It’s a very quiet one this morning and given it’s a bank holiday weekend, I’m not going to hunt high and low, like a common Morten Harket, for Arsenal news.
There are a few bits, however, and we can start with a headline in the Mirror which might give cause for alarm – Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny vows transfer situation will be settled before World Cup.
Blimey, sounds a bit iffy that, eh? Surely we couldn’t lose another big player by virtue of our own lack of diligence and and general transfer ineptitude? The answer is, as far as I can see it, no. Basically, what’s happened is that in France Football last week there was a mention that both Chelsea and Manchester United have sounded out Koscielny’s agent.
This was then followed by a fairly speculative piece in the Telegraph about how PSG, Bayern Munich and Monaco were also keen on the Frenchman and that Arsenal were facing a ‘race’ to convince him to sign a new deal. Cor, I am now officially crapping myself, what with Koscielny being so good alongside Mertesacker. The Telegraph, by the way, actually reported last month that the club were about to ‘open talks’ on a new deal, having secured the futures of his erstwhile centre-half partner, along with Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla.
So, if I’m right, Arsenal want to give Koscielny a new contract. This would involve some negotiation between the club and his agent. His agent was, reportedly, in London this week to meet with Arsene Wenger, and lo and behold all these stories linking his client to other clubs appear in the press ahead of that meeting. It’s almost as if – bear with me here – he could use that ‘interest’ as a tactic when it comes to dealing with Arsenal.
“That is a nice offer, Arsene me old flower, but as you know PSG and Chelsea and Bayern Munich also want him so change that figure there by £20,000 a week and we’d consider it a more appropriate offer, all things considered.”
“Zut alors! You’ve got me over un barrel.”
Those sneaky agents and their ways, eh? I don’t think this is anything we should be particularly concerned about, especially when you remember that Koscielny signed an improved contract in July 2012 which runs until 2017. So, you know, even if he doesn’t sign it’s not as if we’re in any imminent danger of losing him.
Storm – in this very quiet week because things have gone well for Arsenal on the pitch after a difficult period which provided plenty of juicy copy – meet my old friend, teacup.
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger says of Olivier Giroud’s goal against West Ham:
The quality of the goal gives him, I think, confidence again – gives him credibility again for people who questioned his ability so that is important.
As I wrote a couple of weeks back, Giroud has become something of a lightning rod for everything that has gone wrong over the last couple of months. His limitations as a striker have been exposed, for various reasons, and he has been found wanting at times, no question.
But all the same, he’s a long, long way from the worst striker I’ve ever seen at the club – despite what some people might say – and the reality is that until we can do something about our lack of depth in this position in the summer, he is our best option. The goal against West Ham was as brilliant as the miss in the first half was terrible, so there’s no suggestion of a whitewash here, but I do think the criticism of him has been over the top.
Arsene has admitted that, “For a while he played maybe too many games …”, and that comes back to the issue of depth which has been a worry since last summer. An issue for which Giroud himself is blameless.
When you look at the calibre of the teams we’re playing between now and the end of the season, and that we’ve got Ozil and Ramsey back – two players who he works well with – then hopefully he can add to his goal tally between now and May 17th.
Then, we can do what we need to do in the transfer market in the summer. I mean in late August. I mean on deadline day with minutes to spare. Oh crap, we were working off the Mayan calendar. Sanogo and the emergency loan of Carlton Cole it is then.
Till tomorrow.
