Wenger Confirms Arshavin Inquiry

What up hoes? So I said I wouldn't post today if the news was only about Arshavin, but of course it is and I am still going to do a post. Why? Because today Arsene Wenger confirmed what we have all long suspected, that we are in talks with Zenit for him. He says we aren't close to signing the player at the moment, but the negotiations are ongoing. He finished by saying that he is very hopeful. I'm very hopeful too. I hope it doesn't end up like the Xabi Alonso deal in the summer where we wouldn't go higher than 12 million and they wanted 14 million so we just got nobody instead. We won't pay the 20 million they want so I'm thinking it's probably a similar bid to Nasri's, 12 million or so.

Meanwhile, Arshavin's agent, who in typical agent fashion has been ridiculous throughout this month, says there won't be a move this week but is hopeful about next week.

"It looks like nothing will happen this week now, but there may be some movement early next week."

So we'll ahave to wait and see but it looks like this one might very well get done. I still think defensive midfield and defense are more pressing issues but it's typical Arsene Wenger. We need help in defense and in attack though so I can see how maybe if we help the attack it could help the defense along with it.

We play Hull this weekend and it's a game we absolutely must win. They beat us 2-1 at the Grove in one of the worst home results I can remember (losing to Sheffield United a few years ago and the first loss at the Grove to West Ham spring to mind also) and so we need to avenge that defeat and also just because we really need the points. Villa haven't been losing very much at all so we need to match them win for win and when they slip up we have to take advantage. Hull is one of the teams that we really should be able to get six points a year against, yet we've lost three of those already, so we have to turn it around. Luckily, we haven't lost since we played Middlesbrough at the end of November, so we are on a bit of a hot streak. It's going to be tough without Cesc for the next couple months but the Champions League qualification is still a goal we have to achieve. Hopefully bringing in a player like Arshavin will make up some for Cesc's absence.

Roy Hodgeson says it will take "something special" to get Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. I would think something special wouldn't be more than a couple million quid. Fulham aren't exactly loaded with cash and they aren't going to be contending for top honors anytime soon. If we want him, we can get him, but you can never really tell who Arsene wants.

I've added a nice little widget to the side panel from Footbo.com that has the upcoming fixtures for Arsenal. It's pretty nice and I like looking at it, so if you like looking at it consider checking out Footbo.com. It's a football community website and has prediction games, things where you can pick your all time and current Top XI, and a lot more. I don't get paid for telling you to do this either I just think it's a nice site. You can even friend request me on there if you want.

That's all I've got. I'll get back to you all tomorrow with some more exciting Arshavin news, woohoo! Cheers. Also I've changed the banner for the top of the page, which really shows how terrible I am with graphics. If anyone is good with graphics and feels like touching that up to make it look a little better, that would be awesome.

Bullard And Laursen Could Be Coming To Arsenal

Morning all. There is pretty much nothing at all to write about today. No signings, no new injuries (Thank God), and really no news at all. However, there is a story about the prospect of Jimmy Bullard of Fulham and Martin Laursen from Villa coming to Arsenal. Now I won't pretend to have discovered this story on my own, so full credit to Arseblogger if this story proves to be true. Arseblogger says he has heard from a reliable source that those are two players we are after. Now honestly they are two players that if you said, "Hey, how would you like to have Jimmy Bullard and Martin Laursen at Arsenal!?" I'd probably say I didn't really want them that much. Bullard has never seemed to be Arsenal calibre even though he's usually been one of the best players on the teams he's been on, if not the best. Laursen used to get injured all the time but he's been pretty healthy as of late, and is the Villa captain and playing very well.


There are a couple things that make this rumor strange to me. Arsene LOVES buying youth players, and Bullard and Laursen are 29 and 31 respectively. While they have Premier League experience, it has not for the most part been with clubs that are competing for top honors, with the exception of Laursen at Villa this year. Would they improve Arsenal or would it be another case like Silvestre, where he is another body but doesn't really improve the squad? Honestly if these are true I'll be a bit disappointed. I'm not one who needs big names to come into the club, but I do want to see really good players come in, even if they aren't well known. Just like Bacary Sagna and Eduardo. I don't think Bullard and Laursen are good solutions to our problems right now, and they certainly aren't the answer long term. What happened to signing Zapata in defense and Marcos Senna in midfield? I know that Senna is older but the way he performed in the Euros makes me think that he could certainly play an important piece for us until we find someone new or Denilson/Diaby grows into his role. I'm not saying that Bullard and Laursen aren't good players, I just don't think they are Arsenal-good.

In other news, we'll see a familiar face when we go to Shite Hart Lane later in the year, as Jermain Defoe has agreed a return to Sp*rs for 15 million quid. I wonder where they are getting this money yet Arsenal never spend any. They spent loads in the summer (and yes they got a lot in for Keane and Berbatov) and now they're spending more in January, yet Arsene acts like we're on the verge of bankruptcy everytime someone asks about signings. It pisses everyone off a bit but I won't complain as long as we get some good players in at some point this month.

Gooner Talk says the Andrei Arshavin deal could be complete with in the next ten days. In the next ten days Man City could have bought Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi, and David Villa, Keanu Reeves could star in a move that actually is good, and Rosie O'Donnell could actually lose weight, but it just isn't going to happen. I don't think the Arshavin thing will either.