More Ashley Cole stuff (zzzz) with reports saying we’ve asked Chelsea for £30m now (although that comes from Mihir Bose so it’s probably ill-informed cack).
The Independent says negotiations are underway and that Arsenal will use £10m of that money to buy Yossi Benayoun from West Ham. He’s a good player but it’s hard to see where he’d play and is very similar to Rosicky who made his debut last night in Austria.
Arsenal beat SV Mattersburg 2-1 with goals from Jeremie Aliadiere and Justin Hoyte. Arsene Wenger was asked about the Cole situation and he denied any offer had been made by Chelsea, saying:
There is no offer and we are not talking to anybody about him.
That said he was not guaranteeing that Cole would be an Arsenal player next season:
If you want me to sit here and guarantee he will be an Arsenal player next season I cannot do it.
Public posturing. All to be expected. There’s no doubt Chelsea have made contact. I still can’t see Cole staying and I’m sure it’s just a matter of trying to get the best price for him.
The boss was fairly non-commital when asked about transfers in general after the game last night and again it seems like Arsenal are trying to keep as tight a lid as possible on their dealings this summer. He has ruled out bringing Patrick Vieira back, which is probably a good move, and the same article suggests we’re looking at Blackburn’s Ryan Nelsen as Cole will have to be replaced and we could probably do with a centre-half.
Reports suggested Armand Traore was our best player last night. It would be interesting to see how close he gets to the first team although we’ll be rather lacking in experience if he’s given the nod to replace Cole (although Cole wasn’t exactly a veteran when he replaced Silvinho).
All fun and games. The team are training in Austria. I’m going to the beach. Till tomorrow.
