It's a very quiet day today.

I could mention Hleb and his comments which are complimentary to Arsene Wenger but most disrespectful towards Arsenal but I'm not going to. I think it's been made very clear than Hleb is a dolphin loving cunt and frankly he doesn't merit any more time on this blog.

Meanwhile, according to The Sun, Emmanuel Adeabayor has told a team mate:

I’m not sure if I’m going to leave now

Well that certainly makes things awkward for him. When you consider previous quotes saying how we had to give in to his 'demands' or he'd leave it's a bit unfortunate to discover that not only is he a loudmouthed, greedy twat he's not a man of his word. I fully expected him to leave whether he'd found a new club or not. It would be the only decent thing to do.

'Give me my demands'.

'No'.

'Well then you leave me no choice'.

And off he would go with a battered holdall thrown over his shoulder and nobody would ever see him again. Or if they did see him again it would only be as he trudged away into the sunset with the really sad music from the Incredible Hulk TV series playing.

The boss confirmed yesterday that Eduardo would be back for the Emirates Cup but only as spectator. He's continuing his rehabilitation in Brazil, I think, and it's anybody's guess how long it'll take him to make his comeback. He also confirmed he was looking for a midfielder but then we knew that already.

There was some further bad news from the training camp last night when it emerged that Samir Nasri has been diagnosed with the bubonic plague. Apparently he picked it up from his pet rat 'Alex' that he brought with him through customs without the appropriate quarantine. There were also unconfirmed reports that Robin van Persie has the Ebola virus, Denilson suffered a massive dropsy while Emmanuel Eboue caught spina bifida from an elf in the forest.

We really are in a fucking crisis, let me tell you.

Right so, have yourselves a good Thursday. More, and an Arsecast (probably), tomorrow.

Pre-season continued last night with a 1-1 draw against Hungarian side Szdyrgcbcbrtrvl Dlllbfyrtf with Theo Walcott scoring the Arsenal goal (goal and highlights via Arsenalist).

There really isn't any point in analysing these games too seriously. They're about getting some match fitness into the players, at this stage performances don't really matter too much. I didn't see any of it myself but we had Carlos Vela make his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt and new signing Francis Cocklesandmussels apparently did quite well.

There now comes a period when the players are going to be put through their paces and a lot of fitness work will take place in the build up to the next game against Cheeseburgerland next Monday. Pat Rice explains the idea behind the Austrian training camp and you can see some pictures here.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger spoke about our midfield, saying:

We need one more body in there. If we find a reasonable target we will get him. There is no special name.

This is after saying new boy Aaron Ramsey faces a lot of competition to earn a place in the first XI so it'll be interesting to see who he brings in. Everyone knows the names that have been bandied around for the last couple of weeks, it'd typical of Arsene to sign someone nobody expects. A bit like the Eduardo signing last summer - and speaking of the Crozilian he's due back in 'three to four' weeks according to the boss. Whether that's just to training or if it means he's back and pushing for a place in the team remains to be seen.

There was some bad news from the training camp as well as Kolo Toure reportedly has malaria. He's in good spirits, apparently, but it can be a debilitating illness. However, I'm not sure it's thrown our pre-season into 'crisis' as some reports suggest.

Thierry Henry spoke yesterday about Arsenal. Interviewed during Barcelona's tour of Scotland he was asked about Adebayor and again you'd be wise to ignore the reports saying 'Henry opens the door for Adebayor at Barcelona'. He was very obviously non-committal when asked a leading question by a journalist. He merely said it's natural that when you have a good season big clubs look at you. He knows fine well that the journos were looking for something a bit juicy so they could run the 'Come join me at Barcelona' headlines. I mean, he even had some nice things to say about Alex Hleb, that's how media savvy he is.

Beyond that he had some very nice thing to say about Arsenal and he believes we can win something in the season ahead. I hope he's right. BBC video link here.

