Posts Tagged ‘Arsenal’

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Stevan Jovetic urged to join Man City not Arsenal

By Stefano on March 28th, 2013
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Arsenal’s number one target, Stevan Jovetic, has been advised by one of his Fiorentina team mates to head to the Premiership.

But The Sun reports that defender Stefan Savic thinks that the 23 year old should join his old club Man City rather than Arsenal.

And this in spite of the fact that Savic had a difficult time at The Etihad where he failed to secure a first team place.

Savic, said “Jovetic is one of my closest friends and I would recommend City to him.

“They are a rising team, one of the best clubs in Europe. They will win trophies and be in the Champions League every year.”

“It was hard for me there because I came straight from the Serbian league. I won a league title but knew I had to play regularly to improve, so I left — it was my decision.

“It is different for Stevan. He has five years’ experience and could play straight away with Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez.”

Jovetic is one of a number of big name strikers that City are pursuing. The club has also been linked with Edinson Cavani and Radamel Falcao.



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Arsenal update: More on Ashley Williams, Pepe Reina and Andre Santos

By Stefano on March 28th, 2013
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The Daily Mail is returning to the story that Arsenal are pursuing Swansea’s excellent centre back Ashley Williams.

The player reports that the club are going head to head with Liverpool for the services of the player and that Wenger’s chief scout Steve Rowley has been very impressed by what he has seen of the player this season.

Arsenal face a struggle to secure Williams though with Liverpool, managed by Swansea’s ex-boss Brendan Rodgers still favourite to land the player’s signature.

The Mail says

Sources close to Swansea’s skipper claim the Wales international will find it difficult to turn down the chance of a move to a more high-profile club this summer.

The paper also suggest that the club will continue to chase Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina. His move may be partially funded by the exits of Gervinho to Galatasaray and Andrey Arshavin to FK Khazar Lankaran.

Finally it seems that Andre Santos is happy in Brazil and may end up staying.

Santos told Zero Hora as reported by Sky Sports:

‘I’ll do my best to win titles. I have won titles at every club I have played for.

The staff, board and the players have all made me feel very welcome. There is no doubt that I want to stay.’



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Galatasaray to offer £12 million for Arsenal’s Gervinho. Time to cash in?

By Stefano on March 27th, 2013
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This one should be taken with a pinch of salt, but if true…

According to website webaslan.com, which has been picked up by The Express, Turkish side Galatasaray are ready to offer £12m for Arsenal misfit Gervinho. That is over a £1 million more than Arsenal paid for him back in 2011.

At Galatasaray Gervinho would team up with Ivorians Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue. Maybe the team’s management think that the player could replicate his excellent international form if surrounded by his fellow countrymen.

So should Arsene Wenger cash in? Gervinho has never really set The Emirates alight and besides wouldn’t that money be useful in the hunt for Stevan Jovetic, David Villa etc?



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Is Stevan Jovetic to Arsenal a done deal?

By Stefano on March 27th, 2013
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So what did you make of Stevan Jovetic last night then? It was a game of two halves for the Montenegrin striker. In the first half he was sloppy when passing, wandered into offside positions and troubled the England central defending pair very little.

But in the second half, with the arrival of Dejan Damjanoviche dropped deeper, got more possession, ran more at the English defence and created several goal scoring opportunities.

Did he remind you of anyone? RVP perhaps? You get the feeling that he would link up very well with Santi Cazorla with Olivier Giroud as the option as the main striker.

At least one news source is suggesting that Jovetic will be an Arsenal player in the summer. Caught Offside says that the clubs are…

‘Reportedly in advanced talks over a move to sign Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic the first Gunners signing of what may well prove to be a very busy summer for the North London side.

Though the La Viola attacker is said to have a host of prospective suitors Arsenal are said to be the favourites to sign Jovetic, with Arsene Wenger looking to bring in the forward to help beef up his strike-force.’

Arsenal can clearly afford him and the money on offer is reputedly £90,000 per week. Like a lot of Montenegrins Jovetic is a big fan of the Premiership and is seemingly very keen to play in England.

What could,possibly go wrong?

Well Arsenal could very easily be gazumped with Man City the favourites to make Jovetic a better offer. But then again the Blues are apparently chasing a number of high profile players including Falcao and Cavani. Jovetic knows that he is Wenger’s number one target.

