Well, any expectation of a quiet weekend were thankfully dashed with Fiorentina’s official statement that Arsenal were the only club which had made an official bid for Felipe Melo. The statement was an interesting exercise. The first aspect is that it was issued in response to speculation in the Italian media that the player had agreed terms with Juventus. Given that it is not unusual by any stretch of the imagination for that scenario to arise, what did Fiorentina hope to gain from their utterances?

I guess the best is that they get a bidding war between Arsenal and Juventus, going above the €25m release clause. That seems unlikely for knowing that the value of a bid has to reach that level, there is no incentive for either club to exceed it. Acknowledging that Arsenal has offered ‘close’ to that value puts the ball firmly into Juve’s court; put up or shut up essentially speaking.

Presumably Arsenal has passed on the counter-offer that Fiorentina made to Emmanuel Eboue. The question that Arsene has to answer now is whether the gain of signing Melo offsets the loss that arises with Eboue’s departure. There are many who would still not be sorry to lose Eboue. That misses his contribution to the squad, on and off the pitch. He is by all accounts very popular with the rest of squad, fulfilling the role of ‘class clown’. That should not be a reason on its own for keeping him at the club yet that can have an impact on the squad. Fabregas has acknowledged that the loss of Flamini and Hleb affected him as they were friends. Judging by media reports from around the time immediately after the disgraceful incidents at the Wigan game, players such as Toure, Adebayor and Song would feel a similar loss.

Were a deal to go through involving Eboue, I guess that the crucial issue would be who is the long-term back up for the right back position if anything, God forbid, happened to Sagna? Gavin Hoyte had a torrid time last season at Eastlands in the Premier League and would be an obvious weakness in the Arsenal team. Given the predeliction for a section of the support to give any player who underperforms, a hard time, it is not beyond the realms of belief that Hoyte would be told in no uncertain terms that he is not good enough.

So who is left. Essentially, Toure or Djourou. Gibbs or Traore would be played out of position, which is bad enough when a right footed player is on the left but reverse that to the right and for some reason, the lefties make a bigger hash of it than the their opposites. Both the centre backs can cover in the short term but long term, you would be looking at the Ivorian for anything more than four games.

Arsene has to judge whether the signing of Melo will improve the squad. Certainly, he appears to have the tenacity that people, including Arsene to an extent, desire. A record of 17 yellow cards and 3 of their red cousins is nothing to sneezed at and to be honest, it is a record I am both impressed and disturbed by. The impressed part is that in a season interrupted by suspensions, it means that he was getting booked essentially every game and a half. Not bad going. Even in his indisciplined pomp, Patrick Vieira could not touch this. Hammer time.

The last aspect is whether or not Melo would get a Work Permit. Key to this is his international status. From memory, the criteria is that a player must have participated in more than 75% of his country’s internationals in the previous two years. Melo has not. There are other avenues to appeal and looking at those who have received permits in the past, he should qualify. Even so, his exceptional talent might be that he sees football in kaleidoscopic terms. Nobody quite sees the colours yellow and red swirling round like Melo.

Elsewhere, Emmanuel Adebayor’s Mr20% has sort of confirmed that the player has decided to stay. A less than ringing affirmation of the players future came when Stephane Courbis – for it is he – was pressed by The Observer on the subject of his client’s plans:

It’s the same situation as last week

So it is all down to Arsene who believes the player wants to stay. Not a bad idea either.

’til Tomorrow.

A good way to start the weekend with Kieran Gibbs and Robin van Persie both resolving contract issues. Gibbs was the breakthrough player last season and deserves his deal. He learned some harsh lessons but showed the mental strength to recover for both club and country. In a tournament which ended in tears, Gibbs was one of the few England players who enhanced his reputation. Congratulations to him.

van Persie meanwhile has apparently agreed to sign the extension to his current contract, tieing him to the club until 2014 or a simply irresistable offer comes in. Whilst Emmanuel Adebayor occupies more column inches and divides opinions, the same cannot be said of the Dutchman. Anyone who believes that van Persie is not the club’s most important striker should remove their head from their rectum immediately.

For Wenger, securing van Persie was possibly his most important summer signing. If we as supporters rate him highly, it is inconceivable that those who train with him on a daily basis do not have a higher opinion of his abilities. More importantly, his signature is a sign of intent. van Persie’s stance all along has not been about money, it has been about the squad. Whatever psychologies Wenger has imparted in the Dutchman’s direction, he has convinced him that this squad can win titles. From that, we should draw strength and belief to underpin the inherent hopes and aspirations that every supporter has, no matter what club they follow. Crucially, if the players believe, we should cast doubts aside as the pre-season approaches. It is a new dawn, a new season, a new hope.

