Goodbye Fabregas… So Now What?

Do you think Wenger will spend the money from Cesc, Nasri
and Clichy’s sale? Will he promote from
within or just neglect the position
as he is done in the past.

The transfer activity
of key players since the invincible season is given below: (values in million
punds)

11/12: Out:
Cesc (25 – 35), Clichy (7). In/Replacements:
Alex Oxlade (12) Gervinho (10.5) No FB
or AMF Yet to be decided

10/11: Out: Eduardo (6), Gallas
(free) In/Replacements: Chamak (free
– replacement for Eduardo), Kosc. (8.5 replacement for Gallas) No improvement to squad.

09/10: Out: Adebayar (25), Toure
(16) In/replacements: Vermaelen (10 –
replacement for Toure) No Striker
bought

08/09: Out: Flamini (free), Hleb
(17), Gilberto (1) In/replacements:
Ramsey (5 – replacement for Flamini/Hleb), Nasri (12 – replacement for
Flamini/Hleb), Arshavin (15). Net
spending is negative but no DM

07/08: Out: Henry (16), Reyes (6),
Ljungberg (free) In/replacements: Eduardo (7.5 – replacement for Henry), Sagna (6). No
AMF brought in.

06/07: Out: Cole (5 + Gallas), Pires (free), Lauren (0.5), Viera
(14) In/replacements: Gallas, Rosciky (7 – replacement for Pires) No
CMF

05/06: Out: Bentley (15) In/replacements: Hleb (1 – replacement for Bentley), Adebayor (7),
Walcott (5). Squad has been improved
with additions of a winger and striker

04/05: Out: - In/replacements:
Flamini, Almuni Squad has been
improved with additions of a keeper and central midfielder

03/04: Out: Seaman (free) In/replacements: RVP (3), Cesc, Jens (1.5 – replacement for
Seaman), Clicky (0.25) Reyes (10.5) Squad
has been improved with additions of a winger and young FB and MF

condolences all around...
losing a player like Fabregas, especially after the love/humility shown by Arsenal fans to him, won't be easy...

I don't really see what Nasri has done wrong. This whole "loyalty" to a club is bs, especially when that's not answered by the club (once you hit 30 you're usually getting shipped out). Was he a bastard for leaving Marseille? The guy has an opportunity to make almost TWICE as much money than he's currently making and be in a team that's more likely to win trophies - from a logical point of view, staying at Arsenal would be mental.

Why all the Chamakh haters!!??  He was doing great until he was mishandled and benched by Wenger.  Bendtner has had tons of opportunity to prove himself and hasn't, Chamakh has had half a season.  Lets give the guy some solid playing time (like we did at the start of last season when he was scoring goals) and see how he pans out before putting Nicky in front of him in the pecking order.

Traore has gone off injured within 10 mins of tonight's reserve game. So much for not needing another left back. WHEN Gibbs gets injured, we have no one.

...and now Afobe has gone off injured. Does anyone else hope Bendtner stays this year? Our squad is starting to look REALLY thin. He may not be world class, but he's a solid performer and certainly better that Chamakh and any other replacement AW will bring in at this point.

For those of you who don't view the Forum for with the my Fantasy League message here what have be happening

With all the drama from Friday and Saturday the FPL decide to award us for being patient, they are as follow

1) Receive unlimited transfers

2) Opt to start mini-league scoring at Gameweek 2

3) Win a VIP trip to watch Man Utd v Chelsea
4) Win a new monthly prize - iPad2

How can you win the Ip-ad 2? I just signed up and joined your league, good luck!

Win a new monthly prize - iPad2
Each monthly winner
of Fantasy Premier League 2011/12 will be able to choose between
receiving an iPad2 or the current monthly prize (replica shirt, iPod
nano & digital camera). The runner-up will then receive whichever
prize is not claimed by the monthly winner.

i would prefer the replica shirt (sure you know which shirt am getting)

good luck to you to

Stoke's, right?

anyone else think man city bought nasri to "cripple" arsenal and secure their place in the top 3.  Losing your two best midfielders  is pretty hard to spring back from.

I don't think they're too worried about us at the moment.

why do you quote the bible? i don't like it.

not to be offensive to arsenal club but i pety u guyz goin up against liverpool !dey'll probably finally win at emirates!

Like they won at home to Sunderland? 

fuk off bitch

See liverpool's response below. That's how you're meant to act. Classy. 

