Amaury Bischoff has announced that he has rejected the chance to stay with the Germans and seize the opportunity to replace Mathieu Flamini on a free transfer. He told German newspapaer Bild:

There are just a few details to sort out but Arsenal will step up for me. Bremen was superb, but Arsenal is a huge opportunity for me.

I’ve been waiting for Arsene Wenger to return from the Euro 2008 final in Vienna, but I hope to sign in the next few days.

The 21-year-old does admit that he won’t grace the first team immediately, especially as his progress has been hindered by injuries recently:

I have only just come back from a long spell out injured, so I expect to play in the reserves to get my form back

Bremen, who had only given him a run in their Under-23 side, had hoped to keep him, but instead watch Bischoff leave amicably, with managing director Klaus-Dieter Fischer stating:

We would be happy to have Amaury, but he has decided to take up a new challenge.

We wish him well and thank him for the past three years

My general feeling is that, although he has promise, he is already 21, hasn’t proved himself at Bremen and has had problems with injuries. However, having paid nothing for him, even if he never fulfils that potential, can it be seen as a bad move for Arsenal?

Sporting Lisbon midfielder maestro Miguel Veloso has been tracked by a number of top European clubs, a collection of which now includes Arsenal, according to the players agent Paulo Barbosa.

Barbosa claims that Arsenal are making moves to sign the player, but whether a fee is agreed with Sporting or they trigger his release clause (€30million) remains to be seen:

It is not secret to anyone that he wants to play abroad.

We did not have normal contact from the Arsenal board, but from a member of the technical staff at the club.

At the moment there is not a formal offer yet, but it is possible that will happen soon as Juventus and Ac Milan have shown an equal interest in the player.

The fee is likely to be rather inflated due to the 22-year-old’s newly signed contract that runs until 2013, a fact that will please his agent. However, Sporting have a tradition of allowing important youngsters to move on with Hugo Viana, Christiano Ronaldo and Nani all leaving when interest from English parties arose.