Just Arsenal News

Arsene Wenger has told Sky News in an interview that the French international defender Sebastien Squillaci has finally completed his move from Sevilla, but says that he will not figure in this weekend’s game against Blackburn.

Wenger said: “We needed a centre-back of quality and experience if possible, and at the right price – he was all of that.

“He is a real defender and is good in the one against one, good in the air, and can score goals on set-pieces as well.

“I believe he will be suited to the English game. .......Read the full article here

It looks like Arsene Wenger is going to take the opportunity of a (hopefully!) easy game against Blackpool, to give his returning World Cup Finalists an extra rest while they try and catch up with the fitness of the rest of the Arsenal squad.

Both Fabregas and Van Persie only rejoined the squad two weeks ago, and then had to fly off again to play in the usual pre-season “meaningless international friendly” which always cheers up Premiership managers so much. .......Read the full article here

There are lots of interesting bits of Arsenal transfer news around today, but the most unlikely just has to be the report from Marca that Barcelona want either Mascherano or Denilson to replace Yaya Toure at the Camp Nou. Mascherano I can understand, but Denilson is nowhere near the finished product yet and would certainly spend his time at Barcelona on the bench (talking to Fabregas LOL!)…. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has found himself being linked with many midfielders already, even though the transfer window isn’t even open yet, and the players being linked are invariably described as “the new Vieira”, but Wenger has come out and said he is already happy with Denilson, Diaby and Song to play alongside captain Cesc Fabregas.

“First of all I must say that no matter how much money you spend to find a Patrick Vieira it is hard to do,” he said. “Since I am in England, I hear ‘this is the new Patrick Vieira’ when a guy is tall and strong. .......Read the full article here

Manchester City travel to the Emirates in an attempt to win their first away game at Arsenal for 35 years, and are expected to have four ex-Gunners in the squad. Vieira, Toure and Sylvinho will be welcomed back but Emmanuel Adebayor is likely to get a roasting from the Arsenal fans after his antics in the return match earlier this season.

Man City are also expecting Micah Richards to return to the strongest squad to visit Arsenal in generations. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal face Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates tomorrow to try and keep the pressure on Chelsea and Man Utd at the top of the league, but the Londoners will be missing nearly half of the team that played in the 4-1 win here last season.

The Gunners lost captain Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin and William Gallas during the fantastic match against Barcelona in midweek, and Gael Clichy and Denilson also picked up injuries which could keep them out of the team this weekend. .......Read the full article here

The Brazilian U20 international Denilson is a near certainty to start for Arsenal at Hull City this weekend, and he believes that this will be his big chance to impress the Arsenal fans. He has been roundly criticized for his performances this season, but he now thinks he is ready to prove his doubters wrong.

“Hull on Saturday will be a very difficult game. I think Cesc and Alex Song will not play so it’s very important for us to focus now.

“We have just nine games left to go in the Premier League so I have a great opportunity to show what I can do.” .......Read the full article here

Ahead of this weekends game against Burnley, Arsene Wenger has admitted there are mixed fortunes on the injury front.

It looks like a simple game on paper, given Burnley’s away form this season, but Wenger would prefer to have his best players available to keep Arsenal’s title push on track.

The good news is that Andrei Arshavin should have been rested enough by now, and is practically certain to be in the squad, and (maybe not such good news for some Arsenal fans), Denilson will also be back in contention. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger is extremely happy that his captain Cesc Fabregas is ready to return to the Arsenal team to face Bolton tomorrow, and the French manager has also said that Gael Clichy will be rejoining the team.

“Cesc is back in the squad for Sunday and Gael is back as well. He will be minimum on the bench.” said Wenger.

“It’s good to have him. With Gael we were uncertain for a while how long he would be out whereas Cesc we knew was short-term.”

But the ever-injured Theo Walcott is not ready to make yet another comeback, but Wener expects him back soon. (Yeah right!) .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger saw the Arsenal midfielder Denilson fall down clutching his side close to the end of the game against Everton on Saturday, and rather than worrying about whether he had suffered a broken rib, he was annoyed that the Brazilian didn’t grab the ball on his way down and give away a free kick!

Denilson has recently returned from a back injury just in time to replace Alex Song, who is away at the African Nations Cup, but his performance showed that he is not really close to match fitness. .......Read the full article here

After the FA Cup win over West Ham, the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger defended his need to give some first team players a rest, but he also admitted that there were even more injuries to take into consideration.

He was asked if he may have to carry on playing his reserves in the following rounds of the FA Cup, considering that Stoke are Arsenal’s next opponents.

He replied: “It depends how many players return from injury. Today Andrey Arshavin, Denilson, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott were out and then there are players at the back who are out. Arshavin should be available for Wednesday but today he had a foot problem. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal visit bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth tomorrow night with the usual extended injury list. Arsene Wenger is sweating on the results of the scan on Cesc Fabregas’ hamstring today to find out how bad his injury is, but it seems that Denilson has agitated his back again and will be missing for another few weeks.

Kieran Gibbs is not expected back for another couple of months after his ankle surgery, and Djourou is going to miss most of the season, along with Robin Van Persie. Emmanuel Eboue has already left to join the Ivory Coast squad. .......Read the full article here