Arsenal's Higuain deal hijacked? Ryo not off to Feyenoord, yet!

Don't shoot the messenger. It hasn't happened yet. But Arsenal's protracted signing of Gonzalo Higuain could hit the buffers, in my opinion, if a certain other London club come in and offer him better terms. I don't think Spurs will do that, but Chelsea are certainly capable of it, financially, especially now that they've been outbid by PSG for Cavani. We need to get this Higuain deal done a.s.a.p., but Arsenal don't do 'asap', unless the 's' stands for 'slowly'.

Maybe we're waiting to offload Park, Campbell and Bentdner before we sign Higuain so we can save on wages. Bendtner is inching ever nearer Frankfurt, we hear. He'll probably be loaned out. Surely one of those 'six' interested clubs can put a deal together. Obviously, German clubs are keen to take our players on loan: Djourou's got a German club for next season as has Coquelin. So while Djourou's going to Hamburg for the entire season, 'Coq-au-vin' will be out in Freiburg.

Mannone was quick to get a club, wasn't he? I wish him the best of luck at Sunderland. Not sure they'll do well under di Canio, but I think our ex-keeper will do his bit (if given the chance) to help them stay up. Surely, his exit means Cesar's arrival. It's been much heralded, but the trumpeters are sick of tooting the same tune! Bring Cesar in, Arsenal! Stop faffing around!

Another player we've been linked with and lost, it seems is Tin Jedvaj. With a name like that, he's got to be good...for a laugh. Let's hope Spurs are not getting the last laugh, if they sign him for £6.5m, as has been reported. They've already signed Paulinho, who had a decent Confederations Cup tournament, so might be a good acquisition.

One player who wasn't a good acquisition was Park Ju Young. It looks like Celta Vigo won't be having our former number 9 back, which isn't surprising given he went AWOL at the end of last season. He won't be doing that for 4 weeks, as he's doing some obligatory military service. If only the South Korean Army would pick up the bill for his wages, we'd be in an even better financial position to sign someone.

But no. I have more exits to report . . .

Ryo Miyaichi. Don't worry, folks! I don't believe he's leaving. Not yet, anyway. Wenger's been waxing lyrical about Ryo's attitude pre-season. If he impresses in Japan, I reckon we'll keep him. If he doesn't, that's when I'll take the Feyenoord link seriously. Of course, they want him back, especially as they have a sudden wideman shortage: Boertius has a serious knee injury and Sekou Cisse could be leaving. Nevertheless, Ryo's not their first-choice replacement for the pair. The Dutch side want Liverpool's Oussama Assaidi. The problem is the Reds won't loan Assaidi out, they'd rather do a permanent deal.




And that's where we come in! Well, only if Ryo is up for grabs on loan and right now he's not! He's even been pictured on the official Arsenal.com website with Fabianski. So unless we're flogging the pair, two-for-one, it's as Hall & Oates would sing: 'Say No Go'.

Meanwhile, that very player, Sonogo has a number 22 shirt to go with his ready-made song. His arrival could mean curtains for Joel Campbell, though. The Costa Rican striker is unlikely to rejoin Real Betis, apparently, so the media are linking him with Crystal Palace and West Ham. The question is how will our London rivals get Campbell a work permit if we couldn't manage it? I'll leave the media to ponder that, as clearly they haven't thought it through.

Talking of shirts, Diaby takes the number 24. Finally, a sensible number. Let's hope he plays more sensibly, and manages to string a few decent games together for a change now.

Despite my lack of faith in him, Diaby's staying at Arsenal, of course unlike Emmanuel Frimpong,who could be on his way to Fulham. Then there's Gervinho off to Marseilles and Chamakh to Levante.

And Wenger to PSG. Next year. I don't believe it, personally, but Le10Sport are reporting it, so it must be 'vrai'!