An interesting aside from the main point of The Independent’s article is the final paragraph. Their sources are at odds with the comments made by Wenger earlier this week on French TV where his specified Chamakh as a potential replacement should there be any departures. It is a big vote of confidence in players such as Bendtner and Eduardo that anyone would even dare to speculate that Adebayor would not be replaced should he find the vulgar charms of Milan too much to resist.

On the subject of Eduardo, he is the subject of a Q&A in this month’s FourFourTwo. Inevitably, the thrust of the article was around that injury:

Would you say that the injury made you closer to the supporters?

I think so. Last year, I was on a good run of form and with all due modesty, after the injury the team’s form deteriorated. I don’t know whether it was because they were shocked about what happened with me or something else. But everyone would come to me and say: “We need you”. What I did on my comeback for the first team, scoring twice, also helped foster that relationship with the fans.

I like a player who has an understated ego. I picture him sitting there not in an obviously conceited way, simply confident of his abilities and knowing that he is more than good enough to hold his own in the Arsenal squad. The incident still preys on his insecurities though for he will not watch the tackle again until he retires:

It’s important for me not to watch it now, for my psychological condition, for my mind. What I like to see are my goals. Those I watch over and over again.

Reflecting on his year out, he views it in terms of the time being lost in his development as a player, in terms of the improvements he could have made to his game and the goals he could have scored. As he puts it,

I have to look at it from the perspective of what I could have done

It is clear that he is a man in a hurry to make up for lost time. You get the sense that he is not going to be satisfied until he has reached his full potential and now wants to achieve that in as quick a time as possible.

For Arsenal, a fully motivated forward line that includes van Persie and Eduardo, that is a good sign for next season. A bad one, hopefully, for the opposition defences. ’til Tomorrow.

Ready for your daily dose of high blood pressure? Insert your own rant here as Joan Laporta is accused of tapping up Cesc. It was of course entirely predictable since the, ahem, news that Cesc has apparently agreed to sign if Sandro Rosell wins the Presidential elections next summer. In fact, it would be of no surprise if a formal bid were made by the Catalans on political grounds even if they know that it will not be accepted since it will be easy for Laporta to run around chanting, “Liar, liar, pants on fire“, when Rosell makes his claim again next summer.

The usual specious reasoning from Laporta was applied, trotting out the ‘Barcelona is in his DNA‘ crap as if a heavily guarded and highly secret lab created the player. I wish I had been a fly on the wall when Laporta first took over as President of the club. Apparently he was left a file about Fabregas by his predecessor with a note that said words to the effect, ‘You will have to explain how this one got away‘ which also goes a long way to explaining Laporta and Barcelona’s obsession with bringing Cesc back, ahem, home as they like to put it.

Elsewhere, Arsene has reportedly made his observations about current players who are on the receiving end of flirtatious flutterings from others:

Inter have not inquired about Gallas, just like Bordeaux has never asked for [Mikael] Silvestre. Adebayor? In my opinion he will remain. Chamakh? He might be a valid acquisition in case of a departure.

You can read into that what you will. The arguments will no doubt go something along the lines of ‘it’s hardly a ringing endorsement that those players will stay‘. External comments from Mr20% do not help situations since the perception is that the player is behind the agitation. In some cases that may be true, in others not. However, with Adebayor the silence from the player or lack of affirmation of his desire to stay should not be construed as desire to leave Arsenal. He may want to and it is indeed rare for Wenger to obviously state that a certain player is a replacement. One thing seems to be certain, Adebayor’s eventual departure from Arsenal – I cannot honestly see him being at the club for the start of the 2010/11 season – is as tortuous as those of Vieira and Henry.

One thing that appears reasonably certain is that Wenger does not intend to sell at least two of the three, if not all of them. Were his inclination to divest the club of the players, I suspect the word ‘yet’ might have been appended to the end of his comments about Gallas and Silvestre. As for Adebayor, if it is Arsene’s opinion that he will stay, he will stay unless a suitable offer is made. Every player has their price but the way in which this transfer window has been conducted, a number of clubs seem to have Spanish banks burning a hole in their pockets due to the extravagance of Real.