Samir Nasri is excited about joining Arsenal and says that Arsene Wenger's presence at the club was a major draw for him. He says:

He represents stability and continuity. We understand we can work on the long term with him. I think he’s been at Arsenal for 13 years. It means the world! I have joined an immense club where there’s everything to achieve great things. I’m delighted to be part of this new adventure.

He may have his maths wrong regarding the boss but it's good to know that former players, even ones who left under a cloud like Dolphin-headed cunt, have positive things to say about the club. We should get our first look at Nasri during next week's friendlies.

So there you go. To those websites complaining about a 1-1 pre-season draw, grow the fuck up you sad cunts.

Till tomorrow.

In a summer when clubs and players have acted fairly appallingly to engineer transfers I find it rather heart-warming that we have a manager who not only doesn't engage in the same kind of tactics but who is brave enough to speak out against it.

I know that after three years without a trophy and almost over a week without making a signing himself Arsene has his critics amongst Arsenal fans but to man Arsenal fans should be right behind him when he says that big clubs need to act better. He says:

If you don't show respect to other clubs I think that football is moving in the wrong way. You cannot come out like Ramon Calderon has done at Real Madrid with Manchester United and tell them you cannot stop a player leaving.

You can destabilise any player in the world — that is irresponsible. Big clubs should set an example.

And it's not just Real Madrid, it's Barcelona that have done similar to Adebayor and Hleb while AC Milan used Vincenzo Morabito to mess with Adebayor's head. Now, I'm not foolish enough to think that Arsenal are whiter than white, but we do not engage in the same kind of media-led pursuits of players the way these clubs do.

The way Madrid have acted this summer over Ronaldo has been dreadful. It's been so bad that as an Arsenal fan I have sympathy for Man United. Of course the clubs like Arsenal and United aren't helped by the players and their agents who lose sight of the fact that they're already earning a fortune and everything they do is motivated entirely by greed. It's a sad situation really but unfortunately I don't see it changing any time soon. 

Wherever there is big money there are shysters and scum-sucking bottom-feeding cuntblisters like agents and an agent's job is to make his client money. It's not to say 'Well, you're actually earning good money here and for the sake of your football career I'd advise you to stay'. As long as agents are tolerated then things will never change. Ban all agents, that's what I say. If a player is too stupid to enter in wage negotiations, like every other person on the planet has to do themselves, then fuck them. 

One man who has certainly had his head turned by agents is Emmanuel Adebayor. The Guardian reports that in discussions yesterday he refused to commit to Arsenal, holding out for three times his current £35,000 a week salary. If that's really the case then fuck him. Absolutely fuck him. I'm tired of shit like this, just because you've scored a few goals one season does not mean you're a fucking superstar.

And to me it's obvious that Adebayor and his people have never been interested primarily in a wage rise at Arsenal. If he'd really wanted some more money they'd have gone and said 'Do you think that we could negotiate an improved contract for Adebayor based on his last season?' and there's every chance the club would have done that. When you walk in, just as the season is over, and blunderbuss a demand for £80,000+, knowing that the club has a wage structure, then it's just another way of making a transfer request. The worst thing is that no player will ever say they want to leave directly in case they lose their 'loyalty bonus' written into their contracts. Imagine. Loyalty bonus. It'd make you fucking cry.

So Adebayor's objective was never to get more money from Arsenal. It was to get a move to Barcelona or AC Milan. If Arsenal had capitulated and given him the cash then he'd have stayed, I think, because he probably likes it at Arsenal. He's a big personality, well liked by the other players and the staff, so either way is win-win for him. Now though, with interest from other clubs having cooled, perhaps the cast-iron guarantees his agent got from them not so cast-iron after all, he's stuck in a kind of limbo.

In one way I hope no move happens at all. It'd be sweet justice and hopefully it'd teach other players a valuable lesson. Watching Adebayor squirm as fans tell him what they think would be most enjoyable. On the other hand I'm loathe to keep someone who has acted in such a way and if the money came in and we had a decent replacement I'd flog him in a second. How he's fucked it up though. Well on his way to being a real fans favourite, still with work to do though, now he's just another cunt in a game full of them.

