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.

Good Monday to you all.

It's quiet again with nothing really new to report. It's times like this I wonder if I should just make stuff up to make life a bit more amusing. Not crap madey-up stuff like 'Arsenal set to sign £18m wonder striker' but cool stuff like 'Hleb's move to Barcelona off ...' and then I could write something about how he went home to Minsk to see his family and was devoured by an enormous bear.

I have to say that even if Hleb were eaten by a bear I'd find it very difficult to care, one way or the other. Sure, my interest would be piqued simply because it's unusual. Premier League footballers are rarely gobbled up by bears so from that point of view it would be vaguely captivating but beyond that I don't think I'd be that upset really.

I mean, if Cesc was eaten by a bear I think I'd be pretty much heartbroken but Hleb? Nah. I think I'd probably even be able to watch footage of it, provided somebody had filmed it. Or maybe it took place on a street with CCTV cameras - although that would be unusual as we know Hleb prefers to live in the woods. Anyway, it's unlikely to happen and even less so if the Sun's report that he'll be unveiled as a Barcelona player today is true.

They don't have many bears in Barcelona. In the zoo there are a couple but they're crap bears. The polar bears in particular are totally rubbish, they just go around and around in circles and bang their heads off things. So unless Hleb really gets on their nerves I think he'll have a bear free existence in Catalunya. That said I wonder would Thierry Henry pay Eboue to dress up as a bear and savage Hleb to death on the Ramblas one day. Henry and Hleb never saw eye to eye at Arsenal and what better way for the former captain to take his revenge?

[disclaimer] - should Hleb be eaten by a bear, pretend or otherwise, I just want to make it very clear that I had nothing to do with it. I have little or no control over the general bear population [/disclaimer]

The Sun also has a picture of our new away shirt, which we've seen already, but which is being modeled by the lovely Cesc, 21, Spain. I love that shirt almost as much as I love Cesc - best away shirt since the 2003-4 season.

The agent of Sergio Aguero says:

I have had interest from a leading English team and they have asked me to approach Atletico with a bid. I cannot say more until I have spoken to the club about the offer. All I can tell you is that it is one of the best teams in Europe and it's not Chelsea.

I shouldn't even be mentioning this because Aguero is such a fucking brilliant player it's making me weep tears of my own brain juice knowing he'll never play for us. Although, Atletico still owe us money for the transfer of Jose Antonio Reyes (now working for the Madrid parks and gardens department) so perhaps there's some slight possibility it might be us. No, stop it. Don't do this to yourself. But I wanna. No. Not in public. But I WANNA. Shhhhhh, here. Coffee, medicine. There you go.

So perhaps later we'll get some confirmation of Hleb's departure and I think things could kick off a bit this week. Reports in Spain say Ronaldinho is going to sign for Man City (heh) so that could free up money for Barcelona to bid for Adebaybore or even get AC Milan involved again. We shall see.

Until tomorrow, bear loving bastards.

Good Saturday to you all.

A fair amount going on so we'll get right into it. New boy Samir Nasri says he's not the new Zidane. Well, here was us thinking we're getting the new Zidane and he spoils it straight away. He says:

I don't think it's fair to have that sort of pressure on a young player. There's only one Zidane, just as there was only one Platini. I'm me, a novice, who's trying to get better.

Which we have to admit is a far better attitude than someone who actually thinks they're the new Zidane. There's all kinds of stuff about him on the official site so go have a look. I suspect that he's going to play left hand side for us but I suppose pre-season will tell us a lot.

Meanwhile Andrei Arshavin, having said only last week that Barcelona was his dream move and that he only wanted to play for them, has changed his tune somewhat. According to his agent Yuri Bolokov:

Andrei would love to play for Arsenal. Their style of football would be perfect for him

It might well be but if Zenit are looking for £19m he might as well eat a load of cheese before bedtime because the only place he'll be playing for Arsenal is in his dreams. Funny how quickly footballers change their tune though, isn't it?

I suppose Arshavin's turnabout came when Barcelona looked like they were going to sign Hleb. The Spanish press are reporting that the deal is 'nearly' completed and Hleb could be unveiled as a Barcelona player early next week. Not much else happening in Spain though.

