The Beautiful Groan

In the manner of football agents everywhere, Stephane Courbis has been showing a remarkable selective memory in his latest quotes regarding Adebayor’s future, indicating that Arsenal need to show that they want to keep him, and it isn’t all about money:

“It is vital that Arsenal show their motivation to keep him. If this was a money problem, then he would have asked to leave. He is a man of heart, not of money. He is not greedy.”

Is it not enough of a sign to the player that he was trusted with filling Henry’s shoes, and given a decent pay rise last summer before he even began to show this form? Is it not enough that despite his reputation before he arrived, Wenger put considerable trust in him and has since been rewarded? It now not the time for Adebayor to return that faith?

Unfortunately, this is depressingly familiar. When a player struggles these days, the manager sticks by them, doing everything they can to make that player succeed. The minute they make it, they demand exorbitant wages or leave. I understand that higher wages are tempting, but he isn’t badly paid, and will surely get arise in any case. To me, his actions are borne out of pure selfishness.

And that is a real shame, because while he split opinion, no-one could accuse him of not working hard, and it was that trait that was heading him in the direction of being a crowd favourite. Now, like a few before him, he will either leave or be forced to be exceptionally contrite if the fans are to stick with him.

Milan, meanwhile, have claimed that Arsenal have set an asking price of 35m, which they are not going to pay. Can’t blame them, to be honest, he isn’t worth anything like that. I don’t buy the suggestion that they’re looking elsewhere though, there may yet be middle ground found.

A week ago, I was convinced Ade was going nowhere. Now a large part of me wants him out, as long as we get the sorts of sums being talked about.

Elsewhere, Andrei Arshavin’s agent claims Arsenal are the most active club in the chase for the Russian, but I don’t see it happening. Wenger came out after the Euros and openly said he wished he’d seen Arshavin when he was 21, and to me if he was interested in signing him he wouldn’t be making those sorts of comments. In any case, a google search of the agent in question, Dennis Lahter, brings up nothing but this story, so I’m not convinced by his authenticity either.

Chelsea seems the likely destination, and if he does make that trip, let’s hope his European Championship performances makes him the next Karel Poborsky.

Finally, there’s Amaury Bischoff, who claims that he will be joining the reserves shortly. At 21, he doesn’t seem convinced that he would be in the first team picture straightaway, which makes his signing a little odd. I guess he’s defensive minded, otherwise his central midfield position is too crowded.

See, a whole transfer related post without mention of Nas…

At last there’s some news! For the past few days I’ve been meaning to write something, but with nothing more constructive to say than ‘Nasri isn’t her yet’, or ‘Hleb hasn’t gone yet’, it seemed a little pointless. Even my Euro 2008 preview can wait until the end of the week.

So it comes with great relief that there is finally some Arsenal transfer news, even if it is the wrong way, with Lehmann making the understandable switch back home to Germany, signing for Stuttgart. And good luck to him - for all his ramblings over the past year, he’s been a superb keeper for us since arriving to become part of the Invincibles in his first season. Even when out of the team he was sharp enough to perform when called upon. Thanks Jens.

The feelgood factor continues with Bacary Sagna signing a new deal after only twelve months at the club, a clear sign of how highly rated he is after a fantastic debut season. It is often forgotten in the clamour for big name signings that what we actually need is more Sagnas.

Elsewhere, Freddie Ljungberg’s come in for a bit of stick recently for comments that were attributed to him by a Russian newspaper, and then bandied around all the tabloids, in which ‘he claimed’ that Wenger was a nightmare to work with and jettisoned him as soon as he was injured. They seemed very un-Ljungberg like comments, and the man himself has now refuted them:

“I haven’t done an interview with this Russian newspaper and none of the quotes have any substance, I certainly didn’t make those comments.”

Which is good, because the alleged comments were bitter, twisted and extremely stupid. We all know journalists are like that anyway, so I guess it’s no surprise one of them invented the story.

The summer is over, and the transfer merry go round is starting. Every day a few new players are linked, some sound plausible, others most definitely do not. Here are ten of those that will not be happening this year, complete with links to the original story.

