ESPN was claiming earlier this morning that Arsenal’s interest in Ganso is genuine. I’m beginning to wonder if this is indeed real interest by Wenger now & yet another possible signing that might signal a further switch in transfer policy for the club.
“Arsenal are interested, yes, but there are others,” a source told ESPN. “He has a €50 million buyout clause in his contract but Santos will take less, much less – not a fee that will be prohibitive to a deal in England.
Always take a large grain of salt any time it’s just a ‘source’ that makes comments like this, especially in the height of summer transfer season but I think we can officially say there’s some smoke to this Ganso to Arsenal rumor now. Ganso would certainly strengthen our midfield options & with Wilshere & Rosicky both set to miss the opening weeks of the season, Ganso could possibly walk straight into the first team unless Le Boss goes with two deeper-playing midfielders like a Song-Coquelin combination behind Arteta. Anyway, it’s still to be seen whether or not this is legitimate interest by Arsenal for Ganso or some agent released propaganda to drive up his client’s cost. Although Ganso has reiterated (for the second time, mind you) that he’d like to stay at Santos.
Elsewhere, Ajax’s manager, Frank De Boer has dimissed the chance to take Ryo Miyaichi on loan from us in what seems a slightly odd reversal from just the day before when their technical director, former Gunner Marc Overmars, sounded like the loan deal was all set to be made. Who knows what went on there but if I had to guess I reckon De Boer wanted a little more experienced players for a signing but age usually isn’t a consideration for Ajax, so it’s anyone’s guess to as why De Boer doesn’t want Ryo. He’s won back-to-back Eredivisie titles, so I won’t begrudge him his choice of who to sign & who not to sign.
Now for some Van Persie Circus news:
Sunday Mirror: Manchester United have emerged as favourites to sign Robin van Persie, but only if they are not forced into a transfer auction; Nicklas Bendtner will make a £7.5 million move to either AC Milan or Galatasaray in the coming week.
Man U are favorites “only if they are not forced into a transfer auction,” eh? Oh, well, isn’t that nice of Sir Rednose. “Yes, we’d like to buy him only if we get to set the price we want.” Hey, Knighted Rednose, this isn’t Priceline.com. £20+ million, or fuck off. If you spent €30 million for a Bulgarian who just comes off the bench, you can spend £20+ for the reigning EPL goalscoring leader, even with his injury record. Again, £20+ million or fuck off.
As for Bendtner, if we can get £7.5 million for him, jump on that ASAP, Wenger. Hell, even knock it down to £5 million so the buying club can help afford TGSTEL (HT: arseblog.bom).
Oh, by the way, new signing Olivier Giroud, is Adonis with abs of steel… or something. He is quite the handsome man. Good thing he didn’t hang around with my friend Ray in college. The rest of us would’ve never had any chicks between Olivier & Ray!
Finally, another piece of proof that everyone has just gone batshit crazy over transfer fees these days, Napoli’s president has just slapped a €100 million price tag on Edinson Cavani. If Cavani is €100 million, then I would guess Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo are €150 million… oh & that Van Persie is certainly worth £20 million, Sir Rednose. So cough up or cock off! (HT: again arseblog.com)
So, there’s some Sunday Nuggetz for you. On to lunch & some Carnival Cake flavor Community Coffee…. Heavenly!
Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Manuel Almunia (released- Watford?), George Brislen-Hall (released), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Gavin Hoyte (released- Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (released), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telsar Velsen), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Arsenal reserves?)
Likely signings: Mbaye Niang (Caen)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Galatasaray, AC Milan), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE]), Ryo Miyaichi (Ajax Amsterdam, Bolton Wanderers), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia), Robin van Persie (AC Milan/Juventus/Manchester City/Manchester United)
Possible signings: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Lewis Holtby (Schalke), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Kévin Mirallas (Olympiakos), Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Salomon Rondon (Málaga), Matías Suárez (RSC Anderlecht), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo)
Possible departures: Benik Afobe (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Chelsea, Juventus, PSG)
The Tasty Nuggetz 