Arsenal Opinion

So we have finally sold Gilberto to Panathinaikos, the official report is here.

Regardless what some fans think of him, he has been an absolutely fantastic player for us over the years, and he has been our most under-rated player in a long time. He just goes about his job, ego-free.

What can I say? He’s a legend. Well done Gilberto, and good luck in Greece.

You would imagine the sale of both Hleb and Gilberto in matter of days would indicate a huge signing, hopefully Barry or Alonso. I’m sure most Arsenal fans are dreaming of a big signing like this, let’s hope Wenger does us proud.

So, it’s official, Hleb has finally signed for Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around the £15m mark. The article can be found here.

Sad to see him go, he was a decent player and probably has the best first touch I’ve ever seen, but he’s more suited to La Liga and I think he’ll do well. Good luck to the lad.

Hopefully, this will open the door for us to make a signing in the next week or so.

Before you read any further, I do apologise if this is untrue, but I heard it from a reliable source and I’m going to post it in the hope that my source comes through with flying colours. I have a lot of credibility amongst my eleven readers and I’d rather keep that credibility in place, but you may think I’m mental or absolutely thick when you read on.

Anyway, my source actually gave me two rumours, one of which isn’t really a surprise but one is absolutely ludicrous.

Rumour number 1 is that Klass Jan Huntelaar has 100% signed for Arsenal. He told me no more than that, but I can only assume we’re waiting to offload Adebayor before we announce the signing.

Now for the crazy one. The good news is that he’s a goalkeeper with Premiership experience, but the bad news is a lot of people actually don’t rate him, and the transfer of this player could be the shock signing of the summer. The signing is none other than……….. Paul Robinson, for a fee of £3.5m.

I did warn you.

Personally, I’m not sure what to think of this, as we could’ve signed Scott Carson from Liverpool for £4m who most people are pretty much in agreement would be better acquisition. Also, we had Robinson on trial a few years back before he signed for that lot, and wasn’t he one of the unfittest men ever!!?!

I’ll leave it as that, not really knowing whether or not I’d like this to come true.

This is the same source who told me Bernie Eccleston was going to attempt to buy out Arsenal weeks before it happened, so there could be a bit of truth in this.

I don’t know about anyone else but I am more confident about this coming season then I ever have been as an Arsenal fan. There are rumours about Adebayor and Hleb leaving, and we’ve already lost Flamini and Lehmann, but I’m just not concerned whatsoever.

Adebayor, Hleb and Flamini were great last season, and we would’ve struggled without either of them, but I believe they are all absolutely replaceable. I’d be concerned if it was Sagna, Clichy, Toure or Fabregas. They are not replaceable right now. Yes, we could probably find better players, but not realistic targets.

If the rumours are true then we would replace Adebayor with Santa Cruz, Huntelaar, Martins, Falcao, or Eto’o and I’ll be happy with either of them. Same applies to Hleb, we’ll just bid for Silva or Arshavin. Flamini is the toughest one to replace but I’ve got no doubt we’ll fill the gap comfortably. Wenger obviously has someone lined up otherwise we would never be releasing Gilberto, according to reports.

When there was all the talk in the past about us losing Vieira, Henry, Anelka, and even Overmars, I was always worried and absolutely sick when each of them left, but it just doesn’t feel as bad as that this time around, even though some seem to think we’re in a crisis.

So, Samir Nasri has finally signed for Arsenal. Not exactly sure what was holding up the deal but I was as excited as the next man when I finally read the news today and saw the official statement. I was actually starting to worry that he was never going to come.

Full story can be found here. I have got no doubt whatsoever that Nasri is going to be a cracking singing. He reminds me of Joe Cole, which I’m sure most Arsenal fans wouldn’t like me to admit.

In other news, we are chasing Colombian striker Falcao from River Plate, for a reported £8m. We are not signing the 80s one-hit-wonder.

Falcao has scored an amazing 38 goals in 58 goals for River Plate, which is a phenomenal record in any major league. He seems like the ideal Wenger signing, somebody nobody has ever heard of and totally unexpected. Not really sure how good Falcao is to be honest, but I have faith in Wenger whoever he decides to sign.

Hleb and Adebayor are still with us, only a matter of time before Hleb leaves, and do we really want to keep hold of Adebayor? I think we could do without him.

Every season, one of our players seems to hit form out of the blue, and it’s generally one of the players who isn’t necessarily a fans favourite.

