Waiting for that new signing, I'm worried Wenger's empire is falling apart around him - if we lost Nasri to United, Fab to Barca and Clichy to Liverpool and rumours players want out suggests a lack of belief and faith in Wenger.

Has he lost the players? Could a Nasri defection to United spell the end for Wenger?

He could make a big statement by unveiling some new players and give confidence to the current squad that Arsenal mean business and are ambitious. But IS he going to? Recent history says unlikey but I hope like hell it happens.

Gazidis reckons there could be three transfers within the next week.

I think Gervinho is on his way. I think he's a good player, but I'm a little bit disappointed as it almost confirms that we won't be signing Benzema or Hazard as we'll have already signed a striker and Lille don't want their two best players to go.

There are rumours about Cahill and Samba. I think Cahill is the better option and more likely signing, and there have been a few rumours about Matuidi being available for 13m. I think if that's the case, we should sign him up as he'd be a good backup for Song and Wilshere and help sure up the defence.

There's a few midfielders being strongly linked with us over the past few days as well, with Willian from Shaktar Donetsk being the most likely one to go through. Especially with the potential of Denilson going the other way as part of the deal. Matuidi has been linked a few times previously without eventuating, and I doubt Wenger is seriously considering paying 17mil for Stewart Downing. I mean even if he was, do we really want him?

It's going to be a big summer of transfers for the gunners - that much is apparent.

Apparently we have had a cash plus Denilson bid for Douglas Costa turned down by Shaktar, who want cash only, according to his agent.

Oxlade Chamberlain move is in bother over money, but i'd expect that to go through eventually, unless Utd trump us at the death.

Jose enrique is strongly linked as a replcement for Clichy, (I can't wait for him to leave)

Carl Jenkinson
Gervinho
Either Cahill or Samba (we hope!)
Jose Enrique/ AN Other Left Back
and a winger - Chamberlain/Costa.

5/6 players in

Would that be enough to keep the fans happy?

If we lose Bendtner, Denilson, Clichy, Rosicky/Vela and either Cesc/Nasri
5/6 out

Hasnt been much non-cecs arsenal news over here in london but it does look like gervinho will be arriving soon, blackburn diont want to sell samba so my thinking is we will get cahill instead

lilpimpsta wrote:Hasnt been much non-cecs arsenal news over here in london but it does look like gervinho will be arriving soon, blackburn diont want to sell samba so my thinking is we will get cahill instead

but in sayin that ive heard that samba wants to move to us so that might force blackburns hand

It's frustratingly quiet for me (with the exception of the Gervinho talk). The Cesc stuff is a distraction (I wish FCB would just offer 35m so we can say yes and be done).

I just wish there was something about a quality CB. I think Cahill is a target but little is being rumoured at this time

I am a bit confused... We all want to see Wenger make a move for someone of "world class" ability for a: striker b: CD c: DM maybe a keeper... The rumours at them moment are
Gervinho, Alvarez, Cahill, Samba, Chamberlain and a few more links that are a far cry from "world class"...

Lets be honest... 1 relatively unknown and unproven African,1 average but big African, another next big thing, an unknown Argentine and an over rated englishman.... Let's be honest are either Samba or Cahill any better than what we have... IMO maybe marginally but not gunna make that big of a difference.... Gervinho has a good record in the french league but that has been proven time and time again to count for nothing... Alvarez WHO?????? and I am sure Chamberlain will be great for us in 2015 season....

How do we expect to compete to be the best club in Europe or even England for that matter when we keep trying to pick up some cheap unknown and hope they will all of a sudden become a world beater..... The mony is there Arsene FFS go work out who the F**k you want and pay the price to get them instead of trying to screw every cent out and then being trumped by a club that doesn't f**k about.....

Mediocraty on a budget should not be acceptable for ARSENAL FC......

chrisl wrote:I am a bit confused... We all want to see Wenger make a move for someone of "world class" ability for a: striker b: CD c: DM maybe a keeper... The rumours at them moment are
Gervinho, Alvarez, Cahill, Samba, Chamberlain and a few more links that are a far cry from "world class"...

Lets be honest... 1 relatively unknown and unproven African,1 average but big African, another next big thing, an unknown Argentine and an over rated englishman.... Let's be honest are either Samba or Cahill any better than what we have... IMO maybe marginally but not gunna make that big of a difference.... Gervinho has a good record in the french league but that has been proven time and time again to count for nothing... Alvarez WHO?????? and I am sure Chamberlain will be great for us in 2015 season....