Scouted Cesar - marching to Rome or to Arsenal

The Telegraph are running the story that Arsenal have two scouts at the Confederations Cup, so are 'well aware' that Julio Cesar is available. Not sure I follow the logic.

How many scouts do we need to change a light bulb? Sorry, that's a bit random, but how many scouts do we need to sign a player? Answer: in this case, none. Why? We've seen Cesar in action against us for QPR. He was impressive. Do we need scouts watching Cesar, when every Confederations Cup game has been televised 'live' by the BBC?

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It's true you can gain a lot by being at the stadium and seeing the 'bigger picture'. That normally involves off-the-ball running, but in the case of keepers, you can get an idea of their presence. You might even be able to hear them call for the ball. You might be able to tell how they get on with their team-mates. All that kind of thing often gets missed by the TV cameras, which are prone to focusing on 'eye candy' in the crowd, if they can find it!

Anyway, I digress. My question is how can we sign Cesar without at least one of our unholy trinity of transfer-makers in attendance: take a samba-step forward, Dick Law, David Miles and Ivan Gazidis. The trilingual Texan, Law, will no doubt use all his charms to get Cesar to sign for us, rather than march in Confederations-Cup triumph to Roma, who are also interested.

Until a deal is done, I can't help but think back to the days when David Dein brought in new signings before training began. Well, that's how I recall his time at the club. Having a quick look through the history books tells us that Dein brought in 3 'biggish' names before the 2006-7 pre-season (which was his last at the club): Tomas Rosicky, Eduardo and Lukasc Fabianski. Last season, we brought in Olivier Giroud and Lucas Podolski, so that was just as good if not better business. But this year, despite all the promises that we would complete our business early in the transfer window, we've still not brought in anyone yet. Meanwhile, our rivals have strengthened their squads: Chelsea signing Schurrle; Man City getting Jesus Navas and Fernandinho; Liverpool managing to bring in ex-Gunner Kolo Toure, Arsenal-target Simon Mignolet, and Luis Alberto; while Man Utd have signed Guillermo Varela. Deinleft Arsenal in April 2007 and we don't have to think too hard to remember how much silverware we've won since then.

Arsenal's worst-kept secret revealed

Arsenal's worst-kept secret is now public knowledge: Manuel Almunia is leaving on a free transfer. The official Arsenal FC website has revealed the news, and so the next question is: will there be many takers? I can't imagine 'the Spanish waiter' (as some people call him) getting a Premier League club, and my guess is he'll have to drop down a division if he stays in England or moves to one of Europe's top leagues (Spain, Italy and Germany, in case you're wondering).

The biggest mystery to me is why Lucasz Fabianski hasn't joined Almunia on the Arsenal scrapheap, if his contract has also expired. Anyway, also leaving with our best wishes are Gavin Hoyte and George Brislen-Hall amongst others. Those two will get clubs easily enough, but might have to drop down two divisions. Striker Rhys Murphy, goalkeeper Sean McDermott, versatile defender/midfielder James Campbell and winger Jeffrey Monakana are also looking for a new club.

Meanwhile, talking of players on the move, Ryo Miyaichi could be returning to Bolton next season. The Bolton News are running with that story and who are we to disagree? Bolton should be a good bet for an immediate return to the Premier League and it will be good for Ryo to get experience of being top of the league, albeit in a lower division. Then again, if he's been playing with injuries caused by Premier-League tackling, he can expect a lot worse in the Championship. Not that he'll worry about that. You can't question Ryo's bravery, judging by what I've seen.

Much less likely to happen are two transfer moves involving Arsenal that are being reported in The Week. Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue could be on the way in, while Johan Djourou is on his way to Juventus apparently. Can't see either deal happing, personally, but I'm getting sick of people undervaluing Djourou. He had a dodgy season, I won't deny that, but he's had a lot more solid games for Arsenal than Philippe Senderos did when he was with us and he's far more versatile than Big Phil. I can't see Djourou leaving this summer, but if he does go I'll be disappointed as it's always good to have utility players. Especially when your squad is as paper-thin as Arsenal's!

