Just in case anyone misunderstood my comment about Stuart Taylor yesterday afternoon, and I accept some people from Manchester might have trouble understanding plain English, let me make it clear. I can fully understand why Manchester City want to sign a goalkeeper once regarded by Bob Wilson as the natural successor to David Seaman in the Arsenal goal, but I don't understand why said goalkeeper would want to move from one team's bench to another's. Let's be charitable and say perhaps the city of Manchester appeals to Stuart and leave it there.

"BBC Sport understands...", "Sky Sports understands...", "The Guardian understands..." 

These are phrases frequently used and I think they probably get up people's noses a little, it's an unneccessary coda to the story. You know, it might be true, it might not we all understand that. But if you wanted to go and tell a girl that your mate fancied her (and how schoolboy would that be?), you wouldn't go up to her and say "I understand my mate thinks you are, er, you know, rather gorgeous"- would you? 

Today there's a lot of it about though, the BBC got in on it a little bit late but,

"Manchester City are in negotiations to sign Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, BBC Sport understands."

Over at the Guardian, things are progressing at lightning speed,

"Manchester City are on the verge of completing a deal to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal, the Guardian understands. The two clubs have agreed a fee, believed to be closer to Arsenal's asking price of £25m than City's original offer of £20m, and the striker is in Manchester discussing terms on a five-year contract worth between £150,000-170,000 a week."

Wow. Hold the phone. We're still getting the money we wanted last summer, or as close to it as possible, Greedybayor's doubling his wages and Manchester City are getting a world class striker. Everyone's a winner.

Oh.

One suspects that City may come to rue the day they offered Emmanuel Adebayor £600,000 per month to stand around in offside positions between three and quarter to five every Saturday. But that is to play down his good points and one must accept, however appaling Ade's attitude at times, this season that he is a good player. You don't get to be paid the money he has been earning at the club he's been earning it with without some kind of talent. But I think the reason he was popular amongst Arsenal fans was his willingness to work for the team, not his non existent Thierry Henryness, and once that work ethic began to go, well.... Were there signs of his attitude in the spat with Bendtner at Tottenham a year and a half back, the subsequent refusal to pass the ball to him at Birmingham- a piece of selfishness for which the team paid dearly and even that ludicrous celebration at Liverpool after Theo Walcott ran the length of the Anfield pitch to put the ball on a silver platter for him?

Reading a Cultured Left Foot this morning, he feels that we will miss Ade's line leading capability and there is a fair argument for that. Nobody except Nicklas Bendtner, in my opinion, has the capability of leading the line, holding the ball up and bringing others into play. Maybe Robin and Eduardo can do it, but they lack the aerial ability of Bendtner and you wouldn't want to rely on them across a season. Bendtner, it is only fair to state, also resembled a pinball machine as much as an international footballer throughout a large part of the winter- can he make the same kind of leap Alex Song did last season? I don't think he's got as far to go actually.

Whilst I'm on the subject,  people sometimes wonder about my predeliction for the big Dane. Granted he hasn't torn up any trees yet, but I stand firm in my belief that RvP, due to injuries and what not, has yet to really become the player he should be. Yes, he can be very exciting to watch, in a way that Bendtner never will be, but I think Bendtner (still only 21, don't forget) will turn out to be the more efficent player of the two- an Alan Smith to RvP's Paul Merson maybe...

Finally, as ESPN have now taken over Setanta duties- and they deserved to go into administration just for employing Craig Burley- their 5.15 kick offs have now become 5.30 ones. Which is handy for Gabs. My Everton supporting friend, Kev, was hoping to have a belated birthday bash centred around watching the game together, a risky plan given that if the experience is as previous Arsenal Everton games have been (I remember the 4-1 in 2004/05), we might end up not speaking to each other. Anyway, Gabs the part time Gooner, is at Griffin Park for Brentford's game against Brighton, hopefully the delay in the evening kick off will give him time to join us.

I accept that may be no consolation for anyone trying to get back from Merseyside after the game...

