lower end of quite a few lists:
Liverpool
Spurs
Arsenal

What about yakubu he scored load of goals last season?

24 May 2012 16:31:39
PLEASE POST!
Sorry for the length but please read!

I have been doing some thinking to try and narrow down our Transfer Targets. At the moment anybody who has ever kicked a Football seems to be linked with a move to us. So, now I am going to try and narrow down these rumours in to ones that could happen and ones that definitely will not.

Considering possible departures and areas in which we need strengthening I think it is quite obvious what positions our targets will be playing in. I believe these players will be; one Goalkeeper, one Centre Back, Two Midfielders and a striker.

With Manuel Almunia being released and the inevitable departures of Fabianski and Mannone I can see a new Keeper coming in. One of the vacant spaces will be filled by reserve Goalkeeper Damian Martinez. I doubt we will see him much next year but he is supposed to be very talented. With one other Goalkeeping spot to be filled I imagine a cheap, experienced Keeper will come in to push Szcezsny for his place and help Szcezsny develop as a Keeper. As it currently stands we have not been linked with any Goalkeepers but expect us to start being linked with a few if Fabianski does leave.

The next position is at Centre Back. Honestly, I believe that this depends on what happens with Squillaci, Djourou and Bartley. I can see Squillaci being the first out of the door and I have no doubt that he will not be an Arsenal player. However I believe any possible deal for a new Centre Back joining hinges on whether Djourou is sold or not. Some people on Twitter believe that he will be leaving Arsenal in the summer and that he was only given a new deal because there was some complicated clause in his previous contract. So, going on the assumption that Djourou will be leaving us I can see a Centre Back coming in. Anybody who still thinks that it can be Jan Vertonghen is deluded. He will not be joining Arsenal so forget about him. He will probably end up joining Tottenham or AC Milan. So, with him out of the picture what are the other options? The only other rumours which I have heard are Sakho and Mbwia who is Montpelliers Centre Back. I cannot see Sakho joining because his wages will be massive. Mbwia I can't really see joining either although I do believe he is the most likely out of all the Centre Backs to join. But, I have to re-iterate that I believe the purchasing of a new Centre Back rests on the departures of other squad members (namely Djourou) first.

The Midfield is where I can see most of our transfer activity taking place. I can see two new Midfielders coming in. One of them is Yann M'villa. There are rumours that a deal will not come off but I still reckon one will and that he is still the favoured Midfielder in Wenger's eyes. The next Midfielder I believe will play in a more advanced role. There are many options for this position including Kagawa and Benayoun. I believe that these two are the main targets. I think Kagawa is 50-50. I honestly think he would prefer to join United rather than us. Although there is still a possibility that he could join. I think that he will probably be Wenger's preferred choice but as backup I would think would be Yossi Benayoun. He had a good season for us this year, was a hard worker and is cheap. Anybody who still thinks that Gotze will be joining this summer need to wake up! He isn't going to be joining us! He will be a Dortmund player next season! So the likeliest Midfielders to join in my opinion are M'villa and one of Benayoun or Kagawa.

Rumours emerged last night that we were the fourth team in for Eden Hazard but today the player has himself come out and said "It will be Man United, Man City or Chelsea. Final choice depends on playing time and position." So he has all but ruled out a move to Arsenal, although this was almost impossible anyway with the fee and his wages.

Now on to the Striker. Matias Suarez is a no! He got rejected a work permit, end of! Do not expect someone like Benzema, Higuain or anybody like that because it will never happen. Realistic players who will be joining are Kalou and Giroud. It is believed that a bid was put in for Giroud of 8 million euros plus Marouane Chamakh. I hope this is true! It is reported that he has quite a cheap release clause. I think Wenger would want him as his number one target but he will face competition for him after the impressive season which he has had. Although, saying we will face competition Bayern Munich have surprisingly dropped out of the race to sign him. The person who I believe will be a back up is Kalou. Wenger has admired him for a long time and being a free agent I wouldn't be surprised to see Wenger go for him. Even if we get Giroud I can see him coming in as well.

Overall I think it depends on departing players to decide whether a new Centre back and Goalkeeper will be coming in.
Apart from that I think it will be: M'villa
Benayoun/Kagawa
Giroud/Kalou

GoonerForLife3

Cool post!