How do we expect to compete to be the best club in Europe or even England for that matter when we keep trying to pick up some cheap unknown and hope they will all of a sudden become a world beater..... The mony is there Arsene FFS go work out who the F**k you want and pay the price to get them instead of trying to screw every cent out and then being trumped by a club that doesn't f**k about.....

Mediocraty on a budget should not be acceptable for ARSENAL FC......

well said

wouldn't take much either

60m and we'd get the 2 signings we need

I'm all for trying to sign "world class" players, as long as they will fit with the style of football that we want to play, and will actually live up to their billing. I like the fact Arsene Wenger shops around for players that have the raw skill and talent to push for a place in our team. He has a proven record of bringing out the best in these players, and we're often able to sell them on to other teams for far more than what we signed them, which helps fund the signing of the next wave of Arsenal stars.

Man Ure won the league last season with what most would have said on paper was a much weaker side than some of the teams that finished behind them, and this is because they play as a team, with every player standing up and being counted. Teams like Chelski and Man Sh*ty may be able to boast star-studded line-ups, but you'll often see these players go missing in the big games. For all the bad games our team played last season, we managed to beat Barcelona, which is more than Real and Man U can boast.

I'm looking forward to seeing a few new names being added to the Arsenal line-up, and for the team being far more competitive in the 11/12 season.

robbiew77 wrote:I'm all for trying to sign "world class" players, as long as they will fit with the style of football that we want to play, and will actually live up to their billing. I like the fact Arsene Wenger shops around for players that have the raw skill and talent to push for a place in our team. He has a proven record of bringing out the best in these players, and we're often able to sell them on to other teams for far more than what we signed them, which helps fund the signing of the next wave of Arsenal stars.

It is possible to sign world class players who will fit in to our system. If Barca can do it, we can.
No doubt Arsene can help younger talented players improve their game and evolve in to top players. But we've done this for the past 6 years. We're at a point where we need a couple of well established players to compliment our team, to help us maintain consistency right through the season.

robbiew77 wrote:Man Ure won the league last season with what most would have said on paper was a much weaker side than some of the teams that finished behind them, and this is because they play as a team, with every player standing up and being counted. Teams like Chelski and Man Sh*ty may be able to boast star-studded line-ups, but you'll often see these players go missing in the big games. For all the bad games our team played last season, we managed to beat Barcelona, which is more than Real and Man U can boast.

I see your point, however, apart from a couple newer signings for Utd, their core was intact, players that know their role, know their game and have already proven themselves. Alex is also a key ingredient in their success. Every player contributes though, Rooney is more effective in defense than a lot of actual defenders are.

robbiew77 wrote:I'm looking forward to seeing a few new names being added to the Arsenal line-up, and for the team being far more competitive in the 11/12 season.

So am I.

Also, wrt Utd...

Evra Vidic Ferdinand Fabio
van der Sar

there's probably the biggest reason for their success

So... a lot of papers reporting that cesc has said he would wave his 15% of the transfer fee so that would kick in 5mil or so I think if they up it to 35mil we will take it and I am not too worried. As long as we go back to a 4-4-2 that instead of the 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 that we have used to build the team around Cesc if we went to the 4-4-2- which is the system that we played when we won stuff we wouldn't need to do that much on the transfer front...

We would still need a quality centre half and if Nasri stays I would look at a winger or 2 and use nasri in the middle... with song or wilshere/ramsey... for back up I would see how frimpong goes or buy Mautidi. we still would have AA who in my opinion is still a world class winger and whomever we buy for the other side.. AA won't defend as much so whoever we buy for the other side will need to have a bit of defensive ability so they can drop in and make the 3 man midfield when teams are attacking through midfield.. Theo needs to become a centre forward imo with his speed if he was running off RVP or Chamahk he would terrorise CD escpecially those teams with big slow CD. At the moment he is getting in behind but is too wide to run at goal and his crossing isn't great but he has proved one on one he can be clinical, the other thing is that LB and RB are alot faster than CD and if he was down the middle I don't think the CD will be able to cope or will be always sitting deeper to cover his pace and give our midfielders more time on the ball and make more space for rvp...

I would let clichy go and either buy a LB or use kosileny or vermaalen there both of them have experience at LB and were moved into CD later in their careers... if we want to add steel to our defence then both of these are aggressive enough quick enough and still big enough... a back 4 of sagna vermaalen samba and kosi I would be happy with.. Give RVP or Vermaalen the armband and lets go win some f*** trophies....

So... a lot of papers reporting that cesc has said he would wave his 15% of the transfer fee so that would kick in 5mil or so I think if they up it to 35mil we will take it and I am not too worried.