Straight to the point today, Sky Sports are reporting that Manchester City are in talks with Arsenal. The subject of these talks is not, as City's new owners maybe hoped in January, Cesc Fabregas but one Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor. I didn't see that one coming I have to say, principally because I would have thought that unless Manchester City are planning on playing Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho, SWP and Roque Santa Cruz all at the same time, they have more than enough forward options. Maybe they're planning on playing Wayne Bridge and John Terry in front of Shay Given (and does anyone know why Stuart Taylor has signed for Citeh- beyond the obvious?), Stephen Ireland in front of them and then 7 forwards. Now that's something I'd like to see.

Arsenal were said to be happy to sell Ade to an english club when Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea was said to be sniffing round the Togolese. Now it appears to be confirmed. Of course if Arsenal weren't looking to sell, the "talks" would have been over quickly, I wonder what kind of money City will be willing to pay us for the big man's services?

I was thinking about Manchester City over the weekend, what with their continuing pursuit of John Terry. It's funny to think that the self professed Mr Chelsea, already earning a week what most of Chelsea's support would be lucky to earn in a year or two, could have his head turned by the one club with the capability to do it. We already know Ade's mercenary. Funny to think too, that the general feeling was that Arsenal had missed out in not cashing in on Ade last summer, though I understood why they didn't, we could yet be in for a bigger windfall then previously imagined. Yes, dear reader, the pound signs are lighting up, perhaps somewhat naively, in my eyes.

The Guardian at the weekend seemed to think a deal for Blaise Matuidi was imminent. I know I've been accused of it before, however I feel I must echo the thoughts of the Arseblogger here. Is he really going to improve substantially on what we already have in Alex Song and Denilson? It seems unlikely, bearing in mind the big strides made, in particular, by Song last season. That said, if he promises that much, and remember we've been linked with him for a long time now, it seems as though it would be a shame to miss out. I don't know enough about him, I guess.

One person I do know a bit more about is Andrey Arshavin and it ocurred to me at the weekend that, in this player, we probably have the best player in the country. A point of view which coincides with Myles Palmer's, though that never seems like a good thing. For me, as well as Myles it seems, the closest to him is Torres. I don't think, even with the relentless hyping the english media indulge in, that the more functional Gerrard, Lampard, or the volatile Rooney are anywhere near this magician's class. And I don't see anyone else coming close to him. Even allowing for the natural pessimism of the average Arsenal fan, it's fairly clear that with a player like Arshavin, fully acclimatised, fully integrated and fully fit, anything is possible. He has the potential to turn a good side, and forget the bullshit we are definitely a good side, into a great one. 

Anyone who saw John Hartson play (I saw his debut) will know that he was never in any danger of turning a mostly poor Arsenal side into even a good one, but he seems like a decent chap. So, I imagine there's a lot of people out there today hoping that he can make a full recovery from a testicular cancer that has spread into his brain. Best wishes, John.    

The rights issue? Kevin Whitcher has found himself agreeing with David Conn's Guardian piece. I must admit that the idea of the board saying that they don't need an injection of funds when the fans are paying through the nose to service a £416m debt doesn't sit very well with me. As Kevin notes, an apocalypse may be coming should things go as they did last season. There's no doubt that the team recovered well from an abysmal start to the season, but why did that abysmal start happen and didn't we ultimately come up short when it mattered? If Arsène and the board (not to mention the playing staff) can show that the lessons from last season have been heeded- and that's show, not say- then the four horsemen of the apocalypse will be staved off. If not...  

A good, now sadly deceased, friend of mine often used to say to me, "Where's the logic?" He used to say other things too like, "Me and you are gonna fall out in a minute". But that's okay, he was from Leeds, that's almost affectionate up there. Anyway, reading Joan Laporta's comments on Cesc, following Barcelona's admission of defeat in their attempt to sign Franck Ribery, or "Scarface" to use his more widely known moniker, he says a very curious thing, it reads like this:

"Ribery was a player we were interested in at a logical price but Bayern don't want to sell. If they are interested in selling, we are interested in buying but if not, then we will look to Fabregas. Compared to him there is no available alternative left in the market, so we will see what happens."

