Another quiet morning in the world of Arsenal.
Elsewhere the transfer of Kaka to Real Madrid has been confirmed. A new world record fee of around £60m is being reported and despite how obscene and grossly at odds with the world today it is, it may just start a bit of a transfer merry-go-round.
Milan will be flush with cash and they’ll want to spend some of it in a hurry in order to keep their fans happy. They’ve just sold a player who is not only amongst the best in the world but hugely popular with their supporters.
Now, many of us will be hoping they follow up last summer’s interest in Emmanuel Adebayor and throw some of that lovely lucre our way but at the moment it seems more likely they’re going to go for Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko. You’ll remember, of course, that he was linked with us as a possible replacement for Adebayor should he leave and he’s been talking about how he grew up a Milan fan, so if you’ve got high hopes regarding this one you may end up disappointed.
There were also stories about how Milan had their eye on Cesc to replace Kaka but that’s essentially a non-story as far as I’m concerned. It might even be a double blow, not only do they buy someone we’re after but it might just rule out Milan as a destination for Adebayor, unless the Italians really want to rejig their forward line (which is not beyond the realms of possibility).
Meanwhile there’s more about Thomas Vermaelen who, you’ll be glad to hear, has grown a bit. He’s actually 6’1 and not the 5’11 that’s being reported. Whether that has to do with him wearing platform football boots or not I don’t know but it’s not really that important anyway. Yesterday the largest Dutch news agency reported that a fee had been agreed between Arsenal and Ajax and all that was left to do was a medical for the player and the personal terms, which I believe are more or less done anyway.
If it does happen I have to say I’ll be pleased. Not so much because of who we’re signing, I’ve said before I don’t know a great deal about him, but because it looks as if we’re going about our business early and efficiently this summer. To have the new boys, whoever they might be, in place during pre-season makes a lot more sense than hanging on until the end of August. I know you get better value the longer you leave it but for the sake of integration and getting your team sorted in good time for the new campaign this would be a better way to do it.
Of course nothing has happened yet but the signs are promising.
In news that won’t surprise you one bit the agent of Gianlugi Buffon, football’s most cravaty goalkeeper, says that his player won’t be moving to Arsenal this summer. While I think we have to have a good look at our number 2 (and who doesn’t look at their number 2 on a regular basis?), Almunia has done well enough to maintain his position as the main man and frankly goalkeeper is not high on the list of priorities, in my opinion.
Fabio Capello, who knows a thing or two about football, loves Theo Walcott.
Well done to Kieran Gibbs who played for England’s U21s last night and scored two goals in a 7-0 win over Azerbaijan. He’s part of the squad for the European Championships, along with Theo of course, so there’ll be some vague Arsenal action later this summer.
Beyond that not a lot. Don’t forget the competition to win tickets to go see the London Masters is open all week, see yesterday’s blog for details of the question and the email address to send the answer to. The winners will be announced on Friday.
All that aside not much going on. I’ve now got to go and tax my replacement blogmobile which is a pain in the hole as I’d taxed the last one up until January next year and it’s not transferable. I feel like someone who has given Adebayor £80,000 a week.
Till tomorrow.
