Arsenal Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2011/2012

batistuta9

opr wrote: »

I would have thought he was a decent enough source. Reporter for the Guardian who mainly writes about Spain. I can't say I know what his track record is like with transfer stuff but he's a good journalist who would be a cut above the normal gutter football writers.

Opr

On his Twitter account a few hours ago he's saying reports of Malaga's owners negotiating the sale of the club to an Albanian oil magnate


meanwhile......

Wenger to deliver Santi as Arsenal bag £15m Spanish midfielder
By ROB DRAPER
PUBLISHED: 21:20 GMT, 28 July 2012 | UPDATED: 22:26 GMT, 28 July 2012
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Arsene Wenger expects to complete the club record £15million transfer of Santi Cazorla by Tuesday.
Though Malaga are holding out for £20m, Arsenal hope a debt deadline imposed on the financially-stricken Spanish club will seal the deal.

With Robin van Persie poised to leave, the capture of Carzola, 27, is the major signing of the summer that Wenger has been promising.
Wenger was beaten to the signature of the Spain midfielder last year by Malaga, who had been seemingly enriched by their purchase by Qatari Sheik Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani.


But the club now have to clear huge debts by the end of the month or face relegation to Spain's second tier, the loss of their UEFA licence and Champions League expulsion.
Arsenal have been hampered by the lack of an authoritative figure to deal with at Malaga, but with the player now set on a move and Qatari negotiators flying in this weekend, there is hope the deal can be concluded swiftly.
Adding Carzola to the signings of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud represents the most significant summer strengthening since Arsenal imposed financial constraints on transfers in 2004.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2180366/Arsenal-capture-15m-Santi-Cazorla.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

and

Arsenal bid for Málaga's Santi Cazorla and close in on Nuri Sahin
• Arsène Wenger offers £16m for Spain midfielder
• London club close to loan deal for Real Madrid player

Email
David Hytner
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 28 July 2012 22.29 BST

Arsenal have submitted an offer of £16m to Málaga for Santi Cazorla and are confident of making him their third signing of the summer, while also closing in on a season-long loan deal for Real Madrid's Nuri Sahin.

Arsène Wenger has tracked Cazorla since the beginning of last summer, but the Arsenal manager was deterred from making a firm move for the Spain midfielder by his price tag. Cazorla left Villarreal for Málaga in a €19m (£15m) deal, while Wenger took Mikel Arteta from Everton at the last moment for £10m to bolster his midfield. Wenger, though, has come to see the value in Cazorla, an all-round midfielder who is capable of playing wide or centrally, and the Frenchman is hopeful of completing the deal after he and the Arsenal squad return from their tour of the Far East. They play their third and final match against Kitchee in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Cazorla has agreed personal terms in principle with Arsenal and the sense that the deal is close has been reinforced by events at Málaga in recent days as the club's problems with debt threaten their participation in La Liga. The club's Qatari owner, Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani, sent the executive Moayad Shatat to Spain last Thursday to resolve the raft of problems, among them Cazorla's future.

At the same time, the Málaga manager, Manuel Pellegrini, said that selling Cazorla for €20m would amount to "giving him away". Shatat was supposed to offer immediate reassurances but worryingly for Pellegrini and Málaga he has said nothing and it emerged on Saturday night, according to reports in Spain, that he was investigating the sale of the club. Cazorla has not gone on the Venezuela tour, although he was never going to after his exertions for Spain at Euro 2012.

Arsenal, who have already signed the strikers Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, are in talks with Madrid over Sahin. José Mourinho, who signed the the Turkey midfielder from Borussia Dortmund last summer, has suggested that it would be better if he looked for a fresh opportunity in light of his struggles to establish himself at the Bernabéu. The 23-year-old Sahin was not happy to hear that and he is not yet entirely sold on the proposed loan move, particularly as there is no option for Arsenal to buy him at the end of it.

He travelled with the Madrid squad to the United States morning for their pre-season tour, which presents Arsenal with a logistical difficulty, but the London club remain hopeful of convincing him to join them. They want to have both Cazorla and Sahin available for their final pre-season friendly away to Köln on 12 August.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/28/arsenal-santi-cazorla-nuri-sahin?newsfeed=true

Mickeroo

Dare we begin to hope?!?!

Pepe LeFrits

Sahin & Cazorla would be pretty sensational. Either one would be pretty damn good, even (Cazorla more than Sahin).

cson

The manner in which we're linked to Sahin on loan would make me think somethings going on with Wilshere fitness wise.

Assuming AW sees Cazorla's future down the middle then you've to pick three from Song/Arteta/Wilshere/Ramsey/Rosicky/Diaby/Sahin/Cazorla if all are fit and we sign the latter two. Big 'ifs' of course but it doesn't add up for me. Where that leaves signing a DM type I don't know, maybe Song will revert to his 09/10 vintage.