So, it seems clear that Barça won't be pestering Bayern, because Bayern don't want to sell Ribery. I was under the impression that both Arsenal and Cesc had made it clear that not only did Arsenal not want to sell, but Cesc didn't want to leave. But perhaps I was wrong, Laporta saying that there is "Compared to him (Cesc) there is no available alternative left in the market" clearly implies that Cesc is available. I don't think I did get it wrong, I just think that when you tell Barcelona "No", the powers that be hear "maybe". It looks like denial 430 will have to be forthcoming.

Andrey Arshavin will soon be registering 400+ denials of a future in the Nou Camp. Arshavin, who said he had fired Dennis Lachter last week, only for Lachter to insist he couldn't be fired and then, cheekily, went onto invite Barcelona to make a bid for Arshavin, has responded to that invite by saying that he is an Arsenal player and is only thinking about the new season. It's one of the more mouth watering prospects ahead of us, isn't it? A full season of Arshavin magic. I can't wait. It's interesting that he says he thinks the Premier League is the best league in the world and then says we will have to wait and see in the Champions League. Of course, his influence was a huge miss in the semi final of that competition last season and no doubt, there was nobody more frustrated about his inability to contribute than him. And Arsène Wenger perhaps.

Manuel Almunia reckons we need more than youth to compete next season. I reckon we need more than goalkeepers getting beaten from 40 yards out, on the touchline- or 50 yards out come to that. Harsh? Undoubtedly. In all seriousness, I think he's got a point, but I also think that when you look around the first choice XI, we have an excellent spread of experience within it. Central midfield, as we all know, could do with an addition, but nobody can tell me that the defence, the flanks and striking positions are filled by callow youths. They, most certainly, are not.

Silent Stan's voice may just be getting a little louder today, following his acquisition of 160 shares, which takes his percentage of shares to 28.58%. He gets ever closer to that 30% mark and just a couple of days after the board rejected Baron von Usmanov's rights issue too. Is this coincidence? I think not.

Cliff Bastin, Arsenal's all time record scorer, until a south London goal machine by the name of Ian Wright came along, and Frank McLintock, Arsenal's first "Double" captain have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I'd provide a link, but I'm about out of time (it's on Arse.com).. obviously the two of them are hugely deserving of the honour. Although Cliff died quite a while ago, I'm made up for Frank. Less good news for two Arsenal old boys, Jermaine Pennant has signed for Real Zaragoza, whilst Jose Reyes' star has descended to the point of not being wanted by Atletico Madrid, or the club he spent last season on loan at, Benfica. There's a good article about that situation on the Guardian website.

Finally Sebastian Bassong says Arsenal have made an appproach for him, but it's complicated due to Newcastle's situation. Another centre back?

One of the things, the side effects if you like, of Robin van Persie choosing to remain with Arsenal, rather than seeking to make his fortune elsewhere, is that Arsenal will have to pay out a shed load of money to him for the next five years. No, no, what I meant to say, of course, is that getting the Van Man to sign an extension which will see him give his best years to the club, is a statement of intent from the Arsenal hierarchy. It says, we are not content to to develop players into world beaters only to see them flogged off, albeit usually at a massive profit, we want to keep them so they can help us to become a bigger, better club.

This ties in with the words of Ivan Gazidis and, more importantly, with the actions of the club. Contract extensions already inked by the British quartet of Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcott and Gibbs might not represent the signatures that Arsenal fans wanted to see this summer, but as July progresses and pre season preparations begin in earnest,  the atmosphere around the club seems a lot less turbulent than it has in summers past. A lot. We seem in good shape and I can't help feeling that this has undoubtedly been down to the influence of the CEO.

