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Posts Tagged ‘ transfer rumour ’

Bend it like Bendtner

Our super star striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic wannabe is finally heading to a graceful Arsenal exit.

I’ve been so surprised over the last one year of his continued insistence of trying to leave Arsenal. His main justification was that Wenger was sidelining him from the Arsenal first time when he feels he is ‘ready’. You’re ready Nicklas, nobody doubts that. That’s why you were Wenger’s first choice striker in the Champions League a couple of seasons back. When Van Persie had been sidelined through injury and Bendtner was available, he was playing. Sadly enough, Bendtner couldn’t live up to his own standards last season and Marouane Chamakh took his spot. Still he continuously got chances, and except for a few quality finishes, he continuously failed.

So I hope he doesn’t blame Wenger, because he did get plenty of opportunities. In fact, a lot more than even the fans wanted.

It’s his ego that is always questionable. On many instances he said that he has the potential to be the world’s greatest striker, and compared himself to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who knows why Ibrahimovic is his benchmark in the first place?). It’s not joke to be of the class of Zlatan. No doubt there was a lot of hype around him. Steve Bruce picked up his potential pretty quickly in his loan spell to Birmingham City. Still, you can’t just go to the press and make over-confident statements like that. Prove your quality on the field first, and others will judge potential and ability. I’m sure he expected ‘top clubs’ all over the world to come knocking after finding out his transfer availability, but that didn’t happen. Hopefully that has brought him back to earth.

Either way I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes. He’s still young, so maybe he will be a top world-class striker one day. If only he was a bit more patient, he could have been an Arsenal favourite.

2011: 07/22
POSTED BY: Sharjil
CATEGORY: Arsenal
Player Related
Transfer Related
TAGS: Arsenal
Arsene Wenger
Bendtner
Birmingham City
Marouane Chamakh
Nicklas Bendtner
Robin Van Persie
Steve Bruce
transfer rumour
Van Persie
Wenger
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
4 comments

Get Rid of Arshavin

We know Juventus as the club who have been constantly trying to unsettle Robin Van Persie by showing an interest in him for the past couple of years. Ofcourse, they failed miserably. Robin Van Persie has Gunners blood now, so he’s not fazed by that sort of stuff too much. Juve have finally turned their attention to another Arsenal favourite Andrei Arshavin.

I’m not actually sure whether Arshavin has become an ‘Arsenal favourite’. I personally like him a lot, but quite a few fans still don’t think he should start as regularly as Wenger makes him. Recently, he’s been missing easy chances which should’ve been scored and could’ve changed the scenario of the match.

Arshavin’s role in the team will certainly change over the next few months. Assuming our midfield and attacking options are injury free (fingers crossed), he will definitely have to find a place in the Arsenal bench more often. With Nasri and Walcott playing so well, I don’t see Wenger placing Arshavin as the ‘genuine’ starter anymore. Is the Russian captain happy with a more subdued bench role for Arsenal? I’m not too sure.

Andrei Arshavin joined us in January 2009 and has made the starting lineup on a regular basis. Therefore, he has definitely contributed to any of the successes and failures we have had as a team over these last two years.

What if a bid were to come for Arshavin? How much is he even valued at the club? Should he be sold if the bid is much higher than we expected? I’m not saying Arshavin should be sold now. The more quality players like him we have in the squad, the more likely we are going to win any silverware this season.

He is 29 now and should definitely be at his peak right now. However, he doesn’t seem to be at his best and we probably won’t see any drastic improvements in his game in the near future. So let’s be realistic, as Arshavin is not irreplaceable. If a situation like that was to arise, Wenger should spare some thought.

2011: 01/13
POSTED BY: Sharjil
CATEGORY: Player Related
Transfer Related
TAGS: Andrei Arshavin
Arsenal
emiratesviewpoint
Juventus
Robin Van Persie
transfer rumour
7 comments

Scouting: Jan Vertonghen to Arsenal

Reports are in that Arsenal are interested in signing Belgian international and Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen. With Arsene Wenger saying that he may reinforce the defence if Vermaelen is not fit in time, this could make the option of signing Vertonghen more attractive. So who is he?

Vertonghen is a strong and tall 23 year old central defender. He stands at 6 ft 3 which gives him relative aerial ability at the heart of the defence. After an impressive youth burst in Germinal Beerschot, he was picked up by Ajax and has established himself as a regular. He’s already made a handful of appearances for his national team Belgium, partnering with our own Thomas Vermaelen. Thus, one would expect it that it wouldn’t take him too long to blend in to the Arsenal side.

He predominantly plays as a central defender, but can also play as left back and as a defensive mid. His versatility makes him a great player who can be used off the bench as well.

