Posts Tagged ‘arsenal transfer news’

Football

Arsenal update: Higuain and Nani looking good, Payet on radar

By Stefano on June 17th, 2013
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After a quite few days there’s bit of an avalanche of Arsenal related news this morning most of which revolves around Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain.

After it seemed as if Juve were odds on to land the striker Arsenal now appear to have assumed pole position with several papers suggesting that the club have tabled a £20 million bid which apparently is a few million more than Juve were offering.

It now seems that Juve will spend the cash on previous Arsenal target Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic, and possibly even Man City’s Carlos Tevez.

The Standard does report though that the main problem with the deal has been the managerial situation at the Bernabeu with Real not yet in a position to confirm as replacement for Jose Mourinhio.

The 29-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium and would command a fee of no more than £10m should talks with new boss Manuel Pellegrini conclude with his departure.

The online debate about whether Arsenal should be interested in Man United erratic winger Luis Nani is a likely to shift up a gear today with reports that the player and the club are on the verge of agreeing a deal which will see the Portuguese star move to North London for £8 million. The Metro says that Turkish club Galatasary who were also tracking the player have been priced out of the deal leaving the path clear for Arsene Wenger to take a gamble on a talented the controversial winger.

There may be more chance for Nani at The Emirates if Gervinho makes the move to Marseille which has been reported on by many sources this weekend.

But then again he may be competing for a place in the side with Lille winger Dimitri Payet who is reportedly to be keen to move to a club that can offer him Champions League football. The 26-year-old scored 12 times and provided an impressive 13 assists in 38 Ligue 1 appearances last season.



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Football

Stephan El Shaarawy would cost Arsenal or Man City 35 million Euros says Berlusconi

By Stefano on June 14th, 2013
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With rumours that Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy could be heading for a new club Silvio Berlusconi (sure I have heard that name before) has said that the player won’t go cheaply.

Berlusconi is saying that the player should have a price tag of 35 million Euros, a fee that first emerged in Tuttosport and has reverberating around the Italian press today.

There’s an implication too that Milan wouldn’t want to sell the player to another Serie A club which would rule out the likes of Napoli who may soon be looking to replace the irrepressible Edinson Cavani.

Meanwhile the player’s agent has put the dampeners on any move to Man City.

Roberto La Florio told SportItalia (reported here).

“Although we can say that the market is a bit crazy and anything can happen, that is indisputable. The boy is doing well at Milan and for us nothing has changed.

“Offers from City? Nobody has called me regarding this. He is Milan through and through and looks great with the Rossoneri.”



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Football

Arsenal update: Update on Williams, Villa and Gervinho

By Stefano on June 14th, 2013
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Well we must be nearing the transfer deadline window proper – it opens on July 1st – as a lot of those apparent ‘done deals’ are now looking very wobbly, which in my book equates to selling clubs holding out for more money.

The one that saddens is me a little is the news coming from Swansea that Arsenal and the Welsh club have failed to get anywhere on the possible transfer of centre back Ashley Williams. I think a lot of Arsenal fans believe that the player would be a solid addition to the Arsenal defence especially if Thomas Vermaelen heads off. Sadly Swansea want £10 million and Arsenal are reputed to have only offered around £8 million. I wonder if this will be another Cahill with someone else sneaking in quickly and nabbing the player.

Williams is quoted as saying

“I play my football for Swansea City and now I’m just going away and looking forward to a holiday,”

“I’ve said before, I’ll take it (Arsenal rumours) as a compliment, it means you’re doing your job well. I’ve done that this time, I haven’t looked too far into it.”

Another player who also apparently won’t be joining Arsenal this summer is David Villa. Barca’s Sandro Rosell has moved to squash speculation that the Spanish striker will be leaving the club by saying.

“Until is otherwise the case, David Villa remains a Barca player and our desire is that he will remain so until next year.”

Villa’s contract runs out in summer 2014, so he could in theory stay on at the club until he is a few moths shy of his 33rd birthday.