I think he'll be gone by weeks end (if not when we wake up tomorrow). I reckon it's for the best.

As long as we go back to a 4-4-2 that instead of the 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 that we have used to build the team around Cesc if we went to the 4-4-2- which is the system that we played when we won stuff we wouldn't need to do that much on the transfer front...

I doubt we will ever go back to a proper 4-4-2. 5 man midfields are here to stay and IMO it best supports the highly technical game we play. We can win playing 4-3-3 with our current attacking mids, we just need a hard as nails defensive one to shut down games. LIttle talk of this on the rumour mill.

I'm not oozing with confidence that Wengers market approaches are right either. Perhaps a quiet big money move for Jagielka is around the corner?

I'm getting frustrated...The involvement in the transfer market isnt great this year either. Just like the last few years there are a lot of players linked with Arsenal but no solid bids. eg: Gervinho..

Like most of you guys said, none of the players we are linked can be considered world class. Definitely not better than players we have. Alvarez is not better than any of our main team midfielders and neither is Mata. And yeah Gervinho, there is no way he's better than Van Persie...and seriously Cahill???what more can he offer?? Even if he is better than Koscielny,Vermaaelen, or Suilaccy, it might just be by a small margin. (i seriously dont think he's any better)

Arsenal has more players linked to leaving than coming in ...(like Flamini, Hleb and many more)

This seems like the same old stuff that has been happening in the last few transfer windows..The few buys that turned out good was Ramsey, Arshavin and maybe Chamakh for what he gave Arsenal when Persie was out injured.(out of which Ramsey became a better player after arriving at Arsenal) Vela has been going away more on loan than anything else. But nothing out of this world.

When every other major team is active and buying in good players, Arsenal is just linked with players.When will this miserly approach to the transfer market end ? ?

I support the Gunners all the way but it gets frustrating when we play awesome football and dont produce results.
And 'm sure most of you will agree with me...

looks like fab is gone, 35 million pounds will just about do it

From what is being said there are some sort of additional payments and Cesc is reportedly waving his 15% which makes it prob closer to 45mil.... I would take it... he doesn't want to be there anyway that has shown more and more as each season goes by.. I can't see him getting that much football there I hope he ends up rotting on the bench and becomes another player that left Arsenal for "bigger" things and ended up going backwards... I can't believe that the papers and fans (mainly young ones) are calling him Arsenal Legend... He has won nothing for us he is only in his early 20's and he has been trying to move to Barcalona since he was 21... To even put him in the same sentence as Charlie, Henry, Dennis, Wrighty, Rocky, and many many many more is a disgrace..
I am not just saying this because he is going, I have said for along time that he is the reason for alot of our overplaying around the box he slows the game down way too much in midfield and loses any chance we have of counter attacking... He holds the ball that long and moves it sideways more than Denilson and give oppositions the time they need to get 10 players behind the ball, he rarely shoots, I think his style of football is far more suited to the continent and not the EPL. I am not saying he isn't a great player but I think that building everything around him has caused alot of the problems we are facing at the moment on the pitch...

I have to agree with you Chris. We revolve to much around Cesc and we have won no trophies. His heart isn't with us and never has been. We want players that wanna play for us. All them legends you named did have the heart, pride and passion for the Arsenal. So I'm not to bothered to see him go, it will be for the good.

Here you go from a a good source....
Cesc a done deal 35mil + his 15% final paperwork to be tidied up and announced soon... The main reason a. why he is going and b. why Barca's price isn't as high as some would like is... his hamstrings are stuffed he is training and playing within himself to avoid further injury. At Barcelona with their squad depth he wouldn't be expected to play 3 times a week and the pace of the spanish league it isn't as fast paced as the EPL and there are a lot of games where the result is a fore gone conclusion as opposed to the EPL where the bottom sides can roll the top sides. They are saying because he started so young he is getting the injuries of a 27-28 year old player.. Believe it or not we will soon see...
Next... There are 2 signings to be announced shortly 1 is Chamberlain and the other not 100% sure but Gervinho more than likely.
If Nasri doesnt reknew then he won't be sold to Manure.... Milan want him and are hanging around Alvarez as smoke and mirrors as he is to be Nasri's replacement should he move on...... so Nasri to Inter Alvarez in...
Cahill and Samba not likely... no bid for Samba at all yet (and doubtful ever) we bid 11.5m + choice of 1 of 3 players for Cahill and were knocked back... that was 3 weeks ago and no further contact has been made...

Anyway see what happens but this all makes sense and the info is usually good....

