Just Arsenal News

The one area in which Arsenal do seem to have plenty of players of good quality is the attacking midfield position. Tomas Rosicky made a good return yesterday and there is Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Andery Arshavin. Arteta, Diaby and Oxlade-Chamberlain can also do the job, so it is strange that Arsenal are reported to be interested in 20-year old Florian Thauvin from Ligue 1 Bastia, because he is an attack minded midfielder.

Newcastle have had an offer rejected by the club, who are willing to sell the French under-21s international, but want around £5 million apparently. Thauvin has declined an extension to his current deal which expires in 18 months. Pierre-Marie Geronimi, the chairman of Bastia, has spoken to the media and told them that Arsenal have been in contact about him. .......Read the full article here

Latest Team News – Arsenal VS Swansea Match Preview by AH

Arsenal will face Swansea City at the Emirates tomorrow for a FA Cup reply game after neither team managed to progress to the next round after 90 minutes at the Liberty Stadium 2 weeks ago.

Arsenal will once again find the Welsh opponents tough and this will be our 3rd meeting of the season, with Swansea beating us 2-0 in December before the 2-2 draw in this FA Cup competition 2 weeks back. I’d expect for both teams to put out strong starting lineups for this game, however Arsenal more so because realistically this is our last chance of winning a trophy this season. Wenger said we can still contend for the title this year but I think we all know we can write our chances off now, whilst the Champions League is never easy, so in reality this is our final chance of gaining a trophy this season. .......Read the full article here

Arshavin Set To Have One More Chance? by AH

Wenger has today confirmed that Andrey Arshavin will be returning to the squad to face Swansea City in tomorrow’s FA Cup reply at the Emirates.

Arshavin has featured hardly at all for Arsenal this season, not even managing to make his way onto the substitutes bench for match days and many fans assumed his time at the club had ended as there was no news that he was injured or anything. However, it seems he is still very much part of the club, despite his lack of action so far this season, and he is now set to start (I presume) in tomorrows game. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal have already released a couple of players on loan deals during this transfer window, with Marouane Chamakh off to West Ham for the rest of the season and Johan Djourou joining Hannover in the German Dundesliga. There have been expectations that Squaillachi and Arshavin might also be on their way out of the Emirates, but Arsene Wenger has said that Arsenal are not looking to offload any more players at the minute.

“At the moment, no.

“We have a good squad, a balanced one. At the moment, nobody can go out unless we buy somebody. At the moment our focus is to keep everybody. In every position we have two players. Three is two many and one is not enough.” .......Read the full article here

Wenger and Indecision by Jon G

Mr Wenger has found some absolute gems in the transfer market in the past, but they were mostly all when he had David Dein at his elbow. You have to wonder if this is more than just a coincidence.

Mr Dein left the ship acrimoniously, never to return and Mr Gazidis has slipped into his place.

However, David Dein did make sure that Mr. Wengers prevarication over decisions on the transfer front were kept to a minimum, and is it a coincidence that since Mr. Dein has left the club we seem to miss out on certain transfers? .......Read the full article here

Arsenal are definitely in the market for a new striker this January, and Arsene Wenger is known to like a bargain, but the Chilean international, Eduardo Vargas, will hardly set Arsenal fan’s pulses racing if he is the man who comes to the Emirates to boost our goal threat. THe 23-year old has not had the impact expected since he signed for Napoli a year ago. The Serie A side have offered to loan him to the Gunners in an attempt to get his form and career back on track, but do we really want that sort of player? .......Read the full article here

Arshavin set to be another player to leave the Emirates by AH

If Arsenal are to buy anyone in this transfer window, it will be most dependent on who leaves the club and at the moment it seems we have a number of players who could be heading for the exit door this January and Andrei Arshavin is set to be one of them. .......Read the full article here

If Arsenal are serious about clearing some players off the wage bill and making room for some new additions to the squad, then the manager and board may have to accept some deals that they do not like. Arsene Wenger has got a well deserved reputation for doing well in transfer dealings, but he will find it hard to get anything close to the true value of the players he wants to sell. .......Read the full article here

The most talked about Arsenal transfer rumour this morning is the fact that the Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin is set to join Reading as soon as the window opens. It has even been reported in the local Reading Chronicle yesterday who are known to have contacts at the Majedski Stadium.

The deal with the Gunners is expected to be finalised quickly in early January, although the Chronicle says that Reading are only willing to pay £4 million whereas Arsenal are wanting £5 million.

Reading are fully expected to be putting in the first bid next week, but it seems that Fulham and Zenit St Petersburg are also interested in Arshavin, although the little maestro isn’t very keen on leaving his settled family life in London. .......Read the full article here

Theo Walcott had a diificult day as central striker for Arsenal today, and Olivier Giroud was not on the bench for some reason. Gervinho, therefore, was the only possible replacement on the bench for Walcott, or was he?

There was a certain German international striker already on the pitch, a man who has been asking for the chance to play down the middle. Lukas Podolski has scored plenty of goals for Colgne and Germany and has already shown Arsenal fans some brilliant finishing.

Playing on the left, however, in his first season in the English Premier league, he has drifted into the background on occassion. His tracking back is not the best, and detracts from the attacking impact he can have. .......Read the full article here

What will become of Theo Walcott? by AH

With the calendar year coming to a close, so does Theo Walcott’s contract as the Englishman is set to come out of Christmas with just 6 months remaining on his Arsenal contract.

The winger who wants to turn into a striker is still reportedly holding out for around £90,000 a week, putting him on par with fellow regular England internationals and top players at regular big clubs across Europe. The situation is unclear at the moment. Wenger, Walcott’s representatives and Walcott himself, all insist that talks are still on-going and it’s a known fact Walcott’s priority is to stay at Arsenal, however if a deal isn’t secured soon then his wish may soon be put in danger. .......Read the full article here

It seems that Arsenal are gearing up for the beginning of the transfer window on January 1st, and the first player to be shown the door is expected to be the Morrocan striker Marouane Chamakh, after the Telegraph revealed that “Sam Allardyce met with Chamakh’s agent Pierre Frelot on Friday night and expects the green light from Arsenal,”

Wenger has already clearly hinted he would allow the Morrocan to leave last month when he was discussing the arrival of Thierry Henry, when he said: “…..Especially if for example, Chamakh should go, because I cannot stand in his way now.” .......Read the full article here