The ever-dependable Emmanuel Adebayor saga is brought kicking and screaming back into your living room by reports this morning that Barcelona will be back today with a £30m bid that Arsenal will accept just in time for Joan Laporta to announce before Sunday’s motion of no confidence is held.

However, the player is not so sure of this according to his agent, Stephane Courbis who has had more mentions on these pages in the past weeks than many have in the previous two and half years of the blog’s existence,

It is vital for Arsenal show their motivation to keep him

And why is that Stephane? For the love of the club he has shown or perhaps so he can save face should the Catalans not come running back with another bid and Adebayor is left with no other options but to sign the £45k per week deal that is reportedly on offer from Arsenal, claiming that it was the desperation of Arsene to keep his services that persuaded him to sign when everyone will know that his suitors have been priced out of the market? Never mind, eh, because as Arseblogger points out this morning, all Barca want to know is that you love them

No doubt that the fast and the furious will be idealising their replacements – Arshavin, Villa, Podolski, Gomez, Santa Cruz, Santa Claus – but it will not be the ones Arsene buys, simply because we know about them. One problem with selling for big fees is that purchasing becomes more of a pain with prices rising because everyone thinks you have cash falling out of every pocket on your suit; a £15m striker now becomes £20m. That’s the problem with recessions, inflation goes up.

If he stays, Adebayor will not be joined by Pascal Cygan’s recommendation, Marcos Senna, on the basis that he is 32 years old and too old for Arsene, he will cost £25m if reports and to be believed and more to the point, the player does not want to leave Villarreal.

It is one of two positions where Arsene has to do something by his own admission. Obviously Flamini leaving is the more immediate source of concern but there are sufficient replacements in the squad already; Diaby, Denilson, Song and Djourou are most likely with Gilberto there to bring some experience. The key for Arsene though is how much of a change in the team’s style of play will be required. Flamini brought more energy to the team than Gilberto, very much in the style of the old ‘box-to-box’ midfielder whose absence is much lamented in the media. Diaby is in that mould whilst Denilson and Song are more Gilberto in their approach, Djourou bridging the gap. Personally, I would prefer to see Diaby there rather than on the wings. He has of course been troubled by injury in recent years, some wear and tear as well as the victim of an outrageous challenge. That assumes Arsene does not buy someone as a direct replacement

The second position? Centre back…

Onto other matters, the televised games for the UK have been announced so the following kick-offs have changed [a health warning on these; they were 'leaked' and as of yet are unconfirmed]:

Sat Aug 16 12.45pm Sky – Arsenal v West Brom
Sat Aug 23 5.15pm Setanta – Fulham v Arsenal
Sat Sep 20 12.45pm Sky – Bolton v Arsenal
Sat Oct 18 12.45pm Sky – Arsenal v Everton
Sun Oct 26 2.00pm Sky – Everton v Man Utd (West Ham v Arsenal if blocked by police)
Wed Oct 29 8.00pm Sky – Arsenal v Tottenham
Sat Nov 1 5.15pm Setanta – Stoke v Arsenal
Sun Nov 9 4.00pm Sky – Arsenal v Man Utd
Sat Nov 15 5.15pm Setanta – Arsenal v Aston Villa
Sat Nov 22 12.45pm Sky – Man City v Arsenal
Sun Nov 30 4.00pm Sky – Chelsea v Arsenal

Quiet times before the squad return to training on Monday and much as I cannot be fussed by friendlies, they cannot start soon enough because it means the season is nearly upon us…

’til Tomorrow