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Claude Makalele has left the Premier League, although his legacy will live on for seasons to come in England. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder has pretty much given his name to a new position – ‘The Makalele’ – where a player will sit in front of the defence and break down opposition attacks, before feeding the ball to his team-mates. It appears that Arsenal are looking for someone in this mould to help protect Toure and Co next season. [Read the rest of this entry »]

It’s Spain v Germany on Sunday to decide who will win Euro 2008. [Read the rest of this entry »]

There can be very few Gooners who thought that [Read the rest of this entry »]

While Real Madrid continue to harass Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United while protesting their innocence, their Spanish arch-rivals are seemingly waging a similar campaign towards Arsenal. [Read the rest of this entry »]

The Gunners might not have won any silverware last season, although some of their dazzling performances in Europe seems to have cost them dear, according to manager Arsene Wenger. [Read the rest of this entry »]

You might expect Arsene Wenger to be backing Cesc Fabregas’ Spain to win this summer’s tournament, although [Read the rest of this entry »]

Perhaps Cesc Fabregas will get his hands on some silverware this season after all. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Although you would imagine that the Gunners will have some pretty stiff competition, if indeed they are interested in landing David Villa this summer. The Valencia striker is arguably Europe’s hottest striking property at the moment after plundering a hat-trick for Spain on Tuesday night, and Setanta report that Cesc Fabregas is getting positively excited at the prospect of the striker wearing the red of Arsenal next season.

“He would be amazing for the English league,” Fabregas said.

“I would like to have him in my team because as you can see he can make the difference.

“He’s an amazing player. He has mobility, he scores goals … he plays well at the back of defenders, in front of them, he’s a tremendous player.”

Indeed, while all the talk before the match was about Fernando Torres, the Liverpool man was more of a provider than scorer during their 4-1 win against Russia. Still, it was encouraging for Reds fans to see El Nino frighten the opposition defence with his pace, something they’ll hope he continues next season.

It’s clear that many of the Gunners squad are still carrying the mental scars incurred last season, when they let a sizeable lead at the top of the Premier League slip during the months of February and March, to leave the club potless by the end of the campaign. Arsenal players such as William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie will attempt to help their countries win Euro 2008 to try and compensate, with the latter especially frustrated by the previous domestic campaign.

The Daily Mirror reports that the striker is keen for the Dutch to continue their good form after thrashing Italy 3-0, rather than have a few dazzling displays and then nothing to show for it, a la Arsenal last season.

“We played some great football and it reminded me of the football we play at Arsenal because we have an amazing counter-attack at the Emirates as well,” said the 24-year-old frontman.

“But at Arsenal this season it was so frustrating. We deserved to win at least something for the football we played, but we lost a little bit of momentum at one stage – away at Birmingham, for instance, when we lost two points.

“Those weeks in February and March were quite tough and that was when we lost it. It was a small period but it’s a thin line between winning or losing.

“For me, I can put that right a little bit by winning with my country. This is the chance for me to end the season on a big high, because I’m desperate to win something, to play in a final and win it. We want to show you can win a big title like this playing great football.”

Sadly, there are going to be some disappointed players this summer, with Germany, Spain, Holland and Portugal all laying claims to the Euro 2008 crown after decent opening game performances. Perhaps at least one or two Arsenal players can experience success, rather than being the bridesmaid.

Some might argue that Theo Walcott hasn’t made a great deal of progress since leaving Southampton for Arsenal, although there are countless examples of Arsene Wenger signing a player and helping them progress into a world-class talent. Take Cesc Fabregas for example, or Kolo Toure. Maybe Thierry Henry instead, or Emmanuel Adebayor. Will Aaron Ramsey be a star of the future, or even next season, after agreeing terms with the Gunners according to the BBC?

Aaron Ramsey has joined Arsenal from FA Cup finalists Cardiff City in a £5m deal, BBC Sport understands.

Champions League winners Manchester United and Premier League giants Everton were also fighting to sign the 17-year-old Welsh wonderkid.

But Ramsey has chosen Arsenal after the Gunners flew him out to Switzerland for face-to-face talks with boss Arsene Wenger, who is at Euro 2008.

Cardiff confirmed that Arsenal was the “best cash offer” for the young star.

Once the midfielder was on that plane, Arsenal moved firmly into the driving seat to sign him, although it remains to be seen as to whether he plays much of a role next season or instead farmed out on loan to glean some Premier League first-team experience.

Cesc Fabregas was 17-years-old when he broke into the Arsenal first team and it’s possible that Aaron Ramsey will follow in his footsteps at the Emirates. However, the Gunners will have to up their bid for the Cardiff City midfielder after being told by the FA Cup finalists that they value their starlet at a much higher price than the £5 million on the table.

The Daily Telegraph report that Liverpool have also made a similar offer to try and secure Ramsey’s services, although it’s possible that the player will remain at Ninian Park for at least one more season before warming the bench of a Big Four club (plenty of time to do that as Theo Walcott can testify).

Liverpool and Arsenal, planning to build on their recent summer transfers, have both seen offers for 17-year old midfielder Aaron Ramsey rejected by Cardiff City.

