Just Arsenal News

If, as some reports suggest, Thomas Vermaelen leaves Arsenal during the transfer window this summer, the Belgian defender will be the third captain of the Gunners to leave the club in as many seasons. The first in that trio was the Spanish international Cesc Fabregas, who returned to his boyhood club after Barcelona had tried to get him back for a while.

According to the Star, sources at the Catalan club have indicated that Fabregas could be sold this summer,as Barca are planning to rebuild the squad fairly extensively. Despite the fact that Fabregas has struggled to force his way into the first team on a regular basis, he is still regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world and would fetch good money. Fabregas could also be worried about his place in the Spanish national team if he is not playing week in week out. .......Read the full article here

It is widely reported that the Arsenal board are going to hand Arsene Wenger a significant amount of money to spend in the transfer market this summer. The amount usually suggested is around £70 million, but there has been talk that this amount will be reduced if the Gunners do not finish in the top four because of the loss of revenue from the Champions League.

Wenger said last week that he was concerned about the spending power of Chelsea, while a number of other clubs, such as Man City, Barcelona, PSG and Real Madrid are likely to be trying to land some big name players as well. There is real concern among Arsenal fans that we will struggle to attract players of the right calibre to push us forward and allow us to properly compete for the Premier League title and other honours. .......Read the full article here

There has been an eruption of Arsenal rumours lately suggesting that Cesc Fabregas’ emotional return to Barcelona has gone wrong and he is now regularly left on the bench. This could have something to do with his old “father” Pep Guardiola leaving the club last summer, and it seems that the new coach Tito Villanova wants to offload the ex-Arsenal captain to fund some new arrivals during the coming transfer window. .......Read the full article here

Fabregas Return? What a dream! by Asah

Twitter today exploded with the news that according to various Spanish media websites that Barcelona are looking to sell Cesc Fabregas this summer. I must clarify that in no way did the report from AS say a return to Arsenal, was on the cards but I think if there is some truth in this story then Arsene Wenger will definitely be interested in re-signing Arsenal’s former captain. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal still trying for Barca keeper? by AH

The Express has today reported today that Arsenal have opened talks with Barcelona and the appropriate agent over the possibility of Victor Valdes moving to North London with the Gunners this summer.

Arsenal are notably looking for a new keeper with Fabianski likely to leave at the end of the season, as well as Mannone, and so Arsenal have identified a few goalkeeping targets and 31-year-old Valdes is reportedly one of them. Valdes is now entering the final year of his contract and he has already declared an intention to leave the Spanish giants this summer, so it’s possible that Barcelona will sell him instead of losing him for free next year. .......Read the full article here

The former Arsenal midfielder and captain had to sit on the bench again last night as his Barcelona team were brutally demolished by Bayern Munich. Fabregas has always said that he was sad to leave Arsenal and that he could return one day. He has more than the love of the Gunners to tempt him back to London, though, as his super hot girlfriend Daniella Semaan lives in the capital.

The 38-year old Lebanese stunner recently gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Lia, and she is currently going through a court case with her ex-husband. He is trying to get her custody settlement reduced because of the amount of money that Fabregas earns as a professional footballer. It appears that she may have been economical with the truth when giving evidence about her potential support from the player. .......Read the full article here

As two former Arsenal players sat on the bench and watched, Barcelona were torn to shreds by Bayern Munich last night. Despite struggling to create anything and Alexis Sanchez wasting the one good chance he had, David Villa also sat on the bench until there were less than 10 minutes to play. The Spanish international striker is surely sick of seeing Pedro and Alexis start in front of him and could be open to a transfer to Arsenal in the summer. .......Read the full article here

According to both the English and Spanish media a few weeks ago, Arsenal had almost sealed the deal with Victor Valdes for his transfer from Barcelona in the summer. It appears now, though, for some reason that the Catalan club are ready to keep their keeper for another year until his contract expires next summer.

31-year old Valdes told officials at Barca and released a statement that he would not be signing an extension to his current deal. The reasons given were his desire to experience football in a different country and culture, and it seemed that the English Premier League would be his destination. With the Arsenal connection at Barcelona, Fabregas and Song being the latest Gunners to have gone there, and Arsenal’s need for an experienced keeper, the move seemed ideal for all parties. .......Read the full article here

The have been many rumours lately saying that Alex Song is not happy at Barcelona and has been looking for a return to Arsenal after just one season with the Spanish giants.

But Arsene Wenger has made it clear that he is not looking to bring Song back to the Emirates, and has told him to stay at the Camp Nou for another year at least.

Wenger said: “There is no buy-back clause in his contract,”

“I heard that he wants to give it a go for another season, which you can understand because it’s the first season. .......Read the full article here

There have been rumbling all season about how unhappy Alex Song has been since his departure from Arsenal last summer. He was a certain starter for the Gunners last season, but now he is finding it hard to get near the first team now he is at Barcelona and has only played 15 games for the Spanish giants.

The rumours that he is missing Arsenal seem to have been confirmed this week when his cousin, Rigobert Song, told reporters: “Barcelona put so much effort into signing him last summer, and Alex turned down many great teams in order to sign with them.

“But this season he has only been a substitute. He is not happy.’ .......Read the full article here

The Polish international and Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny has certainly not had a good year and it may be on the verge of getting a whole lot worse. The Gunners have been linked with a number of keepers, including Pepe Reina and Victor Valdes. It was thought that an older experienced keeper would be brought in to challenge Szczesny and provide cover while being a role model for the 22-year old.

If the story in today’s Independent is right, though, it could spell the end of the line at Arsenal for Szczesny. Apparently, the Gunners have decided that Simon Mignolet from Sunderland is the man they want and are preparing a summer swoop for the 25-year old. This would effectively demote Szczesny to the bench, or even worse, andoffer him little chance of playing unless Mignolet was injured. .......Read the full article here

If Arsenal are looking for a goalkeeper with lots of experience at the top level, they would have to look a lot further than the stopper of Spain and Real Madrid, Iker Casillas. The 31-year old made his full international debut aged 19 and has gone on to become the most capped player ever for the Spanish national side, with 143.

Casillas has set all sorts of records with Real Madrid, playing 654 times for the club, winning five Primera Liga titles and two European cups along the way. He is a revered hero among fans of Madrid and he is the club captain, so the report in the Daily Star linking him with a summer transfer to Arsenal seems ridiculous on the face of it. .......Read the full article here