Vertonghen has been regarded as an exciting talent in Europe for quite some time now, so naturally other clubs have taken an interest in his progress as well. Clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United are the most notable ones.

A January move seems unlikely, as Vertonghen seems intent on trying to win the Dutch Eredivisie this season with Ajax. Definitely expect strong rumours of Arsene Wenger signing him in the summer transfer window!

2011: 01/11
POSTED BY: Sharjil
CATEGORY: Transfer Related
TAGS: Ajax
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger
emiratesviewpoint
Jan Vertonghen
Thomas Vermaelen
transfer rumour
4 comments

New signing is imminent, only two centrebacks left

Arsenal have been going through a quick run of fixtures for the last couple of weeks. It’s been horrific to say the least. On the 27th of December, we had the win against Chelsea. Two days later we faced Wigan and drew. On the 29th, a couple of days later, we played Birmingham City. We got absolutely no rest as we faced Mancity three days later.

It is no surprise then that we are already having a few injuries. Rotation or no rotation, when you are playing back to back games with only two days between then, there is no way you can avoid injuries. In fact, I am bit surprised that we have so few injuries so far. I was absolutely confident that the likes of Van Persie, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott would have gotten injured by now. Jokes aside, we do have one important injury update to give.

Wenger has just now informed that Seb Squillaci had picked up a hamstring injury in the match against Leeds United in the FA cup. With no positive signs coming from the Vermaelen injury, this new injury is a massive blow for Arsenal. We now have only two centrebacks available and the situation suddenly looks like an emergency.

This was Wenger’s update:

“If he [Squillaci] has a problem then we must quickly go for a player,”

“Squillaci came off with a little hamstring problem and if we only have two centre backs then that cannot work with the number of games we have.”

Hamstring injuries are one of the trickiest sort of injuries. It could take only a couple of days to recover from or it could mean a month on the sidelines. Just when you think the player has recovered and you play him, he aggravates the injury and is out for several months. In my opinion, there is no way we can cope with only two centrebacks, given the fixtures. If you look at the fixtures, we still have to continue back to back games for weeks to come.


15	Sat	Barclays Premier League	A	West Ham United
18/19		The FA Cup	A	Leeds
22	Sat	Barclays Premier League	H	Wigan Athletic
25	Tue	Carling Cup	H	Ipswich Town
29/30		The FA Cup	H	Huddersfield Town
(If Arsenal beat Leeds United in Round 3)

February
01	Tue	Barclays Premier League	H	Everton
05	Sat	Barclays Premier League	A	Newcastle United
12	Sat	Barclays Premier League	H	Wolverhampton W.
16	Wed	UEFA Champions League	H	FC Barcelona
19	Sat	The FA Cup	N	Fifth Round
22	Tue	Barclays Premier League	H	Stoke City
26	Sat	Barclays Premier League	A	Tottenham Hotspur
(This game will be moved if Arsenal reach the Carling Cup Final)
27	Sun	Carling Cup	N	Final

As you can see, until the end of the month we have to play consecutive games. And the MAXIMUM number of days we have in between the matches is four(except for the match after Newcastle on the 5th)!!! Expect an extended number of injuries to be on their way. The only positive side is that our Premier League fixtures are relatively kind. But that’s it, other than that we are screwed.

One player who we have been linked with this season is Werder Bremen centreback Per Mertesacker. Ever since the January transfer window has opened up, Mertesacker has been on the top of the ‘probable transfers’ list. The latest update comes from sport.co.uk.

The agent of Mertesacker gave Sport.co.uk an update this morning regarding any January move for his client:

“So far we have had no contact from Arsenal. We will wait and see but for the moment they have not contacted myself or the club.” Guido Nickolay told Sport.co.uk.

Arsenal manager Wenger has been perennially linked with the big German stopper, however the centre-half ruled out a move last summer pledging his short-term future to the German side.

Reports this morning also suggested that Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United could were also monitoring the player.

Sport.co.uk confirmed last month having spoken with a source close to the player that Mertesacker was ready to quit the Bundesliga for another top league, with the Gunners still interested in the giant defender’s services.

“I think he would like to move.” The source told Sport.co.uk.

“Or let me say it like this – he would be interested in seeing other countries.”

I, for one , would love to see Mertesacker play for us at the Emirates. The guy is a monster. He is 6ft 6 inch!! Plus he has all the necessary experience we need. He is a regular for the German national team and is of perfect age(26). Due to his height, he can not only defend well aerially but is a huge threat from set pieces, a quality clearly lacking in our current crop of players. Let’s just hope Wenger signs someone quick and that the player is someone like Per Mertesacker and pray that the Sol Campbell rumours are not true!!