I wonder too if valuations from Arsenal and Spurs have fallen well short of what the Catalan club were hoping.

Finally this morning there has been a lot of speculation over the future of Arsenal winger Gervinho. After a hit and miss season – well a couple in fact – the player is being linked with a return to France with Marseilles keen to secure his services.

“This is a profile that interests us, yes. We want flank players, with dribbling, passing and scoring and Gervinho has this profile,” Marseille assistant coach Franck Passi yesterday.

Arsenal fans are you bothered if the Ivorain goes. He hasn’t exactly set the Premiership alight but there have been glimpses of his huge potential too.



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Football

Higuain too! Chelsea now chasing the same strikers as Arsenal and Real

By Stefano on June 13th, 2013
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Here’s an interesting snippet coming out of Spain tonight. It seems that new Chelsea boss (that really doesn’t sound quite right) José Mourinho really might have it in for both Juventus and Arsenal. After rumours that he might be ready to pounce on want-away Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic (s target for both Juve and Arsenal) it now appears that he is also thinking about a move for Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain! So Arsenal, Juve and now Chelsea are chasing the same pair of forwards!

The news comes from a Spanish radio station Cadena Cope and was reported on an Italian site here and loads of others too.

It might be quite credible as José Mourinho obviously worked with Higuain at Real and he is expected to sign a high profile striker this summer to compete with new signing Andre Schurrle as well as Torres and Ba.



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Football

Torres to Arsenal from Chelsea? Surely not…

By Stefano on June 13th, 2013
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There are some rather wicked whispers around today about the future of of one Fernando Torres. The Chelsea striker has been the subject of much speculation recently with Barcelona allegedly lining up a £17 million bid.

Now however the SportsDirect News site is claiming that Barca have a rival for Torres – Arsenal.

The site says

Emirates boss Arsene Wenger is a huge admirer of the 29-year-old, and believes he could help him recapture the form that made him one of the most feared strikers in the world at Liverpool.

Couple that with the fact that none of Arsenal’s supposed targets seem to be too interested in the club means that the site has its story.

It also claims to have heard from a Gunners source : “The boss loves Torres. He knows how good he can be, and a deal could come off.

“Chelsea are looking at strikers, Fernando has become surplus to requirements and Arsene is ready to pounce.”

Well the Rooney story is bonkers enough, but Torres. He is still young enough at 29 to have a few good seasons left in him, he also scored 22 goals last season, not a bad tally.

But I think it unlikely that even if Arsenal were interested that Chelsea would sell him to their rival London club. Barca are one thing. The near-ish neighbours are another.

Ultimately though buying Torres would be a huge personal gamble for Arsene Wenger. Were it not to work out I think he would end up personally taking the blame for a transfer which while it clearly could be a sensational signing still represents one hell of a risk.

What do you think?



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Football

Arsenal still considering Turkish winger?

By Stefano on May 9th, 2013
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With the summer window rapidly approaching it will be interesting to see how many names that were linked with Arsenal in the winter window are quoted for a second time.

One player who might get some serious attention from Arsenal is Atletico Madrid’s Turkish star Arda Turan.

His agent, Ahmet Bulut, hinted that the player was keen to move to London in the winter and now Turkish-Football has revived the story.

Bulut apparently said

“There are a few clubs interested, Liverpool are one, and so are Arsenal. There are no official or concrete offers at the moment but two clubs have spoken about wages.

“He is interested in working under Arsene Wenger because he is very good at working with young players, and Arda wants to work in England.”

The down side is that Atletico apparently value the player at 24 million Euros and his form – four goals and eight assists in all competitions this season – would suggest that he might not be worth that kind of figure.



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Football

Arsenal update: Goalkeeper gossip, Wilshere on Chelsea and why Wenger might drop Giroud

By Stefano on February 18th, 2013
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There’s lot of Arsenal news this morning with the papers dominated by recriminations over the defeat to Blackburn and previews of the game on Tuesday against Bayern Munich.

