Back to School + Arsenal move for Niang
868 comments July 9th, 2012
The Arsenal squad recommence training at London Colney today, and they’ll be buzzing with the usual ‘back to school’ excitement. Â What’ve they been up to over the holidays? Â Has Mikel Arteta’s hair shown any sign of moving? Â What cool new pencil case has Andre Santos got?
Of course, not everyone will be in attendance. Â Term might have started, but most of the boys are still absent. Â Anyone involved in the European Championships will not return to training for a week or two yet. Â Another absentee will be Yossi Benayoun, who has returned to Chelsea after the end of his loan spell. Â Clearly, no-one told Andre Santos:
Oh dear. Â The cuddly Brazilian will be gutted about the departure of his pointier Israeli chum. Â I am a little too: Benayoun’s commitment to the cause last season was greater than many on far longer-term deals. Â Whichever club ends up signing him will be very lucky indeed.
Another man unlikely to be at Colney is Aaron Ramsey. Â The Welshman flies to Spain this week to train with Team GB ahead of the Olympics. Â He has, however, spoken briefly about the situation with another absentee, Robin van Persie:
“I don’t know and we as players don’t know what is happening so we will just have to wait to see what happens.”
Basically, he doesn’t know. Â With Arsene Wenger now back doing his day job as opposed to commentating at the Euros, I think it’s highly likely he’ll be asked to comment on it sooner rather than later. Â When he does, it should make interesting reading.
Unsurprisingly, since the RVP news broke we’ve been linked with a few forwards. Â I actually don’t think that his departure would prompt a major signing: Olivier Giroud would simply be hurried in to action more swiftly than Arsene had envisaged. Â However, the likely departures of Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young, along with the fact that Joel Campbell has joined Real Betis on loan, mean we could have room for another striker in the squad. Â Someone like M’baye Niang.
Reports in France suggest 17 year-old forward Niang is about to join up with Arsenal for a trial period. Â His club, Caen, were relegated from Ligue 1 last season, and would be keen to cash in on their prize asset. Â Niang is a phenomenal athlete, who started playing top level football aged just 16, and would clearly be an exciting capture for Arsenal. Â You can read a fuller profile of him here. Â Of course, even if he did sign there’s every chance he’d be loaned out again, so I wouldn’t rush out and get your shirt printed just yet.
Pre-season training is upon us. Â The players will be suffering, but for me it’s sweet relief. Â The season creeps ever closer.