Just Arsenal News

Somebody is having a right bubble. That is surely the only explanation for the story that Arsenal are prepared, or even eager, to sell our captain to anybody who is willing to cough up £5 million. There about a hundred reasons why this story is ludicrous, but I will just deal with a few of them.

Firstly, if Arsene Wenger had decided that Thomas Vermaelen was no longer a part of his plans for Arsenal in the future, he knows that he could sell him for much more than £5 million. Wenger is a shrewd operator in the transfer market and would get good value for Vermaelen, who is a Belgian international, with bags of talent and experience who is just approaching his prime. Barcelona, among others, have shown interest. We are talking about half of the amount quoted for Ashley Williams and it simply will not happen. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal Must Not Let Our Captain Leave by FD

The media is full of Arsenal transfer speculation at the moment, and the talk of which players might be coming to the Emirates in the summer is exciting for Arsenal fans. For the first time in several seasons we can anticipate the arrival of a footballing star or two, rather than bemoan the likely departure of a favourite player. .......Read the full article here

The biggest Arsenal transfer rumour going around today is the report in the Sun that Arsene Wenger is willing to unload our latest captain Thomas Vermaelen for a cut-price £5million Pounds. The Belgian international will not be happy that the Gunners went on a ten-game unbeaten run as soon as he was demoted to the bench, and the only time he got a game was when Laurent Koscielny was suspended.

Arsenal originally paid £10m for the Belgian international, but are reportedly willing to take half that this summer, which they will use to bring in the talented Swansea centre-back Ashley Williams, who has been linked with Arsenal for the last few weeks. .......Read the full article here

A Case for the Arsenal defence by Dan S

When Per Mertesacker twice inexplicably played Spurs onside to score against Arsenal at the beginning of March, few thought he would end up one of our heroes in the race for 4th. Nor Laurent Koscielny, who was on the bench at White Hart Lane having spent much of the season as our third choice centre back.

That result in the North London Derby left many writing off our Champions League hopes, coming so soon after domestic cup defeats and a first leg drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, few thought we had the spirit or character to put the run together we would now need to close the seven point gap between ourselves and Tottenham. .......Read the full article here

Koscielny comes of age by DG

After yesterday’s Newcastle v Arsenal match report here, Neil wrote:
“Player of 2013 so far is Koscienly. Once Wenger went for him instead of Vermaelen…he proved that he is considerably better than any centre back around.”
Neil – I couldn’t agree more.

One of the most pleasing things about this season has been the signs of solidarity we’ve started showing at the back. Conceding 37 league goals this season may sound like a lot, but it’s a big improvement on the last several seasons. In our last eleven league games we’ve won 9 and drawn 2, conceding only 5 goals along the way. So where did it all start going right? To me, we started finally defending as a unit on the 13th March…when Wenger dropped Vermaelen for the crucial away game against Bayern Munich. We won 2-0…in the stadium that Barcelona lost 4-0 in a month later. .......Read the full article here

It was looking increasingly likely earlier this year that Arsenal were going to continue the unwanted recent tradition of selling the club captain in the summer. In 2011 it was Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, followed last summer by Robin van Persie to Manchester United. The rumours and speculation about the current captain, Thomas Vermaelen, have died down recently and, from his own words, it appears that he will still be at the club next season. .......Read the full article here

Should Thomas Vermaelen be the Arsenal captain? by SS

My personal opinion is no. Vermaelen is obviously one of Arsenal’s biggest name defenders and he has been in the team for a fair few years now but I personally have never liked him. I have nothing personal against him, I have just never appreciated his defensive skill.

To me, it seems like Vermaelen has been injured for three quarters of his entire Arsenal career and when he does come back, he plays terribly. I can only honestly recall one season where I remember him playing consistently well without injury .......Read the full article here

It was not too long ago that a lot of Arsenal fans thought that the inclusion of Aaron Ramsey in the Gunners starting line up was a bizarre form of torture inflicted on us by Arsene Wenger for some reason. It was also a clear sign, for some, that Arsenal were not going to win the game and was further proof of the French manager’s decline into senility.

Well the calls for Wenger to leave the club have largely disappeared and Ramsey has kept working hard and getting back to his best. That consistency and improvement have led to the young Welshman being voted as the Player of the Month by Arsenal fans on the official website. .......Read the full article here

It is no secret that Arsenal are looking to bring in at least one central defender this summer. It could even be two, depending on what happens with the Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian international will be less than impressed at having lost his regular starting place to Laurent Koscielny and may decide he wants to move on, with Barcelona one of the teams apparently interested.

If that is his attitude, rather than working hard to regain his form, which is what cost him his place in the first place, then I am sure Wenger will allow him to leave. I hope and believe, however, that the Verminator will be back, which will still leave the Gunners with a space to fill in the centre of defence. One player continually linked with a summer transfer to the Emirates is the Swansea City and Wales player Ashley Williams. .......Read the full article here

Bayern rumoured to want Koscielny by SS

New Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola has reportedly made a move for Arsenal centre back Laurent Koscielny. It is reported that the Germans have enquired into how much Arsenal want for the player. Guardiola has capped the transfer sum at £20 Million, which seems like a good offer from my personal point of view but manager Arsene Wenger has fended Bayern off and is refusing to negotiate, according to Goal.com.

Laurent Koscielny moved to Arsenal from French club Lorient in 2010 for nearly £10 Million, since his arrival he has had a mixed career in North London. He has made high profile mistakes and scored plenty of goals past his own Goalkeeper but he has also pulled off some amazing performances most notably against Barcelona in last season’s Champions League. .......Read the full article here

Why Arsenal should sign Micah Richards by LM

With the stories circulating about Bacary Sagna’s future, heightened by his poor performance in the draw against United at the weekend, Arsenal may be on the look out for a replacement right back this summer. If the rumours were to be true and we were on the market I do not believe there would be anyone more suitable than Micah Richards to be the man to fill the gap, especially as he is a Gooner himself.

Back in 2007, Richards was quoted to have said “I was a big Ian Wright fan when I was younger so I supported Arsenal. Wright and Patrick Vieira were my idols, so yeah, if the opportunity came to play for them one day I’d take it.”. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny can count himself lucky that he got his starting place back from Lukascz Fabianski. It was only the rib injury to his Polish international team mate that let Szczesny back in. He could have been in the same situation as the Gunners captain Thomas Vermaelen, who has played just once since the derby defeat by Tottenham and that was because Per Mertesacker was suspended.

The two players were dropped at the same time and Szczesny has been very impressed with the way Laurent Koscielny and Mertesacker have performed as a defensive pairing since then, conceding just three goals in eight games. The keeper has been much better since returning, although the centre backs in front of him have made his job a lot easier. .......Read the full article here