Good morning,

let's start with the bad news and get it out of the way. The manager confirmed the injury to Tomas Rosicky and said he could be out for six weeks.

Firstly, let's say it's not a surprise. Players who have been out for extended periods of time are susceptible to picking up muscle strains and as well as that it is Tomas Rosicky. Secondly, the fact that it's a hamstring injury is a worry as well as that was the initial diagnosis of his knee injury.

Thirdly, it's a real shame for the player who had looked so sharp in pre-season. He must be absolutely gutted and it is a blow for the squad as well. Having a fit Tomas Rosicky would have been a real plus this season.

However, it's probably better that this injury has happened now as opposed to September 1st. As much as I like Rosicky as a player and a man it's clear that after everything that's happened in the last 18 months that we just cannot rely on him being fit. It sounds harsh but we can't assume he's going to take any part in this campaign. That's just the reality of it.

Hopefully the injury is nothing too serious but given his record you have to worry. And the manager has to consider what he needs to do with Rocicky out. Does he buy a replacement or does this move Jack Wilshere further up the pecking order? At least, given the timing of the injury, he's got a couple of weeks to make that decision.

At a press conference yesterday to launch Arsenal's official charity of the season (Great Ormond Street Hospital) he more or less ruled out a move for Patrick Vieira but did admit he'd been looking at players and weighing up options. He quite publicly admitted watching Fulham's Brede Hangeland, causing Woy Hodgson some worry this morning, and said:

We’ve had a look at him. We have not contacted Fulham or contacted Hangeland. We have not made our choice so it is difficult to talk about names right now. We can still make do with one or two players more. One could be in the defensive areas, and one in the attacking areas.

Is the interest in Hangeland real or is he a handy smokescreen for the real target? We'll see. However, hopes of making those signings before the season starts are slim as he hinted that he'd wait towards the end of the transfer window to do his businss, saying:

We make a few enquires for players, but we are nowhere near to signing anybody at the moment.  Usually the transfer market only speeds up from August 26 up to midnight on August 31 – and especially in the last two hours.

He's right, the market is busier then, but the danger of waiting so late is that if a deal falls through, and it's very easy for that to happen, then you've got no time to pursue different options. We saw it last summer, I'm convinced Liverpool led us up the garden path with Xabi Alonso. Knowing we'd find it impossible to do another deal when the pulled the deal at the 11th hour they also knew they'd weaken a rival.

So let's hope Wenger and Gazidis know they're playing a risky game if that's the path they wish to pursue - but then when you look at how close to the deadline they left it to sign Arshavin maybe they enjoy the pressure.

Nevertheless, the news that he's looking at a defensive player is good and the attacking option I think we always expected from him. As I said we'll wait and see if he decides midfield needs bolstering but the idea that he might sign three players is just so ridiculous I don't have words for it.

When Senderos goes we'll have five centre backs including Song so that makes three centre-backs because as it stands Song is our first choice defensive midfield player (and you know, I really never thought those were words I'd ever write). So a central defender makes sense. That said, if you asked me right now to choose between a centre-half and a top central midfielder who would play the defensive role in this formation I'd be inclined to go for the latter and pray I didn't pick up any serious injuries to the first three defenders on the list.

Of course in an ideal world you'd sign one of each but ... you know ... that's just not how we roll.

Going back to Jack Wilshere and he was asked about the young man not being in the England U21 squad and if that might mean he was in the main squad. *sigh*. The boss said:

I believe what is good in Jack's case ... he reminds me a bit of Rooney when he started, in his belief and in his positive attitude to go forward. still has a lot to learn, team-wise and in his relationship with other players but there are some great basics there. You do not want him to be a star before he has delivered, though, and managing expectation levels is harder here than anywhere else.

Far be it for me to be critical but mentioning him in the same breath as Wayne Rooney (on a football basis, of course) is only going to add fuel to the fire of expectation that burns on Expectation Hill overlooking Expectationsville. I see what he means in terms of the way he plays but a raft of 'New Rooney' stories is surely going to just add to the pressure. 

That said AW's record of bringing through young players is almost second to none and if anyone can manage it properly he can.

He also talked about the top four become a top six this season with the threat of Aston Villa and those moneybags light blue Mancs. We really have to think of a good name for them. Still, I do think this league has the potential to be more competitive than any for the last decade. The 'top four' still exist, Villa are a good side, we've seen how much City have spent on new players, Everton are a good side too, so there's definite competition and I think teams will drop more points than they have done in the past.