Adebayor - no day would be complete without some more Adebaybore stuff and our old pal Vicenzo Morabito has been centre-stage again. Talking on Italian TV he said:

We are going towards more reasonable figures that are within Milan’s reach, as they had placed a ceiling on the bid they were willing to make. It is much, much lower than the £32m initially requested. In fact, it’s a little bit more than half that figure. The signs are very positive.

Perhaps the reason for the reduction in price is the inclusion of Yoann Gourcuff in the deal but that matter is complicated by Gourcuff's loan deal with Bordeaux. The other reason for the lower price might be that Morabito is talking out of his big, fat arse. Who can say? 

The Telegraph, via the Sun, links us with a move for Gareth Barry, saying a cash + Hoyte deal could be on offer from Arsenal, although we've made no official bid as yet. We could do a lot worse, in my opinion, and Barry's defensive style would probably compliment Cesc's more attacking instincts in the same way that Flamini did. Interesting.

Charles N'Zogbia says he's been dreaming of playing for Arsenal since he was a kid. Join the fucking club, pal. 

So it's all beginning to get a bit busy now. One or two deals beginning to happen across the transfer market and once the ball gets rolling I'm sure it'll gather no moss and the stitch in time will judge a book by its cover. Oh yes.

Right, have a good Saturday. More tomorrow. 

Not too long ago a prominent Arsenal blogger said about Hleb's move to Barcelona:

As for Barcelona there has hardly been a word about him in the Spanish press for ages and given the money Barcelona have already spent this summer I'd say there's no chance of him going there now.

Now it seems that he is on his way to Catalunya and that old cunt at Arseblog has egg all over his Paddy face this morning ... oh.

Strange one really, I didn't think there was any prospect of him going there. Sport runs with a headline saying HLEB: SIGNED while El Mundo has even put a 'Best of Hleb' YouTube video on their homepage. The Spanish press reckon we've been paid €15m which could possibly rise to €18m if Hleb scores more than 3 goals a season so €15m it is.

I can't say I'm too unhappy. Hleb has always seemed like a fairly nice bloke and he is undoubtedly one of the most skillful players I've seen at Arsenal. His close control and ability to make space was truly outstanding at times. Ultimately though, a grand total of 11 10 goals in 3 seasons for a player who played wide and as a support striker is simply not good enough. He didn't make too many assists either. When he was good he was very good but too often he was just mediocre. His unwillingness to shoot was massively frustrating too.

The hints from his agent this summer that he would find it hard to maintain a level of performance at Arsenal should he not be allowed leave were out of order in my opinion and the player himself said:

I feel I can't keep squeezing enough out of myself to satisfy a team like Arsenal. As a professional I honestly told Wenger that at our two recent meetings.

Too much like hard work, it seems. But if he thinks there's pressure at Arsenal wait until he gets to Barcelona with the press and the fans who, this season in particular, are going to be so demanding that even Prince would be shocked.

For those that suggest the squad is weakened by his departure I give you Samir Nasri, a player with more of an eye for goal and from wide positions goals can win you trophies, as we've seen with Ronaldo and from our own point of view with Pires and Overmars down the years. €15m represents good business from a financial point of view as well.

It does leave Adebayor's potential transfer to Spain a bit up in the air though. Which probably won't suit him but then maybe he's about to learn that sometimes it's best just to keep your mouth firmly shut so you don't make yourself look like a cunt and make life rather awkward for yourself.

Another player who could be on the way out is Gilberto. The press have picked up a story that started on an Arsenal blog about him moving to Panathanaikos so credit this time to Arsenal Analysis who have been running it for the last couple of days. It'd probably be a good move for Gilberto, he'd get a longer contract and more Brazilian weather. Still, I'll be sad to see him go, he's always been a top class professional and a good example to some of today's more impatient and live-in-the-moment players. You just hope that if he is leaving then we've got somebody lined up to replace him because central-midfield will start looking a bit light otherwise.

The Sun uses a Bacary Sagna interview from a French newspaper to spread more doom and gloom. Can't see too much wrong with what he says myself.

So things are beginning to start moving in terms of transfer activity. Let's be honest about this, there hasn't been much doing for any club as of yet this summer so I'm not at all worried about our perceived lack of business. A few deals will happen and the rolling stone will start gathering some moss and it'll all be grand.

Right then, 5 pairs of tickets for the London Masters were up for grabs and the question was 'Under Arsene Wenger's reign only two players have scored on their league debuts. Who are they?'

The key word in the question there was 'league'. The vast majority of entrants got Freddie Ljungberg v Man United correct but a lot of people then thought Reyes v Chelsea or Gilberto v Liverpool in the Charity Shield was the right answer. They were wrong. The answer was Adebayor v Birmingham in Feb 2006. So there you go. The Random Number Generator did its thing and the winners of the tickets are:

Dan Merryweather, Mark Maynard, Richard Cain, Alex Williams and John O'Brien.

Well done to you, I'll be in touch this morning to get details from you and don't forget to check out the Masters football website for more information about the tournament - it could be your last chance to see a soon to retire Ray Parlour in an Arsenal shirt.

That'll be that then. More, including an Arsecast, tomorrow.

Some very strange comments from Alexander Hleb to kick the day off. The Belarussian has been linked with a move away from the club all summer and stories this morning suggest he's not going to be the most popular man in town.

He is reported as saying:

My view of how I should be playing didn’t coincide with the manager’s. I told him last season I wanted to leave and think he was quite upset about it. I don’t know where I’ll be next season but I’d prefer Barcelona. It is being negotiated and, hopefully, will be decided soon.

Now, from what I'm told these quotes are simply a rehash of ones that were around a couple of weeks back. What's happened is they were picked up by a Moscow agency yesterday, rejigged and sent to the papers. As for Barcelona there has hardly been a word about him in the Spanish press for ages and given the money Barcelona have already spent this summer I'd say there's no chance of him going there now. Then, apparently, he's had a go at Cesc, saying:

When we get scoring opportunities, Fabregas is much more selfish than me. Given a chance to shoot, he always goes for it — unlike me.

Now, I'm no big fan of Hleb but it's easy to read that quote and take the negative view of it. We all love Cesc and anyone saying anything 'bad' about him makes us all protective. The fact is though that quote is absolutely right. Cesc is a bit more 'selfish' in front of goal, like any player who scores goals is, and to me it's more to do with Hleb's completely inadequate goalscoring record. Cesc's 'selfishness' is productive. If he was saying 'I don't score as many goals because Fabregas never passes to me because he's selfish' then we'd have a problem. As it is it's almost complimentary.

Anyway, I think it's well known that Cesc and Hleb are good friends. Less than two weeks ago Cesc was talking about how incredible Hleb was as a footballer and that he hoped he'd stay at Arsenal so while it's easy to interpret what Hleb reportedly said in a bad way I wouldn't get too stressed by it because it seems to be media shit-stirring more than anything. But we do love a good drama, eh?!

As for Hleb leaving I think, if he really wants to leave, he's going to have to accept that none of the big clubs really want him. As I said there's no real interest from Barcelona any more, no Real Madrid, no Inter Milan, nobody. It was always a surprise to me that someone like Barcelona was interested in a player who is so unproductive and unless he cuts his cloth accordingly he may find himself in red and white next season. Sunderland!

Moving on to something more positive and Aaron Ramsey is an ambitious young man. His aim is to be part of the first team squad for the opening game against West Brom. The Welshling says:

I will try my best to get in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season against West Brom. I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world, one which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level. I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes there.

What's interesting is that he admits to being a United fan when younger so to turn down the team you support to join a big rival is a good indiction of a young man with intelligence. You think about what you'd be like if United and Arsenal were after you. Would you be able to put aside the emotional attachment you had to the Gunners if United's offer was the best one for you as a player? Good man, Aaron.

Not much else happening so how about a bit of a competition? The London Masters 6-a-side competition takes place on Saturday July 19th at Wembley Arena. Arsenal are obviously one of the teams involved and players confirmed so far are Ray Parlour, Gilles Grimandi and Vince Bartram. Others on the waiting to confirm list include Paul Merson, Perry Groves and Nigel Winterburn.

I've got 5 pairs of tickets to give away and all you have to do is answer the following question.

Under Arsene Wenger's reign only two players have scored on their league debuts. Who are they?

Hah, not such an easy one this time around. As a clue one was in 1998, the other more recent. Answers via email please to masters@arseblog.com. The winners will be announced on Thursday morning. For more info visit the Masters Website.

Update: I shouldn't have to add this but please make sure if you enter you can actually go to the tournament! 

And there you go. Don't forget the competition in this week's Arsecast to win a copy of the Arsenal Stadium Mystery book as well. More tomorrow.

Morning all, hope you had a fine weekend.

It's a busy start to the week as Chairman PHW has been talking about Adebayor and Hleb. The two have dominated Arsenal news in the last month or so. Speaking about Adebayor firstly he says:

We want him to stay, definitely. Adebayor still has a long time left on his contract, and we have absolutely no intention of releasing him from that contract. You want to keep your best players and Adebayor is one of those.

At the same time though he admits that the situation has been created by Adebayor's demands for more money after one good season. He says:

It's annoying, but it is modern football. The idea that you are going to have a number of your team playing for you for 15 years, as one used to have, has disappeared. It makes it harder for the manager, but he is fully aware of what is happening.

And let's not forget that the reason there's speculation around Adebayor is because of Adebayor's agent and the player himself with his statement last week about the board needing to meet his demands.

Of Hleb the Chairman said:

Hleb has made it clear he wants to go. I think maybe he will go.

I'm told there was a very real feeling that Hleb would do a Webster at the end of the season but for whatever reason that didn't happen. However, his desire to leave the club has been well known for some time.

It's interesting to read what he's saying here though. For the player in which there is genuine interest (Adebayor) he's saying we don't want to sell. And there's probably some truth in that despite the fact that if he stays he's going to find himself rather unpopular with a lot of fans. But it strikes me that there's a certain amount of poker-face going on here. Say we're not interested in selling and get the best possible price we can.

With Hleb it's different. Had Mourinho not taken over at Inter Milan I suspect Hleb would be gone by now. But the Special Cunt's arrival in Italy put paid to the that transfer and while there has been talk of Barcelona I've always found it a bit odd that they'd be interested in him. That we're openly admitting that Hleb wants to leave suggests, to me at least, that we're making as many clubs as possible aware that he's up for sale.

Arsene Wenger says the transfer system is making 'mercenaries' out of players and while players have always been out for the best deal possible the new regulations make moving and picking up more cash easier than ever. To me the increase in football media plays its part too. Not so long ago the news sources around football were limited to the traditional newspapers and tv/radio stations. Now the internet has brought websites, blogs, fans forums, and the the more information there is out there the more people want.

It's easier than ever to hype a player, for a player to become the next superstar when he's actually no such thing. Agents, horrendous cunts that they are, generally aren't stupid and have become adept at striking while the iron is hot. We can see this with Adebayor. A player who, on the back of a fairly mediocre season, was given a new contract because the club had some faith in him and his ability. After one good season he makes extortionate demands for a new contract and threatens to leave if he doesn't get what he wants.

How can you deal with that? If it were any other business, any other kind of employee, you'd tell them to go fuck themselves and get on with their work on the contract you just gave them a year ago. But football isn't any other business and the devious machinations of agents and other clubs will ensure that the player, despite acting like a spoilt cunt, will generally have a way out. It's kind of depressing really. As much as I love football and as much as I love Arsenal I find it more and more difficult to connect with footballers the way I did in the past. Maybe it's me just getting older and more cynical, maybe it's players being more cunty than they were.

Adebayor was your archetypal badge-kissing, hard-working, say-the-right-things player who really did win over a lot of fans who doubted his ability as a player and his character. Then he did an absolute about-face and got ideas above his station. Some from himself, no doubt, but I suspect mainly driven by an agent or advisors who knew that after a 30 goal season they could get silly money for him in today's crazy football climate.

I have no doubt that Arsenal will do the best thing for Arsenal and ultimately that's the most important thing. What Adebayor does, or Hleb does, I no longer really care about because I don't care about these players. The whole thing is just so distasteful. The way they behave and/or have people behave for them is just unsavoury. You have Ian Wright using his column in the Sun to make sure everyone knows his son, Shaun Wright-Phillips, is open to a move from Chelsea this summer, complaining that he didn't get a fair crack at Stamford Bridge. But everyone knows he went there for the money, not for footballing reasons, so it's a bit fucking much giving out about it now.

Anyway, the point is they're all fucking cunts, really. With a few exceptions, and thankfully we have some of those on our team at the moment, most footballers are greedy twats living in a different world from the rest of us. It's a difficult job for any manager to keep a squad together but I hope AW manages to weed the cunts out as much as possible. Adebayor - sell him. Hleb - sell him. Move on. Quickly, please. I've had enough.

Not much else going on bar a spurious link to Real Madrid's Ruben de la Red, a Flamini style midfielder who we could probably do with.

Justin Hoyte says he wants £100,000 a day to stay with Arsenal or he'll leave and take some towels from the training ground with him. No, he doesn't. He says he wants to stay and fight for a place and good luck to the lad.

I think the players are back for pre-season training today. Not 100% sure on that yet but generally there's a feature on the official website showing them running around trying to shed the summer pounds they put on eating fish and chips and drinking pints of ale while on holiday in Santa Ponza. We'll see.

More tomorrow.

Well done to Cesc Fabregas who was part of Spain's Euro 2008 winning side last night. Although he was rather oddly substituted by loopy manager Luis Aragones Spain were never really troubled by Germany and Fernando Torres' goal was enough to win it. Cesc said afterwards:

This the best day of my life as a football player. It's the best feeling you can have as a footballer. It's one of your dreams and I made it.

And as much as I'm happy for him to have won with his country I really want him to experience that feeling with Arsenal. The more best of his life he has with us the happier we'll all be. So congratulations to Cesc but commiserations to Jens Lehmann who was one of Germany's best players on the night. So Euro 2008 over and done with, there'll be a final Eurocast later this morning. Link.

Silly season can now well and truly kick off and I expect transfer madness/frenzy/mania to kick in any moment. It's beginning already with Chelsea rumoured to be willing to pay big money for Emmanuel Adebayor. Sounds like a load of shit to me. The Telegraph, which carries the Adebayor story, and the Sun both link us with a move for Obafemi Martins. I really can't see that happening either. Martins agent seems to use Arsenal to generate profile for his player all the time and nothing ever comes of it. He's unhappy at Newcastle but I don't think he's the right man for us.

There's an interesting story in El Mundo this morning saying that Arsene Wenger twice refused to meet Barcelona vice-president Marc Ingla. Ingla flew to Vienna for the semi-final of Euro 2008 to try and talk to the boss about Adebayor and Hleb but was told that Wenger didn't have time to meet him. He wasn't happy about this and decided to use an intermediary to try and set up a meeting. Can you guess who that might have been?

None other than Darren Dein. Son of football's most orange sell-out. Obviously he's somebody the Barcelona board consider a good old chum, eh? No doubt Dein Jr would just be doing them a favour out of the goodness of his heart because surely he has no personal interest in this grand plan. It's not like the Henry deal where he, as Henry's agent, would have benefitted financially from a big transfer, is it? Nevertheless, Ingla's attempt to get baby Dein to arrange this meeting also proved fruitless, much to the frustration of the Barcelona man who wanted to go back to Spain with an arrangement agreed so the two signings could be announced this week.

Why the rush? Well, there's a presidential election on July 6th and if Laporta and his crew can bring on board these players beforehand then the public dissatisfaction at Barcelona's last campaign will be assuaged and the chances of re-election are much higher. No wonder they're in a hurry.

I suspect there'll be a lot of talking going on at Arsenal in the coming weeks. The Adebayor and Hleb situations have to be resolved. We've got two players who were regular first team members last season but who both, and Adebayor particularly, have lost pretty much all the goodwill they've generated during their time at the club. Hleb has been slightly more clever, allowing his agents to do the talking for him, but you have to feel that it's going to be difficult for both of them to stay at Arsenal next season.

There are now just a couple of weeks until the players come back for their pre-season training. It might even be less than that although those involved in Euro 2008 might have themselves extra time off. Hopefully we can get this all sorted as quickly and efficiently as possible.

According to reader Dylan and arsenalfrance.fr we've signed a young player called Morgan Schneiderlin (link in French) from Strasbourg for €1.5m and he'll go out on loan immediately to Southampton.

He's actually signed for Southampton. Not us.

There's also been a lot of talk about a player called Amaury Bischoff (sounds like a Dublin chipper) who plays for Werder Bremen. He's been injured for about 2 years though so it does sound a bit whiffy.