I dont think it will be benayoun though, he seemed like the best back up option at the time. Granted he is fantastic and is a brilliant addition to squad, at his age i think he will be sent back to chelsea.

I think
Gordon
Mbwia
M'vila or Capou
Kagawa

Looks well odd written down...

MIKEE

God i hope your wrong, what a massive statement of intent and showing our clubs direction if we buy players of the quality of Benayoun and Kalou, not good enough for chelsea, but cheap enough for Wenger and the Arsenal board.

Laddy N

Wow, I was tempted to read all of this post until I realised that your first few paragraphs were old news, and then you proceeded to call anyone who thinks we might get Vertonghen 'deluded'. Nice one.

Cheers for the reply. Benayoun won't stay at Chelsea he will definitely be on the move. I reckon he will move abroad which will be a shame becasue I thought he was fantastic for us

That's 5 minutes of my life I've lost reading a long winded review of 99% of the rumours on here.

Sorry for the sarcasm

Paul - Rochester

I honestly cant see Kagawa coming to the Emirates. If BVB have bumped up the price tag of more than 20 million euros since Man Utd's interest are making Fergie sit on the fence, than what does that say about Wengers interest? M'Vila 17 and Kagawa 20+ not likely unfortuntately, but then again this IS the transfer window weve all been waiting for to see if Wenger pulls on his new boots and splashes some cash for once.

I also can't see Benayoun being bought either. He played brilliantly this season but we all no that hes getting on in terms of age. I think hell move to Turkey or Italy

You seem to be shying away from Vertonghen. Why? No terms have been agreed to any club and news on him from anyone seems quiet, but this doesnt mean weve lost interest. It would be amazing seeing him and Vermaelen up in the back 4. I believe Arsene is just taking his time and needing away to see whether he is the one he feels fit to sign.

I personally believe that out of those mentioned players youve posted that:
M'Vila
Gordon
CB dependant on Djourou
and Kalou

Not so sure on the whole CB thing, think maybe AW will hold on to Djourou as he seems to like him and he has had some good games (even tho I have a panic attack every time he gets the ball). Again midfield I dont expect to much to happen I think AW will be looking aheah at JW and Diaby being fit and not thinking about the 1st few games so think he may only buy 1 maybe a DM depends on song i think. Think Benayoun will also be a no go as he would have signed him by now "if" the 1mill story be true tbh. As for STR I hope for Giroud, Kalou story has run on for so long now and hope we dont sign him.

Gavsta

Kalou was placed ahead of Malouda and Torres for the CL Final... He's not technically great but he does an industrious job!

This story is unlikely due to his older age (24) and with a Belgian (EU) work permit it would be very unlikely that he would be denied a work permit it is only special talent visa's I believe to be conditional which is for 21 and under which hold the condition of national appearances if I'm right u can automatically qualify at 21 see Pedro Botelho story as a reference.
Peter A

24 May 2012 14:13:39
Robin Van Persie will be joining Real Madrid in a deal worth £23m, get ready for fireworks from Wenger and the hard line Gooners. Many will feel cheated and annoyed with such a derisory fee, but with an evaporating contract the board has decided to cut their loses.

Ur source is...?!

How is 23m a derisory fee for an ageing 29 year old in the final year of his contract!

if Madrid want him then i would say swap for Benzema or Higuain? lets see how much they want him.

1404

Well... not sure if this is true- but I agree it isn't a great fee for him, despite contract being down to 1 year.

But I am not convinced by this, as to where you got your info from...?

Only thing I like...if true, is that rvp is heading overseas- IF he is going that is.

One thing that will make me and I'm sure others mad is if he's sold to PL club.

Spud Troll

Doesn't make sense , Ronaldo Benzema ,best striking partnership in world why would they buy RVP or why would he go there

Ahhhhh, another guy so confident in what he says that he leaves his name. Snore.

Imagine Selling a player in his last year of his contract for 23mill. Had 1 good season, never had an injury free season. 20 mill profit. That would be terrible business!!!

