Arshavin deal ‘close’ & Gallas to leave on a free? 19 January, 2009

Every few days we get a new statement from Zenit telling us that that the deal for Arshavin is getting closer and closer. At the weekend his agent said a deal should be done this week and today Zenit are saying negotiations continue and he should be at Arsenal soon. It’s getting tiresome hearing all these stories, but hopefully it’ll all be worth it in the end and we can sort something out.

Speaking before the Hull game Wenger reassured us that Arshavin isn’t our only target:

“I don’t think it is worth to talk about [Arshavin] at the moment because we are nowhere near signing him, but he is one of the players we consider. He is not the only one we are on.

But at the moment it is not an absolute worry because we have so many players who will come back soon. We focus on them.

It’s nice to know that he has got others in mind because it does seem to the normal fan that the focus is on just the Russian. The way in which the player is represented it wouldn’t be that surprising for the deal to fall through and I’d hate for us to come out of the transfer window empty handed.

Wenger went on to talk about Arshavin’s playing availability:

Also speaking about a player like Arshavin – he cannot play in the Champions League. If he comes here now he will have 15-16 games and it will take five, six, seven maybe 10 games to adapt. You don’t know.”

I hadn’t really thought about him being cup-tied. So we’re buying this player purely for around 15 domestic games; in Champions League we will have to go with what we’ve got. It might not be the worst thing though, the league is where we are struggling – We’re still in Europe and we’re still in the FA Cup but we are not in the top 4. Arsene sees him as the man to come in and help us get back into the Champions League spots.

Once we have overtaken Aston Villa, you never know… Arsene thinks Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool will all have a little drop in form so if we’re there to capitalize on that, you never know.

William Gallas has hinted he might complete his contract and leave on a free transfer. Many are expecting him to go in the summer but we might be seeing him for a little while longer:

“I am concentrating on my future, finishing my contract with Arsenal and seeing where I’ll go in two years”

Although he might not be the most popular bloke around, it might not be the worst idea to have an experienced defender in your squad for a few more years. I don’t expect Gallas is the happiest man in the squad either so you never know he could just be saying this and then getting the first train out of London once the summer comes. Either way, not really fussed but he will have to be replaced if he goes.

Tomas Rosicky has been talking about his return to football and says he cannot wait to be able to tell the fans that he is fit and ready to play this weekend. It’s been a stressful and emotional time for Tomas and it’s going to take a bit of time for him to get match fit again. Only time will tell whether he’s the same player again once he returns.

Apparently we have an 18-year-old Hungarian defender called Mate Toth on trial at the moment from Gyori ETO. Unfortunately that’s about all the information I have on this bloke, I don’t think you can blame me for not knowing a lot about him. His agent says he has a lot of potential and Tottenham have had him on trial before too. If I hear anything on this I’ll keep you updated but so far, well, he’s foreign and young – so we must be buying him.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading.