Arsenal Gumbo For 8/29

Obviously the transfer news for Arsenal right now is dominated by whether or not Theo Walcott is to re-sign with us by tomorrow or be sold by friday.  I stated my position in yesterday’s post & it’s a bit laughable people are now pointing to Theo as some key cog in our side.  WTFever.  That is definitely the pot-stirring, nothing but winding-up media creation of the likes of TalkShite radio in the UK.  You can point to last year’s statistics all you want, Fat Axl (Adrian Durham from TalkShite), problem with that is they’re last year’s statistics.  And so effing what if Theo’s an “England regular.”  England are rubbish.  If Theo is sold he can easily be replaced by a cheaper option that will likely be more effective.  And if it’s The Ox that takes his place, all the more reason to ship Theo out & perhaps it would then mean a stay for the likes of someone like Park.  Or maybe the manager has some daft idea of playing Santi Cazorla on the wing when Jack Wilshere & Tomáš Rosičký return.  Or getting in a more defensive midfielder, pushing Arteta forward in the midfield & putting Cazorla on the wing.

So, as you can see, it ain’t the end of the world if Theo leaves.  Unless you’re Adrian Durham from TalkShite who just loves to hate him some Arsenal (warning: the argument put forth in the link is so incoherent & non sequitur, it defies belief even for a pure wind-up merchant like Talkshite Adrian).  He’s currently pushing Theo Walcott leaving Arsenal would be disastrous for the club & he’s no doubt especially butthurt in recent days since his elven, bromantic partner, Luka Modric, up & left Sp*rs for Real Madrid.  Sad Adrian must be sad.  So, lash out at Arsenal.  Boo hoo, Fat Axl.

” ‘Ello, I’m Adrian Durham from TalkShite Radio.
If you look in a dictionary, my picture is next to the entry, ‘fucktard’ “

In U19 news the NextGen series started today for Arsenal & they opened up the competition with a bang as they defeated French side, Olympique Marseille, 3-0.  Highly touted Chuba Akpom scored twice & Nico Yennaris bagged the other goal for the young Gunners.  I had originally posted in a previous post that the NextGen series was to be played by our U21s, the new incarnation of the reserve side, but I was mistaken.  As I stated above, in this post, the NextGen series is actually a U19 competition.  Either way, good on the young Gunner squad & way to acquit the club well in the opening match.  The next match in the competition for Arsenal is the U19 side of Basque club, Athletic Bilbao, of Spain on September 6th.  Le Boss has stated that he’ll watch every single game of the competition for the club, so it’ll be a good opportunity for the youngsters to show Le Boss what they’ve got!

The official site is running some profiles of the younger members of Arsenal’s squad.  So to get the lowdown on some lesser known Gunners check ’em out:

Martin Angha
Charles Reice Cook
Nico Yennaris

Speaking of young Gunners, a U19 striker, Irishman Philip Roberts, is leaving to go on loan to Scottish Premier League side, Inverness Caledonian Thistle until January.

Beşiktaş is apparently interested in Marouane Chamakh again & every club in Italy is interested (supposedly) in The Greatest Striker Who Ever Lived, the one & only Niklas Bendtner.  I hope so.  Get on with it (leaving), Bendtner & Chamakh!

Tomorrow is the Champions’ League draw.  We’ll all be waiting with bated breath to find out who the Gunners will draw in their group.  Hopefully Sp*rs will get a touch group for them to battle in the CL too… BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

And ohhhhhh by the way, Green Day is scheduled to play a concert at The Emirates Stadium next summer.  So, there’s that.

Tomorrow & Friday should be hectic with comings & goings at the club.  ‘Til then, have a good one.

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures (includes U21s & U19s): Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (Watford), Kyle Bartley (Swansea City), Daniel Boateng (Oxford United- loan), Pedro Botelho (Atlético Paranaense), George Brislen-Hall (Norwich City), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), James Campbell (Dundee United), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Tom Cruise (Torquay United), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Samuel Galindo (Lugo-loan), Ben Glasgow (Stoke City), Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham & Redbridge), Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest), Sean McDermott (Sandnes Ulf), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Philip Roberts (Inverness Caledonian Thistle-loan), Alex Song (Barcelona), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Carlisle United?), Wellington Silva (Ponferradina- loan)

Likely signings: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United), Jésus Navas (Sevilla),
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Galatasaray, AC Milan, Inter-Milan, Juventus, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Málaga, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Denílson (AC Milan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Manchester City)

Possible signings: Ibrahim Afellay (Barcelona), Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Nicolai Boilesen (Ajax Amsterdam),  Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Isco (Málaga), Cheikh M’Bengue (Toulouse), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Paulinho (Corinthians), Angel Rangel (Swansea City), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Cheick Tioté (Newcastle United), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Montpellier)
Possible departures: Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham)

Transfers Update

In the aftermath of the “ermahgerd why we no sign Nuri Şahin?!” crisis (from here on out, every time the word “crisis” is mentioned- you drink one), here’s the update transfer ins/outs/possibilities list:

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures (includes U21s & U19s): Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (Watford), Kyle Bartley (Swansea City), Pedro Botelho (Atlético Paranaense), George Brislen-Hall (Norwich City), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), James Campbell (Dundee United), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Tom Cruise (Torquay United), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Samuel Galindo (Lugo-loan), Ben Glasgow (Stoke City), Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (Sandnes Ulf), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Alex Song (Barcelona), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Carlisle United?), Wellington Silva (Ponferradina- loan)

Likely signings: Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Galatasaray, AC Milan, Inter-Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers, Celta Vigo), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus)

Possible signings: Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Cheikh M’Bengue (Toulouse), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic) 
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Denílson (AC Milan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)

As for Şahin not being signed by us:

09.57 BST: On the matter of Sahin, who was linked with Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has said the following: “If we wanted to sign Sahin, we would have done it. Sahin is a quality player but he is not a purely defensive midfielder. We have Jack Wilshere coming back and he is a similar type of player. If someone top-top class turns up, completely defensive, then we will consider it.”

Oh, I’m sure that’ll be talked about by the fans, media & pundits.  What say you, Liverpool, you only got him because we didn’t want him. Yeah, take that Liverpool!  Although it’s hard to see you at the moment as you currently occupy the foot of the table. You’ll Never Be At The Bottom Alone!  CRISIS! (looks away awkwardly)

I guess that article saying Wenger looking for an “orthodox” defensive midfielder was true after all.  Yes, because Wenger has never equivocated before.  Ever. 😉

But what’s this? Ermahgerd! Why Ki-Seung Yeung signed with Swansea over us?!  The club must definitely be in the crisis! (Facepalm)  Cue the “massive blow” to the Arsenal that this non-signing is, amirite?!  AMIRITE?!

Şahin Signs For Liverpool; Commence To Freaking Out If It Is Your Wont

“Oy, Curtísimo, where’s d’Stoke preview mate?”

Um, yeah.  This moron didn’t realize until this morning that Arsenal at Orc City wasn’t until Sunday.  So, yeah, Arsenal-Orcs preview tomorrow rather than today.  In lieu of that let’s move on to the daily Arsenal crisis:

Podolski: “Ermahgerd, y u no sign with Arsenal?!”
Şahin: “Because I’ll never walk alone in the Europa League.”

So, Nuri Şahin has indeed signed for Liverpoop, which, of course, led to a bit of consternation in that portion of the Arsenal fanbase that is prone to freaking out over just about everything these days.  I’m out one Arrogant Bastard as I had a wager with a friend the Şahin-to-Arsenal deal wouldn’t fall through & this leads to the now obligatory “massive blow” for Arsenal.  (Facepalm).  Football/soccer is such a ridiculous thing sometimes because all these transfers, supposed transfers, not transfers seem to somehow mean more to fooball clubs than, oh, I don’t know, actual results & where you finish in the league, if the journos are to be believed.

First of all, Şahin going to Liverpool, & the possible signing of Clint Dempsey by the Scousers as well, destroys that whole myth that somehow if you don’t make the Champions’ League, players won’t want to play for you.  Gee, amazing what money will do for a deal.  “I want to play in d’Champeens Leegue, mate! Oh… I can still make £115k a week & play in the Europa?  Ok, I like money, thanks, I see you on Thursdays, herpaderpaderp.”

Secondly, I like how losing out on a player is more of a massive blow than say, getting blown out 3-0 on opening day to a side you should be beating since you’re such a massive club that never tires of telling people how good you used to be.  The Roman Empire was once great too, Liverpool.  I guess Şahin was just lured by the promises of Europa League & Carling Cup chances.  Funny how mighty Liverpool are left these days to crow over the Tin Pot Cup, a trophy up until four or five years ago, no one gave a damn about.  You’ll Never Lift The Carling Cup Alone!

To transfer news & Arsène Wenger now is using the cryptic “might buy but if we don’t we have enough, so we probably won’t, unless we do buy,” thing:

“We will only take players who have something special,” said the Arsenal manager, who takes his side to Stoke on Sunday.

“We are still in the market in some positions, but overall we believe we have a very strong squad.

“We have a good mixture because we have experienced players in midfield like [Mikel] Arteta and [Santi] Cazorla, like [Tomas] Rosicky, and some young very promising players like [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain, [Aaron] Ramsey, [Francis] Coquelin, [Jack] Wilshere and one or two in between age wise like [Abou] Diaby, who is coming back. We believe we have a good mixture.”

And the day prior:

“We are working, we’ll see what we can do.”

With those kind of comments, historically, it means Wenger’s business is probably done so I’m not going to hold my breath over anymore signings despite the stuff a few days ago about possibly bringing in two more games.  The only thing worse than witnessing the same thing over and over again, is complaining about it.  As I said the other day to a friend, “I don’t cry over players we don’t have, I get behind the ones we do.”  Well, except for Manuel Almunia.  That guy was pants.

To players potentially leaving, albeit on loan, Celta Vigo has emerged as a possible destination for Park Chu/Ju-Young.  Hopefully, the South Korean can get his career back on track if the deal goes through & we can sell him on, albeit at a no doubt discounted fee.  I had high hopes for Park personally but his transfer is certainly one of the more curious I’ve seen, even for Wenger.

