Toure, Eboue & Song off to ACN but we’ve brought someone in. 2 January, 2008

Yesterday was Toure’s and Eboue’s last Premiership appearance until after the African Cup of Nations. Also Alex Song has been called up by Cameroon , he is uncapped but I’m sure he’d love to break into the side. We’re going to miss this lot for a possible nine games, luckily there’s no really hard games, maybe the 4th round of the FA Cup and Man City away on the second of Feb but if the Ivory Coast get knocked out before then, then we could have Toure and Eboue back. Here are those games they could miss:

January 6: FA Cup Third Round – Burnley (a)
January 9: Carling Cup Semi-Final first leg – Tottenham (h)
January 12: Premier League – Birmingham (h)
January 19: Premier League – Fulham (a)
January 23: Carling Cup Semi-Final second leg – Tottenham (a)
January 26/27: FA Cup Fourth Round
January 29: Premier League – Newcastle (h)
February 2: Premier League – Manchester City (a)
February 9: Premier League – Blackburn (h)

Blackburn at home could also be a tricky one but as I say, we could have players back by then. To be fair, we’re only really going to miss Toure. Eboue can play well but he’s not as an important first team member as Kolo. Gallas has been talking about how much we’ll miss him; the two have formed a nice partnership this season and it will be a shame to see that broken.

So this provides an opportunity for Djourou or Senderos. Wenger did name Song as the other back up option to Toure but he’s traveled t Africa too now. I think we can cope, our Swiss defenders might be a bit dodgy at times but they are good defenders. I’ve heard Phillippe stormed off an hour before kick off yesterday after not being in the squad. Hmm. He’ll get his chance now. The three cup games coming up will give Wenger a great chance to decide whether to go for Senderos or Djourou in the Premiership so they’ve got to be at their best to get picked.

I’ve got another piece of juicy insider news for you. It seems we’ve managed to sort out a work permit for Carlos Vela and he is joining up with the squad. He came over on new years day but I don’t know whether he’s training with us yet. I can also say that apparently he isn’t just training here over the winter break and that he’s actually here to stay. A number of sites are reporting the story, it should just be a matter of time before it’s officially announced. He’s done really well in La Liga on loan with Osasuna and now looks to break into the Premier League. He’s traditionally a striker but can play left wing well too. He sounds quite exiting but is definitely one for the future.

Hopefully something will come up on Arsenal.com soon, but for now we’re still guessing. The guy I heard this off is genuine but I’d still like to hear it from Arsenal themselves.

Right I’m off, thanks for reading.