Good morning. It's starting to get a bit cold first thing, isn't it? After the hot, balmy summer it looks like winter is well and truly on the way. Bah.

Not a lot going on really. Emmanuel Adebayor (OleOle link) has been talking up his partnership with Robin van Persie (OleOle link), saying:

There is a good relationship between him and me. We are just enjoying playing together up front. He's a very good player. I'm using him and he's using me as well. We’re trying for a telepathic understanding and against Porto we’ve shown we can do something.

I wonder do they stay after training practising their telepathy with those test cards with pictures on them.

Ade: "Ok, Robin. Concentrate now. I'm looking at a card. I'm trying to send the image to you. What is it?"

Robin: "Is it a Barcelona shirt with a big bag of money beside it?"

Ade: "Oh man, you're good. Your turn! Your turn!"

Robin: "I'm looking at the card. What's on it?"

Ade: "Is it a footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette?"

Robin: "No".

Ade: "Well that's the image I'm getting, man. A footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette ... hitting a free kick into the upper tier"

Robin: "No, that's not it".

Ade: "What is it then?"

Robin: "It's a miniature version of Escher's 'Relativity'! You know, the one with the staircases"

Ade: "How the fuck am I meant to get that? I mean, what kind of person puts that on their psychic test cards? You make me sick. So sick I'd rather play with Bendtner".

Of course there's always the 'if' factor around van Persie, something Adebayor doesn't shy away from:

He's just back and we've only had five or six games together. Robin is a good player and if he is fit for the whole season we have a chance to do something special, that's for sure.

It was around this time last season that van Persie got injured so there's that little hurdle to get over yet. I suspect Arsene will be lighting votive candles during the upcoming international break. So we've yet to really see if they can be the kind of partnership we'd all like them to be and I do wonder if Adebayor's bigging up of the partnership is somewhat inspired by seeing how well Bendtner and Vela seem to work together. Obviously if the two of them forge a great twosome then it'd be great for the team but let's give it some time.

What's also interesting is the revelation from Adebayor that it's Cesc Fabregas who brings players together off the pitch. He says:

Robin is in contact with Fabregas and sometimes he makes everybody sit together. We are not the best friends ever but sometimes it does happen that we go to a restaurant.

I know that under the captaincy of Vieira the team socialising together was an important part of life at the club. Whether it was dinners or whatever those social events do help foster good team spirit and it's no surprise that Cesc is at the centre of it. Can I say Cesc for captain again? Of course I can. This is my blog, I can say what I like.

Cesc. For. Captain.

Former captain Patrick Vieira has backed Arsene in the wake of the comments by curly-haired cuntbutler Michelle Platini. And rightly so.

Apart from that there isn't a great deal going on. Chelsea's away draw in the Champions League last night was made even more hilarious by an injury to Didier Drogba and there's a great picture in the Sun this morning. I know I shouldn't take pleasure in the pain of others but come on, it's Drogba. How many times have we seen him writhe around in fake agony? Some real agony is nice to see. The Drog who cried wolf, haha.

Ok, that will have to do. More tomorrow with an Arsecast. Until then.

Morning morning, from a despicably rainy Dublin.

Some bits and pieces to go on with this morning, starting with the promotion of Jack Wilshere from number 55 to number 19 for the season ahead. It shows that what the boss said yesterday was true, it's about what he's doing on the pitch and with 7 subs allowed this season he's got a good chance of being involved from time to time. He's named in our first team squad so it's a real measure of his talent that he's there at his age. But let's not forget his age and while it's great to enjoy his pre-season performances let's not expect the sun, moon and stars just yet.

Eduardo, who got a great reception when he appeared on the pitch before the Real Madrid game says he hopes to be playing again before Christmas. There were reports that he might be back in time for the start of the season but given the severity of his injury I think that was a bit optimistic. And there is no point rushing back before everything is 100% ready, physically and mentally.

In the meantime the bulk of the striking responsibility will fall to Robin van Persie and that Adebayor fella. The Dutchman says:

We showed that Ade and I have a few nice combinations together. That is really important for two strikers, you always have to work together, you always have to look for each other. Hopefully this is a good start.

I have to say I was a bit surprised at how well they linked up. One move in the first half saw them cut through the Madrid defence with a series of one-touch passes and if they can work on that understanding as the season goes on then they could be a very good combination indeed.