Denílson to Milan?  Blah.  Actually, a little bit of LOL on that one.  He’s on loan in Brazil with Santos but I think he would have to be officially recalled back to the club before he could officially be sold to Milan but I’m not 100% how that works to be honest.  Either way, if it happens, it’s good because it’ll be another guy off the books that may free up funds for salary (having money for transfers isn’t the same as being able to pay guys exorbitant salaries on top of it, guys).

Also, Conor Henderson, recently returned from injury & Ignasi Miquel are likely set for loan deals to get some first team experience, likely in the Championship or even League One level.  Miquel has been linked with Brighton already this season & Henderson could definitely use some playing time as he looks to recover from his knee injury & will likely not see much, if any, action in midfield, even without any more signings there (ermahgerd, Wenger, sign sum feckin’ players!, derpderp!).

And, um, Wenger wants to extend Theo Walcott’s contract.  Ok, we’ll see how that goes.  Problem is players have to want to extend their deals too.  Although to be honest, if Walcott ends up leaving I won’t miss him all that much.  We can easily find another winger-cum-forward that can dribble over the endline once or twice a game & pitch in the odd goal.  But I’m sure it will be yet another “Massive blow” to the club if he were to leave (shakes head in bemusement).

Ok, I have a Championship Promotion Final to get to (I bet somebody in nerddom is sooooo jealous right now. If Aaron Feckin’ Doran was Aaron Zombie Doran, you’d be allllll about it!), so I’ll leave with you some bittersweet news & that is that one of the Invincibles, Freddie Ljungberg has retired from the game today aged 35.  Freddie had most recently been with Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan but Gooners will obviously remember Freddie for his performances in 2001/02, where he took over some of the goal-scoring load following Robert Pirès’ knee injury, & 2003/04, the latter obviously as part of the Invincibles.

Freddie was known for his flamboyant style both on & off the pitch & formed an almost instinctual partnership with Dennis Bergkamp & formed arguably the most dangerous wing duo to ever grace the EPL with Robert Pirès.  Freddie’s darting, angular runs from the wing were things of beauty & he also had an eye for goal & the dramatic, once announcing his arrival by doing nothing other than lobbing Peter Schmeichel for the winner in a 3-0 victory on his debut against Manchester United in 1998.  His goals against Manchester United in his career included this impish toe-poked lob in 2001.

Freddie was & is a true Arsenal legend & those of us who saw him play will remember him fondly as a player who was “fuckin’ excellent.”*  Thanks for the memories, #8:

Ljungberg highlights from the Invincible Season, 2003-04

Ljungberg highlights from the second double-winning campaign of 2001/02

Ummmmmmmm, yeah…

* – when Freddie Ljungberg was asked by a reporter following the 2002 FA Cup win what it was like to have won the cup, Freddie without missing a beat answered, “It’s fuckin’ excellent.”  That was Freddie Ljungberg encapsulated in an off the cuff remark.

Nuri Şahin Now Supposedly Going To Liverpool

So in about a week’s time, Nuri Şahin, has been all but confirmed an Arsenal player to now having lost out on the player as he supposedly is in advanced talks with Liverpool.  Whatever.  The Standard article says Arsène Wenger has “cooled on him.”  I declare shenanigans, rubbish & bollocks.  Other outlets are reporting that the deal is being scuppered by Real Madrid over the sticking point of Wenger wanting a loan-to-buy option rather than a loan only deal that Real is apparently offering.  So, for the Standard to suggest Wenger has “cooled” because of Şahin not being an “orthodox” holding midfielder is off the mark, in my opinion.

Do English writers even watch the football/soccer matches & teams they’re supposed to be writing about?  When did Wenger ever say he was looking for “an orthodox holding midfielder?”  The answer is that he’s never said it.  He said he was looking at midfield options.  This whole new crusade of Arsenal looking for a “defensive/holding midfielder” in the style of a hardman/destroyer/whatever is the new punditry and/or portion of fanbase-driven mythos of what Arsenal needs or should have.  Yes, the midfielders we’ve been scouting & been linked with this summer are of the “defensive” variety but as other bloggers & previous posts have pointed out, not only is Şahin actually more defensive, statistically but that a switch in midfield & overall team philosophy may even negate having to need an “orthodox defensive midfielder.”  (The English media have never been known  to be tactically astute).

I’m not saying Şahin won’t sign for Liverpool but to think that Wenger somehow is backing off Şahin because he doesn’t fit the ideal template of an “orthodox defensive midfielder” is complete bollocks.  Do we need an enforcer type of deep-lying/defensive midfielder?  Most likely so, however, what we want as fans & want Wenger might end up signing are two different things.

Anyway, trying to orientate  away from my rambling back to signings, if we lose out on Şahin, it’ll be no skin off my backside because if a guy wants to go to Liverpool to play in the Europa League, that’s his problem.

“B-b-b-b-but you’re just jealous, Curtisimo! Liverpool has won d’Champions’ League & can get back there next season!”