I do wish, however, that his influence extended into the corridors of power at ESPN and Sky. Because, due to ESPN, we will have to wait just a little longer for the start of our season, which will now begin against Everton at 5.15pm on the 15th of August. Our first three televised games are all away from home, with the Everton game being followed a fortnight later with a visit to Old Trafford. The trio is completed by Fulham on the 26th September, whilst our first home game scheduled is Blackburn Rovers the following weekend. The television companies aren't looking for Arsenal to slip up much, are they?

I mentioned yesterday that the manager would be hoping, as I suspect we all would, for a good contribution from Tomas Rosicky this season. The man himself says that, in terms of fitness, he's in better shape then when he came to Arsenal. He also repeats claims he made a while ago that, in both his and, Arsenal fitness coach, Tony Colbert's opinion, he was ready to play by the end of last season. Far from being irritated by this, I sense that perhaps Rosicky is just happy not to have been thrown immediately back to the coalface. I think I could learn to appreciate being handled like that.  

So much to get through, so little time.

1) Robin van Persie, announce Arse.com, has signed a new contract with Arsenal. The deal is thought to be £80,000 per week for the Dutchman's best day of his career. Now, I'm what Agent Mulder might have termed a van Persie sceptic, but even I have to admit that his Arsenal statistics, 63 goals in 177 appearances, are pretty good for someone who has spent more time on the treatment table than the football pitch over the last half a decade. Whilst 20 goals from 44 appearances last season is a clear improvement. When he talks of his heart being with Arsenal, and how much he loves the club, it might sound to some like he's trying to keep the fans sweet but I am reminded of his comments two years ago, prior to the season that ended in so much heartbreak, where he talked about people not realising the potential of this club. We need players like that at this club.

2) As you know, I tend to stay away from the financial/ political side of the football club- and there is very much a political side to it, but the board have decided that they are on a sound enough financial footing, without needing to resort to an Usmanov suggested rights issue. It's not that surprising, is it? Gazidis has been talking, both to Arseblog and the official site, and I think he's sent a clear message that success can't be promised for ever, it must be delivered at some point. What better time to send that message, then as pre season training commences?

3) Speaking of pre season training, I'm sure there isn't an Arsenal fan out there that won't be heartened by the sight of... the rain hammering down on our players. I got drenched on the way back from work yesterday (twice), so it's nice to see that footballers can suffer a right good soaking too. Seriously though, I was talking about being heartened, and it is heartening to see Eduardo, Rosicky, Gallas and, to a lesser extent, Senderos being put through their paces. Could Senderos still have a future at Arsenal? The presence of these players only serves to highlight the amount of talent at the manager's disposal. Hopefully, both Eduardo and Rosicky will still be at the manager's disposal in a couple of months time.

4) It seems, sadly, that Felipe Melo is on his way to Juventus. The search for Gilberto's successor goes on...

Much to catch up on this Monday afternoon, then. The lack of posting over the weekend a result of a monumental reminder to music lovers that yes, we really have missed Blur and of the power of Roger Federer. I wanted Roddick to win, thought he could win and he should have won (and is probably having nightmares about the second set tie break). But full credit to Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player in Major history.

Whilst on my way to Hyde Park, via Wagamamas on Friday afternoon, I had my first sighting of the new away kit "wild". And, I have to say, I thought it looked quite good, to be fair. Still don't think blue is an Arsenal colour, at least not a "primary" one, but it's not as bad as I thought.

I see Keiran Gibbs is the latest youth to be tied up long term. Which is good news. It'll be interesting to see how Gael Clichy, who has been unchallenged in his status as left back numero uno since the move to the new stadium, responds to having this young, talented if raw, youngster breathing down his neck in the years to come. Importantly for us, if we could somehow hang on to both of them, it means that Clichy can be rested as and when with an imperceptible drop in quality.

The transfer front is fairly quiet. Opening the Observer yesterday, you can imagine how thrilled I was to read the headline "Adebayor ends Milan links..." That said, even a paper like the Observer can be prone to extrapolating excessively. They report his agent as saying "No. No. It is the same situation as last week" Parallel to Arsène's noncomittal attitude towards his number 25, "No. It is the same situation as last week", this comment hardly seems like the sort of thing any Arsenal fan who wants him to stay (and despite my thoughts on the matter, it seems there are a few of you who still do) would want to hear. 

