Henry’s off to Barcelona or Inter Milan

Thierry Henry will move to Barcelona or Inter Milan, understandably, because he is unsettled after David Dein left the club. Barcelona will be a good choice for him because he rejected their advances last season, after they’d finished a fantastic season. He might well go to Inter though because they have Patrick Vieira. Or not.

Speculation on Henry’s future at the club seemed to explode today all because Henry commented on how our season went. Bare in mind first of all that he was probably asked his thoughts and more worrying would have been had he said it was a successful season that he was happy with. It wasn’t. And I’m sure he’s more than eager to return to the squad and aid in tabling a title challenge for next season. Doesn’t mean he wants to go. For further proof in an interview published in Q magazine, upon being asked to promise he’ll stay at Arsenal, Thierry had this to say:

‘I did think about leaving last season, I’ve made no secret of that. If Barcelona come in, you’re going to listen. But the love I have for Arsenal, the relationship I have with the fans and with Arsene Wenger, meant I couldn’t leave.’

‘People keep wondering if I am going to go. But there is no way I could leave now. I have grown to know what it means to wear an Arsenal shirt, and it is the most important thing of all. So let me say it to you once more: I’m not leaving. And being in London makes it even better, because London is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What more could you want than to play for a great club in a great city?’

Sounds like he’s happy, or maybe that’s just me. As I’ve said before, if he goes, it’ll probably be because Wenger wants him to go. What he said recently to the official club website seems to confirm that he doesn’t.

‘It is more down to imagination than anything else, Thierry Henry will be here next year.’ Asked whether he could guarantee Henry would remain at the Emirates next season, he added: ‘Yes, of course.’

I don’t deny clubs are interested. There might be some truth in that. Inter are ready to test our resolve with a  £15M bid, which I don’t think Wenger will find acceptable. More ludicrous is the suggestion that Barcelona are ready to offer us Samuel Eto’o on top of £17M. I mean, if they did, I’d bite their hands off. Eto’o is younger, a natural scorer of goals and a top prize. £17M on top of that’s pretty generous. Of course, it’s a wild imagination kicked into gear more than anything else. I can only see that he’ll be staying put. None of the reasons given to as why he’ll leave are any good and are countered with quotes of a manager and player who sound as if they’ve got the same intention and that’s Henry remaining an Arsenal player for next season and the foreseeable future.

• Carlos Vela, the promising Mexican who can’t play for us because he’s yet to get a work permit might be off on loan again to Spain, this time to Levante. That’s providing his work permit problems aren’t sorted in the summer. If he does go though, it’ll be a step up for him having enjoyed a spell last season at Salamanca in the Segunda Division, where he’s said to have impressed.
• Giorgos Efrem, of the Arsenal Reserves is reportedly off to Rangers after they beat off interest from other Cypriot and Greek clubs. His departure is probably to make way for new players in the reserves, meaning he wasn’t deemed good enough.
• We’re pondering a move for Saint-Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis, as are Chelsea and Tottenham, supposedly though I don’t see why we need another striker to add to the ranks.
• We’re also following the progress of Swedish whizkid Albin Ekdahl and again, so are Chelsea. He’s only 17 so if we are interested, he’s unlikely to be introduced in order to strengthen the first team but rather will find a home in the under-18’s and reserves squad for a few seasons.
• A change of agents means Franck Ribery now might sign for Real Madrid.
• Wenger’s planning an £8M bid for West Brom central defender Curtis Davies. If this is true, someone else in the position will likely to have to make may.
• Seven preseason fixtures have been confirmed, the highlights of which include the Emirates Cup where we’ll face Inter and Paris Saint-Germain as well as the news that we’ll be taking part in the Amsterdam Tournament, and will play both Lazio and Ajax. Other fixtures include an opener against Barnet and a trip to Austria where we’ll play out matches against Turkish team Genclerbirligi in Bad Waltersdorf before visiting Austrian side FC Red Bull Salzburg.
• Rosicky claims he’s ready to return from injury and hopes to do so by playing for Czech Republic on Saturday. Hopefully he won’t get injured during the game.
• On a final note, Justin Hoyte’s been selected in the Under-21 squad for the Under 21 European Championship.

