Just Arsenal News

It seems as if Arsenal will not be signing Wilfried Zaha in this transfer window, leaving the path clear for Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. Newspaper reports claim that United and Crystal Palace have agreed terms, but the 20-year old winger is likely to remain at Selhurst Park for the rest of the season.

Wenger has stated that Arsenal did not lose out to United in the chase for Zaha, however, as he denied that the Gunners were ever trying to buy him. Some reports have claimed that Arsenal did make an offer to Palace for the player, but were unwilling to meet the terms offered by United, thought to be around £12 million plus add-ons. .......Read the full article here

The Argentinean defensive midfielder has been linked with a move to Arsenal, both in this transfer window and in January, along with some other clubs. The 26-year old has played for Anderlecht since 2006 and he decided to stay at the club to help them try to progress in the champions league, but the campaign went badly and the Belgian club failed to even get into the Europa league.

It seems as if Biglia has now decided to move on, because he has not turned up for training following time off for the winter break. The Belgian club are already looking for a replacement for the talented midfielder, as they seem to have accepted that they will lose Biglia soon. .......Read the full article here

Almost everyone agrees that Arsenal need some more backbone at the heart of the midfield. The sale of Alex Song to Barcelona and the recurring injury problems of Abou Diaby means that there is often too much flair and not enough bite in the Gunners central area and it has cost us a few times this season.

Arsenal have been linked with a large number of possible signings since the summer, but there has been no positive action from Wenger as yet. That may be about to change, according to the Independent. Lucas Biglia, the 26-year old Argentinean from Anderlecht, is back at the top of the list, and Arsenal could be about to make an offer for him. .......Read the full article here

During the summer, Arsenal were being linked with every defensive midfielder going, from Yann M’Vila to Lucas Biglia. One of the men who was top of most Gooners wish lists was the 24-year old French international Etienne Capoue. Now it is being reported that the Gunners are lining up a £12 million swoop for Capoue when the transfer window opens in January.

The dynamic, defensive midfielder has been with the French club Toulouse since beginning his professional career and has racked up 134 appearances in all competitions.  He does also pick up a massive amount of yellow cards and is contracted with his club until 2014. I wonder why Wenger did not go for him in the summer if he was so keen. Arsenal had enough time after the sale of Alex Song to Barcelona to organise a deal. .......Read the full article here

Rogue Agent involved in a fake Arsenal bid for Biglia by AM

It has been revealed by Belgium newspaper La Derniere Heure that Anderlecht received a fake bid for Lucas Biglia in the summer.

The Argentine midfielder made himself available in the summer transfer market after publicly expressing his desire to leave Anderlecht. He was once quoted saying –

‘I can leave for €8million (£6.3million) in the current market. I agreed to this transfer fee myself,’ he said back then.

‘There are clubs ready to pay that amount but they are not better than Anderlecht so for now I focus on this club. I want to at least be playing in Europe.’ .......Read the full article here

Latest Arsenal Transfer Rumours – Arshavin, Tiote & Biglia by AM

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he would look to bring in at least a defender and a midfielder before the transfer window closes. The rumour mills have busy since then, linking the Gunners with a host of defenders and midfielders.

According to some English media, Arsenal have joined the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the race for the signature of Chieck Tiote from Newcastle United. Some days back, Alan Pardew  said that –

“We are on our guard in case some really big bid comes in and we need to react because if someone goes out, another player will come in. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal set to bid for Biglia by Taki

After the whole Song saga yesterday, everybody has been speculating who Wenger can bring in to replace him. The likes of M’villa and Sahin are top of the list with AW admitting that there ‘may’ be another signing before the transfer market closes. May be? There has to be if we are looking to seriously contend for the title this season! .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has seen Robin Van Persie and Alex Song leave Arsenal this summer, but surely the arrivals of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla should have been enough to appease the fans after their loss, although the consensus on here is that these three new boys won’t be enough to maintain our place as challengers for the League title.

Having already said that the recovery of Abou Diaby and the (expected) October return of Jack Wilshere will be “like two new signings” he has now added Thomas Rosicky to that list, and then agreed that he MIGHT bring in another player. .......Read the full article here

Who should Arsenal sign after Cazorla? by KJ

Slowly but surely, Santi Cazorla is becoming an Arsenal player. Today, Sky Sports confirmed that the deal for Cazorla had been agreed and he was due a medical within the week. The quoted transfer fee was £18 million, but has now been revised to £12m by Malaga based journalists. If true, this is one of the biggest bargains this summer. Cazorla has been on fire last season in La Liga and in today’s market, would be valued at £25 million. However, these are very unique circumstance, which have gifted Arsenal with the opportunity of getting a top class midfielder on the cheap. Now, if we do sign Cazorla, we’ll have signed 3 class players for a fee of around £36 million. However, I still feel like there is still a lot of room for improvement. Just as an interesting aside, did you know that you can get 22/1 for Olivier Giroud to be the 2012-13 premier league top scorer? .......Read the full article here

Player Comparison: Biglia v Paulinho

In this post, we will take a look at two prospective targets that have been linked to Arsenal to bolster the midfield department, since Frimpong and Song both have to go to the African Cup of Nations for a good chunk of the season ahead. Now, be realistic, only one will be signed, Arsenal only need one good defensive midfielder to come in because players like M’Vila, Paulinho, Martinez or Biglia are not players that will sign a contract that will put them on a bench, these are players that will demand spotlight playing-time. Let alone the fact that we have good back-up in the form of Coquelin as well. .......Read the full article here

Don’t panic! Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo has published a list of the 50 players that could be on the wish list of Barcelona’s new manager Tito Vilanova. It comes after Vilanova told the Spanish press that he was looking for a player that could fill the position of “pivot” which is a versatile defensive midfielder, kind of like the player that Arsenal need.

Barcelona are focused on obtaining Javi Martinez from Athletic Bilbao but Mundo Deportivo, which has strong links to Barcelona, give us some food for thought and an insight into how they rate some of the Arsenal team. .......Read the full article here

Lucas Biglia Is Free To Complete His Transfer – By JG

Breaking news on the Lucas Biglia situation! Anderlecht are now preparing to sell Lucas Biglia (to the club of his choosing) because they have have found his replacement, and are about to sign that replacement.

The Belgian club’s General Manager Herman Van Holsbeeck has held talks with Manchester City midfielder Muhammad Abu as a direct replacement for Biglia.

Now, seeing as Biglia previously stated to the public that Arsenal and Real Madrid are the two teams of interest that have approached him, and that Real Madrid would just plonk him on the bench, then I would like to reiterate…Lucas Biglia will “probably” be announced as an Arsenal Player in the coming weeks. .......Read the full article here