Au contraire, the news that Arsenal target Felipe Melo would be allowed to leave Fiorentina, if we gave them some cash and Emmanuel Eboue, came as music to my ears. I'm not sure if this is the latest postion though, or whether Melo is intent on honouring his contract extension, on which the ink is probably still drying. Perhaps Eboue doesn't see Fiorentina as appropriate for a player of Eboue's talents, or perhaps Arsène is unwilling to let the Ivorian leave. And, to be honest, I can kind of understand why. After all, Bac Sagna is not superhuman and I can't advocate depth on the left, whilst dismissing the concept on the right. Kolo Toure has failed to convince when played there of late, which leaves us with Gavin Hoyte, who- with the best will in the world- would face quite a jump, if Sagna were to pick up a long term injury. And you just know that it would happen as soon as Eboue went.

It seems that the Cesc story is one that won't be left alone. Not by Anthony Kastrinakis anyway. The continued pressure on Arsenal has, allegedly, led to a bounty of £40m being placed on Cesc's head. Which is a little less than the price tag Cesc himself quoted last week, when asked about his future. I remember the summers spent cursing the newspapers, 2001 stands out in this regard when every day seemed to bring news of Patrick Vieira's departure. So, I won't let yet another piece of speculation from tomorrow's fish and chips wrapper get to me.

Yet.

Due to a day spent in Nottingham at a Staff Conference- big ups to Simon Woolley for one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever heard- I missed the new contracts for Ramsey and Wilshere news. Which is good news, but given Jack only signed professional terms in January, with Ramsey joining last summer, was it strictly neccessary? Both contracts are long term and, I suppose, will be financially more rewarding for the two players.

Arsène is delighted at the prospect of seeing these two develop and I guess he isn't the only one. It's easy to forget, as you watch Wilshere bamboozling opponents, that he is only 17. It's easy to forget, when you watch Aaron Ramsey producing a slide rule reverse pass, that he is only 18. Both, though perhaps more Wilshere than Ramsey, have a maturity to their game that belies their tender years. Ramsey, of course, is also "delighted" to have signed a new deal, saying that he knew Arsenal were the club for him last year. Curiously, Wilshere, as I noted here a couple of months ago, holds Theo Walcott up as some kind of mentor. Young Ramsey does the same here. Which speaks, to my mind anyway, to a good camaraderie amongst the youths in the squad. I'm interested in this, because with Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky already at the club, with Walcott yet to move to his destined position up top, he is another obstacle barring Wilshere's way to the first team. But this doesn't prevent him from giving advice.

It speaks to Wenger's stated desire to create a culture of style and spirit at the club. We are, of course also talking entirely about British players here and maybe it won't happen under Wenger, but what we might see in years to come is a British spine running throughout the team. Sound fanciful? Consider Keiran Gibbs coming through in spectacular fashion, consider the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Emmanuel Thomas, Sanchez Watt. I am reminded of something my uncle said a while ago, which was that Wenger's legacy would be to leave behind a core of English players, trained and developed the Wenger way and therefore better than any others. The boss' refusal to spend silly money on players, just because of the maroonness of their passports, has evidently given the media a false impression of his opinion of English players. He does like them, just not the ones tainted by the "Baby Bentleys" culture.

*Steps down from soapbox*

Cesc Fabregas. Or more to the point Joan Laporta. Apparently Cesc wants to return to Barcelona. Laporta says that himself, Guardiola, and Txiki Beguiristan all want him back. Well, all I want to say to Mr Laporta is that if that is the case, then Cesc has- on reflection- rather helpfully, told you exactly what you need to do. It's very simple, all you need to do is go to Arsenal Football Club with €52m and ask for permission to speak to Cesc. And that's it, you don't need to talk to Cadena Cope about your respect for Arsenal, because your respect for Arsenal; a) is, in this case, irrelevant and b) it doesn't exist anyway. If it did, you wouldn't be trying to engineer a transfer through the media, now would you?

