Right, well where to start?

Yesterday was indeed a busy day. A day of hype, exaggeration, ballyhoo, misinformation and almost 100% bollocks.

Thankfully though it seems to have ended well enough as we'll be signing Andrei Arshavin who is, gauging by the reaction of yesterday's events, somewhere between Jesus, Santa and Luke fucking Skywalker. Don't get me wrong here, I wanted him to sign, but the frenzy some people worked themselves up into over it was just incredible.

Let's look at Arseblog, for example. On a busy day there's somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 comments. At the moment we're up over the 4,400 mark. A regular day sees somewhere in the region of 25,000 visitors chug along to the site. Yesterday we fell just short of 50,000, in one day. For a site that updates in the morning and wasn't even doing live updates that's mad.

I've said it before. The summer is the busiest time on Arseblog. June, July and August bring the most visitors to this blog about football at a time when there isn't even any football. Yesterday was like all 3 summer months wrapped up in one 12 hour period. Mental.

Of course I understand people wanting news and all that but it was crazy. The likes of Sky Sports News didn't help either. Their bluster machine must have changed their story about 20 times.

"It's on!" - "It's off!" - "He's going back to Russia in a private jet!" - "He's having a medical!" - "Fee has been agreed, personal terms have been agreed!" - "He's sitting weeping in the corner!"

And so on and on and on and on and on and on and on. It was done, then it wasn't, it was on, then it was off, then on again, then Zenit would say it was off, someone else would 'understand' it wasn't and basically it was all just tedious beyond belief.

And it was hardly a surprise that so much information was spewing out, like yellow shite from a new born's arse. Dennis Lachter, representing Arshavin in this deal, was seemingly quite willing to share information with anyone who sent him a text - his mobile number being available via the FIFA website. When you consider Zenit appear to have about 42 different spokespeople then it all adds to the mix.

All the while Arsenal have been silent. It might be frustrating for fans but fans should really get over themselves. If this has proved anything it's how incredibly complex some transfer negotiations are. It's not like Championship Manager. It's not that easy to buy a player and Arsenal are under no obligation to share the details of their negotiations with anyone.

I'm told that Zenit were extremely difficult to deal with and have been, not just yesterday, but ever since the initial contact was made. However, it seems we called their bluff. Arshavin wanted out, desperately, and in the end they knew they had to sell. We made them go right to the wire and while we won't announce the fee it's certainly not as high as the one Zenit announced yesterday. It might not even be as high as the one you see in some newspapers this morning. 

We played hardball, it was risky - as it always is - but it appears to have paid off. As it stands all the required documentation has been submitted to the Premier League and the transfer is expected to be ratified this morning. We should get official confirmation from the club shortly afterwards. Now, given the way this transfer has gone it wouldn't be a surprise if there was another twist but all going well Arshavin will be an Arsenal player.

Word is he's going to wear the number 23 shirt and the best thing about his arrival is that we don't have to deal with any more speculation, rumour, innuendo, tittle-tattle, hearsay, scuttlebutt or people who 'understand' or are 'led to believe'. We can get on with the business of him being an Arsenal player, playing football for Arsenal. And Jesus Christ monkeyballs you have no idea how happy I am about that. 

While we'd all like our transfers to be more like Eduardo, who popped up on Arsenal.com without so much as a hint from anywhere, you have to accept that often the other people involved in the transfer will try and use the media for their own agenda. Both Zenit and Lachter have done just that throughout the course of these protracted and almost epic negotiations. Neither of them were singing off the same hymn sheet and they know and understand that fans are desperate for news. A leak here, a leak there, to try and pressure Arsenal. It didn't work in the end, not for them anyway.

Maybe it's a sad reflection of our team that there was so much interest in this one player. Yes, he can make a difference, yes he can bring something new to our team and something which we really need at this moment in time, but it's almost like folk are more interested in signing players than the actual football. It's weird. As I said I'm glad he's joining us but I think when people step back a bit and look at the circus that surrounded his arrival ... I dunno, it's all just a bit distasteful, in my opinion.

Ok, onto other news. Tonight's FA Cup game against Cardiff has been postponed due to the bad weather in England at the moment. It's rescheduled for Monday Feb 16th and will be live on Setanta. Our crappy snow here in Dublin seems to have gone away so I'm hoping my game of football won't be called off tonight.