The Telegraph links us with a move for Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red. He is a good player and would slot into that Flamini role very well. Madrid value him at around £9.5m apparently. With the Spaniards having just been in town who knows what kind of post-match discussion went on. I can't find anything in the Spanish press about it but with Real about to sign van der Vaart they may well be disposed to letting de la Red go. We'll see.

Armand Traore has signed a new long term deal with the club. I'll be interested to see what happens with him this season. I think he needs a loan move. He's certainly very quick but he's got an awful lot to learn still. The best way to do that is play a season somewhere, perhaps in the Championship, then we can see what he's really made of.

And that's about that. I'm off to stare at the rain all day.

Well, yesterday was certainly an interesting day with a match, a look at new boy Nasri and a new signing which sparked plenty of debate.

Let's start with the football and a 3-1 win over Stuttgart continued our pre-season preparations (Arsenalist has the goals and highlights). The first half was pretty dull but it gave a run out to Adebayor and van Persie up front and those 45 minutes will have done them some good. The Dutchman looked far sharper than his erstwhile colleague. Gallas started at the back alongside Djourou, Denilson in midfield with Eboue of all people, while Nasri and Walcott started on the flanks.

From what we saw of Nasri he looks quick, moves well, likes to have a shot (which is an obvious improvement on Hleb) and he can take a decent corner. I can remember Jens having to make a couple of good saves in the first half. The goals came in the second half though. Bendtner had come on and you could see what the previous couple of games had done for him. He looked quick, sharp and strong and he made the difference.

After we had gone behind it was he who ran and played a lovely ball through to Carlos Vela who took it wide and finished from a tight angle. The same two combined again for the second. Bendtner playing it into Vela, taking the return with his head and tucking it away smartly. I know he's had his critics but I think with regular playing time he could score a lot of goals in the season ahead.

The third came after typically tenacious work from Gael Clichy down our left. His cross came to Jack Wilshere, who was impressive in his short cameo, and his left footed finish was very nice indeed. Probably not the kind of scoreline Jens was hoping for against us but there you go. It's about our pre-season and it seems to be progressing very nicely.

And while we keep stressing there's not too much to be read into these games it's good to see some of the younger players really take their chances. Vela looks very useful indeed and Bendtner I've mentioned above. Walcott too looked quick and direct and while I've been very impressed with young Jack I think we need to bear in mind he's just gone 16 and we'd do well not to raise expectations too high. Let's give him time and let's keep the pressure off him.

Afterwards, and speaking about strikers, the boss said:

We're not as short of strikers as people thought. Vela is integrating very well into the team and Bendtner was already a force at the end of last season . . . and he will confirm that this year. Overall, we are still maybe one player short. But up front we don't need anybody.

Can't argue with that although I don't think we needed a striker anyway, now that Adebayor appears to be staying anyway. It's midfield where most of us think we need the signing and yesterday's news that we had signed Amaury Bischoff was met with ...erm... not much excitement? Is that fair?

His name was linked with us a a few weeks back and on the face of it, it seems like a typical Wenger signing. Nobody's ever heard of him, he has some French heritage, nobody's ever heard of him and he's cheap. It's hard to work out why we've bought him though. His professional record amounts to one professional game for Werder Bremen, and that was 16 minutes as a substitute. He's not a kid either. He's 21 years of age, compare the amount of games Cesc or Nasri or Walcott (by the time he's 21) have played and it seems most odd indeed.

I suppose if he's a cheap gamble who is not being counted on for the first team but who might play the odd Carling Cup game then there's no real problem with his signing. What has people worried is the idea that this might be the one signing Arsene Wenger was talking about. With some time having passed and being a little less cranky and full of wine as I was yesterday, I can't see that being the case. We're short in central-midfield, no question about it. You only have to look at the fact we played Eboue in there last night. Where is Diaby this pre-season? Injured, probably, which just about sums him up.

Perhaps Bischoff will surprise us all and turn out to be another gem unearthed by the boss. Perhaps he might establish himself as a decent squad player. Perhaps though, we're looking at another Alberto Mendez or Stefan Malz. And if I had to put money on it now I think that's where it would be going. I still think we'll make a signing in midfield simply because it's obvious to everyone that we need to. There are plenty of Arsenal sites out there, many of us differ in opinion, but I think this must be something everyone agrees on. And if it's obvious to us surely, surely, it's obvious to the boss.

