I can only assume that by announcing public interest from Arsenal will push forward a bidding war from other clubs who are looking to add creativity in January, so lets see where this goes

Good afternoon to you all,

A bit of a crazy time to be putting up a daily blog (which I admit hasn’t been as daily as I would have liked it to be, apologies for that)

I have been doing last minute Christmas shopping, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be upset if Christmas never reared its snowy, ugly head ever again. Running around fighting to get into shops is so far from fun its untrue.

So what is going on in the world of Arsenal? I don’t blinking know but I’ll try and go over some stuff that is floating around in the news.

There is only one place to start off, Cesc Fabregas could well be out for 4 months which is almost the worst possible scenario. As Gooners we should expect this. The old saying certainly seems to apply to us.. when it rains it pours. If our lack and inconsistency continues as it has then we could be looking at a flood.

The first thought I suppose is who will replace him as central creator? It appears that Wenger does not think that Diaby is the answer, especially given the fact that he did not replace Cesc like for like with Diaby against Liverpool on Sunday.

Cesc hasn’t been at his best this season, that is quite obvious but he was improving and growing into his new role as club Captain, not only that but even when he is not playing well he still makes the side tick. His vision and early passing is a very important cog to this young team.

Arsene will have to think of a temporary solution and decide what moves he will have to make in January if any at all.

Onto the January window, everybody’s favourite transfer story appears to be popping up in the media again.. Andrei Arshavin is once again linked to us. According to his current club Zenit St Petersburg, his price tag is £20 million and they are hoping that Arsenal come up with a bid. There have been rumours that Arshavin was looking around the Arsenal training ground last week, obviously these are only rumours so do not think too much into that.

Arsenal football club are not a club to do business in the public eye so I have some doubts but nevertheless Zenit’s general director Maxim Mitrofanov spoke to a Russian radio station and said.

“The price tag for Arshavin is £20m and we are hopeful that Arsenal will make such an offer soon,”

Firstly Zenit have publicly accepted that Arshavin will be leaving the club in January and finding the most amount of money will be their primary aim. Secondly we all know how we at Arsenal approach buying players, it is supposed to be quiet and out of the public eye so those comments made from the director would have annoyed Arsenal if this rumour is to be the truth.

Lastly Arsene will not pay £20 million for a player who is 27 years old, no way no how. They will have to lower their price if they want an agreement with Arsenal.

I can only assume that by announcing public interest from Arsenal will push forward a bidding war from other clubs who are looking to add creativity in January, so lets see where this goes. Tottenham Hotspur were said to be interested in the player and will have to offer more financially to prize him away from Arsenal and even that is not guaranteed.

Given the problems with Tomas Rosicky, it wouldn’t surprise me to see us after a creative wide player but I would be a little concerned that it could be quite a big risk given the fact that he hasn’t played in the Premier League and only has a few years of top level football ahead of him, if you believe Arsene’s over 30’s policy.

Anyway, I am sure we are likely to hear more about him and other clubs from now until he leaves his current club.

Another player who is been linked with a January transfer, but this time on the way out of the club is Nicklas Bendtner. The Dane has had a rather patchy season so far, he had some good carling cup games which lead to fans screaming for him to replace Adebayor in the starting 11 came in and had a run of poor performances, now fans want him sold.

Bendtner himself is prepared to give the fans just that if he doesn’t get enough first team football.

“It is quite clear that my priority is to play football fast,” he told sporten.dk. “I know what I want and, if it doesn’t happen at Arsenal, then I will move away from the club — so I’m guaranteed to have the whole remainder of my career playing, wherever I am. I want to play solid.”

“I am not even across all the rumours because I am an Arsenal player and appreciate the club very much,” he said. “I hope I can be here for a long time yet. For me, Arsenal, right now, are a dream club.”

With Eduardo coming back from injury it would not surprise me if Bendtner was let go at some point in the future. He is only 20 years old so if he wants to stay and progress then perhaps Wenger sees the Dane as a longer term project.

Speaking of strikers, youngster Jay Simpson is heading to West Brom on loan and it will provide the platform for him to show what he has in his locker.

West Brom are a good footballing side who play the game the right way and I am sure that had something to do with Wenger allowing the deal to go through. Good luck Jay, a few Premier League goals may swing Wenger’s head towards him.

Christmast Eve tomorrow, not sure if I will be writing anything so just in case, I would like to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

By Mean Lean