In the depths of the transfer window, with scoops and exclusives being hurled at you from every possible angle, sometimes it’s hard to know who to believe. So let’s start by telling you who not to believe.
First up, Guillem Balague. I’ve got nothing against Balague the man. Despite his eerily accurately trimmed beard, he seems like a decent enough sort. I also understand the pressures of his job: as a freelance journalist, he has to generate his own work. The consequence of that, however, is that having “a story” becomes more important than it being a “true story”.
This is all well and good until such a story begins to toy with the emotions of that most vulnerable of creatures, the Arsenal fan. Having already written in AS that a €23m deal for Juan Mata was done, he then spent yesterday telling anyone who’d listen that the buyout clause in Mata’s contract had now expired, and Arsenal could be forced to pay anything up to €60m – the deal, in essence, was off. This, of course, sent morale among Arsenal fans spiraling, as the twits on Twitter tried to decide who to blame: had Arsene forgotten about the expiration of this clause, or was it the fault of Ivan Gazidis, who had crucially forgotten his pin number just as the deal was about to go through?
It is all, of course, nonsense. If such a clause existed – which it may have done – and Arsenal felt that this deadline was essential to us agreeing a deal, then it would have been done. As it is, with Valencia having already signed a potential replacement for Mata in Sergio Canales, we probably remain confident of agreeing a fee regardless. Furthermore, signing a replacement for Cesc before striking a deal with Barca would only weaken our hand.
“Valencia simply rejected their offer. After some hesitation they answered ‘no’ to the Gunners’ offer.
“So my son remains a Valencia player, for now. But I don’t think it’s their last offer.
“There are several offers for Mata and I think that Arsenal will come forward again. The situation is still evolving.â€
So it’s exactly the same as where we stand with Jagielka: one bid rejected. Now whether or not we return with improved offers will tell us just how badly we want these players.
Much, of course, depends on what happens with Cesc and Nasri. Neither situation has progressed since the weekend, but The Sun claim City will return with a £22m offer for the Frenchman this week. Whether Arsenal will be in any position to accept or refuse that, without knowing Fabregas’ fate, remains to be seen.
“As Arsene said, we are looking to buy some players but we are not going to do our business in public. They are going to have to be bloody patient – as we are.
It is frustrating for both the fans and Arsene and the board.”
Some would say we already have been quite patient. The season is right around the corner now and so it’s understandable if that patience is beginning to wear a little thing. Nevertheless, I maintain my belief that it will only take a few dominos to fall for this to be a successful summer for Arsenal. Cross all available digits and pray.
Finally, my opinion on a few rumours floating around that I don’t wish to dignify with links: Arsene has neither the money nor the desire to sign both Gary Cahill AND Phil Jagielka; if Stoke couldn’t afford Cameron Jerome then they can’t afford Nicklas Bendtner; and Arsenal signing Joey Barton is about as likely as Arsene bringing Neil Ruddock out of retirement to play as a creative midfielder.
It should have been a day for celebration. One of Arsenal’s most cherished sons, Thierry Henry, returned home to a rapturous reception. In a neat piece of symmetry, as we looked back at the career of one our all-time greats, a young striker hailing from Dagenham, Benik Afobe, was making his debut. And, with Arsenal leading thanks to a Robin van Persie header, it should have been rounded off by Arsenal lifting their own trophy in their own stadium.
Unfortunately, Henry had other ideas, splitting the defence with a typically precise pass to invoke a move that ended with Kyle Bartley turning in to his own net. Immediately, the atmosphere soured, like coagulated milk. The unpleasant stench of last season enveloped the Emirates, and the full-time whistle of a friendly game was met with booing. Yes, booing.
I can’t condone that at all. The Emirates Cup is a “Cup” only in name – otherwise our previous successes in it would mean we wouldn’t be accused of any kind of trophy drought. It is an exercise in two things: fitness and revenue. The players run around, the club make some money, and Emirates get to plaster their name all over something else. Whilst a positive performance is always a boost, the result, ultimately, doesn’t matter.
I can, however, understand the frustration. The boos were not so much for conceding an equaliser. Nor were they for failing to win another, admittedly pointless, trophy. They were boos born out of what has been yet another painful summer, in a year when Arsenal fans really needed it to go more smoothly. They were boos which were almost as articulate an expression of the concerns around the club as this piece by Amy Lawrence.