Speaking of midfielders it looks like we're in for quite the windfall from the sale of David Bentley. Reports this morning suggest we could make as much as £7m from the deal which really is a brilliant bit of business. And Bentley confirms his status as a proper little cunt by joining Sp*rs. He'll probably be joined by Arshavin who has always dreamed of Barcelona, would love to play for Arsenal but is settling for them because nobody else wants him. I bet it will have always been his dream to follow in Rebrov's footsteps and let's hope he does exactly that.

Cesc talks about that game at Birmingham and while he says Gallas is a 'great' captain and says he has a lot of respect for him, he also says he's ready to take over the armband. You already know what I think about that so there's no point me going on about it. To me though it's telling that he references the Birmingham game. I know that it wasn't all Gallas that day, that the players would have been affected by what happened to Eduardo and the blow of the late penalty, but my point is that someone with real leadership skills would have dragged them out of that slump much more quickly.

Manuel Almunia says he has a lot of respect for Jens Lehmann but then makes it very clear that he's enjoying life without him. When he says himself, Fabianski and Mannone are three 'very nice guys' it doesn't take much to work out what he means.

And that's about it. The squad return to London to prepare for the Emirates Cup this weekend. They'll hook up with Kolo and Cesc ahead of the games against Real Madrid and Juventus which will provide more good tests for us, bearing in mind, of course, that their pre-season preparations are a week or two behind ours.

All the same I'm looking forward to seeing the games, they are on TV right? Final thought - the new away kit looks fucking brilliant, eh?

Till tomorrow.

Morning and happy midweek to you all.

We've got a game tonight against Stuttgart in what could be called the first 'real' pre-season game. Whereas the others have all featured teams with mostly youngsters with some regulars thrown in tonight should see a return to action for the majority of the first team squad.

Again the result really isn't that important but at the same time good results in pre-season can give a team a good lift and confidence as they begin their campaign. Look at last summer and how well we performed in the Emirates Cup and the Amsterdam Tournament. It definitely played a part in us starting the season so well.

Tonight though is more about fitness and getting some match sharpness back. One man likely to play tonight is Robin van Persie who is hoping to have an injury free campaign. He says:

Last year I missed too many games and I am still disappointed about it. This is a new year with new chances. Hopefully I can be injury-free this year.

He's not the only one hoping that. Regular readers will know I'm a big fan, I think he's a fantastically talented player, but so far his career has been blighted by injury. Some of them due to bad luck, others due to him not managing them properly and coming back too quickly. And I think we can all understand that. Everyone wants to play but he's got to be a little more mature. I really hope he can have an injury-free campaign and if he does I think he'll score a lot of goals. If he spends another season mostly in the treatment room though you have to start thinking about alternatives.

One of the names to emerge from pre-season is that of Jack Wilshere, a central midfield player who has caught the eye in the games so far. He is the youngest of the pre-season squad and the boss seems to have high hopes for him. He's obviously not ready for first-team football yet though and there is the danger that we hype our youngsters a bit too much. As talented as they are, and there are some obviously talented young lads, very few of them are going to make the breakthrough the first team squad.

Arsenal said goodbye to Gary Lewin yesterday. We've done this before but good luck to him and thanks for everything.

Gilberto talks about players who want to leave clubs for more money and challenges them to earn their money by winning things. He says:

When you win things, you achieve more than anybody else. You get better contracts, and more money, anyway. I can’t blame a player who wants a good contract. But I believe if they stay at the club, they can earn good money and do a lot for the club and themselves. So if they win something, it means more and they are more appreciated by supporters.

It's been mentioned before but a lot of player's contracts at Arsenal are achievement based. So if you win trophies you get more money. For most players that's an incentive to perform and to win things. There are those though who find that rather too much like hard work and would rather just go somewhere else to do the same thing and get paid more. What can you do? You meet them in every walk of life, not just football.

Finally for today OleOle's Fantasy Football game is kicking off soon. Prizes include match tickets, Champions League trips, PS3s and more. To sign up click here and I'll set up an Arseblog league which we can keep track of during the season. Let me see if I can't blag an Arseblog only prize as well. Details to come.

Right so, busy day today. More tomorrow.

It really does seem like the Arsenal/Barcelona saga this summer. Much like last summer. And the summer before. And the summer before. Oh wait. Was that Real Madrid that summer?

Whatever. It just seems that each close season we have to put up with one of the big clubs in Spain trying to buy some or all of our players. As Barcelona confirm they're in talks with Arsenal about Hleb comes more on the Adebayor side of things. Sport reports this morning that the Catalans have made an offer of €29m for the Togonator. But although the newspaper says Adebayor is exactly the player they're looking for they won't be offering a penny more.

Although Arsenal say they won't sell him at any price they say that Adebayor wants to join, using quotes from the El Mundo interview I linked to yesterday. What can you say? I think I speak for most of us when I say:

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What a pack of tedious cunts they are. Sports departments filled with fiction writers - and while there's probably some truth in what they say the fact that it reads as if it were written by a failed Dan Brown impersonator almost makes me feel sorry for them. Almost. Instead I'd like to burn them alive just to save the world from this shite. Sadly, the thing is if you kill one two more grow back in its place. This is going to be a long summer.

The BBC says Samir Nasri has 'agreed' his Arsenal contract but the BBC should try and tell us something we don't already know.

Kolo Toure, meanwhile, says he'd like to stay at Arsenal for life. And I for one welcome that. A player who knows what he wants and doesn't need a scumbag agent to tell him.

Speaking of scumbags and agents we move to Cuntley Cunt's inclusion at number 25 in the 50 greatest Arsenal players of all time. What a joke. Sansom, Nelson, Winterburn, McLintock and Merson all behind this odious little cunt? Frankly anyone who voted for him should be locked in a room with an angry dragon who has cancer teeth and can breathe fiery AIDS at them. I do love the way that Arsenal.com made sure we knew it was the 'fans' who picked the players but they should know better than this.

Cuntley Cunt is the biggest cunt ever to play for Arsenal football club. What he did before being a cunt is irrelevant. If this list was the top 50 cunts to ever play for Arsenal he should be in all 50 positions, the little cunt. What a load of rubbish and frankly it's an insult to the great players who really did great things for our football club instead of running off like a greedy, lying cuntbox.

Raul Albiol's agent says Arsenal have not been in touch with him about the player. Ok then.

Robin van Persie reckons something beautiful is about to happen with Holland in Euro 2008. He's certainly giving van Basten something to think about with his goals in the tournament so far and I wouldn't be surprised to see him start the quarter final against Russia. I think van Basten sees something of himself in van Persie, great talent but slightly brittle. That particular quarter final promises to be an excellent game though after the Russians win over Sweden last night proved they're a team to be taken seriously.

According to reader Dylan, Arsene was on French TV talking about how the prices for Russia's players, in particular Arshavin, would be likely to increase on the back of that performance for anyone that might be interested in buying them. The Mirror says we're ready with a £10m bid for Arshavin.

Tonight sees Portugal v Germany with Jens Lehmann in action for the Germanians. Can their defence keep out the attacking threat of Portugal? Will Klose or Gomez actually score a goal? It's gonna be a good one, I think. I fancy the Germans to nick it as well.

Right so, that's about the size of it. More tomorrow.

"How much do you want for this player? I'll give you £25m in hard cash"

"No deal!"

"How about this great load of gold bullion?"

"No deal!"

"What about these precious gemstones"

"No deal!"

"A rare signed copy of Sergeant Pepper's?"

"Oh, go on then!"

It's going to take something like that for Arsene Wenger to sell Emmanuel Adebayor apparently. It seems the boss sent a fax to AC Milan telling them that Adebayor was not for sale for 'money or gold'. Heh. And who says fax is a dying medium?

As I mentioned yesterday there was a lot speculation in the Spanish press yesterday, none of it concrete in any way though. It just said that Barcelona wanted Adebayor. Of course this has translated in a cast-iron £24m bid according to reports today. There's more in today's papers but again it's all very vague saying Barcelona want to sign him blah blah blah.