Beyond that there's not much happening this morning. How was your weekend then?

So far I have to say I've enjoyed Euro 2008. We've seen some good football and some exciting matches.

Last night's 'epic' between Spain and Italy wasn't one of them though. Italy were dour, negative and defensive. Spain lacked the craft to open them up. They were pedestrian in midfield until Aragones brought on Fabregas for Xavi after about an hour.

The young Arsenal man made a real difference. Spain still failed to break down the stubborn Italians but he tried to make the openings, always looked for the ball and frankly showed the old coach that he should have started the game. And so it came to penalties. Spain scored through Villa, Cazorla and Senna while Casillas saved from de Rossi. Up stepped Dani Guiza, pichichi last season in La Liga, and took a rotten penalty which Buffon saved. Cassilas then saved again from di Natale and the kick to win the game fell to Cesc.

Talk about pressure. Three times on June 22nd Spain had lost a penalty shoot-out in a major tournament but there was no Riquelme moment, no Waddling, and he stuck it away to send Spain through to the semi-finals where they'll meet Russia. No less than they deserved, you have to say, and I was delighted for Cesc. He showed real courage and composure to score under real pressure and it looks like he's come of age on the international stage now as well. He's got to start the semi-final and he remains the last Arsenal interest in the tournament (although Jens is still there, kinda).

Spain v Russia looks set to be a cracker though. Two teams that will attack and try to win, unlike the Italian who were doing their best not to lose first and foremost. In the Eurocast, coming later this morning, I put forward the theory that they play exactly the same way as Jack Charlton's Ireland. Defend well, lots of pressure on the opponents, and then hoof it up to the big man who the Mugsmasher names perfectly. I'll add the link when it's live.

Today's Eurocast. 

Now, onto the Adebayor stuff which has become part of our daily routine. Sport is just trotting out the same 'Adebayor will pressure to come to Barcelona' stuff while El Mundo says negotiations are advanced with a fee of somewhere between €27m-€30m agreed. They say a deal could be closed in the next few hours but the small hassle is that Barcelona have to sell Deco, Eto'o or Ronaldinho in order to pay the money. Which, of course, is a bit of a hassle because everyone knows Barcelona want to sell them so they're going to try and knock the prices down as much as possible.

It's not exactly great business sense to tell the world you're desperate to sell, is it? Anyway, no doubt this will run throughout the week until the words 'Adebayor' and 'Barcelona' invade your brain, your dreams, every waking moment. Or not. Milan say Adebayor only wants to sign for them and part of me would almost like to see that happen. The idea of Ade speaking Italian is hilarious.

Andrei Arshavin 'dreams of Barcelona' according to his agent. Barcelona just need to sell the entire west side of the Camp Nou and half the Sagrada Familia before they can buy him though.

After being on the verge of a move to Inter Milan before Mourinho took over, then linked with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, poor old Alexander Hleb is now having to suffer transfer interest from Wolfsburg. His former Stuttgart manager, Felix Magath, is in charge there and he says Hleb is 'interesting'. Interesting in the same way a three-cocked badger is interesting but interesting nonetheless. Tomorrow Hull City declare their interest in Dribbly McNoscore.

And that's about it for this Monday. Another week of the close season begins which means another one has finished which means real football will be starting just that little bit sooner. I'm getting a bit antsy now. Stupid ants.

Till tomorrow.

Morning all, happy Sunday to you. Today it's not just raining here, it's windier than an old man after a feed of mushy peas and cabbage. Oh well.

This morning's Adebayor latest is that Milan say that Arsenal want to sell the player but want to move him on to Barcelona for their own motives. Perhaps it's because we can get more money from Barcelona, or that we can sell him and Hleb in a package deal, or that we want a Barcelona player as part of the deal. Who knows? Not me, and frankly I'm finding it very difficult to give a fish's tit about this any more.

The Spanish papers latest take on it is as follows: Sport says Barcelona have to sell Eto'o to fund the purchase of Adebayor. Chelsea and Milan are the clubs they say are interested in paying for the Cameroonian lunatic but didn't Milan say just the other day it was 'Adebayor or nothing'?