Reo-Coker won’t be an Arsenal player this season

There’s not much Arsenal based shenanigans to be heard on the web today. It’s all rather quiet. One player that appears to be dominating the headlines however is Nigel Reo-Coker as speculation regarding his future hots up. I’ve already mentioned that he’s handed in his transfer request and it seems he’s attracted some interest. Tottenham have gone as far as to make a bid and the latest is that he’s waiting to see if we’ll match the reported £9M offer. I’m confident we won’t though, there being little needs of his services at the Emirates Stadium.

It’s not that he’s a bad player. It’s more that our central midfield is congested enough as it is. We really don’t need anyone else. We’ve already got Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto Silva as starters. Behind them in the pecking order you’ve Diaby and Denilson, both who’ll need their fair share of time on the pitch for development purposes. Then you have Alex Song to consider and even if he left the club, both Tomas Rosicky and Aliaksandr Hleb are accomplished central midfielders. Where is Reo-Coker supposed to fit into that?

We might have well been interested last season, when Diaby was out but his return and the emergence of Denilson means there’s precious little need for a player who won’t add anything particularly new or special to the side. He’s an alright player but he must see that his first team choices will be limited with us unless we got rid of someone. And even then I can’t see him fighting his way in front of Denilson and Diaby for a place. We don’t need him and £9M’s an expensive price for a player we don’t need.

No, I don’t think he’ll end up an Arsenal man and it’ll be a side in the vein of Tottenham, Newcastle or Villa who’ll get him, with Tottenham the favourites as they’ve already supposedly made a bid and it’ll mean he won’t have to move home. Tottenham are also the more likely of the three I mentioned to break the top four and will have UEFA Cup football to offer. Of course, if as suggested by the media he supports Arsenal, that might be a factor dissuading him against the move but he’s a career to think about and there are many other players out there who’ve had to make the same sacrifice.

And in other news…

• Jean Makoun’s signed a new contract at Lille ending speculation linking him to us. For the same reasons as Reo-Coker pretty much, I couldn’t have seen it happening anyway.
• There was a suggestion that we could make a move for Craig Bellamy, Wenger being a long term admirer ‘n’ all that. Personally, I don’t think we actually need another striker though I know there are many others that do and while Bellamy’s a decent player, I don’t think if we were to enter the market for a striker he’d be the one we were looking for. Added to that, I doubt Wenger will pay the £12M Benitez wants.
• Another Premiership want away striker we’re linked with is Benni McCarthy. Again, sorry, don’t see it happening. I’m not against the addition of another striker but we do have enough and there are other priorities.
• Olympique Marseille president Pape Diouf has seemed to confirm that Ribery will indeed leave despite Ribery having said he could stay. Diouf said ‘Ribery will leave for a significant fee that is good for l’OM. But that doesn’t mean we want him to leave.
• Oh and Wenger has slammed reports that claimed he and Fabregas would be leaving the club for Real Madrid. Apparently that was why he was in Spain. This will come as no surprise. I think few believed this rumour anyway and we all knew Wenger was in Spain to try to sell Jose Antonio Reyes which he confirmed. Wenger‘s not going anywhere for this season. And either is Fabregas.

Flamini’s one who’s most certainly off

Already, and the summer transfer season’s not long begun, we’ve been linked with what would seem to be every player under the sun. At the same time, according to certain media, the majority of our players appear to be on the way out. One such player is Mathieu Flamini and sadly, this is the one with some weight behind it. He’s no longer happy at Arsenal and when he says he has to think about his career, he’s probably right. He hasn’t played since February after all, partly down to injury but more down to the emergence of Denilson who Wenger is likely to mould into our new utility squad player and a better one than Flamini at that. There’s also the return of Alex Song to consider, who’ll no doubt be used as further midfield back up if called upon.

All in all, the central midfield department’s beginning to show the signs of some serious congestion, something which I think is enough to put the lid on rumours linking us with central midfielders for the time being.

Flamini was never a brilliant player, never an automatic choice for us. However, his role remained an important one and his being here has made a difference. He’s racked up a nice amount of goals this season and let’s not forget his filling in at left back for Ashley Cole last season which worked so well. It’s a shame that he’s off but an inevitable shame. He’s good enough to ply his trade elsewhere where he’ll be granted more first team opportunities after all and I can certainly see his future lying with a French club who do alright for themselves.

