Tag: arsenal

Arsenal are facing yet another disappointing transfer window because they have been unable to bring in any noteworthy players yet. They had been linked with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain for several weeks before the player decided to move to Napoli.

Arsenal have also been linked with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez, as Wenger prefers to flex his muscles for the first time in more than a decade. Even before the new arrivals, Arsenal could be set for departures according to the Frenchman.

Players like Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho have been linked with moves away from the Emirates stadium. Wenger has done little to quash the speculation by confirming that he does not expect the two players to stay at the club. Moroccan international Chamakh has been a major disappointment since arriving from a free transfer from Bordeaux a few years ago. He has featured very rarely in the last few years and the arrival of Lukas Podolski last season only limited his chances even more. Gervinho has also been on the fringes of first-team. The Ivory Coast international has been at Arsenal for the last two years, but he has failed to fulfil his potential.

Gervinho cost the club in excess of £ 10 million in 2011.

“Gervinho is on a good way to Roma and Chamakh is on a good way to Crystal Palace,” said Wenger. “If the club can target players that are going to improve the team, they are going to be very welcome because that’s what we want – to get a better team, better players and compete to win trophies. But the club is working on that, it is in their hands and I’m sure they are going to do it,” said midfielder Mikel Arteta about the lack of signings so far.

Arsenal have been showing a recent interest in big and established players in order to bring an end to the trophy drought. They are extremely close to bringing in Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain on a deal that will break the current transfer record of the club by a significant margin. Former winger Andrei Arshavin currently holds the record for being the most expensive transfer at Arsenal. He was brought to the club for £ 15 million, but it is expected that the club will be spending close to £ 22 million on Higuain.

There have also been suggestions that Arsenal will not complete their summer purchase with the signing of Higuain alone and they are expected to go after a number of other players. Pepe Reina and Ashley Williams are some of the names continuously linked with Arsenal. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said that there is definitely money to spend on the plates of Arsene Wenger, but he is sure that the Frenchman will not be spending money just for the sake of creating a point.

Arsenal have seen the likes of Manchester city and Tottenham go ahead of them in the table as a result of spending huge money. Even though Tottenham have not finished above Arsenal yet, there is a real danger of it happening in the near future.

“The parameters in which he has to operate is to spend what the club can afford and my job is to make that as big as possible and Arsene’s job is to think about which talent he wants to spend that on in the best way possible. If we only find one player that we like, we won’t spend twice as much on him just so we can say we spent all of the money,” said Gazidis.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that the club is in good position for a secure future. Pressure has been on the Frenchman to deliver trophies, as it has been eight seasons since the club last lifted a major trophy.

It looks highly unlikely that they will be able to challenge for a trophy in the forthcoming future due to the presence of clubs like Manchester City and Tottenham in the race. The comfortable top four finish of a few seasons ago has vanished for Arsenal, as the club are in danger of missing out on the Champions League group stages for the first time in more than a decade.

Read More “FUTURE IS SECURE”

There has been suggestions in the last few weeks that the current crop of Arsenal players do not care about the club as much as the previous generation of players, who are regarded as legends after going through an entire season unbeaten.

It was also the famous Arsenal team that consisted of players like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira. It made them the Invincibles in the English football era for the first time. Even though Arsenal have had several victories in matches since then, they have been unable to lift a single trophy. The trophy drought stretches back to 2005 when they last won the FA Cup.

The 2-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea during the weekend leaves Arsenal in a precarious position whereby even Champions League football is likely to be available next season. Wenger has placed so much stress on qualifying for this European competition on a regular basis, which he regards to be of importance over the prospect of winning cups like the FA cup and the League Cup. As a result, Arsenal have been one of the consistent teams in the Premier league over the last several years. This is also led to suggestions that the current crop of players do not care about club as much as the previous generation did.

“Of course. They care as much, if not more. People have the right to criticise when the games don’t go as well as you want but I can show you games of the players you spoke about [and] I can tell you some bad starts [from them] as well, believe me. I can show you some goals where you can see where they were not completely untouchable. That happened to them as well,” said Wenger ahead of the FA Cup match with Brighton.

The football transfer window always has winners and losers; some teams come out the other side with a lesser squad than when they went in, some overspend on questionable talent, and some fail to spend at all. This season Man United and Chelsea seem to be the big winners with Arsenal possibly squandering their chances of progression by selling Van Persie.

When Man United secured the signing of Van Persie, they not only got one of the Premier League’s best players, they deprived one of their nearest rivals of his services.

Read More “WHO WON THIS SUMMER?”