Emirates club marks the death of much-loved director by re-naming a bridge in his memory.

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Ex-Arsenal and current Barcelona stars were recently talking up the ability of their ex-boss, but also revealed an air of uncertainty about the clubs future after the Frenchman’s reign.
[Read the rest of this entry »]

Arsenal are set to lose yet another midfielder this summer, as Barcelona confirm they have agreed a £12million deal with the Gunners to bring one of their key players to La Liga.

Alexander Hleb is set to arrive in Spain on Wednesday to complete a medical at the Camp Nou and conclude his long-running saga to leave the Emirates Stadium. The deal will not represent a significant profit for Arsenal, who spent £11.2 million to bring Hleb to London in 2005.

Barca’s official website broke the news:

The player Alexander Hleb, who has spent the past three seasons at Arsenal, arrives today in Barcelona to undergo a medical prior to his incorporation in FC Barcelona.

On the assumption that he passes these tests satisfactorily, Alexander Hleb could sign a contract tomorrow and be presented as a new player at FC Barcelona.

The move will bring the spending spree of new Barca manager, Pep Guardiola, to an incredible £76 million, around €95 million, having already spent £6m on Manchester United’s Gerard Pique, £8m on Palmeiras’ Henrique, £13m on Villareal’s Martin Caceres and £34.5m on Sevilla duo Seydou Keita and Daniel Alves.

The Belarussian’s departure leaves Arsene Wenger’s midfield looking light after the transfers of Matthieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva. Granted, Samir Nasri and Amaury Bischoff are set to arrive, but Arsenal are also losing valuable experience with the leaving senior players. Perhaps it could push Wenger to spend big on luring £18 million-valued Gareth Barry away from Villa Park.

What are fans thoughts on the mini-midfield exodus from Arsenal? Is there anyone you’d like to replace Flamini, Gilberto and now, Hleb?

Another member of Arsenal’s decreasing midfield is set to leave after agreeing a deal to move to Greece and link up with an ex-Chelsea employee. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Arsene Wenger looks to put the pressure on Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez in one of the longest transfer sagas of the summer, by showing an interest in one of the Spaniards long-term targets. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Ac Milan have finally admitted that they have no chance of signing the Arsenal striker identified as their only summer transfer target, after being priced out of the market.

The Rossoneri had said that they wanted to bring Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor to the San Siro, but faced competition from Spanish giants Barcelona. However, apart from agent claims that a deal was “80% done”, nothing has gone Milan’s way. As vice president Adriano Galliani states, Milan have seemingly been priced out of the chase:

Adebayor is overridden by continuous requests for €45million. These figures are impossible for clubs in Italy.

Galliani went on to complain that Milan cannot compete with the apparent endless wealth of some of Europe’s biggest players, with transfer targets heading for the bigger stage of England or Spain:

The top footballers in the world do not come here [to Serie A] any more.

When big clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea arrive it is impossible to compete because they have a much more advantageous fiscal situation.

The news will in no way change the stance of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who has always maintained that he was not fazed by the speculation and that Adebayor was going nowhere:

He’s under contract and that’s quite simple. I can tell you as manager of Arsenal I’m not worried.

Of course I expect him to be at Arsenal next season – he’s under contract.

But with Adebayor publicly flip-flopping over a move away from the Emirates Stadium and Camp Nou’s busy summer not yet over, is the saga put to bed by the claims from Milan or has it just made it a one-horse race?

After weeks of the two clubs releasing statements saying how close they were to signing the player, Barca and Milan look like they will miss out on Arsenal’s 30-goal hero after he declared he wanted to stay at the Emirates Stadium.

Emmanuel Adebayor was expected to leave Arsenal in a £25million deal for either the San Siro or Camp Nou, with even his agent, Vincenzo Morabito, yesterday claiming a deal with Milan was “80% certain”. However, today the Togolese striker looks to have scuppered any chance of signing him:

I’ve three more years with Arsenal, I have a good contract, we have a good team there and I’m playing for one of the biggest teams in the world.

The most important thing for me is to keep on enjoying my football. I’m staying at Arsenal.

