Morning all.
How many times has his name been written in the same sentence as Arsenal when we are in need of a striker? Too many is the first answer which springs to mind and rather annoyingly, it’s happened again.
According to nearly every newspaper, we have been notified of his £2.5 million get out clause in his current contract with Lille.
I so hope that when Arsene took the phone call about Kalou’s availability, he answered with ‘You are confusing me with a manager who cares’ and then put the phone down forgetting that the player even exists, we haven’t wanted him before, we don’t want him now!
Another linked to us again this morning is Edin Dzeko. He’s unhappy with the lack of playing time he’s currently getting at City and suggestion is, he’s ready to move on. Now he’d be a very good capture.
However, instead of a world class striker coming in, another youngster could be more likely as reports coming out of France suggest that Arsenal have opened talks with Auxerre over the possibility of signing their young striking sensation Paul-Georges Ntep.
Ntep is 21 years old and has scored five goals in 12 games season and we have been watching him for a while apparently. According to Le10Sport, we have begun negotiations over a £8.5m deal for the Cameroon-born striker and with Auxerre suffering financial difficulties, they will no doubt be keen to sell. Tottenham and Aston Villa are also keen on the young player.
It’s inevitable that we will be linked to strikers, it doesn’t take rocket science to work out how much we need another player up front to support Olivier Giroud and to be honest, we have needed a striker since the day Eduardo was forced to leave us for the sake of his own career.
I always feel quite sad when writing about our old poacher. In the three years with us, he played just 41 games…..
That of course was all down to Birmingham City’s Martin Taylor and his dreadful, disgraceful tackle on Eduardo back on the 23rd of February 2008. He suffered a broken left fibula and an open dislocation of his left ankle.. Needless to say and as we all know, Dudu was rushed to hospital and his season was over. As was Arsenal’s as our players back then were seriously disturbed and upset by what they witnessed that day.
They never recovered enough to fight for the Premier League title. We looked good, very good and prior to that dreadful day in February, we sat proud at the top of the league with a five point advantage. We drew that match after conceding a stupid late penalty and we maintained that drawing habit for four matches.
Manchester United ceased the day and soon overtook us as we dropped down into 3rd place.
That’s where we finished the season.
I don’t think we have ever looked like a side who could win the Premier League title since……
Until now…..
We have suffered injuries but thankfully they have been unforced one’s rather than caused by another players severe lack of sporting behaviour or thuggish, bordering on criminal, style of play.
Now, some of those players are about to return.
Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott should be at least on the bench when we face Southampton at home a week tomorrow. Benik Afobe is back fit and healthy too so he gives Arsene Wenger another striker option from the the bench. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yaya Sanogo should be back before Christmas too and even Abou Diaby is back on his feet doing a bit of running.
At some stage, Arsenal FC and the players deserved and still deserve to have Lady Luck on their side when it comes to players suffering injuries and if that time is now until the end of the season, then that top spot in England really could be ours.
We may have just suffered a blip when we lost at Old Trafford but let’s be honest, little went right prior to kick off and we suffered a defeat because of it.
If that’s the worst it gets and we start all over again in a weeks time and get back to winning ways, this really could be the season we don’t get overtaken or if we do, we have enough in the Arsenal player tank to get back up there and make sure we remain there until the end of May.
A player or two in January will certainly strengthen that chance, but please Arsene, don’t let Solomon Kalou be one of them!!
As for Eduardo, he’s had a good career since leaving us, playing 70 matches an just two and a half seasons…….
Nothing more than he deserved eh, unlike some I could mention!
That’s it for another day……
Edin Dzeko? Yes please. But how will he fit in? Unless it is as a lone striker? As a partnership, I dont think he and Giroud would compliment each other. Maybe with Dzeko and Walcott up front? Or Dzeko and Podolski?
I’m sure they could soon develop a good partnership Adk, anything can worked if it’s worked on hard enough…
Saying that, when does Arsene Wenger ever play 2 up front together?
Usually that only happens when we are in need of a goal and late on in a game.
Very good read…
Dzeko yes… will Manuel sell to his friend? No!
Lets just give the likes of Akpom and Afobe a chance imho… they are good; play the Arsenal way and deserve a bit more faith…
Missed the Dev’ himself yesterday. Good to know you are well mate…
Morning all HHers..
