Just Arsenal News

An unfortunate Goodbye for Djourou by AH

Johan Djourou is set to leave the club. To be honest, I think this is a shame for the club. Djourou was loyal to Arsenal having come through all the ranks and he was determined to do well for the club and take us to the next level. Djourou played an important role in the side back in the 2010-2011 season, and he was out best centre back at times. In my opinion Djourou is one of the best 4th choice centre backs in the league and it’s a shame we are looking at letting him go, however its fair play that he wants regular playing time and with Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen at Arsenal, its unlikely he will ever make another strong breakthrough into the team as a regular and so it seems we will have to let him go. .......Read the full article here

The usual round of negotiations between Arsenal players and the Board every year is beginning as the club as they try to persuade the existing squad members to extend their contracts at the Emirates, and it seems that the talks with Bacary Sagna have already stalled.

We all know that Arsenal refuse to break their wage structure for anyone (which is also instrumental in persuading top players to be sold) but a 29 year-old senior member of the squad usually expects a raise in recognition of their long service, which is unlikely to be forthcoming for the French international. .......Read the full article here

Walcott’s Contract Talks Continue by AH

Theo Walcott’s current contract runs out at the end of the season, which would allow him to leave on a Bosman transfer. Both the club and Walcott himself are keen on reaching an agreement as quickly as possible, so he can continue to concentrate on his football, and know where his future lies.

One thing is for sure is that he does seem keen to stay and he is happy at Arsenal. His comments on the club, Alex Oxlade – Chamberlain and next seasons chances, suggest that he wants to stay at The Emirates. .......Read the full article here

Wenger and van Persie will talk this week by BA

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has broken the club’s silence on the storm of speculation surrounding the super striker Robin van Persie. He has denied reports of a bid from Juventus and given Arsenal fans the indication that the 28-year old Dutchman will not be leaving the Emirates stadium this summer.

“As far as I am aware, nobody has made any offer for him and he is away so we are not in any dialogue at all.” Hill-Wood was moved to say following reports that Juventus had opened the bidding with an £8 million offer. Hill-Wood might have thought that was a joke because it is such a small amount for the striker who was voted as the best player in the league, scoring 37 goals during the season. .......Read the full article here

Marouane Chamakh had very little chance to play for the Arsenal first team last season, and when he did figure he still seemed to be suffering his crisis of confidence which started the year before. Just one goal from 7 starts (plus 12 subs appearances) simply emphasised his profligacy in front of goal and it seemed certain that he would be sent back to Ligue 1 next season to recover his former skills.

Now the top Arsenal scout in France, Gilles Grimandi, who was instrumental in taking Chamakh to the Emirates, thinks that Chamakh needs to decide whether he is willing to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place now that Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud have now arrived to provide further competition. .......Read the full article here

There is a report out today that doesn’t surprise me in the slightest! Arsene Wenger is world famous for being stingy in the transfer market and offering well below the going price for any of his targets, but conversely he likes to drag the very last penny out of any club buying a current Arsenal player.

Yesterday it was revealed that Arsenal have commenced negotiations with Zenit ST. Petersburg over the permanent transfer of Andrei Arshavin, who has spent the last four months on loan at his old club, helping them to win the Russian League title. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal will hold contract talks with Arteta by BA

Mikel Arteta still has three years left on his contract with Arsenal, so the club are not worried about having to sell him. Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis is going to hold talks with the player, however.

Arteta enjoyed a good first season at Highbury, despite being asked to play in a more defensive position than he occupied at Everton. Maybe the club will reward him with an improvement to his current salary of £60,000 a week, the BBC reports. .......Read the full article here

It has been mentioned in quite a few publications today that Arsenal are talking to Athletico Bilbao about the possibility of bring the Spanish international striker Fernando Llorente to the Emirates this summer.

It was reported in Bilbao that Arsene Wenger had been seen in the Basque city and had met up with Llorente himself in a local hotel yesterday, and there was likely to be a press conference today regarding a move, but that is doubtful as the prolific hitman is currently training with the Spain squad ahead of the Euro2012 tournament, according to ElCorreo. .......Read the full article here

There have been ominous reports coming out of the crucial meeting between Arsene Wenger and Robin Van Persie yesterday, and it seems that the Dutchman is refusing to extend his contract unless Arsenal show that they will really challenge for the top trophies next season.

Arsenal have already secured Lukas Podolski, but the usually well-informed football expert in the Mirror, John Cross, reports that this is far from enough to persuade the Arsenal captain that he will improve the team enough to have a chance of winning the Champions League, which is the Dutchmans ultimate aim, although after seven seasons of drought any trophy will do right now. .......Read the full article here

It is being reported this morning that Arsenal are closing in on their second-top transfer target Yann M’Vila after securing Lukas Podolski last week. Preliminary talks are being held this weekend between Arsenal representatives and M’Vila and his agents to find out the demands of the club and player.

The Mirror’s respected football expert John Cross reports that the Italian giants Inter Milan are also set to hold negotiations with M’Vila, but the young Frenchman is said to be keen to move to the Premier League, and to play in the Champions League if possible, so Arsenal easily hold the advantage over Inter. .......Read the full article here

Now that Arsenal have already secured the German international Lukas Podolski, every pundit around was absolutely certain that Wenger’s next target would be Jan Vertonghen, who could be available for as little as £7million as he approaches the last year of his contract at Ajax.

Vertonghen played alongside Thomas Vermaelen at the Dutch giants, and also in the Belgium national team, and after visiting the Emirates as a guest of Vermaelen he has made it clear that his first choice of new club is Arsenal.

But today the Mail has revealed that Tottenham are the first club to be given permission to speak to the versatile defender, and Harry Redknapp wants to secure his services as quickly as possible. .......Read the full article here

Denilson Coming Back To London By JG

I’m not entirely sure how I missed this piece of information, but on the 25th of this month, Arsenal and Sao Paulo could not come to an agreement concerning the Arsenal loanee Denilson. This is what Denilson had to say to the press in regards to the situation:

“I will remain at Sao Paulo until June 30 and then I will return to Arsenal, I helped Sao Paulo this year with some good assists, established myself in the team and had some good games for them. .......Read the full article here