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Per Mertesacker Arsenal have signed 26-year old Weder Bremen centre-back Per Mertesacker. The German defender has signed a three-year contract, and the transfer fee is reportedly £10 million. According to Skysports.com and other sources, Per Mertesacker passed a medical and signed a contract with Arsenal on Tuesday. The tall centre-half brings the kind of experience the Gunners sorely need. Mertesacker has earned 75 caps with Germany, and he played extensively in the last two World Cups. He joined Werder Bremen back in 2006 from his hometown club, Hannover 96. Mertesacker never made under 35 appearances a season (in all competitions) with Bremen. Mertesacker is listed at 1.98 m (6 ft 7 in), and his height may help solve Arsenal’s inablility to defend set pieces. Despite his size, Mertesacker is known as a clean centre-half. The German is rarely booked, which will come as good news to Gooners. And Mertesacker is an Arsenal supporter himself. According to an article by Paul Ducan in The Telegraph, Mertesacker (as a boy) returned to Germany with an Arsenal shirt on after visiting his aunt in England. Since then, the German international has admired the Gunners, and has been wanting a move to North London. The signing of Mertesacker will likely mean the end of the Gary Cahill-to-Arsenal transfer saga. According to Sky Sports, Arsenal are no longer interested in Cahill. Tottenham are now the favourites to land the Bolton centre-back. Some Gooners are already moaning about Mertesacker, saying that Wenger should have landed Cahill. Bolton are demanding far too much [...] Florent Malouda Arsenal are close to signing Chelsea winger Florent Malouda. Yossi Benayoun confirmed that he will be leaving Stamford Bridge, and the Gunners are one of the clubs interested in signing the midfielder. Arsene Wenger attempted to land Borussia Dortmund star Mario Gotze, but he wants to stay in Germany. According to The Sun, Arsenal are on the verge of signing Chelsea winger Florent Malouda. The Gunners are offering Chelsea £8 million for the 31-year old. Malouda has scored 25 goals for the Blues in 59 Premier League appearances during the last two season. The French left winger has put one in the back of the net so far this campaign. The only question with Malouda is his age. At 31, how many more productive seasons can he have left? There is no question that Malouda is an experienced international player. He has been capped 69 times for France. Malouda has also won a Premier League title with Chelsea and four Ligue 1 championships with Lyon. According to BBC, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Lille are interested in Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun. The 31-year old Israeli international wrote this on his Twitter account on Monday: “Negotiating with several teams… news soon.” Chelsea are expected to sell Benayoun, who has been playing in the Premiership since 2005. He was at his best with Liverpool, where he scored 29 goals in 134 appearances. Benayoun has been capped 83 times for Israel and has scored 24 goals in the process. Benayoun missed most of last season after he suffered an [...] Andre Santos Arsenal have signed Fenerbahce left back Andre Santos for a fee of £6.2 million. The Gunners are also expected to announce the signing of Monaco striker Park Chu-young. Arsene Wenger is also set to sell Armand Traore to QPR. According to The Telegraph and other sources, Arsenal have made an agreement to sign 28-year old Brazilian defender Andre Santos. The deal was completed late last night with the Gunners set to pay £6.2m for the left back. Santos joined Fenerbahce in 2009 and has made 52 appearances for the Turkish club. In that time, he was able to score ten goals, which is quite a nice total for a left back. Santos has also been capped 22 times for Brazil, including 4 matches in 2011. With Kieran Gibbs sidelined for who knows how long, Santos should be able to provide some quality at the back. Bacary Sagna has been starting out of position at left back so that Carl Jenkinson can play on the right. Jenkinson was terrible against Manchester United, and Arsenal would benefit by keeping him off the pitch against quality squads. Another positive about Santos is his age. At 28, he is neither inexperienced nor a teenager, which are qualities that have come to represent Arsenal so far this season. Arsenal are expected to announce the signing of Andre Santos and Park Chu-young on Tuesday. Arsene Wenger confirmed to BBC after the Manchester United game that the Gunners were set to sign Park. The South Korean [...] Arsenal will give each of the away fans who attended the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford a free Premier League away ticket. Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board are fully behind Wenger as the Gunners suffer through tough times. The Arsenal supporters who made the trip to Manchester showed tremendous love for the Gunners as they continued to sing, even when the team was losing by six goals. Arsenal released a statement regarding the free away ticket: “Sunday’s result was obviously disappointing for everyone connected with the Club. Our travelling fans were magnificent throughout and we want to recognise their fantastic support. We will be writing to them shortly with the details.” This is why Arsenal are a class club. The Gooners continued to sing until the very last whistle, and they deserve to get the free ticket. Arsene Wenger’s weakened squad was terrible and embarrassing. People criticise our home support, but I believe we have some of the best away fans in the Premiership. The Arsenal board, including majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, are not thinking of sacking Arsene Wenger. An Arsenal source was quoted in The Guardian: “The club is very much behind Arsène Wenger from Stan Kroenke to the board, downwards and sideways. There is absolutely no suggestion of any conversations about his future. We are right behind the manager who has led us to such great success for 15 years.” Presumably the same Arsenal source told The Telegraph: “Arsene has the absolute backing and solidarity of the [...] Alex Arsenal are ready to make a bid for Chelsea centre-back Alex. Tottenham have joined Arsenal in the fight to sign Gary Cahill. Owen Coyle will not sell his centre-back leave on the cheap. Striker Joel Campbell is likely to be sent out on loan. Arsene Wenger will need to bring in players after Sunday’s 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford. According to The Sun, Arsenal are ready to make a £10 million bid for Chelsea centre-half Alex. The 29-year old Brazilian has also attracted interest from Juventus. Arsenal would like to pay £7m for Alex, but Chelsea want £10m for him. Alex scored that remarkable free kick against Arsenal last season when the Gunners lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. Otherwise, he has had an unremarkable Chelsea career. Alex has only made 29 appearances for Chelsea the last two seasons (also counting one match this season). According to Daily Mail, Tottenham will make a bid for Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill. Spurs will attempt to hijack an Arsenal deal by offering £8m plus a player in exchange. The report says that the player would either Darren Bentley or Sebastien Bassong. If Tottenham steal Gary Cahill from us byoffering up a mediocre player or paying a few extra million, then the Gunners will really be in a crisis. Spurs are looking for a centre-back after getting crushed by Manchester City on Sunday by a score of 5-1. North London is really getting thrashed by Manchester. Bolton manager Owen Coyle is not ready to let Cahill [...] Arsenal’s poor defending was exposed by Manchester United on Sunday. Rooney’s hat-trick along with two curlers from Ashley Young helped United rout the Gunners at Old Trafford. Arsenal were missing eight players but that does not make up for the eight goals allowed. Arsenal held the Red Devils until Danny Welbeck header’s marked the first tally of the match in the 22nd minute. Anderson chipped the ball towards Welbeck, and the Arsenal back four misplayed the pass. The ball bounced close to Szczesny before Welbeck nodded home the goal. Just four minutes later, Theo Walcott earned the Gunners a penalty. Jonny Evans made minimal contact with Walcott, and Arsenal had a chance to draw even. David De Gea saved the awful attempt by Robin van Persie. The Dutchman tried a soft, low strike towards the middle of the goal. A very poor shot indeed. Ashley Young scored two brilliant goals (28th minute and 90+1). The former Aston Villa man really knows how to bend a ball into the far corner. Szczesny did not have a chance to save either of the attempts. None of Wayne Rooney’s three goals came from open play. The first one (41st minute) came from a free kick just outside the Arsenal penalty area. Szczesny got a hand on the near post strike but not enough to keep it out of the net. Rooney’s second (64th minute) was a free kick