No more snowmen at Arsenal please!

So here we are. The day of reckoning on the transfer front has arrived. 

The Theo Walcott transfer saga has continued despite the best efforts of Arsene Wenger to put the matter to bed. If he really wants to do that, he needs to tuck Theo up with a teddy bear stuffed with a £100k-per-week wage packet plus a hefty signing-on fee plugging up his hot water bottle.

If Wenger doesn't and just insists that Theo should stay a good boy and remain in bed, the diminutive winger could end up getting whisked off somewhere like that kid does in 'The Snowman'. For some strange reason, it's quite easy to imagine Theo singing 'We're Walking In The Air'. The next line would surely be, 'I'm flying down the wing'. 

But if Wenger is serious about Theo staying, he should make sure he's flying down the centre. That's where Theo wants to play and Wenger always says he sees the England international as a striker, eventually. Well, after no goals scored in our first two games, now would be a good time to start trying him out there. The future starts here! 

Apparently, Wenger spoke to Theo personally, after the 0-0 draw against Stoke, and Le Boss was expecting to have to deal with a petulant over-age teenager, sulking about being dropped. But as I've said before, Theo's attitude is refreshing. Although, Theo's chin was touching the floor, apparently, due to his disappointment at being dropped, he still professed his love of the club and Wenger was pleasantly surprised to hear that he wants to stay. However, it still seems a tad risky not to sell Theo, if he's still refusing to put pen to paper on a new deal.

Although some reports suggest a short-term deal has been agreed, I find this hard to believe as no specific details have been revealed. And even if it's been agreed, it doesn't mean it's been signed. Unless you get the deal signed, then you can't rely on a gentleman's agreement protecting your interests. Remember when chairman Peter Hill-Wood said he had a gentleman's agreement with Barcelona over Cesc Fabregas. Next thing you know, the Spanish version of 'The Snowman' whisked one of our 'kids' off into the Catalonian night.

Please Arsene, we don't need another performance of 'The Snowman'. Once in Spanish was enough.

Meanwhile, we now know our opponents in the Champions League: Schalke, Olympiakos and Montpellier. None sound that easy to me. Schalke have lost the ageing Raul, but still have Klass Jan Huntelaar to worry us. Olympiakos are never easy to play against, but if their Drama-born superstar, Ioannis Fetfatzidis, is that theatrical maybe he'll get sent off or something. Or perhaps he'll win a penalty, which would be worrying, if it were against us. Then there's Montpellier, Olivier Giroud's old club. I wished we'd signed their number 10, Younes Belhanda, as well as that would make them even weaker.

I'd been hoping for Malaga, Anderlecht and Braga, so Group B is much more difficult than I was hoping for. Strangely, I predicted we'd play Schalke and Olympiakos. It was just a guess. I didn't have any inside knowledge. Honest!

Back to the transfer front, for a moment: there are strong rumours that we're about to sign Dentinho for 8.5m euros. He sounds like a Brazilian chewing gum to me, but I know we've been linked with him before. His agent is Ben Thorne, who represents three Chelsea players: David Luiz, Oscar and Lucas Piazon. So perhaps Dentinho will join Chelsea instead.

TalkSport have re-ignited rumours that we're about to sign Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax. I hope not, as I wasn't impressed with his performances for Holland at the Euros. Arsenal's chief negotiator (AKA a man with importance but without a job title), Richard Law, wouldn't confirm or deny this rumour.

I don't really believe TalkSport much these days, but they're sure to get something right. They claim Arsenal are chasing 6 players: 1) Yohan Cabaye (yes, Arsene, please get him, even though it was me that started this story, just like Olivier Giroud!), 2) Etienne Capoue (Toulouse), 3) Yann M'Vila (Rennes), 4) Cheikhon Kouyate (Anderlecht defender),  5) Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), and 6) Milo (Haras El Hodood). I'll take a number one and a number five please!