There was good news in Jack Wilshere signing an extended contract. As much as there is a clamour for today, tomorrow must not be forgotten. Forgetting is something I would like to do about Sheriff Fatman but it seems to be the case that he will not bugger off quietly. The Board meeting yesterday ended without a decision on the much vaunted – by his supporters anyway – Rights Issue. The most perceptive sentence in that article is ‘with concerns persisting among some directors as to the real motives behind the plans‘. Here is a clue for them: he wants to buy the club. Don’t let him.

’til Tomorrow.

Well, it would not be Arsenal if there were not transfer speculation flying around would it. Those Mr20%s certainly earn their corn. OK, so the let’s have a quick look at the latest incoming centre back shall we.

[Adopts Magnus Magnusson tone and cue recording of 'Mastermind' introduction]

Name? Thomas Schaaf

[Cues Isaac Hayes 'Shaft']

Nein. I said, SCHAAF

Occupation? Head Coach of Werder Bremen
Specialist Subject? Securing the transfer of Naldo to Arsenal.

[sound of record scratching].

So let us get this right. The head coach of Werder Bremen, perennial qualifiers for the Champions League, is touting his centre back to go to Arsenal. Now there is something immediately odd about that situation since coaches normally want to keep their best players. So the following needs to be answered: (a) Is Naldo any good? (b) Has he fallen out with his coach? (c) Why haven’t you signed him yet, Arsene? I leave it to the YouTube generation to come up with a suitable trailer to prove he is the best thing since sliced bread and that he is the big, clogging centre back that Arsenal apparently need.

Unfortunately, Naldo would probably not be slotting straight into the team. According to L’Equipe, Jose Mourinho took one looa k at Ashley Cole and realised that he was still deeply enamoured with William Gallas. So much so that he has turned his back on the affair, hoping to rekindle the luuuurve between himself and Billy. Except no-one seems to have told William this since he is adamant that he is remaining at Arsenal, for next season at least.

And I have no problem with that at all. Gallas is the best centre back at the club. His partnership with Toure was excellent before the last African Cup of Nations, disintegrating upon the Ivorian’s return from that trip and subsequent injuries. The signs were that Toure was regaining that form during the unbeaten run last season and it will be one of the key factors of the coming campaign.

The assumption is that Toure is the one who will make way for Vermalean yet with Gallas in the last year of his contract, this cannot be taken as a certainty. Wenger has previous with players who are reasonably demure about their futures, Gilberto Silva the last to find himself reduced to a bit part when younger players come in and take their chance, as Flamini did. And no, that is not a cue for everyone to start repeating the tired and tedious mantra of re-signing the Frenchman: Get over it, it is not happening. Move on. Think of it like the end of a relationship; you split, you hurt, you get on with the next Miss Right or Miss Right Now (or replace Miss with Mr, depending on your own circumstances).

Elsewhere, Aaron Ramsey has a new deal, Birmingham City are hopeful of teaching Armand Traore the finer points of performing major surgery on an opponent without the use of an operating theatre or anaesthetic. It would not be the summer if Emmanuel Adebayor was linked with AC Milan. His Mr20% has been bleating to the media that Arsene will not tell him what his plans for Adebayor are. Two things that Courbis should understand: firstly, whinging like an overpaid, spoilt brat is not going to garner any new information from the manager. Ask a direct question and demand a direct answer. The second is that Wenger does indeed have plans for your client. It’s called pre-season training. Make sure Emmanuel knows when and where he is expected to turn up.

The last snippet is from the Spanish media who apparently have accepted Cesc’s recent declaration of intent to stay at Arsenal. When they are not regurgitating rumours started by Daily Star hacks, they are lining up next summer’s stories about Fabregas. Apparently he has an agreement with Sandro Rosell that when the Barcelona elections come around, Rosell can use Cesc’s signature as his star signing. So, you’ve been warned that with the World Cup meaning a plethora of old tosh, this little nugget will be kicking around from March time.

’til Tomorrow.

Oh dear Arsene, what are you going to do? Felipe Melo has signed a new contract extension, which explains the transfer buzz that was created around him, at Fiorentina to whom will you turn now that your primary target has probably got a hugely inflated escape clause surrounding him?

Well, step forward Lorik Cana of Marseille. Don’t hold the fact that Tottenham are reportedly interested, against him; even ‘Appy ‘Arry can be right sometimes. You’ve got loads of room at London Colney now that eight youngsters have been released so what is stopping you? After all, a million of the YouTube generation cannot be wrong. Can they?

