Llorente linked, Giroud delivers, Djourou to consider future – AFC

The Arsenal rumour mill was in full effect last night with a new name added to the list of potential buys. Fernando Llorente according to sources from Spain claim that the Spanish international striker plans to hold a press conference on Tuesday to make an announcement. That announcement is heavily tipped to be that an agreement has been made between Athletic Bilbao and Arsenal for his signature.

Now if there is even a 1% chance that this rumour is true Llorente would not come cheap. His value would be upwards of £20million and that would throw up the idea that a signing of such a player would signal the fears that skipper Robin Van Persie could be on his way out.

The whole rumour could be the brain wave of the Spanish striker’s agent to create a ripple for potential contract negotiations with the club. I personally won’t get excited about this news until some more concrete proof becomes available. True or not true the alleged press conference on Tuesday should hopefully answer all the questions gunners fans may have. This is not the way Arsenal normally conduct transfers so do not have much hope.

In the midst of the Llorente rumours gunners fans had to chance to catch a glimpse of another striker recently linked to the Arsenal for the first time.France’s international friendly at home to Iceland had added interest given the fact it would be a chance to see Olivier Giroud in action. Although Giroud was not part of the starting line up he did not fail to impress when introduced to the field.

No goals for the striker but for a France team that was two goals down at half time Giroud certainly left a lasting impression on the game and on Arsenal fans thoughts of what could be. A neat one-two leading to an assist for Frank Ribery for the equalizer; then a cushioned header to set up Adil Rami for the winner in the last few minutes. Two assists, not a bad days work if you ask me.

In news closer to home Johan Djourou has been given advice from Switzerland manager Omar Hitzfeld that his international future was in threat due to his lack of game time at Arsenal. He was left out of the starting line up for Switzerland’s shock 5-3 victory over Germany as the Switzerland manager hinted that a move away from Arsenal may be his best option.

This is an awkward one for Johan to consider after the 2010/11 season where he established himself as a valuable member of the defence during Thomas Vermaelen’s extended lay off. The following season Djourou’s development if we’re all being honest actually stalled and quite possibly went backwards.

Starting from England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland last summer where Djourou’s performance was nothing short of embarrassing and so began the downward spiral of confidence from the Arsenal faithful in the abilities of the Swiss stopper. Onwards from that game Djourou’s performances in an Arsenal shirt have failed to reach the heights of the season before.

The previous seasons performances led to and improved contract extension (3 years I think) early last season. And it is here where the dilemma lies, the contract extension shows Arsene Wenger has faith in his abilities but the lack of game time also shows he has greater faith in other defenders at the club.

The ambition question comes up again; we questioned Jan Vertonghen’s ambition through his choice between Arsenal and Spurs. The same applies here; will Johan decide to move elsewhere to gain guaranteed 1^st team football at a lesser club or stay and fight for a place at Arsenal and recapture the form from 2010/11 season? I believe he will stay and fight, the comments from Hitzfeld will not register too deep. International managers make these threats all the time, some players react most knuckle down and earn their way back into their managers plans. Besides, Arsenal doesn’t do non lucrative contracts. Expect Djourou in Arsenal colours next season.

Enjoy your day people

Kalou to join on free? Giroud linked – AFC

Could Salomon Kalou be the answer to any of Arsenal’s needs? It has been reported that Kalou’s contract will run out at the end of the season and will be available for a free transfer. Arsene Wenger has long been an admirer of the Ivorian and fits the profile of an Arsenal buy in terms of the costs involved for his acquisition.

In the grand scheme of things Kalou would be a good purchase as a squad player for Arsenal, he has bags of premiership and international experience and could add something as part of the team but not necessarily as part of the starting XI.

He plays for the Ivory Coast with Gervinho and maybe they could strike up a good relationship on the pitch for Arsenal as they do for their country

The question is if Arsenal has not made moves early enough would Kalou be more tempted to start a new challenge abroad similar to his former Chelsea teammates Anelka and now Drogba. Once you are available on a free there are plenty options to take and it will be down to the individual on what challenge he would like next. He’s at an age where the final payday in the sun is a few years away to take. At 26 he still has plenty to offer whichever club he joins and should not have reached his peak as yet.

The big question to ask though is: has he ever shown the potential to prove he can be a big influence on a team, a big team. Throughout the past few seasons and I guess during his whole Chelsea career he has been a player that has always been on the fringes of the first team. More a small cog that helped keep the team functioning; if he were to move to Arsenal I can only see him playing a similar role at the emirates.

I would take him to Arsenal as a squad player but this would be communicated to him before he signed anything. No point promising him the world and ending up with an unhappy player on a big wage when he is not starting each week. He would need to prove himself with his performances and earn the right to be a starter.

Gunners fans are most likely to be divided on the acquisition of Kalou, given we have not ironed out the future of our Skipper Van Persie there will be questions on whether Kalou is the type of player to keep out captain happy and wanting to stay.

