Well it’s Tuesday

Apologies for going haywire for a week. Simply, I was a bit bored – a bit bored of the same old rumours, the same old news when looking back, very little of note’s actually happened since our season ended. We’ve managed to sign Lukas Fabianski and Mart Poom went the other way but aside from that, nothing’s been concrete, there’s been a lot of talk about Thierry Henry leaving (even to Liverpool) and now it would appear there’s a story to run on Wenger leaving to Barcelona, because obviously he wants to follow Henry. I’d actually be a little worried if Barcelona did approach Wenger because he’d be perfect for them and vice versa but worrying about that now’s stupid. We all know he’ll see out his contract and after that, who knows. We’ve got him for at least another year though, and that’s a cert.

During the week in which I’ve enjoyed my time out, we’ve managed to sign a player by the name of Havard Nordtveit for a fee in the region of £2M. He’s sixteen and plies his trade in the second division of Norway. The figure might seem a little high then, but it’s likely to be based on appearances and stuff so won’t end up costing us much if he doesn’t amount to much here. Won’t see much of him for a couple of years, I’d expect and not being a keen watcher of the Norwegian premier league, let alone its second division, I can’t comment on whether he’s any good or not. First teamer at sixteen says something about his credentials though.

Well it’s Tuesday and as many of you I’m sure know, there was talk of a big transfer involving Arsenal going through today. This got a number of Gooners pretty excited, I on the other hand am not surprised by the deal being Aliadiere to Middlesbrough, word being that it’s all been finalized. We already knew that though. As ever, I’d like to know the fee but it’s something Wenger often keeps close to his chest. I’d hope we got 2-3M for him as he’s worth that much for sure.

All the luck to him and providing he doesn’t score too many goals against us when we face Middlesbrough in the future, I hope he does extremely well. He’s had bad luck with injuries and otherwise could’ve made it here. There was a point where he was a talent of huge potential. I appreciate the job he’s done this season too. There was a lot of pressure on him to perform and there were some real highlights, especially where the Carling Cup was concerned. He also impressed in one of the FA Cup games after coming off the bench. So yeah, good luck to him. He deserves to be a first team regular as opposed to being fifth choice with us.

• We’re linked with Valencia’s Miguel. I’m sceptical that this will happen because Wenger’s only recently tied Justin Hoyte and Eboue to long term contracts. There’s also the small matter of Kerrea Gilbert’s return and I’ve heard he’s better than Hoyte. Even with the African Nations Cup, we won’t need another right back. I’m fairly sure Hoyte will be trusted with that. Miguel will also cost a lot. Chelsea are more realistic suitors.
• Bakari Sagna, a player we’ve been linked with of late has apparently rejected offers from Lyon and Newcastle, holding out for an approach from Wenger, which again, won’t be likely to happen, because he’s a right back, and we have no need of another right back.
• After helping them win La Liga, Reyes has said he wants to stay at Real, or else in Spain at least. That doesn’t mean they want him though and we’ll have to wait and see what comes of that. As much as I think his ability as a player would be welcomed back at Arsenal, he doesn’t want to be there and so keeping onto him would be fruitless.
• The search for a new director of football continues, as Nicky Hammond of Reading snubbed Wenger. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll find someone competent enough to fit the bill.

And that I’m afraid is your lot.