Both offers, said to be close to £5m, were deemed unsuitable by the FA Cup finalists as a large part of the deals were based on provisions dependant on the teenager’s development. Cardiff are looking for a more sizeable cash settlement up front before they release their prize asset.

This rebuff clearly won’t stop Premier League clubs sniffing around the player, in an attempt to snare him before his valuation goes through the roof. However, with the Bluebirds gunning for promotion from the Championship next season, the princely sum of £10million could be enough to acquire the player and give City the chance to sign a handful of new players in the process.

Despite Robin Van Persie urging Arsenal to change their wage structure so that the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor would stay at the club, it appears that the pair are now going to stick around without doing anything so drastic. The Sun report that, despite Milan showing a great deal of interest in the Togolese striker, Adey is going to stay at the Emirates and ‘fire them to glory’ (whatever that means).

30-goal Adebayor said: “I came to Arsenal with a mission to succeed.

“I’ve assured the gaffer Arsene Wenger I’ll stay because I believe in the team and I want to assure the fans my concentration is here.

“I have no reason to leave so I’ll stay to ensure that together we’ll win silverware.

“Mathieu’s a good player but his departure doesn’t mean Arsenal is about to collapse. Our team is a deep well of talent.

“I am confident we are capable of winning titles and we will return for next season hungrier to be successful.”

So, it appears that just Flamini and Hleb will be leaving the Gunners this summer, so much for the mass exodus! With new signings imminent, particularly that of Samir Nasri, could it be that Arsenal’s squad will be even stronger than last season? Especially with the likes of Adebayor, Fabregas, Van Persie and Clichy likely to continue improving as players.

Robin Van Persie has been crocked for huge chunks of the season, yet that hasn’t stopped him calling for Arsenal to up the ante as far as player wages are concerned. The Dutchman is a leetle bit concerned that the club’s salary structure will stop them retaining the services of Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas in the long-term, despite landing the signature of Samir Nasri in the past couple of days. The Guardian report RVP’s collective wage demands.

“They should make sure that these players stay,” said Van Persie, aware that the club operate a strict salary structure. “Arsenal have a policy in which they will not go over a specific amount of money when agreeing the salary of a player. They won’t pay enormous amounts of money. I think that they should go to a higher level of salary.

“If you want to keep the group together, you have to keep them happy. If you are 27 or 28 I can understand that you would make the decision to go elsewhere if you can earn three or four times as much. If that sort of money was also paid at Arsenal I’m sure that person would stay.”

“It is the principle,” said Van Persie. “It is very important that Arsenal keep these guys. This group is unique. If a number of them leave it will be different. I think of myself as an Arsenal man but Arsenal should also try to make sure that we all grow together.”

Should Arsenal really try to match their European counterparts as far as wages are concerned? It’s clear that the North London club like to ensure that they balance the books and don’t operate at the sort of loss you might find at Stamford Bridge or the San Siro. They also don’t want to ‘do a Chelsea’ and have a rich oligarch pumping money into the club willy-nilly. Therefore, does RVP have a point with the above comments or should he let his football do the talking?

Looks like the latest player to knock on shell-shocked Arsene Wenger’s door asking for a ‘little chat’ is Cesc Fabregas, the jewel in Arsenal’s crown. The Telegraph reports that the Spaniard, armed with new agent Darren Dein (no prizes for guessing whose son he is) is ready to discuss the contract extension that Arsenal are so desperate for him to sign. Unfortunately for the Gunners, Dein Jr is the man who negotiated Thierry Henry’s lucrative final contract, earning the Frenchman the equivalent of £200,000 (doubters and pedants click here) a week. And to make matters worse, Papa Dein is not only on bad terms with the Arsenal board but the cosy bedfellow of Russian fat cat Alisher Usmanov…

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One lucky COS reader attended the filming of The Cesc Fabregas Show on Tuesday and, according to Alim Kabia, it didn’t disappoint. The Nike-sponsored event, which will be shown on Sky Sports 1 next Monday, featured the Arsenal midfielder talking about his footballing career up to now and showing off his silky skills, both with a football and on Pro Evolution Soccer.

According to Alim:

“The Cesc show was fantastic, energetic and very classy. Sometimes it is difficult to get professional footballers out of their comfort zone but he was different and another part of his personal life was known. It was also good to get first hand info about Arsene Wenger’s recruitment policy and how his instincts about Cesc was on the money. it would be wonderful if Arsenal could hold on to Cesc and keep him at Arsenal for the long-term. Thanks to the organisers for a fantastic show.”

Alim and the other fans in attendance chanted “We’ve got Cesc Fabregas” as the Spanish midfielder took to the floor, before the star was quizzed about his childhood days at Barcelona and the switch over to Arsenal FC. Cesc’s parents, sister and girlfriend were in attendance, along with Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, who was told to sign David Villa by sections of the crowd. Fabregas also appeared to endorse this view.

Fab4 also treated his fans to some excellent ball control, as well as beating a competition winner at Pro-Ev soccer. Everyone there also won an Arsenal shirt after the player successfully headed the ball through a hole in the wall, resulting in Fabregas being mobbed in adulation.

Check out the Sky website to see further details of the show, it’s well worth checking out.

More photos below: