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.

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.

Morning all,

it's another Adebayor focussed morning as reports from various sources (or perhaps one report repeated across various outlets) say that Barcelona have made a final 'take it or leave it' offer of £30m for Emmanuel Adebayor.

Take it! Seriously. £30m is fucking brilliant money for a guy that's had just one good season and who obviously wants to leave the club. Now, the Spanish press are really getting stuck in this morning. They say that Barcelona made a €30m offer and Arsenal said 'No, €40m' but apparently Laporta said that was totally unacceptable. But you know what's coming, don't you? Yeah, it's the patented Spanish press player agitation move. Sport says:

Adebayor must demonstrate, unequivocally, that he wants to play for Barcelona for the seasons ahead. If he does that, if he shows his committment to the 'blaugrana', there won't be any kind of doubts of his respect [for Barcelona]

Heh, they really are a hilarious bunch of bastards. Something I cover in today's Arsecast is the fact that one of the reasons Adebayor (and Hleb too) is so attractive to Barcelona is that they see him earning relatively a low salary so they won't have to pay him that much more than he's on at Arsenal. Might be a bit of a shocker if he's expecting Thierry Henry wages. Certainly the next few days are going to be interesting. Will Adebayor sit and beg like the lapdog Barcelona want him to be? Will Arsenal continue to play hardball, if that's what we're doing, over his transfer fee?

Ultimately though, if we get anything close to £30m for Adebayor it will be as canny a piece of transfer business as we've ever done. With Ken Friar and Arsene Wenger managing the deal then it's certainly not impossible. Let's wait and see.

Who comes in to replace him remains to be seen. Does it mean more time for Bendtner? Is Roque Santa Cruz the answer? All these questions, and more, wil be answered in time.

And really that's the only Arsenal story around this morning. Thank God for Adebayor turning into a silly twat this summer, I'd have had nothing to write about at all. Now though, Arsecast.

In today's Arsecast I talk to Tim Payton from the AST about Stan Kroenke, you can find out more about the Arsenal Stadium Mystery, but not the film, the book, plus there's the usual crap from the usual gadabouts and reprobates.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

Right so, have a good one. More tomorrow and happy July 4th to all our American Gooners out there. 

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?

Footballers. As intelligent and forward thinking a bunch of people you'll never meet. I mean, they're always making sure they've got their futures secured.

Picture the scene, you're a 24 year old player and you're worrying about what it is you're going to do when you stop playing. Will you have enough houses? How many sports cars are in your garage? Is your bling the blingiest? Such concerns are not things that us mere mortals earning £40,000 a year (if we're lucky) should worry about. But when you're already earning that figure every week things change. I mean, £40,000 is barely to get by on and imagine earning that kind of money, or more, for the next eight to ten years. You'd hardly have the sort of nest egg you deserve. I mean, let's average out your wages at £50,000 a week for 8 years. That's barely £20,800,000. How can you be expected to live the rest of your life having only earned that pittance?

So I fully understand Emmanuel Adebayor when he says:

Barcelona have made a good financial offer and there is also the chance to play alongside great players. Yes, I am still under contract to Arsenal but it's up to the directors to satisfy my demands or I'll leave. I have to prepare for my retirement. Even if you are not scoring fine goals and you have money, you can enjoy a happy retirement. The time for preparing for that moment is now.

You know, I think we should certainly just give him whatever he wants. I mean, he scored 30 goals last season. That means he's the best player in the whole universe and should be rewarded accordingly. There's no need for him to prove that he can do it again. Why would should we doubt him? Forget the new contract we gave him last summer. That means nothing. If you have one good season you should be in a position to ask for whatever you want and if you don't get it then you should throw your toys out of the pram like a fucking baby. Prepare for your retirement? FUCK OFF. You're 24 years of age. If preparing for your retirement is your primary concern then you're a fucking joke.

How sad this all is. We have a player who came from Monaco where he was a bit-part player with some potential and after one good campaign at Arsenal his head has swelled and he's making these kind noises. Pathetic. There was this belief before he arrived that he was a bit of a trouble maker. We never saw that at Arsenal. He said the right things, behaved well, performed on the pitch, his work ethic was fantastic and there was no hint that he'd start with this kind of crap.

But crap it is and no mistake. Comparing himself to Thierry Henry, a man who scored goals season after season after season, shows you that he's living in his own little world. He's got agents and advisors all around telling him he's worth this or that and he's fallen for it hook, line and sinker. These people have no interest in his football career but they realise that football is in a strange place at the moment. Three or four good games can see a player be heralded as the new Someone, lauded for international recognition or player of the season. A good season means that he can whored around to 'big' clubs who will pay huge money in transfer fees and wages.

If Adebayor thinks he's as good as Thierry Henry or worthy of the same wages as Thierry Henry then he's dreaming. Henry may be on the wane but he was, in his pomp, one of the most incredible footballers I've ever seen. He didn't just have one good season - he had seven or eight of them and properly earned the money he was paid. Adebayor, as much as I like liked him, doesn't come close. If Barcelona are offering him £120,000 a week then he should go and take it and Arsenal should take the £25m or whatever it is that they're offering. Arsene Wenger might say he's not worried about the situation but that's just what managers say in these situations. Saying anything else weakens your position when it comes to negotiating a price for the player.

It's just another indication that money talks in the world of football nowadays. Players are so far removed from reality that they can't see the wood for the trees. Many players have left Arsenal to follow money and few have been successful. If Adebayor goes to Barcelona I sincerely hope that he finds out the grass is not always greener on the other side. The really sad thing is that he obviously won't care one bit if he doesn't win a trophy for the rest of his life, once he has his money to retire on he'll be fine.

In a quick round up of the others news the boss talks about Cristiano Ronaldo and says he hopes he stays at United next season. Some interesting comments about Real Madrid as well.

The boss is also in the Sunday Mirror talking about the transfer market but I think it's just a rehash of old quotes.

The People says we'll bid £12m for Roque Santa Cruz this week.

And that's about that. Euro 2008 final tonight. Should be fun. More tomorrow.

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.

Happy Friday to you all. I have just awoken from the weirdest of dreams in which I won the Champions League for Arsenal by heading home a slice of onion from a corner. The ref looked, saw the onion in the back of the net and blew up as it was a golden goal. Weird.

Quite a bit to get through so we'll just get going. AC Milan say it's Adebayor or nothing while the speculation in Spain increases about a move to Barcelona. I know we've heard from Adebayor this summer saying he wants to stay at Arsenal but I have to say I'm a bit concerned at just how intense this speculation is. It's constant, it's not being quashed, and it goes a bit beyond the old 'Oh, we half fancy this player'.

Sport actually claims to have called up Adebayor in Togo and quotes the player as saying:

I don't want to say anything now in reference to FC Barcelona. Maybe in a little while it might be necessary but not now. It's better to wait. Thank you*

Of course he could have said "I have nothing to say about Barcelona" etc etc and it might well have been twisted to suit the story but that's what he's quoted as saying. To me it feels like there's something going on here and while I'm certainly not going to start pointing fingers yet it would be very disappointing if Adebayor were to agitate for a move now.

However, it does seem the interest from both Milan and Barcelona is very real and I don't think it can get to the stage it's at unless there's been some encouragement from the player's camp. We'll see what happens but it's all a bit scummy and murky in my opinion.

If he goes we'd need a striker though, that's for sure. Samuel Eto'o anyone? I'm not sure I believe this one but I'm also pretty sure that this story has been brought in good faith unlike some of the absolute bollocks you read elsewhere.

The Sun says we're after Obafemi Martins. Can't see it. I think his agent just uses us every single time he wants to get his player's name in the papers regarding a move away from Newcastle. Lazy cunt.

Nasri medical, holiday, sign, blah blah blah.

Some clubs want to sign Gael Clichy apparently. Well, some clubs can go suck a donkey's smeggy cock, cunts. Fuck. Off.

Eurowatch - Jens played last night for Germany as they knocked out Portugal. Sadly Ronaldo didn't cry which is a bit of a shame in fairness. It does seem that we're likely to see him do his crying for Real Madrid next season. Whatever I might think about United I can only hope that Ronaldo's signing ushers in a new era of shite for Madrid - the way they and Barcelona act over transfers really is quite disgraceful and if they pay £60m for him and he breaks his leg in the first game it'd be just what they deserve.

Tonight sees Croatia play Turkey and you can follow in the OleOle match centre - not forgetting the Eurocast as well which should be published later this morning.

The AST publish a letter they've written to Stan Kroenke after meetings with him and his team in Denver. Interesting stuff and it does look like a place on the board will be forthcoming. Hopefully I'll have a chat to them in the week to get more detail about their meeting and we can get it up on the Arsecast.

Speaking of which, after a week's holiday the Arsecast is back. In today's all-action episode there's a theme of negativity running all the way through, the Man in the Bar, a tale of the unexpected, Eboue and more.

To subscribe to the Arsecast in iTunes simply click here, to download this week's arsecast directly - click here (13mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here. And you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

And that's about that, more tomorrow.

*Other websites and blogs please feel free to use this information without the slightest acknowledgement as to where you got it. I know you're all Spanish speakers too. You're great, so you are.

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.