The Daily Mail claim we have asked Chelsea if we can have Michael Essien on loan, which is a bit like getting Yossi Benayoun from them last year. Who would have predicted that? Not me! Other sources say we're trying to get Daniel Sturridge on loan too. Why stop there? Why don't we try to sign the entire Chelsea reserve team? They would rather sell Sturridge for £15m, so I guess we can forget about that happening.

One semi-confirmed signing is a new goalkeeper. But don't get too excited. He's 17. He's Macedonian and his name is Dejan Iliev. Apparently, he's joined our youth set up from FK Belasica. Great! Maybe he'll be pushing for a first-team place by 2020!

Not good old, it's same ol' same ol' Arsenal

Today is the day when Euro 2012 begins in earnest. I'm so excited I'm up at the crack of dawn just say this! In fact, it's not even the crack of dawn. Oh yeah, I'm that excited! I'm doing my writing before all the other websites. The early bird catches the worm and all that, a policy I wish Arsenal Football Club would follow.

What we are about to see will consist of Arsenal has-beens, like Ashley Cole; Arsenal legend should've-beens, like Andrey Arshavin; an Arsenal might-have-beens, like Petr Cech. Most of all, as Arsenal fans will watch on as a glittering parade of stars show the world their wares to potential clubs. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to be one of the potential clubs as we become increasingly unwilling to dip into our transfer  kitty. Arsenal's policy is mend and make do. So what if we take to the field with a shabby squad, we can still take pride in our philosophy.

That philosophy is not about to change. All we can hope for is a less shabby squad than last year. The signing of Lukas Podolski is an example of a slight sea change at the club. Ivan Gazidis claims lessons have been learnt from last pre-season, when we concluded most of our transfer business on transfer deadline day after a disastrous start in the league. If the policy is indeed to do business as soon as possible, then I would like to ask the question why have we only signed one player prior to the start of a major international tournament. The chances will sign someone during Euro 2012 is negligible.

After finishing third in the league so many points behind Manchester United and Manchester City, you would think the club would be eager to make some major improvements to the squad. Instead, with temporarily improved the squad  with the addition of just one big name, fully in the knowledge that a number of big names are about to leave. I felt to see how this policy is going to work.

The website Ashburton Grove is well worth a read, for it gives an insight into the club's policy. It is a well-balanced article, although I disagree with the “Fabregas’s disgraceful behaviour” headline. It may be read on though, so I suppose it did its job.

The main thrust of the article is Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis’s question time with the fans. We are being promised a future that may never come to pass. While UEFA are keen for Financial Fair Play (FFP) to work there is no guarantee that it will. I still can't see how UEFA expect the big spenders to play fair.

The article goes on to say that despite Arsenal having two billionaire shareholders, we are unwilling to compete with the more extravagant clubs. One of those billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, won't be offered a place on the board, that much is clear. All Gazidis was prepared to do is admit that our wage structure may need changing. If we are to keep Robin van Persie at the club we may have to.

The most interesting thing, however, about the article is what Gazidis reportedly said about the sale of Cesc  Fabregas: "Me trying to sell you selling Cesc Fabregas is a step forward for Arsenal – that's a pretty hard sell. From a technical perspective it clearly wasn't. But in terms of what we got out of Cesc and what we got out in terms of players who are committed this year wanted to be here, those are the type of judgements you end up having to make in my goodness, those are so, so difficult." I think everyone is entitled to make mistakes but the CEO’s fuzzy thinking is apparent in the lines above. A decision should have been made much earlier about the situation regarding Cesc and Samir Nasri. Instead we were fed lies about how only one player would be allowed to leave of the two want-aways. We always suspected that Nasri would be sold. Then we would keep Cesc for one more season or until we found a replacement of sorts.

The article goes on to say that Cesc "refused to play for us" during the pre-season when he was fit. Even if that were the case, surely the club held the whip hand. Cesc was still on a long-term deal. A spell in the reserves would have sorted out his reluctance to play. He could have been sold in January, if necessary. The club messed up. It’s a simple as that. We didn’t get anything like the money we should have done for Cesc, so we wouldn’t have lost value by disciplining him or not playing him.