The Champions League draw takes place this morning. We already know the teams we might face. If I had to choose it'd be the Romanians, I don't want the Spaniards or the Italians, memories of Fiorentina and Batistuta at Wembley are stil vivid ("Stand up straight, Seaman!"), and while Celtic would probably be ideal in terms of travel they could be tricky now that they're not a dead cert to lose away from home. I'll update here when the draw is made.

Update: It's Celtic!

According to the Spanish press Levante, in the Spanish 2nd division, are weighing up a loan move for Fran Merida. Perhaps he's one of the players who might be considered in light of Rosicky's injury so I'd be surprised if this happened.

Update II: Looks like it's on. Shows what I know.

And that'll be that. The lads are probably on their way to Valencia today for tomorrow night's friendly which is the last game before the season starts. We're getting really close now.

Till tomorrow.

Morning all, and we'll start with Cesc.

In an interview during the Members Day the captain set out the goals for the season ahead, saying:

We will never start the season thinking we are ­going to finish fourth. Every big club goes through difficult moments and we are in one at Arsenal. But we have to be stronger than ever and stick together and I'm sure we will be fine. The quality is here and I believe we can do it.

Quality, check. Belief, check. Acceptance we're in a 'difficult moment', check. But he touched on something that worries a lot of fans, saying:

For the last three seasons we have been unlucky with injuries so hopefully this year we can all stay fit.

No question that would make a big difference but we do have a couple of fairly injury prone players, not least of which is Tomas Rosicky. There are all kinds of rumours that he's going to be out for six weeks with a hamstring problem. This emerged from Ian Wright's radio show on Talksport yesterday.

At the moment though that's all it is - rumour. I don't think there's any point in commenting until we actually have some facts, except to say it would be bad news for the club and the player if it were true. There's talk of a press conference today at which the extent of the injury will be revealed but if there is a press conference it's surely something to do with the Valencia game and not specifically about the player. Let's wait and see.

If it is true the best thing I can say is that the injury comes in an area of the pitch where we're relatively strong. There are more rumours emanating from France (L'Equipe) that we're going to up our bid for Marouane Chamakh today so if there's any truth to the Rosicky stuff then it might have a bearing on how quickly we want to do that business.

Also speaking about Cesc was chairman PHW who dismissed talk of a Milan bid, saying:

There is absolutely no chance of us selling Cesc. All this talk is just fabrication. Cesc is happy at ­Arsenal as far as I am aware.

He went on to talk about the possibility of bringing in new players:

Arsene is talking about adding one or two to the squad and there is a certain amount of money he has to spend. If Arsene wanted to buy a decent player he could, as long as the figure was not ridiculous.

And I suppose by that he means £30m for a player who would cost £12m last year or anything above £7.99 for Darren Bent. Positive noises I suppose but the proof will be when AW actually spends some not ridiculous money on a player.

This morning's AS in Spain suggests that Atletico Madrid are set to make a move for Emmanuel Eboue. Apparently he's their 'dream signing', their number one priority, the only slight drawback they have at the moment is the fact they don't really have any money. Considering we rejected Fiorentina's bid, bearing in mind they were cash rich having sold Melo to Juventus, it would be unlikely that Atletico's attempts to sign him end successfully.

Maybe if they threw in Reyes as part of the deal we might ... oh. Sorry. 

Shocking non-story of the day, Jack Wilshere has not been selected for the England U21s. Tomorrow we reveal that Jack Wilshere was overlooked by Barack Obama for the mission to bring back two journalists from North Korea while we take an in-depth look at why Jack Wilshere's failure to be appointed head of the European Central Bank brought about the global economic downturn.

Theo Walcott says he's ready to face Valencia if selected. You have to think he needs to play some part at the weekend because the next game is the first league game of the season against Everton.

Woy Hodgson talks about Brede Hangeland and confirms what we all suspected - that there has been no enquiry whatsoever from Arsenal about the defender.

Tomorrow sees the draw for the Champions League qualifying round take place and the five teams we could face are (as far as I'm aware): Fiorentina - Atletico Madrid - Celtic - Anderlect - FC Timişoara. I'll stand to be corrected on those but obviously you'd hope to avoid the Italians and the Spaniards. Not that the others would be easy but slightly easier.

The ideal draw would be the Romanian side FC Timişoara who haven't won a game in Europe since 1990. I'm not sure what time the draw is at tomorrow but I imagine it will take place after about an hour of incessant UEFA waffle.

And that'll be about that. Obviously we'll hope for some good news re: Rosicky later on. Here's hoping Ian's Wrong.

Till tomorrow.

Morning from a very wet Dublin. Come back summer, I forgive you.

