Justin Hoyte signs for Arsenal

Good news Arsenal full back Justin Hoyte (22) signs a 4 year contract with Arsenal. After an initial difficult period filling in at left back and right back during injuries to Gael Glichy and Emmanuel Eboue, Hoyte started to find his feet and looks a promising prospect.

Kolbeinn Sigthorsson

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is leading a 20 club European wide race to land Icelandic wonderkid Kolbeinn Sigthorsson.

The Icelandic under-17 international who plays for the HK Kopavogur is one of the most sought young players in European football at the moment so naturally appears on the Gunners boss's radar - he has apparently been trying to sign Kolbeinn for the last three years.

Icelandic bosses want to keep Sigthorsson at home for another two or three years to further his development before letting him move abroad. However with the clubs lining up to take him they face a tough task to keep him. Wenger faces plenty of competition for the youngster including West Ham United's Icelandic owner Eggert Magnusson is also keen on the 16-year-old, while Reading and Blackburn have had him watched along with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Ajax among others.

Arsenal look to South America for new Samba Stars

Mexican teenager Carlos Vela and Brazilian under-19 captain Denilson are just two recent high profile South American teenagers signed by Arsenal. With other clubs now alerted to the potential benefits of talented young players, Wenger and Arsenal are looking to expand their horizons.



Salamanca sports director Miguel Torrecilla has revealed Arsenal are going on a recruiting drive for South American talent at this summer's U20 World Championships in Canada.

Torrecilla has only just returned to Spain after securing a partnership agreement with the Gunners which will see more players follow the path of Carlos Vela.

Torrecilla said: "We decided that we do not want just a loan of two non-European players. They want to enter the market and sign some players from the U20 World Cup in Canada. They're close to some South American players and within a month I will return to London for more talks."

Meanwhile, Arsenal are still to decide where Vela will be playing next season. He's likely to move to a Primera Liga club on-loan, with Celta Vigo favourites, after which he will have the necessary work permit to join up with the Gunners.

Arsenal nab Kyle Bartley from Bolton Wanders...Big Sam Fumes

It is rumoured that we have signed England U16 defender Kyle Bartley (16 in May) from Bolton for £200,000. Likened to Micah Richards and described by the FA website as:

"A physically dominant central defender with great strength, Kyle is an imposing presence at the heart of the defence. His strength and defensive reactions are assured, and he is confident when attacking the ball in the air".

Here you go Big Sam.... we all know you 'like a bit of a deal'.

Wenger's choice for Arsenal's new director of football - Comoli or Houllier

Having sacked his main ally, naturally to ameliorate the situation the board have allowed Wenger to select Dein's replacement. The manager is soon expected to announce a new director of football, on this he had to say:

"There will definitely be a director of football coming and it will definitely be my choice," Wenger told the News of the World.

"That is something I will be looking at soon. At the moment I am doing both jobs - the one that David Dein used to do and my own.

"I was in a good position before because I would handle the football side and David would do the ugly stuff, the business.

"Now it is all down to me. It is difficult because that side of it is very time-consuming."

Candidates being linked with the role include fellow frenchman Lyon's Gerard Houllier who Wenger has a good relationship with and Spurs sporting director Damien Comolli who also used to work with Arsene in the past at Monaco and Grampus Eight. It would be a controversial coup if Wenger could persuade his friend Comolli – credited with helping attract Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Kolo Toure to Arsenal while a scout at the club – to return, and a blow for Spurs, who lost previous sporting director Frank Arnesen to Chelsea.



Interestingly not entirely in keeping with the Arsenal board's official line, Wenger's most recent comments hint that he maybe expects the takeover of Arsenal to go through sooner rather than later, saying he wouldn’t be opposed to foreign ownership (something somewhat tangential to his previous comments...),

"I am not against foreign ownership of clubs. How could I be? I am a foreign manager and there are many foreign players at Arsenal and in the Premiership. But it has to be done in the right way".

On a more lighthearted note, the Queen has revealed in the Sun she supports Arsenal, following in the footsteps of the Queen Mother who was, according to a senior royal source, "a self-confessed Gooner, due largely to her admiration of former player Denis Compton".. With ma'am's support we are clearly we are the most "English" team in the land!

Stan Kroenke Share of Arsenal increases to 12.19%

Previously, Kroenke Sports Enterprises held a 11.26% stake, mainly as a result of buying 9.9% of the club from ITV and around 1% Arsenal director Danny Fiszman (who it is rumoured did not know they were going to the American).

PlusMarketGroup website where an article states that Kroenke has given 'Notification of major interest in shares'. Yesterday Kroenke has crossed the 12% threshold taking his current ownership to 12.19%, thus meaning Stan is hoovering up all available shares suggesting it will be a question of when rather than if.

Let's hope we are not sporting Wall-Mart sponsored shirts in seasons to come...

In other news Wenger states twice now that he will honour his commitment to the club till 2008. Henry also states for the 96754321th time that will NOT be staying at Arsenal...get it Sun? NOTW? Mirror?

