Jack promised to stay at the Emirates until the end of his career.
According to all of Tuesday’s tabloids, Real Madrid are targeting Jack Wilshere. “Operation Madrid 2014″ is a plan by the Spanish club to sign a number of Europe’s top young players by 2014. A list of these players was leaked (perhaps purposely) to Marca (Spanish newspaper) and Wilshere is on the five-man list.
Wilshere told a reporter last week that he will stay at Arsenal “forever.” It will be up to Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis to deal with the bombardment of large offers that will certainly come rolling in for the promising 19-year old. This could be the first test because Real Madrid are looking to spend £20 to £30 million on each of the young stars.
With all that has gone on with our club in recent years, it is only expected to hear about the wealthiest clubs trying to kick us while we’re down. Manchester City have picked off several of our players, but, thankfully, many of those players never lived up to their Arsenal days. Oh, and Samir Na$ri is enjoying his seat on the bench.
Anyway, back on topic, Wilshere has pledged his allegiance to Arsenal. Maybe it is foolish to think that a 19-year old will keep his promises, but it would be very surprising if he left in the next year or two. He was brought through the Arsenal academy from age nine, so, unlike most footballers, he has some loyalty.
With such little Arsenal news to speak of during this break period, it is time that we caught up with some of the latest (and wildest) transfer rumours.
Inter Milan are reportedly targeting Robin van Persie for purchase in January. Arsenal have been linked with AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato. Dortumund midfielder Kevin Grosskreuts would welcome a move to his “favourite club” Arsenal. We often heard about Yann M’Vila during the summer, and it looks like Wenger may not yet have given up on buying the French midfielder.
According to the Metro, Inter Milan are planning to make a strong push to sign van Persie in January. The Metro piece cites reports out of Italy for the basis of the story.
Inter Milan could very well make an attempt to get RvP. They are flaundering near the relegation spots and could use the extra firepower. But I doubt Robin would want a move to Italy, let alone to a club that has not recovered from a poor start to the season.
According to Italian reports, Arsenal are ready to offer £35 million for AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato. The 22-year old Brazilian international may want to leave Milan because of playing time. Milan are stacked with strikers (Zlatan, Robinho, Cassano), so the club could choose to sell him.
Any reasonable Gooner would find it hard to believe that our club would offer this amount of cash for one player. If this deal was completed, it would more than double Arsenal’s record transfer fee. Pato is a [...]
Lots of transfer rumours flying around this week about Arsenal. The two big names we are reportedly targeting are Eden Hazard and Mario Gotze. Then there is also speculation about the possible departure of Marouane Chamakh. Promising American winger Brek Shea will train with Arsenal for one month, which leads to obvious questions.
Lille star Eden Hazard recently made it clear that he is ready to leave France in the summer, with many top clubs interested in signing him. Gervinho, who played with Hazard at Lille before moving to the Emirates, would love to see the talented Belgium winger at Arsenal (from ESPN):
“Hazard is a young player with enormous quality. If he has decided to leave, it is normal for clubs to be interested, as he has the level to triumph in England.
“Eden has learnt a lot at Lille, and I believe he could succeed abroad. Where he goes is up to the clubs. But it will be a big operation.”
We will likely miss out on Hazard. Lille have already been offered large sums of cash from PSG, with Inter and Milan lurking. Chelsea are also interested, so that pretty much rules us out. Maybe Wenger and the board will splash the cash, but recent history says that won’t happen.
Another brilliant young player is on our radar. Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze may be on his way to London. Remember that we pushed to sign the 19-year old midfielder in the summer. If Dortmund fail to [...]
The January transfer rumours are starting already. The Line-up: Anzhi Makhachkala are targeting several world-class stars, including Robin van Persie. Arsenal are close to signing 16-year old Jose Rodriguez from Real Madrid. Salomon Kalou could make a move to the Emirates in the winter.
Manchester City are not the only super-wealthy club who are hoping to sign Robin van Persie. Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala are looking to add high-priced stars, and captain Roberto Carlos named a few of their targets (quotes obtained from ESPN):
“Anelka is not the only player. Nene from PSG and Van Persie from Arsenal are players we are following. And Neymar? I talked to him. If Real, Barca or Manchester United cannot pay the transfer fee, we will pay it. Suleyman Kerimov can offer what he wants.”