We'll start this morning with news of Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh, a name that has become familiar to many in the last few weeks. After the game against Barnet on Saturday the manager admitted that the Moroccan was someone we were keeping an eye on, should we decide to bring in a striker.

However, yesterday the player himself said:

With my agent, we have agreed terms with several English clubs that are keen to sign me. They are just waiting for my decision. They are notably Sunderland, Blackburn, Tottenham and Fulham. Arsenal? I don't really believe in it anymore. My officials have not received any offer so far. 

Now, on Irish radio last night, journalist Xavier Rivoire (who wrote a biography of Arsene Wenger and one about Robert Pires), was adamant Chamakh would be joining Arsenal, citing a conversation he had with Gilles Grimandi who apparently told him as much (cheers to Shane for the heads-up). This also tallies with the information received some weeks ago by Philippe Auclair and reported here on Arseblog. I wonder are his comments about us not being after him due to us telling him to shut up a bit. He does like to talk.

So we'll wait and see what happens there. I know he's not exactly the high profile signing many people would like but to provide some kind of depth in the striker department he'd certainly fit the bill. As his contract is up next summer he would be a relatively cheap option, he'd provide insurance for Eduardo who may or may not suffer from injury setbacks again, and as I've said before I'm comfortable with him coming in provided we still address the midfield issue.

I think we've got plenty of quality and potential amongst our forwards. You can argue that the roster which includes Arshavin, van Persie, Bendtner, Eduardo, Vela, Walcott is strong enough but a bit more competition can't hurt. If he does sign he's there to add some depth, he's not there to be a first team starter, so I'm easy enough with his arrival. Equally I think we can cope without him so I'm not too bothered either way.

What is interesting is how quiet our midfield search appears to have gone. After the Melo saga, which wasn't really a saga, more a little sub-plot in a larger soap, there's been not one player linked. Gokhan Inler's name was thrown around a bit but I think that's just because they can't think of anyone else. I'm hoping our silence means we're working hard behind the scenes on making what I feel could be our most important signing of the summer.

Both George Graham and Alex Ferguson have been taking time out of their busy schedules to speak about Arsene Wenger. Graham believes we've no chance of winning the title next season while Demento appears to have inside information about our money situation, claiming that AW might not even be able to spend the money from the Adebayor transfer. I'm not sure what evidence there is we can't use the Adebayor money just a couple of days after the deal was done. It's nice of them to give their opinions though, now it's down to Arsene to prove them wrong.

As Tomas Rosicky comes back into the fold, promising he'll find his form again, Alexander Hleb is realising the grass is not greener on the other side, crying about how he should never have left Arsenal. The Barcelona bench cushion tester said:

I regret my move from London, but unfortunately nothing can be done about it now. For me, Wenger was like a father. I consider him one of the best managers in the world. For such a boss one wants to die on the pitch.

So despite feeling Wenger was like a father for whom he would die on the pitch, he still agitated for a move last summer. Yet another example of a footballer who follows the money, who believes the bubble of lies created around him by agents and advisors who care not one jot for his football career, only how much money they can make from him. He's made his bed, time for him lie in it without bleating like a baby. Suck it up, twat.

A young Arsenal team beat Lincoln City 3-2 in a friendly last night, the goals coming from Gilles Sunu, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Luke Ayling. 

Meanwhile the rest of the squad have flown to Austria to begin the hard work of the training camp. Johan Djourou speaks about that here.

And that's about that. There's a game tonight against SC Columbia, kick off is 5.30 and it's on Arsenal TV Online. They're a team full of amateurs and semi-professionals so really, anything other than a 20 goal win and we should sack the manager. You know it.

Till tomorrow.

So he's gone. After a week of not so much 'Will he? Won't he?', more 'When will he?', he finally willed yesterday evening.

Emmanuel Adebayor signed a 5 year deal with Manchester City. Arsenal receive a fee believed to be around £25m and it's good business for all concerned. City get a striker better than Darius Vassell and we get a load of money for a player who didn't want to be at the club anymore.

In this pre-confirmation-of-transfer interview with the BBC Arsene Wenger said he felt there was a little bit of resentment on Adebayor's part that he didn't move last summer. He obviously had his heart set on Milan or Barcelona. It also confirms that he did want to go last summer despite many people thinking this was not the case.

You have to wonder though - if he felt resentment staying at Arsenal when he wanted to be elsewhere, what is he going to feel at City? No doubt he's got a big, big wage increase, which will certainly help make it easier, but there's no question it's a step-down in footballing terms. No Champions League, no European football of any kind this season, and while they've certainly got plenty of ambition, neither Rome nor Abu Dhabi were built in a day.