as well but this time he picked out the far post. Szczesny was completely beaten and did not [...] Bolton boss Owen Coyle has asked Arsenal to make another bid for Gary Cahill. Sol Campbell would like to return to the Gunners as a player. Arsenal have been linked with Ajax right back Gregory van der Wiel. Arsenal are set to sign striker Park Chu-young. Gary Cahill Owen Coyle told the press that he is willing to sell Gary Cahill after Bolton’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool: “If whoever it is out there wants to buy Gary Cahill then come and make a firm, proper offer for the lad and we will find out by the close of Wednesday if that is the case. “There has certainly been no dialogue since the initial chat that took place on Tuesday night between my chairman Phil Gartside and Dick Law, the senior representative from Arsenal.” Coyle went on to say that Cahill was off his game because of the “endless transfer speculation.” Bolton have opened the door for another Arsenal bid. Wenger and Bolton chairman Phil Gartside got into a fued on Friday over a reported £6m offer. According to Daily Mail, Arsene Wenger will offer Bolton £12m for Cahill. The Gunners expect to sign the 25-year old centre-half before the end of the month. £12m sounds like a fair bid for Cahill. Hopefully, we do not have to see more X-rated rants from the Bolton chairman and frustrated interviews with Owen Coyle. Sol Campbell told The Guardian that he would welcome a move back to Arsenal: “It would be nice to go [...] Arsene Wenger's squad face a tough test on Sunday. Arsenal will be without several key players as they travel to Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson complimented Arsene Wenger this week, but he also said he would not let Manchester United struggle the way that the Gunners have in recent years. Gervinho (suspension), Emmanuel Frimpong (suspension), Jack Wilshere (injury), Alex Song (suspension), Abou Diaby (injury), and Kieran Gibbs (injury) will miss the trip to Manchester. Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen could be fit to face United. Arsene Wenger gave an update on the two centre-backs on Friday (from Arsenal.com): “Vermaelen has a test on Saturday and Koscielny had a positive fitness test today. There is a little doubt about Vermaelen but he should be alright.” Johan Djourou, meanwhile, will be able to play for the Gunners. Vermaelen is desperately needed for this match. He was excellent against Liverpool, and hopefully he can heal quickly from this knock. Vermaelen was bothered by a nagging injury for the almost all of last season. Manchester United have received an early season jolt from several young players. Tom Cleverly (centre midfielder), Danny Welbeck (striker), and Phil Jones (centre-half) have refreshed United’s rapidly aging squad from last season. Nemanja Vidic will be forced to sit out on Sunday due to a calf problem, while Rio Ferdinand could be back. Arsene Wenger said this about Manchester United: “They are definitely [still the team to beat]. For us to beat them would be a great boost and would put us in [...] Monaco striker Park Chu-young is set to sign with Arsenal after his medical in London. Park agreed to terms with Lille but then left France in order to join the Gunners. According to various sources (including BBC and The Guardian), Arsenal are set to sign the 26-year old striker. Park, who plays in Ligue 2 with Monaco, is the captain of South Korea. He has 53 caps and 17 goals for his country. Lille president Michel Seydoux was shocked that Park decided not to sign with Lille. Seydoux told L’Equipe: “From what we understand he could be at Arsenal. Everything had been agreed. “We haven’t had a telephone call, nothing. Lille are baffled.” What will Arsenal pay for Park? According to BBC, the fee will be between £3m and £5m, but The Guardian say that Wenger will have to pay his former club £10m for the Park. Monaco were relegated to Ligue 2 last season, but Park does have three seasons of experience in the French top flight. He scored 12 goals in 33 appearances for Monaco in Ligue 1 last season. In the 2009-2010 season, Park scored 8 goals and earned 3 assists in 27 league games. Park was already in the process of signing with Lille when he made his decision to move to the Emirates. The 26-year old striker was scheduled for a second medical on Saturday, but he did not show up for it. Lille were completely stunned to find that Park had left his hotel room. [...] |
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