Paul - Rochester

What a load of spew, this is completely unfounded. no evidence, just a bitter spurs fan trying to push some buttons as usual. I don't see how a player could chose to leave a club that's stuck by him for 7 years, the first 6 he didn't even play a full season. why in god's earth would he go to real madrid to sit on the bench. just look at all his achievements this year. he couldn't have done that at city or united or barca or madrid. granted he's not won anything but hopefully wenger will sign the players to keep him there. if we paid 10 for giroud, or 20+ for kagwa or a semi-inflated price for any player and that was enough to keep RVP then don't you think it would be worth it. WE WONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT RVP UNTIL AFTER THE EUROS NOW, AND ANY ONE WHO THINKS OTHERWISE IS A FOOOOOOOL!

24 May 2012 16:05:00
Also worth noting Steve Bould and Neil Banfield have been officially promoted on the Arsenal Website.

MIKEE

I'm very pleased with Bould's appointment. I appreciate everything Pat Rice did for this club but our defence has declined over the last few seasons. I feel we have good individual defenders but they're not drilled well enough. I think Bould is the man to help this improve. Bring on the synchronised offside arm raise!

Slick Mick

Yeah mate, If they thought old Pat was loud...

He was technically astute in his hey-day and can only be a positive influence on the dressing room. He could probably teach a couple of the players also what it means to play for the Arsenal...

MIKEe

24 May 2012 15:01:54
hazard link to arsenal FINALLY put to bed, by the man himself.

Eden Hazard has just said its a choice between man utd, man city and chelsea and it will all depend on playing time and the position he is given in the team.

Arsenal could offer him all the time and positions he wants, but they cant offer him 200k a week. Thats what he wants. Thats what he'l get.

None of them clubs are offering him that. Its all talk.

Northern Gooner

Man utd have been crying out for an attack midfielder for ages, city are stocked with them and while chelsea are lacking they don't have a manager in place.
hopefully united might get him so that it could leave us in a prime position to sign kagawa

If Utd sign him they'll still go for Kagawa, different players who do different jobs.

24 May 2012 12:02:52
Arsene Wenger looking to sign Bruno Ecuele Manga for around 6.5 million to add strength to the defence

Somehow I Doubt It

Source please?

Sydney Gooner

News is about 3 yrs old.

Manga? He would be a graphically novel signing.

24 May 2012 11:32:21
Chamakh & park both to leave with Joel Campbell coming back from Lorient

The only way I wouldn't mind Chamakh staying is if Gourcuff came on loan.

The "happy couple" alsways play better when they are together.(ahem, I wont go into the imfamous Bordeuax sightings)

Billybob

Hopefully Campbell will obtain a work permit & be part of next seasons squad.

Hardly breaking news mate Campbell will be back if he gets work permit which if he does will no dobt be farmed out on loan and chamach and park need to be run out of arsenal ASAP as neither were ever any good to play for the arsenal.

I hope Campbell does play but I read recently an article in quotes of Wenger saying Campbell is not yet ready to play for Arsenal although he said he has massive potential.

Bermy Gooner

24 May 2012 10:45:28
Hi ed.
Latest rumours say we are favourites for signing kagawa and have been named as the fourth team looking to sign hazard.
Are any of these rumours true do you know? {Ed002's Note - As it stands right now, Manchester United are looking to agree a price for Kagawa so it seems that they must be considered to be best placed. The fourth team that Piquet was referring to is probably not Arsenal and I remain of the opinion that Hazard will not be at Arsenal next year. However, Bico has spoken to another side (not Arsenal) but I don't know that they will be interested in bidding for the player. No side has agreed a fee with Lille.}

But the times clearly said its Arsenal who is the 4th team in for Hazard. Still dont think he will move to us. ST renewals time!!!

It must be arsenal, to be honest, think... hazard wont go somewhere without champions league, that would be plain stupid!

Actually all 4 clubs have agreed a price with Lille and had done since last Friday.

24 May 2012 10:18:13
so Essien, Malouda, Ferreira, Kalou and Bosingwa all on a free? id take a couple of them! peoples thoughts? {Ed002's Note - Only Bosingwa and Kalou will be "on a free", the others will probably be made available. Malouda will look for a short-term deal - perhaps two years before a final season at Dijon. Ferreira I am not so sure. Essien will likely have some very good options available and could even stay at Chelsea.}

Maybe bosingwa as a back up for sagna

24 May 2012 09:39:48
Hi Eds...

Have you heard anything about Isco joining us? Rumour has it Malaga are willing to sell but he has a buyout of �20m. I think we should offer �13m+ and see what happens, maybe throw Vela in as part of the Deal. His playing style is a lot like Nasri's (when he was decent) minus the attitude, he'd fill the void behind RvP perfectly.