Meanwhile El Mundo says that two of his Arsenal teammates, who prefer to keep their names secret (how convenient), have received a text message from Adebayor saying "I already see myself in Barcelona". They say that since Adebayor learned of Barcelona's interest a couple of weeks ago he made it clear to Arsenal that he wanted to become part of 'the Barcelona family'.

Excuse me while I just lean over and vomit. The Barcelona family? What a crock of shit. I'd rather be a 8 month pregnant actress and spend time with the Manson Family. As I said yesterday I'll wait to give further opinion on this thing, particularly with regards to Adebayor, but seeing two clubs with the 'prestige' of Barcelona and Real Madrid to have spent most of this summer acting in such a classless and tawdry way makes a mockery of their reputations, in my opinion.

In other news Andrei Arshavin does want to leave Zenit St Petersburg and there can't have been a manager in football unimpressed with him this season. After a great campaign with Zenit, in which they won the UEFA Cup, he's played the last two games for Russia at Euro 2008 and been outstanding. He was fantastic last night as the Russians made the Dutch look very ordinary indeed. He looks like an exciting player, someone I could very easily see in red and white, but it all depends on how much he costs and how much control Russian forces have over his transfer. 

The News of the World says we've had a bid for Diogo, Portuguesa's Brazilian midfielder, turned down. I think I read this somewhere else too. It must be true so. 

Not much else happening really. Tonight sees Italy v Spain at Euro 2008 and so far the 1/4 finals have thrown up some surprises. Russia last night and Turkey on Friday. Despite their wealth of attacking talent would it be a surprise to see the Spanish choke again on the big stage? I don't think so but I think I just about fancy them to take it tonight. Unless Luca Toni stops his Tony Cascarino impression I don't think Italy have enough to trouble the Spanish defence, which is hardly water tight at the best of times. Should be a good game though.

Rightyo, that's it. Have a jolly good Sunday, stay out of the wind. It's humming. 

Good morning from a grey miserable Dublin. The rain is teeming down and it looks like it's going to do that all day long.

So I'm loathe to start the day with anything negative. Instead let's rejoice and sing songs at the news that Gael Clichy has signed a new long term contract with the club. Good news and let's hope the young man can keep going after a fantastic season last time around. He really was the model of consistency and energy, his defending has improved considerably and if he can now add a bit more of an attacking threat to his game he's gonna be awesome.

Right, so from positive to tedious negative. The rumours about Adebayor abound. This morning's El Mundo says Marc Ingla flew to London on a 'lightning' visit to discuss both Adebayor and Hleb. They claim that Milan have a copy of a letter signed by Adebayor telling Arsenal that he wants to leave. A transfer request in which he asks to be able to speak to big clubs in Europe about a transfer. Quite a development, if it's true.

However, Marca ran a story yesterday saying that Barcelona had agreed a €27m fee with Arsenal but we've asked Barcelona not to announce it until we've found a replacement. It does strike me that perhaps the Madrid based Marca is trying to cause the deal some problems by running a story like that.

If it's true then they've blown the whole thing wide open, if it's not true and the deal doesn't happen then they make Barcelona look like chumps. As I said yesterday though there's really far too much going on around Adebayor for this to be all speculative. We've read his agent saying that he'd sign for Milan, who are playing UEFA Cup football next season. It's hard to think his agent would turn down an approach from Barcelona where Adebayor could play alongside Henry again. When he wasn't sitting on the bench watching Henry play alongside Bojan and Messi.

At the moment the facts, such as they are, is about as far as I'm willing to go with this story. Further comment or opinion can wait because we have to also accept the fact that the Spanish press are notorious shit-stirrers and putting words in players mouths or transfer requests on clubs tables is all part of the tactics. Let's wait and see.

Goodplaya has some info - and I know Goodplaya would not print this sort of thing unless there was something to it. 

Eurowatch - mad game last night, eh? No real Arsenal interest though. Tonight sees Robin van Persie's Holland take on Russia. Vague Arsenal interest in Andrei Arshavin?

Arsene Wenger talks about Euro 2008 to the BBC. Hopefully this plays for everyone. I know they're a bit funny with regions and things like that. He talks about van Persie saying he can 'do anything' and calling him 'top class'. If he can stay fit, of course.

Right, I'm off to enjoy the rain. Have a good day.