A round up of news and gossip surrounding Arsenal FC in the past 24 hours.
Skysports understands that Arsenal have moved into pole position to sign Argentine international midfielder Lucas Biglia from Anderlecht. Arsene Wenger has been a long term admirer of the 25 year old who is also being tracked by Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He could be a potential replacement for Alexander song as…
…Arsene Wenger admits he may be prepared to let the Cameroonian midfield player join Barcelona this summer. One of Arsenal’s longest serving players the 24 year old may be tempted to join a long list of players to have departed Arsene Wenger’s Gunners for Barcelona.
Arsenal are ready to hijack Liverpool’s ongoing transfer negotiations with Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin. Liverpool appear to be the current front-runner for the Turkish international but he has reportedly agreed to wait till the weekend for news of Alex Song’s future. If the Cameroonian departs Wenger is expecting Sahin to snub a move for Anfield in favour of Champions League football with the Gunners. Reports have indicated Sahin is likely to delay a decision until next week.
Thomas Vermaelen has spoken of his immense pride at being confirmed Arsenal’s captain for the upcoming season. After the departure of Robin Van Persie the captaincy was reportedly a straight choice between the Belgian defender and the more experienced Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta.
Another player feeling a similar sense of pride is Jack Wilshere who has been handed the number 10 shirt for the upcoming season. Speaking to the Arsenal website Wilshere acknowledged the likes of Dennis Bergkamp as previous possessors of the number 10 jersey and he hopes to emulate such legends for years to come.
Meanwhile Arsene Wenger claimed that Theo Walcott, Laurent Koscielny and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may be fit to face Sunderland in the season curtain raiser tomorrow after recovering from niggling injuries. However he admitted Santi Cazorla and Alex Song may not shake off fitness worries ahead of the big kick off.
In the midst of the Robin Van Persie transfer it would have been easy to miss Kyle Bartley’s departure for Swansea City. He announced the move personally via his Twitter account and admitted that the decision to leave his beloved Arsenal was difficult but needed to be done in order to develop his future in the game.
What are your thoughts on everything and anything happening at Arsenal FC on the 17th August 2012?
images: © peterfuchs, © Ronnie Macdonald
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