I must say that I am not all that surprised to hear that Arsenal will not be allowed to sign another player from old rivals Manchester United this summer. There were some Arsenal transfer rumours this week suggesting that their England international defender might be moving on and that Arsene Wenger was keen on finally bringing him to north London after failing to land him from Fulham years ago.
But the pain at Old Trafford from their sale of Danny Welbeck is still obviously fresh in the memory, especially after their former star punished them in the worst way with the winning goal at Old Trafford to knock them out of the FA cup and end their last chance of some silverware this season. The fact that their strikers have been struggling to locate the rear end of some cattle with a stringed musical instrument has not helped.
So as reported by The Mirror, the powers that be at Man United have let it be known that they will not sanction the transfer of Smalling to Arsenal this summer. Whether that means that they will keep the centre back themselves or merely try to sell him elsewhere is unclear and I suppose it does not make much difference to us.
Back to the drawing board then Arsene!