Anyway, he's a footballer who had his head turned by money, he's not the first and he certainly won't be the last. His advisors have taken away a real chance from him, a player who, if he had kept working hard and not believed the hype, might well have had a great career at Arsenal and improved as a footballer while doing so.

But when you're dealing with a guy who, at 24 years of age, talks about having to prepare for his retirement then you know where his focus is. He says he didn't go to City for cash, which may in part be true. He went to City because he really had no choice, he'd backed himself into a corner at Arsenal with his behaviour, poor performances and the Football Focus interview which was essentially Gooner Hara-kiri.

There was no Barcelona offer this summer. There was no Milan offer, even with all of that Kaka money and their very real need for a striker. City was the only option he had. And look, he acted like a cunt, in my opinion, but in the grand scheme of things he's just another footballer who was badly advised, let his ego get the better of him and fucked things up when there was no need for it at all.

I've noticed a couple of headlines this morning claiming that AW says the fans forced him out. Firstly, Wenger said no such thing and secondly it's not true. The responsibility for what happened last summer is entirely Adebayor's, and what was borne out of that is down to him as well. 

So I'm glad to see him go but that's about as far as it goes. Arsene Wenger can wish him well and thank him for the goals he scored, as you would expect the manager to do. Arsenal fans can remember some fantastic goals, particularly against Sp*rs, and consign him to history which is where he now belongs.

The main talking point now is : What are we going to do with all that delicious money?!

I've been of the opinion that Adebayor doesn't necessarily need to be replaced, depending on how we line up nect season, and it's something the boss is obviously considering too, although he does mention Chamakh. He says:

We have Van Persie, Arshavin, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner, Eduardo. We are not in a hurry. We just want to prepare for the season and see if we need to add something. Chamakh is one of the players we've followed and if we need to go for a striker he's a possibility. We're keeping an eye on him.

Without wishing to sound like a broken record I can live without a striker coming in, I can quite happily accept Chamakh as a relatively cheap gamble if that's what he wants to do, but I dearly want to see us pursue the midfielder the manager seems to think we need as well. We were clearly after Melo and it'd be nice to go out and do that business as soon as possible. No doubt there'll be all kinds of speculation now that the press know we have a few bob to spend (like The People going all original and linking us again with Obafemi Martins).

Anwyay, all that transfer malarkey aside it was nice to have football yesterday. I watched the 2-2 draw with Barnet which saw our goals come from Andrei Arhsavin after nice work from Sanchez Watt in the first half and a beautiful curler from Nacer Barazite in the second. Their goals came from scrappy defending, both from set-pieces, so obviously old habits are dying hard.

But there's really no need to analyse the performance in any way. It's the first warm-up game of pre-season, anyone who wishes to sound alerts or anything like it is taking life way too seriously. We saw the debut of Thomas Vermaelen who played like this was the first warm-up game of pre-season so it's far too early to start making any judgements.

For me the most positive thing was seeing Tomas Rosicky back. He captained the side, looked absolutely delighted to be out there, and got stuck in to a couple of really strong challenges which I'm sure will give him plenty of confidence. It's good to have him back.

Next week the lads head off to the Austrian training camp and some more warm-up games. The next one is on Tuesday against SC Colombia. 

And that's about that for this Sunday. Have yourselves a fine day. More tomorrow.

On the day pre-season begins the Adebayor saga rumbles on.

The Mirror says the deal was 'completed' last night but there are complications as Adebayor is holding out for a 'loyalty bonus' because he never asked for a transfer. I don't really need to talk about how incredibly dense that is, do I? And if he's still holding out for a loyalty bonus then how can the deal be complete?

I'm not even sure why things like that are in contracts. There was the same discussion last summer, also involving Adebayor, unsurprisingly. When it was clear his agent was touting him around Europe there was no question of the player actually handing in a transfer request lest he be denied this sum of money. And the last time Arsenal encoutnered this was with the husband of 20% of Girls Aloud.

The reason his move to Chelsea was so complicated was because he, amazingly, after going to meet Chelsea and everything else, wanted a loyalty bonus. So you can see Adebayor is in good company there. Greedy and utterly deluded.

The other story that emerged was in the Mail, City apparently furious that Adebayor's people had offered him to Chelsea. I wouldn't be surprised if his agent did that, to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if his agent stuck up flyers on lamp-posts with tear-off telephone numbers, but I doubt there's real interest from Chelsea. 

