Just Arsenal News

I understand the frustration and concern of the large number of Arsenal fans who expected Arsene Wenger to have perhaps signed a couple of good players by now, but I have faith that the Frenchman knows what he is doing and will do his very best for Arsenal Football Club, not necessarily the profit and loss statements.

There is a good reason why Wenger has not completed the signing of any players yet, apparently, and the report comes from a good and reliable source, The Guardian newspaper. According to the story, Wenger has made the Real Madrid and Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain his number one transfer target. This explains why the rumours about Stevan Jovetic have all but disappeared. .......Read the full article here

Honda could be good for Arsenal by Stefan

Last night the 2013 Confederations Cup kicked off in Brazil with an entertaining match between the hosts Brazil and Asian Cup champions Japan. One of the stars of the Japanese team is Keisuke Honda who will be known to many people across Europe from his time playing for CSKA Moscow which incidentally has just ended, and I think he could do well at Arsenal.

Anybody who watched the match will know that he is a free agent and will be eager to join a top European club. And as Arsenal fans will know, the club have been linked with all kinds of players and expensive ones because of the clubs admittance that it is willing to spend big money this summer. .......Read the full article here

What will this year’s Emirates Cup bring? by Dave G

General admission tickets to the 2013 Emirates Cup went on sale yesterday, and we can all now look forward to the weekend of August 3rd and 4th, when Porto, Napoli and Galatasaray will visit Arsenal for our pre-season mini-cup. The Emirates Cup has previously hosted such teams as Real Madrid, Milan and Atletico Madrid, but many casual fans might not be aware of the kind of talent that we can expect to see this year. The Cup should allow us the chance to see any new signings (there will be some = have faith) in action, while casting an eye over the talent of the visiting clubs. So do these teams have any players we might be interested in? .......Read the full article here

Ashley Williams made himself a firm favourite with the Arsenal fans last season when he booted the ball into the head of the Dutch deserter Robin van Persie. That incident also led to one of the most proposterous statements ever made by Ol’ Purple nose himself, when he said van Persie could have been killed.

It seemed as if the Wales and Swansea defender would soon be making a name for himself with the Arsenal fans for completely different reasons, with reports that a transfer fee had been agreed with Swansea City and everything was in place to make the 28-year old an Arsenal player. .......Read the full article here

How much can the existing Arsenal players improve next season? by Frank

Whilst it’s exciting to speculate on which top, top, top players are being lined up for a summer move to the Emirates, the other side of the equation is to consider how much room for improvement there is within the current Arsenal squad. After all, some of the regular first team players will find their positions under threat if one or two of these big name transfers actually happen. Others can reasonably expect to cement their place in the starting line-up and go on to fulfil their potential as true Arsenal legends. .......Read the full article here

The transfer of Julio Cesar to Arsenal was almost a done deal in the media just a week or two ago. His current club QPR accepted that he would leave and he was not going to cost all that much, so it should have been done and dusted by now, but no deal has been announced and there is an eerie silence coming from the media.

This does not necessarily mean that the move is off, though. Cesar is currently in Brazil for the Confederations cup. The 33-year old is the number one for the Brazil national team, who played their opening match of the tournament against Japan in Brasilia yesterday. Maybe the only thing holding up his transfer to the Gunners is that he is away on international duty, so cannot agree terms or take his medical. .......Read the full article here

A turning point for Arsenal? by Stefan

Next season could be a turning point at Arsenal if the club is once again battling for the final Champions League spot. This time they may not be so lucky and Tottenham may just pip them to the place with a few well thought out transfers this season. On the other hand, if Arsenal continue their pattern of low spending despite the club’s claims that they are here to spend this summer, it will be even worse for the fans as the club will have lied to them and continued the slide down the Premier League table and out of top European football. .......Read the full article here

Why Arsenal should sign Rooney by SS

Everybody reading this will probably know that Arsenal have been linked with just about every player in Europe in the last month including players like Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas, Robert Lewandowski, Gonzalo Higuain, Stevan Jovetic and many more. However, so far there hasn’t actually been any big signings at the club but that is normal considering the transfer window isn’t even open yet.

Arsenal for once, need to take the initiative in the transfer window and show their rivals that they aren’t messing around and that next season Arsenal are going to attack every title with all guns blazing. .......Read the full article here

Au Revoir to Le Coq by AH

Francis Coquelin is a popular figure amongst Arsenal fans, however I’m not entirely sure why. Some like him for his talent, as he will surely be a future star, whilst some like him for his character. What is certain though is that very few Arsenal fans want the talented Frenchman to leave the club this summer; however this seems to becoming a very likely scenario.

Francis Coquelin was once one of the club’s most exciting prospects and was seen to battle it out with Emmanuel Frimpong, but now it seems like both players will leave. He was expected to flourish even more so at Arsenal after the departure of Alex Song, however he never quite made it last season and now he seems set to make a decision on whether to leave the club permanently. .......Read the full article here

Although it seemed pretty clear that Arsene Wenger wanted to sign David Villa for Arsenal back in the January transfer window, there is not a lot of speculation linking the Spanish international striker with a move to the Emirates this summer. Instead, it was widely believed that our North London rivals Tottenham were in pole position to sign the 31-year old from Barcelona.

The president of the Spanish champions Barcelona has thrown doubt onto that belief, however, by claiming to have received no offers and suggesting that Villa could very well continue at the Nou Camp next season, where he has one year left on his contract. .......Read the full article here

Let’s Play Moneyball by NS

Moneyball (2011), as some of you might know, is a Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt based upon the true story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to assemble a baseball team on a lean budget by employing computer-generated analysis to acquire new players (Courtesy IMDB). I consider Arsenal to be in the same situation.

I know stats aren’t everything but I’ve tried my best, using limited resources, to analyse some of our defensive performances in the league based upon the stats from whoscored.com. I have also analysed the defensive performances of two players Marouane Fellaini and Etienne Capoue in their respective leagues. I couldn’t find reliable stats on Victor Wanyama which I’m sure would have greatly helped (No one cares about the Scottish League to make stats, sadly :/). But well.. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal or Spurs in for Belhanda by SS

Arsenal target Younes Belhanda may be closer to a move to North London after Montpellier club president Louis Nicollin admitted that the Ligue 1 club have received offers from both English and German clubs for the Moroccan international.

Exactly which club in North London is unclear though as both Tottenham and Arsenal are interested in him, but Tottenham were though to be the closest to making a move. Arsene Wenger is a long time admirer of Belhanda though, and may have made a sneaky bid that the press has failed to pick up on. .......Read the full article here