I'd be more concerned with our options up top if/when RVP leaves. We're banking on Giroud to hit the ground running and if he doesn't/gets injured our only other option is Podolski up front.

Interesting times.

gnfnrhead

Are you upset that we have competition in midfield this season? :pac:

The more options he better. Wenger gets paid to keep the squad happy, if he thinks he will do it, then I don't have any objection at all to having so many options in midfield.

gosplan

With my rational head on:

All that's happened is we've put in a bid for Carzola. It's unknown if he'll come or not as Malaga may or may not want to sell - all their reported debt problems can be solved in seconds by a wave of their owner's hand.


With my optimistic head on:

Carzola and Sahin would be fantastic. Maybe it's annoying that Sahin is just a loan but if he is loaned to anyone we're excellent candidates as we can provide CL football. As some as said it would not be positive news for the outlook on Wilshire & Diaby, but it would appear positive for Arsenal because it means Wenger is for the first time ever opting for the bird in the hand rather than the two on the treatment table.


With my bitter head on:

More than anything, these signings would expose RVP's bullsh1t to the few Arsenal fans left that bought it in the first place. It's clear that the only direction he was interested in was that of the payscale at AFC.

Pepe LeFrits

Cazorla would be for the wide positions if he and Sahin came in. I don't think Podolski has been signed to play wide (he and Giroud are Perse replacements), which only really leaves Walcott, Gervinho and Chamberlain as players Wenger trusts in those roles.

Marty McFly

Arsenal match on ESPN for anyone thats interested, 7 mins gone were 1-0 down and looking very sloppy so far.

seklly

1-1 Walcott, not a bad move

and more sloppy defending from Arsenal

2-1 to KitChee!

patrickc

walcott just scored..

match also on setanta ireland

patrickc

down another, very sloppy at the back.

scez could of dealt with it much better also.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Poor defending again. Chamakh would be so much better if he could feckin shoot! His touches in and around the box are class most of the time.

Meanwhile, from that afc Camden guy on twitter:
'Very high possibility' Santi Cazorla will arrive for a medical on Monday or Tuesday, after the First Team get back from Hong Kong #AFC

Marty McFly

patrickc wrote: »

down another, very sloppy at the back.

scez could of dealt with it much better also.

Ah I thought Scez pulled off a good save for the overhead kick second attempt was lashed in wouldnt put him at fault.

On a seperate note the commentating on ESPN is shocking havent a clue what there talking about.

patrickc

Marty McFly wrote: »

Ah I thought Scez pulled off a good save for the overhead kick second attempt was lashed in wouldnt put him at fault.

On a seperate note the commentating on ESPN is shocking havent a clue what there talking about.

wouldnt put him at fault, but i thought he coulda dealt with it a bit better, and sentanta commentary is pretty poor also.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

patrickc wrote: »

Marty McFly wrote: »

Ah I thought Scez pulled off a good save for the overhead kick second attempt was lashed in wouldnt put him at fault.

On a seperate note the commentating on ESPN is shocking havent a clue what there talking about.

wouldnt put him at fault, but i thought he coulda dealt with it a bit better, and sentanta commentary is pretty poor also.

God the co commentator on setanta is an awful dry bastard

emergingstar

Prob wouldn't happen in a million years but If diaby stayed fit would be a massive player

brianregan09

I thought Bould was supposed to be sorting the defence ??? I'd rather bloody Daz at this stage !! Sunderland will have a field day if we play like this at the back

On another note Gervinho has been quite impressive along with Diaby

Marty McFly

brianregan09 wrote: »

I thought Bould was supposed to be sorting the defence ??? I'd rather bloody Daz at this stage !! Sunderland will have a field day if we play like this at the back

On another note Gervinho has been quite impressive along with Diaby

Cant judge Bould on the defence thats out there now, judge him after a few weeks of watching Kos and Verm, Sagna and Gibbs or Santos not the defence thats out there today, your looking at our 4th choice and 5th maybe 6th choice CB.

Diddy Kong

I actually think with the midfielders we are being linked with, there may actually be a return to 442. I think the loan is a good option, even if we don't buy at the end, it gives Jack and Diaby more time to get to full fitness and not have to be rushed back and risked further.

