No Bid For Arteta, Wilshere Signs Pro Deal, Wenger Going Nowhere

Morning all. A pretty good bit to get through today so let's get right down to it.

We've been linked with Mikel Arteta quite a bit going into this transfer season, but Wenger says no enquiry has been made. Now this could just be trying to throw off potential competition for his signature or he could really be serious about, and I have a hunch that maybe they really aren't interested in Arteta. The rumor was made up first by News of the World or something first, which gives it about zero credibility, and has just taken off from there. I still think he would be a good signing, but as of this point there is no move for him.

Wenger was a little more clear when asked about Andrey Arshavin, saying that there is no progress on him, not saying that we haven't put in an offer or an enquiry. I think Arteta would be a better signing than Arshavin as I've said but many people think he is the answer to our problems. I just think the price tag is too high and the standard of league he has been in does not make for a quick transistion into the Premiership. However, as Wenger said, there has been no progress towards signing him so we'll have to wait on that, which is the usual way Wenger operates. Usually when we buy a player we wait till closer to the end of the transfer window so that we can get the price down a bit.

Moving on to some good news, yesterday was Little Jack Wilshere's 17th birthday, which saw him sign professional terms with the club. It is believed to be up to an eight year deal, which is fantastic. I'll confess that I'm a bit obsessed with Jack Wilshere in a completely not-gay way, but just the same way I'm obsessed with Cesc Fabregas. He's just really, really awesome. I think we can expect huge things from him in the future if all goes well, and I sincerely hope that it does. In other young gun news, Jay Simpson has gone on loan to West Brom and Gavin Hoyte has gone on loan to Watford. It'll be nice to see how Simpson does with the Premiership matches and I'll be looking forward to Hoyte's development as well.

And the latest Arsene Wenger rumor is that he is leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid and taking Cesc Fabregas with him. However, Wenger has rubbished these rumors saying that nobody can doubt his commitment to the club.

“I don’t think anyone can doubt my commitment here. You can question my decisions and I accept that, but not my commitment.

“No [no one has spoken to my representatives], because I represent myself.”

So that clears that one up. He's had the chance to go to Madrid before but I really don't think he wants to. Arsenal gives him the freedom to essentially run the club how he wants to whereas Madrid or say Barca he would always have to be bringing in big names and he would have to take a lot of input from others as to how to run the club. I just don't think that is his thing.

And the last piece of news today is that Shay Given is not a target for Arsenal. It has been rumored by many sources that we would pursue him this January but Arsene says he is not interested in signing Shay from Newcastle. Personally I am a fan of Almunia and think he's proven that he is good enough to win. Is he as good as Petr Cech? No, but only two other people in the world I'd say are as good as him, so what can you expect? I'd rather spend the money on a defender or a midfielder personally.

So that's all there is today. Quite a lot going on, or not going on depending on which way you look at it. Maybe we'll get a new signing today, but then again maybe we'll have to wait three more weeks. We shall see. I'll keep you updated right here though. Cheers.