Beyond that there's not much else happening. It's a shame the Cardiff game is off because it would have been a perfect way to draw a line under everything else. As it is we've just got to wait until Sunday for the North London derby and all the build-up to that.

Will Arshavin play? Where will he play? Arshavin is living in a hotel! No, he's living in an apartment! His family are coming with him! No, they're not. He's splitting up with his wife who never wanted to leave Russia! No, that's a lie - I just made that up so it'd sound like I had some kind of inside track.

AAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHHH - I've caught Sky Sports.

Mañana, Owlfans. 

Good morning to you from the winter wonderland that is Dublin. There are drifts of snow everywhere you look, flying snowmen, children frolicking gayly ... well, in actual fact we had a light dusting of snow so I'm expecting the whole place to grind to a halt.

When it rains in Dublin, even though we've probably had more experience of rain than other nation on earth, the traffic instantly becomes about 600 times worse. Snow is going to mess this place up good and proper, let me tell you.

Anyway, with just hours to go until the transfer window closes there are reports (hah, how true all the reports have been so far, eh?) that Hooty McOwl flew to London on a private jet in preparation for a move to Arsenal. Sky Sports 'understand' that he did that. The same way BBC Sport understood stuff in the summer and the same way that I understand that we're still not that close to an agreement with Zenit.

The deadline is 5pm today and at least after that we won't have to worry about understanding, reports, dodgy agents, tricky sellers, striking players or any of the the other stuff that goes with the transfer window.

Arsene has been talking about the possible arrival of Arshavin but has tried to play down his impact, saying:

We do not need an instant saviour. There is always a danger that people always want a wonder man, but I do not believe in that.

I believe we have to keep going, and accept that the expectation level on him would be very high - if he joins us. But if he doesn't join us, then I am not more pessimistic.

We may not need a saviour or a wonder man. What we need is someone to rescue us and possibly some kind of superman. Look, here's the thing the way I see it. Yes, expectation level around Arshavin would be high, almost insane, but the only reason for that is because we need some new players and fans would see his signing as a step in the right direction.

Arsene is looking for his team to be judged at the end of the season and while that's obviously the best time to pass judgement it's asking people to ignore the evidence in front of them. And on the basis of that argument if we waited until the end of last season to judge we could have said 'Good side, not quite good enough to win the title, but with a couple of canny additions it would pose a real threat'.

So when we go into the next season with a team and a squad that is actually weaker than the one which came close the previous season then it's a bit much to ask people not to judge.

Anyway, back to Arshavin. I hope he signs. I really do. It would provide us with a fresh face, somebody to give the squad a boost, and, perhaps, somebody who might make the difference in the kind of game we drew against West Ham.

Obviously I'd love another player or two as well but I just don't see that happening. We don't know yet the extent of the injuries to Diaby and Eboue. I suspect the former is far more serious than the latter but if injuries mounted up (even further) a loan signing to add some depth to the central midfield area might not be beyond the realms of possibility.

But look at me getting all giddy. Chances are Arshavin is still in St Petersburg, Arsenal will sign nobody and Eboue will be our central midfielder until Cesc returns (see what I'm doing here? Good).

Please note blog will continue on my return from the school run which may take some time due to the terrible snow...I'm just making sure you all have arses to play with.

Right, the blog will continue now. Not sure with what though. It seems Arshavin is in Hertfordshire. And I understand he's having a bacon sandwich and a cup of Earl Grey. Reports suggest he's going to build a snowman in the garden of his hotel and he has specifically requested that the kitchen provide him with a carrot and two spuds so he can make either a nose and two eyes or something a little more rude, depending on how he feels.

I need breakfast. More tomorrow.

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Arshblog, the blog dedicated to bringing the latest and greatest news about football's most Owliest Russian.

This morning I can report that Andrei Arshavin had a fantastic day yesterday. He and his wife went shopping to the supermarket to cheer themselves up after a very trying week. Of course he's been upset that the move to Arsenal has been so protracted and not only that - he discovered that a family of rare moles has been living his his spare bedroom, which meant the RSPCA (yes, it works) have scuppered plans to build a cross between a steam room and a sauna. Russia will just have to wait for its first stauna.

Then last night came the good news that Andrei's best friend, Igor, has been released from prison where he spent the last 17 years after cannibalising his entire family in a hilarious Christmas prank! And things got even better when it became known that Arsenal and Zenit St Petersburg have, apparently, agreed on a fee which would see Andrei become an Arsenal player.