Jack Wilshere has been talking eloquently about both subjects.

On the Blackburn game Wilshere said

“It’s obviously disappointing to go out of the FA Cup. We know what this trophy means in England and we wanted to go all the way.

“We created a lot of chances we’re just disappointed we couldn’t put it in the net. “They probably created one chance and they got a lucky goal but that’s the FA Cup. Giantkillings going on all the time in this cup and it happened today.”

On the game against Bayern, Wilshere said that he hoped the Arsenal team would find inspiration from an unlikely source – their West London rivals Chelsea

“They weren’t having a good season and ok they got a bit lucky in some games but they showed great character and we need to do that now. We need to come together as a team. We’ve got good leaders here we’ve got a good team atmosphere and I think that’s going to help us now.

Meanwhile Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger has tackled the Chelsea issue straight on saying that the German side are much stronger this season. He told The Daily Mail.

“We are hungry to win the Champions League. This team have been to the final twice and didn’t win. We have more experience and we’re moving towards our aim. Compared to the final against Chelsea, we are stronger. We have more good players and we are stronger on the bench. This is a crucial point.

“In the final, Chelsea brought on Fernando Torres and Florent Malouda and that helped them win the game. That’s a big difference to last season. We have more options to change.”

The Guardian has a round up of all the latest Arsenal related transfer news. Not that any of it is what you would call proper news. The big issues seems to be around the future of Wojciech Szczesny. Is Arsene in for a new keeper? Well according to The Guar the main names in the frame are Barcelona’s Victor Valdes and Liverpool’s Pepe Reina. Both of which seem pretty unlikely.

Finally Goal has an interesting take on who might play for The Gunners against Bayern. It is pure speculation of course but the website thinks that Wenger might drop Olivier Giorud, who had a turkey on Saturday, and play Theo Walcott down the middle.

Its rationale is this

Arsene Wenger believes his strongest offensive weapon in the last-16 first-leg encounter is a pacy, mobile front three that can hit the runaway Bundesliga leaders on the counter-attack. The Arsenal manager is believed to be leaning towards starting with a front trio of Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla, although he could revise his plans following training on Monday.

Goal also thinks that Aaron Ramsey will get a start too which would explain why he didn’t play on Saturday.

I think there might be legs to this one. Bayern are probably more susceptible to pacy players who catch them on the break rather then old school strikers like Giroud who could be easily marked by their superb defensive paring.

We will find out soon enough.



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Football

Arsenal’s first winter signing? Stoppila Sunzu apparently on his way

By Stefano on December 18th, 2012
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It has not been officially confirmed yet, but it seems that Arsenal are on the verge of making their first signing of the winter transfer window. With a view to adding a bit of steel to his midfield Arsene Wenger has apparently targeted Zambian Stoppila Sunzu and there are suggestions from his home country that the signing is imminent.

Sunzu is on his way to London and he told the FA Zambia website

“I will be travelling to England to sign a deal with Arsenal after the friendly game against Tanzania. As we speak, Mr Katumbi’s personal consultant Salomon Eskadela is here in Zambia waiting to travel with me to England.

“I don’t know the details of the deal yet because I have not discussed with both Arsenal and TP Mazembe. However I spoke to both Mr Katumbi and Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger who assured me that I would not be going to London for trials but to discuss personal terms and possibly sign a contract.”

The player is 23 and yet has been a staple in the Zambian team for several years. He is best known for scoring the winning penalty against Ivory Coast in the 2012 African Cup of Nations. He also has a goal or two to his name scoring 21 goals from his 53 appearances for his team TP Mazembe.

There are likely to be work permit issues to be sorted before he can join his new team.

If he does sign it casts a very real doubt on the future of Emmanuel Frimpong. So is Wenger about to replace Alex Song? Maybe.