Hey there.
I knew I didnt have many options now I dont have to spend my money carefully now I stay on top of my game just imagine all the possibilities http://kirakiraholic.web.fc2.c...
talk to you soon

Hey there.
I knew I didnt have many options now I dont have to spend my money carefully now I stay on top of my game just imagine all the possibilities http://kirakiraholic.web.fc2.c...
talk to you soon

hey i am a liverpool fan ,but guyz guess wat wen we lost torres v felt like life is over but guess wat SUAREZ was born!

oh yea by dat i mean 2 say dat u guyz lost fabregas but u guyz will get sum1 better! trust me nd bee happy!!!!!!YNWA

All I can say is....WHAT THE HELL TOOK SO LONG!!!???  From reports we will receive slightly more than the original bid for Cesc, stretched out over some unspecified amount of time.  Why was this deal not done three weeks ago allowing the team to move on during the preseason and focus on the season ahead!!??  It doesn't seem like delaying this move made any sense. 

And also, all of you heaping praise on Cesc saying he gave his heart and soul for this club are dillusional.  The guy hasn't wanted to be here for the last three years and it showed,  while he was/is an amazing playmaker he was a mediocre captain and a poor leader. 
He was given everything he wanted here; chance to play first team football at a young age, multiple wage increases even though he was under contract, and the captains armbad.  He has held this team hostage for the last two years and I am happy that the drama is over and we can focus on Arsenal again and not Barcelona.

I am totally with you.
As a rule from my feelings when a player leaves Arsenal I dont like him anymore, but in this casse, I kinda like him, and everything you say its true: He didnt have his mind in the Arsenal anymore, not sure of 2 years is more accurate, but thats the idea.
IMO he lacked the leadership to lift spirits and win things, he was IMO made capt so he wouldnt leave, but in the future we have (we= AW) to learn, captaincy isnt something to give to someone so they dont leave.
Maybe our spirit will change with a new capt?

Yeah, Cesc never struck me as a gritty captain capable of lifting up his teammates.  I think its one of the reasons why he wanted to get back to Barca so badly, he doesn't want to be "the guy" he just wants to be one of "the guys" with less pressure on his shoulders.  He would always be under pressure as the captain of Arsenal. 
I'm actually not a huge fan of RvP wearing the captians armband either, he sometimes struggles at keeping a cool head on the pitch letting guys get under his skin and cause a reaction.  Not something you want to see out of your captain....

I have just read that Nasri is calling Arsenal fans "disrespectful" as they were chanting something about him at the Newcastle game. Anyone know what they were chanting?
The only info I found was one person saying it was "Nasri, you're a c***. Nasri, Nasri you're a c***." but I don't know how reliable this is. If it is true, kinda harsh! 

I agree, it's disrespectful. So are most of the things football fans chant. Suck it up, princess. He's been a shit, and deserves some scorn for it, in the eyes of many fans. 

That is basically precisely what they were singing/chanting.

A bit harsh, but what did he expect would happen when he refusing to sign a new contract to the team that has basically build his career?

just watchedd the training video, Chamberlain looks dedicated, Bendtner looks like the annoying c*nt whos talking before a test when the teacher gives you 10 mins to quickly study

I think ramsey can replace cesc but only if hes played in the cesc role. if we had to buy to replace cesc i would go for Lucas- 19yrold flairy,creative midfielder  from sao paulo i think, Xherdan Shaqiri- also 19yrold Swiss midfielder who can do everything and uh.. hows abbout Ro..nal..din.ho??

xherdan shaqiri is albanian but plays for the swiss but yeah he would be perfect for that role and he has an absolute bomb of a shot

or* oooooooooooooops

Overall I think Arsenal, as much as Wenger are to blame for this farce of a Summer. Not only has Wenger dithered but the Board have pulled the rug on everyone by going back on earlier assurances that Fab/Nasri would not be sold. Wenger saying he did not ‘expect’ players to leave was I’m sure a dig at the Board! The Board/Gazidis have not helped by being indecisive and stingy in the market. E.g. Mata…if as good as everyone says he is…must be worth £18m or a bit more. AW however must have known that a) he needed to strengthen and b) more than likely would need a replacement for at least one out of Fab/Nasri. Fab was dishing out farewell gifts end of last season FCS! Nasri has been unequivocal about his contract stance! Like many, we felt that this Summer would be the Summer that Arsenal would in some ways strike back, instead the signs are that we are imploding. Somehow we have started the season weaker than we were at the end of the last season!! How does that work?!? Clichy, Fab, Nasri, NB, Eboue all gone or about to go. In: Gervinho (who can contribute immediately). That’s it! Chamakh seems half the player that he was and I’m worried that RvP and a few others are left shell shocked and yet again carrying too heavy a burden! It’s not an over reaction to think that RvP is already evaluating his options for next season. Mirroring the sentiments of many others…this is about as low as I have felt as an Arsenal fan. Arsenal…sort it out! It’s already cost us 2pts!

