Just Arsenal News

There was a rumour that spread like wildfire during January that Arsenal had made an offer of £30 million for a player. A large proportion of the speculation was that the player in question was the 25-year old Uruguayan international Edinson Cavani. The Napoli star has told the media that he knows absolutely nothing about it, however, and so I wonder who the player in question was, or if there even was such an offer made.

Cavani is on fire this season in Serie A, scoring 27 goals already from 26 games. Napoli have stated that they would not accept any offers below his release clause of £54 million, but Arsenal could have been testing the waters if they had bid, but Cavani suggests that it never happened and indicated that Spain would be his most likely next port of call. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger made it clear a couple of weeks ago that Arsenal were in the market for two players in the transfer window. They finally sealed the deal for Nacho Monreal in the dying minutes, but it seems that Wenger failed to persuade the “second signing”‘s club to let him leave.

Wenger said today: “We were close to one more signature,”

“It didn’t happen because of the desires of the clubs not to sell.

It could have been David Villa but it was confirmed some time ago that Barcelona were not going to let him go, so perhaps it was Etienne Capoue? Or Mohamed Diame? He would certainly have been my favourite out of the many names on offer. .......Read the full article here

There were a lot of names being linked with a transfer to Arsenal last month, too many to list here, and quite a high proportion of them were defensive midfielders. The Spanish international left back Nacho Monreal was the only new addition for the Gunners, though, which surprised many people who thought that a strong midfield warrior was top of the list for Arsene Wenger.

Right up until the transfer window closed on Thursday night, there were rumours that Mohamed Diame would be a last minute transfer from West Ham to Arsenal, but Wenger must have decided he was not the right player. The boss did not want to bring anyone in, and it seems now that he had his eyes on someone else, the France and Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue. .......Read the full article here

First of all, there are no official moves in the transfer market to report, no reports of bids made at all. There are, as usual, a few rumours doing the rounds. Yesterday there was a flurry of activity on some of the Arsenal websites after a story broke that Arsenal were in Barcelona for talks about the signing of their striker David Villa.

Goal.com reported that Dicky Law, the contract negotiator for the Gunners was in the Spanish city to hammer out details with the 31-year old and his club. Made up? Possibly. The unconfirmed rumour was quickly denied. Arsene Wenger has gone further today by suggesting that Barcelona will stand firm in their decision not to sell. .......Read the full article here

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

Arsenal are in danger of watching as all of the potential signings get snapped up by other Premier league clubs. I don’t understand what we are waiting for. Maybe Arsene Wenger does not want to get his pants pulled down over transfer fees, but Arsenal need some players and we don’t want to be left to pick over the players that other teams have left.

There have been reports linking the Gunners with a number of defensive midfield players to give the team a stronger backbone, and link the play between defence and attack better. With Diaby always one game away from a long lay off, too much pressure has been put on to the shoulders of Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard has done well in a role which is not his best, but we need an enforcer. .......Read the full article here

Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla don’t work together by KJ

Ever since Jack Wilshere came back from his injury, I was extremely excited to watch our technically most gifted midfield we’ve ever had under Wenger. I was expecting a midfield that would never lose the ball and would absolutely dominate possession. I was expecting goals galore with such a technically gifted midfield and yet after all this, we’ve been on a downwards spiral ever since the return of Wilshere. .......Read the full article here

Should Arsenal sign Yann M’Vila by KJ

As we approach the January transfer window, the transfer rumours are naturally hotting up. One man’s name that doesn’t seem to go away is that of Yann M’Vila. We’ve been linked with him for the last two seasons now and it’s started again in the build-up to the January window.

Yann M’Vila was one of the most promising youngsters in Europe. Players like him are rare in the current market; a defensive midfielder with grit and power as well as being able to pick out a forward pass. He had it all to make it big. He was even in the Ligue 1 team of the year during the 2010-2011 season at the tender age of 20 for his performances. .......Read the full article here

Do Arsenal need some physicality in their midfield? by KJ

Yesterday, I talked about why I feel that teams have found out how to shut down Arsenal. As a result, Wenger will need to address this problem and I’m wondering whether the absence of a physical midfielder could be our problem.
I identified Arteta’s brilliance as our downfall previously, and he seemed to be aided pretty well with Diaby by his side – a physical midfielder. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal were thought to be on the verge of signing a big, strong, tough tackling defensive midfielder in the summer, with Yann M’Vila and Etienne Capoue two of the favourites. The window opened and closed and Arsenal, despite having money to spend did not sign an enforcer.

Arsene Wenger had said that he would only buy a player who would improve the squad, so does that mean he thought there were no defensive midfielders good enough? Or did he think that Arsenal do not need such a player?

Wenger has spoken about the changing nature of the game of football in England and in Europe and he seems to be suggesting that the make up, playing style and physical attributes of midfielders is evolving. .......Read the full article here

Wenger has the money Part 2

Yesterday, I touched upon what strikers we could use with the recent news revealing that Wenger has £40 million to play with in January.
Looking at our midfield, it seems a bit lacking in quality at times. Without Diaby our midfield doesn’t seem physical enough for games like Stoke, West Ham, Man City etc. We were lucky against West Ham as there were numerous occasions where Diame broke free from midfield marauding into dangerous attacking positions. .......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