Well, how does that benefit Şahin?  If it’s only a year-long loan then how does Liverpool possibly playing in the CL next season benefit Şahin when he’ll return to Madrid?  DERP.  Furthermore, if Şahin going to Liverpool is only a loan deal, why does his agent supposedly have to travel to Liverpool?  It’s a loan deal, not a permanent signing.  Unless I’m missing something, it all sounds so typical signing drama the media likes to foment & get all us frothing at the mouth over it.

Anyway, if Şahin wants Europa League ball, let him have it.  It only means we’ll likely pursue Lucas Biglia, Etienne Capoue or Yann M’Vila, or some heretofore unknown guy Wenger is looking at all the more.  I’m still on record saying we need another fullback far more than we need some mythical, defensive midfielder tank (“English steel, mate! derpaderp!”).

Stoke/Orc City preview tomorrow for you.  Until then have yourself a good one & a cold one & I have a promotion playoff second leg against the same Stoke to deal with on FM10.  Let’s go, you Bristolona!

UPDATE: According to this BBC article, Şahin is going to Liverpool as well because they offered to pay a larger percentage of his £115,000 per week wages.  A guy who played all of four games for Real last year  & is 21 or 22 years old makes £115k a week?  And people wonder why Wenger doesn’t like to go after established players?!

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures (includes U21s & U19s): Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (Watford), Kyle Bartley (Swansea City), Pedro Botelho (Atlético Paranaense), George Brislen-Hall (Norwich City), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), James Campbell (Dundee United), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Tom Cruise (Torquay United), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Samuel Galindo (Lugo-loan), Ben Glasgow (Stoke City), Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (Sandnes Ulf), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Alex Song (Barcelona), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Carlisle United?), Wellington Silva (Ponferradina- loan)

Likely signings: Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan, loan to buy)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Galatasaray, AC Milan, Inter-Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus)

Possible signings: Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Cheikh M’Bengue (Toulouse), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic) 
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)

Nuri Şahin Loan Deal Done?

Le Boss, I’m telling you, Mourinho’s ego is thiiiiiis big.

The Nuri Şahin deal is done if this Daily Mail article is to be believed.  It’s believed to be a loan with the option to buy of some sort, possibly the €14 million mentioned in the article.  With all transfer stories, I’ll hold out calling it a done deal myself until I see it announced on the official site.  But it does look, however, as if Turkish international, Şahin, is an Arsenal player as of today.

Şahin is a player Wenger has courted in the past from his days at Borussia Dortmund & is a deeper-lying creative midfielder who actually may be both more creative & defensive than Alex Song.  At least in terms of actual statistical output, if not an actual defensive midfielder or one with a more physical physique (à la  Song).

Better defensive stats than Song last time Şahin was a regular?

This article in the Belfast Telegraph also makes that point that the German-born Turk may be an upgrade in both facets of midfield over Song.  Although that’s not news to us who think Song’s departure & what it’ll mean to Arsenal is being overstated by both pundits & certain sections of our own fanbase:

Replacing the Cameroon international with Sahin should mean a more stylish Arsenal side this season. Song was only nominally a defensive midfielder, able to push opponents off the ball with a shrug of his broad shoulders, but not always astute enough to stay close to them. Some of his best contributions at Arsenal, especially in recent seasons, were moments of quick flashes of inspiration.

But Sahin is different. He is an orchestrator, stitching the patterns of play from the heart of the midfield. He is much more authoritative than Song, happier to show for the ball and take responsibility for starting attacks. His passing, over long and short distances, is exceptional. He knows when to retain possession and when to risk it in pursuit of goals. Sahin’s approach might be best described as Spanish, in terms of his care of the ball and imagination with it. He is not dissimilar from his new team-mates Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta, and they should be able to strike up the natural combinations which intelligent footballers can find in one another.

If Şahin is to slot straight into the midfield in Song’s spot & accompany Arteta & Cazorla, that is surely a very creative & technically gifted midfield.  But will that trio be able to stand up to a season’s worth of physical rigors that we know the Premier League demands?  The old “can they do it on a cold night in Stoke?,” mantra.  On the face of it, probably not.  However, if Arsène Wenger does go with some sort of midfield combination of Şahin-Arteta-Cazorla (along with Wilshere, Rosičký, Diaby & Ramsey) does it mean a complete shift back to a technical, possession based system where you attempt to make rugged physical midfielders & defenders chase you & hopefully tire out or get burnt with a Barcelonaesque “tika-taka” quick passing game?  The 1982 Brazil World Cup side also featured a midfield entirely composed of creative type of players but Arsenal are not on the level of Barcelona & Brazil ’82, obviously.  But could we be on the level enough to challenge for the Premier League by the end of the season with that sort of midfield?

Şahin had 30 appearances, with 6 goals & 8 assists for Borussia Dortmund in 2010/11

It all remains to be seen & Wenger has already hinted at a lineup (& possibly slight stylistic) change from the opening match against Sunderland, as Le Boss was not pleased with the speed of passing in the game.  Could Şahin’s signing (& maybe Yann M’Vila’s too) signal that switch?  Of course, the signing has to be made official & all.