While the best part of me knows what the Spanish press are like part of me keeps thinking of the interview Adebayor gave to El Mundo back in May, complete with picture of him holding and reading a copy of the paper. I wonder does his hero worship of Thierry Henry have any bearing on this whole situation. We shall see. With Barcelona admitting that none of Eto'o, Ronaldinho or Deco is wanted next season they're definitely looking for a forward. Adebayor certainly fits the bill.

You have to imagine though that if Arsene is so against Adebayor leaving for Milan he's got to feel the same way about him leaving for Barcelona. It's all mad, Ted.

Still, it was more positive about another striker last night as Robin van Persie completed 90 minutes for Holland, and scored, as they beat Romania to advance to the 1/4 finals of Euro 2008. He drew praise from his manager, Marco van Basten, who said:

I am very happy for him. He had a long and difficult time without playing and he was completely fit when the tournament started. Now he has finally played 90 minutes; he didn't start easily but worked hard and after all his hard work, he was rewarded with a nice goal.

RVP himself called the Romanians 'hard work' and he's certainly playing himself into contention for a starting spot and it's good to see him look sharp in general and particularly around the goal. Like every Arsenal fan I hope he keeps it up but more than that stays injury free.

In today's Euro 2008 games Cesc should start for Spain against Greece while the Arsenal interest in the game between Sweden and Russia is reliant on ex-Gunners Freddie Ljungberg and Seb Larsson.

Speaking of Spain yesterday's Mirror again linked us with a move for Valencia defender Raul Albiol. Valencia are in serious financial strife and clubs will be looking to take advantage of this - I suppose that kind of a situation would suit us.

And that's really about that. Don't forget the Eurocast, the Euro 2008 podcast, will be available later on this morning.

More tomorrow.

So Alexander Hleb has been speaking about the stories linking him with a move away from Arsenal.

He's been gushing in his praise of Arsene Wenger, calling him the best manager he's ever had, he says he's disappointed not to have won anything with Arsenal and that stories suggesting he wants to go because of that are false, and that that club means a lot to him.

His words are carefully chosen though. When he denies ever saying he wants to leave he's quite correct. We've had almost total silence from Hleb since these stories emerged. It has been his representatives who have been doing all the talking.

So while Hleb can certainly deny saying he wants to leave Arsenal it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to. He makes no assertion that he wants to stay, the only thing he says is that if he were to leave it would not to be another English club - which is exactly what Ashley Cole said. I wonder if the fact that Mourinho is set to take over at Inter has sparked a bit of a rethink from Hleb. I don't see Hleb as a Mourinho player and I'm not sure Hleb would enjoy Mourinho as a manager. So what was almost a certain deal is now doubtful.

The interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid is there but these clubs declare interest in almost every player in existence during the course of a summer. He who is flavour of the week (mint-chocolate, perhaps?) can find himself off the menu the next. My own opinion is that Hleb still wants to leave Arsenal but he's playing politics a bit in case it doesn't happen.

The Telegraph says we've signed some bloke called Samir Nasri for £12.5m. Does anyone know anything about this guy? I mean, wow, this one has come right out of left field.

Meanwhile Robin van Persie says Arsenal need to pay better wages to keep the top players at the club. Rather injudicious comments from a man who has hardly provided value for money since his arrival at the club. I really like van Persie, I think he's an excellent player, but when you've completed a full season, injury free, and earned the big, big money you're earning then you can say something about this, Robin.

His comments are made rather more foolish when you look at the books and see that our wage bill is more or less the same as United's and I think the bit about players earning three or four times more has to be put in context. No doubt he's referring to Mathieu Flamini who was on a relatively low wage since his arrival and his Milan deal will have increased his wages by that much. On the other hand a Rosicky or Hleb going somewhere to earn four times his current wage which instantly become one of the best paid players on the planet. Silly stuff - A Cultured Left Foot has a nice take on it too.

The Guardian reports that we've been knocked back by Cardiff after a £5m bid for wonderkid Aaron Ramsey. The Welsh club are looking for more cash up front and we've offered a deal based on his appearances and achievements. They say we'll go back and offer more, we'll wait and see.

Right, that's your lot. Perhaps we'll get official confirmation of this Nasri fella, whoever he is, later on.

