Just Arsenal News

Arsenal are in the process of making a decision on whether to allow Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell to stay on loan at Spanish side Real Betis for another season. The striker said himself that he is happy to stay in Spain for another season to prove himself to Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal and Betis fans.

If a deal cannot be done with Real Betis for some reason, Arsenal will look for another European club to send him to for the season. Campbell cannot play in England yet as he was unable to obtain a work permit and must be sent to other places in Europe. It is unfortunate that Arsenal have to send young, talented players out on loan in foreign countries because they have a difficult time adapting to the Premier League when they get their chance to shine for their parent club. .......Read the full article here

Ever since Arsene Wenger took over as the manager of Arsenal Football Club back in 1996, the Frenchman has made the academy and youth development parts of the club very important. Ideally, Wenger would like to follow the Barcelona example of being able to field a whole team of players who have come through the Arsenal ranks.

This would be great for financial reasons, but also because it would mean the players would have huge ties to the club. They would, hopefully, be more reluctant to leave and would be more determined to help bring success. That is all well and good in principle, but it hasn’t really been working too well. .......Read the full article here

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain moved to Arsenal from Southampton, Arsenal fans were overjoyed with the fact that we had beat all the top clubs for a young player who looked like a future world beater. This season I have been disappointed with him and have come to the conclusion that his growth has stunted this season. Hopefully he will continue to fulfil his potential next season but he should be disappointed with himself after this past campaign. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal are to open football training schools across India this summer to develop young footballers in India and give thousands of children across the country somewhere to learn and play safely away from the dangerous streets.

This move will be beneficial for Arsenal and India as the club can train young players and potentially sign them if they begin to show a real talent in the game. Indian children will now have a sport to play and have something to occupy their time.

There will be Arsenal trained coaches at these schools to help kids learn and play football the Arsenal way. Arsenal have several schools like this in Africa where they have brought some players over to England to train with the club and have a chance of going professional. .......Read the full article here

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the first to admit that this season at Arsenal has been a disappointing one for him. This is mainly because he has not really pushed on after a great debut campaign when he signed from Southampton for around £15 million just before turning 18.

Now 19-years old and having scored just two goals for Arsenal this season, his best game recently came for England against San Marino. Alex is aware that he has not done enough this season, but he is determined that he will correct that next season.

“It has been difficult,” said the youngster. .......Read the full article here

Ryo Miyaichi has been an Arsenal player for over two years now, but he is still waiting to make his Premier League debut for the club. The 20-year old is well on the road to recovery after picking up an ankle injury during his recent loan spell at Wigan Athletic. The Japanese international is hoping to be fit enough to take part in the pre-season training and tours with Arsenal and finally force himself into first team contention.

“Being there helped me to grow up,” said Miyaichi. “As a person, I’m growing up every day. When I was at Wigan the training was very good and the people are very kind so I got some good experience there. I feel I’m improving but I need to keep working hard.” .......Read the full article here

Arsenal’s answer to Hodgson by AH

In light of what Roy Hodgsen said about the lack of English footballers playing in the Premier League, Arsene Wenger spoke about the English talent he had in the Arsenal ranks. Wenger told Arsenal.com about the English divisions that implicate upcoming talent as well as the understanding that all the players want to play in the best league, suggesting that if all the highest quality of players are of different nationalities to English then its inevitable that there will be a decline in English players at the best clubs. However Wenger did make a very important point about English talent and the future. .......Read the full article here

When Arsene Wenger agreed to let Johan Djourou leave Arsenal in January to play for the Bundesliga club Hannover, he may have been hoping that one of the young players coming through the ranks at Arsenal would step up and push for the first team. One of the most promising of the academy defenders is now likely to be playing against Djourou next season, as Martin Angha has signed a pre-contract agreement to play for Nurnberg from next season.

The 19-year old can play anywhere along the back four, although he usually plays in the centre. The Switzerland under-19 international has been with the Gunners since 2010, choosing Arsenal over Chelsea, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Angha has progressed a lot since joining and is grateful for what the club has done for him. .......Read the full article here

Bergkamp’s return to Arsenal set in stone! by PM

There is no doubt that Dennis Bergkamp is seen by Arsenal supporters as one of our greatest ever heroes along with other legends like Thierry Henry and Tony Adams, and it is great news that the Dutchman is going to be rewarded with a statue of his own at the Emirates this summer.

Bergkamp is currently working at Ajax developing the team’s philosophy with first-team coach Frank de Boer and has been rewarded with their third League title in a row this season, and this set-up is very similar to the Academy at Arsenal that is currently being overseen by Liam Brady. The Irishman is set to retire in the next couple of years and it is being reported that Bergkamp is seen as the perfect replacement to seamlessly slip into his role at the club. .......Read the full article here

The importance of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain by KJ

The young Englishman was purchased by Arsenal from Southampton in the summer of 2011 for a fee believed to be in the region of £12million (plus add ons), and burst onto the scene against the likes Manchester City, Manchester United and AC Milan. This season has definitely been a difficult one for Chamberlain who has struggled to get game time but I believe he has an integral role to play during the latter stages of this season. .......Read the full article here

Which Arsenal youngsters can breakthrough to our first team? by KJ

After watching our U19s go agonisingly close to the Next Generation finals, it’s got me thinking, who would go onto to be first teamers? This has always been a problem for any team in the world. Your youngsters look brilliant for the reserves but then for a multitude of reasons, they rarely make it to the first team squad, let alone to being in the starting XI. I remember looking at the squad of players that won the FA cup in 2009 thinking that we had a very bright future with that lot and now we only have Wilshere and Coquelin left from that lot that are close to the first team. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal NextGen run could not quite go all the way to the final, following defeat to Chelsea in the semi-final. The pitch at Lake Como was absolutely terrible, but the teams managed to put on a very good game with some real quality. After it finished 3-3 at full time, the game went to extra time, and Chelsea managed to grab a late winner with just five minutes remaining before a penalty shoot out.

Arsenal were very good in the first half, with a good shape and plenty of threat. We deservedly took the lead after 16 minutes when Gnabry fed Bellerin on the right and he produced a great cross which Akpom finished. Akpom nearly put Gnabry through for a second just minutes later, but Chelsea were also looking dangerous as the half wore on. .......Read the full article here