Morning all,

hope you're fine and dandy this Sunday morning. Some bits and pieces to get through and there's a lot of chaff amongst the wheat today.

The Mail is reporting Newcastle have made a bid for Philippe Senderos but the whole article is so utterly rubbish I'm not linking to it. They suggest that the boss is unhappy that when the alleged bid arrived the club didn't reject it out of hand, entirely overlooking the fact that it is always the boss who decides who comes and goes.

Throw in a quick line about Usmanov, Dein and Fat & Orange and you know where it's all come from. Maybe Newcastle have made a bid for Senderos but I'd be surprised if we sold.

Frank McLintock echoes the thoughts of many Arsenal fans when he says he believes Arsenal need to 'buy big' to win things again. He says:

I believe Arsene needs another two or three players and one of them should be experienced and proven. It might be time to speculate to accumulate if the big prizes are to come to Arsenal.

So what he's saying is he needs to buy one big name player. While most of us would agree that the squad needs to be strengthened I think the purchases don't have to be big names. It's been said before but Sagna/Eduardo quality coming in would be perfect, it doesn't have to be a superstar. Obviously though the experience side of things is important and even someone like Nasri has played 150+ games for Marseille so even at 21 he's no rookie.

Speaking of Nasri he's confirmed he's going to play on the wing, saying:

I had a chat with Arsene Wenger and I’m going to play on a wing because that is where their playmakers are, splitting with the full backs.

So Nasri's going to play on the left hand side, I reckon. It'll be interesting to see if he and Clichy can form the kind of partnership that Pires and Cunt (Cashely) did. Not to heap any pressure on Nasri but it's clear we've never replaced Pires properly. Rosicky has never been consistently fit enough, Hleb turned out to be a cunt so there's a big chance here for the young man. It used to be we were a team weighted to the left hand side - Pires, Cunt (Cashley), Henry all flourishing down there. Now we play a bit too narrow so hopefully Nasri on the left and Walcott (hopefully) on the right will give us greater width for the season ahead.

The People links us with a £5m move for Swiss international Goekhan Inler.

Hleb has been talking to the Sport newspaper in Barcelona. Some random quotes:

Adebayor - He's a very good player. It would be great if he could join us but I don't know anything about this.

Cesc - He's my best friend at Arsenal. It would be marvellous to play with him at Barcelona. I know he's really keen to come back because he grew up here but at the moment he's at Arsenal and an important part of the team.

Dear Hleb,

shut your poxy Belarussian mouth, you scabby, scarecrow looking cunthound.

yours,

arseblogger

Seriously, what a cunt. There are ways of answering questions, even loaded questions, which would make the whole thing a non-story. Hleb is intelligent enough to do that but chooses not to so he can go and fuck himself. He complains that London to was too big. 'Dehumanizing', he said. He hoped to find something more like Belarussia in Barcelona. Good grief.

And I'm only going to mention the Cesc to Real Madrid stories just to call them a big load of bollocks. They can go fuck off as well.

Right so, that's about your lot. Have a good Sunday, 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.

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.