Things may be moving along as we speak in any case. Arsene was quoted in French newspaper, Le Dauphine , so he must be in France either sorting out the signing of Karim Benzema or Cana’s. Quite probably though he was on holiday when he put forward his rationale for not signing a contract with Real Someoneelsesmoney:

Real was directed towards the football-spectacle. But another dimension exists: to have success by building a team with a style, a know-how, a culture of play specific to the club, to young people. It is that one which I chose. I am in a construction project with a young team. I want to go to the end. My pleasure comes from seeing them practising the football which I like

Or to put it another way: Real wanted to spend shedloads of cash which demands immediate results and even with the players that are signed, they still won’t achieve global domination and I’ll end up sacked. Actually, I prefer Wenger’s more prosaic and less cynical version. There was a report earlier in the week that suggested coffee drinkers are more positive in the morning so perhaps I’ll give that a go, rather than my usual ten cups of tea.

Back to Wenger. He is often derided as being parsimonious and turned off by spending huge sums of money on players. He set about demolishing that one:

The sums can appear shocking, but they are the result of a calculation carried out by the investor. It is necessary to disregard moral judgement and to question of profitability of the operation

There is that element of it but football is not like that. People get envious when huge sums are splashed around, not wanting to be left off of the merry-go-round. However when demanding that vast sums are spent on one or two players, quite often those who are already at the club are ignored. The quality that exists at Arsenal is underrated by our own supporters at times yet envied to a degree by supporters at other clubs who recognise that the time of delivery is upon us. In the ‘I want it all, I want it now‘ world of football, patience is a virtue in short supply.

Defensively, if Diaby really is bulking up with a personal trainer, we may be a lot better placed than is believed. Like Song and Denilson, the Frenchman divides opinion in much the same way Flamini did before having his season in the sun in central midfield. Before that, Flamini had shown he was a useful squad member and nothing more, certainly not good enough for the first team on a regular basis.

Diaby suffers the same problems as his predecessor. Rarely played in central midfield, rarely played for more than a game or two there when he does come in. All players need bedding in time and he has to an extent been his own worst enemy, injuries bedevilling his Arsenal career. It is the fitness issue which needs resolving. If Diaby is to live up to his potential, he needs to be available for more than thirty games in the Premier League. That has not happened thus far.

Elsewhere, the third kit is being widely acknowledged as well, pants. Which I have to say, I disagree with. There is nothing wrong with a white third kit since it will be worn, well, once or twice at the most and frankly, it could have been a whole lot worse. How? Look at Newcastle’s away kit for answers. Or the United home kit. Or their new away kit. Christ, it’s white and frankly you cannot go much wrong with white.

’til Tomorrow.

Quiet mornings are de rigeur during the close season, even the hacks have to take a break from the speculation every now and then. It does not stop it all, of course and on such days even the most innocuous of comments will bring about a veritable frenzy of wet dreams on the sports desks around the globe.

No chance of an Arsenal player making a throw away comment that will bring forth such spew, is there? Well, OK, there is. Andrei Arshavin would like to play with Barcelona, presumably because (a) they are European champions, (b) a good side, (c) he supported them as a child and (d) it would be home from home since 90% of the Arsenal squad has been linked with a move to Spain this summer. Does it mean he will get that chance? Nope. Does it mean he wants to leave Arsenal? Nope. Does it mean that we will be told he is going to be the subject of an imminent bid? Hell, yes.

Elsewhere Kolo Toure’s departure moved ever nearer with reports that Serdar Tasci is flattered by the fluttering eyelashes of whichever Arsenal scout has been watching him. Tasci would be perfect for Arsenal. Not because he is a superb defender – I could not pass comment on that never having seen him play and too bone idle to become a fully paid up member of the YouTube generation – but more to do with the fact that he is recovering from a serious knee injury. It merely continues an Arsenal tradition. In the early 80s, you were not a real Arsenal player unless you had encountered the long arm of the law having partaken of one too many shandies. Now, you are not an Arsenal player unless you have missed a substantial part of the season through injury.

Kieran Gibbs and Theo Walcott will be feeling somewhat heavier of legs this morning. Both were part of the England U21s who were on the receiving end of a good, old-fashioned gubbing. The nature of any international tournament is such that ’stars’ are born, especially at this level. Patrice Muamba is falling into this category yet in a junior tournament, what can be learned about the player that is not already known? Criticism of Wenger for selling him denies the evidence of your own eyes: Muamba has not produced consistently outstanding performances in the English Premier League that suggest Wenger was wrong to release him. The player may yet do so, he could be the ‘one who got away’ but not yet. As far as putting him into the Arsenal midfield, would he bring more to the table than Song, Denilson or Diaby? Not at the moment. In short he is not the answer at the moment, he is simply the recipient of good press.

