Four Horsemen

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...