More Kung-Fu As Arsenal Prepare For City

Arsenal’s Tour 2012 rolled into its fifth day yesterday with plenty of action for the players in Beijing. Abou Diaby and Johan Djourou visited a children’s charity while Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were inspired enough by Vermaelen’s warrior video to try pick up a move or two themselves. The youngsters on the other hand went for a sightsee to the Forbidden City. For the uninitiated, that’s the site of China’s famous Imperial Palace – not Arsene Wenger’s codename for a football club from Manchester.

Elsewhere, Laurent Koscielny is rapidly climbing the popularity charts with Arsenal fans. After signing a new deal to keep him at the club until 2017, the Frenchman claims he instructed his agents to focus only on extending his stay with the Gunners. His committment makes a refreshing change from players who want to jump ship after one good season. The Frenchman may earn a move away from the club later in his career but there’s no doubt he’s pledged his best years to Arsenal.

In other news, Tomas Rosicky’s agent has confirmed the Czech midfielder has undergone an Achilles operation for the injury he sustained at the Euros. Little Mozart will be out for two months at the least. Arsenal’s previous experience with an Achilles problem is not a pleasant one – it cost Thomas Vermaelen almost an entire season. Rosicky was vital to our brilliant winning streak from February to April so he’ll be sorely missed at the start of the season. With Jack Wilshere still mysteriously sidelined, it’s imperative we don’t lay all our eggs in Abou Diaby’s basket – the mere pressure may cause another injury.

Hence the pursuit of Santi Cazorla who is versatile enough to play behind the strikers. Of course, the Cazorla stories are quickly attaining ‘transfer saga’ status. It was a done deal a couple of days ago but just as Arsenal bloggers started eulogizing about the Spaniard came Manuel Pellegrini’s statement yesterday that Malaga are unlikely to let him go on the cheap. If €20m is cheap, that is. This has all the shades of Juan Mata from last year although Malaga’s need for cash before the end of the month should see a prompt resolution.

Ganso Linked, Arsene Speaks, Vela Terms, Where’s Wilshere?

Brazil trained at London Colney in preparation for their Olympic campaign, inevitably inviting links to Brazilian players in the media. Prominently among them is Arsenal’s reported pursuit of attacking midfielder Paulo Ganso, with suggestions that Arsene Wenger will have him watched the South Americans’ warm-up game with Team GB today.

While it’s unlikely the manager will base his decision on a friendly tie, Ganso is exactly the kind of player the Gunner’s need in that crucial attacking midfield position. At 22, he’s the right age and is coming off a good couple of seasons with Santos. With Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey and hopefully Jack Wilshere available to play that role as well, Ganso can be eased into the squad in his first season. The transfer fee might be an issue though, with Santos rating him fairly highly and Transfermarkt.com valuing the player at £16m.

An attacking midfielder and proven goalkeeper are definitely the most urgent of our needs. While we continue to be linked with strikers galore as Van Persie’s future still hangs in the air, Arsenal need to first offload Arshavin, Bendtner and perhaps Chamakh before considering further recruitment up front. Of course Lewandowski or Llorente would be great additions but with Giroud and Podolski already on board, I think any additions in the striker department from here on are likely to be slightly lower in profile.

Carlos Departs, Robin Returns And A Creative Midfielder Needed

After seven years with Arsenal, Carlos Vela is on the verge of leaving the Gunners to join Spanish outfit Real Sociedad. Although he was signed way back in 2005, the Mexican was really at the club for only two-and-a-half of those seven years, the rest of his time spent serving loan stints in Spain and a brief spell at West Brom.

With first team chances limited between 2008 and 2010, Vela was unable to convert potential into meaningful contributions. But he’s still only 23 and as his last season at Sociedad showed, he has the attributes to enjoy a very successful career in football. It’s unfortunate it will not be at Arsenal but that’s the nature of professional football – there comes a time when it’s best for club and player to part ways and Vela’s divorce with Arsenal has been in the making for a while now. I wish the little Mexican the very best with his new club.

With one striker out of the door, questions are naturally being asked about the future of one or two of the others. Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner are likely to move away as well and amidst all the talk of contract extensions and new recruits, it’s easy to forget that there’s a lot of work that’s going on behind the scenes to cut the squad size before Arsene Wenger can bolster it.

M’Baye, M’Vila, M’Song?

Arsenal’s first pre-season friendly of the summer takes place tomorrow at Southampton, with two 45-minute games against the hosts and Dutch Belgian side Anderlecht. It’s unlikely any of the senior members will be involved but it should be good opportunity for some of the younger squad members, a chance to make an early impression on the manager.

Speaking of youngsters, 17-year old M’Baye Niang is on trial at the club from French outfit Caen. He’s highly rated in his home country and would be another one for the future, if Arsenal were to make a move. But you have to wonder if we need another young forward – Joel Campbell, Ryo Miyaichi and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain have all been recruited in the past year. Also, Benik Afobe has impressed with the England’s U-19s at the European Championships too.

On the other hand, opportunities to snap up talented youngsters on the cheap are increasingly difficult to come by and it may turn out to be an excellent acquisition for the Gunners. You really can’t have too many talented young strikers and if Arsene is looking at the boy, he must be a little special.

Oliver Giroud In, Robin Van Persie ….?

It’s official – Olivier Giroud is an Arsenal player and the second major signing of the summer. The late bloomer joins from Montpellier for a reported £13m fee and along with Lukas Podolski, gives the Arsenal front line an imposing new look. Unlike Spain, it’s safe to assume Arsenal will not be fielding a striker-less formation next season.

Last summer, when Arsene Wenger tried to delay Samir Nasri’s sale (Fabregas was always going) in the hope that his compatriot would sign an extension, Arsenal were heavily criticized for leaving it too late and jeopardising the start to the season. That criticism was justified because Nasri did not stay so the proactive approach shown this time around should be applauded.

Of course, there are some in the media who are using this opportunity to predict more doom and gloom for Arsenal, specifically with regards to Robin van Persie’s future. But why would Van Persie leave now? Wasn’t Arsenal’s ‘lack of ambition’ the main concern for the Dutchman as far as the media were concerned? No matter how strongly biased you are against the Gunners, no one can argue that Podolski and Giroud are excellent captures for the club.