Morning guys.
Great post Rico.
Another French kid?
Well, some have gone on to good things 🙂
Thanks Ts. Just been reading Jeorge Birds post on the loans and he believes that Eisfeld, Akpom and Yenarris could be off out on loan before the window shuts on the 28th..
I’d love to see Afobe come on from the bench before Bendtner..
It’s amazing how world class TV looks playing for Belgian. He was immense last night…
Mauren-yo was in the stands watching someone; it can’t surely be Lukaku? 😉
Falcao maybe?
Morning Scott, thanks..
I know he’s no big name but at 21, it should be clear to see if he has what it takes. I can’t comment on him as before Devil posted his name last night, I’d never heard of him.
Looks like this story could have some truth to it. But he and Sanogo, if he can ever get fit, will stop Afobe and Akpom getting their deserved chance surely.
Ah ok Rico… Jeorge does a good job keeping us informed… I met him once in Barnet when we were playing there a few years back; a dedicated youth blogger…
It was Falcao Ts. According to the red tops..
Having just written that about Ntep, Lukaku (spelling) just popped into my mind. He’s pretty darn good and still very young…
Morning All.
Morning Rico, excellent post Madam…
Dzeko, Rooney, Hernandez???
Can we realistically imagine that either Arabia City or ManUre are gonna sell one of their strikers to a direct rival???
Sorry Gooners, I just cannot see that happening… Demba Ba proved that!
Don’t want Kalou, not sure about the Auxerre kid, another Sanogo?
Benzema, would real sell and would Arsene pay the fee required?
Llorente would be a temporary fix, and to me, that’s all we need for this season.
Get Llorente in, win that bloody EPL and then think again about a permanent solution to help out Giroud next summer…
Simples!
Ngiang was another ‘french’ kid who we were lucky to let go.. he is not doing great at Milan either after damping us…
I like his posts to Ts and he’s usually well informed it seems.
Isn’t Akpom in the CL squad though? Surely if he is, right now AW wouldn’t consider letting him go out on loan.
Does anyone know if Afobe is in the CL squad
Rico, rumours are we had a bid accepted for Lukaku the season before he joined the chavs… he chose to stay with Anderlecht and then the chavs came in with a bigger offer.
Llorente has began to score for the Old Lady so I am not sure Conte will sell… he scored the winner against Napoli last weekend.
Morning Kev, thank you kind Sir…
Ntep is fit, so nothing like Sanogo 😉
I can’t see any PL club selling to us either, especially if we are still at the top, or nearby at Christmas.
Some reports suggest that Llorente is a real possibility…
Afobe is not in the squad… same as Abou ‘Dhabi’
I think I read those rumours too Ts. Was it Mourinho who signed him in the end or one of their many other managers..?
My own thought is he won’t stay at Chelsea, especially if Jose signs another striker. He’ll get fed up having to wait as he’s used to playing each week…
What about Akpom? I am sure I saw his name on the CL squad.
I strongly suspect Muriel is the one we are looking at.. Udinese are not flash with cash currently.
Kev, don’t forget Di Natali agreed to join us on the last day of the season and Udinese agreed too but they could not get a replacement in so they said next time… A suitable option and the last poacher probably left on the planet.
Dev will be chuffed to bits if we got Di Natali; I am sure he would like to give Frimpong a kick or 2 in training too 😉
Marianna signed Lukaku allegedly…
I think Akpom, Lipman are all on the B-list
Lukaku has got this obsession with being the next Drogba… he is determined to which is a shame; he could have been a beast for us.
Maybe, Arsene will wait until January until he loans out players Rico.
Doesn’t the Football League retain the old transfer deadline?
So Arsenal could loan out players beyond January, as long as it’s to Football League clubs…
If we get a couple of favourable draws in the 3rd & 4th rounds of the FA Cup, then Wenger might pick a League Cup squad allowing him to rotate and rest his senior players as we push for a EPL/CL Double… 😀
I guess we’ll just have to wait until Jan. Just hope AW truly has a striker lined up…
Actually, I will rephrase that, he better have a deal almost done by now….
Good point Kev, that would possibly be more wise as our squad isn’t that deep…
I’m not 100% sure on the loan window. Other than it shuts on the 28th but must open again on the 1st Jan..