Theo and Gibbs had mixed tournaments. Walcott flattered to deceive, a couple of good halves but nothing substantial. He was not helped yesterday by his colleagues who had little of the subtleties that would bring the best out of him as a lone striker. Too often their passes were straight and intercepted. Credit to the German defence, especially Hummels who was marking him, very effectively as it turned out. Whether Theo learned anything new is open to debate. He commented before the game that Arsene had told him that he would have played centrally in the domestic cup competitions were it not for his own and others injuries. They will be his classroom next season which will not be a bad thing at all.

Gibbs meanwhile enhanced his reputation. His tackling throughout was crisp and even. He needs to work positionally but he held the left side pretty solidly throughout in his appearances. Even a nasty looking follow-through yesterday could not knock him out of his stride. The time when he can pressure Gael Clichy for the ownership of the left back spot in the starting line-up has not yet arrived but in a season or two, the Frenchman will be looking very nervously over his shoulder. And competition for places is no bad thing.

’til Tomorrow.

So the plan by Sherrif Fatman to become a Man of the People is to be given serious consideration this week at the Board meeting. Quite right too for a Rights Issue in the broad terms that Sherrif mentioned is not a bad idea, as it would theoretically give supporters the chance to buy shares. Where the waters turn murky grey is Fatman underwriting it, ie guaranteeing to buy any shares that are not purchased, a nice back door way to gain a bit more influence at the club, may be even being put into the position of bidding for the club as a result.

Quite what the legalities of it all are enough to send lawyers into an orgasm over the size of the bills that they will be able to issue for services rendered. Depending upon which media outlet you believe, the Arsenal Board are either not against it or rabidly opposed. The latter is hardly surprising since it leaves the way open for their shareholdings to be diluted (The Guardian) or are taking advice from their bankers over using the money to reduce the debt (Daily Telegraph). The latter media outlet has the wrong end of the stick though for it wants to portray Usmanov as having pumped money into the club whereas he, like Kroenke and others before him, has only invested in the pockets of those who sold their shares to him.

The latter course of action is not how Usmanov positioned the idea when he floated it a month ago. The money was to be made available for Wenger in the transfer market. Gazidis was interviewed in The Sunday Times yesterday and mentioned the debt and how it is being impacted by the property market being depressed. The Highbury Square development borrowings are ringfenced away from the football side of things and are due to be repaid next year. The club want to defer this repayment but as of yet has not agreed this hence the serious consideration being given to Usmanov’s proposal.

The position that the Board would be put in depends largely on the lenders yet it will be they who are castigated should they be forced into an alternative course of action. I doubt that they will be enticed into a situation whereby Usmanov underwrites a Rights Issue. They may if it were a joint exercise with Kroenke but that path is fraught with difficulties, not least because The Takeover Panel could determine that the pair had acted in consort and therefore have to make a bid for Group.

Of course it gives more credence to the view adopted by Freddie Ljungberg last week, a Jerry Maguire moment where he bellowed, “Show me the money!“. Well OK that’s not how The Mirror hacks reported it:

The feeling I get is the financial situation is a bit tight – what is the state of the club?. Nobody’s come out and said why they’re not spending. Everyone is asking that. I get sad just to look at the results in the last few years. When I played there they always said if you don’t win a trophy every year then it was not good enough. I hope they turn it around.

Well, actually, Freddie, Arsene has said why he is not spending. He is working within his budget and strengthening the squad where he has identified weaknesses. Wenger has not denied this needs to happen but it seems that Freddie believes Arsene has always been able to spend the sort of money that Real has this summer when he knows that is patently untrue. Ljungberg is of course right in saying his bit about the trophies. Those were the days of developed internationals coming to the peak of their games, augmented by unknowns such as, oooh, er, Freddie Ljungberg; the days of Bergkamp, Henry and Pires with a smidgen of Vieira and the back four mixed in. Days that are probably on the verge of re-emerging thanks to the development of the squad that Arsene has undertaken.

Contrast Freddie’s reported uneasiness with that of Gilberto Silva. The guitar playing, samba merchant passed his opinions of Felipe Melo with the smooth, unruffled simplicity that was the hallmark of his game when at Arsenal:

If they got him it would be great because he is a player they need at the moment.I’m sure if they got him it would be a good signing.

Arriving late on the scene to deposit the ball in the back of the net, he went on:

I have told him Arsenal is a great club and I am sure next season they will improve

You’ve got to love former players who see the positive in things. ’til Tomorrow.