Arsenal have signed Lassana Diarra from Chelsea, some papers say £5m others £2m. Diarra 22, was in the final year of his contract.


He was brought in from French club Le Havre in
2005 as a natural replacement for Makelele.


But Chelsea still have Makelele on their books having agreed a one year extension to his contract.


They also have Michael Essien, Steve Sidwell and John Obi Mikel so obviously Diarra did not see himself ahead of them in the pecking order.


He was disappointed at the lack of first team action last season having only started seven games and making three substitute appearances.


Obviously he saw the writing on the wall and figured out that the prospects of seeing any action this season were almost non existent.


But what is baffling is why he would want to come to Arsenal and even more surprising why Wenger would.......



read the rest at our friend Arsenal Analysis

Rodrigo Palacio. The front man missing from the post Henry puzzle?



I did insist that Arsenal needed to recruit an out and out striker; and that Da Silva wasn't enough. He is a good goalscorer but he cannot lead the line that effectively from the front due to his size.


In order to utilise the three fantastic midfielders at Arsene's disposal (Silva, Cesc and Diaby) Arsenal's preferred formation will be either 4 3 3 or 4 5 1.The front man therefore will play a very important role at the top of the formation. And it seems that Wenger will go for the Argentinian Rodrigo Palacio of Boca Juniors.


He has a very good goals to games ratio of 0.5 or 39 goal in 79 games. And as you can see from the video clips he can score all type of goals: from long distance, inside the box, tap ins and headers too!


And he is at 25 not a typical Arsene signing as he is not a kid with potential (!) and is experienced enough to slot straight into the team. He will need of course time to get used to the Premiership.


Oh and he will, apparently, wear the No 14 shirt!


He will be, I hope, the front man missing from the post Henry puzzle.


by Arsenal Analysis

Arsenal said they had had no contact with Stan Kroenke since June despite reports in the British media on Friday that the American tycoon was preparing a to launch a takeover of the Premier League club.


So is Stan Kroenke talking shit or what?


The Arse chairman Peter Hill-Wood and MD Keith Edelman said the met Kroenke in New York in June for what a "an amicable meeting".


Stan Kroenke was invited to London for a return meeting but Arsenal had yet to receive a reply from him.


Reports sugest that a formal bid will be received within the next few days.


How much will he buy? Will he buy the boards 45% stake? if so that means he could have at least 57% stake in the club.


If Stan the man raised his Arsenal stake to 30 per cent he would be obliged by takeover rules to launch a formal bid.


David Dein was involved with Arsenal for over two decades before leaving the club and was sympathetic to a sale to the American, prompting his falling-out with chairman Hill-Wood.


Eventually all premiership clubs will be owned by Americans or Russians. Why dont British millionairs buy British Clubs?

American billionaire Stan Kroenke is keen to meet with the rest of the Arsenal board following talks with Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood and managing director Keith Edelman in June.


Stan Kroenke now has a 12% stake in Arsenal and is look like that he wants a lot more.


Paul Andrews, the executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Kroenke Sports Enterprises siad...

"It is an investment, Mr Kroenke has invested in Arsenal and he's very excited about it,"

"He's been meeting with the people from Arsenal for the past year and a half and he's very fond of the way they run their business operation. He's very bullish about it."

"We never comment on any future, possible investments of any kind. Each investment is evaluated based on its merit and it will be assessed on an ongoing basis."

What do you think Gooners? Good or Bad

My take of the Wenger interview on Sky is that he is more likely to stay at Arsenal football Club beyond his current contract rather than go!

All the newspapers and other electronic media have followed Sky’s spin on what the Arsenal manager said after the friendly game at Barnet (Arsenal won 2 – 0 Adebayor and Nacer Bazarite the scorers. You can watch the goals on the video window!)

Asked if he thought he would stay beyond his existing contract, he told Sky Sports News: "I have shown my commitment in the past."

Pressed on whether that meant he would be staying, he added:

"I will come out at the right moment... maybe when you don't ask me the question but I am not bothered about the English weather…..”! (you can listen to part of the interview on the video window)

The last reference to the weather was not reported by Sky.

Now what the hell has this got to do with whether he is staying or going you may well ask?

Well, the interviewer prior to asking him about his own intentions, asked about Reyes’s future.

Wenger, who was in a jovial mood, joked that Reyes wanted to leave because he didn’t like the rain and the English weather in general. And that he (Wenger) couldn’t change that for him!

And that’s why when asked about his own commitment Wenger, after saying "I will come out at the right moment" added “but I am not bothered about the English weather…..”!

I choose to interpret this as a positive sign.

It has been reported that a new deal is already on the table for him. I feel that the Board will not have gone into the trouble of drawing up a new set of terms and a contract if they did not feel that their chances of succeeding were good.

Wenger will not say anything about his future on a Saturday afternoon after a friendly match standing in front of a camera on the side of an empty pitch. He will want to do it properly at a press conference at the Emirates.

When he chooses.


By Arsenal Analysis