Bill Gallas for some reason weren’t happy with number three and has gone for no.10, Dennis Bergkamp’s famous number. I felt he was better with 3 and it suited him more, plus it washed away any bad memories of Ashley Cole; but now (for me anyways) it doesn’t feel right Gallas having number 10. I mean retiring shirt numbers is a stupid idea but I though a rest until a replacement is found is good for some reason. I don’t know why but 3 just seems right in my mind for one reason or another. Ten, I’m not so keen on him having that. Also he’s a defender; Chelsea have just given their new defender the no.9 shirt which was odd now we’ve gone and given Gallas 10. Oh well, the crazy world of football.

After Chelsea’s statement the other day many people have come out and said what a load of bollocks it is including Chelsea’s ex-manager Claudio Ranieri:

I cannot believe these stories. I signed William and he was always a good professional - on and off the pitch. This is incredible and I don’t believe it.

It’s mad, nobody can realise why Chelsea have said this and it’s a blatant lie too. I think it’s just because they cannot accept Wenger outsmarted them as he got Gallas. They can’t just accept it. When Vieira left last year we weren’t happy about it but we didn’t go around saying crap like this; whenever a player moves on from a club like Arsenal we always thank them for their time here and wish them the best on their next challenge.

I think Chelsea fans too will realise it’s all lies and fans all over West London will be hanging their heads in shame embarrassed at their club. I have never ever felt like that as a Gooner, every time I pull on the shirt I wear it with pride. Even the day after our Champions league final loss, I wore it with so much pride, even more so than normal to be honest. I’m a loyal Gooner and I’ll stick by this club ’till the day I die because I know they won’t do any shit like Chelsea. The day after we lost our unbeaten run against ManUre, I was so proud of Arsenal for doing that unbeaten run, it was incredible; we all knew it was going to end one day so what’s the bother?

I wonder how many Chelsea fans will think twice when they’re deciding what to wear in the morning? Even if it’s just a thought, I be there’s quite a few that do.

Gallas has got the backing of Ranieri, Domenech, Vieira and Gordon Taylor. I don’t see anyone coming out saying: Oh my God, I can’t believe Gallas has said that, well done Chelsea for having the courage to release that statement. Only a fool would say that, everyone knows Chelsea are just lies lies lies, they’ve lied in the past and they’ll do it again. You’ll probably remember the tapping-up of Ashley Cole, on being questioned upon it he said he was in Milan with Adriano so could never have been there. What a twat. And you have to wonder why they lie because they have the money to buy whatever team they want so why do they need to bother lying to win? Beats me.

Oh yeah and they released another statement which is really quite ridiculous and funny.

And on other news the chant of: ‘England’s. Number one. England’s England’s Number One’ might return to the North Bank once again as Almunia has revealed that in two years time he will be eligible for Steve McLaren’s selection. He’s said that he’d like to play for Spain but it makes no difference to him if he plays for England instead. He’s 29 and hasn’t had any International experience and that’s now his goal; he reckons if he can push into the Arsenal first team then he’ll get selected. He’s going top have a tough task trying take that no.1 from Lehmann but good on him for trying. I look forward to watching Euro 2008 with an Arsenal player in the side wahay!

Anyways, England play tonight and Baptista’s Brazil beat Wales 2-0 last night at the shithole with Gilberto taking the armband for a period of the game and apparently The Beast had a good game once he was moved into the middle after he’s started out wide on the right, he didn’t like it there and you don’t want him to get angry…

Right then, have a good day!

Chelsea have published a statement on William Gallas saying how he threatened to score own goals and get himself sent off if he didn’t get a pay-rise and stuff like that. As arseblogger pointed out, Chelsea have shown they have no class. They can’t accept that they’ve lost out on Gallas and in an attempt to make things right have issued this statement. Ashley Cole is a top player and in a way it’s disappointing to see him go but this is how we handled the departure. We said:

“Upon Ashley’s departure I would like to thank him on behalf of the team and everyone connected with the Club for his contribution to our success over recent years, Ashley has always played with his heart for Arsenal.”

And Chelsea on losing Gallas said:

“Before the first game of the season against Manchester City, when only four defenders were available and John Terry was doubtful with an injury, he refused to play. He went on to threaten that if he was forced to play, or if he was disciplined and financially punished for his breach of the rules, that he could score an own goal or get himself sent off, or make deliberate mistakes.”

Ok then. Ashley Cole also didn’t play our opening game but we didn’t give all this bollocks. Also they said this which I thought was quite funny:

William Gallas rarely recognised these responsibilities. He also failed to recognise the role José Mourinho and Chelsea played in helping him become a double Premiership champion for a player whose only league title prior to that had been in the French Second Division.