Bacary Sagna talks about his return and says his ankle is improving all the time. It's good to see him back as we really missed him at the tail-end of the last season.

The squad play a friendly against Hungarian side Szombathelyi this evening and the pre-season begins in earnest at the Austrian training camp. No doubt we'll get picture specials of them being put through their paces.

Other than that it's all quiet so I'll leave it there. More tomorrow. 

Good Monday to you,

it's the day when pre-season starts in earnest as those involved in European competition and internationals over the summer are due back.

Scheduled to return today are Robin van Persie, William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor. I don't know for sure but I suspect that due to Spain's run all the way to the final of Euro 2008, Cesc might be given a bit more time off. Arriving for the first time is Samir Nasri and his life as an Arsenal player begins officially today. Welcome to him.

I suppose the return of Adebayor will be the one that will generate most headlines though. With rumours in Spain this morning that Didier Drogba is on the verge of a move to Barcelona it would leave the Togonian in a rather difficult position. Unless the Kaka deal means Milan can come back in for him he may not have much option to but to stay at Arsenal. As I said yesterday whatever happens he's got to ensure that he doesn't disrupt our pre-season.

With the boss saying he'd 'think about' a £400m bid (typo in the sun, surely? That must be £40m and even then there's nothing to think about if someone offers that kind of money) for Adebayor he's challenged Theo Walcott to push on this season, saying:

Last season, his target was to play 15 or 20 matches, whereas this season, he must try to become a regular player in the Arsenal team. Can he break into the England side? That is what I wish. He is 19 years old and at that age, you have to improve.

True indeed and Theo's signs of improvement in the second part of last season were very encouraging. I just wonder how much time he's going to spend up front and how much in midfield again. He definitely enjoys playing up top more but given our lack of choice for that right midfield spot I think that might be where he can make himself a regular, for the season ahead at least.

Dribbly McNoscore's comments about Cesc generated some headlines yesterday. Having just arrived in Spain he said:

He loves this club, and though he’s at Arsenal, who knows, maybe one day he’ll come back here.

Well, we all know Cesc was born and raised a Barcelona supporter so to suggest he might go back there one day is hardly a surprise to anyone. I don't think his comments were made out of any malice towards Arsenal but there's no doubt they are somewhat injudicious. Let's be realistic though -  he's talking the talk of a man who wants to curry favour with his new fans before they see him play. He'd do well to not talk about Cesc any more though. I know Barcelona very well and I know where the footballers hang out. I would have no problem kicking the fucking cruciate off him if he doesn't shut the fuck up.

And that's about it. I suppose we'll get some reaction to the return of the internationals and the arrival of Nasri tomorrow.

Till then.

So pre-season kicked off with a 2-1 win over Barnet yesterday.

We were losing 1-0 at half-time then changed the entire team around and goals from Jay Simpson and Nacer Barazite secured the win. There really is nothing much to be read into a friendly at this stage but one or two of the younger players caught the eye apparently, Jack Wilshere in particular looking rather good.

Arsenalist has the highlights and the goals. And here's a post-match interview with the boss (thanks to Luther).

Afterwards Arsene Wenger said he expected Adebayor to return to the club on Monday for pre-season training saying, rather cryptically:

Adebayor is a player of Arsenal Football Club and I'm confident he will be here at the start of the season Adebayor is under contract, it’s a completely different position to Hleb.

Wasn't Hleb under contract too? Or is the situation completely different because nobody's actually made a bid for Adebayor. Strange all the same and I think Arsene's little smile as he spoke about Adebayor returning/staying speaks volumes. There was some reassurance though for fans who want signings. He said there'd 'certainly' be at least one signing, maybe two. You can even hear him say it on the BBC here.

