Follow all the comings and goings on January Transfer Deadline Day

Arsenal close in on £400,000 signing of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Thomas Eisfeld after holding talks in London
The 19-year-old playmaker will complete a move to London in the next 24 hours if he passes a stringent medical

SOURCE: Goal.com

By all accounts Thomas Eisfeld is a hot prospect and though the teenage attacking midfielder has made just one senior appearance for Borussia Dortmund, is clearly a player that Arsene Wenger will have scouted a great deal before pushing to land the 19 year old.

Eisfeld is a product of the Dortmund club’s academy system but has seen his first team chances greatly limited by knee injuries and with his contract due to come to completion in the summer the Bundesliga title holders clearly felt that could afford to lose the youngster.

The starlet is the scorer in Borussia Dortmund’s Under 19 side this season, with six goals from 12 goals, and appears to be an advanced midfielder with an eye for goal.

Due to his lengthy injury issues the youngster is set to be put through a rigorous medical today ahead of his move to the North London side.

Arsene Wenger has clearly adopted a policy of buying top young talent to field alongside those youngsters who come through the Gunners academy. The Frenchman has brought in the likes of Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from the English ‘lower leagues’ and a host of starlets from the continent and beyond.

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Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood does not expect to open talks with striker Robin Van Persie over a new contract until near the end of the season.

The Gunners want the 28-year-old to commit to a new long-term deal, with his current agreement due to expire in June 2013, but the player does not want to discuss the matter until the summer.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it at the moment and we are not troubling him,” Hill-Wood told the Daily Star.

“I think we will approach him near the end of the season.

“But we obviously hope that he will sign a new contract – I don’t see why he should not. I can’t believe he is unhappy with us.”

Hill-Wood reckons Van Persie has grown as a man since moving to the north London club from Feyenoord in 2004.

He added: “I think he is a decent fellow.

“He was quite difficult at Feyenoord, but we have had no trouble with him.”

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Arsenal v Marseille Live Streaming

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie has labelled interpretations of his goal celebration against Chelsea as a Nazi salute as “insulting and absolutely absurd”.

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After the Dutchman’s second goal, which put Arsenal 4-3 up at Stamford Bridge, Van Persie touched his shoulder with his right hand before raising it to the air.

The 28-year-old was horrified to learn of internet speculation his celebration was a Nazi salute.

“It has been brought to my attention of some ridiculous allegations concerning my celebration of one of my goals yesterday,” he said on Twitter.

“It is totally ludicrous to suggest that my action of brushing my shoulder and pointing to my fans could be construed as anything else but of a showing of joy and celebration.

“To suggest this meant anything to the contrary is insulting and absolutely absurd as nothing else came into my mind.”

van Persie Goal: Chelsea 3-4 Arsenal – vivagoals… by VIVAGoals

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Arsenal are waiting on the fitness results of defender Kieran Gibbs and midfielder Aaron Ramsey ahead of the Wednesday’s Champions League match against Marseille.

Ramsey sat out the 2-1 win over Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium with a hamstring problem.

Gibbs suffered a stomach injury and had to be replaced by Andre Santos five minutes into the second half.

The Englishman’s’ injury is of particular concern to manager Arsene Wenger as he is already without several key players in that area.

Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna are currently out, while Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou have only just come back from injury.

“Gibbs has an inflammation of his stomach muscles,” Wenger said. ”He has a small chance of playing on Wednesday.

“Ramsey has a small chance of being in the squad. He had fatigue of his hamstring. I wanted to give him a breather – it would have been a gamble to play him.”

Robin van Persie scored twice – the last of which was a brilliant free-kick- to grab all three points for Arsenal yesterday but their performance will have done little to silence the doubters who claim the north London side are a spent force.

Wenger’s team endured a terrible start to the season, but are now up to 10th in the table. Despite a nervous second half yesterday, the Frenchman feels his team are starting to gel well.

“We have now won five games on the run at home,” Wenger said. “I think the attitude and spirit of the team is great.

“The motivation is there, the quality is there, so slowly we are getting better.”