There were reports on Sky Sports yesterday about how Adebayor was at the training ground to say his goodbyes, the infamous clearing out of the locker, but how much truth there is to that I don't know. What I do know is that the longer this goes on the worse it is for everyone. Adebayor needs to accept that his Arsenal career is over, that City are the only club prepared to offer him the money he think he's worth even if that means no Champions League football and that scuppering the deal over some outrageous 'loyalty bonus' is going to make him even more unpopular than he is now.

Onwards to better things though and the squad for today's game - hah, you like that? - TODAY'S GAME - against Barnet was announced. As expected it was a mix of youngsters and some of the players who returned earliest to pre-season training. So Gallas, Almunia, Djourou, Arshavin and new boy Thomas Vermaelen will be on show at some stage, as will Tomas Rosicky.

He last played for Arsenal on January 27th 2008 and has battled a very, very serious knee problem ever since. There were genuine fears that he might not play again, the injury was so unique doctors had no idea how to treat it, but here we are 18 months later and he's back. Cesc Fabregas says of him:

He's the type of player you enjoy playing alongside and as a guy he's amazing. He didn't deserve his injury but I am sure he will come back stronger. I wish him all the best because everyone here at Arsenal loves him a lot. Technically he is one of the best in the world and physically I am sure he will be really strong because he's been working really hard. I am happy because soon he is going to be back and I can't wait to see him playing again.

If he can stay fit there's no question at all that he adds quality and depth to our squad. And I do hope his injury worries are behind him. You can talk all you want about how hard it must be for a professional football to be injured, picking up your big pay cheque, but if you love to play football, whatever your standard, missing any period of time through injury is hard to take. To be out for that period of time, to have gone through all that uncertainty, must have been wretched, so fingers crossed he can play a big part in the season ahead. Welcome back, Tomas.

The game is live via Arsenal TV online this afternoon, kick off is 3pm. 

In other quick news Theo Walcott talks about how we need to start grinding out results while Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh says he'd happily play for Sunderland or Blackburn but Arsenal would be a dream, kinda like saying if I have to eat Aldi frozen lamp chops I will but I'd prefer the Kobe beef.

Right, that'll be that and on the day that's it in it here's to football once again. Although you do come across some infuriating characters you've gotta love the game and the Arsenal.

Another week of the summerlull lies ahead and it's morning's like this that you really miss the football. Even having to write about a 5-0 hammering by Hartepool would be better than this.

There's plenty of talk about Cesc and Barcelona and Guardiola and all that. It was covered in yesterday's blog but as expected the story has grown arms and legs and tentacles and proboscises and quotes have been added to the story that weren't there yesterday and frankly it's a load of bollocks.

Even taking what he said at face value of course a Barcelona move for him would be 'special', the same way it would be special if Arsenal wanted to sign you or me (special needs, probably, but special all the same). It's the ignoring of what comes after, the absence of the 'but' in which talks about how he's happy at Arsenal, he's the captain and he's obviously planning for next season.

If his focus was on Barcelona would he be urging to the boss to make signings which would improve Arsenal? If he was off he'd keep his mouth shut. And to the pair of twats in the Daily Mail who augmented the quotes Cesc made, the interview was in Sport, not El Mundo, you witless gobshites.

To be honest the story really doesn't deserve any more coverage but in this web-powered world of ours, where disinformation becomes fact as quick as you can click a link, those of us who have lived through many summers have a responsibility to ensure that bullshit is bullshit called when necessary. And this, folks, is nothing more than a storm in an espresso cup.

Cesc, by the by, was on the scoresheet for Spain last night as they beat New Zealand 5-0 in the Pointless Cup.

There's more guff from the Mail from Charles Sale who reports that Alisher Usmanov has proposed a rights issue to raise funds for Arsene Wenger to buy players. Sale reports:

Oligarch Usmanov, who has a 25 per cent shareholding but no director’s position, has offered to fully underwrite the initiative — guaranteeing to buy all shares that are not sold — which will need the full support of the club to work. 

Usmanov wants a percentage of the new shares to go to fans, which would mean selling at a fraction of the £8,000 plus at which shares have been trading during the power struggle between Usmanov’s Arsenal vehicle Red & White Holdings and American board member Stan Kroenke, who has a 28 per cent stake. 

The article is accompanied by a big, smiling Usmanov picture. Look at him, he's a nice, friendly, Oligarch, not a nasty, mean, litigious, fat, Man United supporting cunt. It's very funny how we're seeing pro-Usmanov articles these days instead of the leaked stories about boardroom strife. Is it coincidence that a boardroom departure meant friendly hacks didn't have the inside line anymore or is it just that Usmanov has decided to try and improve his own image? Perhaps a little from column A, a little from column B.