I think there's still some wheeling and dealing to be done this summer. If Adebayor stays then I can't see us signing a striker but will Adebayor want to stay after what he's said and knowing he's hardly a fans favourite anymore? Songs were sung about him at Barnet yesterday and he's got a lot to do to win people around again if he does stay. When he does return he needs to be on his best behaviour too, if there's the slightest bit of agitation or bullshit to disrupt pre-season then we should come down on him like a ton of bricks.

The Times suggests he could be on his way to Milan if Milan sell Kaka to Chelsea but the Italians have said they're not willing to sell. If Chelsea were to make an official £80m bid then I think the situation would change rapidly. Who could turn down that sort of money? It's an obscene and disgusting amount.

The News of the World says Adebayor will tell the club he wants £100,000 a week. Apparently that's 'fair reward' for what he's done for Arsenal. It's so ludicrous and downright fucking stupid that it barely merits comment. What I would say is that if this is his agent's way of ensuring we're forced into selling him then he'd want to be very sure there's someone who can afford to buy him. If he wants £100,000 a week why shouldn't Arsenal ask for a transfer fee corresponding to that. He's the one making the valuation, isn't he? There are some reports in Barcelona this morning that they're still interested and Yaya Toure has been saying how Adebayor would add strength to their attack.

So there's still that uncertainty and honestly, if the chance came and the money was right I'd sell Adebayor in a flash. Some might see it as giving the player what he wants, but you don't need trouble-makers in your squad and I just get the feeling that he would be trouble if he stayed. Which is a real shame. The other concern I have is that this shit will keep going right up until August 31st and we'll be left to do a last-minute deal on deadline day just to get shot of the cunt.

As for our 'certain' signing will come in central midfield and who knows what else might happen?

The Sunday Mirror says both PSG and Barcelona want William Gallas. £5m for a 31 year old who really hasn't covered himself in glory since he arrived at Arsenal would be good business provided it was spent on a quality replacement.

The Observer talks to Theo Walcott. Leaving the dog whisperer aside he seems like a very level-headed and well grounded young man. He made good progress last season, it'd be great to see him do it again this time around.

Dennis Bergkamp has started his coaching career at Ajax. Imagine being a young player at Ajax and having Dennis as your coach. Amazing.

Right, that's about it. More tomorrow.

Morning morning. A very quick Saturday round-up for you.

Arsene Wenger has been talking about spending and money and all that. He says:

Of course I am in a position where I can spend the money. But every time we have done such a great job with the young players that you are concerned 'do we kill a young player or not by bringing another player in?' It is a very sensitive subject which is not specially linked with money.

I think, perhaps, it's only a sensitive subject for Arsene, it's certainly not for fans. If there's money to spend then he should spend it. His job, at the end of the day, is to bring success to Arsenal, not to develop youngsters like some kind of football creche. If a player is good enough he'll make the grade, irrespective of who's in his way.

The bottom line is that the squad is looking a bit shallow at the moment. In the last 6 months we have lost three quality central-midfielders and that's an issue that needs to be addressed with the cheque book. And by that I mean a grown-up replacement, not some 17 year old who may have all the potential in the world but at this moment in time is not the solution. Maybe another 17 year old is but I doubt it.

Anyway, there's something to be said for giving young players time on the pitch with experienced players. Of course they learn lots from just playing but if they have experienced pros telling them how they can improve and helping them along then their development is far from stunted. I like the idea of young players but at the same time the boss can't complain we lacked a bit of experience last season then make the squad even younger and more raw.

That said I'm pretty sure Arsene is aware of the situation and I fully expect him to buy some players before the start of the new season. Not doing so would be madness, in my opinion, and I don't think the boss is mad. Not that mad, anyway.

Gael Clichy compares Robin van Persie to Cristiano Ronaldo, in that he can score a goal out of nothing. Sadly, talented as he is, van Persie can't score a goal from the treatment table and he's got to have a much more injury free campaign this time around. Otherwise you really have start considering the future of a player who you just can't count on. 