You can understand his frustrations which stem, he himself has claimed, from not playing a part in any of the cup finals we’ve been involved in during his stint as a player, notably the Champion’s league final because while he wouldn‘t usually be considered for such an important fixture, he’d been heavily involved in getting us there. There’s the argument he deserved to be there on that merit alone though it’s not a game to be taken likely and with Cole’s availability, you can understand the gaffer’s decision to drop him, though it must’ve come as a blow.

Just a shame that we’re unlikely to make a profit as Flamini can legally buy out his contract if he wants and will probably do so.

•  Word from the Star on Sunday is that we’ve made a cash plus player offer for Fernando Torres. I doubt the validity of this being the first I’ve heard about it all, that I’m sure a striker is not Wenger’s priority and Torres will probably cost too much.
• Peterborough are leading the chase to sign Jay Simpson, a player in our youth ranks who made history by netting the first hat-trick at The Grove.
• William Gallas and Abou Diaby have both been called up to the France squad for the Euro 2008 qualifiers where France will face Georgia and Ukraine next month. No surprise with Gallas but it’s nice to see Diaby continue to be selected and deservedly so. He’s made two recent appearances for the international side already.
• Birmingham City are hoping to seal a loan deal for Johan Djourou and are waiting on a response from Wenger. I don’t see it being accepted though as that’ll result in a shortage of central defenders, something we won’t want especially when we could be losing Kolo Toure for up to six weeks to the African Nations and given Gallas’s injury history.
• There’s a nice bit about Pires’s return from injury and how he’s been doing well with Villarreal here. I saw him play against Barcelona and for someone who’d been out for a long time, he did exceptionally well. All the best to him and may he stay injury free in the future.
• No longer is he on the move to Barca. Nope, Henry’s now off to Inter and in exchange, we’ll be getting Adriano. This seems all the more logical because president of Inter, Massimo Moratti has come out and said ‘I can say we will be making a major signing this summer which will excite the Inter fans.’ That should be enough proof to suggest that Henry, despite having claimed his future’s with Arsenal numerous times, will be used as bait for Adriano.
• Franck Ribery will decide his future next week, with ourselves and Bayern Munich thought to be leading the race for his signature. Ribery had this to say, ‘At the end of next week we should know more about my future. It is possible that I stay at Marseille, with the prospect of playing in the champion’s league. That can attract me.’ I honestly don’t know where he’ll end up and I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week and hopefully learn more then.

Woo-Kash Fab-Yan-Ski

As has already been reported by the media, we’ve managed to snag Lukas Fabianski. Only, this time it’s quite official. From what I’ve seen of him he doesn’t seem a half bad purchase either. He looks comfortable catching the ball and seems very much an excellent shot stopper, managing to keep efforts out of the net that you don’t expect to be saved. He’s made four appearances on the international scene and he’s been voted the best goalkeeper in the Polish Premier Division for two seasons running. Obviously there’s a slight difference in quality between the English Premiership and the Polish equivalent but he’s only twenty-two and that’s quite a feat. However poor the league may be, you can’t do much better than be named the best in the league for two years running. I think he sounds like a talent and one that could potentially replace Jens Lehmann and what’s more, at twenty-two, solve our worries about the position for some time to come.

The other news on the goalkeeping front is that Mart Poom has paid a trip to the departure lounge and has made a move to Watford. With three goalkeepers on the books already (Jens, Almunia and Poom) and the arrival of Fabianski it was inevitable that someone was going to have to make way. I thought it would be Almunia, in that he had a much better season this time round and proved himself capable enough to play a regular role in a midtable side. With the competition of Fabianski, I assumed Almunia would be off and Poom would remain a third choice, and would be lucky were he to put in another performance for the first team, ever. Although, there’s still time to see off Almunia and it’s certainly something of a possibility. Wenger could turn to Vito Mannone, the young Italian, to play Poom’s role. Mannone spent three months of the 2006/07 season at Championship side Barnsley. He’s barely nineteen but has himself acknowledged that keepers tend to break into first team football later than outfield players and will wait for his chance. With a bit of experience now under his belt, he could be ready to be called upon if needed for the first team squad, though even then it’s unlikely Mannone will get much first team playing time.