To a certain extent, Nasri has already been replaced by Gervinho. Hope the latter turns out well, actually. But to replace a world-class playmaker with an also ran like Jadson or Marvin Martin, is downright laughable. If I hear Wenger saying that a new signing would "kill Ramsey", I'd tell him to shut his pie-hole. I did have a lot of patience, I really did, and come to think of it, I still do. And I'm not going to bash him on mere rumors. But if this Jadson deal turns out fruition, then I'm going to be very, very pissed off. 

If Wenger reads this blog, and I suspect so since he seems to do the exact opposite of what we suggest at this site, then I hope he heeds to the following advice: Miralem Pjanic, Douglas Costa, Yoann Gourcouff .. anyone of those. And while you're at it, bring on Verthongen or Jagielka. I'm sure 60mill would suffice. And for goodness' sake, don't be stubborn, or the whole AO would be willing to slap you on the head, just like Mama Wenger used to do.

Jadson > Douglas Costa

Jadson's 27, Douglas is 20. 

Goodbye Cesc. All the best!
We should of done this at the start of the Transfer Window, I only hope Wenger brings in a replacement and not try to start a youngster to fit the role. 
Oh the hatred I have for Joey Barton, I was almost asked to leave the bar I was watching in the game in. It was full of Newcastle fans too Ooops

Wages is a real issue as the financial fair-play will be on next season. Just look at how a club like Inter Milan is willing to get rid of Sneijder and Eto'o not because they are under-performing but just because they are to expansive for the club... This is the main reason why United didn't take Sneijder, they can't afford his salary. Actually, I think except Chelsea and City, maybe Madrid (with a doubt) there's no club that can afford huge salary anymore.

I think we can all agree that Jadson is not the answer to our needs. I know that Wenger is brilliant at bringing in players that are undiscovered, but he's 27 and playing in a third-tier league. He has just been called up to the Brazil national team, so there is hope that he's a late developer. 

Hamsik isn't available, as I understand it. And by that I mean I think we would need to part with the full fee we get from Barca.

I really like Montolivo, but I suspect it would be the same as with Hamsik. 

Hazard is excellent. I would take him in a second, if Lille could be convinced (read: most of the Cesc fee) to part with him. But they've started with a draw and a loss, so probably aren't interested in selling their top player.

Haven't seen Martin (the player, not the gadfly and former writer at this site, though I haven't seen him either), but 19 assists last season for a 5th place Sochaux team is pretty impressive. 

I would give some thought to Xavi Prieto at Sociedad, Sergio Canales and Arturo Vidal. 

Gotze (Goetse, Goetze) would be great, but Dortmund likely won't sell. 

I would test Munich's resolve to hold Schweinsteiger. 

I would consider Gourcuff.

Ganso (Santos), Adem Ljajić (Fiorentina) and Christian Eriksen (Ajax) deserve some consideration.

Vidal has just joined Juventus for 12.5mill EUR.

lol u cant compare 29 time league winners Juventus with ARsenal! 

You do know that Juventus aren't even in the Europa league, right?

well dats gud cuz u guyz vll end up i n europa legue soon

Gotze is phenomenal.

Yep. Which is probably why he isn't available. 

Reports in Germany that Man U are preparing a bid for him.  Not ideal.

Gotze and Martin ftw.

I think we need to look at this logically and rationally.  The Cesc era is over, as was Henry's and Viera's.  In addition to Cesc, we will probably lose Nasri.  I think it's fair to say the Cesc experiment failed and we need to move on.

