Xabi Alonso To Arsenal, Hleb Confirmed By Barca

Morning all, how's it going? I'm super so that's good. Let's get right down to it. Did you see AC Milan finally signed Ronaldinho? Imagine two years ago if Ronaldinho and Kaka were in the same squad. How unfair would that have been? Now that Ronny has fallen off a bit though it's not as daunting. Still should be fun to watch though. The signing does mean that AC Milan will have no more signings, which means no chance for Adebayor to go there. Sucks for him as Barca haven't got any money left either.

So on to Arsenal where we have a couple of interesting bits today. First off is Alexander Hleb who is in Barcelona right now and will have his medical at 7 pm. He should be unveiled by the club officially tomorrow, but they have confirmed it already on their website. Looks like the fee is going to be 12 million pounds, which is more than we paid for him even though he's now 3 years older so I'm quite happy about that, it more than pays for Samir Nasri's transfer and leaves us with more money to spend. On the move, Hleb said:

'It is a dream. I love this team. I will give my best. I have spoken with (Barcelona coach Pep) Guardiola and for me it is very important that he wants me, and I will give my best for the team and I want to win everything with Barca.'

So did you hear? Hleb's going to give his best. He didn't say it enough times in that statement so I read between the lines and figured it out. I'm so happy Barcelona are wasting their money on Hleb, because the more I think about it, the more I realize just how useless he is and how I'd much rather have Nasri and Walcott on the wings. It'd be really nice if we played them in the Champion's League too. We would undoubtedly win and then we could laugh and laugh at how he still won't be winning any trophies. Wanker.


In the search for a new defensive midfielder we've seen Arsenal linked with a ton of names, but now a new one has cropped up: Xabi Alonso. And why not? Liverpool don't want Alonso and they need money to get the guy they do want, Gareth Barry. Juventus were supposed to sign Alonso but they've pulled out and Liverpool are left badly needing to sell him if they are to make the signing they've wanted all summer, which could mean we could get him for a discounted price. He's quite a good player for one, and he plays with Cesc for Spain as well. I had never thought about him as a possibility until this report came out, but it seems to make sense to me. There haven't been any official bids yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if one comes in this week or next.

The first preseason friendly comes up this Saturday and Aaron Ramsey and Carlos Vela have been included in the squad. I can't wait to see how Vela looks myself, and I'm sure Ramsey will put on a good display. With any luck they'll get to play at least a full half of the game so we can all get a good look at them. Remember that Samir Nasri is joining up for training on the 21st which is why he isn't in the squad. Young prodigy Jack Wilshere is also in the squad and could be involved.

And that's all I've got. Gilberto looks to be on his way to Greece but that's all for the news. Can't wait until Saturday. Until then, join our fantasy Premiership League to win an Arsenal kit, talk on the forums or the comments, and get ready for the new season!

Nasri To Sign After the Euros

Now before you rip your hair out, kick your baby kitten, or jump off a bridge...this isn't that big of a deal. Arsene Wenger spoke about Nasri to the French press, where he is on holiday.

“Nasri, he interests me."

“I hope I will do it after the Euros.

“It is more complicated now because the wage differences [between the French and the English league] are not as big as they used to be."

Many sites are calling for Arsene Wenger to be sacked or someone else to do the transfers or to never let Nasri sign because of this delay but it really isn't a big deal at all. We all want a transfer in, so isn't it much easier to just sit and wait than to stress about it every day? What Arsene said in that comment is basically that Nasri MIGHT want a little more money than is on offer but clearly it hasn't put off Arsene because he still said he is hopeful of getting the deal done. And guess what, if it doesn't happen, we will still all live. Shocking I know. If he doesn't come, then we'll get somebody else in that Wenger thinks can be a great player for us.


Why is there all this not trusting him? Do people already forget that we got 83 points this season and were top of the league for 6 months of it? Wenger is doing his job I promise. The squad will have new players for next season and they'll be players who can do a great job for us. So don't spend every day waiting for news on Samir Nasri, who nobody even wanted before the stories came out. Just be patient and wait and let Wenger do his job.

Jens Lehmann has gotten a contract offer from Stuttgart. Good for him.

Arsene Wenger decided to join the Euro 2008 competition and gave us his prediction here.

Here's a new one, Arsenal being linked with Ronaldinho. Honestly, it's never going to happen, but it is probably just as likely as 90% of all the other transfer rumors that have been posted already this summer. I just can't ever see Wenger bringing in a 28 year old, especially one that has been injured, fat, and out of form like Ronny.

We have an update to the Hleb to Barcelona story. Barcelona's whipping boy newspaper, Sport, report that the "days are numbered" until Hleb signs with them. Sport will post anything to try and kiss up to Barcelona but in this case I hope it's true. Hleb has become one of my least favorite Arsenal players in the past few weeks and I hope he's gone.

Reports from Holland say the whole nation is waiting on the fitness of Robin van Persie. I wouldn't be that depressed honestly if he missed every game in the tournament. I know it at least gives me someone to cheer for if he plays but if he doesn't I'll actually get to watch him play at Arsenal, which is more important.

That's really all there is today. Try not to do anything drastic over the Nasri situation, you all have a lot to live for. Cheers