News Roundup 7/12/10 - The Day After Edition

Arsene Wenger is very disappointed in FC Barcelona. But, who isn't? Pic via Daily Mirror.

• Cesc Fabregas won the World Cup. Robin van Persie did not win the World Cup. I, also, did not win the World Cup. Neither did you. Unless you play for Spain. In which case, there's a good chance you also play for Barcelona. In which case, I'm going to have to ask you to stop being a jerk and tapping up Cesc. Thanks!
• New FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell flew to South Africa specifically to talk to Arsene Wenger about the Fabregas transfer. Wenger refused to meet about the topic. [Daily Mirror]
• Also not talking about the Fabregas transfer: Cesc Fabregas. [Sky Sports]
• Impending additions: Mark Schwarzer and Joe Cole? Schwarzer is obviously only a one-year solution to the goalkeeping problem, since he's about 78 years old. [Daily Telegraph]
• Not an impending addition: Yoann Gourcuff. [Sky Sports]
• Formerly linked with Arsenal, but now going to West Ham: Loic Remy. [Daily Mail]
• Still probably leaving to either Celtic or Sunderland, but we won't know until after his honeymoon: Sol Campbell. [BBC]
• Probably going back to Spain: Manuel Almunia. [The People]
• Arsenal's first pre-season friendly: Five days from now.
• My overuse of colons in this news roundup: Highly annoying.
• I'll stop: Now.

Transfer Lies and Slander - 6/30/10

Arsenal might just win at knifey-spoony after all! Pic via Daily Telegraph.

IN: 

Laurent Koscielny – The Sun says the deal is done for the Lorient center back at £8.5 million. The Daily Mail says it's £10 million. The Daily Telegraph has the former number. The deal should probably be done by the end of the week. Let's get the Gooner chant machine going!

Mark Schwarzer – That Telegraph article above lists Schwarzer as Arsenal's next number one target signing once the Koscielny contract is inked.

Joe Cole – It's between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to sign the former Chelsea midfielder. With England out of the World Cup, this deal should be complete within the next two weeks.

Loic Remy – This story has been around before (where I made a good number of Nice puns), but the Nice striker still would like to be a Gunner. Nice's asking price remains too high.

Mario Balotelli – The Inter Milan 19-year-old striker's stay at the San Siro is uncertain and he admits that Arsenal is "a great team."

Madjid Bougherra – The Algerian defender from Rangers in the SPL has spent time in England at Crewe Alexandra, Sheffield Wednesday, and Charlton Athletic, but only his brief stay in South-East London was top flight. With a Koscielny deal essentially done, I can only see this move happening if Sol Campbell departs.

OUT:

Henri Lansbury (LOAN) – Newcastle United is keen on the 19-year-old midfielder, who spent last year in the Championship on loan at Watford, and appeared for the Gunners in the final match of the year against Fulham.

William Gallas – Essentially out the door already, the conversation on his free agent singing appears to now be between Panathinaikos and PSG.

Sol Campbell – Arsenal's policy on contracts with 30+ players might have cost them Sol Campbell, as the big center back is looking for more than a one year deal. It looks like Celtic are willing to offer one.

Eduardo – The Brazilian-born Croatian has struggled with form since his catastrophic leg injury, and after the signing of Chamakh, it appears he may be surplus to necessity at the Emirates. Aston Villa is interested in him to replace the possibly departing John Carew.

Jay Simpson – The 21-year-old reserve forward has spent the last three years away from Arsenal on loan at Millwall, West Brom, and QPR, but as he desires consistent first-team football, he might have to depart the Gunners. A bevy of teams are interested.

News Roundup 4/26/10 - The Post of the Year Edition

Pic via Arsenal.com.

• Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen were both voted to the PFA Premier League Team of the Year. Some sort of gnome from Man. United won Player of the Year, though. [Arsenal.com, ESPN Soccernet, Sky Sports]
• There's nothing more enjoyable than reading about the disdain Robin van Persie has for Emmanuel Adebayor. [Sky Sports, Daily Mirror]
• Here's a pretty good piece on Jack Wilshere's development. I don't even have anything sarcastic to say about it or anything! [Times]
• Fabregas should be fit for the World Cup. Good news for Spain, which pretty much doesn't affect me whatsoever. [BBC]
• Sol Campbell for England! [Daily Telegraph]
• Wild transfer accusation time!
• Arsene Wenger will spend money this summer! [Daily Mail]
• Who said Pepe Reina to Arsenal? Where did that even come from? Was someone just picking names and teams out of a hat? [Guardian]
• Secret money to keep Cesc from a move to Spain? [Daily Mail]
• Nice striker Loic Remy still wants to come to Arsenal, but won't pass up a chance to move to another European heavyweight club instead. [Daily Mail]

News Roundup 3/24/10 - The Doubt Edition

Arsenal needs more clockwork bunnies, says Arshavin. Pic via Guardian.

• Andrei Arshavin is pretty sure Arsenal doesn't have enough players and depth to win the league. His web site, however, quotes him as saying "we should win all remaining games." Make up your mind, Andrei. He then finally offered an exhaustive explanation of ideological anarchism. [Guardian]
• Denilson, however, believes that the team's past experiences have left them in a stronger position than ever before. Yes, this is the kind of thing you expect to hear from your players. None of that Arshavin doubt crap. [Sky Sports]
• The Telegraph has an article about Wenger's selection problem at center back for this Saturday's match at Birmingham, which I talked about a bit yesterday. Somehow, they arrive at the conclusion that it would be Campbell Saturday, then likely Silvestre against Barcelona. No. That is not okay. No. No. No. [Telegraph]
• Manchester United's Paul Scholes keeps saying they're going to win the rest of their games too. Like this is the third time he's said that this month. You know, Paul, too much hubris can result in bad karma, like a loss at Bolton on Saturday, or something. [ESPN Soccernet]
• Stoke manager Tony Pulis said "moaners like Wenger just want to shoot us down." Hmmm, I wonder why a team like Arsenal would think Stoke City is a bunch of bullies... Pulis's comments came after yet another Stoke player was sent off at the weekend. [Daily Mirror]
• Arsenal have made some progress in contract talks with William Gallas. How about some progress on that calf injury, okay? [Daily Mirror]
• Nice striker (the team in France, though I'm sure he's a wonderful guy too) Loic Remy has revealed that he still wants to come to Arsenal, despite a January deal failing due to Nice's high asking price, which wasn't very nice of them. I'm sorry for that. [Daily Mail]
• Internazionale is preparing a £36m offer for Cesc Fabregas, offering U-21 star Mario Balotelli in the exchange. Sky Sport Italia has reported that Inter has even placed Fabregas under their insurance already, suggesting a deal is done. Cesc's representatives have stated that there is no contact with Inter, let alone a deal in place. [Daily Mail]