Haha! Imagine if we’d gone: Ashley Cole was apart of our 49 game unbeaten run but the club would like to officially remove any self pride he had in achieving that and we no longer accept any credit he has for it and award it to the manager. The only thing that Ashley has ever won is not that youth championship thing he did when he was 12.

Oh Well, we always knew Chelsea we’re cunts but now the whole world does. Marvellous. Oh and if you are thinking what if it’s true then think again: No.1 If it was an issue of money which is what Chelsea is saying then he’s at the best club to get it, I’m pretty sure that by moving to Arsenal he’s not getting a massive increase in salary. Also Chelsea themselves said they offered him an attractive new contract. No.2 Chelsea said: “He initially refused to play against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final last season in an effort to force an increased contract offer.” well that’s just a complete lie, thanks to gunnerblog for finding this clip. And No.3 Gallas has denied the accusations in the statement saying:

“I am surprised and shocked by these claims. I never said that I would score own goals if I had to play for Chelsea again. I was firm about my wanting to leave, that is true, and I will explain in due time why I wanted to. But I never went that far. But if people want to hide behind false accusations in order to give a reason for why I left so they can calm down the club’s supporters then they can.”

Enough on that story, we all know what Chelsea are about, we didn’t need this reminder but it is quite funny. We’ll see how Arsenal handle it with class in the next few days, best bet is probably to ignore it, Chelsea would hate that.

Denilson became our new no.15 and I have adjusted the squad profiles for him, and we’re not the only ones exited by his arrival. And the other Brazilian we brought in might be staying for a little longer than first expected. Baptista has revealed that there is a 4 year deal available to him and he’s told fans that he’ll sign it if he’s wanted, he said he loves the set-up here and has always been an admirer of Arsene Wenger. He got a great reception when he came on in Brazil’s 3-0 win over Argentina, lets just hope he can deliver the goods.

That’s enough for today, just one more international to sit though this week then it’s back to the Premiership on Saturday. Can’t Wait. Catch ya later Gooners.

Not much other news today as all our players are off on internationals, England won 5-0 yesterday, it’s weird not having any Arsenal players in the team now. I suppose Theo will be there soon. So today is the first international staged at The Grove and it’s a big one, Brazil v Argentina. Gutted I haven’t got a ticket but I’ve got to go to work anyways, it’s on BBC1 so I’m gonna record it.

The full squads can be found here but they include Cicinho, Gilberto Silva, Julio Baptista, Kaka, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Samuel, Mascherano, Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Riquelme, Tevez, Messi and Delgado. Should be a great game to go to, if I was going I’d support Brazil imply because they’ve got two Gooners in the team. There will be a massive Arsenal following at the game mixed with the Samba of Brazil and the passion of Argentina. I wish I could go but I suppose I’ll watch it all later.

It will be the first time our new signing Baptista will play at The Grove and I’m sure he’ll get a magnificent reception along with Gilberto, hopefully he’ll grab a goal just to make the day even more special. If you are going have fun, I hope to go to another International at the Grove in years to come, I don’t understand why they don’t play some England matches down here instead of them all being up in Manchester.

I really can’t think of anything more to say, I’ve got work in an hour so I better get ready…see you later!

Arsene actually brought in three new players on deadline day: The Beast, Gallas and Denilson. He’s the captain of the Brazilian under 19 team and the reason we didn’t know about this transfer yesterday was because he was waiting for international clearance from Sao Paulo. He’s set to be the replacement at The Grove for the ageing Gilberto Silva, he’s the same sort of player, a defensive midfield playmaker linking plays together. And he’s Brazilian. I’m looking forward to this guy, if he’s captain of Brazil now at hi level, imagine what he’ll be like in years to come…

Two of our new signings have spoken to the press after their moves, Baptista has said that he’s come here to bring the title back to Highbury and Gallas has been talking about his relief to have finally left Chelsea. Apparently the Russians aren’t very happy with the deal and Mourinho is said to be fuming! Apparently Kenyon was under strict instructions from Jose not to give Arsenal Gallas and he did. It now leaves Chelsea with 3 centre backs and Gallas was probably the best defensively of them. Also there’s talk about whether Chelsea actually needed a left back with Bridge on excellent form and then Gallas a strong back up option. It seems we got the best deal out of the two club but visit Gunnerblog for more on this.