There’s still time for the situation to be rectified. There’s still time to find a resolution to the Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri stand-offs and redress the balance caused by any departure. There is time to add an experienced centre-back, or maybe even a left-back. But it is running short. The season is now less than two weeks away. Events at full-time yesterday showed that Arsenal fans are still deeply hurt by the back end of last season. The players are too, and even they are clear about wanting reinforcements. In the next couple of weeks, the manager has a chance to take decisive action, regain everybody’s trust, and make the home crowd feel that little bit better about that 6.5% extra they’ve paid to watch us in the coming months.
It’s important to remember that the game was not without positives. Gervinho continues to impress me with his direct running and movement off the ball. Having a wide player who is prepared to dart through the centre and in to the six yard box will add something to this team.
Robin van Persie looks sharp, whilst having Thomas Vermaelen fit again is a huge boost to the squad. Afobe also made a decent impression on his first-team bow, albeit in unfortunate circumstances, as Jack Wilshere was withdrawn with an injury. It doesn’t seem like a serious one, and if it means he can miss out on international duty with England then that’s probably no bad thing.
It was fantastic to see Thierry looking, in my opinion, happier than he ever did in a Barcelona shirt. Arsene had planned to give him 5 minutes in an Arsenal shirt, but the rules forbade it. That’s no bad thing: I’ve got enough memories of him in red and white to last a lifetime. There’s never been a more electrifying sight than Henry in full flow. We’ll be lucky to see his like again.
Right, that’ll do for now. Something tells me there could be plenty more to say come the end of this week…
Arsenal began their Emirates Cup campaign with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors. It was a lively encounter, and you can get a comprehensive match report here, as well as highlights by clicking the image on the right.
Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song were all rested, so Lukasz Fabianski lined up behind a back four of Jenkinson, Koscielny, Djourou and Armand Traore. In midfield Jack Wilshere was partnered by Emmanuel Frimpong, with an an impressive attacking quartet of RVP, Nasri, Arshavin and Gervinho.
The new boy impressed on his first appearance at the Emirates, switching flanks with Arshavin and showing great pace on the counter to dart down the left and cross with his weaker foot for RVP to thrash in the opener. I was again struck by the tenacity of Emmanuel Frimpong, who looks as if he’ll provide a viable alternative to Alex Song, and a significant step forward from Denilson. The concern remains that he has chosen to represent Ghana rather than England, meaning that we’ll lose both our primary defensive midfielders in January for the African Nations Cup.
Both full-backs also did well, and with Arsene Wenger confirming after the game that Emmanuel Eboue is still likely to leave the club, Carl Jenkinson could have a big season ahead of him as understudy to Bacary Sagna. Although we don’t know much about him, we do know he comes from a family of die-hard Gooners, and having that represented out on the pitch can’t be a bad thing.
At half-time Arsene made five changes, introducing Mannone, Squillaci, Ramsey, Vela and Chamakh, then later Eboue. It was Ramsey who made the biggest and most immediate impact. With his first touch, he latched on to a loose ball after some neat footwork from Vela and powered it in to the top corner.
As the game wore on, however, our defensive frailties reared their familiar, hideous head. First Squillaci was caught in possession and Boca slid in Viatri who slammed in to Mannone’s near post. Then, within three minutes, Johan Djourou was turned too easily in the penalty area and Boca had an equaliser thanks to Pablo Mouche.
Disappointing though it was to see Arsenal concede a lead, the XI we had on the pitch at full-time was far from first choice. It was also intriguing to see that from corners we lined up with a new-look zonal marking system. It’ll be interesting to see how that one goes in competitive games.
For Boca, I was hugely impressed by Juan Riquelme. The excellent Orbinho has some great stats comparing his performance to that of Samir Nasri, who started in the central playmaking role for Arsenal. Nasri is a great footballer, with outstanding dribbling skill, but he doesn’t have the same eye for a pass that Cesc has. If, as seems increasingly likely, the captain departs, the creative burden will have to be shared more equally throughout the team.
Inevitably the manager’s post-game press conference focused more on Cesc and Nasri than the match itself. Both players were in attendance yesterday – one on the pitch and one in the stands – and I suspect that the skipper’s early exit had more to do with avoiding journalists than anything more sinister. Arsene’s answers on Cesc were much as they have been – “Cesc loves deeply this club, he loves deepy as well Barcelona” – but his stance on Nasri seems to be shifting somewhat. He said:
“If you ask me if I want to keep him, I say yes. But he needs to be committed to that as well.”
“You ask me if the two go do we need to sign one? Of course because they are two exceptional players. That’s why I personally want to keep the two.”