One person who hasn’t helped much though is Jovetic’s team mate Luca Toni. The player said yesterday…

“If he has to leave, then make it for a real top club. Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United fit that bill, but Arsenal are not better than Fiorentina.”

Which in many ways is a fair point, especially if Arsenal don’t qualify for the Champions League.

There’s also the possibility of a move within Italy too.

It is clear that Jovetic is the man who could ignite Arsenal’s season next year. The club’s lack of firewpower especially when compared with United who have Rooney and Wellbeck (arguably England’s best players last night) alongside RVP is woeful.

Let’s hope that the deal is done quickly.



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Football

Arsenal update: Podolski for Negredo? Battle for Koby Arthur

By Stefano on March 26th, 2013
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There have been some mixed messages coming out of The Emirates in the last couple of weeks about the future of The Gunners’ striker Lukas Podolski.

The player, who hasn’t quite shown the form that his manager would have expected him to this season, is now rumoured to be a target for Italian giants Juventus.

Podolski has denied that he is going anywhere, but there is still a doubt over how and where he will fit into the Arsenal team next year especially if the Gunners fail to secure Champions League football.

One possible option to replace him is highlighted by the Metro this morning. Apparently Sevilla striker Alvaro Negredo is once again expressing his desire to play in the Premier League and that has alerted Arsene Wenger.

Negredo has had an excellent season scoring 15 goals in 26 league games and Wenger is rumoured to have sent scouts to keep tabs on the player.

As for the Premiership Negredo says

‘It is a league that I like and sooner or later I will play in it. President Jose Maria del Nido received some offers in January, but decided not to consider them. We’ll see what is going to happen in the future.’

Arsenal are looking for another striker to share the load with Giroud, but if Negredo does sign at least one news source is claiming that Podolski will be on his way.

Also this morning, Arsenal are said to be one of several clubs competing for the signature of exciting young Birmingham City talent Koby Arthur.

The 17-year-old striker is also being followed by Chelsea and Manchester City, only arrived in Britain from Ghana 12 months ago.



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Football

Arsenal plot Atletico Madrid raid and target ‘next Jack Wilshere’

By Stefano on March 25th, 2013
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With that £70 million war chest Arsene Wenger certainly has plenty of options this summer. Arsenal have been linked with several Man City players could pick up a bargain or two if QPR go down or may choose to nab a player (or more) from Atletico Madrid.

Wenger has been a fan of Adrian Lopez for a while, but now it appears he could be tracking striker Diego Costa too.

The Madrid team is set for some major restructuring in the summer with the likelihood that star forward Radamel Falcao will join a bigger club.

According to the Express Costa fears that he might not get as many games next season and is contemplating a move to the Premiership.

The Daily Mirror also reports that Arsenal are chasing a couple of youngsters.

Aston Villa’s 15 year old Danny Crowley, whose swashbuckling style of play has been compared to Jack Wilshere, is interesting the Arsenal scouting team – and to be fair Manchester City’s management too.

Arsenal has also been monitoring the form of 18 year old Chelsea defender, Natahaniel Chalobah, who is currently on loan at Watford.



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Arsenal update: Mixed news about Jovetic, Strootman mulling over a move

By Stefano on March 25th, 2013
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Tomorrow night Arsenal and England fans will get a chance to see how Fiorentina striker, Stevan Jovetic, will cope with Premiership defenders as his Montenegrin team faces England in a World Cup qualifying game.

The player, who is apparently Arsenal’s number one striking target, has also been making positive noises about a move from Serie A to the Premiership.

In response to a question about how he is being stalked by a number of English clubs Jovetic reoplied

“It sure is nice when you are interesting big clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City.

“It feels good because the English game currently has probably the strongest league in the world.

“I’m very comfortable in Italy but the Premier League is at the top of the football world – and perhaps the best.

“We will see what happens in the future.”

So that’s cause for optimism, for Arsene Wenger. However the The Express warns that if Arsenal want to land their man they will need to stump up more money that they have ever spent on a player. The paper suggests that Juventus and both Milan clubs are keen on the player and the bidding may start at £25 million and head northwards.

Meanwhile Caught Offside has an update on a player who has been linked with Arsenal for some time. Kevin Strootman of PSV, a defensively minded midfielder who also has a habit of scoring, has said that he is mulling over a transfer.