Hayezer

Good stuff Gerv, he looks so awkward on the ball but he's actually very tricky. Needs to do that kinda thing more! Good finish from Eisfeld aswell

seklly

2-2 Eisfeld, good set up from Gervinho who's played well this half

cson

Eisfeld making a name for himself on this tour.

emergingstar

brianregan09 wrote: »

I thought Bould was supposed to be sorting the defence ??? I'd rather bloody Daz at this stage !! Sunderland will have a field day if we play like this at the back

On another note Gervinho has been quite impressive along with Diaby

Sweet mother of god

emergingstar

cson wrote: »

Eisfeld making a name for himself on this tour.

Even forgetting the goals he looks to have the making of a top player

emergingstar

And after a couple of dodgy loan spells I thought aneke would be off but he seems to have impressed on this tour

L'prof

cson wrote: »

Eisfeld making a name for himself on this tour.

emergingstar wrote: »

Even forgetting the goals he looks to have the making of a top player

Let's just hope he's put his injury troubles behind him!

cson

emergingstar wrote: »

And after a couple of dodgy loan spells I thought aneke would be off but he seems to have impressed on this tour

I don't think Aneke was ever going to be shown the door. Himself and Afobe are highly thought of and ate up the place in youth team and reserve team games over the past couple of years. They're only just gone 19 this year too.

Hayezer

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7947385/Wilshere-out-until-October

cson

Explains the Sahin interest.

Marty McFly

cson wrote: »

Eisfeld making a name for himself on this tour.

Yeh he looks to a be a player alright impressed me today a lot, but if the rumours of both Sahin and Cazorla are true a season long loan could work wonders for him preferably to a club like Swansea or a team that likes to play football, think Miyaichi could do with another loan spell aswell.

But there is a lot of young players on the books who could have bright futures at the club.

emergingstar

Marty McFly wrote: »

cson wrote: »

Eisfeld making a name for himself on this tour.

Yeh he looks to a be a player alright impressed me today a lot, but if the rumours of both Sahin and Cazorla are true a season long loan could work wonders for him preferably to a club like Swansea or a team that likes to play football, think Miyaichi could do with another loan spell aswell.

But there is a lot of young players on the books who could have bright futures at the club.

Reserves till Xmas then a loan after it I expect

tayto lover

Well we all knew that Wilshere's injury was serious. I'm beginning to doubt that we will see him this side of Christmas, a bit like the Vermaillen injury a few years ago. The rumours that all is not well with Jack and that he might not return at all are scary. Hope they are just rumours.

Wenger also said that there will also be more signings. I wonder if he has a goalkeeper in mind. I like Szcz but we have poor cover as I don't rate any of the others. And a proper left-back would be nice.

cson

As long as Fabianski stays we wont be signing a goalkeeper and we definitely won't be signing a left back as much as I'd like us to.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Yeah while it's exciting to be linked with the likes of Sahin and Cazorla, defensively we're still very suspect. The centre backs are fairly ok but full back is still dodgy. Especially with Sagna out. Gibbs and Santos are both at a similar level of being pretty good overall but not great defensively.

farna_boy

tayto lover wrote: »

Well we all knew that Wilshere's injury was serious. I'm beginning to doubt that we will see him this side of Christmas, a bit like the Vermaillen injury a few years ago. The rumours that all is not well with Jack and that he might not return at all are scary. Hope they are just rumours.

Wenger also said that there will also be more signings. I wonder if he has a goalkeeper in mind. I like Szcz but we have poor cover as I don't rate any of the others. And a proper left-back would be nice.

I'd much to see us signing a right back.I don't rate Jenkinson at all and I would consider him to be perhaps the weakest player in the team. He is young though and could come good but doesn't look anywhere near that anytime I have seen him.

Pepe LeFrits

Think Wenger is just being cautious with Wilshere, he's been out a long time and it'll take him time to work up to match fitness.

Cazorla and Sahin coming in is actually starting to look like a possibility. We could sell Robin and it'd still be a very successful summer for me.

Maire2009

Hi everyone - new to the thread here, but not to Arsenal, proud Goonerette since '94.

Anyways, I'm hoping the Wilshere affair is just the club being very cautious over him. The boy has some left peg on him and we need him back fully fit and rearing to go.

Will the van Persie thing be sorted after the Asian tour? See that Podolski has no squad number yet - is he waiting for the number 10?

cson

farna_boy wrote: »

I'd much to see us signing a right back.I don't rate Jenkinson at all and I would consider him to be perhaps the weakest player in the team. He is young though and could come good but doesn't look anywhere near that anytime I have seen him.

I'd agree with this. Jenkinson needs a loan spel, he's not good enough to be a squad player for us yet. We do need to sign a right full back with some experience. An Oleg Luzhny esque signing

Pepe LeFrits

Maire2009 wrote: »

Will the van Persie thing be sorted after the Asian tour? See that Podolski has no squad number yet - is he waiting for the number 10?