On the final day there were loads of signings: Villa got Petrov, ‘Boro got Huth, Euell and Woodgate, Pompey got Andy Cole, Spurs got Chimbonda and Malbranque and got rid of Routledge, West Ham obviously got Mascherano and Tevez. There were others but that’s a few of them. The West Ham deal is looking very dodgy though and the group MSI who owned the players apparently still do and still pay their wages and if they wanted to withdraw them from the Hammers whenever they wanted. And when they come to sell them on which will probably be forced on them in a year MSI will get if not all a massive chunk of the fee. There’s talk of Roman Abramovich being one of the owners of MSI but nothing has been confirmed. It’s a real mess West Ham have got into here and I’m glad Wenger avoided it. Now the Hammers have announced they’re under initial takeover talks, they haven’t said it’s MSI but it’s bound to be.

There was no other major strengthening of teams on deadline; I’d say out of all the teams it was actually Arsenal who made the best signings. Oh apart from Roy Keane’s Sunderland who bought about 10 players. Mad.

Right I’m off now, England play today, not that any Arsenal players will feature…see ya later!

Yesterday was the busy day I hoped for as Arsene Wenger managed 3 departures and 2 arrivals. Of the 3 scenarios I predicted yesterday I think ‘The best case scenario’ is the most similar to the to the actually events: Cole went to Chelsea for £5m + William Gallas, Jose Reyes and Julio Baptista swapped but on one year loan deals. Tevez and Mascherano went to West Ham and we never pursued Naismith. And instead of Song leaving, Cygan left and Villarreal paid us £2m.

Yes Pascal Cygan has joined up with Robert Pires at Villarreal on a two year deal for £2m. Nobody expected Pascal to be leaving, people have wanted it for a while but never realistically thought it would happen. I’m happy that Cygan has gone and wish him the best of luck but I’m also quite sad. Cygan was great at Arsenal, not in terms of ability but in the comedy factor. It’s kind of sad to see him go but all good things must come to an end.

Also leaving was Jose Reyes who secured his “dream move” to Spain as he goes to Real Madrid on a one year loan. It’s his birthday today and he say’s he is a very happy boy. However, he is a little shit. He is on the same level as Cole. Every fucking day he’d say how he wants to leave Arsenal and how he’d do anything to play in Spain. I don’t think he realised that he’s actually not an amazing player, in the end a deal went through. Good. The loan is only for a year but I don’t expect to see him back at Arsenal. If he doesn’t make that permanent next summer then it’ll be another Spanish club he’ll sign for.

As part of the deal loaning Reyes to Madrid, Julio Baptista (The Beast) has come the other way. He joins on the same terms as Reyes but I hope if he has a successful season with us he’ll join full-time. Once he experiences Premiership football I think he’ll enjoy it and I think he’ll enjoy life at Ashburton Grove with Arsenal. Still nothing official on this deal on the arsenal.com yet but realmadrid.com has confirmed it. I think he’s the sort of player we need here, A strong, physical player who can play a role in midfield as well as up-front. You’ll probably remember last summer he was a transfer target as we tried to sign him from Seville, in the end he chose to go to Madrid but found himself on the bench as they also signed Robinho as well as having Raul and Ronaldo. I think the Henry/Baptista partnership will work well with the pace of Thierry and the strength of The Beast. I reckon he’ll take the no.9 shirt, he’d look good with 10 but I think that’ll be left for a bit.

After a summer of speculation the Ashley Cole and Gallas deal finally went though at the last minute last night. It was very nerve-wracking around midnight last night as we knew both players had medicals and was just a case of doing the paperwork before the clock struck 12. There was no announcement until 1 o’clock last night and after an exhausting deadline day I just had to go to bed and just hoped I’d wake up to the news. And I did. Cole joined Chelsea for £5m + Gallas, I think we could have maybe got a bit more money for him but it doesn’t really matter. I’m not that bothered that The Russians now have Cole, they were good anyway without him, Wayne Bridge has made an excellent start to the season and Cole won’t add a great deal more. I’m glad the little fuckers gone. Hopefully his new sponsors Samsung will give him all the phones he needs to stick up his arse.

As part of that deal we get William Gallas who I think is a great addition to the squad. He can play either centre or left back, which is exactly what we need at the moment with our injuries. I think the back four for our game against ‘Boro will be: Eboue, Djourou, Toure and Gallas. Gallas will probably take Cole’s no.3 shirt I reckon, we definitely aren’t going to be saving that number for respect…

So that was all our transfers of the day, there were alot more on a busy deadline day which I’ll go through tomorrow including a very dodgy looking deal where West Ham got the Argentinean duo. Also Spurs were active yesterday and new Sunderland manager Roy Keane had a very busy day. I’ll talk about these transfers tomorrow, until then. I’m off to change the squad page, fuck off Ashley, good riddance Jose and farewell Pascal.