We'll have more on that in the days ahead and don't forget our regular Saturday feature - Andrei's Underpants in which we take a closer look at our man's Y-fronts. So that's it for today's Arshblog, more tomorrow. Do svidanija!

---

Thank you to our Russian correspondent for that update. We'll hear more about this in the coming hours/days, no doubt, until such point as Zenit say "Agreement? What agreement? We agreed nothing. And Arshavin is being sent to the salt mines until he learns some manners".

Seriously though, it would be no surprise if something else were to happen to this deal so let's not jump for joy, or half-glee (which is my preferred happy leap), just yet.

There was some sad news in the transfer market too. Apparently we've turned down a bid from Atletico Madrid for Emmanuel Eboue and according to Eboue's agent he's been invited to London for talks about extending Eboue's contract.

Now, while the first part might cause a grown man to weep bitter tears over his keyboard of a morning the second part would be enough to take him to the top of a tall building to test his ability to bounce off the ground below.

However, I suspect it's all a load of bollocks really. Eboue only signed a new 'long term' (weeps) contract in May 2007 and he's hardly done enough for the manager to offer him a new one already. When you have players like Theo and Robin van Persie waiting on new deals I don't think there's even the slightest chance that we're going to extend Eboue's contract. Let's face it, he has been desperately poor this season, he was poor last season, at some point we've got to cut our losses with the 'pass master'.

I think we'd be quite mad to turn down any team who offered us any money whatsoever for Eboue. 

Better news about Eduardo though. He's feeling no ill-effects of the 90 minutes against Stoke Reserves the other night and he's chomping at the bit for first team action. He says:

I think I am ready for the first team but you would have to ask the boss. I feel very well and I’m training hard every day. But playing my first game for the first team, I am ready now and I am just waiting for my chance.

Great news, and perhaps the boss might stick him on the bench for the FA Cup game. I suspect he'll ease him back in very gradually though.  

In other news Aaron Ramsey admits to 'mixed feelings' ahead of Sunday's game against his old club. I suppose that's only natural having grown up there. I think he'll play on Sunday too, I reckon the boss will have one eye on Wednesday's game against Everton and will mix things up a little bit.

Meanwhile Nicklas Bendtner has apparently turned down the chance to join Hoffenheim. 

Right then, that's the news. Time for the Arsecast. On this week's show we get some of your thoughts about the Arshavin saga, the Man in the Bar has a player history, there's a tale of the unexpected plus the usual waffle. 

You can subscribe to the Arsecast iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here 22mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

Right then, that's your lot. A fuller FA Cup preview with team news and what have you on tomorrow's blog.

When I was a young lad I was a touch more pious than I am these days. Despite the fact there was no internet, no NewsNow, no wall to wall blogs (in fact I didn't even have the poor man's internet -Teletext- back then), it became common knowledge that Arsenal wanted to sign Charlie Nicholas from Celtic.

He was a sensation, a liquid football goal machine in green and white hoops, and I desperately wanted him to sign for Arsenal. He had all the big clubs to choose from but what swayed it in Arsenal's favour was the fact that I would lie in bed at night and say 'Dear God, please let Charlie Nicholas sign for Arsenal. I promise I'll go to mass and I'll tidy my room and I'll keep it clean and I'll put my clothes in the linen basket and not on the floor and I'll do all my homework and study for my exams and everything. Just as long as Charlie signs for Arsenal!'.

And the next day I would get up and go about my business doing none of the things I promised and the next night I would go to bed and say 'Dear God, please let Charlie Nicholas sign for Arsenal. I promise I'll go to mass and I'll tidy my room and I'll keep it clean and I'll put my clothes in the linen basket and not on the floor and I'll do all my homework and study for my exams and everything. Just as long as Charlie signs for Arsenal! But this time I really mean it, I swear'.

And so it would go. Now, there are those of you who will consider my relationship with God a touch one-sided but God did not mind. He is all generous and funky and stuff and he decided to answer my prayers and lo and behold Charlie signed for Arsenal*.

Somewhere in Russia an Owly footballer is going through exactly the same thing. Speaking about the off-off transfer deal that has plagued us for weeks, he said:

My hopes now rest with God. Apart from him, nobody can help me.

And even God would have problems with Gazprom, those are some powerful motherfuckers, let me tell you. Arshavin goes on to say:

Zenit have to think realistically. I believe that Arsenal's offer is much closer to my real value in the transfer market at the moment.