Remember that Anzhi signed Samuel Eto’o away from Inter and made him the highest paid footballer in the world. If Robin is looking for an inflated wage bill, he should look no further. It is likely that the Dutchman would not want a move to Anzhi, where the players live in Moscow and only visit Makhachkala on match day due to the violence in the city.
Apparently, Anzhi want to offer Ashley Cole £200,000 per week. I assume that Cashley booked the first flight of the day to Moscow.
According to various sources, Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Real Madrid 16-year old midfielder Jose Rodriguez. The Gunners decided to move for Rodriguez after his player of the tournament display [...]
The morning papers are linking Robin van Persie with a move to Manchester City to replace Carlos Tevez. Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke broke his silence and talked about a wide range of issues, including Arsene Wenger, Samir Nasri, and Cesc Fabregas.
According to The Guardian, Manchester City see Robin van Persie as a direct replacement for the disgruntled Carlos Tevez. Even with the transfer window three months away, Van Persie is already a hot topic of disussion inside City. The Dutchman revealed earlier this week that he was not interested in negotiating a new contract with Arsenal this season.
Mancini and company know they have to sell Tevez for the reduced price of £20 million or less. If RVP refuses to sign a new contract, he has to go. Maybe Arsene Wenger will be able to work a swap for Tevez. Carlos Tevez and cash to Arsenal and Manchester City get RVP.
The rumours around the Dutchman will only multiply as we head towards January. It is ridiculous because Robin’s contract does not run out until the end of next season. The Gunners will have more leverage because they can chose to keep Van Persie until the summer. But Arsenal, seeing the extraordinary fees paid for Torres and Carroll last winter, may be wise to sell in January.
Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kronke is no longer “Silent Stan.” The American told The Telegraph (from The Guardian): “I have tremendous confidence in [Arsene]. He is one of the great managers in the world. Arsene is one of my [...]
Robin van Persie said he does not want to negotiate a new contract with Arsenal at this time. Arsene Wenger compared the Dutchman to Lionel Messi and said that he does not think that Van Persie will leave the Emirates.
The Dutchman’s contract at Arsenal runs until the end of next season, and the rumours are starting already.
Van Persie said (from The Guardian): “I still have almost two years left, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy. Maybe we will leave it until the end of next season”
Manchester City are rumoured to be interested in RvP, but Arsene Wenger said he does not expect the Dutch striker to go (from The Guardian): “It’s true that we had a meeting during the summer. It is understandable that he would want that when you lose players such as Fabregas and Nasri. I don’t think we will lose him.”
Wenger also said that no one would be leaving Arsenal shortly before Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas did just that. City are clearly trying to weaken our squad while strengthening their team. Reports say that Manchester City would have to pay £ 30 million for Van Persie. That is a low value considering the price paid for flops like Fernando Torres (£50m) and Andy Carroll (£35m).
People will point to his injury-riddled past, but I would rather have Van Persie for [...]
Bolton manager Owen Coyle said that he expects Arsenal to attempt to sign centre-back Gary Cahill in January. Reports are now suggesting that Inter Milan could make a move for the England international.
More Gary Cahill rumours are spreading in the lead up to the Arsenal v Bolton match on Saturday. Bolton boss Owen Coyle is responsible for creating the vast majority of these rumours. Coyle was quoted as saying (from the Daily Mail): “I don’t know how Arsenal’s finances work, but they know he’s an outstanding player.
“The valuations in August were between the two chairmen, and, of course, it never came to fruition.
“Now there’s the problem of the January window, and I think there will be more than just Arsenal coming back in for him then. We will deal with at the time.”
According to the Daily Mail, Inter Milan will try to pry Cahill away from Bolton. New manager Claudio Ranieri is eager to add quality to his back four.
Even after the addition of Per Mertesacker, the Gunners still need to bolster the backline. Laurent Koscielny is just not good enough to play for Arsenal on a consistent basis. Johan Djourou’s lack of positional sense, awareness, and urgency were all on display against League Two Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night. Thomas Vermaelen is a quality centre-half, but Arsene Wenger cannot rely on him to stay healthy for a few months, let alone an entire season.
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 [...]
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 [...]