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Chelsea v Everton Live Streaming

Chelsea are to make a £15million bid for Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin in January and will fund the deal by selling Alex to Arsenal.

The Blues tried to sign the Uruguay international 12 months ago before moving for David Luiz but will try again to seal his signature.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas wants four top class centre-halves and insists the 25-year-old will complement Luiz, captain JohnTerry and Branislav Ivanovic.

AVB has not been impressed with Alex since returning to the club last summer and is ready to move the 29-year-old on.

The Brazilian has not played since his sending off against Fulham in the Carling Cup and did not even make the 20-man squad for the Champions League trip to Valencia.

Arsenal and Spurs could make a bid for Alex, while Russian big-spenders Anzhi Makhachkala and Terek Grozny are both interested, according to the Sun.

Meanwhile forward Daniel Sturridge is not concerned by not having won an England cap yet and is focused on playing for Chelsea.

“If England comes and I play for England then great,” Sturridge said.

“But I am not really worried about playing for England – it is not something I am really stressing about.

“My main focus is to play for Chelsea every week and if I can do that then I am happy.

“It has been a long time I have been playing at Chelsea now and I have not been playing regularly so for me the most important thing is to be playing regularly.

“I could play a lot better than I am and I am getting used to the position out wide. I enjoy playing there.”

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Turkey v Germany Live Streaming

Arsenal are prepared to give Borussia Dortmund Marouane Chamkh plus £20million for midfielder Mario Gotze.

The Gunners had a £30million bid rejected for the 19-year-old on deadline day as the Bundesliga felt there was little time to find a replacement.

The north Londoners will now go back in January with a new offer plus a player who can help fill the void left by the German international’s departure.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has lost patience with Chamakh who has failed to settle at the Emirates since his free move from Bordeaux last year.

The 27-year-old was rumoured to be on his way out of during the last transfer window but Wenger failed to secure a move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

The Frenchman could make another move for the hit-man in January or make another multi-million offer for his team-mate Gonzalo Higuain.

Either move will depend on the progress the La Liga giants make in their pursuit of Brazilian starlet Neymar.

The 19-year-old is expected to move to the Bernabeu once his club, Santos’ season is completed.

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Wales v Switzerland Live Streaming

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey is happier playing for Wales than for his club after the dreadful start the Gunners have made to the season.

The 20-year-old welcomes the distraction offered by international football and will lead his country out to face Switzerland tonight.

“It’s been a difficult time for my club,” Ramsey said. “It’s been quite frustrating so far with the performances we’ve shown in the last few games.

But hopefully that can turn around pretty quickly.

“Arsenal, at the moment, are under a lot of pressure and we haven’t produced the results that we know we are capable of doing; everybody is surprised by that.

“For Wales, we are still learning and progressing and that is going along nicely.

“But obviously Arsenal are one of the top clubs in Europe and to be where we are at the moment is not acceptable.”

Meanwhile, Ramsey’s new club team-mate, Mikel Arteta, will not try and emulate the man he replaced at the Emirates, Cesc Fabregas.

Arteta has made a promising start to his Emirates Stadium career but knows his limitations and feels he cannot perform at the same level as playmaker who was sold to Barcelona.

“I am not here to replace Cesc and I would be wrong to try that,” said Arteta. ”Cesc was the best player at Arsenal and one of the top three in the Premier League.

“I have no aim to become that. My target is simply to try to reach my highest level as a player and to help the team.

“Cesc was at Arsenal for seven years. I have been here for a few weeks. If I try to be equal to or better than him, I would be confusing myself.

“We’re different personalities with a different style. I must find my own way to do well for Arsenal.”

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Tottenham v Arsenal Live Streaming

Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor has apologised to Arsenal for taunting them during his goal celebration.

The 27-year-old ran the left of the pitch in 2009, while playing for Manchester City, before sliding on his knees in an act the police described as inciting the crowd in a negative fashion.

The ex-Togo international was receiving abuse for leaving the Emirates in a controversial move earlier that summer.

He was awarded a two-game suspended ban for improper conduct, but was banned for three games for violent conduct as he stamped on Robin van Persie’s face in the same game.