Same here Rico… I won’t mind a short term deal for Di Natali; Muriel looks like the next Aguero or Alexis but AW’s recent record with Latin American players makes me skeptical…
We can always go for Yanited reject Diouf of H96; 20 goals in 42 matches in the Bundesliga is not to be over looked imo…
Di Natali, I don’t remember us going for him, wasn’t that a year ago Ginge?
Forgot about him, why didn’t we go for him in the summer?
Isn’t he something like 31 or 32…?
Or am I mixing him up with some other geezer???
Tbh I lose count… 😉
He is 35 kev? And AW bid £6M for him…
http://www.givemesport.com/375639-arsenal-targeted-di-natale-switch
True we are linked with too many players its hard to keep track.
AW must have been desperate on the final day to bid that much for a 35 y.o..saying that Di NAtali still completes 90 minutes and covers as much ground playing upfront as Pinzi and co from midfield…
Tough decision to make tonight on what to watch on television with all these football matches on…
Still, only one winner for me, Pudsey! 🙂
Arsenal have been told that Anderlecht defender Cheikhou Kouyate could be allowed to leave in January, meaning Arsene Wenger can begin to prepare a bid.
The Arsenal manager has made attempts to sign the centre-back twice before and may now finally get his opportunity to bring him to the Emirates.
According to the Metro, Anderlecht have admitted to being open to sell the 23-year-old in January.
The Belgian club’s boss Herman Van Olsbeeck said: “We expect to keep our star players, but Kouyate could leave.
“We know there is interest in him in the Premier League. If a suitable offer arrives he can leave.”
Wenger could see the Senegalese defender as a possible replacement for Thomas Vermaelen, who has been unclear about where his future lies having fallen behind Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker in the pecking order.
Vermaelen may seek first-team football to ensure his place in the Belgium World Cup squad.
The Gunners could get Kayoute for as little as £6million in January and will be able to invest larger funds in a much-needed striker.
Kayoute has made 111 appearances for Anderlecht and scored three goals for the Belgian champions.
Hi Rico,
Loved your Post pot pouri with the transfer news roundup. Thanks for that.
Morning People.
Di Natali? Didn’t he sail with Noah in the Ark? 🙂
Rico,
There is something odd about the Anderlecht statement ‘we expect to keep all our star players but Kouyate can leave’.
Is that because he is crap? 🙂
Good Morning to the Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
Interesting article Rico, but I wouldn’t worry too much about the rumours on Kalou, or any other player for that matter. Most of the stories are just the addled dreams of of half-drunk, or worse, lazy hacks. I can’t bring myself to call them journalists, they wouldn’t know the meaning of the word if it kicked them in the arse. You would probably get better predictions from a chimp throwing blunt darts at a list of players on the wall.
Jeorge Bird is a different matter. So, ther may be some truth about the young striker from Auxerre.
Morning Hb, glad you liked it 🙂
Morning to you Cg, honestly, I don’t give the Kalou story any thought, other than to wonder why the newspapers write such trash…
HenryB – “Didn’t he sail with Noah in the Ark?” I don’t think Di Natale goes back quite that far, but he is certainly well past Arsene’s ‘Best Before Date’.
Kev – That cranial cleansing crew that worked on you and that you said was coming for me; still hasn’t arrived. My thoughts are still as twisted as ever.
They must be coming across the praries by covered wagon.
Jeorge Bird isn’t behind the young French striker story Cg..
Rico – Whoops! So much for my speed reading skills.
🙂 Cg
I must get on with a few chores now, catch up later…
Afternoon all,
What is the criteria for a striker nowadays. a kid that scores a hanful of goals in a handful of games in a league we don’t know much about. I am getting fed up with bits of kids that maybe will turn out as a top striker. Whats the matter with Afobe or Campbell or even walcott or the Ox up front, from what i have seen of things even Gnabry has more idea than Bendtner we have young men who have been trained in the Arsenal accademy i’m sure many would love a chance to give the position a go Sanogo has been a prime example of bringing young players in from abroad and expecting miracles from him, no doubt the guy will come good in time as long as he isn’t a Diaby type player, but surely if we intend to buy nobodies we should be prepared to try our own youngsters first. Lets face it losing Henry and then Persie we bring in Giroud who has tried well enough but we all know the guy has no pace and will almost certainly ever sprint from the half way line with the ball and score. Yes he’s a workhorse but in order for us to score goals we need sombody to sprint away from defenders and that is not Giroud. Its my opinion that we have far too many midfielders at Arsenal and many will only ever play bit parts as the guys we play will always be chosen over them, so lets give one or two youngsters a try lets face it Henry was a winger. We just got rid of the deadwood well almost, lets not start bringing in more.