On to other rumors  for Arsenal signings today- firstly with a believable one- & it includes us being told we can sign Lucas Biglia from RSC Anderlecht for €8 million.  If Wenger goes the cheap route Biglia may be the one to come in in place of a proposed M’Vila signing.  In a less believable possible signing, at least for me, Fernando Llorente may be coming to Arsenal although Chelsea are also interested, but only if Bilbao’s €36 million buyout clause is met.

As for players leaving & not coming because they signed elsewhere, Russian mercurial maestro, Andrei Arshavin is rumored to be off to Zenit again & as much as I’d like the diminutive attacker to remake himself at Arsenal, getting his £70k a week salary off the books will go a long way to being able to sign someone like M’Vila & Şahin.

Despite talks being in “advanced” stages at one point, Belgian striker, Kévin Mirallas, has opted to sign for Everton because of the club’s & Davis Moyes’ enthusiasm & the promise to be able to play games more regularly at Everton.  The striker was quoted as saying:

‘I had a possibility of playing more games and longer periods with Everton. A number of clubs were showing interest in me and my discussions with the manager here were very important.

‘From the word go I was really impressed by the extent to which the manager wanted me here.

Fair play to Mirallas & it’s actually a little bit refreshing to see someone snub us for a club that may be viewed as being a step beneath us (that is not a knock at you Toffees, I respect Everton & the job Moyes has done considering the financial issues they’ve had in recent years) & looking to play & build something somewhere that doesn’t involve Russian or Arab megabucks.  In fact, good luck, Kévin.  I hope you score bags of goals.  Except against us, of course.

Well, that’s your post for this evening.  What’s left of my Arrogant Bastard ale is beckoning me to finish it off & the siren song of Football Manager 10 is also calling out to me.  My Bristol Rovers face Nottingham Forest in the penultimate match of our Championship season & we’re chasing Ipswich for the second automatic promotion spot.  To the beer & game!

Arsenal Transfers In/Out Currently

The player transfer list of ins & outs again with updated & corrected info:

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures (includes U21s & U19s): Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (Watford), Kyle Bartley (Swansea City), Pedro Botelho (Atlético Paranaense), George Brislen-Hall (Norwich City), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla), James Campbell (Dundee United), Joel Campbell (Real Betís-loan), Tom Cruise (Torquay United), Denílson (São Paulo-loan), Samuel Galindo (Lugo-loan), Ben Glasgow (Stoke City), Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham & Redbridge), Sean McDermott (Sandnes Ulf), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston North End), Rhys Murphy (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Alex Song (Barcelona), Robin van Persie (Manchester United), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Carlisle United?), Wellington Silva (Ponferradina- loan)

Likely signings: Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan, loan to buy)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Celta Vigo, Galatasaray, AC Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Tottenham Hotspur, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus)

Possible signings: Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Cheikh M’Bengue (Toulouse), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Yann M’Vila (Rennes), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic) 
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)

Arsenal FC News For Monday

Well, in the two days since Arsenal’s goalscoring crisis of a nil-nil against Sunderland.  If you listen to the media & the more twit of the tweeples (people on twitter), not only will Arsenal never ever win again, but we apparently will never ever score a goal again now that Robin van Persie has left us for ManUre.  Oh, which, how did RvP’s debut for ManUre work out?

Hmmmm, started on the bench, played 22 minutes, no shots, no goals & ManUre lost.  If Arsenal’s goalless draw, where we dominated play, was a crisis, I’d hate to know what ManU’s loss to Everton, where their goal was threatened on numerous occasions, would be.  Double-plus crisis?  Arsenal drew, ManUre lost, Sp*rs lost, Liverpool got blown out, Man €ity has to come from behind to newly promoted Southampton… sounds like there be crises everywhere! Oh the humanity!

As you can see my tongue is planted firmly in cheek as in the instant information age every single non-optimal result gets blown into epic proportions so as to rile up the rabble full of Jambos (rabid fans) who in turn get so mad they send offending articles to other friends & fall right into the trap.

As for our supposed goalscoring crisis to our crisis from yesterday, some fans are still left up in arms a bit as Arsène Wenger hasn’t already replaced Song’s departure with three World Class defensive midfielders (not just good, but World Class! derpderp!) who can also pop in 10 goals & hatfuls of assists.  Seriously though, Nuri Şahin’s arrival from Real Madrid is supposed to be done by the end of this week & if the link is to be believed the only sticking point seems to be we’re asking for a buy option at the end of the proposed season-long loan where Real only wants to loan player.

Following Şahin in the transfer rumor mill line is once again, Yann M’Vila, who is the fans #1 choice to replace song.  The Rennes general manager thinks now that Song has been sold that we’ll go back & bid for the French hardman:

20.07 BST: Rennes general manager Pierre Dreossi (sic) think Arsenal will come back in for Yann M’Vila, despite offers from Spurs and Zenit. “When Song leaves, we must say that Arsenal will reinforce that post. Same thing for a club that sells to Arsenal. We maintain our price tag of around ¬20m [£15.7m].”