He said

“Every transfer window there are clubs interested. But a club must speak to me first.”



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Arsenal update: Vela to return? PSG to move for Wenger?

By Stefano on March 22nd, 2013
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Carlos Vela was undoubtedly one of the biggest disappointments of the Wenger era. A hugely talented player with bags of potential, he just never seemed to fit in at Arsenal and Gunners fans only witnessed the real Vela in short bursts.

So that makes it all the more intriguing that several papers are speculating that Arsene Wenger is about to activate a buy back clause in the player’s contract and ship him back from Real Sociedad.

Apparently the buy back clause is a mere £4 million – so it wouldn’t make too much of a dent in the club’s £70 million kitty.

Vela is playing well too. So far this season he has scored 12 times in 26 appearances for the club and been pivotal in Sociedad’s campaign this year which sees them in fourth place in La Liga with Champions League football next year a real possibility.

As for whether the player wants to return – Vela has been giving out mixed messages. In February he said that he wouldn’t rule out coming back to London, but also said that he most wanted to stay in Spain.

£4 million for a player in this type of form is a real bargain. So could he be Arsenal’s Michu?

I really can’t see this happening. Even if he does return – and it could be almost against his will – will he replicate that form in the Premeirhsip? I am not sure he will. Maybe Remy, who was linked yesterday is a better cut-price striker deal.

Meanwhile TalkSport are running with a story that PSG are set to try and nab Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

The cash rich Parisians know that Wenger has just 13 months left on his current deal and that he has stated that he won’t leave Arsenal until the end of that time.

However PSG are rumoured to be looking to replace Carlo Ancelotti. So is Arsene going home? Well a lot depends on where Arsene thinks home is these days? The manager has been in London for over fifteen years and before that managed in Monaco (who at the time were one of PSG’s biggest rivals) as well as Japan. I am not sure that Paris is ‘home’ for Wenger anyhow.

The manager has stated that he wants his last job in football to be boss of the French national side, and I don’t think the PSG job is going to detract him from pursuing that and finishing with a trophy next year at Arsenal.

Besides is Ancelotti really on his way? With PSG now top of the French league and in the last eight of the Champions League he seems to be keeping his side of the bargain.



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Remy? Samba? Are Arsenal sizing up a raid on QPR in the summer

By Stefano on March 21st, 2013
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So will QPR escape relegation this season? My heart says yes, but my head thinks they might be heading for the drop.

And if Rangers return to The Championship there might be some significant plundering for Premiership managers on the hunt for a bargain or two, and Arsene Wenger is likely to be first in the queue.

QPR have three players that he has chased with in the past and they could significantly strengthen the Arsenal squad for not an especially huge outlay. And they would probably all sign for The Gunners even if they don’t have Champions League football next season.

Arsenal’s interest in Christopher Samba is well documented. And I think that he could well be the player the Gunners turn to if, as expected Ashley Williams, arguably the team’s number one target joins his ex-boss at Liverpool. His wages might be an issue, but possibly less of one if as expected Arsenal junk their strict wages policy.

Then today The Daily Express is reporting that French striker Loic Remy has a clause in his contract that will allow him to walk if QPR go down.

The paper says that Remy could be available for as little as £4million. The player has scored three times in his six appearances for Rangers and has a reputation from his days in France for being an energetic and deadly finisher.

Arsenal have a trio of strikers – Park, Bendtner and Chamakh – who will leave in the summer and if Wenger does opt for his number one target Stevan Jovetic, he will still be in the market for an out and out striker. Remu would certainly fit that bill.

Finally there’s Junior Hoilett, a player who has had a chequered career at Rangers but is still young – he is 22 – and Wenger (who has expressed his admiration for the player in the past) may feel that he could do a job for Arsenal.



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Football

Arsenal update: Corchia and Rangel lined up to replace Sagna, Benteke news

By Stefano on March 21st, 2013
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It now seems almost certain that Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna will be leaving the club in the summer window with PSG among the favourites to land the player.

But who will Arsenal line up to replace him? The big decision for Wenger is whether to promote the promising England youngster Carl Jenkinson, or to buy a first choice right back.