Am I happy?  Of course not, but that's reality.  There isn't any players out there that we can afford and willing to buy that will make us champions this season, so why not focus on growing and put our bets on the next?
Regardless of success, teams generally rebuild themselves every 4-5 years, and we have reached that point. With Cesc & Nasri gone, the pressure is off, we have a young team of talented players who will be able to grow this season.  Hopefully we can finish top 4 and reach the Champion's League (Wenger has not failed that yet).  Now assuming we do buy a few more players over the next 12 months (especially in defense), and manage to keep all our best players, we should have a very competitive team next season 2012/13.The FIFA Fair play rules will kick in 2014/15, although I am not 100% familiar with the details, but it sounds like you can only spend what you make.  This will put Arsenal in a good position.  Looking at the 2009/10 financial reports, our debt went from £300 million+ (2008) to just under £150 million.  While Barcelona's is about £350million pounds, and Man U's is £500million (via quick look ups on Google).  We have a stable club, that regardless of results, we will stay afloat, while Barce & Man U go 1-2 season without winning, their whole financial structure will collapse.Maybe knowing this will piss people off even more:  if we have money, why shouldn't we spend?  Well, let me remind you this, in 2008, we spend £14 million on Nasri, much less than Robinho (£32.5), Berbatov (£30.7), Keane (£20.3).  And it's fair to say that Nasri was a much better buy; both in immediate performance, and performance over the last 3 years (Berbatov was better for 1 season at double the price).  Spending a lot is not the answer, spending a lot on the right player is.  Unfortunately I can't name "proven" players who is available and can make our squad stronger to replace Cesc/Nasri (Snieder is not an option).I agree winning is priceless.  Winning our first Champion's League (first for London) would be HUGE, but spending can't guarantee that.  Like many, I have lost my faith in Wenger, but I will admit his leadership has created a stable the future of the club.  I am just not sure "reactive" spending is really going to help the club.   Personally, I rather have our current team than have to watch a bunch of douche-bag mercenaries play for us;  imagine having to deal with the antics of Balotelli, Robinho or any Divas..... I think at this point, our best bet is to grow the players we have, and hope we sign some good defenders.  With few expectations this season, we can enjoy.

*if we don't win anything, we will probably lose RVP next season
**Snieder is not an option, 200k/week is too much, if we are willing to pay that, we should just match Man City's offer for Nasri.

I agree with you. Might very well be worth it to approach this season as a rebuilding year and spend the entire year trying to find the right guy to splash huge money at instead of just throwing money at the best option available now.

Also, I pray that Miquel, Toral, and Bellerin become flops. Or better yet, decent players but not world-class. Because you just know Barca will come back for them, whining for them that they "deserve to come back home".
My respect for Cesc took a big blow, but it is not gone. It's Barcelona that disgust me now, for their appalling antics- Xavi is 30. Iniesta is 27. Couldn't they wait 2-3 fucking years?!

maybe you should direct that question at your former club captain who choose to come to Barça..he wasn't kidnapped , you know?

Lets put it this way. Had it not been for all of their unsettling tactics, do you think he would have pressed so much to go "home" so soon? Likely answer is NO.

man all  my replies wee showed as commens,,,,disqus is angry with the Cesc stuff...

I am with you here.
Need top class now, too ad if we only got half the money, it is a need now.
Hope for a C as well.
Wenger .....act.
BTW I just stopped following Cesc on twitter, all of his good skills were killed in my book by this, hope you get to play at least.

So...where is sairaxonmondays?

No one wants to read that lol Plus it doesn't have the same ring to it.

Anyway, Gary Neville wrote an article that could have been a blog from me (yes, you read that correctly) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/spo...

Ok, I'm calling it a night. Later!

So I take it you weren't a fan of my "Wenger Must Go" blog?  =)

In school maybe?

Bazinga !

Anyone dare to say who the capt will be?
RvP deserves it for his loyalty, but I see more capt blood in TV5, whereas he is too new for my taste. Then theres is Jacky, but I would truly say, real bad ass personality for capt and well involved: Chesny.
Ok, now crtics please.
Lets vote here and check out who was right!

What about Sagna? I think hes got the best of both worlds: old enough in the team, loyalty maybe not as RvP publicly but hey he is still here and he s been linked with teams, he is a good player, teammate and when he has to, he s got a bad ass attitude to defend our interests, anyone?

Personally, I am not sure RVP is a good captain.  Partly because defenders & midfielders are usually better captains because they need an awareness of what's happening in the entire field, while forwards tends to focus in attacking.  However, the more important reason is, he has never played more than 28 games a season for Arsenal.  

My guess the team spirit will be a bit fragile, and if we lose RVP the Captain for an extended period, things will get worse.  As for Vermalen..... he only played more than 30 games in 1 season during his time in Ajax...... (not sure if it's injury related, but I assume it is....)