Morning all,

and thanks to everyone who has pointed me in the direction of an article in L'Equipe which apparently says Samir Nasri could sign today for a fee of around €15m. I say apparently because my French is utterly poo. I used to be quite good at French in school but when I went to live in Spain all the French got squashed in my brain by the Spanish and now the only phrase I can remember is 'Where is the library?'.

Gunnerblog suggests he's more of a Hleb than an Overmars but the last couple of players we've signed from Marseille have done all right for us so let's wait and see. 

It's a slow news day so stories like Robin van Persie says he should be fit for Holland for Euro 2008 get some blog space. I couldn't care less if he was fit for Euro 2008 but I will care if he comes back crocked. Which he probably will. I mean, if he managed to get paralysed from the eyebrows down it wouldn't be even slightly suprising.

In Spain AS are reporting Real Madrid are interested in Alex Hleb. They say this is double bad news for Arsenal. Firstly because we'd lose Hleb (heh) and secondly because it continues the debilitation of the team and Cesc, having seen Flamini go already, would be much more inclined to go to Madrid if Arsenal also lost Hleb. Pffff. They reckon Barcelona are interested as well but suggest that while the two Spanish clubs are willing to pay good wages for him, Hleb has an offer on the table from Inter worth €125,000 a week. That's a lot of fucking ice-cream.  

Meanwhile Sport reports that the agent of Adebayor and Hleb (who they say is Vincenzi Morabito) will be in Barcelona today for some mysterious reason, while the best story of the lot is that of Sp*rs. Having apparently failed in their bid to bring Samuel Eto'o to White Hart Lane they have set their sights on ... yeah, that's right ... Thierry Henry. Excuse me for a moment:

Hahahahahaha ahahaha ahaha hahahahahahahaa hahahahaha hahahaha hahaha ha ahah ahaha hah aha ahaha hahahaha hhheeeeeeeeee

hohoho hahaha ehehe heheheheheh hahahah aahahah aaaaaaaaheeeeee hahahahah hahah ahaha

haha

hahahahahahaha

hah haha haha haha

*cough*

hahahahahahahaa haha ahaaha

Sorry about that. You have to laugh, don't you? 

Not much else happening at the moment. I could mention that shitfest in Moscow tonight, couldn't I? Barring some kind of natural disaster I can't think of any result that isn't a complete and utter load of septic goat cunt.

Come on natural disaster!

Till tomorrow. 

It's a quiet one today folks. not much stirring at all.

Some transfer speculation, as you might expect. Marseille's Samir Nasri is being linked after suggesting he's played his last game for the French club. Why us ahead of anyone else I don't know.

The Sunday Mirror says Arsene Wenger is going to spend £25m and handily lists a whole pile of players in one article. They repeat the Thuram rumour as well as linking us with St Etienne pair Mouhamadou Dabo and Blaise Matuidi, Roma's thoroughbred Alberto Aquilani, Valencia's Raul Albiol and Mario Gomez of Stuttgart. Quite the shopping basket.

The News of the World says Aston Villa want Justin Hoyte and were prepared to pay £4.5m for him last season. I don't think he's ever going to be first choice for us but I'd rather keep him as back up for Sagna and sell Eboue but Eboue has the pictures of Arsene Wenger doing that thing so it looks like it's curtains for Hoyte.

The People says Sp*rs are having problems signing Samuel Eto'o because he'd rather sign for us instead. And who could blame him? Can't see us being in for him though. He's too mental and his knees are a bit too fucked.

Former Gunner Kenny Sansom has released an autobiography in which he talks about his battle with booze. In the book George Graham reckons we'd have won more trophies if the players hadn't been out on the lash all the time. Probably true but I think the drinking culture was prevalent at most clubs, not just Arsenal.

El Mundo in Spain says Arsene Wenger is 'furious' with Emmanuel Adebayor for demanding to be the highest paid player at the club and feels the Togonian needs to keep his feet on the ground. This is naturally to the advantage of Barcelona which, of course, is the whole point of the article. More shit stirring but don't be surprised to see it crop up elsewhere - my bet is The Mail.

Meanwhile Sport, the other Catalan daily, says Barcelona are looking for a winger and the three names they have splashed all over their front page are Valencia's David Silva plus Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie. Honestly, going by the last few days in the Spanish papers Barcelona are going to have a 53 man squad next season.

And that my friends is about that. Have yourselves a good Sunday. More tomorrow.