Robin's big pal, Tomas Rosicky, confirms he'll miss the start of the season but says he hopes to be back in September. Even more than van Persie I feel this season is make or break for Rosicky. I really like him as a player but the amount of time he's been out injured since he arrived at Arsenal really does beg some questions. 

Hmmm, it's all a bit glum for a Saturday, isn't it? Particularly when our first pre-season game is taking place in just a few hours. We play Barnet at Underhill and if you have Arsenal TV you can watch it. Sadly NTL here are a pack of cunthounds so we don't have Arsenal TV. Boooo.

It's good to have the football back though. Have fun if you're going, more tomorrow. 

Morning all, another week over (nearly) and tomorrow sees our first pre-season friendly take place. Woo hoooo!

There's only one place to start this morning and that's the departure of Gilberto Silva, confirmed officially by the club yesterday. In stark contrast to the rather cutting remarks made by Arsene Wenger about Hleb's move the official website was full of good cheer towards the Brazilian, and so it should be. He's been a fantastic servant since he joined in the summer of 2002, been an integral part of title and trophy winning sides and, in an era when players are all too willing to throw a strop at the slightest little things, he's been a model professional in the face of some serious disappointments.

It really wasn't until he spent a long time out with a serious back injury that people realised what he brought to the side. Never the most dynamic or creative he had a natural defensive instinct and was always aware of where the team needed cover. If a centre-half went forward he automatically slotted into their position to cover. 

He had some landmark moments too. He scored on his debut against Liverpool in the Charity Shield, he scored what was then the fastest ever Champions League goal against PSV (despite giving the ball away, heh), and he scored our first goal at the new stadium as we drew 1-1 against Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2006-7 season. And that year was probably his finest as an Arsenal player. He led the team in the absence of Thierry Henry, scored a lot of goals and was, to my mind, our best player that year.

Last summer he went to the Copa America with Brazil and suffered for it. Most expected him to be made captain, Arsene went with William Gallas, a move which, in hindsight, turned out to be as poor a decision as the boss has ever made, in my opinion. Gilberto found himself on the bench as Flamini took his chance and kept his place in the side. But despite his obvious disappointment and hurt at the way things turned out he did nothing but keep his head down, work hard and give 100% for the club whenever needed. As a professional I sincerely hope that our younger players take their example from him rather than some of the other 'characters' in the squad. 

So he goes to Panathanaikos on a three year deal and I sincerely wish him all the best out there. He was a real professional and thoroughly decent man. Thanks for everything, Bert. You'll be remembered fondly.

His departure does leave a big hole in our midfield though but I suspect Gilberto's move was only sanctioned because the boss has something else lined up. As much as he might have high hopes for Denilson or Diaby there's no way we're going into next season with just those two, plus Cesc and possibly Song as back-up. I'm sure we'll make a signing for central midfield, I think it will be an experienced player and I suspect it'll probably be from an English side. There's talk of Barry or Xabi Alonso but who knows? There's definitely someone coming though.

Not much else to tell you about really. Barnet tomorrow should be good if only for the fact it's Arsenal and it's football.

If you can't get to Barnet and you fancy an Arsenal fix the London Masters is on at Wembley Arena. Ray Parlour leads the Arsenal side which also includes Steve Morrow and Vince Bartram, amongst others. Details here.

Right then, onto the Arsecast and this week I'm joined by Gilberto. Not Silva, but Silver from Gunnerblog, there's a player history with the Man in the Bar, a tale of the unexpected and I explain why there's no home shirt to give away in the competition.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, the direct feed URL is here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

Enjoy, see you tomorrow. 

Good morning,

today's blog comes to you with a slight midweek *boilk* as it was Blogette's birthday last night. She's 17 now. This is not good. It's much easier to own a 10 year old or a 14 year old. 17 year olds think they have rights and want to be treated like an adult and stuff. I told her she still has one more year before all that crap comes into play.