RvP is established vice captain, and has been captain for every match this preseason and season when starting. It'll be van Persie, but I have to think Verma would be the new vice captain!

Has to be RVP or Verm. Personally, I would hand it to RVP as he has time and again shown his loyalty to this club. Verm is a very close second, but RVP has him on seniority.

It's got to be RvP in my book.  I don't see anyone else with the experience and tenure with the team. 

Amen!
Finally.
Now we can worry about real stuff.
Antione knows the amount?

What about Marco Fabian from Chivas Guadlejara? At 22 he's already had five seasons in the first team. Both his goals in Chivas 4-1 win over Barcelona during pre-season were absolutely top, top class (definitely worth watching on youtube).
After the success of Hernandez at Man Utd its been proven that Mexican players are generally endowed with a great deal of the tenacity and enthusiasm that is so obviously lacking in the Arsenal dressing room of late. All be it understandably. 
On the bright side Gibbs return from injury was encouraging and Gervinho seems pacey, though pretty ineffective out on the wing. 

We need another world class CAM to replace Cesc and Nasri this season. Period. All of the Ayew and Jadson stuff is too small, imo. Marvin Martin will become world-class one day, but we need a game changer NOW, not for the future. Sneijder won't come, but what about Hamsik, or Gourcuff? All of that depends on whether we can get past Udinese, though. Scary stuff.
Also, apparently Barca are only paying 14.5 million up front immediately, so I'm not expecting anything more than a CB and Jadson/Martin. Anything more than 2 signings is a miracle.
Thanks for the good times, Cesc. It sucks that of the defining memories I have of you, 1 of them is the furious and heroic way by which you won the game at Stoke... and the other was your pathetic backheel last season at the Nou Camp which ultimately led to our demise.

Well, the stock price may be lower for Gourcuff so it may be worth a chance, but he seems to have really fallen off ever since the WC2010 French clusterf---.

Sounds like a classic Wenger purchase, and one I would applaud.  IF his price really has fallen. 

Do we really think its possible for something to happen that we haven't even heard a peep about?  I guess it is - but these days, its hard to be surprised.

One other point on this.  I know hindsight is 20/20, but I did have this thought last summer.  At that point, I wanted us to buy Mesut Özil, but still hang on to Cesc for one more year.  Give Özil a chance to work his way into the system a bit, without the pressure of being THE guy on day one.  Then sell Cesc this year, but not buy a replacement.  What's amazing is he had 25 assists for Madrid last year, yet "only" cost them €15 million.  Wow.  If only.

Choice between Madrid and Arsenal?
And the chance to work under Jose?

It 'only' cost them 15 mil because his contract was about to expire with Bremen.

Gervinho 'only' cost us 10 mil as well for the same reason. If his contract had several more seasons to run, he would have cost us a lot more (closer to 20 mil at least).

Yes!  Great minds think alike, I think.  Although Gourcuff didn't really light up the world last season, so some might argue on that one. 
And yeah, I think we'll at least wait until the first leg against Udinese, to see if it looks likely we'll qualify for the group stages.  Things could get really ugly if not.  And to be honest, I don't know where the goals are going to come from in the first leg.  But I'm sure you'll cover that tomorrow in the preview. 
Finally, this sale ensures that yet again, we're a net selling club.  After all the talk and ambition we supposedly would have this summer.  It's a lock that we'll bring in more money than we spend this summer.  At least Kroenke should be happy.

This just in: EVERYONE PANIC BECAUSE THE SHIP IS SINKING! Come on people, do you really think Wenger & Co is going to just let this team completely collapse because Frannie went home to a warm bench and Samir wants to buy some new toys compliments of the Sheik? Arsenal will be just fine, because we have a very competent manager who will get some help in the areas we need to fill immediately.

I love your ptimism, can I get  ride in that wagon plsssss

I guess we'll have a pretty good answer to that question here in a couple of weeks.

the season is over in a couple weeks? Strange I thought it just started yesterday.
Arsenal is more than pne player. We've survived selling other stars, we will survive this one, despite your mantra.

Well in a couple of weeks, we'll know two things.  First, whether we get into the Champions League.  And second, we'll know what we did with all the money from numerous sales.  So we'll know how ambitious we chose to be after all the big talk at the start of the summer. 

Putting up that picture of the barca shirt incident wasn't very tasteful, IMO. The Saga is all over and at least we can shut up about it, finally. Cesc was our captain and he gave his heart and soul in doing well for our club. I would rather remember him for that comeback against Stoke after the Ramsey injury rather than this bitter saga.  

