The One and Only Arsenal Blog (except for the other 150!)
According to reports in today’s newspapers, Manchester United have identified Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, as a potential target to bolster their midfield.
Reports suggest that new Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is on the lookout for a new midfielder. After missing out on new Manchester City player Ikay Gundogan and the potential deal for Henrik Mkhitaryan still some way away, Mourinho has lined up Ramsey as his next port of call, should the bid for Mkhitaryan fail.
Welbeck wanted by former employers?
Danny Welbeck may have only made a hatful of appearances for the Gunners in his two seasons at the club, however according to a few reports, his former employers, Manchester United, could be interested in re-signing their former prodigy. To emphasise the point it appears that the bookies have slashed the odds on him going back to Old Trafford. If you want to take the tip, then you should check out bestbettingsites.org.uk so at least you could use the bookies bonuses to make the bet rather than use your own money!
Arsenal are ready to splash out £10 Million on signing Leicester City left-back Jeffrey Schlupp, according to the Express.
The 22 year-old has been an impressive performer for the Foxes this term, and is being lined up by Manchester United to cover the loss of Luke Shaw to injury.
We are looking to beat them to the punch however, by lining up a £10 Million bid to bring him to North-London instead.
The Ghana international is adept at playing at both left-back and left-midfield, and would be a welcome addition to our squad, especially as we are suspect to injuries on occasion.
The Arsenal strikers may finally have found their shooting boots at the weekend, with Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud both adding to the hat-trick from Alexis Sanchez, but there are still a lot of Arsenal fans who feel that Arsene Wenger was wrong to not sign a striker in the summer transfer window.
It does not help that we are now being told that the Frenchman and the Arsenal scouting team have been following the form and career of Anthony Martial for some time. Many people were left stunned by the price paid by Man United to sign the young French forward but he has already gone some way to proving his worth, scoring four goals in his first four games.
I do hope that the reason for Arsenal not completing the signing of Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton, after the French international was apparently on the wish list of Arsene Wenger for over a year now, was because the prof decided that the Saint was not really what the Gunners need anymore.
That could be true and if so it will be because of the breakthrough and fabulous form showed by Francis Coquelin in the second half of the season. Maybe Wenger now thinks that we have a brilliant defensively minded player now and has changed his focus to a different kind of player.
Danny Welbeck was thrown straight back into the starting line-up on his return from injury in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat by Spurs. In many ways it was a vote of confidence from Arsene Wenger. But at the same time there are now going to be questions about Welbeck’s role in the team, and where exactly will he fit in?
Welbeck left Manchester United in the summer window for Arsenal to play regular first-team football. He also wanted the chance to play as a central striker, having done so more often for England than United. He was initially handed that task by Wenger, but that was largely due to Olivier Giroud’s injury. Since Giroud’s return, Welbeck has been given the same wide attacking role that he was often employed in by United.
If, as many Arsenal fans are hoping, it is the Southampton and France international star Morgan Schneiderlin that Arsene Wenger wants to sign to bolster the midfield of the Gunners, it looks like the manager is going to have to get very serious.
The Prof is also going to have to spend some big money and somehow persuade his fellow countryman that Arsenal is the better option for his future football career than our Premier League rivals. It has already been widely reported that our north London rivals Tottenham were very interested in taking Schneiderlin from Southampton and now, according to a report in The Mirror, they have been joined by Manchester United.
Everyone single Arsenal fan and his grandmother knows that the Gunners have desperately needed a young, strong defensive midfielder to improve an already promising Arsenal squad, so when we hear that a 21 year-old FRENCH midfielder of the quality of Paul Pogba is available then surely Arsene Wenger must sit up and take notice?
Pogba has recently signed a new contract at Juventus, but nowadays that just means that the price will go up if the player really wants to leave. So it will take an offer of at least £40m to prise the 21-year-old away from Serie A.
That is three games in a row now that Arsenal should have won and didn’t. After getting out of jail in the last few minutes away to Anderlecht and then beating Burnley and Sunderland without conceding a goal, the Gunners seemed to be finally putting a run together, but that is long forgotten now and the run is of quite a different sort.
Unless we do something about it very quickly and up our game significantly, there is a good chance that Arsenal could be cut adrift from the teams chasing the top four Premier League spots. Liverpool and Tottenham are both yet to play and will go level on points with us if they win.
I know that a lot of Arsenal fans will not exactly be jumping through hoops over the latest Arsenal transfer rumour linking the club with the Manchester United and England international defender Chris Smalling. But then a lot of Arsenal fans were pretty negative about the transfer deadline day capture of Danny Welbeck as well.
And I think it is fair to say that most people now think that Arsene Wenger did a great bit of business for Arsenal in bringing the England striker to the Emirates, while United fans have been grumbling about it ever since. So if Louis van Gaal wants to offload another talented young player for a bargain price, who are we to stop him.