I’m not sure if it’s ineptitude that is causing the club to make so many bad decisions or whether it is something more sinister. Whatever it is we don’t need it. If the same mistakes happen again this summer, heads should roll. Please don’t think I’m having a go at Arsene Wenger. I’m not saying he should go. Far from it. I just believe he deserves better support from the board than he seems to be getting. We all know we need David Dein back at the club. Why can’t the board put personal differences aside and invite him back? Maybe then I would start believing that the board have the club’s best interests at heart.

Doumbia linked with Arsenal & will FFP work?

Another day, another player: Seydou Doumbia is the latest name to be linked with Arsenal. While watching Sky Sports this morning I saw that the 24-year-old Ivory Coast international striker could be sold by his current club, CSKA Moscow, but it’s going to cost well in excess of £20m to get him.

Stop the press: make that two players. Ibrahim Afellay is also on Arsenal’s hitlist, according to the Metro, but not just Arsenal’s, the 26-year-old Holland international midfielder is also wanted by Newcastle & Spurs (who twice tried to get him on a loan-to-buy deal). He’s just got back in action after a serious knee injury so buying him could be a risk. Barca bought him for 3m euros and now they want £6m! Greedy gits! And if he plays well at Euro 2012 he might be even pricier! The Metro say Newcastle are favourites to land the winger, which is not surprising after they gambled and won in transfer market by signing Senegal international striker Demba Ba, who also had a dodgy injury record and has failed more medicals than we’ve had clean sheets with Lucas Fabianski between the sticks! Not really! A bit of poetic licence. Sorry!

Yes, he’s got a phenomenal goalscoring record, 33 goals in 53 games at CSKA is good going, as is 50 in 64 at Young Boys of Berne, but will Arsenal take the plunge? My view is not unless we can get him for a lot less money than is being mentioned in despatches. Doumbia’s international record isn’t so good: 1 goal in 19 appearances.  I know it’s not all about statistics, but if you’re a striker then stats are important . . . unless you’re stuck out on the wing like some of our strikers! In that case, more research needs to be undertaken!

Meanwhile, there was a piece on FFP or Financial Fair Play, which is relevant to us as we’re top of this FFP league! An expert was in the Sky Sports studio getting asked the questions and firstly he explained that in essence FFP means spending no more than you can afford and paying your bills on time.

He was asked if Uefa is going to enforce these rules? He replied that Uefa have spent a lot of time on this and clubs playing by the rules will get mad if clubs breaking them get away with it. He added that the rules are pretty detailed and it’s all about acting within the spirit of the rules. He predicted it will make an impact as big as the Bosman Ruling did. I predict it won’t. I think creative accounting will kick in and the rules will be unenforceable. Then we’re going to look pretty silly playing by a set of rules that no-one is abiding by. Anyway, we are a club of gentlemen, aren’t we? Principles are more important than points, especially when those principles are related to profits!

Other than that, Thomas Vermaelen says he wants to stay at Arsenal forever, but as I don’t want to go forever, I’ll leave it there, for now. Check out Le Grove for more details.

A Dutchman to join RVP @ Arsenal?

Have I got some Arsenal transfer news for you today? I'm not sure stick around and you will see.

First up, the club have been linked with Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong by the likes of the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail. It seems like we want to buy any old Dutchman just so Robin van Persie has someone to talk to in his native tongue in the Arsenal dressing room. Let's not forget, the qualities of the 27-year-old Holland international. He's played over 100 games for Manchester City after signing for £18 million in 2009 from SV Hamburg.

Personally, I'd love to see him at the club as he is not called ‘The Terrier' for nothing . We need a midfielder who can harry the opposition. De Jong seems to fit the bill. However, I'm not sure City will sell to us, as I am sure they would prefer the Dutchman to move abroad rather than to a possible Premier League title challenger. Or maybe that's me being too optimistic about our trophy chances next season!