It's just Groundhog day all over again innit! We lose Fab, Nasri and Clichy. Three influential senior players and Arsene signs players with potential instead of quality. This is not a good and a poor way to get the fans up for the coming season. Just so sick and tired of losing senior players.

And Nasri to Man U. What the fcuk is he thinking? What a little c***. If he goes I hope Tommy V snaps his f***ing leg in half.

hahaha.... there is reports now that we are looking to use Nick B as bait to get Tim Cahill... I am not against it but I would be very very surprised if Wenger does it... Would bring experience, aerial ability and goal poaching prowess but I can't see it at 31yrs old...

I think if we were going for anyone from Everton it would be Jagielka...

chrisl wrote:From what is being said there are some sort of additional payments and Cesc is reportedly waving his 15% which makes it prob closer to 45mil.... I would take it... he doesn't want to be there anyway that has shown more and more as each season goes by.. I can't see him getting that much football there I hope he ends up rotting on the bench and becomes another player that left Arsenal for "bigger" things and ended up going backwards... I can't believe that the papers and fans (mainly young ones) are calling him Arsenal Legend... He has won nothing for us he is only in his early 20's and he has been trying to move to Barcalona since he was 21... To even put him in the same sentence as Charlie, Henry, Dennis, Wrighty, Rocky, and many many many more is a disgrace..
I am not just saying this because he is going, I have said for along time that he is the reason for alot of our overplaying around the box he slows the game down way too much in midfield and loses any chance we have of counter attacking... He holds the ball that long and moves it sideways more than Denilson and give oppositions the time they need to get 10 players behind the ball, he rarely shoots, I think his style of football is far more suited to the continent and not the EPL. I am not saying he isn't a great player but I think that building everything around him has caused alot of the problems we are facing at the moment on the pitch...

do you have to win something to be a legend?
all the players you have noted have all won trophys with arsenal, is that why fabregas isnt a legend????
David hiller has a title winning medal, is he a legend??
kevin richardson was running the midfield when we won the league at anfield in 89, is he a legend??
you spend an entire paragraph listing all the negative things he brings to the team and then point out that you are not saying he isnt a great player!
cesc fabregas is and always will be an arsenal legend!!!
its not just the young ones and the papers who are saying it, people who know about football and Arsenal are saying it aswell

Each to their own... I don't consider someone who has just turned 24 and missed massive amounts of the last 2 seasons a legend of our club... playing for your teenage years and very early 20's and then flirting with Barca for the last 2 years whilst under performing and being constantly injured... Great player when fit yes... Arsenal Legend NO...

chrisl wrote:Each to their own... I don't consider someone who has just turned 24 and missed massive amounts of the last 2 seasons a legend of our club... playing for your teenage years and very early 20's and then flirting with Barca for the last 2 years whilst under performing and being constantly injured... Great player when fit yes... Arsenal Legend NO...

name me 10 arsenal players and then tell me why they are legends
im not picking on you mate....im just trying to work out what the criteria is.
ill give you a start
tony adams ( a true arsenal legend )
he spent large spells on the treatment table and was on the verge of joining man united when we were underperforming in the period between the george graham and arsene wenger era's
thierry henry (arsenals top scorer)
was injured all the time towards the end and spent the last two summers flirting with barca
do you see what i mean?

its not fabregas's fault that he wants to stop playing with eboue and start playing with messi. its also okay to want to be part of a team that wins things. top players are financially set up by the time they are 21... the only motivation left is to win trophys

dont blame fabregas for wanting to go to a bigger club.....not everyone wants to end up like gerrard

gotta say i agree with chris.

cesc had a few good seasons, 1 or 2 great seasons.

won nothing. really wanted out the last 2-3 years.

at least henry waited till the 'twilight' of his career before going to barca.

he's a good player. potentially great. i think he will realise his potential at barca. of course when you're surrounded by the likes of messi, xavi and iniesta it helps.

would have liked to see how things could have turned out if we kept flamini and signed 1 or 2 other players to work with cesc. most probably would have won something.

clayton wrote:gotta say i agree with chris.

cesc had a few good seasons, 1 or 2 great seasons.

won nothing. really wanted out the last 2-3 years.

at least henry waited till the 'twilight' of his career before going to barca.

he's a good player. potentially great. i think he will realise his potential at barca. of course when you're surrounded by the likes of messi, xavi and iniesta it helps.

would have liked to see how things could have turned out if we kept flamini and signed 1 or 2 other players to work with cesc. most probably would have won something.