Obviously he's trying to win fans over. In a summer when Madrid have used a cheat code and given themselves a £500m Championship Manager budget to buy top players from around the world many fans would like Arsenal to go splashing the cash. And Usmanov's proposal would, in theory, provide some money for spending but there's a lot more to consider than just throwing around money for new players.

There are implications for the long-term strategy of the current board, it would dilute the shareholdings of the directors and at a time when we probably need to consolidate at boardroom level it strikes me as unworkable that we'd issue more shares to complicate things even further.

Tomas Rosicky claims he was fit to play at the end of last season, saying:

According to Tony Colbert, I could have been playing at the end of the last season, he saw no reason why I shouldn't, as he thought my fitness was okay. The club decided not to play me. They saw that I was okay and maybe they just did not want to take the gamble.

There really wasn't any point in playing him last season. If he'd got another injury we'd have been accused of rushing him back too quickly so it was a wise move in my opinion. Now he gets a full pre-season and hopefully he can make it back. Like many of you though I have my doubts and it seems Rosicky does too, saying:

Until I play in a league match I will not be able to tell what my chances are. I don't know what will happen after I make repeated sprints from one end of the pitch to the other.

He'd be good to have back in the squad but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Mamadou Sakho, the PSG centre-half we were apparently trying to sign, has 'formally refuted' any transfer stories saying that no transfer to any club is in place. Does that mean that the press have been just inventing stuff to provide copy during slow news days? Surely not.

Finally, cheers to Steve who sent me an email yesterday after spotting an Arsenal shirt in an unusual place. In the TV show 'Ross Kemp In Search Of Pirates', Arsenal's number 27 is proving a big hit with one group of cutlass wielding, parrot shouldering, pieces of eight loving, shipjackers. See for yourself.

And there you have it. Have yourselves a good Monday, more tomorrow.

Some mornings when I come upstairs to my office, after making coffee, I turn on the lamp so I can see better. Some mornings I don't.

That's just the kind of guy I am and if you can't handle that I suggest you read another blog. This morning I'm operating with no lamp. I just thought you should know.

Anyway, it's all about the Owl this morning. Apparently, and I say this making that inverted commas sign with my fingers, we've agreed a fee with Zenit, the only thing holding up the deal now is Arshavin's personal terms. Zenit say:

A fundamental agreement over the fee in the transfer of the player has been reached between the clubs, subject to a medical. But, at the moment, the basic obstacle preventing the transfer going through are Andrei Arshavin's personal terms.

The player and his agent have made it clear to Arsenal that they will require a higher wage, which the management at Arsenal are not prepared to pay. At the moment, Arsenal will only satisfy those demands at a lower transfer fee. This puts the whole deal in doubt.

Now, somewhere in the fetid depths of my mind I can clearly remember an article whereby Arshavin or his agent talk about being happy to accept a 'lower wage' just to ensure a move goes through. Frankly I don't have the energy to look through all the Arshavin related articles to try and find it but I know I saw it. And let's not forget just a couple of days ago the Zenit Chief Executive said:

I know that they [Arsenal] have discussed everything with Arshavin regarding his personal terms, which suggests that, if the clubs can agree, the deal will be done quickly.

Then you have these crazy stories about how Alisher Usmanov was going to step in as some kind of white knight, an enormous sweaty blubbery white knight, and make up the difference in the price tag. I really can't believe there's any truth to that at all. Firstly there'd be all kinds of legal issues regarding him putting his own money into it and secondly I just can't see Arsenal allowing it to happen. I think we'd rather not buy the player than accept money from Usmanov to do it.

Basically there's so much going on that I doubt anybody knows the truth. Certainly not half-arsed blogs that make a post about how the club set up the whole Arshavin thing as a charade to keep the fans onside then follow it up with a post a few minutes later about how Usmanov has bought Arshavin for Arsenal, proudly trumpeting themselves as some exclusive maker. Idiots.

Whatever the truth of it if there's a 'fundamental agreement' between Arsenal and Zenit then a transfer becomes more likely. Then it's entirely down to the player. Reports suggest he's looking for £135,000 a week, in which case he'll be told where to go in no uncertain terms.

There's some talk that Zenit want him to pay back a part of a signing on fee he got when he signed his last contract with them and perhaps his agent is looking for his Arsenal wages to cover that on top of his basic salary. And again he'll be told where to go. And if I mentioned Arsenal paying agents fees then I think you know what they'll be told.

