Wenger’s been looking at strikers 3 July, 2009

In an interview with the French media Arsene Wenger has revealed the names of two attacking players he’s had an eye on this summer. They are Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh and (soon to be) Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema. We’ve mostly been linked with defensive midfielder’s recently but this news suggests that Wenger will ignore that vacency again. He says we’ll only bring a striker in if we lost one and Arsene has said that Adebayor’s future is down to him:

“If he does not want to stay, he will leave but I think that he will be still at Arsenal this season.”

He’s not being shoved out the door, if he wants to leave then we’re not bothered. Strong contrast to last year though when we were saying he is 100% not for sale and we will do everything we can to keep him. Arsene says he thinks he will stay but he could just be saying that; Milan want an attacking player, Ade wants to go to Milan, we’re quite happy to let him go – all the elements are there so I reckon he’ll sign for Milan. If he does go then we’ll have a bit of money to get a replacement and when asked whether he was interested in Chamakh, Wenger said:

“Yes, but only in the event of a departure.”

So if Ade leaves get ready for a heap of Chamakh stories. Wenger was also asked about any other possible French signings:

“There is one who interested me but he (Karim Benzema) left for Madrid. I did not make of approach because I would never have thought that Lyon would sell this year.”

Even if we did know that Benzema could be persuaded to leave Lyon this summer we would’ve never been able to compete with Real Madrid or Man United’s terms. He was a player United identified as a possible Ronaldo replacement but Real were quick in there with a tasty bid and it was too good to turn down. Now the Premier League champions have strengthened added to their attack by signing Michael Owen.

It’s a bizarre transfer, one day you’re organising meetings with Stoke and Hull, the next day you’re signing for Man United. He has not impressed since returning to the Premiership with Newcastle and as a result has not been considered to play for England for a long time. Of course the service at United will be better than at Newcastle so he might get a few more goals that way but I just generally don’t think he’s that good a player any more, he’s past it. Well the experiment of Henrik Larsson worked for them before so this might too. No doubt he’ll score against us this season.

We’ve also secured a signing today – Kieran Gibbs on a long term contract. It’s yet another new deal for one of our young stars. Making sure our promising talents stay at the club is just as important as making new signings and I’m glad we’ve got another player signed up. What excites me is four out of the five young players we’ve re-signed this summer are British – Gibbs, Walcott, Ramsey and Wilshere. Having all the foreign players that we do doesn’t bother me but I look forward to us hopefully having a few more local players in the future. By the way, the other player that signed a new deal was Fabianski.

All this news of new contracts has reminded me about van Persie. He still hasn’t agreed a new contract. There were some positive quotes recently about him getting it sorted but there’s still no news. Hopefully it can get sorted before we start pre-season, otherwise Wenger really is going to have to look at some attacking players to bring in.

Thanks for reading.

News round-up… Ramsey & Wilshere sign new deals 2 July, 2009

Ah it’s so hot. Too hot. This is England for christ’s sake I can’t be dealing with this weather. Even lifting my fingers to the keys is tiring. Anyway, while the BBQ is heating up I’ll bring you up to date with what little news there is.

Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere have both signed long term contracts this week. A bit odd seeing as Ramsey only transferred here a year ago and Wilshere signed professional terms in January. It just shows how highly we rate the teenagers. They will no doubt be an important part of future midfield – possibly even midfield partners.

I’d like to know the length of the deals but as always they are undisclosed. I reckon they could be somewhere close to 8 years Fabregas signed for last time. Aaron has spoken about his new contract saying he’s happy he chose Arsenal, is pleased with his first season but hopes he can get a few more games next year. A few bloggers have discussed a possible loan move for him next season, I’m sure he would do great at a lot of clubs and gain some good experience but it’s up to Wenger. I’d guess that he’ll stay and get more cup games and the occasional league game, he’s a good player even at his age and has proven that he has got the talent to play at this level.

This summer has gone money-mad. Real Madrid and Man City have been flashing the cash – Madrid like never seen before. They’re just about to make another top signing in Benzema and then after that possibly Ribery! Then there was Man City offering £25m for Eto’o a player with only one year left on his contract. It’s not just that though, they were willing to pay him something ridiculous like £250,000 a week! I don’t remember the exact amount but I know it was stupid. Ivan Gazidis has been talking about salary capping after all this ridiculous money spending and I think he has a very good point. Other clubs are never going to be able to keep up when players are being offered a quarter of a million pounds for week’s work. I don’t think salary capping would ever be able to be brought in, but this summer it has got to that stage where it is just getting stupid.

On a side note, seeing as Real Madrid are signing the talent of Europe and Man City are by no means finished business… who are United going to get to replace Ronaldo and Tevez?

Gallas has said he’ll be staying at Arsenal next season but has not spoken about extending his contract. He currently has just a year left on his deal and would be able to go on a free next summer. It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s exactly what he did but to be fair that wouldn’t bother me at all. I’d like another year out of Gallas, he’s done really well since losing the captaincy and although he might not be the most liked player he does his job at the back and that matters more.

We’ve been linked with Werder Bremen’s ‘Naldo’ after their manager said he is no longer in their plans. I have no idea why they don’t want him anymore but they said he’s likely to go for about €10m and Arsenal are the most likely destination. He’s a defender and he’s 26 so I guess if any of our defense leave (which there is a big chance of) then this guy could be a possible replacement.

Right, the BBQ is good to go. I better be off. Thanks for reading, enjoy the sun while it lasts.