Now at Arsenal’s arch-rivals Tottenham on-loan, Adebayor will face his old side again this weekend and has attempted to diffuse a volatile situation before it begins.

“What happened two years ago was an accident and I do apologise to all the fans of Arsenal,” he told Talksport.

“Sometime the emotions, we cannot control them, we are all human beings.

“I regret what I have done and I say sorry to everyone but at the end of the day sorry doesn’t change anything. For me it’s over.

“I’m looking forward to playing against Arsenal again on Sunday but believe me, if I have a chance to score, trust me I will score but as for the celebration, never in my life will I do something like that again.

“I have a chance to play against Arsenal again, the club that gave me the chance to be where I am today. I have a huge respect for the club.”

Arsenal fans may not be so quick to forgive Adebayor, who they believe disrespected the club when he left for City.

Not only does his celebration and stamp on Van Persie rile the Gunners, but Adebayor comes across as self-obsessed arrogant man.

After one successful season at the Emirates, he tried to force a move to AC Milan. When he failed, he sulked for a whole season before moving to Manchester.

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Arsenal v Bolton Live Streaming

Arsenal already have the man who can fix the defensive frailties that have plagued the start of the season.

The Gunners have won one, drawn one and currently lie fourth from bottom after five league games.

It has been their worst start in the history of the Premier League with the fans enduring humiliating defeats of 8-2 to Manchester United and 4-3 against Blackburn.

Critics have called on manager Arsene Wenger to bring in a specialised defensive coach – with Martin Keown and Tony Adams the front-runners.

“I have just completed 30 years of coaching,” the Frenchman retorted when the idea was put to him. “I don’t want to answer this kind of question.”

Those former players were part of the famous Arsenal backline that is arguably the finest defence English football has ever seen.

But the solution lays closer to home and in another member of that unit – Steve Bould.

The 48-year-old played for the Gunners for 11 years up to 1999, making 372 appearances and winning seven major honours, and was a key member of the back four that George Graham taught the art of defending.

Steve was stalwart of the defence during much of his playing career and known for his dominant, uncompromising performances.

Since retiring he has been on the Arsenal coaching staff but has mainly concentrated on the youth teams in the academy.

He has presided over several highly-successful sides during the past decade, overseeing the 2009 Youth Cup triumph and consecutive FA Academy Premier League titles.

A highly-rated and astute coach, Steve oversees every game from the sidelines and also takes training, working closely with the rest of the Academy’s staff.

This also puts him in an ideal position to be promoted to work with the senior team.

He knows the club inside-out and will have worked with a lot of the young first-teamers, such as Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny.

The current coaching staff at the Emirates are still top of their games but sometimes a fresh approach is needed.

Steve Bould has the ability to change the future by teaching the current crop of stars about the past.

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Arsenal v Bolton Live Streaming

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is attempting to bring back Dennis Bergkamp to the club in a coaching role.

The Dutch legend would jump at a return to the club having become a successful assistant manager at Ajax.

Wenger has been urged by the Gunners hierarchy to bring Bergkamp back into a role similar Patrick Vieira’s at Manchester City, according to the Daily Star.

Such a move would give a huge boost to the north Londoners, who lie fourth-bottom in the Premier League following a shocking start to the season.

Bergkamp spent 11 years in north London, helping Arsenal win Premier League titles and FA Cups.

He was also part of the famous Invincible team of the 2003/04 before retiring from the game in 2006.

Bergkamp often speaks of his desire to return to the Premier League, with Arsenal the logical choice.

“I wouldn’t rule out (working for Arsenal),” said the striker. “I really love this club and the country.

“I want to work and train a team in England. Not as a head coach, but, instead, as a member of staff, where I could work specifically with the strikers.”

It has been also suggested Arsenal – who face Bolton at home tomorrow – could appoint a director of football to help Wenger with his workload.

But that idea has been dismissed by chairman Peter Hill-Wood.

“Arsene has got a very good relationship with (chief executive) Ivan Gazidis and they get on very well and talk a great deal,” he said.

“There is absolutely no chance of bringing in a director of football. That is a lot of nonsense.”

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