Ryo's Arsenal future in more doubt

Ryo Miyaichi may be dismayed to read that, when asked about the Japanese winger's future at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger replied: 'I don't know'.

In the circumstances, the boss's reply is understandable as Ryo has spent so much time on the sidelines injured.

Even now, the Japan international is still recovering from a serious ankle injury, so will miss the pre-season.

At least he's still got a squad number (31) unlike Johan Djourou, so perhaps there's some hope for him.

The new fitness coach, Shad Forsyth, already has his work cut out rehabilitating the crocked crew at Arsenal, whose numbers include: Theo Walcott (knee), Serge Gnabry (gar-knee), David Ospina (thigh), Thomas Vermaelen (short-term pre-transfer jitters/precautions) and surprising not Abou Diaby...yet. You could say Shad has already got his work cut out!

Despite Arsenal's already crowded sickbay, optimism is high following the signings of the aforementioned Ospina, Calum Chambers, Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy. The question is: are there more exciting signings to come before 31st August?

Well, one reported signing not joining is the difficult to pronounce Georgios Spanoudakis. The teenage sensation has moved from Barcelona to Stuttgart instead. Let's hope he doesn't end up as successful as some of the others that 'got away', like Yaya Toure! Not quite the same set of circumstances, but galling nonetheless. Still, with a 15-year-old there's not much you can do to prevent them suddenly changing their minds it seems. In the big-money world of today's game, that doesn't seem right.

Another player we won't be getting is Morgan Schneiderlin. He's virtually on strike, it seems, and Spurs looks to be the most likely destination.

So that 'deal' was a bit of a bum steer provided by the media. The latest one appears to be Juan Fernando Quintero, who was supposed to arrive on Monday. Wenger more or less called that nonsense in his press conference and completely fabricated by newspapers and websites.

Then there's Mario Balotelli. Wenger has flatly denied that he ever had any interest in the player. As I suspected all along, he doesn't like loose cannons!

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