Talking of midfielders, a former Gunner turned TV pundit, Stewart Robson, has launched yet another scathing attack on Theo Walcott. I must admit I don't listen to TalkSport very much nowadays - no slight on that radio station - but I prefer to watch and get my news from TV and the Internet. That's why I came across this story on London24.com. This, apparently, is what Robson told the radio station:  ‘Walcott is a "liability" and should be sold by Arsenal this summer if he is asking for a wage increase. It wouldn't worry me if Theo Walcott were to leave tomorrow. Theo Walcott, for me, is not a good footballer. He is an athlete who puts on football boots. He’s quick, he's fast, but when he was younger he should have been taught how to be better technically, how to find space, how to find awareness. He's never done that and he is a liability when he's defending. If Theo Walcott is after more money, I would let him go.’ A damning verdict.

I must admit I think Robson is a great pundit, but I'm not so sure he would make a great talent scout. Walcott has a superb attitude and possesses enough intelligence to improve his game year-on-year. And he has amazing athletic ability, which at least Robson acknowledges. That is why Arsenal need to keep Theo Walcott at the club, because the best is surely yet to come.

I, personally, think the same applies to Johan Djourou. I read on themarblehalls.com that the defender-cum-midfielder is reviewing his options. He is quoted as saying the following: ‘My situation at Arsenal is not easy. I've never played so little, and especially not in my own position. If an interesting offer comes, I'll look at it carefully.’

Interestingly, Eden Hazard may have overlooked our club for the same reason, that is: not being guaranteed a chance to play in his own position. I think that's a situation that Arsene Wenger needs to address. Perhaps we missed out on Shinji Kagawa for the same reason, as I have been reliably informed he will be going to Manchester United.

One other thing to note, in the article, is the comparison between Gervinho and Hazard at Lille. In two seasons, apparently, Gervinho scored 28 goals and provided 14 assists in 67 league games. Hazard, in comparison, only managed 27 goals in 76 league games, however he provided nearly doubled the number of assists: 25. If Hazard is as ineffective as Gervinho was at the end of the season, then Chelsea have wasted a lot of money on a hyped-up so-called superstarlet.

Finally, there's a story on Sky Sports regarding former Gunner Striker Eduardo. The Brazil-born Croatia international could be ready to return to the Premier League one day. Although, Dudu was a crowd favourite I cannot see him returning to Arsenal. Since his horrific injury, in my opinion, he has not been able to reproduce the scintillating form that saw him join Arsenal in 2007 for around £7.5 million from Dinamo Zagreb. At that time, he was scoring around two goals every three games. Now he is averaging less than a goal every three games. He’s 29-years-old now and has two years left on his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk. Do the maths! He won't return to Arsenal .

Cesc/Lorient/Hill-Wood/Ryo all on Arsenal's news radar

Taking a look at the news today, London 24 are running a story about Cesc Fabregas, who has a bit to say about Robin van Persie. It is not particularly interesting unless you read between the lines. I did and I have reached the following conclusions: 1) Cesc is an Arsenal fan, and 2) he think it may be a while before Robin lifts a trophy. However, we cannot complain because it is all said so diplomatically.

Meanhwhile, the Bleacher Report is saying that our relationship with Lorient is ideal. We’ll see when Joel Campbell gets back! Four goals in 25 games doesn’t sound that promising for a striker! Meanwhile, it’s true that Francis Coquelin seems to have benefited from the experience he got there, but the jury’s still out on Gilles Sunu.

The best story I’ve read in a while appears on Gooner Talk. Whatever your view on Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood, you have to read this. And try not sing Kanye West’s ‘Golddigger’  to the chairman next time you see him! If the article is completely true, it just verifies what I’ve thought for some time: the current board are more into feathering their nest than anything else. Until we get David Dein back the wait for trophies may well continue. I don’t want to say too much more in case I get bumped off! Yes, you could say it makes for grim reading!