Pic from PA



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Accessories, Football

Arsenal planning double raid on Liverpool – goalkeeper and winger on Wenger’s radar

By Stefano on December 15th, 2012
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There has been a lot of Arsenal-related transfer news in the last few hours. Though today it isn’t all about where Theo Walcott will spend the next part of his career, but about the list of players that Arsene Wenger is after in a bid to add steel to his rather brittle squad.

The Mirror has a run down of those targets and the likelihood of them arriving at The Emirates. It lists the usual suspects;  Huntelaar, Zaha and Southampton’s Luke Shaw, but suggests that Montpellier’s Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is likely to end up in Italy.

The Mirror’s big story is that keeper Pepe Reina’s move to Arsenal is gaining momentum. It does point out though that there may be sticking points.

It says

Wenger tried to sign Reina two summers ago and Arsenal believe there’s a chance Liverpool will be willing to cash in and go for Birmingham’s England prospect Jack Butland as a replacement.

Spain international Reina, who has had an indifferent season, is on £110,000-a-week wages, which is likely to be a major issue for Arsenal.

Arsenal are also been strongly linked with another Liverpool player who apparently has an exit on his mind.

The Sun says that the Gunners are reported to be lining up a bid for want-away winger Raheem Sterling. The youngster has 18 months left on his contract but is allegedly not keen on signing a new deal. The article suggests that Arsenal will offer Theo Walcott in a swap deal for the talented winger. Manchester United are also keen on Sterling, but then they have also be linked with Walcott and Arsenal’s other key target Wilfried Zaha.

Meanwhile The Mail suggests that the Gunners are still very keen on West Ham’s midfielder Momo Diame, and that Arsenal are trying to use a loan move deal for out of sorts striker Marouane Chamakh as bait. The Morrocan striker was superb in his last season at Bordeaux and showed flashes of genius in his first couple of months at The Emirates. However his form for Arsenal since then has been woeful. The Mail also reports  that Arsenal are chasing Toulouse right back Serge Aurier as a potential long term replacement for Bacary Sagna.

Finally The Metro suggests that Arsenal are about to announce new long contracts with its quartet of young British stars. Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey are all about to pen to paper and Carl Jenkinson apparently signed a new contract a few weeks back.

 

 



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Who are the main challengers for the Champions League?

By shinychris on September 4th, 2012
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With the qualifying rounds already well under way, the buzz for the return of the Champions League is starting to build and it won’t be long until the group stage draw is upon us. Last season’s victors
Chelsea will be keen to get going, as will clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Manchester United who failed to make much of an impact last time out.

Big money has been spent this summer and plenty of United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal transfer news is still on-going in an attempt to make them the strongest of the English challengers for the European trophy. Chelsea and Arsenal have made some big signings in the close season and exciting talent such as Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski will give them the confidence that they can make their mark on the competition when the draw is made. United and City started the season as favourites for the Premier League title and they will also be right up there in the betting when it comes to the Champions League. Having both been knocked out at the group stage last season, the competition will certainly be high on their priorities and you could do a lot worse than to predict that either one of these two Manchester clubs will make the final at Wembley, next May.

All four English clubs are expected to do well and it is the first time for years that all four will genuinely believe they can win the trophy. The main threat to the English teams will once again come from Spain, as Barcelona and Real Madrid will look to improve on their semi-final defeats last season. Barcelona have a new manager but very little will change for the Catalan club as Lionel Messi and co. will be the early favourites to take the cup. Real Madrid are already under pressure in the league and they may see the Champions League as a welcome distraction when the group stages start, but Mourinho will be desperate to win the trophy with a third different club.

Aside from the usual suspects you can’t ignore last season’s finalists Bayern Munich, who probably feel they deserved to win the trophy before losing on penalties on their own patch. The Germans will definitely be a threat, but surprised a few last season by making it to the final and would be some way down my pecking order when selecting a pre-tournament winner.

Big spending PSG would like to think they have a chance, but like Manchester City last season, it may not be the right time or place and their main success will be in years to come. It is certainly the closest Champions League to call for a while and any side who makes it through the group stage will fancy their chances.

 

 

 



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