Ooooooor maybe it’s just a ploy on Rennes to drive up the price on Sp*rs?  If so, then fair play to Rennes.  If not, then I highly doubt Wenger will be dictated to like that as le Boss generally doesn’t get into bidding wars & rarely goes over his own valuation of a player, although admittedly, I don’t know what Wenger feels M’Vila is worth.

Also linked with us today is Cheik M’Bengue, Toulouse’s left back.  I’ll pull out the Football Manager scouting- I’ve only seen him play once or twice, don’t recall anything special but I recall from FM09 that he was a pretty physically gifted fullback & I tried to sign him for my AS Saint-Étienne squad before settling on John Goossens of NEC Nijmegen because of his set piece prowess.

See? Where else can you find that kind of mostly useless, barely relevant anecdotal sort of analysis? Yeyeah!

As for players possibly leaving Arsenal comes this humorous tidbit of Marouane Chamakh possibly going to Sp*rs!:

10.35 BST: ThatMirror report about Chamakh – ESPN understands there is no truth to the speculation linking Tottenham with a move for the Arsenal striker.

No truth in it?  Damn, that’s too bad.  Because that would be fairly hilarious if the Moroccan switched to Sp*rs!  At least until he banged in 12 or 13 goals for Cockenham.

Lastly, a nugget of knowledge to let you know all you need to know how evil Mancunster United is as Satan himself bought a 7.95% stake in the cunts.  This is an interesting move (now, follow me, if you will), especially as General Motors recently signed a huge, potentially $600 million ad campaign with the cunts from Manchester.  We all know GM was the automotive company that received a $50 billion US taxpayer-funded bailout; the company that uses union automotive workers, a group that heavily financed Barack Obama’s presidential campaign along with, though much quieter & behind the scenes, you guessed it, George Soros.  So, it looks like Soros is hedging his bets & the move makes ManU all the more creepy, cunty & seemingly tyrannical.

Ugh, I feel dirty after that last paragraph.  I think I’ll go take a shower.

Half-Assed Post! Woo!

Just a quick post for you today as there’s been long days at work  again this week.

Alex Song’s purported move to Barcelona rambles on.  Barcelona are said to have bid €15 million while Arsenal opened with a counter of €24 million.

Arsène Wenger has stated he doesn’t want to sell Song as he’s under contract for three years still:

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has dismissed suggestions that midfielder Alex Song could leave the club for Barcelona – and he’s not all that impressed with the Spanish papers, either.

Wenger, quoted in the Sun, says: “There’s nothing going on with Song. There’s nothing in that. Song has three years’ contract – he’s not in the same situation as Robin van Persie.

“In Spain, the newspapers are not really serious. We’ve had the experience of that. We’ve never had any contact with anybody from Barcelona.”

However, Song’s Cameroonian teammate, goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, was quoted as saying Song has told him he wants to leave for Barcelona (despite his comments the other day about being happy at Arsenal, though they were partly cryptic):

Alex Song’s Cameroon team-mate Carlos Kameni has claimed the midfielder has told him he wants to leave Arsenal for Barcelona. Kameni is quoted in A Bola saying: “We were together on holiday and he said he wants to go to Barcelona. Everyone wants to play for Barcelona. Song would fit right in at Barcelona. He has all the qualities to play there.”

Papers today are claiming that even Barcelona’s club vice president was in London to help personally broker the deal.

Meanwhile, Lukasz Fabianski has played down exit talks & has expressed his desire to now challenge Wojciech Szczesny for the #1 goalkeeper position at Arsenal.  So, it looks like Arsenal won’t be in the market for a ‘keeper after all, as Vito Mannone also looks to be staying put at this point.

Elsewhere, possible transfer target, Kévin Mirallas may be now signing for Everton instead of us:

14.22 BST: It’s thought Kevin Mirallas is very close to completing a move from Greek giants Olympiakos to Everton – the striker is believed to be set for a medical on Merseyside at some point in the next 24 hours.

There ya have it for today.  I won’t post any RvP stuff as it’s tedious at this point & my stance remains the same- I’d keep him & make him play out his final year but if we do sell him, €20-25 million, Sir Rednose, or cock off!

Ryo Loan Confirmed; Song Out, M’Vila In?; CUOCO, Sir Alex

We all know for the benefit of cutting salary & getting down to the 25-man squad rule, Arsenal need to offload some players & we all know which ones should be moved on (Bendtner, Park, & Squillaci for sure).  Besides those there are no doubt several youngsters to go out on loan & following Benik Afobe’s recent loan move to Bolton Wanderers, Ryo Miyaichi, originally thought to also be on his way to Bolton (again), has been confirmed to go on a season-long loan to Wigan Athletic instead.

Owen Coyle had given two successful loans to Arsenal players before, Jack Wilshere two seasons ago & Ryo last year, but the Japanese winger is going to remain in the Premier League & work with Roberto Martínez whose style of play may actually better benefit the youngster.  The Spanish manager has done a good job of developing young English winger/forward Victor Moses since his move from Crystal Palace, so he should be a good manager for Ryo to work under.