That’s enough talk about the board for now. So what about the players.  Our players, I mean. For a change there is an excellent report of Ryo Miyaichi on The Marble Halls. It confirms what I’ve said before, Ryo has got a long way to go if he wants to make it at Arsenal.

Benayoun won't come back to Arsenal, even on the cheap

Good news on the Yossi Benayoun front. Chelsea have told us he is available if we want to sign him. We can get him for £1 million, according to Setanta.

If we do indeed want to sign him, we will have to offer the 32-year-old a two-year deal. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to do so. 

The player has proved popular amongst the Arsenal fans, who appreciate the Israeli international's work rate. He certainly will be missed.

There will be no shortage of suitors when it comes to Yossi and I will be very surprised if we do manage to sign the player, even if we do have first refusal on him (which I find extremely unlikely as I can't work out why Chelsea would do us a favour if they can get a better deal elsewhere).

How will Chelsea's win affect Arsenal?

The football world feels a different place now that Chelsea are the Champions League winners. The bitter side of me says, it's just another cup. Under Roberto di Matteo, Chelsea have become a cup team: draw specialists in the league but domestic and European cup winners. Obviously we wanted to be the first London club to lift the trophy. Had we invested more perhaps we would have been. Roman Abramovich has invested one billion pounds since he arrived at Stamford Bridge. How much has we invested in comparison? Yet we shouldn't lose sight of the facts: we finished higher in the league and that's more of an indicator of strength. Cup competitions are about luck to some extent. Chelsea had their fair share.

A lot of fans, as well as the legendary Ian Wright (read more about it on: Insidearsenal), have been sounding off about Ashley Cole's post-match comments. He moved away mainly for money not for trophies, in my opinion. Yeah, he's won trophies since he left. But when he left we could have gone on to bigger and better things. But we didn't. Why? Lack of investment in the squad.

I just can't blame professionals for moving on for more money, especially when we have a board that make their decisions based on profits rather than points. Back in the old days, it was the board who made money out of football clubs rather than the players. The players had to get public transport to go to a match. The wage caps meant they'd have to don their caps to 'Mr Chairman' and risk their knee caps (as many ended up crippled) in the name of club loyalty.

Of course, the lack of loyalty in the game nowadays is upsetting for us fans. We want one-club players, but what about when a player starts to play badly? Then we want him out prompto. Is that loyalty?

Anyway, if players were loyal then we wouldn't have a transfer market would we? I'd miss that! Except, in recent years, we've had to watch while other clubs do most of the business. Apart from that panicky day last summer when we bought five players in the space of 24 hours or less!

Looking at this summer's transfer activity, fellow guests on the Gooner Podcast have mentioned Eden Hazard as a potential target, but I reckon he's likely to seek his 'Garden of Eden' elsewhere, judging by this report on Football Talk. Unless we're the 'mystery club' in the running for his services, that is. Sounds like he'll go to Manchester United.

Going back to Chelsea for a moment, Fernando Torres could be up for grabs. He wants clarification on his future. Their cup team could break up this summer, and if Abramovich brings in another AVB-type manager they could be in trouble. Torres is a player that a lot of fans would like to see at Arsenal. I can't see it myself. If we still had fellow Spain international Cesc Fabregas, maybe. But at least he could chat in Spanish or Scouse-as-a-second language with Mikel Arteta. We can always live in hope!

Hoping Nabay is no Coyne or Pennant if he joins Arsenal

According to Sky Sports, we’re in the running to sign Birmingham City’s Foday Nabay. Last year, the Sierra Leone-born youngster got called up to England’s U16s. That’s no mean feat and can spell one of two things: either this kid is exceptionally gifted; or he’s exceptionally big, strong and well developed for his age. I’ve lost count of how many strong youngsters who have done a lot in the early teens because of their build or size and then have suddenly stopped growing.