It’s difficult to predict what role Fabianski will play this season. If Wenger does intend to keep hold of Almunia, it’ll mean some strong competition for Lehmann. Fabianski is seen as the more likely successor and the prospect of a starting berth in the Germany squad for Euro 2008 will mean motivation for Jens. I think Almunia’s performances will have attracted attention though and the addition of Fabianski could see him being all for a move to pastures anew. I’ll speculate further on what roles our goalkeepers will play in the coming season once we know just who we’ve lost and gained. As yet, I’m not entirely sure business is done for Wenger in the goalkeeping department. So it’s a good luck to Mart Poom who might not have played all that much for us but was there if we needed him and a warm welcome to Lukas Fabianski.

And in other news…

• Barcelona won’t rule out the purchase of Henry says Sky Sports News, which is fair enough. They might well be interested. I doubt highly of course that they will get their man. Last season he hadn’t decided on his future, he hadn’t signed a new contract. This time round both he and Arsene Wenger have consistently told us that he will be going nowhere. He stayed with us last season and I don’t think we’re about to see him do a U-turn in the near future.
• Rio Mavuba has said, in response to speculation linking him with a move to Arsenal, that there’s much competition for a place at Arsenal in the role he plays and that he’s looking for first team football so as to earn himself a place in the national side for Euro 2008. Not that I see it happening anyway. As good a player as he sounds, there is already enough competition and you’d first have to  see some players going the other way before we consider signing him. I’d be all for him staying at Bordeaux another season and keeping tabs on his progress though, something which could well be on le boss’s mind too. Gilberto Silva’s not getting any younger after all.
• According to The Mirror, we’re after Joao Moutinho. A very promising talent, I‘m sure there are a number of clubs out there keeping an eye on him. Word is that we are preparing a £15M bid. He can play pretty much anywhere in the midfield and that will be seen as a bonus. Position wise, he‘s more often than not employed as a central midfielder though of course Wenger could always convert him to the wing if he saw potential there. Reports coming in suggesting that he’s signed a six-year contract at Sporting however kind of dispel this rumour, which quite probably had little truth in the first place.
• Nigel Reo-Coker’s handed in a transfer request. We apparently had a bid for his services rejected in January but even if that was true, I doubt now, with the emergence of Denilson, Wenger will look to further strengthen the central midfield.
• Bayern are supposedly leading the race to sign Franck Ribery. They’re rebuilding the squad after a disappointing fourth place finish and it’s being touted that they’ve made the first bid for his services. The sale of Hargreaves will provide them with some well needed funds and along with a host of other clubs, Bayern have reportedly been looking to sign Ribery for a while.
• Lastly, Togo have lifted the international suspension of Emmanuel Adebayor and two of his team-mates. There was an argument over bonuses owed to the players for reaching the finals of the world cup which now would appear to be resolved, or more to do with Togo not wanting to lose their best players as the African Nations approaches. That’s bad news for us by the way, meaning we’ll end up likely losing another playing to the tournament which runs in the early part of 2008 and could result in losing certain members of the team for a period of up to six weeks.

And so it begins

I’ve been waiting for this, the opportunity to set up a blog and all that. I decided though that I’d wait until the end of the season rather than kick off midway. Well, the season’s finished. We played out our last game along with the rest of ‘em and it will no doubt be long before the lack of football gets to us all. Odd time to begin a blog? I think not. I’ve got plenty to write about this preseason (transfer speculation, actual transfers, weighing up our future chances, season analysis, friendlies etc.) and that’s just getting started.

Second, Arsenal are something of a big club these days. There are plenty of other blogs doing the rounds that follow our fortunes and write better than I do. I know this’ll never become a big thing, basically and the best I can hope for is the odd reader who likes hearing what I’ve got to say. I’m not doing this to become the best or most visited Arsenal blog around and I know there are better alternatives. I’m doing this purely because I want to and as a hobby. I want to get my views on the net and if no one else wants to read them that’s fine. I’ll probably still trudge along. And hopefully, when I begin to grey, I’ll still be here, still writing, and talking about how once upon a time Arsenal played beautiful football. That’s a far fetched ambition maybe but I love writing about the club and don’t envision ever getting bored with it. There’ll always be something to talk about, as far as I’m concerned, and I look forward to talking about it all.