Anyway, let's move on from terrible things to happy things and finally, at last, we have sold Alexander Hleb. To Barcelona, no less. Will they never learn? He arrived there yesterday and performed the kind of badge kissing antics you'd expect from a pervert who gets their jollies from...erm...kissing badges. He claimed to 'love' Barcelona. Pffffff. Get to fuck, you non-scoring, Willem Dafoe looking cunthound. At least wait until you've scored a goal before you do that ... oh ... score a goal ... hmmmm, might be a while. Fair enough then.

Arsene Wenger said of Hleb's departure:

We must firstly thank Alex for his contribution towards Arsenal Football Club during his time with us. Alex played a significant role in the three seasons he was with the Club. We are comfortable with our decision to let him go and we are all looking forward to continuing our preparations for the new season ahead.

In other words, we're not that bothered and if you can think of anything to thank the fucker for in the three years he's been at Arsenal then by all means go for it but I'm fucking stumped. He played a significant role in us winning precisely fuck all.

Frankly, I'm amazed that he's gone to Barcelona. I don't know what kind of a player they think they're getting but perhaps they were looking for someone who can dribble very well and then pass the responsibility for scoring to someone else. Or indeed the legendary pre-assist which seems to have been invented by Hlebomaniacs to justify his existence.

Far from being a backward step I honestly believe this is a good move for Arsenal. This is no blow to the team. The transfer fee is believed to be around £12m, so we've made profit on him after three years, which is no less than we deserved having been frustrated by him in that time period. I've always said that Hleb was an incredibly skillful player, his close control and touch was fantastic, his dribbling and ability to make space was almost old-fashioned (in a good way) but his record in three seasons was just not good enough. Ten goals? That is rubbish. And before anyone says his job isn't to score goals I say 'Shhhhhh'.

I'd say the jammy fucker can't believe his luck and I have to say I'm a little irked that he gets to live in Barcelona and earn lots of money. Jealous? Yes. Of course. It's raining here again today. It hardly ever rained in Barcelona and there was sun and cheap beer and mojitos. Gah. Anyway, let's hope he follows in the footsteps of other Arsenal players who have made the move from London to Catalunya - may the Overmars and Petit be with you, Hleb. No goodbyes here. We've already moved on.

On the other hand Gilberto has arrived in Greece, according to reports, and was met at the airport by 1,500 Panathaikos fans. They carried him shoulder high before placing him in a carriage which was brought to the stadium by slaves and then he was fed grapes before putting on the Panathanaikos uniform which is some kind of leather thong and a trident. More on Gilberto when his departure is confirmed but we're losing a really nice guy and proper professional. Good luck to him.

There was more bad news for Adebayor as AC Milan announced their transfer business for the summer was finished. With Barcelona the only club supposedly interested in him, and even then it seems to be fading, Wanky Lanky is going to find himself with nowhere to go now. What I'd like to know is where he is. Is he at pre-season training? If not, why not? And if he's not then stick the fucker on the bench for the first few months of the season and don't give him any kind of pay rise at all.

Andrei Arshavin shows exactly how much he wants to join Arsenal here (Spanish). The headline reads 'Call me, Barcelona'. What a fucking tart.

The squad for Saturday's pre-season friendly against Barnet has been announced and new boys Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey are both included. I think this is actually on the TV on Saturday, perhaps Setanta. Someone can confirm in today's Arses, no doubt.

Right, well that's about that. I suspect, and it's only a gut feeling (and that could actually be last night's Japanese food), that the Hleb move will spark a bit of transfer activity from us. Midfielder? Defender? Striker? Robot ninja? I just don't know, but someone.

Till tomorrow, Arsebandits.

There was an interesting interview with Chairman Peter Hill-Wood on the official site yesterday. Most of it was run of the mill stuff, about how the board are patient but not complacent, and it ties in with what Danny Fiszman said a few days previously - that it's time to bring some silverware to the new stadium.