I remember a young striker called Peter Coyne, who couldn’t stop scoring for England’s youth team in the 1970s. He was at Manchester United and what could possibly go wrong? Well, after just two first-team games and just one goal, his contract was cancelled. He then slipped into the anonymity of the non-league with Alan Ball’s old club Ashton United, but at least he ended up scoring a lot of goals for Swindon and Crewe later in his career and even had a spell with the LA Aztecs. Still, it was a case of unfulfilled potential.

To some extent it was the same with Jermaine Pennant. I was so excited when we signed him from Notts County. £2m was a record fee for a teenager, but twelve league games in six years at Arsenal was hardly a decent return. Despite his off-the-field problems, Pennant has gone on to have a decent career in the top flight. He should have had senior England caps to add to his U21 appearance though.

Let’s hope, if we do get Nabay he manages to do a lot better than Pennant and Coyne.

Keeper merry-go-round @ Arsenal?

It looks like it's definitely curtains for Lukasz Fabianski at Arsenal, judging by this article on Sky Sports. I can't say I'll be upset about his departure. He might be amazing in training, but he never fills me with confidence when I see him on the pitch. Our goal looks like a gaping black hole when he's between the sticks, such is his lack of presence. By some magical unwelcome miracle, any crossed ball transforms itself into a wet bar of soap before it reaches his gloves, so although I hear Fabianski will leave on a free transfer I can't believe that will be a bad thing at all.

I'm sure we won't miss Fabianski, especially now that I know that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can play in goal, if required. Okay, the Ox is not the tallest, but he's that talented he can play anywhere. If you don't believe me, then have a look at this article in the Chichester Observer.  

On a more serious note, Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is available on a free transfer, according to The Mirror. He would be a more than adequate replacement for Fabianski and it doesn't get much cheaper than free, although of course the 37-year-old will expect a decent salary. The Finland international is apparently discussing his future with Bolton, so he could stay at the Reebok. If he moves on, then WBA or West Ham are the most likely destinations. Although, Jaaskelainen only played 10 games last season, it wasn't just injury that kept him out of the team. His understudy, Adam Bogdan, was voted Bolton's player of the year and that meant the Finn had to sit on the sidelines. I'd be happy if we could sign either keeper, but I'll settle for Jussi for now!

Arsenal's new number 10 should RVP leave

While we're still in the dark about Robin van Persie's contract negotiations with Arsenal, it's always good to hear what the fans are saying. I just heard Tim Stillman on the Arseblog podcast make an interesting point about RVP possibly seeing out his contract. Tim says if that happens, then the onus is on him to stay fit. The only thing is how can you legislate against injury? Especially if you have a chocolate leg. In the fast-and-furious Premier League, you're only a stray tackle away from being crocked. Just ask Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby. Unfortunately, I think the club will have no option but to sell RVP if he refuses to sign. We have to think of the future and if we can get £20m RVP, we could draft a decent-ish replacement, surely?

Meanwhile, former Gunner Patrick Vieira reckons we have to avoid letting RVP go. The story in The Telegraph goes on about how Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere may also leave if RVP leaves this summer. The way this club has being run, perhaps we shouldn't be too alarmed by that. As long as we bring in large amounts of money that is re-invested in the squad, I don't have a problem with that. What worries me is the club putting profits before points. Last season's disastrous start showed the dangers of asset-stripping (allowing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to leave without replacing them) and surely the club has learned from the experience.

Maybe that was why we bought Lukas Podolski. It's a bit early in the pre-season to be allocating squad numbers, butI'm predicting he'll be the new number 10 if the RVP saga isn't sorted out soon.

Laughable links on the transfer front for Arsenal

Some people call the summer transfer window 'the silly season' and with good reason judging by this story in the Daily Mail. I can guarantee Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero will not be joining Arsenal, not matter what the anonymous reporter is reporting to the contrary. It's hardly worth discussing, as who can imagine Arsene Wenger bringing in a 37-year-old offensive player? Still, the story was good for a giggle.