1. Robinho. Consistently linked, you have to imagine that if Wenger really wanted to sign him for a considerable fee, he would have done so already. He has gone on record to say he admires the Brazilian, but the fees that are being suggested are simply out of the question.

2. Roque Santa Cruz .Adebayor scored thirty goals last season, Van Persie can score twenty five if fit. Walcott is beginning to shine, Bendtner is waiting in the wings and Vela will be used as a squad striker. Plus Eduardo is on the mend. Sure, not many of these are established, but you can’t become established until given the chance, much like Ade this season. Wenger will not sign a striker this summer.

3. Mauro Zarate. Nothing like a few good games to suddenly get the media salivating. Zarate, on loan from Qatar club Al Saad (where he’d been dropped), produced the odd moment of magic for Birmingham, but was inconsistent, and didn’t convince McLeish to regularly start him. Now, apparently, Arsenal are interested in paying over 10 million for him. I think not.

4. Yaya Toure. Kolo’s little brother can be as interested as he wants in joining him at Arsenal, but he has had trials here before, and Wenger had plenty of opportunities to sign him. He chose not to, and I see no reason why he would now.

5. David Villa. Another who is interested in coming, but Wenger isn’t interested in signing. He is an excellent striker, but we’re stocked in that department.

6. Sebastien Frey. Another summer, another link to Frey. Watch for the links to Buffon, I’m sure those equally unfounded stories will crop up in time.

7. Alberto Aquilani. Classic agent garbage - “Aquilani is speaking to Arsenal. We will have to see if Roma will be able to match his demands.” Watch him sign a new contract in the coming weeks, earning his agent a nice fat paycheck.

8. Lillian Thuram. Seriously, when was the last time Wenger signed a 36 year old?

9. Thierry Henry. Wenger sold him, he hasn’t looked that great since, is now more injury prone than ever and the wrong side of thirty. Plus Wenger never re-signs players he has previously sold. He’ll always be a legend, but he isn’t coming back.

10. David Dein. No matter what he plants in newspapers, no matter what he says or does now, he isn’t returning, at least while the current board are in charge. Edelman may have gone, but he was far from Dein’s only enemy, and the orange one’s actions over the past year make this utterly impossible.

Alex Hleb looks set to be the next midfielder to leave the Emirates this summer, according to his agent, who couldn’t have been more clear in his message:

“Alexander is preparing to make the most serious and important moves of his life. He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions. Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.”

Not a statement that leaves much open to interpretation, and Hleb’s loss is sure to anger many. After two poor seasons, he started this campaign very well, but as time went on he once again reverted to type, seemingly allergic to shooting and lacking the end product that his skill should be capable of.

Certainly, meeting Inter Milan while out for a Champions League tie was in particularly poor taste, and the ice cream denials that followed were quite frankly insulting. It remains to be seen whether Inter will offer Arsenal a cut price for him, or whether the Webster clause will be invoked, Hleb having become unprotected after three years in his contract.

Some light is shed on that question by Wenger’s response:

“We have not been in touch with any club about Alexander Hleb.”

Some are interpreting this as him saying that Hleb will stay, when in reality it seems that Hleb will invoke the clause and disappear, which would break the agreement the G14 clubs had, where they claimed they would not utilise the rule on each other.

My suspicion is that Inter will offer a cut price, possibly the same amount that Arsenal would be compensated by, and leave Wenger with absolutely no choice but to accept. The details of exactly how the clause works are sketchy, but the fee will be the remaining two years of Hleb’s wages, likely to be around 4m.

If he stays, he has a lot to prove next season. If he leaves, maybe we’ll get some goals from a player taking up one of the foremost attacking slots in the team. Either way, I’m not overly fussed.

I’ve tried for some time to ignore all the transfer rumours surrounding the club, but can do so no longer. There are three games left in the season, but there might as well not be, as every current Arsenal story concerns the uncertain futures of a few key players.

Before we start on those, however, let’s get one thing straight. Adebayor is not leaving, no matter what his incredibly unhelpful agent, Vincenzo Morabito, claims. I hate agents, I really do.

But there are two whose futures are in serious doubt. The first is of course Flamini, whose contract expires in a little over two months and who, according to Wenger, has to make his final decision by the end of April. So in a week, we should know. Something tells me May will arrive and we’ll all still be in the dark. We’ve been here before.