Probably 10 but could be the 9 too.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of activity regarding van Persie so far - his potential suitors don't seem /that/ interested.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Probably 10 but could be the 9 too.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of activity regarding van Persie so far - his potential suitors don't seem /that/ interested.

Yeah it seems like United just put a bid in for the craic and now city and Juve don't seem to bothered either.

Would like to see a lot more movement in terms of shifting more of the dead wood too. Would make it clearer how many we plan on bringing in

Maire2009

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Probably 10 but could be the 9 too.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of activity regarding van Persie so far - his potential suitors don't seem /that/ interested.

Park has been confirmed as the number 9 but that means little I know.

I think with van Persie, a lot cannot afford him, and others know he really is a risk - he has had one full uninjured season since joining us. He also needs the system to suit him - he's often not the star man for Holland because he's not the focal point, we totally set up for him last season. It was "give the ball to RvP" football. Will City or United do that?

Surprised that Real Madrid haven't shown interest - thought they were very interested in him the last few summers. Would have liked a swap for Benzema or Higuain - day dreaming.

Samich

Pepe LeFrits wrote: »

Probably 10 but could be the 9 too.

I'm a little surprised by the lack of activity regarding van Persie so far - his potential suitors don't seem /that/ interested.

I'd expect the RvP thing to be sorted in 10 days. No need to drag it out. If RvP wants to go he'll go.

gnfnrhead

Did it finish 2-2? I was asleep and forgot it was even on

Marty McFly

Maire2009 wrote: »

Park has been confirmed as the number 9 but that means little I know.

I think with van Persie, a lot cannot afford him, and others know he really is a risk - he has had one full uninjured season since joining us. He also needs the system to suit him - he's often not the star man for Holland because he's not the focal point, we totally set up for him last season. It was "give the ball to RvP" football. Will City or United do that?

Surprised that Real Madrid haven't shown interest - thought they were very interested in him the last few summers. Would have liked a swap for Benzema or Higuain - day dreaming.

Yeh that the same thing I was thinking a lot of teams know hes a big injury risk and at his age are being scared off making big bids plus offering huge wages on a player who might not feature a whole lot due to injuries, plus a lot of the top teams arent really in need for a top striker at this time.

Ideally id loveto see PSG offer us stupid money nd send him on his way.

Hayezer

Maire2009 wrote: »

Park has been confirmed as the number 9 but that means little I know.

I think with van Persie, a lot cannot afford him, and others know he really is a risk - he has had one full uninjured season since joining us. He also needs the system to suit him - he's often not the star man for Holland because he's not the focal point, we totally set up for him last season. It was "give the ball to RvP" football. Will City or United do that?

Surprised that Real Madrid haven't shown interest - thought they were very interested in him the last few summers. Would have liked a swap for Benzema or Higuain - day dreaming.

Since van Persie released his statement, other clubs have leverage over us knowing that he will not sign a contract, so they're offering peanuts compared to what we want, which I think is a fair price. Still don't see any point keeping him on this season, need to accept life after RVP and bring in replacements.
City have too many strikers, not so sure about United's play style but Kagawa's arrival will surely shake it up.

And a Madrid swap would be a dream indeed!

tayto lover

Just saw that RVP is demanding 220k per week at United, same as Rooney is getting. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt for leaving i.e. that it wasn't for money but thophies. I was obviously very wrong, he's after money. Greedy cnut. We should ship him out to the highest bidder now and be done with him. It's unlikely he will ever have another season like last anyway.

Samich

tayto lover wrote: »

Just saw that RVP is demanding 220k per week at United, same as Rooney is getting. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt for leaving i.e. that it wasn't for money but thophies. I was obviously very wrong, he's after money. Greedy cnut. We should ship him out to the highest bidder now and be done with him. It's unlikely he will ever have another season like last anyway.

I don't think he'll get that sort of money from Utd. Would Arsenal not give him big money if he asked for it?

And if he was after the money he'd surely go to City?

Mickeroo

Samich wrote: »

I don't think he'll get that sort of money from Utd. Would Arsenal not give him big money if he asked for it?

And if he was after the money he'd surely go to City?

City haven't really shown much interest in him yet. Arsenal would never give him that much money and rightly so. Shocked he's asking for wages like that, he must know no-one would be willing to pay him that with his injury record.

gnfnrhead

Send him to China. They can afford that kind of money and we won't have to worry about coming up against him. Obvious all along that money was what he really wanted.

Bounty Hunter

Wilshere's Injury yes but I'd also imagine Gerv goiing to the ANC again this year is something a lot of people are over lookng when assessing the depth of the midfield and could be a reason for both Cazorla and Sahin even if Sahin is only a loan with no long term option built in.