Well, he would say that as he is obviously desperate to leave and join us. If Arsenal were offering £5.99 he'd try and say that was fair too. The problem is the market is inflated, and not just by megabucks Man City. Sp*rs are doing their bit to keep transfer prices high by spending ludicrous amounts of money on players/second hand players so Zenit are probably thinking Arsenal should be spending that much on their star player.

Maybe God could make it so Arsenal win the EuroMillions lottery draw on Friday. That way we'd have the kind of windfall that meant we could just throw in the extra £5m Zenit are looking for and still have a bit left over for a couple of stadium payments and perhaps a Bischoff or two.

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood, meanwhile, has confirmed we've made our final bid, saying:

This is our final offer – we don’t go any further. If we don’t get him, we don’t get him. There are other fish in the sea.

Dennis Lacter, Arshavin's agent, is branding the Russian team as 'barbaric'. If there are other fish in the sea then I suggest we start fishing straight away. There's a little under two weeks until the transfer window closes and given how long it normally takes us to complete a deal then we'd need to get cracking.

There's obviously a big, big difference between what Zenit want and what we're prepared to pay and the club has shown in the past that they're unwilling to go beyond their valuation of a player. Perhaps if it were just a few hundred thousand we might, but when you're talking millions and millions of pounds it's a different matter entirely. Nevertheless Zenit say they hope to reach a 'logical conclusion' and say that Lachter isn't privy to all the details. It's all a bit messy.

What would you do, if you were Arsenal? Would you cave into the demands, pay the extra money? Or would you tell them to stuff and look elsewhere? If so who would you bring in? Let me know - some of your thoughts would be interesting for tomorrow's Arsecast. You can leave a voicemail by calling the Arsecast hotline. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360. Lines are now closed.

Elsewhere Emmanuel Adebayor has been talking and talking about winning the title and all kinds of stuff. It's like someone gave him the bumper book of footballing clichés. At the moment I don't want to hear about the title, only the next game.

Last night saw Eduardo continue his comeback from injury against Stoke Reserves at the Brittania Stadium, but it was Jack Wilshere who stole the show. The young man scored both Arsenal's goals in a 2-2 draw, the first an absolutely stunning effort with the outside of his left foot - animated gif here. He's really knocking on the door of the first team already and if I were Arsene Wenger I'd certainly be considering him for the FA Cup game on Sunday, and beyond.

I know it's not the done thing to criticise Eboue any more but if anyone can tell me, hand on heart, that they think Wilshere would bring less to the team than him then I would have them carted away by men in white coats. And I don't mean polar explorers. Yes, he's just 17, but he's clearly an exceptional talent and I don't think being introduced to first team football would phase him one bit. Nor do I think the team would suffer if he played. Bring on the Jack, Arsene.

Right, that'll have do ya. Must dash. Have a good one.

* It should be noted that God took his revenge by not giving me any of the stuff I subsequently asked for such as my own island, a spaceship, a bomb to go off under John Terry's car or the ability to fly like an eagle. He is a revengeful and spiteful God. Oh yes he is.

Some time ago I mentioned that the transfer of Andrei Arshavin reminded me of the time we tried to sign Julio Baptista from Sevilla.

One day the deal was all but done, the next it seemed unlikely to happen. The same is happening with Arshavin. Reports that Arsenal directors had flown to Russia to finalise the deal were wide of the mark and it seems the deal is essentially at an impasse.

Arsenal have made an offer, Zenit have rejected it. From what I'm told it seems the Russian club have been difficult during the whole process. Just when we think we're close, they add on another condition, or two, to the deal. The latest seems to be that Arsenal are expected to pay all the agent's fees for the deal which we have, rightly in my opinion, refused to do.

So as it stands the deal is dead. We have our valuation of the player, they have theirs. They want to try and squeeze every last penny out of the deal, we are refusing to be squeezed. Of course stuck in the middle of all this is the player who obviously wants to leave Zenit and play for us but between his club and his agent they're making such a move almost impossible.

There are those who would say we should just pay what they want but if what they want is far above what we consider a fair price then why would we pay it? Is our need for him that pressing? Yes, he would improve the squad but let's also remember there are only 16 league games left this season. Wenger has always spoken about how foreign players need time to adjust to English football - we have that legendary 6 month period - and Arshavin hasn't played in some weeks due to the Russian season being over.