Meanwhile, the Song to Barcelona story continues although the midfielder has stated that he is happy at Arsenal.  Barcelona would have to pay good money for Song (figures of €20+ million have been floated) as the Cameroonian is under contract until 2014 & I’ve even seen one source say his Arsenal deal runs into 2015.  Either way, he has at least two years at Arsenal, so Barcelona would have to pay up, those cheeky soft-tapping up bastards:

Although Barca players have thus far restrained themselves from using the phrase “Barcelona DNA”, their collective talking up of Alex Song’s abilities is getting a bit ridiculous. The latest offering is from Gerard Pique: “He is physically very strong and is good with the ball at his feet. We are open to his arrival. If he comes, and from what I have read he could do, we would love to have him.”

Yes, Arsenal would be open to the arrival of Lionel Messi too.  If he comes, we would love to have him at the Emirates, amirite?!

.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% chance Messi is coming to Arsenal

Aside from Messi-to-Arsenal & Song-to-Barca, there was earlier a rumor that the €15 million bid for Yann M’Vila that had come from England may have been from Arsenal to replace a departing Song but it turns out that bid came from Sp*rs.  If Cockenham thinks Scotty Parker is good, they’ll positively jizz their shorts over M’Vila.  We had been apparently extremely close to signing the Frenchman but soured on him after an apparent attitude problem in France’s training camp from M’Vila which killed the deal for Wenger.

Ridiculously fantasy Messi-to-Arsenal move & dead interest in M’Vila aside, Wenger has stated that buying in the transfer market may not be done just yet, however.  With the likes of Yeung & Sahin reported to be scouted heavily recently, another player may be coming to Gunnerland & soon.  Or Wenger may be doing his usual coy “if a deal comes along, we might make it & if it doesn’t we won’t” spiel.

One of those moves may be Olympiakos’ Kévin Mirallas.  I coached Mirallas at AS Saint-Étienne in Football Manager 09.  LOL.  He’s a pretty decent player, being a Belgian international, & can play at forward or on the wings.  Mirallas is said to have €8 million buyout clause, which may mean he’s available for less than that since people still don’t understand what a buyout clause really means it seems.  There’s also a rumor about a part-swap with Sébastian Squillaci going the other way.

It’d be sort of strange move at this point, what with all the attacking players that have come in but if van Persie leaves, perhaps Le Boss wants another option & is moving on Chamakh, Park & Bendtner & soon.  Park should definitely be on his way out the door as his #9 was worn by Podolski in the Köln friendly on Sunday but there’s also nothing that says Podolski can’t register as another number prior to this weekend’s game versus Sunderland.  It would seem Park is set to move any day now though.

For sure Niklas Bendtner should be on his way out the door at The Emirates any day now, however:

21.05 BST: Nicklas Bendtner has confirmed he will leave Arsenal. He told sporten.dk: “Arsenal is not an option and that is something both the club and I agree on. I expect to have found a solution to my situation before the window closes. There are concrete negotiations in the works.”

Thank goodness.  I can’t wait for the Donut With No Hole (Danish) to leave.  I’ve never been a big fan of his even before his massive ego  became the stuff of legend.  He should’ve been moved on permanently last year but he’s one who is dragging his feet on a signing because he doesn’t want to take a big pay cut.  To be fair, I can understand but to be unfair, get the fuck out, Niklas & don’t let the door hit your ass (or your ego) on the way out!  There is a rumor (which doesn’t make sense to me, so I doubt it’s validity), however, that we may be working on a swap deal with Milan with Bendtner for Philippe Mèxes.

Speaking of massive egos & people who should GTFO, we come to poor old Alex Ferguson still prattling on about “derp, why won’t Arsenal sell me van Persie? Herpaderpa derpderp!”  This poor old manager just can’t seem to catch a break this summer in the transfer market!  Boo-fucking-hoo, you gum-chawing twat.  It must be soooooooo hard to win with Rooney, Chicharito, Berbatov, Welbeck & Macheda (& letting Michael Owen go)!  How will Man U ever get by unless they buy van Persie!  That poor little regional northern side just can’t catch a break.  Well, let me put this in plain English, Sir Rednose. £25 million for van Persie! Cough Up Or Cock Off, Alexo!

“Gimme the van Persie! DERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP! “

Finally a video from the Ajax-AZ match this past weekend in the opening round of the Eredivisie.  American Jozy Altidore scored a brace against the Dutch giants for AZ & 2 beauts they were!  The first one & he makes a nice move to cut inside before muscling Gregory Van Der Wiel out to dink over Kenneth Vermeer in Ajax’s net.  The latter Altidore makes two great moves, one a cheeky side heeled pass into the middle before receiving the return pass on the turn, once again besting Van Der Wiel & running onto the ball & stabbing the ball home ferociously on the half-volley.  Terrific stuff from Jozy & Jozy-hater Leander Schaerlackens (& all the rest of the Jozy haters for the matter) can suck it!

Which reminds me, US vs. Drugcartelexico is on Wednesday in the Azteca.  Hopefully the US can come of there with a result (& their lives).

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (released- Watford), Pedro Botelho (Atletico Paranaense), 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 (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan Athletic- loan), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Arsenal reserves?)

Likely signings: Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Celta Vigo, Galatasaray, AC Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia, Olympiakos Piraeus), Robin van Persie (Juventus/Manchester City/Manchester United)

Possible signings: Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), Stéphane Mbia (Olympique Marseille), Kévin Mirallas (Olympiakos), Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina), Philippe Mèxes (AC Milan), Mbaye Niang (Caen), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic) 
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Alex Song (Barcelona), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)

Official: Cazorla To Arsenal

Yesterday, Arsenal FC officially announced the signing of Málaga forward, Santiago Cazorla González, or Santi Cazorla, as he is widely known.  The Spanish winger marks Arsenal’s third “big” signing of the summer following the purchases of Olivier Giroud & Lukas Podolski.  Any talk of “lack of ambition” from the likes of Robin van Persie (& others) now look to be a bit of window dressing for the actual reason RvP likely wants to leave- “show me the $$$!”

Hopefully Cazorla scoreza lotza goalza…

Though the €18 million Cazorla is more of a winger he can play anywhere on the front line & in Wenger’s words:

 “Santi Cazorla is a great signing for us. He is a player with good experience at both club and international level, who will add significant quality to our squad.

“He is a versatile, attacking midfield player who can play comfortably on either side of the pitch or centrally. He has good pace, is technically gifted and will be a huge asset to Arsenal Football Club.  We are delighted that he is joining us.”

This signing definitely strengthens us up front & provides proper competition for spots on the wing, especially to Theo Walcott on the right side.  Let’s see if the competition forces Theo to get his head down & train hard or if he looks at the signing & say, “hmmm, I don’t want to work hard every day, lemme take that quick paycheck somewhere else!”

The Spaniard said of joining the club:

 “I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a club with great players, a fantastic stadium and huge support.

“The Club has one of the best managers in football and their style of play is recognised and admired all over the world.

“I’m so excited to be joining one of the greatest teams in Europe and also in the Premier League. I will do my best to help Arsenal challenge for trophies and make all the supporters happy.”

So, with three good quality signings, we Gunners have to be excited by the upcoming season especially as the signings may not be over just yet as Arsenal scouts have said to have been impressed by Ki-Seung Yeung at the Olympics, or as my friend’s daughter called them, “the Lumpics!”

Meanwhile to make way for Cazorla, Andrei Arshavin is rumored to be a £4 million target for Galatasaray.  The elven Russian is on high wages at the Emirates, so it’d be in our best interest with the new signings to get Arshavin off the books.  If we can do that, our summer transfer business would have to be seen as an absolute success, especially if we can also move Niklas Bendtner on as well.

Finally, some humor to send you on your way- first off, some hilarious Arsenal player profiles from Arseblog from yesterday.

Lastly, let’s all shed a tear as the tiniest violin in the world plays a sad concerto for Sir Alex Ferguson’s lamentation & anger that he just can’t seem to sign anybody!  Somebody call the wambulance for his assholiness!

The Wambulance is making haste to Old Trafford as we speak!
#ManUWorldProblems

Updated signing/departures list (updates in red):
Confirmed signings: Santi Cazorla (Málaga), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Lukas Podolski (1. FC Köln)
Confirmed departures: Benik Afobe (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Manuel Almunia (released- Watford), Pedro Botelho (Atletico Paranaense), 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 (Telstar Velsen), Oğuzhan Özyakup (Beşiktaş), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad), Sanchez Watt (released- Arsenal reserves?)

Likely signings:  Mbaye Niang (Caen), Nuri Şahin (Real Madrid- loan)
Likely departures: Andrei Arshavin (Al-Sadd [Qatar], Fulham, Galatasaray, Reading, Zenit Saint-Petersburg), Niklas Bendtner (Celta Vigo, Galatasaray, AC Milan, Spartak Moscow), Marouane Chamakh (Beşiktaş, Fiorentina, Rubin Kazan, Valencia-loan), Łukasz Fabiański, Vito Mannone (Hull City), Chu/Ju-Young Park (Al-Ain [UAE], Blackburn Rovers), Ryo Miyaichi (Bolton Wanderers- loan), Sébastian Squillaci (Bastia), Robin van Persie (AC Milan/Juventus/Manchester City/Manchester United)

Possible signings: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United), Lucas Biglia (RSC Anderlecht), Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), Tongo Doumbia (Rennes), Omar El-Haddouri (Brescia), 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), Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic), Steven Nzonzi (Blackburn Rovers), Paulinho (Corinthians), Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Salomon Rondon (Málaga), Luke Shaw (Southampton), Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal), Emiliano Viviano (Palermo), Victor Wanyama (Glasgow Celtic), Ki-Seung Yeung (Glasgow Celtic)
Possible departures: Daniel Boateng (loan), Johann Djourou (Napoli), Conor Henderson (Charlton Athletic-loan), Henri Lansbury, Ignasi Miquel (Brighton & Hove Albion- loan), Aaron Ramsey (Fulham), Alex Song (Barcelona), Theo Walcott (Liverpool, Southampton)