There is no doubt that the fans, Wenger and the rest of the players want Flamini to stay. Wenger also claims that Flamini himself wants to stay. The general consensus is that only wage demands are stopping the deal, but that in itself seems odd - a fair offer would be around the 50k mark, which is surely a massive hike on his current earnings. And with him established as a first teamer and knocking on the door of the French national team, it would seem a dangerous time to switch clubs.

There are so many examples of players moving on from Arsenal and seeing their careers fade, possibly the saddest being Henry, whose difficult season continues and will more than likely miss tomorrow night’s game with United. No matter how much his plight makes Wenger’s decision to sell last summer look spot on, it gives me no pleasure to see him suffer out in Spain.

While everyone wants Flamini to stay, Hleb divides opinion. Undoubtedly a wonderful footballer, he can also be the most frustrating player at the club at times (including Eboue) when his inch perfect passes stray off course. He is a player who plays with no margin for error, making either the perfect pass or giving the ball away.

For me, that isn’t the problem though - he sets up an adequate number of goals and you can tell his value to the team by how much he is missed when injured. The main issue with Hleb is his goalscoring, or lack of it. He netted on the first day of the season, and in the first couple of months seemed to have added the facet to his game. But no more have been added to his tally, and not because of bad luck or good saves, but because he steadfastly refuses to shoot. That is what is so frustrating about the man, his passing up of wonderful opportunities trying to be too clever.

As I said, he divides opinion. Arseblogger wrote a good piece on him this morning, essentially recognising his worth but also that if he was to leave, now might be the time to cash in, before his contract comes towards an end. I would worry if we got rid of him at the point, though. Although he doesn’t like playing on the wing, his ability to fill in there gives him a versatility that can be so important when your squad is as stretched as ours has been this season.

If we sold him, we’d need to sign two midfielders. I think we already need a winger, but his departure might require the arrival of a goalscoring support striker, someone who can play at the head of a five man midfield and provide a genuine goal threat. I would hold great concerns if Wenger sold Hleb and didn’t act to replace him adequately - I just don’t see who we have that could fill his roles, the permanently injured Rosicky aside.

The challenge is certainly to keep the squad together this summer - they are on the rise. Let’s hope they recognise that and stay.

Transfer talk never stops in the papers, where journalists seem to pick a random name from one basket and a random club from another, making a headline with a fanciful price tag to boot. But over the last couple of days it has gone past amusing to just plain ridiculous.

Yesterday Arsenal ‘were linked’ (which is paper talk for any transfer story that doesn’t involve quotes, facts or any basis in reality) with Egyptian keeper Essam El Hadary. While the African Cup of Nations showed us that he’s quite a talent, he is also 36 years old, roughly twice the age of Wenger’s typical signings. To make matters more insane, the Mail actually claim that Arsenal ‘will be offering 15m’.

All this led to the quote of the day, from his club director Adil Al-Qaeyi, who said:

“If such a bid is tabled, we will surely consider it.”

I bet you would. 15m for a 36 year old? What have these ‘journalists’ been smoking?

I thought it was a one off. But today, the Mail (yes, them again) claimed that we’ll be signing Lilliam Thuram in the summer, purely because he and Arsene Wenger have a good relationship. How old is Thuram? You’ve guessed it, 36.

The way I see it, journalists have a few options. They can:

a) Try to be factual, and write for the Guardian

b) Talk complete nonsense, and work for the Sun or the Mirror

c) Talk complete nonsense, but pretend to be respectable by working for the Telegraph, or

d) Shout about Johnny Foreigner and work for the Mail.

But I actually thought those who made up the ridiculous transfer rumours involving ‘a friend’ or ’a source close to the club’ considered that they’ve have to be at least partly realistic, so that the dumbest of fans would be taken in. I don’t even think a six year old would believe this tripe.

In other news, Barcelona want Wenger. Yeah, well, I want a big house in Barbados. We can all dream.

Finally, Cesc is negotiating a new contract. In more shoddy reporting, most media outlets are claiming that he will be extending his stay, even though the quotes just suggest he’s getting a pay rise.

Honestly, how do journalists get away with being so appalling?