Hi Sp, we haven’t brought him in….. yet 😉
I was in the Ark on Tuesday, and I didn’t see Di Natali…
But I did see a deliciously grilled haddock… 😉
CG, ‘twisted thoughts’ is good…
That shows that the brainwashing process is well under way…
The fact that you haven’t realised that ‘they’ have been working on you for weeks, is all part of the programme….
Enjoy…. 😀
Kev – Was the grilled haddock one of the fishes from the loaves and fishes from the Sermon on the Mount?
I’m off, so I wish you all a great afternoon and evening.
Sermon on the Mount CG?
Nah, Hermon Hill, South Woodford….
No, Pole Hill, Chingford!
Except of course being E4 it was 5 granary loaves and 3 sea bass!
Afternoon Rico, Kev, Wavy and all.
Chingford? Not too far from here.
Afternoon all
More rumours…
Part of Europe is concentrate in today fixtures
The scores may be probably important for the moves on January.
Afternoon …..
Afternoon Adam, a chilly one today…
Good Afternoon Lady, Sir, Gentlemen and Ladies.
Ginginho???? how are you mate. I am fine. Missed you habib.
Dzeko? Not that much for me. Kalou??? nah. stinker. Suarez?? Not even mention the slimy name.
I would prefer Lewandowski or Rooney. Players who can score but at the same time set up others. Like Giroud is doing. And Olly is very much in AW’s plans for the lone striker role.
Hi Devil Got to pop off again, back shortly…
It is Rico.
Lucky I bought that new coat this week. 🙂
🙂 Adam – I too have bought one but it’s been put away for Santa to give me….
Is it red Rico? 🙂
It is a shade of red Adam… 😛
Rico. 🙂
I look forward to seeing a pic in the New Year. 🙂
Maybe I’ll wear it next time I come up to London 😉
In that case, you show me yours and I’ll show you mine. 🙂
Just going to eat..
Me too.
Deal Adam 😉
I’m off for the day, night Adam and anyone else reading…
Up to the point of making the excuse that we lost that utd game because of disruption to the squad with late withdrawals you had a written a good piece. Let’s be honest neither team were sparkling and on a better day for us we would haven won. We lacked energy and our passing game was off maybe down to the virus going about or more likely to the huge effort exerted over two previous games in getting wins. The utd loss is not a problem as long as we bounce back against the saints and Cardiff and marseille in next few games. On dzeko he is ok but I would like a different kind of player to giroud one that will run off the shoulder of last defender or one that picks up ball and runs at defence with speed and good dribbling technique. We are not far from being a squad that can win things two or more signings in January will make that difference
Night Rico.
Poor Koscielny! At least he will have a rest now I guess before next weekend? Night all.
Good morning fine folk.
Kozzer managed to get sent off vs Ucraine. Yipppeeeeeeee.
that means he misses the 2nd leg next Tuesday….earning a well deserved rest.
Kos gave away another penalty by just sticking his leg out again …. He has to keep a lid on those kind of tackles … The plus side is he is out of the 2nd leg … So rest 🙂
Richar – I strongly suspect having a fit Merts would have made a huge difference and he’d have possibly got to the cross which RvP scored from. A fit Tomas Rosicky would have, like he always does, given us more in midfield. A fit and healthy Ozil would have played a lot better..
If you honestly choose to believe that our bug didn’t contribute to the way we played then I am amazed.
I agree we didn’t play as well as we could have and had you read my match report you would know that…
Oh and morning Devil and all. Good news re Kos, he will benefit from a few days off, rather that happened for France than for us…
Off to fitness this morning, be back around 10am and will put the new post up then…
Morning All…
Morning Rico, hope you don’t pull a muscle. 😉
England lost, zzzzzzzz.
Koscielny suspended, 😀
Wembley’s capacity is 90,000
Attendance last night was 62,953, just over two-thirds capacity…
International football is just a bore!
Morning Kev, I did pull a muscle, shopping afterwards 😉
New post is up now…