Arsenal sign Plata and plan summer raid for Nzgobia

With all the D.Dein business several little gems of information have gone unnoticed...

Apparently 17 year old Plata who plays for Malaga will join Arsenal on a free transfer. The young striker is yet to sign a pro-contract and could follow in the footsteps of other Spanish youngsters Fabregas and Fran Merida.

There's also another rumour going round that Charles N'zogbia has had a bust up with Roeder and Wenger who has been tracking him for sometime is favourite to pick him up for about 3mil.

In other news sky-sports are reporting we are in the chase for Caen ace Yoan Gouffran (valued at £2Million). The 20 year old defender has attracted attension from a host of clubs across Europe, including Chelsea, Valencia and PSG.

On the Arsenal Takeover (David Dein, Stan Kroenke and Arsene Wenger )

OK, according to the boys in the city, Arsenal Football Club is 'in-play', so expect more takeover and scaremongering in the next few weeks. The full picture is yet to emerge but I’ll try and paint as much as I can now, the main players being Dein/Kroenke, Wenger, and the rest of the board.

Kroenke, Dein & the Board

Chairman of AFC, David Dein who is responsible for signing Platt, Bergkamp and Arsene Wenger has left Arsenal with the club stating:

“On behalf of the Board I would like to express our gratitude to David Dein for the many years of loyal service he has given to the Club. We sincerely regret that irreconcilable differences between Mr. Dein and the rest of the board have necessitated a parting of the ways.”

Only yesterday, Hill Wood said that he, Danny Fiszman and Lady Bracewell Smith would not sell their shares, but did not mention Dein. The club have issued a statement saying that the three main shareholders pledge not to sell any shares for a year.

Dein has always wanted Arsenal to float (on the stock exchange), like Manchester United did, but the rest of the board members, including chairman Peter Hill-Wood and major shareholder Danny Fiszman, don't want that. It is rumoured that Dein has felt increasingly marginalised; he was not involved in the new stadium project. Some say this was because he objected to the debt and the effect on the ability to buy players. It is possible that he believes that Kroenke should be encouraged to buy into Arsenal so that players can be brought in.

So what are Dein’s plans with his 14% and Kroenke's (KSE, Kroenke Sports Enterprises) 11% would make 25%, still 5% off the 30% required to issue a takeover bid. Seemingly antagonised by the threat of a takeover it seems unlikely we will see either Fiszman or Bracewell-Smith sell for now. This raises an interesting question regarding the initial sale of the Fiszman’s shares. Did he not know that they were being sold to Kroenke? An unlikely prospect, considering the hype at the time surrounding the American billionaire. Could Dein have gone behind his back? Again I find this highly unlikely.

So who are the minor share holders, and could KSE buy the 5% before the shareholder pledge expires? Further shares could come his way from Lansdowne Partners, the hedge fund which owns around 3% of the club. This would bring his total to around 28%, very close indeed to the required takeover threshold. If this transpired, what scenario’s could unfold? Could Dein’s exit be followed by a Kroenke takeover and the re-installation of Dein in the Arsenal boardroom?

Stan Kroenke, known as “Silent Stan”, He owns Major League Soccer team, the Colorado Rapids, who recently signed a collaboration with Arsenal. Kroenke also owns franchises in the NFL (St Louis Rams), NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche), America’s indoor football league (Colorado Crush) and the National Lacrosse League (Colorado Mammoth). He also owns Altitude, a sports and entertainment TV channel, and Denver’s Pepsi Center.
He is reputed to have assets totalling 1.02 billion, not that much considering Arsenal would lay him back around 600 million. However his wife is heiress to the Wall-Mart empire, is listed by Forbes 400 richest people in America as having a net worth of 3 billion.

Arsene Wenger

Although Dein was primarily responsible for the arrival of Arsene Wenger, and they are known to be close friends, some other facts are pertinent to these two individuals. Dein was against New Stadium and Wenger for it. We also now know Dein for American takeover – and by numerous statements made by Wenger, we know he was against it. So Dein’s departure does not necessarily mean Wenger will follow, as we know the Frenchman was “building a squad for the future”.

I anticipate a “stabilising” statement from will be issued by Arsene sometime today, however, understandingly the information coming out of Arsenal presently is meagre.

Julio Baptista goes bye-bye

Julio Baptista has indicated he will likely leave at the end of the season by English weather and football tempo don't suit his game (Julio...we agree) (his mother and girlfriend don’t like it and he says it’s ‘killing him’), He says he likes to do fancy flicks and bicycle kicks but isn’t allowed time.

On-loan Arsenal striker Julio Baptista on the Premiership's limitations:
"I am Brazilian and I enjoy playing the ball, making clever touches and taking bicycle kicks. But the game is so fast there is no time."

On Jean Makoun's move to Arsenal

Wenger's recent comments warning Arsenal Fans to not expect major signings this summer has Arsenal Fans already doubting their capacity to compete with the likes of Liverpool, United, and moneybags Chel$ea for the title next year, with many forum's and blogs pre-empting the imminent shuffling of 25M+ players between the so-called 'big-clubs' in Europe with arsenal being left to shop in the 'Iceland-own-brand' basement of the transfer market. The danger is a consensus developing of 'ok it let's find the nearest Billionaire'.

