Evening,
been a rather hot day again, better than the usual rubbish weather the so called British summer brings.
Respected BBC journalist Phil McNulty has said that Everton turned down a bid for defender Phil Jagielka six weeks ago from Arsenal, he did not mention the price; only saying that the amount offered is said to be lower than the weekends media various reports that Everton have rejected a bid of £14 million and will up our bid to around £16 million.
It’s interesting that it was around that length of time ago rumours of our interest in Laurent Koscielny started to surface, was he a back-up option to the signing of Jagielka or was he already targeted? It remains to be seen whether we will return with a higher bid but he is just the kind of player we should be after, he has experience and is of proven quality and will really appreciate playing for the club – he hasn’t had it easy like other players have, working his way up from the bottom… well, Sheffield United.
Its an area where we need another player, a good player too. We are seriously lacking quality in goal and a good partner for Thomas Vermaelen and the longer this runs the more nervy I am getting, if there are not two arrivals it is down to pure negligence and misplaced faith, we have had enough of Almunia and Fabianski, there is only so long you can persevere with a player before you have to put the team first. No matter how close player and manager are.
In defence we can’t afford to place any faith in Johann Djourou, he has never really caught my eye as a brilliant defender and whilst he may have age on his side, he doesn’t have a clean bill of health to look back on. How can you rely on a player who has spent decent chunks of the last two seasons (last season only making an appearance or two) out injured?
Keeping on the topic of defenders it seems that if one is going to re-sign, as I was told was very likely, it will be Sol Campbell after it was pretty much confirmed that Gallas and Silvestre will go elsewhere after being released by the club. There will only be a club announcement after they have signed for new clubs. Sol is due back at the club for talks with Wenger and there is an offer still on the table for him… lets just see whether he takes it or not.
Joe Cole signed for Liverpool today. There were a lot of people who claimed his transfer to Arsenal was a done deal but there was only very little interest – some people say there was an offer there, others say that there was no approach at all. Its all irrelevant now but in my book we have dodged a very expensive bullet there, 90 grand a week he is going to be on… ludicrous. Good to see he still has high standards, he claimed so many times that he was seeking Champions League football but has shown that his main interest is just lining his pocket, not that there is anything wrong with that but it shows nothing can beat the attraction of money.
It means that Jack Wilshere is probably going to be staying with us this season, hopefully he will be given chances to break through and establish himself very much in the first team plans for the present and future because he is one hell of a talent. Its important not to much is expected of him though, just let him do his thing without getting on his back.
So thats it for me, lets see what happens on the keeper/defender front.
More tomorrow.
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Not a chance will we get Jagielka.
I’m concinced that our signings are done despite AW saying they’re looking for more defensive players.
Wilshere and also Jay simpson should be kept.
We’ll have rvp, bendy, chamakh and vela if eddy goes. 3 of those are never fit so Jay simpson will get plenty of game time. Wilshere looks a class act and for me is better than theo and nasri.
While I dont see any problem in a free agent lining his pocket, I am glad as you said that we have dodged an expensive bullet in not signing Joe.
what do u mean wilshire is better than nasri! that’s a bad joke/ RUBBISH! and an insult to nasri! JW can be compared to theo& ramsey. nasri is world class!
mmca…
whilst nasri is good and i believe jack isn’t quite there yet…Nasri still needs to prove a little more before one can say he is world class…he definitely has the potential to be and has shown in patches that he is but he needs to do it consistently!
I don’t know why Nasri gets a bad name in some circles. For me, he’s class. I fall back on the game against United at The Emirates where he gave us two nice goals for the victory. That’s class! Sure he could use a few more of those games but it’s way off to claim Wilshere is better than him. Wilshere’s definitely a strong talent and has the potential to do great things but Nasri is there for me. He deserves more respect than criticism and people should acknowledge his solid contributions to the team.
Nasri?????? is world class. The french could have used some creativity at the world cup. I can understand people who merely watch Arsenal on match of the day and criticse Nic b (not actaully noticing his work rate) but having a go at Nasri is to be ridiculed in any context.
Nasri is no less than Fabregas…
Top top class.
now that’s what i like to hear. he’s gonna boss it this year
Nasri is Absolute Top Class! Samir scored the Best Arsenal goal of the season last term! Little Jack will be Great, he’s just not there yet.
can not even get jo cole and he was less then 10 miles away ! no chance …a club that gets out bid on everyone wenger sort it out .
I don’t think we’ll be signing Jagielka. He’s English and therefor will be priced out of Wenger’s thinking.
I don’t know why you are writing off Djourou! Then guy is the giant CB we’ve been praying for all these years! He’s 6″4, fast and has been learning besides some quality CB partners over the last 4 years. I was at Stamford Bridge a few years ago when he scored an own goal early on but we went on to win 2-1 and Djourou was faultless which shows great character.
I think he and TV5 could form a formidable partnership.
if eduardo is out i hope simpson will be given a chance loan frimpong n sell almunia 2 pave way 4 anew brilliant no1
If we cant find anyone to buy Aluminium, then lets dash him out to whom ever it may concern, and get a good no1 with some steel. Or should we demote him to Spurs?
I don’t doubt Nasri has some talent. But seriously he doesn’t offer much penetration. HE runs alot with the ball mainly sideways then gives a pass along the fron of opposing back 4. Yes I remember the lofted ball v Burnley for Cesc to score. But as an above poster mentioned he could do with more of the good days. Regardint the game v United that was almost 2 years ago.
This seems like a Nasri slating but really I have nithing against the guy just observing that JW offer more penetration going forward than Nasri. Ideally we have both options in matchday squads next year
[...] came known to me yesterday that the bid Everton rejected for Phil Jagielka from Arsenal was as low as £6 million, as you can understand Everton laughed us off and were said [...]