Goal.com claims that Wenger is set to buy a right back who can challenge Jenkinson and that Sochaux’s Sebastien Corchia and Swansea’s Angel Rangel are top of the list for now.

Corchia has represented France at Under-21, Under-19, Under-18 and Under-17 level, but ironically is being kept out of the full French team by Sagna. He has had an excellent season and at 22 is slightly older than Jenkinson.

If Wenger wants to plump for experience then 30 year old Rangel would be the better option. He has a contract until 2016.

One Premiership player that has certainly caught the eye this season is Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke. There are ongoing whispers that Benetke is keen to move to the north London club and his form of 22 goals this season in 37 appearances means that he is on many managers shortlists.

Benteke’s Belgian colleague Romelu Lukaku has called for compatriot Christian Benteke to quit Aston Villa at the end of the season.

Lukaku said:

I hope Christian will make a move to a big club so he can improve his game as well.

So would a player with Premiership experience be the answer upfront for Arsenal?



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Football

Worrying stats highlight Arsenal’s poor form when Thomas Vermaelen starts

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
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vermealen graphic

So Arsenal fans – tell me what you think about Thomas Vermaelen? It seems pretty clear now that Arsenal’s captain is very much Wenger’s third choice centre back behind Mertesacker and Koscielny. And to make matters worse for Vermaelen both players have been talking recently about how they are committed to the club and see their future in London.

Conversely the Belgian defender hasn’t had the best of seasons and his performances have been dogged by poor positional play, wayward passing and misunderstandings with his partners. In spite of this he has apparently caught the eye of the scouts from Barcelona who, if sources are to be believed, have penciled him in as the next player to move from The Emirates to the Nou Camp.

Here then is a quick snapshot of what Arsenal have been like with and without Vermaelen this year courtesy of WhoScored.Com. In some ways it is a slightly skewed view as he has obviously played many more games than he has missed. Nevertheless there is the emergence of a trend that shows that Arsenal’s defences are meaner without the Belgian. And when he has not started Arsenal have not lost a game.

I do wonder if the Mertesacker and Koscielny pairing will be a standard fixture (unless one of them gets injured) until the end of the season. Vermaelen’s dip in form could mean that he becomes the next player to exit The Emirates.



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Arsenal update: Stevan Jovetic’s stats look impressive, Fernando Amorebieta keen to join

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
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If you have never checked Squawka out you really should. The website is an amazing source of stats on players and its blog houses some wonderfully insightful posts too.

The latest player to get the Squawka treatment is Arsenal’s supposed number one target Stevan Jovetic. The site has looked at his stats so far this season and then tried to weigh up where he would play for Arsenal, and is he the right man to lead them to a trophy or two next season.

Of course stats only ever tell apart of the story, but it clearly is a interesting read.

The slightly concerning part for me at at least was that it suggests that Jovetic would operate best as support striker behind the main man – presumably Giroud. Isn’t this where Arsenal get the best value from Cazorla though?

Maybe Wenger has plans to turn Jovetic into a more out and out striker. Anyhow with a return of 12 goals from 24 games he has had a pretty good season so far. The site also says that he has created 48 chances and has a passing accuracy rate of 78% which is a little lower than several Arsenal players.

Here’s the chart that shows where the shots have come from.

jovetic-shots

Also this afternoon the Express is reporting that Fernando Amorebieta of Athletic Bilbao is keen on a move to The Emirates, the tough tackling Venezuelan central defender has been sidelined a little at Bilbao this season and is keen to look for a new challenge.

According to The Express

The Venezuelan’s brother told Spanish paper Marca: “We have had contacts with Anzhi, who are very interested in his services, but given the desire to play in England, that move cannot take place.

“We are in contact with Arsenal.



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Arsenal update: Alexis Sanchez for Thomas Vermaelen swap? Striker Carr on radar

By Stefano on March 20th, 2013
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There’s more buzz about the Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal transfer this morning with several papers suggesting that the Barca winger/striker is one of Arsene Wenger’s top targets for the summer.

Wenger has been helped in his quest by the former sporting director at Udinese, Fabrizio Larini, the club where Sanchze made his name.

Larini thinks that his former protege should join The Gunners because their style of football complements the way that Sanchez plays.