Sometimes a week without a match is welcome for tired legs to recuperate. Sometimes the break allows players to refocus, especially after a busy Christmas break. But sometimes it just gets in the way of a reaction.

With so many players rested for the Birmingham draw since New Year’s Day, all these players want to do is get back out on the field and prove the doubters wrong, so it’s frustrating to be waiting a few more days. On the other hand, perhaps it’s my eternal optimism, but you get the impression that after a run of poor form, someone is going to get an absolute pasting at the hands of this Arsenal side, and with a leaky defence and an inability to hang on to decent starts, Fulham are ripe for the taking.

Fabregas and Hleb especially are due goals, but it’d be churlish to criticise either given their early season form. Adebayor still leaves some fans unconvinced despite his excellent goal return, I suppose that’s the curse of following Henry as the main man up front, particularly with Van Persie’s continual injury problems.

Elsewhere, after one of the smoothest settling in periods in Arsenal history, Bacary Sagna (fresh from being repeatedly called Willy Sagna by Sky’s moronic commentary team against Spurs, who confused him with an entirely different player) showed his maturity in an interview with Arsenal TV Online:

“Playing for Arsenal is fantastic. I try to do better game after game and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me adapt.”

“It is different for a forward because defenders are so hard on them, for me it was easier.”

“I have always had a fighting spirit and wanted to play for a great team. Now I am playing for Arsenal and want to show what I can do.”

And he is showing us exactly what he can do, with a series of consistently excellent performances this season. Nice work sir.

Diarra’s transfer to Portsmouth still appears to be going ahead, and if he’s happier being a major player in an average team rather than fighting for his place in a top one, then he isn’t ever going to make it at the top level. He’s already gone through two of the top four.

It just strikes me that, even by footballer’s standards, his vision is painfully myopic. He doesn’t want to put his international place at risk before the European Championships, but is instead willing to pull his club career apart. He’s 23, with perhaps five major international tournaments left. And how many Pompey games with the French coach see?

I think we all know Diarra’s making a big mistake, but if that’s his attitude, he’s probably best elsewhere.

With only FA Cup replays taking place this week, football itself takes a backseat to the January tradition of wild speculation over potential transfers. While most are well wide of the mark, one move that is getting closer by the hour is that of Lassana Diarra, poised to make the switch to Portsmouth.

With Diarra only arriving at the club a little over four months ago, and spending most of his time complaining about a perceived lack of first team action, not many fans will be sad to see him go, especially as it appears we’ll make a tidy profit on the 2m he cost from Chelsea.

The concern for many is not the gap that Diarra leaves behind, but the potential hole that Flamini carves in the midfield if he decides not to sign a new contract and moves on in the summer. With Diarra his obvious replacement, it would transform a position of strength into one looking dangerously short of options.

But Diarra just wants first team football (apparently without earning it). If Wenger thought Flamini might move on, he could easily dangle the carrot in front of Diarra that with Gilberto aging and possibly also leaving, he’d be given the chance to play on a regular basis. Flamini himself was promised less last season and was convinced to stay.

That Diarra is so intent on quitting the club suggests that no such offer has been made, that Wenger cannot assure him of any regular position in the side, which suggests that he is fully confident that Flamini will continue in his central berth next season and beyond. It would make little sense for him to move on now that he has established himself for the first time - he is in his element now and probably isn’t daft enough to think the grass is greener elsewhere.

Moreover, if Wenger was less than sure on Flamini’s future, I just don’t think he’d let Diarra go this soon.

Elsewhere, we’re apparently signing a whole host of young players, following the journalistic tradition of finding some supposedly talented kid playing in the depths of nowhere, and linking him with Arsenal.

The most likely is Luke Freeman, Gillingham’s 15 year old who came on in their recent FA Cup game, as talks have been confirmed between the two clubs, but elsewhere, we are linked with another young keeper, Fabricio, a Spanish youth international playing for Deportivo’s B team and Andre Ayew, Marseille’s Ghanian left winger, in a classic story which relies entirely on ‘a source close to the player’.

So we can rule that one out then.

The Mirror also report that we have completed the signing of Vyacheslav Dmitriev, a 17 year old Russian defender, who should arrive in the summer. Usually these are confirmed, so we will wait and see, especially with the Mirror not exactly being the most reliable source.