Equally laughable is the story on Goal.com where we can read that Juventus have pulled out of the race to sign Robin van Persie. They never had an earthly! The non-story goes that Juve now prefer Uruguay international striker Edinson Cavani, who is 25-years-old and won't have such hefty wage demands. He cost Napoli about 17m euros two years ago, so won't be available any cheaper than that given his recenbt goalscoring record. However, he should have a decent resale value, which is something you can't say about van Persie.

While we're having a giraffe (okay, 'laugh' for the uninitiated) what about Junior Hoilett, as suggested by Red London? Well, he's got flair and he's only 21. Also, he's out of contract at Blackburn this summer, but I understand a nominal fee will be payable due to his age. However, if he does join us, he may have to settle for being a squad player, but should he join Reading (who are also reportedly interested) then he could be virtually guaranteed a full season of Premier League football. The guy is ambitious: he turned down playing international football for his native Canada for the chance of playing for England, so who's to say he won't choose Arsenal over Reading? Personally, I can't see us moving for him. Sorry to say, I think he's the sort of player that Harry Redknapp will be interested in, so don't be surprised if he ends up at Spurs. I'll qualify that by reminding you that Harry loves wingers, whereas Wenger buys strikers (like Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner) and sticks them out on the wing - a questionable policy, if you ask me.

There could be a fire sale at Blackburn following their relegation and one of my fellow guests on the Gooner Podcast said Arsenal should make a move for ex-Spurs keeper Paul Robinson as a back up keeper with Lucasz Fabianski seemingly offski. I think that would be a great call, but it's more likely that Robinson will move to West Ham to take Robert Green's place, if the latter moves away on a free transfer. We've been long linked to Green, so I think we might actually bring him in as a potential first choice keeper. It was grim reading watching Sky Sports the other day as they flagged up how we've been getting progressively worse defensively every season. Wenger has to turn that around and hopefully we won't start courting experienced keepers again this summer only to baulk at the price.

Arsenal return? Dein on 'sub's bench'

Former vice chairman David Dein is Sky Sports News's guest today and he's had some interesting things to say about Arsene Wenger. All complementary, as we would expect.

Dein said that on the transfer front, Wenger is a 'value-buyer'. He added that Wenger does 'a lot of research' before buying someone and that he gets 'job satisfaction' out of being a 'teacher'. In other words, Wenger likes to polish rough diamonds. 'Occasionally, he has to buy the finished product, which can be expensive,' explained Dein.

That last comment sounded the most critical. It's almost as if Arsenal have missed Dein's influence in the boardroom. Dein gives the impression that he would persuade Wenger to break the bank, if that's what's required.

Of course, we're grateful to Wenger for not bankrupting the club, but it's a false economy to keep missing out on trophies when two or three high-profile additions will make such a huge difference to the playing squad.

Dein said what a phenomenal achievement it was for Wenger's team to finish 3rd after such a poor start, and I agree. But the problem should not have existed. Arsenal are a rich club. It's time they stopped trying to fob us off the Emperor's New Suit of Clothes, when we can afford silky tailor-made players. Wenger's always trying to make purses (not Darren Purses, though) from sow's ears!

About the prospect of him coming back to Arsenal, Dein said he's on the 'sub's bench'. Let's hope he gets back on board for we need someone who believes in speculating to accumulate on the transfer front.

Arsenal shouldn't rule out Newcastle

Looking at the The Gooner, it's obvious that some fans see the race for third and fourth as strictly between us and Spurs. But let's not forget, if Newcastle can better our result, they will finish above us. Therefore there is a real danger that we could finish fifth and be looking at Europa League football next season.

Some fans have argued that we might be capable of winning the Europa League and that if we failed to qualify for the Champions League, the club might actually splash the cash to address the deficiencies in our squad.

