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Andrei Arshavin

Arsenal sure to give up on attacker who may well be heading for a Russian return.

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Tottenham Hotspur will battle Arsenal for the rights to sign young Nottingham Forest defender Jamaal Lascelles, according to the Daily Mail.

Both North London clubs are thought to have been impressed by the 18 year-old, who has only just made his debut for the nPower Championship side, with only the Gunners reported to have already submitted a bid.

Lascelles, who plays for the England Under-19 team, had already demonstrated enough potential for Arsene Wenger to make a bid last summer.

The Daily Mail claim that Arsenal offered £2m up front with a further £3m to be paid based on appearances and achievements.

Nottingham Forest did in fact sell their young forward Patrick Bamford to Chelsea in the January transfer window, but clearly did not feel comfortable selling their two best young talents within the space of a month.

Both Arsene Wenger and Harry Redknapp are clearly looking at long term solutions for their respective back lines, and teenage star Lascelles seems quite understandably to be on both managers’ shopping lists.

In the end, the choice may come down to the player – and at which club he feels he is more likely to develop best at.

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would consider moving to Real Madrid to replace Jose Mourinho.

The People says Wenger will seriously consider the option of replacing Mourinho at Real Madrid.

Wenger turned down Real three years ago but the door could be opening again after Mourinho admitted his future at the Bernabeu is in doubt.

And Gunners officials are worried that Arsenal’s scrap to stay in the Premier League’s top four may put Wenger under increased pressure from unhappy fans.

The board are supportive of their manager but the opportunity to take up a top La Liga post may tempt him to walk away in the summer.

An Arsenal source confirmed: “There is a feeling that he could move there.”

SOURCE: The Peoplevia Tribalfootball

Expect stories of this nature to increase as we move nearer to the summer, especially if Arsenal continue to sit outside the top four. There does appear to be growing speculation that Jose Mourinho is not happy at the Bernabeu, but given that his Real Madrid side sits seven points clear at the top of La Liga one wonders if the Portuguese manager is merely looking for some appreciation for his efforts both from the press and his board.

Arsene Wenger has of course achieved a great deal at the Emirates Stadium but he may well notch up his seventh successive season without silverware this term and with fans protesting and a number of high profile players, Robin Van Persie & Theo Walcott to name just two, still to put pen to paper on new deals, the North London club could be about to enter a crucial period that could well shape the club in the long term.

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Arsenal centre back Johan Djourou has agreed a two year extension on his contract at the club, according to Swiss newspaper Le Matin.

The Switzerland international defender has proved a valuable option for Gunners boss Arsene Wenger during the team’s full back crisis earlier this season, with some mixed displays at right back.

Djourou’s career is an odd one.

Last season he proved excellent at centre half, replacing the injured Thomas Vermaelen to partner Laurent Koscielny to great effect.

His aerial ability matched the Frenchman’s attributes on the ground extremely well, but Vermaelen is clearly first choice alongside Koscielny, and Per Mertesacker has now come in as third choice.

Djourou is now fourth in the pecking order because he has lost his form.

Unfortunately for the Swiss defender, he only appears to have two rather polarising degrees of performance: excellent and useless.

Too often recently it has been the latter, and Djourou will hope that he can reward Arsenal’s faith in him – after around a decade with the club – with some improved displays.

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Chelsea face a battle to keep Daniel Sturridge after Arsenal took significant steps towards a shock summer swoop.
Sturridge, 22, is the Blues’ top-scoring forward this season with 10 goals, but sources close to the player claim he is not happy with his role as a right winger under Andre Villas-Boas.
And Arsenal’s influential chief scout Steve Rowley has put the wheels in motion to effect a surprise switch.

Sturridge wants to negotiate an improved contract, yet Chelsea are unwilling to do so as he still has two-and-a-half years left on his current deal.
And with the likes of Hulk and Edinson Cavani on Villas-Boas’ shopping list, Sturridge’s current wide role is likely to continue.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

This would be quite some coup and one wonders if any feeling of being played out of position that Daniel Sturridge may or may not be suffering from would be counteracted by the fact that the talented youngster has been a practical ever present this term and has clearly been a player Andre Villas-Boas has shown great faith in.

The 22 year old has netted 10 goals in 22 matches this term and is on the fringes of Fabio Capello’s England squad for the Euro 2012 finals and if Arsenal were to try to lure the former Man City man it would surely take a record breaking bid from the North London club in order to convince the Blues to sell.

Arsene Wenger could well do with an effective goal-scoring back up who could offer support to Robin Van Persie as the likes of Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho have failed to make an impact. Sturridge would presumably only consider such a move if the Gunners had secured a top four finish, which would probably entail Chelsea losing their spot in the Champions League for next term.

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Chelsea admit defeat in hunt for Brazilian hitman

Full story: FootyBunker

Aston Villa eyeing Premier League stalwart as defensive reinforcement

Full story: FootyBunker

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Arsenal are looking to extend Thierry Henry’s stay at the Emirates to enable the Frenchman to play in the north London derby against Tottenham at the end of the month, according to The Times.

Henry is expected to return to his parent club New York Red Bulls following the Gunners’ Champions League clash with AC Milan next Wednesday, after being on-loan at his former club since the first week of January.

However, manager Arsene Wenger is understood to want to see Henry stay with the north London outfit right up until the end of February, allowing the 34-year-old to be available for their FA Cup fifth round tie next weekend, as well as the clash with Spurs eight days later.

The striker looks to have no qualms about staying longer, but insists the decision is down to clubs, telling reporters: “They [Red Bulls] have been really good about it, so I can’t take advantage of them.”

SOURCE: Goal.com

This would be a clever move if Arsene Wenger can persuade the New York Red Bulls to allow Thierry Henry to stay at the Emirates Stadium a little while longer. The 34 year old has been effective when called upon, netting twice in the 92 minutes he has been used over the course of five sub appearances.

It will be a source of much consternation with Gunners fans as they watch their North London rivals Tottenham put in a genuine title challenge that has seen Harry Redknapp’s side open a 10 point lead over Arsenal.

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Arsene Wenger has ramped up his interest in Lille’s £30million-rated forward Eden hazard, but has warned fans he needs to generate the cash if he wants to spend big in the transfer market.
The Arsenal boss has long been an admirer of the 21-year-old Belgium international and has now made public his desire to sign him up in the summer.
However, the Frenchman has also revealed he is under pressure to deliver £15m-£20m in profit for the club through transfers each year and will be limited in the transfer market to how much he makes through sales.

SOURCE: Daily Mail

So with that in mind here are five players who could happily be sold in to order to fully fund the £30m outlay needed to tempt Lille into selling their prized asset to the North London club.

Andrei Arshavin – £8m

Russian has been off form for the best part of two seasons and there is said to be very real interest from a number of Russian Premier League sides. Big spending Anzhi wouldn’t think twice about offering at least £8m for the 30 year old, an offer that Wenger would be mad to turn down.