Could This be a Big Week of Transfer Action?

We’re entering a two week period, leading up to the Emirates Cup, where I believe we’ll pretty much know who will be wearing an Arsenal shirt this season. The team is back from Asia, and this would be the time to get things settled before August comes. I’ll start my report by focusing on players who are leaving, or might be leaving.

There have already been a few pretty important things going on, starting with Denilson. The official website has the news that he’s headed back to Sao Paulo on loan. And if you look at that posting on the site, you’ll see that (as of my writing this) there are 504 people who “like” that article. I think that pretty much says it all about what the fans were hoping for with Denilson. But I wish him well, and I hope the deal becomes permanent. I don’t see how he’d re-join the club in the future, since he would already be 24 upon his return.

In other news regarding players leaving, there’s been a lot of news about Bendtner going to Everton on loan. Seeing as how he’s the same age as Denilson, and has already spent a loan spell away from Arsenal, I would hope we could sell him outright. For me, a loan is for a developmental player who has never really broken into the first team. But if a guy has already had his chance and hasn’t really established himself, then what’s the point of another loan spell? Well it seems that nobody is willing to pay what we’re asking, and now we’re just trying to get rid of a guy who wanted out.

I also read a report that Eboue might be leaving to Turkey. To be honest, I’m not really in favor of this one. I know Eboue isn’t a star, but he’s a reasonable option at right back and sometimes at left back. I would still trust him more than Jenkinson at this point. Furthermore, if we stick with Sagna and Jenkinson at RB, is there anyone on the roster behind those two? Nobody leaps to mind at the moment. In addition to that, Eboue is always considered to be a good, fun guy to have in the locker room. And I don’t recall that he’s ever publicly asked to leave. So for me, I hope this rumor turns out to be false.

Now let’s get back to the big two who are rumored to leave – Nasri and Cesc. I really haven’t read much new information about Nasri since I last blogged about it. So I’ll take a break on that front for now. With Cesc, there are reports out there that we’ve given Barca two weeks to meet our asking price, or else it will be over for this window. That sounds good to me. Of course, I could still see them coming back with a better offer three weeks from now, and then we’ll go through all this again. It’s not like they really respect our wishes anyway. But I do agree with Wenger that we need this one settled quickly. If we lose our captain and a very key figure, we need to sort out that position a couple of weeks before the start of the season. Of course there are rumors going around that we’re lining up a bid for Marek Hamsik from Napoli, but I won’t be too concerned about that for the moment.

In player purchasing news, of course we had the official unveiling of Gervinho, as you can see on the official website. I was hoping we’d know his number at this point, but I guess we’ll wait a while for that news.
There have also been recent rumors that we signed Joel Campbell from Costa Rica. However, the latest seems to be that another English club has gotten involved, and it’s currently not certain. Even if we do sign him, it would only be for about £1 million, and he wouldn’t be expected to contribute this season anyway. Most likely, he’d be loaned out for at least a year, until he proves himself and qualifies for a work permit.

Beyond that, there’s just the usual stuff about Samba, Cahill, Mata, and even Felipe Melo. Oh, and it turns out that Ricky Alvarez is off to a smashing start with Inter, so maybe those of us who frowned on that one will turn out to be wrong.

We’ll be back later in the week to report on any real transfer news if it becomes official, of course. Oh, and I’m still waiting on my source before I can publish the blog I’ve been pimping for a while. Maybe early this week though, so just keep reading.

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You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5.

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Category: Arsenal News, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Emmanuel Eboue, Nicklas Bendtner, Transfer News and Player Movement, Transfers