While all of the above may or may not be true, I just can't wish for that. I've been sold on the importance of Champions League football, but not just for monetary reasons. The involvement in Europe's top competition ensures that we keep our profile where it belongs: in the elite.

The Europa League has less credibility than the Carling Cup, right now. We can't even win the Carling Cup, so how can we do lift a trophy that involves much more travelling and many more games?

It will an unmitigated disaster if we finish fifth. If we finish fourth and Chelsea win the Champions League final to steal England's last allocated place in next season's competition, we'll only have ourselves to blame. We've gone backwards through lack of investment. That needs to be addressed, regardless of our finishing position this season and Champions League involvement or not next season.

No La Sagna, but food's on the last-day menu for Arsenal

It's all about food as we go into the last weekend of the Premier League season. Laurent Koscielny has been a little bit too vocal for my liking recently, but I shouldn't complain as it's always nice to read, watch and hear Arsenal news. Providing it's not about a defeat!

I've always maintained that: 'Kos is no lettuce'. His form this season has been impressive in what has been an 'iffy' defence at times. Obviously the 8-2 hammering at Old Trafford sticks in the craw and was indigestible for us fans, but unlike Kos I don't put it down to 'mayonnaise'. I kid you not, that's the food metaphor that Kos comes out with in The Sun. It takes me back to the 'sausages and caviar' comment made by Arsene Wenger, which along with Pizzagate and Tottenham's alleged lasagne poisoning, is one of my favourite food moments in football.

On the latter incident, I saw Anthony Gardner on Sky Sports News deny that lasagna was the cause of Tottenham's demise, when they needed a result at West Ham to finish above us in the league. Needless to say, they didn't get it! All they got were songs like: 'Lasagne, woah oh, lasagne woah oh oh oh, we laughed ourselves to bits, when Tottenham got the sh*ts'.  It was a 'virus', according to Gardner, who was playing for Spurs at the time when Martin Jol was manager and blew it on the last day of the season in 2006. You can re-live it in The Telegraph.

But why have we had to wait so long to celebrate St Totteringham's Day, the day when Arsenal fans celebrate finishing above Spurs in the league, this year? Well, first of all, as Arsene Wenger has pointed out, we're lucky to have our destiny in our hands at all given the points deficit we had to make up on our London rivals. There was to be no St Totteringham's Day this season announced The London Evening Standard back in February. So all in all, we've done well to claw our way back into the race for the top four, let alone be sitting in third with just one game to go.

The only thing that worries me going into our last game is nerves. I've no doubt we have the ability to get a win at West Bromwich Albion and secure third spot, but will our defence be able to keep a clean sheet? Wojciech Szczesny owes us a good game after his mistakes against Norwich and I still have faith in his ability so perhaps it will be a shut-out, especially if Thomas Vermaelen can up his game as well. The ever-reliable and versatile Francis Coquelin (or Coq Au Vin) can fill in for the injured Bacary Sagna (no, not lasagna!) and our fate all hinges on our defence. Let's hope in Kos-speak that our make-shift defence has had enough time to 'take' . . . erm, just like mayonnaise!

Congratulations RVP & David Dein!

Robin van Persie being named the PFA Player of the Year has surprised no one, but who could forsee that happening 8 years ago when he arrived from Feyenoord? Not me, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I was glad we'd signed him for £3m (what a snip, take a bow David Dein!) but I didn't think he would become an Arsenal superstar. I thought he had a good chance of becoming a first-team regular and that was about it.

Then, as we found out how skilful he was we also discovered how injury-prone he was too! How would this fragile Dutchman be able to complete a full season? I just couldn't see it.

But he went on to become Arsenal skipper and, of course, as well as bones he's broken all those goalscoring records to boot. I'm so glad he's proven me wrong.

The only thing I'm not glad about is David Dein, who brought him to the club, is no longer involved at Arsenal. How many great signings did Dein make? I've lost count. If the board have any sense, they'll bury the hatchet and bring Dein back. Can't see it happening somehow.