Ben X. {Ed002's Note - Barcelona have shown some interest in Isco but I have nothing for Arsenal right now.}

Says on justarsenal that arsenal are intrestes! that was posted yesterday by the way

24 May 2012 08:46:32
kalou and bosingwa to be released by chelsea. two decent cover players with pl experience for free? what are ur thoughts guys?

Wouldnt mind bosingwa, i was going to post the same question

please not kalou, he's chelsea's bendtner

BS18

Kalou has been linked with us for a while and I would be happy with him signing to boost the squad but strong no to bosingwa, dont rate him defensively

No to kalou as we have enough average players in his positions already, yes to jose as he can teach gibbs and when fit is a good player can only improve our team

spanner

They will have no drive or ambition...we dont need players picking up a a pay cheque...let them go somewhere else.

Agreed - these players are not motivated enough for me. They have won everything in England, so medals are not a motivation... a pay check is,...

Billybob

A player that is deemed not good enough for Chelsea (who finished 2 places below us) should not be good enough for Arsenal. Why should we want to sign Chelsea's cast offs?
Tim Taylor

Didnt our team finish in a better league position than Chelsea?? why take palyers from a lesser team. BTW b4 you say anything they were jammier than liverpool to get those cups

Rob

I agree these players aren't world class but especially bosingwa would be ok. back up for sagna to take the pressure of carl, we could even loan him out for a year

24 May 2012 08:20:32
anyone else find it ironic how all these reports are coming out now....

M'Vila 99% done, Kagawa and Hazard bids accepted, taking Kalou on a free and Joe Allen on the way

and then,

rvp media ban.......

renewals next week anyone???

I don't follow the logic here... clarify?

I think man utd have made an official bid for Kagawa now.

Billybob

Spot on. We do it all the time. Day after jan transfer window we were told jacks out for the season. coincidence or what. Now w are in for hazard, mvila and giroud right before we all stump up another grand. what next messi!!!!

Basically billyboy....

all these reports are coming out, to get fans excited so people renew...

if rvp went yep im off, and wenger said nobody will be signed.

renewals would be at an all time low.

You show me where the club have said anything on transfers, this is all media speculation. So you believe utter bs on the internet and paper talk and criticise the club. Why would we bid for Hazard ,he is a walking ego maniac.

Ah - interesting. That or because the media can't get to RVP, they are simply making up stories, because Arsenal speculation is their summer past time.

I think we average being linked with 40 players per summer. I think we are alreahy at 10-15 and the window hasn't opened.

1. kagawa
2. hazard
3. M'Vila
4. Capoue
5. Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa
6. Vertoghen
7. Belhanda
8. Giroud
9. Eriksen
10. Holby
11. kalou
12. Ledanowski
13.....?

Billybob

You are aware of the ridiculously long waiting lists for season tickets and silver memberships?? Do you really think the club are that bothered with fans not renewing when there are tens of thousands of fans on the waiting list!

Paul - Rochester

'You show me where the club have said anything on transfers, this is all media speculation. So you believe utter bs on the internet and paper talk and criticise the club. Why would we bid for Hazard ,he is a walking ego maniac'


the club never said anything about these transfers, neither did they say anything about the mata one, but EVERYONE knows we had the deal their on the plate. We just didnt finalise it.

This happens every year, get promised transfers/activity and nothing happens. Its all to get fans hyped so they renew

24 May 2012 01:02:00
Rumours flying on twitter, Giroud for 6.2 million + Chamakh. If that gets accepted its a miracle.

Daryn

I would be VERY VERY surprised by this. Firstly, not enough money, second - I am sure the current champions of france will try and aim higher than Chamakh>!

Billybob

If that's the case then my heart bleeds for Montpellier fans, they win the title and they're after Chamakh? Good luck keeping up with PSG next season..

