Well, Arsenal fans, we have not had too long to wait for our next fix of football after the World Cup came to close last weekend. Arsenal are back in action tomorrow, with the first of just four pre-season games, unless you count the Community Shield clash with Man City at Wembley a week before the Premier League kicks off.
After the fantastic signing of Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, Arsenal are now set to announce their second (of many?) new arrival today according to a report in this morning’s Independent. It was actually reported over a week ago that the Newcastle United defender Matthieu Debuchy had passed a medical at Arsenal, but since then there has been no official confirmation of the deal.
Now it seems that the Magpies were simply waiting until they had confirmed an adequate replacement for the French international before allowing the move to be rubber-stamped. They have now secured the signing of the Netherlands full-back Daryl Janmaat from Feyenoord, and Arsenal are now free to announce the arrival of Debuchy.
There is a lot to be said for the impact that a good team morale can have on the performances of the players, both as individuals and as a collective unit, so the fact the Gunners’ new signing Alexis Sanchez seems to be creating the same sort of buzz around the club as the arrival of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid did last year, can only be good news for Gooners everywhere.
It has been reported in the Arsenal transfer news in the media that Arsene Wenger has already wrapped up the transfer of the French international Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United to replace his fellow countryman Bacary Sagna as the Arsenal right back.
But there is uncertainty about the future of the Gunners back-up for the role, Carl Jenkinson, with some reports suggesting he may be going to replace Debuchy in Alan Pardew’s team, whether on loan or in a permananent move. That move seems much more likely today, after the Daily Star and other papers reported that the Gunners are on the verge of completing a deal to take the young Spaniard Javi Manquillo from Atletico Madrid.
When Arsenal signed then 19-year old Carl Jenkinson back in 2011, the teenager had made eight appearances in League One for Charlton Athletic, but Arsene Wenger clearly saw a huge amount of promise in him. But three years later, and the young right back has yet to feature in 40 Premier League games.
Jenkinson is 23-years old now and is straining at the leash to get more games for the Gunners. Apart from the occasions when Bacary Sagna has been injured, the Englishman and Arsenal fan has been restricted to bits and pieces and the Capital One cup. Now Sagna is leaving, Jenks wants the chance to prove himself and has issued a call, in an Evening Standard report, for Wenger to let him show what he can do.
Sayonara Sagna by Big Gun
Bacary Sagna has finally made a decision to leave Arsenal. Originally, it was rumoured he would only make that choice after competing in the World Cup with France, who are 25/1 outsiders for the competition. If you are thinking of having a flutter in advance then make sure you check out www.worldcupfootballbets.com for a full review of all the teams and can show you how to claim some free World Cup bets!
Last season Arsene Wenger made a big deal of Arsenal signing up his young British talents on long-term contracts, saying that they were going to be the çore’of the side that were going to go on to great things.
Wenger said last December: “We are delighted that these five young players have all signed new long-term contracts. The plan is to build a team around a strong basis of young players, in order to get them to develop their talent at the Club. Jack is certainly the best known, the leader of this group – but the other four players are exceptional footballers, and we’re very happy that we could conclude their new deals at the same time.
I am sure there are plenty of TV pundits and people in the media who will be keen to point out the negatives for Arsenal at the end of another season, especially if we fluff our lines again and fail to win the FA cup. But Arsene Wenger is understandably keen to dwell on the positive aspects of the season for the Gunners.
Wenger told Arsenal Player his thoughts on the season, as well as his regrets, and he is definitely looking on the bright side. Despite admitting that his team came up a bit short at times, he feels that injuries really cost us and that he has a quality core of players that is getting close to the title.
Arsene Wenger made five changes to the Arsenal starting line-up for the last Premier League game of the season. With one eye on the FA cup final and a few players needing a bit of game time, Fabianski, Gibbs, Ramsey, Rosicky and Jenkinson came in. Mertesacker and Cazorla were rested completely.
The changes did not affect the Arsenal style too much, but our passing in the first half was not quite as crisp as it needed to be, while Norwich were determined and worked hard to close us down. But we were playing some nice stuff and created a few opportunities, with Podolski, Giroud and Ramsey all denied by the keeper or last ditch tackles. Norwich had a good shot of their own which Fab had to palm around the post.
Why Jenkinson could use a loan at Newcastle by KJ
A different piece of Arsenal transfer news today as the Evening Standard are reporting that Newcastle United are interested in loaning Carl Jenkinson for the entirety of next season. This is great news for Jenkinson in my opinion as his development has definitely stalled with Sagna having a strong season and at his age, game time is vital for his development.
Is Lukasz Piszczek the man to replace Sagna? by Ash
While there is a lot of concern surrounding the future of current Arsenal star Bacary Sagna, it seems as if a few people have already gone through the trouble of looking for possible replacements for the Frenchman. But the talented, versatile and concistent Frenchman is not going to be an easy player to replace.
Sagna’s lack of movement suggests he will almost certainly be off! by Ash
Arsenal have so far convinced Per Mertesacker, Tomas Rosicky to extend their contracts, and seemingly verbally agreed with the likes of Ramsey, Cazorla and Arsene Wenger himself; however one name that continues to elude the Gunners is French international right back, Bacary Sagna. In today’s Daily Mail, it is reported that more talks are planned but the £20 million package may be just too much and other clubs like Inter Milan are circling the Emirates like vultures.