Last season we had many players in this category, Hleb, Flamini, Adebayor and to a certain extent Song. The fans were even getting a little annoyed with Theo Walcott but he seemed to really turn it around towards the end of the season, and hit a nice little patch of form.

I have a little prediction for next season, which I’m sure isn’t going to go down well with the Arsenal faithful, but I believe the player to to be unleashed next season could be Emmanuel Eboue. You’re probably thinking I’m absolutely taking the piss, but seriously I have absolutely 100% faith in Eboue, and it’s all a matter of confidence before we see a surprise package next season.

He is one of the best crossers of a ball at the club, he’s got pace, and he’s got a great engine on him. He may be a little petulant at times, but anyone who cracks hardman John Terry and takes him out for several weeks, is a top man in my books.

As we all know and we’ve been reminding ourselves for sometime, Wenger watches these players in training every single day and he definitely sees something that most Arsenal fans do not, and who would ever doubt his ability to spot talent.

I’m sure everyone will disagree with me on this. What’s your opinions? Do you think we have another dark horse in our ranks who could be the surprise package next season?

The Sun are reporting that long-term Newcastle target Obafemi Martins wants to sign for Arsenal.

Arsenal is a big club that everyone wants to play for. I am thrilled and it will be nice to play for such a team.

I would take Martins. He’s struggled with form and injuries over the past year, but I do believe he would fit into the Arsenal style of play absolutely perfectly, and he has proven Premiership experience. On the flip side, if Adebayor was to leave, you do get the feeling that Wenger would want to replace him like-for-like and go for a big, athletic target man, in which case the Roque Santa Cruz rumours would seem to be more realistic and genuine.

At 23, which I believe is 47 in Nigeria, and pace to burn, Martins definitely seems to fit the bill. I’m sure most Arsenal fans would rather we go for David Villa or Samuel Eto’o, but Martins just feels more of a Wenger signing.

Other transfer news, Nasri will officially sign for Arsenal tomorrow and be presented at a press conference at 6:30pm tomorrow evening. Disclaimer - that’s absolutely nonsense, but I thought I’d have a stab at pretending I know some inside news, which I cleary do not.

If the rumours linking Adebayor to Barcelona for £30m are true, then what on earth is Wenger waiting for? Put it into perspective, if some dodgy old Spanish bloke offered you £12,000 for a D reg Capri then you wouldn’t really be in a position to negotiate. If you did, you’d be shitting yourself in case you lost the deal for being greedy.

Arsenal have rejected a bid from Barcelona for striker Emmanuel Adebayor, believed to be in the region of £25m.

If the rumours of the salary demands from Adebayor are true, then I would get rid of him for that price all day long. We need to be careful, because Barcelona (or Milan) may not intend to go any higher and we could be left with a very unhappy player in our squad.

£25m is a huge price for a player who has had a good 18 months or so, but he’s hardly Thierry Henry in his prime, or even Nicolas Anelka at that. There are a lot of great players you can buy for that price, and I’m sure Wenger has a replacement lined up already. Roque Santa Cruz could be the answer, but for me he’s too old. We should bid big (in the £40m bracket) and sign Benzema.

Who would you sing if Adebayor left? Would you rather Adebayor stay?

Apparently, before the Liverpool away game in the Champions League, Arsene Wenger popped into JJB Sports in Liverpool High Street to buy Emmanuel Eboue a new pair of boots.

Wenger: “Excuse me young man, do you have a pair of Nike football boots for Emmanuel Eboue?”

Scallywag Clerk: “Sounds like a fair swap”

I’ll get my coat.

Arsenal target Hatem Ben Arfa is on the verge of signing for Marseilles, according to Skysports. You can read the article here.

“The player will be in Marseille in the next few hours to undergo the traditional medical checks before signing the contract.”

The transfer is subject to a medical, and you only assume that this will surely open the door for Nasri to finally sign for Arsenal. Marseille are losing there most prized asset, and this be a softener to an otherwise huge blow for the club.

The fact that we’ve lost out on Ben Arfa, or we didn’t want him, could hopefully mean we are chasing Spanish playmaker David Silva.

Personally, I’d have loved us to sign both players as they would give us the balance we need on both wings, and what we’ve been lacking since the famous Ljungberg and Pires days.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we just sign Ramsey, Nasri and possibly a defensive player (whether that be a defensive midfielder or defender). Either way, I’ll be happy with what Wenger does.

What do you think Wenger will do during the summer? Please feel free to comment.