It's a natural reaction to expect players to be replaced with better ones if results aren't going the way they 'should', however, what the Arsenal team doesn't need is jumped up superstars, it needs a correction of the imbalance that was the loss of Pires and Reyes...The occasionally fit striker would see us back to full flowing power.

News of us moving for Jean Makoun who seems a Makalele type player, nicknamed 'the Cleaner', is NOT what we need with the likes of Gilberto established and Denilson and Diaby waiting in the winds. I am extremely doubtful of Arsenal signing Makoun however stranger things have happened and continue to happen.

On other news, I hereby will refrain from commenting on Ribery as I'm largely bored of the now daily speculation. Summer will come and we will know. All remains quiet on the Reyes front although many fans would like to see the beguiling winger back, I feel the bridges are now burnt, exploded and mined. Expect to see him to remain at Madrid, though after recent beastly performances there would be mass protest if we keep the Baptista.

Arsenal move for Daniel Alves and Yago Fernandez

Two new rumours have surfaced (one rather more tentative than the other but I'll leave that to you to decide).
Daniel Alves
The Sun, links Arsenal with a move for Sevilla’s Daniel Alves, one of the stars of La Liga this season, recently shining in the 2-1 defeat of Barcelona. He was all but set to sign for Liverpool last summer but the deal broke down and apparently he’d prefer to the capital than Liverpool (and who would blame him...snigger). The Brazilian is quite a player (playing anywhere across midfield, right & left) and is certainly a signing I’d be over the moon with (taxi for Eboue..I hear you call). However if alerted to the Alves's preference for a move to London you can certainly expect moneybags Chelsea to swan in with a obscene offer (particularly since this remains a problem position for them)...c'est la vie.

Yago Fernandez
I other news we have pipped Liverpool for the services of 19 year old Portuguese defender Yago Fernandez currently at Valencia. The cut price of 100K certainly seems good, however it is not exactly the experienced player fans are calling for in defence. Described as tall, athletic, good in the air and excellent in one-on-one situations there is not too much else is know about the player.

Controversial Arsenal Away Kit

In other News...

It looks very likely that Arsenal are going for a White shirt.....I've seen two prototype's (see below). What's your view? Vote here!

Flamini may leave Arsenal this summer

In an interview published in the Gazzetta dello sport today, Flamini complained about his lack of playing time and said he's ready to use his buyout clause to leave Arsenal in June, Italy being his preferred destination.

I have reached the end of a cycle. The Arsenal team is young and has qualities, but I play rarely at the moment. It is a difficult moment to experience and in such a situation any player asks himself some questions. Above all I want to go on working and improving.

Why Arsenal's over 30 policy must change

After reading the starting team for the Liverpool game on Saturday I had this sinking feeling - like I knew what was wrong with the arsenal team, to my frustration I couldn't manage to convey it to Mr Wenger.

The likes of Denilson (19) and Diaby (20) while they've certainly impressed are by no means capable of functioning in a midfield that included Cesc(19) and (the now barely functioning) Hleb, against a Liverpool side, full-strength, at home gurning with a rabid thirst for revenge for the 3 drubbings received earlier in the season. To say the least it was a midfield selection that ached for some experience. This was compounded by going behind in the first 4 minutes, heads went down, and could we prevent a cricket score?...evidently not.

The problem: is one which must be very carefully considered by the management at Arsenal prior to the summer. Firstly we have been too ridgid with the club policy, letting key personnel go, Lauren, Campbell, Pires, Vieira, how much has this cost us over the last two seasons? The players who reach 29-30 at the club have greater value than just their footballing ability...they provide a symbolic link to the past - we are missing the effect of these players at the moment, and the senior players that we have are probably feeling isolated by this. Sure it is fine for Cesc to come into a midfield an fill in for Vieira but with Gilberto, Edu and co to stand by and guide him in the right direction without the pressure to perform week-in-week-out.

The danger: The policy on over 30's is stiffling our squad with ever younger players, this is good only if we can maintain the critical mass of experience within the team to provide a solid environment for the youth system to fluorish. At the moment we are not managing this and I'm worried we will see the vulturous shadows of Ramon Calderon and Tixi Begiristain lurking on the horizon in the summers to come.

The solution: Change the policy of the club and offer 30 year old players contracts till they are 32 then change to a 1 year extension system for players older than this, and keep hold of a larger number of 28-30 year old players. We are in the top 3 teams for income, so we should expect to have a squad size to match this status. Arsenal do not need to sell players because the youth players are on fairly low-pay contracts (in footballer terms..) , our wage bill is still relatively light. We should be looking to have at least 6-7 players at their peak 28-30yrs, I'm talking potential captains, who are able to offer leadership to the youth. (Oh yeah, and bring back Keown..our defence has been a mess since he left)