“Sanchez needs to play the ball on the ground, just like Arsenal. That would be his ideal game. I do not know his current situation at the Spanish club. But his fitness problems have definitely limited his performances.The only thing that these teams will have to consider is that he is a player who needs freedom to play his way. In teams that have particularly rigid patterns of play he might have a few problems,” Larini said.

Several papers are also suggesting that one way of bagging Sanchez would be to include him as part of a swap deal for Arsenal centre back Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian has been out of sorts this season so a new start in Spain might appeal to him.

The Mail also reports that Arsenal are tracking the Dulwich Hamlets striker Daniel Carr. The player, who the paper claims is one of the hottest prospects in non-league football, was apparently on his way to Liverpool but Arsenal are keen to hijack the move.



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Italian website says Arsenal will raid Barca for players. But might Man City cast offs be a better bet

By Stefano on March 19th, 2013
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It is a story that has been bubbling under for a few days now, but a number of sources are now saying that Arsene Wenger is looking at buying a job lot of Barcelona players in the summer.

The latest news source to confirm The Gunners’ growing interest in players from the Catalan club is Italian website Tutto Mercato.

It suggests that Wenger has his eye on winger Alexis Sanchez, defender Martin Montoya and former Gunners midfielder Alex Song.

Song, we know all about. His Barcelona sojourn has been a disaster and the player is keen to get back to the Premierhsip. Arsenal is the obvious port of call, but both Song and Wenger will have to resolve some of the issues that precipitated the player’s move to Spain last summer. I wonder if there are better, more defensively minded holding midfielders to be considered, but I don’t think too many Arsenal fans will be too disappointed to see Alex return.

As for Sanchez, great things were predicted for the Chilean when when he landed at Barca, but they just haven’t materialised. These days he is marginalised as a squad player which is waste of his undoubted talents. With Arshavin out the door in the summer he would be an obvious replacement.

The article also mentions Barca defender Martin Montoya, but it could also have namechecked keeper Valdes and that man Villa.

I guess that Barca still owe Arsenal a fair chunk of cash for the Song and Fabregas transfers and that offloading a few players would be quick and easy business for them. But then again I thought that might be the case with Villa in the winter window too.

As much as all five are great players and would undoubtedly grace any future Arsenal team I wonder if Arsene Wenger would be better off shopping closer to home. Man City are supposedly on the verge of a huge clear out and there are several players that would be ideal for Arsenal. Unlike the Spaniards they have lots of Premiership experience and unlike a lot of the current Arsenal team they are used to winning trophies.

So Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Edin Djeko and even old boys Kolo Toure and Sami Nasri are worth looking at, especially if Arsenal don’t make the Champions League cut this season.



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Arsenal update: Chelsea star is shock target, Jovetic update, how bad is Wilshere injury?

By Stefano on March 19th, 2013
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Arsenal’s search for a keeper in the summer continues and the latest name to be linked with a move to The Emirates is a real surprise.

IB Times says that top of the list is Chelsea’s 30 year old stopper, Peter Cech.

The theory runs like this. Chelsea want to replace Cech with a younger keeper and have just the man in Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid.

Cech may then leave in search of regular first team football and may fancy a move across the capital.

To be fair I am not sure that Chelsea would sell Arsenal on of their key players – the only player in recent time to have gone from being a blue to a red was Yossi Benayoun who the Gunners had on loan not long ago.

Also there are plenty of other names on Arsenal’s keeper wants list from Bergovic to Valdes. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Metro says that Arsenal are facing increasing competition in their bid to sign electric Montenegro striker Stevan Jovetic. Wenger is reputed to be willing to pay over £20 million to land the Fiorentina striker, however the player’s form has alerted both Man City and Juventus. Jovetic has scored 12 times in 27 appearances this season.

Interestingly England football fans will, get a chance to see how good the player is as he will start in the Montenegro team that takes on England in the World Cup qualification game next week.

Finally the old rumours about Jack Wilshere injury are back. ESPN are reporting that the club has hit back against those who believe that Wilshere might be out for the rest of the season.

“Nothing has changed in Jack’s recovery, there’s no setback or further damage to his ankle and no concern about any long-term problems.Jack was told to rest and we are still on course for him to resume training and be available for selection for the home game against Reading.”

Then again yesterday we looked at how Santi Cazorla is responding to playing in the middle again and whether playing the two of them together might be a problem.



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