He went on to explain that his decision was not motivated by the £120,000 a week he was supposedly demanding and that he was happy in the Premiership:

I was born in Togo so I never cared about playing for money, my happiness was to play to enjoy myself. That’s what I’ve been doing until now.

You can see people changing clubs because of money, because they want a change of atmosphere or to get their names in the big leagues. I just play football to enjoy myself. I play because I love it.

He also insisted he wanted to stay in London and concentrate on building on last seasons title challenge:

We all have the same ideas and we all want to achieve something. We have a good boss which is Arsene Wenger, he tries to bring this atmosphere to the dressing room where we feel like brothers and like family.

Those are the reasons that give us a chance to play the football we play. We play good football, now we look forward to winning trophies.

This statement may come as a relief to Arsenal fans, who would undoubtedly find it hard to replace their 30-goal hero. However, with his agent saying a deal was 80% done, do agents play too big a role in drumming up stories about star’s moves, simply to earn some money?

Days after Arsene Wenger declares his interest in a player, Barcelona come along and ruin his plans once again. Not content with unsettling Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor, the Catalans have also moved for a player before he’s even reached The Emirates Stadium. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Chelsea and Arsenal apparently are the latest clubs linked [Read the rest of this entry »]

It has been a quietly bubbling transfer saga all of its own, overshadowed by Euro 2008 and the boring Ronaldo-Real ego rub-down. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Arsenal’s Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor has agreed a deal with Ac Milan, according to reports in Italy.

La Gazzetta Dello Sport revealed that the striker met with representatives of the Rossoneri and agreed a deal. However, the terms of the transfer have not yet been agreed, with Milan president Silvio Berlusconi yet to positively respond to Arsenal’s supposed €40million (£31.7million) asking price.

As Gazetta writer Andrea Schianchi explains:

Everything possible has already been done: the agreement with the player (and what a player!) is in place, which is already a major step. Now it comes down to Berlusconi’s decision and then negotiations with the Arsenal management.

However, this scenario has occured at Milan before. The £23.7million transfer of Azzuri defender Alessandro Nesta from Lazio in 2003 had a similar rocky path to completition.

Schianchi expands on this:

Berlusconi officially announced that he would not buy the defender [Nesta] because the asking price was too high: the player was signed just three days later

The journalist then goes on to do his best to convince Berlusconi that the striker is worth the money:

Considering his age (24), the player would be an investment for the future; certainly more so than Drogba (30) or Eto’o (27, but has suffered several leg injuries). If the deal were to go through Milan’s forward line would need no further adjustments for several years: Pato is 18 years old, Kaka 26 and Adebayor 24. In short, Berlusconi should spend now to save in the future.

So will Adebayor remain at the Emirates for next season? According to La Gazzetta, it is only a matter of a decision from Berlusconi, yet I somehow think it is a bit more than this. Surely Wenger won’t freely allow Adebayor, last seasons top scorer, to leave so easily, especially with only youngster Vela and recovering Eduardo his alternatives.

Thoughts?

With Alexander Hleb looking more and more likely to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer, Arsenal are looking to benefit from any transfer deal as much as possible.

Spanish giants Barcelona are reported to have agreed a deal in principal with the Belarusian himself, with only the fee to be sorted between the Catalans and Arsenal. An offer of £20million is suposedly on the table, but Wenger and Co are looking for a deal including Ivorian Yaya Toure, brother of Gunners defender Kolo.

Arsenal are looking for a holding midfielder as a replacement for Mathieu Flamini, and see Toure as the perfect player for the job. They are also reluctant to let Hleb leave without another midfielder coming in, in an attempt to maintain some squad balance.

However, with a successful debut season in La Liga since his switch from AS Monaco and a place in the fan’s hearts, Yaya’s chances of linking up with his brother seem slim. Barca sporting director Txiki Beguiristain said:

“Nothing has been decided as yet, but we want Yaya to stay with us and he is not on the market.

[New Barca manager, Josep] Guardiola considers him to be an important player in his new project.”

With that in mind, it looks unlikely that Yaya will be the makeweight, but with such a turbulent season behind them at Camp Nou, the player may indicate his requirement for some stability and engineer his way to North London.