Just Arsenal News

Arsenal are preparing for the first crucial match of the Premiership season, and the lack of fitness and injuries are leaving Arsene Wenger with a threadbare squad to choose from. We already know that Nicklas Bendtner will not be returning to the side for at least a couple of months, and Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie have only just returned from their extended breaks.

“They are a lot behind,” said Wenger. “I hope Van Persie will have a good week of preparation, but I think he will be short as well.” .......Read the full article here

Arsenal fans are certainly used to having injury problems, so before a game it is normal to think “who is available” before discussing line-ups, but to have Arsene Wenger to expect three top players not to be available for the first game of the season must be a first!

The good news is that, although Johan Djourou limped out of last nights game in Austria, Wenger doesn’t think it is serious and the SWISS defender should be okay for the Emirates Cup matches. Thomas Rosicky also missed the game but again Wenger thinks it is just a minor problem. .......Read the full article here

So it seems that the bookies were right by suspending the betting on Joe Cole to Liverpool, and he has agreed a £90,000 a week deal with Roy Hodgson to join on a four year contract, and ignoring offers from Arsenal as well as from his old mate Harry Redknapp at Tottenham. He is lined up for a medical first but that shouldn’t be a problem.

It has come as a surprise to most people, including me, as it has been reported that Cole wanted to be playing Champions League football next season, and also he will now have to uproot his new young family from London into the darkest North of Scouseland. .......Read the full article here

After the comments from Joe Cole’s agent last week, it looked certain that the Chelsea midfielder would be joining either Arsenal or Tottenham, but suddenly Liverpool are now favourites to sign him.

It looks like Roy Hodgson has been talking to the England man, because there has suddenly been a massive plunge in the betting market on Liverpool to win the race for Cole’s signature.

This morning Cole was 8/11 to join Tottenham, 6/4 to join Arsenal and Liverpool were third favourites at 8/1, but suddenly Sky have taken a massive amount of bets on Cole to join Liverpool, and he is now only 4/5 to be at Anfield next season! .......Read the full article here

The Turkish genius Arda Turan said earlier this year that he was keen on working with Arsene Wenger, and recently he has been linked with a move to the Premiership, which is his preferred destination, with both Arsenal and Liverpool.

Today his agent, Ahmet Bulut, has said that both clubs have made discreet enquiries, but it would take a “serious offer” for Galatasary to let Turan go, as he still has two years remaining on his contract. .......Read the full article here

The Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has confessed in L’Equipe that he turned down both Liverpool and Spurs (and even bigger offers from Russia) to sign for Arsenal, and can’t wait to join Arsene Wenger’s team.

Chamakh said: “I am delighted to join the English football atmosphere, it is something amazing,”

“I love Arsenal’s game. I know I will have to adapt but I know the short passing game with Yoann Gourcuff.

“In February, I made my decision. A departure clause (in a potential new Bordeaux contract) was not logical after refusing Arsenal last summer. .......Read the full article here

There seems to be an air of desperation in the Sundays papers today when it comes to any Arsenal transfer news, especially after Arsene Wenger’s outburst the other evening when he was quizzed by journalists about his transfer plans.

He said: “We are at the moment not on the transfer market,”.

“What is important is that we focus on the challenge we have in front of us and finish well in our final three games.

“I read some transfer rumours in the newspapers and they are all wrong. All of them. So you do not even need to ask me one name – they are all wrong.” .......Read the full article here

The Daily Mirror has announced this morning that the Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has confirmed that he is moving to Arsenal in the summer, and he will be facing “the biggest challenge of his career”.

The Morrocan striker refused to go into details as he says he prefers to concentrate on trying to win the Champions League trophy with Bordeaux. Of course with both clubs still letf in it, there is a possibility he could find himself playing against his future team-mates in the next round. .......Read the full article here

To the relief of the Arsenal and Liverpool managers, the Premier League today rejected the proposal to have a play-off between the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th in the Premier League for the final Champions League place every season.

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who believes that his team will finish fourth by the end of the season, was quite definite that he would have no part of it, and wondered when the clubs would even have time to play them. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal youth manager Liam Brady has been trying for months to persuade the QPR starlet Raheem Sterling to move to the Arsenal academy, and it was thought that the youngster was keen to remain in London to be close to his friends and family.

But it has now been revealed that Liverpool have won the race for the 15 year-old wonderkid, and, according to Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow, Sterling will join the Reds Academy at Kirby.

“The success of our academy is vital to the future progress of the club and we have made clear that we will invest in outstanding young talent,” he said. .......Read the full article here

The Premier League has launched a proposal that the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th teams in the Premiership will have to face post-season play-offs with a place in the Champions League at stake.

Although you can expect teams like Arsenal and Liverpool to reject the idea if it is put to the vote, the idea is likely to have massive support from the teams that are currently locked in mid-table.

The idea is to give other teams a chance to share in the spoils from top-class European football, instead of the usual Top Four domination of Champions League qualification. .......Read the full article here

After last nights revelations from the Mirror that the Bordeaux strker Marouane Chamakh had agreed a £50,000 a week contract with Arsenal, another article, this time from The Sun, confirms that a deal has been reached and Chamakh has signed on the dotted line.

The article says: MAROUANE CHAMAKH will be an Arsenal player this summer after saying yes to a four-year, £10.4million deal.

The free agent Bordeaux ace has snubbed a BIGGER offer from Liverpool and put pen to paper on a Gunners pre-contract agreement.

There figures agree completely with the Mirror’s figure of £50,000 a week, but they even go further, and report that Rafael Benitez offered the Morrocan striker an extra £10,000 a week, but Chamakh turned them down in favour of Arsenal anyway! .......Read the full article here