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.