After weeks of insisting he would not consider losing both, suddenly it seems it’s something he may have reckon with after all. It is distressing that we as a club find ourselves in such a weak position over two players ostensibly under contract.
Nevertheless, let’s try and enjoy the football for now. Today we face New York Red Bulls, who will be very fit as they’re currently mid-season. And, of course, they have in their ranks an old friend. Unconfirmed reports suggest he might even make a cameo for the home team this afternoon. Whether he does or not, be sure to give him a hell of a welcome home.
The Emirates Cup is here, with Arsenal facing Boca Juniors at 4.20pm today. Â The game is like on ESPN and there will be highlights on Arsenal Player later today.
It’s a significant landmark in the Arsenal calendar. Â For Arsene, it marks the end of the first phase of pre-season. Â Rather than building stamina, training will now begin to be geared towards match situations. Â A limitation of six substitutions also means that for the first time this summer players will be asked to complete 90 minutes.
For fans, it represents a return to the Emirates and the commencement of a new campaign. Â With the Premier League just a fortnight away, the vernacular shifts:Â “next season” becomes “this season”, and thoughts turn to tackling the fixtures on the ever-encroaching horizon.
With all that in mind, it’s particularly worrying that Cesc Fabregas will continue to be absent from our preparations. Â It’s no secret that he wants to move to Barcelona, and yesterday was a watershed moment, as for the first time Arsene publicly questioned his commitment to the cause:
“I always say he is torn between two loves – the club where he has been educated as a very young boy and the club where he has been educated from 16 onwards and he has been given a chance. I personally can understand it – but of course we want to be certain about his complete commitment.”
I have to say that what with these comments, added to Peter Hill-Wood’s statement the day before, it feels very much as if we’re waiting for Barcelona to come in and put us out of our misery. Â They’ll sense that, and know that they can bide their time, incrementally increasing their derogatory offers until eventually we accept. Â The Spanish papers today reflect that too, with all sorts of language about how Arsenal “have realised they have no choice”.
Arsene was loathe to talk about any kind of deadline yesterday – “the only deadline is August 31st” – but I hope that privately the club have taken a stronger position. Â Barca need to be told that either an appropriate bid arrives for Cesc by such and such a date, or any deal is off. Â The player is under contract, and a disgruntled Cesc is still a more useful asset than most other footballers.
The skipper himself must be in real limbo. Â I don’t, however, subscribe to the idea that Cesc has gone on any kind of strike to force through a move. Â The decision to exclude him from first-team involvement will either have been mutual, or the manager’s.
That said, but the longer this goes on the greater the chances of the player’s relationship with the fans being severely damaged – predominantly through Barcelona’s fault, not his own. Â If they want Cesc, they owe it to him to come in for him soon before this gets even messier.
I think the situation is probably best summed up by this genuinely mental film from Scottish lunatics FitbaThatba. Enjoy:
“Our business will be done sooner rather than later but it is difficult to speak about any individual player because that makes things difficult.”
To me, that says that next week could be a big one on the negotiating front: the squad are stationed in London Monday to Friday, Arsene will have his afternoons free to oversee any negotiations, and any potential arrival would have a week to settle in before the Premier League kicks off.
Although he conceded an interest in both players, he refused to comment on negotiations for Phil Jagielka and Juan Mata.  In my opinion, they’d both be superb additions, but I don’t want to get carried away – all signs suggest Everton are very resistant to the prospect of losing Jagielka for anything less than £18m, which I can’t see us producing.
Unless, of course, we had sudden windfall from the sale of a certain Catalan midfielder. Â Hmmm…
I actually went to bed some hours ago, but was struck by a bout of insomnia. Giving up on the idea of sleep, I turned on my laptop. Turns out my tossing and turning was predestined, for it can only be that I was meant to find out that Joel Campbell has finally agreed to join Arsenal. It’s a transfer I’ve followed for some time, and now it looks as if it’s approaching its conclusion.
After quoting the President of Campbell’s club, Saprissa, as saying that negotiations were still ongoing, Costa Rican news channel Teletica have now confirmed an agreement is in place.
Campbell himself declared his happiness and thanked his family for their sacrifices to help him to get where he is – although his father’s dubious negotiating tactics looked, at one point, to have scuppered any deal.
For any Spanish speakers among you, a video of interviews with the coaching staff and Campbell himself can be found here.
It remains to be seen whether or not Campbell would be awarded a work permit or whether he would move to La Liga on loan.
