Which is half-true, in that there wasn’t any news this morning. But it sure broke a few hours later that a deal had indeed been struck for €40 million, comprising €34 million in cash up-front and €6 million in add-ons dependent on performance. It’s definitely lower than his worth, but such is the price we pay (no pun intended) for having a selling market with only one club and a player
The likes of Rooney and Ferdinand went to Manchester United for huge sums, sums that we simply could not compete with while the likes of Gerrard and Scholes and co were developed from young at their clubs. The club have been working on doing just that. Developing future British players and it is
Given his position on the pitch, age and footballing upbringing, it is difficult not to elicit comparisons with a certain Theo Walcott. The similarities are there. Having heard his first interview he seems to be softly spoken and lacking in the brash, brazen attitude that befalls many young footballers these days – a character trait shared by our Theo. The difference however seems to be that he is more natural a footballer than Theo, whose formative were less with a ball at his feet but more with sprinting spikes
So onto the important news of the day: the draw for the Champions League qualifier. We all wanted to avoid Rubin Kazan and we did. But we got lumped with the second-worst option in Udinese. First-leg is at home (sans the suspended RvP and Nasri) and as is always the case with home ties
Juan Mata and Phil Jagielka are names that have been on fans lips over the past few weeks and it was those two names that were brought up at the press conference from digging journo's. Wenger seemed more certain about Jagielka explaining that it is down to clubs to agree a deal before talking about a player where as when it came to Mata he said that liking a player doesn't mean that you want
Very rarely has Arshavin been given the number 10 gig and it is unlikely that we will see it happen any time soon. This is the perfect opportunity as a fan to say that the manager has lost the plot because he cannot see what I can even without a counter balance from the man who watches the players
One player who will be missed around the club will be that of Emmanuel Eboue who looks set for a £4m switch to Turkish club Galatasaray according to reports. Arsene Wenger had admitted that Eboue, along with Bendtner and Almunia were allowed to sort out their futures by seeking pastures new. I must admit. Wenger had me going for a moment when he said that Eboue was in London due to injury. I bought that one hook line and sinker. While I think Cesc's hammys were always a smokescreen
It is another argument altogether to say that we will or will not be able to keep these players together for that amount of time. That has to be the aim, to keep as many quality players who have been brought up on the Arsenal way of playing until they are 27-29. Van Persie has shown that once they can get there then they can win whatever the hell they want. Essentially we are hoping that they can
My view is this, if we are actually interested in the player which I wouldn't be too surprised if we were then a potential move would be dependant on the future of one Cesc Fabregas. I also wouldn't be surprised if the agent, player and current club all know of this and will not talk unless Barcelona pay the