As I said though it's completely up to Arshavin. If he wants to play for Arsenal he'll be a very well paid man. He's not going to starve but nor is he going to get the kind of exorbitant wages he or his agent are apparently looking for. You'd have to think with his transfer fee that he'd be one of the top earners at the club and that'd put him on a par with Cesc or Adebayor on around £80,000 a week. If he doesn't want to come to us for that money then he can take a running jump in to the Volga as far as I'm concerned.

If he turns down that kind of money then he's an idiot and we're better off without him. So let's see what happens but, at long last, it looks like there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking of light at the end of tunnels Tomas Rosicky must be brightening up his passage as he starts training again. According to his agent:

It is a huge and positive advance in his situation, as well as a hope that Tomas's uneasy injury spell will end.

Good news indeed. I'm still doubtful if we'll see him this season. The amount of time he's spent out means he's got to build up so much in terms of fitness, match sharpness etc that by the time he's ready it'll probably be too late for him to make an impact. However, with a good pre-season under his belt and, fingers crossed, no more injuries he should be in good shape for next season. You just wonder what the arrival of Arshavin, if he does come, will mean for him in the long term.

So there you go. Now it's bright enough outside for me not to worry about whether or not I have the lamp on but I might just put it on anyway. Live life on the edge. That's my motto. Well, one of my mottos. 'Don't pick it, it'll never heal', that's another one.

Finally for today old blogging chum and fellow Gooner Scaryduck is up for 'Best European weblog' in the Bloggie awards. If you felt like going over and voting for him, so he wins ahead of the others who undoubtedly all not Gooners, then click here (the mad scrolling made me feel a bit queasy though). It's our best chance of silverware this year, in fairness.

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. 

Wednesday, one day closer to real football again when we can get back into the swing of realising just how terrible we are again! I simply can't wait.

Robin van Persie will be in action for the Dutch of Holland tonight and he seems to have recovered very quickly from a hamstring strain. Either that or he's saying he's fine when he isn't. But he insists he's learned from his mistakes in the past when he said he was fine when he wasn't. He says:

I have been injured a lot lately but whatever the outside world says is not important to me. I just want to be fit and play as many games as I can. The entire pre-season went well at Arsenal and in the league too.

Picking up a hamstring injury can happen to any player at the moment.

Yes, yes it can. I'm running a book on him picking up an injury in tonight's game. 2-1 thigh strain, evens calf strain, 4-5 knee ligament damage, and Ebola at 8-1 is proving a popular bet.

Another one of our lads who keeps the doctors busy is Tomas Rosicky. We know his hamstring is a bit fucked but recent reports said he had been hospitalised with headaches after receiving injections to speed his recovery. His agent insists that is not true and says:

Everything is going according to the plan. Tomas' first comeback was rash, now we are treating the situation more carefully. The team of specialists that cares for Tomas, has been enlarged by another specialist which means the player will be cared for at the best level.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It might be a case of 'Hmmm, John. Any chance you could come over and have a look at this?'. 'What is it Dr Nick?'. 'I just do not have a clue'.

Still, two heads are better than one. Unless you're a mutant baby in which case it will mean certain death.

Alisher Usmanov was reportedly thinking about selling his stake in Arsenal but the fat, sweaty cunthound insists this is not true. In fact, he's rather taken with us, saying:

When a man loves a woman he can't conceivably sell that love. I'm in love with Arsenal. I have no intention of selling

What a horrible bastard. Love, as one fine singer in the 80s said, is contagious. But so are genital warts. And love can be a one-sided thing. Like the man who loves a woman but the woman doesn't love the man but the man stalks the woman, pesters her with phone calls and filthy messages until the woman is forced to take out a restraining order because the man is a disgusting creep.

That's the kind of love that's going on here. Usmanov is showing up unannounced at our door, sending flowers to our work and making sure everyone sees and sending cards saying 'We're meant to be together forever. And if I can't have you, nobody else can'.

I would urge all Arsenal fans to start carrying mace and if you see Usmanov then spray it right in his eyes. It's the only way he'll learn. The flabby, repellent, Man United supporting flangebasher.

Aaron Ramsey had a rather good game for Wales U21s last night. He scored an absolute belter with his left foot and made another goal. You can check out highlights here but I suggest skipping over the first little bit as it shows Tom Crapplestone scoring a shit free kick. Get Ramsey in the team, I say.

Some youngster called Jason Banton has left the club to join Blackburn. I read somewhere that he also left us as an even younger kid to join Sp*rs before coming back. The kid is obviously deranged, like a reverse Bentley.

