The boys hard in training – Cazorla and Sahin rumours persist

Just a quick one today to tide us over.

For those who haven’t been keeping an eye on the players, the Big Friendly German, Podolski and Sagna have been playing some publicity roles in Nigeria due to the absence of the team coming to play. There are some great photos on the Arsenal website of the boys having a good workout to consolidate their preseason training to ensure they are fully prepared for next season.

In other news, rumours linking Arsenal to Santi Cazorla have persisted over the past few days, and seem to be increasing in pace. Last summer we missed out on Cazorla to Malaga, but now it seems that due to some unknown financial troubles, Malaga are willing to sell. Cazorla is an attacking midfield player who could play on the wing for Arsenal, or possibly behind the striker if needed, much like Mata has done for Chelsea.

I’m not convinced that Cazorla is the man who will save our team, but I don’t doubt that he would be a good signing, at a decent price. He will be able to fill in a few voids in our team, and I think he could easily be the next Bobby Pires (Pires was the same age when he was signed), especially if our formation shifts and we need wingers who can move in more centrally when required.

Rumours linking Arsenal to a season-long loan move for Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid have also been a bit of a theme over the weekend, and have persisted into this week. Sahin was a hige part of the Dortmund team that won the Bundesliga in the 2010-2011 season, and was quickly transferred to Real Madrid for the following season for a daylight robbery price of 10 million. The 23 year-old has had a rough season in Madrid, barely making an impact on the first team, and Mourinho has publicly stated that he thinks that Sahin needs to look elsewhere if he wants first team football. Whether he means a move permanently or a loan, it is unclear, but it seems almost certain the Sahin will be moving on from Madrid in some form this summer.

Sahin is a deep-lying playmaker who could fill a similar role to Arteta or Wilshere in the Arsenal side, and would be a strong addition for almost any team in the world. I am a huge fan of Sahin, and I would love to see him at our club (I talked about him as a target in my last blog), however, we have a lot of players in the centre of the park at the moment, so for Sahin to come in, it would likely mean a departure of some sort (possibly a loan move).

In other news Wenger has confirmed that there will likely be three departures this summer, with Park, Bendtner and Squillaci named. He also said that he is unsure about Arshavin, and that he will have to talk to him; however, a loan move to Fulham with subsidised wages has been suggested by some news outlets. Sadly, there was no mention of the future of Chamakh, suggesting that he is likely to stay, and be given further opportunities in this coming season.

Finally, Roberto Mancini has expressed concern that City will miss out on the signing of Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie. Obviously, this must be very distressing for Mancini, as he is very short on quality strikers, and Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko and Balotelli just can’t cut it in the Premier League. Obviously, Arsenal are not the only club who are struggling!

Until next time.

–Lachlan

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Category: Arsenal News