Just Arsenal News

The Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger believes that this weekend’s Champions League Final could be a close affair, but believes that Bayern Munich are “on a different planet” at the moment, and much more likely to make the breakthrough.

“It is a very difficult prediction,” Wenger said. “You would say the maturity and the experience goes for Inter. And that could be very, very important in a Final. But the form of the moment goes for Bayern because they look like they are scoring goals for fun. They look on a different planet at the moment, so it will be very interesting. .......Read the full article here

There is an interesting mish-mash of Arsenal transfer news this morning, and considering that Wenger has already stated that he will be concentrating on strengthening the Arsenal defence this summer, he is being linked with a couple of out-and-out strikers!

Mario Balotelli is known as a bit of a hothead at Inter Milan, and he has fallen out with his manager Jose Mourinho quite a few times this year already. .......Read the full article here

There are still lots of titbits of Arsenal transfer news around, despite the team focusing on matters on the field at the moment. Andrei Arshavin spoke out again today, saying that Arsenal still need new signings to be successful, and the papers are not shy of putting forward suggestions.

The Lille midfielder Eden Hazard has been linked with Arsene Wenger since he was about ten years old (!), and every year Arsenal are rumoured to be making a bid for the young Belgian international. Now that Hazard has reached 19 years-of-age, he is now considered ready to join a “big” team, with Arsenal and Liverpool inevitably at the top of the list. .......Read the full article here

Despite Arsene Wenger gradually getting his young squad back to full fitness, and the predicted arrival of Marouane Chamakh in the summer, the papers are still full of Arsenal transfer news.

Two of the stories seem to be “association with Arsenal through default”, as previously-rumoured Wenger targets, Mario Balotelli and Felipe Melo, would appear to have fallen out with their respective clubs.

Balotelli was famously ignored by Jose Mourinho as he announced his squad to face Chelsea last night, and the Italian press reported that he drove away from the Inter training ground in a huff when he heard the news, prompting immediate predictions of an imminent departure. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has played his last game for Inter Milan, and is nearly certain to be rejoining his old boss Roberto Mancini at Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho saw Vieira play the whole 90 minutes against Chievo before the Portugese manager gave Vieira a special mention in his post-match comments.

Mourinho said: “I should give a special mention to Vieira,”

“I don’t know where he will go, maybe to England which he likes a lot, but we should thank him for what he has done in these years at Inter. .......Read the full article here

The Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has been giving his assessment of the dangers to his team winning their first Champions League trophy, and he rates Arsenal as the Group Winners with the least experience..

He considers Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan as the best of the Runners-Up, and would like to avoid them, and AC Milan, in the first knockout round.

“I admit that I would prefer to avoid a head-to-head with (Milan coach) Leonardo in February at Stamford Bridge,” Ancelotti said. “But if it happens, it’s no problem. .......Read the full article here

Now that the Champions League Group Stages are finally over we can all look forward to a feast of football in the New Year when the knockout stages come around.

So who are Arsenal’s best and worst possible scenarios for the next round in February?

There are no easy games at this stage of the competition, but out of the seven possible opponents, i would imagine that Arsene Wenger would be reasonably happy if Arsenal drew Stuttgart or CSKA Moscow, but the last named would mean a long cold trip. .......Read the full article here

In a shock announcement this morning in the Mail, it seems that Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has been given permission to speak to the Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, and reports from Italy claim the Vieira is set to agree to a deal.

They say that Inter Milan have given their blessing to the move, and Harry is going to offer Vieira a £35,000 a week pay-as-you-play deal, and a “source close to the player” says he will accept if he is guaranteed regular first team action.

“This is not about money, this is about a chance to play,” the “source” said. .......Read the full article here

The Spanish press is far worse than the English red-tops for generating Arsenal transfer rumours, but the famous Italian rag Tuttosport has decided to join in the fun.

They have reported today that Jose Mourinho of Inter Milan has targetted Cesc Fabregas as the man to lead Inter’s assault on the Champions League in the future, and he is willing to offer Arsene Wenger a player plus cash deal involving the youngster Mario Balotelli.

It has long been reported that Wenger is an admirer of Balotelli, and after Mourinho slammed the youngster after a game a few weeks ago, the speculation increased that Wenger would try to prise him away from Italy. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has lost his place in the France team due to not playing regularly for Inter Milan, and he is not at all happy about it.

He said last week when he heard that he hadn’t been selected by Raymond Domenech for the crucial play-offs against the Republic of Ireland: “There is no one on my level in France at the moment. I could come off as being arrogant, but I am sure of it.”

But Domenech has insisted that Vieira won’t be considered unless he is a regular for his club, and Arsene Wenger backs that statement by saying that Vieira needs to leave Inter. .......Read the full article here

Balotelli - todays rumour!

They reckon that Arsene Wenger has sent scouts to watch the young Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli, who has fallen out with Jose Mourinho and his team-mates this week after getting sent off in the Champions League game against Rubin Kazan.

Why on earth they can say that Wenger is interested in spending £20m on another striker after he has publicly refused to buy Marouane Chamakh, a player he likes a lot, because he would only be left on the bench. .......Read the full article here

Could Vieira be coming back?

The News of The World says that Wenger tried to get Vieira from Inter Milan right at the end of the transfer window, but they couldn’t get the £750,000 fee wired over in time to complete the deal.

They also say that Vieira even completed a medical at Arsenal, and that Wenger has offered him £70,000 a week to rejoin the club. .......Read the full article here