Adebayor might go, he might not. The boss doesn't sound particularly fussed either way. Are you? Was Benzema really a target? Even at €35m? I suppose the fact the boss didn't bid means that he never knew exactly how much he would cost, but he couldn't have expected he would get him for a pint of lager and a packet crisps.

Anyway, that's about my lot for today. It's now off to the gym to get some exercise and then... no, not porklife, we're going to have us some parklife. Alllllllll the people....

In the face of reported interest from Jose Mourinho's Internazionale, William Gallas has said that whilst he has not discussed a new deal with Arsenal, he is "relaxed" and looking forward to next season at the club. Which may surprise some of you reading this. Of course, the cynical amongst you will probably look at this and ask why he hasn't begun to at least discuss a new contract. It may well be that he leaves the club next summer- of course it may be that he leaves us this summer- but if Arsenal were to let him go now, bearing in mind where this blog finished yesterday afternoon, I think it would be a mistake of biblical proportions. But perhaps I am overstating things slightly.

Overstatement is something our glorious football club seem to specialise in at the moment and if you don't believe me, check out the reveal for the next season's"third" shirt. For some reason Nike have decided that they're going to give us a shirt which mirrors "the craftsmanship of a fine English shirt". Now, the Arseblogger has already pointed out that nobody who wears a football shirt will give a monkeys about the fine cratsmanship, I'd say that if I wanted to wear a "fine English shirt", I'd buy, um, a fine English shirt and not an Arsenal one. Certainly not one that had "Fly Emirates" emblazoned all over it. Could this shirt have been dreamt up by some marketing whizz at the club, hoping to capitalise on the amount of city boys and corporates populating the "prawn circle"? "Surely not!" I hear you cry.

There is one good thing about this shirt though,. As Ben Ingber observed moments ago, as long as Cesc Fabregas keeps it on when not playing, nobody will ever be able to complain about his "inappropriate" attire again. Not looking at anyone in particular there, Mr Brown. Taking it further, if Nick Bendtner wears it out clubbing, the next time he loses his trousers, perhaps the high quality engineering of the shirt, and those horizontal stripes, will distract everyone from the sight of his Calvin Kleins (that one's mine).

Arsène Wenger has been explaining why he decided not to go to Real Madrid. If you think about it, it's a tribute to the work Wenger has done over the years that, even in the "worst" period of his Arsenal career, a club like Real would want him. I say this when you bear in mind the "football spectacle" that Madrid are intent on operating, as opposed to the "construction" project our manager is in the middle of. I'm sure his words will be interpreted by the naysayers as an admission that Wenger is in a comfort zone, but then he says something like this:

"I want to have success by building a team with a style, with a know-how, with a culture of play specific to the club and its fans and with young people. "

Personally, I find that inspiring. I also think it's a much braver, bigger and will ultimately be a more rewarding experience then going to Madrid and being able to throw money at something long enough so that eventually some of it will stick. We're lucky to have him.

What about the tennis then? I got in from work, had dinner, watched Andy Murray and then I went to bed. Makes you wonder why this roof wasn't put in place a long time back. But what a thriller it was, you could see both men were gone by the end of it. It just came down to who was less gone and that was Andy Murray. What drama

Moving on, where are we in Arsenal world today?

Well, it seems that Felipe Melo is not interested in joining Arsenal, just yet anyway. He has agreed a one year contract extension with Fiorentina, it seems Gilberto's powers of persuasion just weren't enough for him.

Andrey Arshavin has said that he would be "really happy" to have the chance to play for Barcelona. As would 99.9% of the footballers on the planet. I guess the difference here is that Arshavin probably is good enough to ply his trade at Camp Nou. Even so, it's not a chance I think he'll be allowed in the near future even if he hasn't fallen victim to the loaded question converted into next days headline ploy so beloved of sports editors the world over.

