There’s a lot of tabloid tittle-tattle around today, the best (if that is the appropriate term) of which is summarised by arseblog.
Rather than repeat that, I thought I’d divert your attention to two Arsenal-related Top 50s, browsing through which will help while away your Sunday.
First of all, there’s The Times’ list of The 50 Greatest Arsenal Players. I’ve not read it myself yet, so can’t provide any commentary to it.
Something else I’m blindly reccommending is the first three parts of the Gunner’s Greatest Goals collection, officially put together by the club and neatly packaged here by 101greatgoals.
101greatgoals is a great website, chock-full principally with goals (plenty more than the 101 advertised). It does, however, have other useful tidbits, like this clip of Thomas Vermaelen’s first interview as an Arsenal player. Enjoy.
I’ve got to head off now, partially because tomorrow’s blog entry is going to be a bit of a whopper. It’s Season Review time again…
Thomas Vermaelen (pronounced Ver-mah-len) is an Arsenal player. Ajax Amsterdam confirmed that the fee for their captain was €10m rising to €12m, and he will join up with the rest of the squad for pre-season training in July.
Arsene was clearly delighted to get his man, saying:
“Thomas is a great signing for Arsenal Football Club, and we are all delighted that he is joining us. Thomas is a solid performer with good experience of Champions League and UEFA Cup football and is also a regular with the Belgium national team.
Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre back, but he’s multi-functional and can also play at left back. He is strong technically with a positive winner’s attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team. Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal.”
The player himself was keen to stress his stress his affection for his former club, but seems thrilled to be moving to London:
“Firstly, I have to say that I’m sad to be leaving Ajax and I would just like to thank everyone for their help and friendship towards me over the past eight years.
I’m just so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a great Club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium. Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this Club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.
I have had a good taste of the Champions League during my time with Ajax and this is something I am looking forward to experiencing again with Arsenal. I’m also looking forward to playing in the English Premier League, which for me, is the best league in the world. Also, I just want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club and I hope we can enjoy winning some trophies together next season.”
The club officially list his height as six foot, which is plenty big enough for a defender. All in all, I think this is just the sort of signing we need.
Vermaelen’s arrival has sparked yet more rumours about the futures of Gallas and Toure. Is it just me, but does signing a left-footed centre-back who can also play left-back put the Arsenal career of one Mikael Silvestre in far more jeopardy?
The president of Bourdeaux, the club from which we’re supposedly on the verge of signing Marouane Chamakh, says he hasn’t heard from Arsenal in eight years. This becomes more understandable when you discover that eight years ago he sold us Sylvain Wiltord for a then club record fee.
So, United will now be without both Ronaldo and Tevez next season. They’ll have to spend an awful lot of money to be as strong again next season.
Thomas Vermaelen arrives in London today for a medical that could see him become our first signing of a hugely important summer.
Since the Spring of 2008 (and arguably even even before that) Arsene has been looking for a left-footed centre-back with organisational qualities and an aerial presence. In Vermaelen (the current captain of Ajax and a man with a penchant for decisive headed interventions at both ends) he looks to have finally got his man.
He won’t come cheap. An undisclosed sum of around £10m will be the highest fee we’ve ever paid for a defender, though Sol Campbell’s huge wages made that as expensive a deal.
I don’t think there are a lot of of us who can claim to have seen Vermaelen play a great many times. On the occasions when I have watched him, I haven’t really noticed. In the case of a defender, that’s no bad thing. I remember with great clarity, for example, some of the more hapless performances of Philippe Senderos, whose number six shirt Vermaelen is likely to inherit.
Vermaelen will slot straight into the side. He’ll play the first game of the season and probably stay there. That’ll leave one of William Gallas and Kolo Toure out in the cold – and possibly out of the club. Kolo fiercely expressed his displeasure at being ommitted around Christmas, and I can’t imagine Gallas will be happy to be sat on the bench in a World Cup year. My hunch is that we might see the latter leave before the summer is out.
Just as the signing of Andrey Arshavin was a clear move to improve our creative efficiency, the arrival of Vermaelen is a positive step towards ammending our defensive deficiencies. The next neccessary step is the arrival of a holding midfielder. Once that is done I’ll begin to get excited about next season.
Finally, does anyone want an Arsenal season ticket for next year? The one I’ve had for some time is not actually in my name, and having now been offered one legitimately I am keen to take it up. I’d need someone to take it for the forthcoming season though.
Yesterday I reported on the news that Philippe Auclair, respected French journalist and pal of Arsene Wenger, believes Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh is on the verge of a move to London.
However, despite the strength of the source and the talent of the player – a rangy, skillful type with a genuine aerial threat – this wasn’t the transfer rumour that excited me most yesterday. That was a tenuous link with Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo.
Melo started last season on the fringes of the Fiorentina first-team. In fact, he actually broke into the Brazil side before the Serie A outfit, leading to doubt and derision from the national side’s fanatical support.
However, over the course of the season he gradually established himself as a mainstay of the Fiorentina side, with a combination of tenacious tackling and crisp passing that saw him likened to former Arsenal stalwart Gilberto Silva. By the end of the season, there was talk of a multi-million pound move to champions Inter Milan.
With our midfield crying out for a defensive-minded presence in the Gilberto mould, Melo would be ideal. Chamakh is an exciting player and a potential hit in the Premier League, but until Emmanuel Adebayor is moved on his signing is simply not a priority. A player in the Melo mould is essential.
One man whose arrival is in little doubt is Thomas Vermaelen, the Belgian centre-back who has now revealed he will have a medical on Friday:
“The signature is not there yet, but everything is in order. On Friday I will fly to London to undergo a medical. Then I hope to sign.
I feel so proud. Arsenal is a fantastic club, and as a child I watched them play. On Friday, if I go to Emirates Stadium I will be seriously impressed.
This will be a big change in my life, next year I will suddenly be facing the best strikers in the world. This does not scare me, I will give everything my body has. This is one of the best days of my life.”
A centre-back and centre-midfielder are our real priorities in this window, and it looks as if we’re about to get halfway there. Vermaelen, Melo and Chamakh in / Adebayor (and possibly Eboue?) out would be a more than decent summer’s work.
Goodplaya has done a better job of analysing the fixtures than I could ever be bothered to do myself. The most positive way of looking at them is to say that an early win over United could generate some serious momentum early in the season, whilst an easier run-in (with no ‘Big Four’ clashes post February) could prove beneficial.
Respected France Football journalist Philippe Auclair declared on Talksport this afternoon that Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh is close to signing for Arsenal.
The Moroccan International striker, who this season played a key part in Bordeaux finally toppling Lyon from the top of Ligue 1, is available for around £7m having reached the final year of his contract.
Powerful in the air yet skillful on the ground, Chamakh is an obvious candidate to replace Emmanuel Adebayor, should the Togolese be moved on this summer. Here’s a not altogether impressive compilation:
More on this tomorrow, as well as reaction to the fixtures.