The bit that caught my eye though was when he was asked about transfers and he replied:

There is an awful lot of talk about big transfers and major demands of players but you will find throughout the UK and Europe that money is not quite as easy to obtain as it used to be. So I think a lot of these stories emanating from agents may not actually come to fruition. There is a lot of talk and not a lot of action.

And how true that is. Let's remember that the vast majority of what you read in the newspapers is put there by agents trying to drum up business for their client. And this summer we've seen agents look like proper chumps. The best example, I suppose, is that of Arshavin's agent who said a £19m bid had been received from a Premier League club. This turned out to be pure fiction and the agent is now desperately trying to get clubs interested at a much lower price. Players, clubs and agents are going to have to realise that the prices/wages they're looking for are simply unrealistic.

Another example of how the market has fallen is the transfer of Ronaldinho to AC Milan. He's gone for €21m according to the Spanish press this morning. This time last year there was talk of the Italians spending €60m+ on him and while I accept part of the lower transfer fee is because the player's star has faded somewhat a lot of it has to do with the way the market is.

It has been fueled by pure greed for the last few years, the massive influx television money, Bosman transfers etc have all played their part. I think someone like Mathieu Flamini can count himself very lucky - he managed to do his deal before people started thinking 'Hey, it might be a good idea to be somewhat sensible about money'.

Adebayor is probably unlucky in that his outrageous demands for more money have dragged on so long that they're now even more ludicrous than when he and his agents first made them. But then that's just tough shit for him. I haven't got the slightest bit of sympathy for him.

The transfer market across Europe has been deadly quiet this summer. I can't remember a close season like it, to be honest. There have been no big huge deals, no megastars being moved. Barcelona have had a difficult time selling Ronaldinho and even 6 months ago if they'd said '€21m for Ronnie' there'd have been a queue of clubs around the block waiting to bite their hands off.

Liverpool haven't signed anyone of note, United either, Chelsea have bought Deco but they're a special case in that economic difficulties don't really make any difference to them. By comparison we've spent relatively big so far. £5m for Aaron Ramsey and somewhere in the region of £11m for Samir Nasri. Now, I'm not trying to say all our problems are solved with those two, there's clearly work to be done, but our transfer market activity has to be viewed as part of the bigger picture, not just on its own.

Now, Ronaldinho to Milan is interesting as it almost certainly rules out any chance of Adebayor going there. That leaves only Barcelona as a possible and still much depends on their ability to move on Samuel Eto'o. Reports in the Catalan press this morning say Hleb will arrive in Spain today to finalise his move so Hleb is more of a priority than Adebayor. There are suggestions than Valencia might buy Eto'o but they are pretty fucked financially so any deal there is likely to involve a player swap, possibly involving David Silva.

So Adebayor may find himself in the very uncomfortable position of having agitated all summer for a move away from Arsenal but with nobody out there to buy him. Interestingly El Mundo run a story saying Barcelona want to sign a 'mega crack' (superstar) with the money raised by the sales of Ronaldinho and Eto'o but Adebayor's name is not mentioned at all. Another article says that Barcelona fans would prefer to keep Eto'o than spend money on Adebayor. Ooooops. Egg on face, tail between legs, and Mr Unpopular with the fans. That's a good summer's work for a player who should have just kept his fucking mouth shut and thought about his career rather than his retirement.

So, we'll see what happens in the transfer market. Maybe it's beginning to kick off a bit. It does look as if Hleb will sign for Barcelona today so that gives us some more money to play with - how we spend it remains to be seen, but there's plenty of time left to do that. But let's not lose sight of the market we're operating in which, ultimately, may suit us as players will go for lower prices and with more reasonable wages.

In other news it does look as if Gilberto is definitely on his way to Greece. If he leaves then I can't see us fail to make a central midfield signing, unless the boss decides someone like Diaby deserves his chance in there. There's talk about Barry and Xabi Alonso from Liverpool, either of whom would add experience and quality to the team, in my opinion. It's an interesting situation as well - Benitez has been counting on the money from the sale of Alonso to fund the purchase of Barry so we could try and gazump them on Barry or take advantage of the fact they need cash to sign Alonso. Naturally we'll just sign that Bischoff bloke for free instead but a man can dream, can't he?