And with that, I've probably given that little piece too much brain space, so I'll move on to eight concrete departures, the most high profile- well, I say high profile- of which is Amaury Bischoff. Yes, simmer down, dry your eyes, the "gamble" taken by the gaffer last summer has come to nought. It's difficult to get excited really, I mean I saw his spectacular goal against Fulham reserves, but if he couldn't get near the first team last year, pre Arshavin and with lengthy injuries to Walcott and Rosicky, there wasn't much you could hope for. Likewise, Rui Fonte was a name I kept expecting to see in the Carling Cup squads for the last couple of years, but it never really happened for him either. When you consider the amount of talent barring Jay Simpson (who apparently had some attitude problems at West Brom, or so I am informed) and his route to the first team, it's clear that Fonte was never going to cut it here.

Also on the departurtes list are Abu Ogogo, Rene Steer, Vincent van den Berg, Anton Blackwood and Paul Rodgers, last seen thrashing about at Turf Moor as Burnley put us out of the Carling Cup. I suppose the departure of 8 youngsters will free up some serious cash for the boss eh? Or is it the high maintenance youngsters in the first team that are the problem?

Although 8 of the boys have been let go, there are 4 who survive to try and make their way into the Arsenal first team squad as professionals; they are Luke Ayling, James Shea, Craig Eastmond and Cedric Evina- a 17 year old Frenchman affiliated with the club since he was 9. I hadn't realised we caught them that young..

There seems to be some speculation that Stuttgart's Serdar Tasci is seen as the man to replace Kolo Toure, should Kolo be ending his long term stay in North London. Now, I ask you, in the name of all things sane, does replacing an experienced centre back with a youngster with just over 100 appearances to his name sound like an Arsène Wenger move? I mean, come on...

Enjoy your (hot) afternoon. 

Did you watch Glasto at the weekend? It was all about Blur really. For me, anyway. What with having tickets for Friday's Hyde Park gig, we weren't going to watch BBC2's coverage, but then we couldn't not watch it. At least until Jo found Nick Cave's set on the interactive coverage. I know two things about Friday now, one is that I'm going to have a great time, with Jo, Luke and Pia, and the second is that I will cry, lots, probably. Thereafter things are liable to become a bit of a blur...

Anyway, moving on to Arsenal matters, Gilberto's been bigging up the Arsenal whilst on international duty. Apparently, Felipe Melo has asked him about us and Gilberto said if he's interested he should come and join us "without thinking". Nice to hear a former player not talking bollocks in the media- Freddie Ljungberg anyone? It seems love is oozing from Gilberto's pores as he describes Arsenal as "fantastic" and "great", whilst saying Melo is exactly what Arsenal need, quality, powerful, potential to improve and a quality passer of the ball.

Why haven't we signed him already then?

In all seriousness, it sounds very promising. I'm sure Melo hasn't asked Gilberto out of idle curiosity, so maybe this is very much in the pipeline. We'll find out soon enough.

I haven't got much else to give you today, really. I caught, on my way to play cricket with the boys yesterday, RvP's "I want to be the best player in the world" inteview. Ambition, Robin, ambition! Yes, positive thinking and a desire to improve is what we want at this football club. Though I respectfully suggest that perhaps Robin will not scale those heady heights, why not aim to? It's that kind of thinking that sees Abou Diaby working with a personal trainer, rather than sitting on a beach, so he will be stronger for the new season. You will know by now I'm not a huge fan of Diaby's, but I applaud the fact he realises he must work harder to acheive the potential he undoubtedly has.

I also saw, and it's my fault for picking up the News of the World (I washed my hands afterwards), that Arsenal are going to make a bid for Karim Benzema. Would that be with the money that the media keep telling us we don't have then? Honestly, it's no wonder Arsenal fans get so pissy during the summer with the amount of bollocks in the press.

Oh, I got out for a first ball duck, if you're wondering. I watched it, watched it and I watched it. I watched it so carefully in fact, that I forgot to play a shot and the ball crashed into my off stump. Whoops.