Right, well that's about that. I'm off to stock up on mace, it's about the only thing that hasn't gone up in the budget here.

Till tomorrow.

First of all, I must apologise to the Ole Ole Auditor, who text messaged me last night to ask if I was all set to write the blog today. My initial reply was "who the fuck is this?" since my phone didn't recognise the number. I knew it wasn't Arseblogger, since I know his number. So said text messager replied to me and said he was the Ole Ole Auditor, and I decided that was licence to send back a rather rude message. I may even have mentioned his mum (I'm not sure. I've deleted all the text messages since; I find myself increasingly doing that of an evening). Anyway, he phoned me, I hadn't a fucking clue who it was cos I was so blind drunk, and I had to text Arseblogger to find out. Anyway, long and boring story short, I now know who it was, and I apologise. That's what happens when you talk to a drunk cunt.

Secondly, being madder at work than a badger on LSD that's just been taken to the circus and pumped full of mescaline, I haven't had time to frequent the forums recently, and I had no idea that Arseblogger was going to London today (until earlier in the week when he asked me to write the blog - right enough, with the benefit of hindsight that should've been a clue). So when he texted me last night to say it was only his fucking birthday today, I felt like a right cunt. Even more so. So I'm sure you'll join me in wishing Arseblogger many happy returns on his 43rd birthday. There's no doubting, he looks good for his age. I'm glad he's chosen one of the game of the season nail-biters for his trip. Fingers crossed for an 83-0

So, enough of the frivolity. What's happening in the world of Arsenal today?

Firstly the bad news. Tomas Rosicky has no fixed date of return, leaving the manager speechless. I'm not sure that's too much of a problem, frankly, since barely anyone can know who he is anyway. I don't know what we do about him. Not a lot, I suppose - it's not like we can sell him, and having signed a contract, (quite rightly) he's going to carry on trying to get fit. He doesn't strike me as the sort that would drag an injury out because he's a lazy cunt that just wants to sit and earn his tens of thousands of pounds a week for doing fuck all (unlike, say, me, perhaps), and he's a talented player. It's very frustrating.

Worryingly, Samir Nasri also remains sidelined by a knee injury, and joins Rosicky, Diaby, and Eduardo as the only other injured members of the squad. Nasri, as you know, picked up his knee injury on international duty. I fucking hate international duty. I hate it more than I hate being poked in the eye with a fucking hot poker. And I fucking hate that.

In better news (sort of), Silvester is fit and ready for his first game of the season. When Gallas joined us, he'd been agitating for a move, and I think it's fairly common knowledge that we'd been after him for a while. But Silvester is a cunt. A proper cunt. A right cunt. He played for *those* cunts right at the time when we were having our most intense rivalries with them, and he was a fairly significant part of their team (who are cunts). I think to get himself out of My Book of Cunts (of which I have two - he's in the bad one), he's going to have to do something very special. Like kill Gary Neville.

What else is going on? Gael Clichy feared the worst when that fat Bolton cunt tried to break his leg (I don't know why the Chester Chronicle gets the credit for those quotes; it just seemed one of the more obscure reports on News Now!). Some people, including Craig Burley, commenting on Setanta, thought that challenge was fair "because he got the ball". I didn't. I think that "if you take the man after the ball that's just the game" is a big load of old hairy bollocks. That way do very, very serious injuries lie, as we're all too familiar with, and I don't blame the team one little bit for the way they reacted on the pitch. They've seen it happen - horrifically - to one of their mates and unsurprisingly, they're not keen to see it happen again. People can bitch about Cesc waving imaginary yellow cards all they like, and I don't like to see that either, but the fact is that Clichy could've been seriously injured, because of some fat no mark Bolton cunt being "committed". Fuck off. I really do fucking hate Bolton (not as much as I used to, mind). And yes, I'm probably overprotective and hypocritical. So?

Top man Cesc Fabregas has been talking about how he'll never leave Arsenal. He seems to qualify the statement slightly by saying that he will only stay as long we keep playing our football, but it's so refreshing to hear a footballer who isn't *just* interested in the money (and regardless, I'm sure he's very well paid indeed). Also, I've no doubt The Sun has spun those "quotes".

So, Hull today at home. It's on TV at half five on Setanta 1 (so no doubt we'll have to put up with that cunt Burley again). George Boateng has been talking up Hull's chances, and there's no doubt that they've made a great start to their season. Let's hope we can bring them crashing back down to earth today and take the three points.

Once again, many happy returns to Arseblogger, and I'll see you all tomorrow for post match ramblings and other nonsense.

Come on The Arsenal!!