Real Sociedad want to take youngsters Fran Merida and Pedro Botelho on loan next season.

And that's really about that. Until tomorrow but will update if I spot anything regarding Hleb's move to Spain.

Update: Hleb's Barcelona medical is scheduled for 7pm this evening and he should be presented as a Barcelona player tomorrow. Barcelona have more or less confirmed the deal on their official site (link in Spanish).

Morning all,

we'll start with the Sun's story about how we are interested in Gareth Barry. They ran a story last week saying we might be trying to nick the Villa man from under the noses of Liverpool but it seemed more like the kind of story planted by Barry's people to get Liverpool to finalise the deal. However, the Sun quotes Martin O'Neill, who says:

Myself and Steve Walford both know Arsene Wenger’s assistant Pat Rice. He phoned Steve to ask how the Liverpool thing had gone and said that they might show an interest. At the end of the conversation Arsenal said ‘that’s fine’ and that they’ll let us know. That is exactly what happened

So it's hardly earth shattering. We rang Villa and said we 'might' show an interest. I don't know if he means we rang and let them know at the end but it is at least a tentative link to a midfield player. Depending entirely on the price this could be a decent move - Barry needs no time to adapt to English football, what with being English and all, but if Villa are holding out for £18m from Liverpool then that's probably put him out of our price range. The over-inflated prices of English players never ceases to amaze me though - £17m for David Bentley would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressingly stupid.

Despite apparently playing down talks of a transfer Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz has apparently told Paul Ince he wants to leave and Arsenal are one of the potential destinations. I suppose this all depends on what happens with Adebayor. A quick search of the Spanish press shows no indication that anything new is happening on that front. Nor Hleb. The papers usually have pictures of the players when they arrive at the airport but there's no sign of Dribbly McNoscore over there yet. Sport suggests that Arsene Wenger is determined not to make life easy for Barcelona with regards Adebayor but it's really just the same old crap recycled.

I wonder has Adebayor come back to London for pre-season training. There's no reason why he shouldn't have. Conspiracy theorists amongst you have emailed saying he's been taken out of promotional literature, the shop won't print his shirt unless you specifically ask for it etc. Me, I just want life to be as awkward as possible for him which is as much as he deserves for shooting his big, fat mouth off.

Meanwhile, the agent of Andrei Arshavin is getting itchy-feet. Having seen Zenit rubbish his claims that a £19m bid from an English club had been made he's doing his best to talk up Arsenal's interest, saying his client, who dreamt of Barcelona and only Barcelona, would really enjoy it at the Grove. It really does smack of desperation now and his dreams of a big pay day securing a great deal for his client are ebbing away.

Carlos Vela is looking forward to getting his Arsenal career going and playing with Cesc Fabregas. He says:

Spain was a just winner of Euro 2008 and Cesc Fabregas was sensational. For me he is my idol and it will be a great experience to work next to him in the squad. I hope he will help me in the first months. I want to be a warrior for The Gunners.

Awesome. I want him to be a warrior too, taking to the pitch in traditional Aztec garb and spearing opponents through the eye just because they look at him funny. Seriously though I'm really looking forward to seeing this young man in the red and little bit of white of Arsenal this season. It strikes me that we are building quite an array of talent for our wings/striking positions. Wenger has said that he sees Vela as a striker more than a winger so it'll be interesting to see where he gets played in pre-season. Will he do like Walcott and blood him on the flanks (sounds a bit pervy that, actually) or throw him in at the deep end, so to speak? We'll see. Only 4 days until the first pre-season game. Sweeeeet.

Danny Fiszman has defended the increase in price in season tickets. The cost of everything is going up these days so it's inevitable that football will follow. 

And that is about that. Till tomorrow, arsefans.