i disagree with you saying fabregas isnt a great player but as chris said "each to their own"
i suppose a player is a legend depending on each fans tastes and the amount of exposure they have had to arsenal and football
as i pointed out earlier, winning things does not actually make legends otherwise 80% of all football clubs wouldnt have any

Why is it that everytime on this forum someone doesn't agree with someone they start questioning their knowledge of Arsenal and football.. Can't we just accept that people have their opinion... There are plenty of people on blogs etc that are 3rd generation Arsenal fans that have grown up going to games every week for their entire lives and probably play football at some level themselves that agree that Fabregas insn't an Arsenal legend and there are some that think he is too... There are some people that are from Africa or Asia that are only new to supporting Arsenal that think he is a legend and don't want him to go and some that do want him to go... Is one opinion right and one wrong... It has nothing to do with your "exposure to Arsenal or Football" people from the same background with the same exposure to the club have different opinions.....

chrisl wrote:Why is it that everytime on this forum someone doesn't agree with someone they start questioning their knowledge of Arsenal and football.. Can't we just accept that people have their opinion... There are plenty of people on blogs etc that are 3rd generation Arsenal fans that have grown up going to games every week for their entire lives and probably play football at some level themselves that agree that Fabregas insn't an Arsenal legend and there are some that think he is too... There are some people that are from Africa or Asia that are only new to supporting Arsenal that think he is a legend and don't want him to go and some that do want him to go... Is one opinion right and one wrong... It has nothing to do with your "exposure to Arsenal or Football" people from the same background with the same exposure to the club have different opinions.....

lets nip this in the bud mate...
your first post about fabregas not being a legend and wanting him to rot on the bench really f**king wound me up. i probably should of waited a while and responded less agressively but there you go.
i used the word exposure for a reason. i grew up watching some real s**t in the 80's and 90's. some of those players wouldnt even get in todays wigan side. there was a while where our sides midfield consisted of morrow hillier and selley.
when you look at legends through the years you see the players that stood out. i think a world cup winner who is wanted by probably the best side to have played the game in my lifetime a legend.
now without upsetting anyone who only started watching recently, we have been spoilt for the majority of wengers reign and some people are comparing todays players to henry and bergkamp. i think that era was a one off and you need to look at the whole picture.
i am not having a dig at anyones "knowledge" mate but i think you need to judge a player on what he has done not where and when he wants to go....

also i hav'nt seen much spite aimed at nasri on here. here we have a cocky little little f**ker who has had half a good season and is refusing to sign a new contract. he is also quite fond of flirting with manchester united.
how about we start giving it to him instead

for all his talents, skills and masterful vision, what moment defines cesc fabregas for me is this:

having scored a goal (penalty) against his boyhood team (barca cl 09-10) he plays out the remaining 10 mins with a CRACK in his shin bone. Thats f***ing commitment!

The kid has shown us commitment and desire, its only human bloody nature to want to seek better pastures when ur team is stalling for SIX years making the same mistakes again and again. The problem is only compounded by having your boyhood club winning trophies for fun (10 in 3 years which is quite ridiculous) and being hailed as probably the greatest team we'll ever see in our lifetimes...

cut the kid some slack, fabregas has my blessing. its best for him and our team morale if we part ways and i wish him all the best. He's given us some great years so ima try remember him through that...

I agree Nasri is worse... He was banging on about Gallas being traitor and blah blah then he looks likely to do the same thing in this day and age Manure are almost as hated by us as the scum... If he goes I am not too concerned he is replaceable so is Cesc if Arsene is prepared to spend accordingly...

This summer seems worst than most for many many years for us... I wish Wenger would hurry up get the business done and get on with it... it is the only way to shut the press up and restore faith from the fans... Now they are banging on that RVP and Theo are putting in transfer requests... I am sick of hearing it... Cmon Wenger sort your s**t out and get it done... If Cesc wants to go sell him and get an appropriate replacement....If Nasri doesn't want to sign then either keep him for a year stick him in the reserves and let him go to whoever will have him next year for free or cash in now either way get it done... Its about time we showed some balls to these mercenaries... If you want a centre half work out who and go pay the f*** price and get them but please don't insult us by telling us Cahill or Samba are world class... If you want a keeper Steklenberg is begging for a PL club to come and get him at 28 he is going to be a great fit with Scez to develop alongside.... If you let Denilson or Bendnter anywhere near the first team if they don't go then you are a piss weak man...grow some balls stop patronising the fans with this sustainable model bulls**t and make things happen... DB10 is now assistant manager at AJAX lets hope he is ready for a crack at the big time soon coz I can see this being Arsene's last season....