So even if we do sign him we have a player who needs to get match-fit trying to adapt to a new league. Now, I know anything is better than Eboue on the right hand side but Theo Walcott should be back in a few weeks so that, at least, gives us an option.

Remember also that Wenger said that Arshavin was not the only player they had in mind. So if things between Arsenal and Zenit break down completely then you have to imagine we'll turn our attentions to one of the alternatives - if we're serious about bringing somebody in during this transfer window.

And amidst all the hype surrounding Arshavin perhaps we've lost sight of the fact that if we do make signings this January we have other areas of the pitch in more urgent need of reinforcement.

Anyway, I've suspected that any deal(s) we do in this transfer window would happen right at the death and I think that's still the case. Maybe we'll call Zenit's bluff and sign Owly just before the close, if he hasn't gone somewhere else, and I think the same is true for any signing. At the moment clubs are looking for ridiculous money for ridiculous players. £14m for Craig Bellamy? Give me a break. I know it's Man City, but still. £14m for Wilson Palacios? I know it's Sp*rs who love to pay astronomical money for players, but still.

The market has shown no sign of deflation, no indication that the current financial climate is being considered at all, and if you were to ask me if I thought us paying £20m was good business for Arshavin I'd have to say no, no matter how much I'd like to see him play for us.

Gunnerblog has some more thoughts and info on the Arshavin saga.

In other news Arsene has been bigging up Aaron Ramsey who is likely to feature against his old club, Cardiff, in the FA Cup on Sunday. The boss says:

I must say that he is ahead of where I planned for him to be in January. He has not only made the step up from the Championship to the Premier League, but also to a Premier League team that wants to be at the top and who fights in the Champions League, and that means it's a massive difference at such a young age.

I do like what I've seen of Ramsey so far, I have to say. He does have a tendency to hold onto the ball a bit too long but experience and games will see him put that right. He's got a lovely eye for a pass and he's not afraid to shoot either, something some of our other midfielders seem more reluctant to do. Hopefully he'll kick on in this second half of the season.

Keeping it Cardiff, Robin van Persie talks about our FA Cup opponents.

So there you go. Obviously there isn't the good news regarding the new signing everyone wants but it's not the end of the world either.

Till tomorrow.

Here's a list of my favourite Russians of all time:

1 - Rasputin

2 - Does Oleg Luzhny count?

3 - Boris Slutsky (who couldn't have him in their list? Of course he just edged out Ivan Slapperkov).

4 - That's it. 

So there's plenty of room for a new Russian to make the list and all things going well Andrei Arshavin will be that Russian.

Arsenal officials are in Moscow, apparently, which seems a bit odd as St Petersburg is where Zenit play. It'd like someone trying to buy one of our players and flying to Hull. Maybe there's some kind of meet-in-the-middle vibe going on. A sign that Zenit are willing to compromise on price and conditions. Arshavin's agent says:

There is no concrete news yet but on Tuesday there could be. 

Well there you go then. There could, perhaps, maybe, be some concrete news. Or their might could maybe not be. With the fall through of the Kaka deal there are those who think that Manchester City might now try and gazump us for the signing of the Owlish one but they've just signed Craig Bellamy. How much more intense and double-hard quality do they need?

There's no doubt a deal for Arshavin is close and even if City come in does the player want to join a club engaged in a relegation battle? A team rightly scorned for their ridiculous attempt to sign a player way too good for them and way out of their reach? If he does there's not much we can do about that but it'd say plenty about the character of Arshavin.

I suspect, all things going well, we'll announce him in the next day or two and work can immediately begin on finding a nice barn for him and his family to move into. 

Tomas Rosicky has been talking about his condition and the condition his condition is in. He's upbeat, he's positive, he's hoping to be back soon, saying:

I’m working hard every day and I want to be back soon. I’m not the first, neither the last, player that has been out injured for a year. I am looking forward to when I will be able to say to the fans ‘I am fit and going to play at the weekend’. I believe it will not be a long wait.

Well that would be good news but realistically it's going to be next season before we see a fully fit Rosicky. If he does get over the injury he's got a huge amount of work to do to regain his fitness, then match fitness, and then he's got to get used to playing again. A year without football means he's got to regain his touch and sharpness and if the estimates which say March are correct - and let's not forget the estimates haven't been right yet - it's going to take some time to get up to speed. 