Giroud has a release clause of 16m Euros (�12.8m). We've supposedly offered 8m Euros (�6.4m) and Chamakh. That means we value Chamakh at around 8m Euros (�6.4m). The question is: do Montpellier want the Moroccan?

I think the major problem would be wages. montpellier are extremely frugal - the chairman recently said that there will never be a player on 40k (= �30,000ish) p/week under his reign. chamakh has probably been spoiled for wages as a bench warmer (�50k p/week according to some reports) and would have to take a massive pay cut to join montpellier. would be a great deal for us, but cant see it happening.

Oleg Maputo

23 May 2012 23:33:56
Why are people rabbiting on about, Kalou, Hoilett and any other winger? Weve signed Podolski who will probably play left, we then have already Walcott, Ox, Miyiachi, Gervinho 5 players competing for 2 positions madness! We need to bring a strong creative force in the middle, I still say if Gourcuff avoided injury he would be perfect, his range of passing and dribbling skills are immense, havent seen much of M Saurez but from what i have he looks sound maybe him. We also need a stand in right back i still dont think Jenkinson is trong enough and with Sagna seeming injury prone we really do need someone who can come in and do a shift!

in creative mid, support rb
out all the deadwood.

I think if you look at our team when avoiding injury this season we were great and went on runs of wins! We dont need much some fine tuning and we will be there!

Because Walcott and Gerv aren't good enough - although Walcott's a better finisher, Gerv is better at everything else. Ryo is nowhere near ready and most of Bolton thought he wasn't up to it last season, sadly. They're impressed with his potential but he's not ready and deffo needs to go on loan again, and bulk up. The Ox never plays. Also we need to decide, is he a winger or is he ACM? People saying we don't need an ACM because we have the Ox...er, ok. Pretty sure he never played there for us.

Yeah like i do agree i dont rate Gervinho and Walcott isnt consistent enough but i dont see Wenger selling any of them and surely he isnt gonna sit with 7 wingers or something like that. Ox i think is more effective on the wing when he can get a ball in and take people on in my opinion anyways.

We also have a lot of competition for the creative midfield role in ros jack arteta ramsey diaby etc I can't see Gourcuff coming to the side

However his injury situation may present a bargain..would be a typical wenger signing

Firstly, why will Podolski play on the left, this is simply not the case - it is the same as putting RVP on the left... he can play there / in fact he used in a different set up - but its not his best position.

As for our wingers: Gervinho, Theo, Ox, Rosicky, Miyachi, Joel Cambell. And yes, if need be podolski...

Gervinho and Theo to start, but ox will be the assumed impact sub for one or the other per match - he will get games. As for gervinho, he was last years "belhanda" in france (ie. 2nd best player in the league after Hazard). Give him time. Nasri was not outstanding for us in the first season either. Drogba's first season was pretty lousy too...

For Gourcuff, this is an interesting one. I would still prefer a loan to a permanent buy; as I am not comfortable with his injury record. That said, my main concern at the moment is that our 3 main 'creative' midfielders all have injury probleme:

Arteta: played a lot of games this years, but typically misses a portion of the season
Rosicky: hopefully the worst is behind him, but he is a chronic sick note
Wilshire: Out for an entire year, plus a knee surgery, which imples to me that the staff don't actually know whats wrong... (not with 100% certainty). It will take him a LONG time to get fit, so people need to stop assuming he is in our starting XI. Expect limited games and niggling injuries.

Which means a CAM is a key position for us to cover.
Gourcuff
Belhanda
Eriksen (In my dreams)
Dembele
Hernanes
etc...

Billybob

How can u say sagna is injury prone, hes had 2 serious injuries, not just knocks and strains. and walcott and gerv aint really top quality are they.


steady gooner

Give Gervinho time! He will come good next season! Theo still scored plenty of goals and assits even though he infuriates us all!

Ox will be our future ACM I think...depends on where Wenger sees Jack playing...

And Sagna isn't injury prone! He broke his leg twice! That's just unlucky! When did he last get badly injured before this season?

Boisey

Because Gervinho is not that good out wide, Miyachi i not ready for Arsenal starting 11 yet and Walcott is too inconsistent. If we send Miyachi on loan again this season and bench Gervinho or loan then bring in somebody else we will win a some trophies !