Finally, the bookies have got us as 20/1 outsiders to sign free agent Didier Drogba. I'd love to see 'The Scourge of Arsenal' at Arsenal, but it's not going to happen. The ex-Chelsea striker will be off to China to join former Gunner Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua

The Arsenal FC departure lounge is busy

Well, according to Just Arsenal it's a proper exodus this summer, 'movement of the Gooners/Jah People' in Bob Marley-speak.

It's hard to argue with Just Arsenal's assessment of the situation: 8 must go! Or is it? For what it's worth, here's my take on it.

1) Sebastien Squillaci - I'd like him to go for one reason alone: I really struggle to spell his name. Is his first name with two 'e's or two 'a's? I'm sick of looking it up! And don't get me started on his surname. Not sure he'll be missed that much, but I've seen worse squad players than than SS, so I don't mind if he stays and sees out his contract, especially as I don't think he's got much re-sale value.

2) Lucasz Fabianski - I think the world knows how I feel about this bag of nerves. Obviously he's got talent and no doubt he shows it regularly on the training ground. But he hasn't done so for Arsenal when it really matters...on the pitch. He might thrive at a smaller club, but I'm not even too sure of that. He's a nice guy but always looks like he'll concede, flap, or make the grass beneath him turn a shade of brown. Let him go!

3) Manuel Almunia - How he ever became Arsenal's number one, most of us will never know, but let's not forget he had one good season. He'll leave on a free without a doubt.

4) Nicklas Bendtner - Okay, he's not as good as he thinks, but strikers need confidence and he has that in abundance. He also has some talent, so although he will leave this summer for a decent fee, I can see his sale haunting us in a few years' time.

5) Denilson - Although he's shown fleeting moments of something above mediocre-ness, it's never been enough for me. He cost a lot and we won't get much for him unfortunately. Won't be missed.

6) Andrey Arshavin - One of the most technically gifted players I've ever seen. A pocket genius, but it's all gone wrong for him at Arsenal. Played in the wrong position until he lost confidence and spoke out and got dropped and so on. Spiralled into decline so must go. I will miss him, but don't think Arsene Wenger or most of the fans will.

7) Marouane Chamakh - Started brightly and turned abysmal so quickly I'm still reeling. We have to let him go.

8) Carlos Vela - Mexicans haven't done well in the Premier League for some unknown reason. Vela had it all, but ended up much more of a disappointment than Peter Marinello, who was also hailed as a potential superstar back in the day. It's adios amigo!

Gary Speed RIP - Man City game in perspective

Can't think of another headline for the Man City game. Well, I can. But none are appropriate, bearing in mind the shocking passing of a very popular ex-player.

The players wore armbands. Black. The sporting world remained shocked after the news at the weekend. Gary Speed RIP. A man with seemingly so much going for him takes his own life. Although he didn't play for my team, he was much-admired for the way he conducted himself on and off the field. A sad loss to the game.

The result that followed was significantly less shocking. I predicted Arsenal would lose but in truth, I thought the better side lost. City had more possession for much of the game, but Arsenal had Oxlade-Chamberlain. Old Oxo is not afraid to try his luck from range and one left foot effort seemed bound for the top corner until the keeper somehow palmed it away.
Overall, a very impressive performance from the lads. Even Fabianski flapped less than usual and perhaps had only one obvious panic attack during the game, so that was impressive by his standards.

Miquel continues to look classy, despite playing out of position at left back, while Coquelin and Frimpong look like enforcers of the future. Oxo wins all the plaudits, of course for he has the 'Oh X' factor.

Not sure why Benayoun gets in the team ahead of Arshavin though. Benny's a good squad player but not better than AA. Maybe Arsene Wenger should simply drive Arshavin to Heathrow and book him in a hotel, as this insistence on benching him or withdrawing him from games early can only result in his departure.