Further news developed last night in the French press that Arsenal has been working on a deal for Oliver Giroud from Montpellier. The deal will involve a fee of £8million and Chamakh. Giroud is an interesting player and having recently won the French Ligue 1 with Montpellier will have the winning mentality which always helps. He has also been capped in the past season for France. There is no guarantee he will be a success at Arsenal. The transition from French football to premiership football is not always an instant success and the better players tend to hit the ground running whereas other players still need some time to acclimatize.

The prospect of paying less for Giroud by using Chamakh as a makeweight may please both parties. Chamakh has in fairness lost his way at Arsenal. The chances of him recapturing his early Arsenal form seems to diminish with each game he plays in the Arsenal colours. He definitely would benefit with a move to another club to rebuild his confidence and reputation.

Montpellier would benefit from having a ready-made replacement for Giroud; on top of that Chamakh has a proven record in Ligue 1 and would hopefully fit in straight away.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. We are in the midst of silly season and so all alleged links should be taken with a pinch of salt until we hear word from the officials involved with the teams.

Enjoy your day people

Podolski is here. RVP talks today – AFC

So Lukas Podolski has done some promo for the Arsenal. The official site released some video of the German in his first official interview as an arsenal player. Although the deal was announced a while back you still can’t help but get excited at the thought of Podolski turning out for Arsenal when you catch sight of him wearing the kit.

I mean the actual interview itself was no different from your standard Arsenal interview for a new signing. Lukas proceeded to say all the things we wanted to hear and tick all the boxes to satisfy the fans. This to me is such an important signing and very shrewd piece of business conducted by Arsene and his team.

It goes to show we do have the pulling power and that we can be crafty enough to nip in and get signings of big players. This is not the potential we have become accustomed to signing over the last few years. This is a player for the now, a full international with an impressive record for a major country in world football.

Can this Podolski signing be another piece of evidence to prove the Arsenal strategy for signing players has evolved from future to right here right now? I certainly hope so. Too many times over the past few years heavy resources have been poured into developing the future stars of Arsenal only for their heads to be turned at the very stage when they should be the leading members of the team.

We have lost too many players because of this and have had to reinvest in youth to get back to this stage. On the other side of the coin many players deemed for bright futures have failed to live up to expectation.

Any signing is a gamble at the end of the day but if we continue to add the odd experienced quality to complement the raw potential the right balance will enhance the team growth.

One significant thing to notice with the signing of Podolski is the countries in which the club is targeting for players.

Germany has always been a leading force in world football and currently boasts an envious batch of highly talented young footballers coming to prominence. I am encouraged by the fact that we are targeting players from this country as opposed to the star player from Kazakhstan per say.

Per Mertesacker was the catalyst to us attracting German players to our club.

Of course he offers a lot more to the club than attracting his mates but it always helps attracting foreign players to your club when you already have a countryman on your books.

Eisfeld is on the books, we have long been targeting Mario Gotze. A German core is not a bad thing at all.

Germans are known for their professionalism and winning mentality. The kind of mentality which belongs at big clubs. We are a big club and will return back to where we belong at the top of the table before too long.

I refuse to take notice of anything said by Samir Nasri. The guy is a massive waste of space and I’m ashamed to believe I used to cheer on this guy and sing his name from the stands. Karma will have something planned for him.

Robin Van Persie is set to have his much-anticipated talks with the Arsenal men today; it will be just as nerve-racking to gunners fans as we were on Sunday. This is a massive set of talks that could have repercussions on the whole dynamic of the Arsenal squad. If he were to decide to leave the Arsenal we WILL need a replacement. Podolski should be deemed as an addition of quality to build on our 3^rd place finish not a replacement for our golden boot winning, top scoring captain.

This was one of the situations that left us in so much despair at the start of last season. The uncertainty over Fabregas and Nasri left us feeling somewhat underwhelmed when players were linked as they were seen as mere poorly shaped plugs to fill massive holes.

We do not need that for next season, we need to do everything in our power to keep our captain and build. If unfortunately he has already made up his mind to go then we must think long-term and buy a replacement of equal standing and sell RVP as early as possible. We cannot let this drag out; we cannot beg him to see out one last year on his contract.

As much as I love Van Persie if he feels the need to fulfil ambition elsewhere then we need to sell him ASAP. Wenger is a man of honour and will not stand in his way and hold him to ransom. We will need to rebuild as soon as possible.

I have a gut feeling Van Persie is staying with the Arsenal. I believe today’s meeting will serve as Wenger and his team convincing our captain that Podolski is just the start. Robin will be assured that we will be bringing silverware back to Arsenal and that he will not regret signing a new contract.

England squad for Euros should be named today. Heavy rumours that The Ox will be included. Will be interesting if true but I will wait until confirmation before passing my views on what impact they may have.

Enjoy your day people