I'd be very glad to see him back in the squad though. There are games when we could have done with his craft, not to mention the icing on the cake goals he specialised in. 

Meanwhile William Gallas says he's going to see out his Arsenal contract, which apparently has two years left to run, and then decide on his future. Does he really have two years? I thought his contract would be up next summer.

Anyway, I suspect that Gallas might find himself moved on in the summer. I don't see him coming straight back into the team on his return from injury, unless one of Kolo or Djourou picks up a knock, and I'm not sure not being first choice will sit well with him. When you consider everything else that's gone on before I would be most surprised to see Gallas at the club next season, despite what he says.

And there you go. With the FA Cup game not until Sunday there's nothing much else stirring. Fingers crossed our Russian delegation can come back with the goods. In the old days it was easy, just bring a truck load of Levi 501s and you could have any three players plus a priceless Kremlin artifact. It just shows how much football has changed.

Hasta mañana lechuzariños. 

Happy Saturday to you,

shall we start, as we seem to have done for the last 875 weeks, with news of Andrei Arshavin? We shall. There's all kinds of talk about Alisher Usmanov being involved in the deal now as his company Gazprom­investholding is the international arm of Zenit's owners Gazprom. I'm not sure how much Usmanov is involved in this, if at all, but it does seem as if something's stirring. A Zenit spokesman said:

Zenit have invited Arsenal officials to St Petersburg next Tuesday. This is to show that Zenit do want to find an option which will be acceptable for everyone.

It's thought Ivan Gazidis will travel to take part in/complete the negotiations so we should know more then. If it doesn't work out the boss has said that there are other options but it does seem as if the focus is 100% on Arshavin at the moment.  

Ahead of today's game against Hull Arsene Wenger says:

We feel we are on a good run and want to quiet and focus. I am confident we look solid and have a team who can make results away from home.

And referring to the defeat at home against Hull in September he said:

We want to continue our progress, it is not about revenge at all.

Obviously nobody told Abou Diaby:

Three points are vital, of course, for me there's definitely some revenge to be had and when even Gabriel Agbonlahor is trying to play mind games we should be right up for this one. As I said yesterday Hull's form is not great at the moment but they won't be a soft touch by any means. Kick off is 5.15 and it's live on Setanta.

Some goals for Emmanuel Adebayor would be a good thing. He's not found the same kind of form in front of goal as he did last season, just 7 in the league so far, but he does have the second best assist record in the Premier League this season - only Berbatov and Malbranque have more (they're on 8, Adebayor on 7). Of his form the boss says:

At the moment, he is working very hard to come back to good form and is on a good way. What is important is that he works hard and contributes to the team - if he opens the way for other players, for me it is the same.

Perhaps a touch of complacency has crept into his game but now with van Persie firing on all cylinders, Vela beginning to come through and Eduardo on his way back to fitness maybe the competition for his place might help his form improve. 

Last week Cesc spoke about how it wasn't normal for a player of his age to have played as much football as he has. Which is entirely true. AW responds, saying he protects his players from burn-out as much as possible, although I suspect he might look at Cesc and think he's overburdened him slightly.  

Aaron Ramsey talks about rugby and the decision he made to join Arsenal.

And that's about that. Time for some Saturday breakfast and some pacing about the house until the game kicks-off.

Here's to three more points and if we could possibly combine the three points with a (semi) decent performance then all the better. I'd still take a ricochet off the ref's arse though.

Till tomorrow. 

Is there anything more irritating for fans of a club desperate for new signings to hear their official website spout crap about players coming back from injury being new signings?

Yes, there are lots of things much more irritating than that - such as an unstoppable itch on your anus - but in footballing terms it is somewhat vexing. Speaking at his press conference yesterday Arsene Wenger was making the point that even if things didn't happen with Arshavin we would have Rosicky, Cesc and Walcott to come back, as well as Eduardo in the next couple of weeks.

The official site hasn't really done him any favours to be honest. This is pretty much their spin on it. If you actually watch the press conference it's not really how they make it out. Spouting this 'like a new signing' thing seems, to me at least, to be uniquely Arsenal. Possibly because we have so many players out injured these fake new signings are supposed to make us feel better. Let's be very clear, none of the players coming back from injury will be like a new signing. It will be like an injured player coming back from injury.

What would be like a new signing is an actual new signing. I don't understand why this is so difficult for them and at a time when pretty much every Arsenal fan is gumming for an actual new signing it shows a complete lack of awareness to run an article like that.

About Arshavin the boss said he was 'very hopeful' but beyond that he was saying very little. The journalists pressed him but he was giving nothing away. Obviously a deliberate tactic. When Zenit are talking, and Owly's agent is talking, Arsenal are saying nothing that might cause a problem while negotiations are ongoing.

They did ask him if he had other targets and he confirmed that he did have alternatives or options, I can't remember the exact word he used, but again he stressed that no deal was close and that as soon as it was he would tell them. The usual cards close to the chest.

When asked about the stories linking Kaka with a £100m move to Manchester City he said:

It is like an abstraction. It doesn’t look in connection with today’s world because on one side we have the economic situation which is quite worrying and for me this is abstraction. The implications would be disturbance on the market. Inflationary trend in a deflationary world. Manchester City are in a different world because they do not live with their income.

He spoke about how Arsenal have to live within their means, so to speak, and that has always been the way things have been done under Arsene Wenger. Many clubs, and we saw it with Leeds, borrowed way more than they could afford and paid the price, but City, like Chelsea before them, are on their own pedestal now. £100m for one player is just absolutely crazy and all the while we hear nothing from Blatter or from Platini.

They're so keen to protect the 'integrity' of the game with their xenophobic, petty little rules yet when something like this happens they have nothing to say. What a pair of arseholes. What City are doing is good for City but bad for football. Cesc has his say on it, warning that money doesn't always equal trophies, and let's be honest, even with Kaka City are a long way off winning anything.

The whole transfer business gets more and more distasteful every time the window opens. In the summer we had guys like Robinho and Berbatov acting like babies to make sure they got the move they wanted, and now we have this obscenity of a deal involving Kaka. It's hard to identify with what's going on, I remember the first £1,000,000 deal when it happened and thinking it was too much money for a footballer (I was only 8 at the time and I wanted that money to buy a Millenium Falcon) but here we are 100 times later. Arsene says:

We spend the money we have and not the money we don’t have.

Can't argue with that. Apart from when he doesn't spend the money he does have, but that's a whole other story.

Ahead of the Hull game tomorrow the only real team news is that Alex Song faces a fitness test but apart from that there are no new knocks and nobody back.

Robin van Persie talks about Carlos Vela and the impact he's making from the bench. We're beginning to see him a bit more regularly now, albeit on the left wing despite the boss saying he was a striker, not a winger.

The Mirror drags up the Matthew Upson story saying we're prepared to offer Bendtner and some money for the defender. It's like transfer rumour merry-go-round. We'll have the Arteta story tomorrow.

RedAction are having a raffle to raise money for Arsenal's chosen charity of the season, the teenage cancer trust. Check it out.

Right then, time for this week's Arsecast. In this episode I chat to Kevin Witcher of the The Gooner about season ticket renewals, money for players and the team's form, there's an exclusive from Ivan Gazidis via the AST, there are appearances from Sylvester and the Man in the Bar and that's about it. It's been a fairly slow news week.

You can subscribe to the Arsecast iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (18mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Have a good Friday, more tomorrow.

Morning to you, it's a quickie today because there's really not a whole lot going on.

Nothing new regarding Hooty McOwl apart from his agent saying nothing will happen this week but something will probably happen next week. This is after he said last week that something would happen this week. Frankly agents should stick to agenting and stop combining their work with that of a fortune teller.

Perhaps Man City will be back in for him after Kaka told them 'no thanks' but there really doesn't seem to be a great deal of interest from elsewhere. There was some mention of Inter Milan but that just strikes me as agent/Zenit bullshit - they're hinting at other clubs to force Arsenal's hand, I reckon.

Another one not coming is the Lazio defender Modibo Diakite. His agent ruled out a move saying Lazio was his family and blah blah blah. It was probably his agent who started the story in the first place but at least he's not trying to read our tea-leaves.

There's a lot of talk about Wilson Palacios. None of it involving us mind you. Sp*rs have made a £10m bid while the Mirror says United are set to offer £14m for the Wigan player. Those of you with good memories will remember we had him on trial last year but decided against signing him, instead recommending him to then Birmingham boss Steve Bruce who subsequently bought him for Wigan. What's my point? I don't know, only I used to have a dog called Winston and every time I hear Palcios' name it reminds me of him.