I think that picture tells the whole story quite clearly, and was the apt thing to do for a blog post.

Hey Casimir, have you heard about what happened to tomasz, and if it's true?

Only what I saw on the blog.  I have no idea otherwise.  If it's true, it's terribly sad.  Tomasz is one of the best football bloggers IMHO.

Kind of sums up this long, drawn-out saga of bullshit, though, doesn't it? 

I put up one picture of the good times, and one of the bad.  I think that's about right, given the feelings about him at the moment.

He'd better get a move on & sign some quality players before the window ends or Van persie, Walcott, Sagna & Wilshere will be following Fab & Nasri out the door next summer!!!!

How far have fallen Arsenal? They are in the verge of loosing two of their biggest assets... It shows how little of a club it has become or, to be less rude, it shows that players are more reluctant to play for such a club unless they are underage... No wonder Arshavin did not want to come in this club originally, now he is stuck and wasted his life-time opportunity. Out of the top 4 for the less? Then again, will you guys qualify yourselves for Europa league?

I am not bashing, I am just stating facts, the truth.

And here's another worry... let's say we crash out against Udinese.  I'm sure we'll be told that we can't spend much money in this window, because we won't have nearly as much revenue coming in this season.  Just file that away in the back if your head if that day comes.  Let's hope not.

frequent reader here, whilst i commend the work and effort you put into this blog since the departure of Martin, i must really hold opposition to the on-running joke of referring to oxlade-chamberlain as oxtail. the 'joke' was never in truth funny and its now bordering on offensive towards the player, if you need to shorten his unquestionably long name for easy reference by other readers AOC would suffice  

Is it more offensive than Martin calling Fabianski "Flaps"?

surely you are not going to justify a wrong with another, furthermore the name 'flaps' was concocted at a time when Fabianski's goolkeeping performances where questionable if not suspect. the lad has yet to kick a ball in a competitive game for the gunners, and yet you see fit to award him with a non-complementary name, on what basis? because others do it?

It's not a joke, it's not non-complimentary. I'm not sure how it would be considered offensive. Are oxtails not very good? I think Little Pea could be considered more offensive. That's Chicharito's nickname, and I don't think he minds. 

But, fair enough, that's your opinion. Glad to have the feedback.

dude little peas are cute, now oxtails...

I tell you what I'll do.  I'll run a poll in the near future as to what nickname we should use for him.  Whatever name wins the poll is the name I'll use.  Fair enough?

I don't think it's offensive at all.  Maybe I could hear from others on this one.  But this is a blog about sports.  We're trying to have some fun.  I don't have one thing against the guy.  Just think it's fun to say Oxtail, and it's shorter too.  For me, it's no different than using Wojo or TV5 or Flaps or whatever else. 

Wojo, TV5, RvP are significantly shorter versions of their names.  So is AOC, OC15, or Ox.  Oxlade and oxtail have same # of letters, so why not just call the kid oxlade? I don't think "Oxtail" is an offensive nickname, just a dumb one.  I might be the only one, but every time I see that nickname, it just strikes me as a bit childish, and knocks some otherwise intelligent points down a peg.  I must be getting too old...

The manager didn't look pleased with our performance this weekend, so he's gonna get 2-3 players. The game against "The TOON," was to identify how much of a need we have in certain areas such as central midfield, and find out how adequate the players we already have can fill  those gaps. I think he's come to the conclusion that we players and will be making the necessary purchases over the next 2 weeks. For our sake, I praying that's his frame of mind. I dont think Jadson is the player we need to solve the problems we have, I've never seen him play, but his reels don't incite any excitement. I heard we've also been connected with Ayew of Marseille, I think he's a good young player that could have a breakout season if he came to Arsenal, and he's affordable, or just get Hazard to link up with Gerv again.

Ayew is another winger. We don't need him. Lille won't sell Hazard after losing Gervinho and Cabaye. 

I tend to think we'll need another after we sell Nasri and Bendtner, and loan out Vela.  We'd basically be down to Gervinho, Walcott, and Arshavin, with the two youngsters behind them.  You know, Miyaichi and ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN.

Could mean we don't get rid of Bendtner or Vela, though both do seem quite close to leaving. 

Sneijder's on like, 200 000 a week. Try again.

i'm pretty sure he only meant that as an example of what type of player we should be going for.