So that’s four signings in the pipeline today, who’ll be on the list tomorrow?

After four consecutive posts about England, it’s high time we got back to important matters around here.

The Premiership returns today, with Wigan coming to the Emirates still managerless, as Steve Bruce’s move has been delayed due to some financial wrangling. They’ll face a weakened Arsenal side, shorn of Fabregas, Flamini, Diaby and Hleb in midfield, while Gilberto has to be a doubt after returning from Brazil only last night.

The likelihood of the World Cup winner departing either in January or the summer seems to be on the rise, after his comments regarding a potential move to Juventus. While not demanding to leave, he knows that he is coming towards the end of his career at the highest level, and needs to be playing regularly.

“Juve officials must know that I don’t want to have a war with Arsenal. If they want me, they must talk with my club and get into serious negotiations.

“I feel disposed towards moving to Italy.”

There is no doubting that the big man is unhappy about his lack of first team action this season, especially after having such a fine campaign last year, but he is a model professional, I imagine he is going about this in the best possible way, by talking to Wenger in private and working hard and training.

If his chances remain so limited though, he will probably move on, but without complaining, and almost definitely not in January. His experience could be vital in the second half of the season, even more so if we are still fighting on a couple of fronts.

Van Persie is another for whom today’s match is too early, and with Champions League qualification already assured he won’t travel to Spain either.

Elsewhere, 20 year old Congo striker Tresor Mputu has impressed on his trial at the club, although Wenger himself has yet to see him in action. I say he’s 20, as the reports suggest as such, but as with many African imports, reports vary, with his Wikipedia entry, amongst others, claiming he’ll turn 22 in a fortnight.

Either way, he is older than Bendtner and Walcott, so would surely only be signed if he was likely to challenge for a first team position in the coming years, alongside these prospects. We’ll keep an eye on this over the coming days.

Fingers crossed for a good result this afternoon, and as I speak (type) Anelka’s just scored against United. It would make a change for Bolton not to do their usual rolling over trick whenever Ferguson and co come into town.

With just over six weeks to go before the January transfer window opens, Arsene Wenger has been in a typically secretive mood:

“I don’t think I will get anybody in but if I get one opportunity in one area then I will not neglect it.”

As usual, this will be interpreted in a number of ways. Does he mean there is one area in particular he would like to strengthen? Does he mean he may strengthen an area, but probably only one, and he hasn’t decided which yet?

Or, as is most likely, is he just not telling us anything?

In January 2006, Wenger said he ‘might’ buy one player. One became three with the spending bringing in Adebayor, Diaby and Walcott.

Last summer, he said he might buy one ’super player’, and then again, his actions did not match his words, simply tinkering with his squad to find a balance.

So not too much can be read into these statements. I suspect that purchases are not key on his mind right now, but if the right player came along for the right price, he’d move. Which means we can predict all we like, but his transfer dealings will remain secret until they are complete, as usual.

Jens Lehmann is being less deflective about his future plans, making it clear that if he isn’t seeing action by Christmas, he may have to move on:

“Given what the Germany coach says, I will have to see how things are in December.”

“I definitely want to play at Euro 2008. Playing there has always been my aim.”

And that’s exactly what I expect to happen. If he isn’t back in the side by Christmas, which looks unlikely given Almunia’s decent form, then he’ll be off in January. I have no doubt he’ll go in the summer regardless, perhaps even to retire, so he might as well leave and get some football while he can.

And the once proud keeper doesn’t even mind dropping down the leagues:

“The Bundesliga is always attractive and is an option, and maybe the German second division is too.”

Now, last I saw, the bottom half of the Bundesliga was pretty rubbish. I can only imagine the standard once you drop down a league, and I’m not sure that’s what Joachim Low had in mind.

It’s Reading away tonight, in a rare Monday night match, and plenty of players are well rested, nine days after their last match. It is unlikely to be as one-sided as the 4-0 drubbing dished out last season, and with Reading on a three game home winning streak, it won’t be as easy as some believe.

That said, a victory is important to regain the top spot, and with Chelsea dropping more points over the weekend the thoughts of a two horse race akin to a few years back start to return.

Until tomorrow.