Palacios is certainly a better footballer but I bet he's not as good as my old dog at swimming in a lake then running up beside you and spraying you with water as he shakes out his fur. 

Denilson has been talking about the upcoming game against Hull City this weekend. They came to the Grove and beat us 2-1 back in September but the Brazilian is promising a different outcome this time, saying:

We need to concentrate this time and we will do, I believe in the team and in this game we will be strong against them, not like last time.

Not like last time indeed which was one of several wake-up calls this season. Sadly the team managed to put the alarm clock on snooze and didn't really wake up until after the Man City game, but there you go.

Hull's form is patchy at the moment. Having started the season so brilliantly they're going through a difficult time right now. They won in the FA Cup last night against Newcastle but in their last 13 league games they've only managed one win, a 2-1 over Middlesbrough.

You've got to think we've got enough to win the game but then I thought that about the home game too. Anyway, more on that one tomorrow and Saturday.

Dennis Bergkamp spoke to Arsenal TV and hinted that he'd be interested in returning to the club in a coaching capacity. He said:

I am doing the course in Holland which is the same as the pro-licence over in England. I really love this club and the country and I love working here. I would advise everyone to work in England, as a player or a coach, it just breathes football. It is fantastic for the game.

He's currently on the coaching staff at Ajax but how awesome would it be if he came back to Arsenal? Imagine Arsenal stars of the future having been brought up coached by someone like Dennis. Magic. 

The Daily Mail reprints an interview with Eduardo that appears in the official Arsenal magazine this month. He's due another reserve game soon so fingers crossed his recovery continues as well as it seems to have up to now.

Right, that'll be that. There's no more. Nothing to see. Move along please. Till tomorrow, with Arsecast, and what have you. 

Around 4am this morning I woke from a dream in which a monster, who lived behind a serving hatch in a canteen I was frequenting, went mad and started to eat my hand. A peculiar dream, no question, but not as peculiar as the fact that the hand he was eating in my dream was exceedingly painful when I woke up.

There was nothing wrong with my hand before I went to bed, now the outside of my right hand is very sore indeed. Almost as if it had been chomped on by a monster. Weird.

There's nothing really new to report regarding Andrei Arshavin. Gunnerblog, Johnny Swift that he is, has bits from an article in a Russian paper in which it appears Arshavin might go on strike in order to force through a move to Arsenal. It's reminiscent of Sylvain Wiltord who did exactly the same before he joined the club. Anyway, the Owlish one remains on the agenda, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of owls - check out this crazy video of how weird and scary they are. They'd eat your hand, oh yes they would, the hand eaters.

I bet it'd be like Jaws. Someone would catch a giant owl, string him up, open up his stomach and out would fall hands of all shapes and sizes. Maybe that's the secret to Arshavin's success, he sets his owly gaze on a defender and using his owly mind powers lets him know that if he tackles him he'll be like Captain Hook after the game. It makes perfect sense to me.

Robin van Persie knows Arsenal have gone too long without silverware. He says he feels the fans frustration, saying:

Yes, and I am like them. I feel the same, I want it as badly as them and it can be frustrating when it doesn’t happen. We didn’t win everything in the past couple of years, but we are doing absolutely everything we can to change it. The main thing is to finally get silverware.

Meanwhile Gael Clichy talks about how we're grinding out results at the moment while the boss explains why he put Samir Nasri in the middle against Bolton - and it's not because Diaby was rubbish, honest.

Well done to Jay Simpson who is on loan at West Brom. He scored his new team's first goal last night as they beat Peterborough in the FA Cup, immediately drawing the plaudits of manager Tony Mowbray. That's a decent start for him, hopefully he can keep it up. 

In the FA Youth Cup Gilles Sunu scored a hat-trick in Arsenal's 3-1 win over Wolves. We go into the 5th round now where we'll face Sunderland.

And from an Arsenal perspective that's about it. The main story of the day though is Man City's £100m bid for AC Milan's Kaka. While transfer fees have reached outrageous heights over the years this is just pure Championship Manager stuff. Of course Kaka is a brilliant player, one that every club would love to have, but £100m is madness - especially as they're offering to pay him £75m on top of that.

And as good as Kaka is he's not going to do much to prevent City being a defensive shambles, is he? I'll tell you, when the oil runs out in 30 years then City are going to be completely screwed. That said they're likely to have the best squad in next year's Championship by a long, long way.

Righto, have yourselves a good and owl free Wednesday. More tomorrow.