So the club indirectly confirmed the bad news about Theo Walcott last night. While commentating for French TV Arsene Wenger said:

Theo dislocated his shoulder during training, he will be out for at least three months.

Well, great biskwits made of arse flotsam. That is bad news. Theo was established as our first choice right sided midfielder and the alternatives are a bit depressing. When he gets fit again it'll probably be Eboue playing there and he simply does not offer the same attacking threat as Theo. In a period where we need to be as efficient as possible and to score as many goals as possible due to our leaky defence this is bad news.

Theo is going to have surgery to correct the problem which should make the shoulder much stronger so reports about how his career is at risk should be taken with a very hefty pinch of salt. It's just the usual suspects making a big drama. Hopefully he can recover well and quickly and we wish him all the best. Hurry back, Billy Whizz!

Hearing what Arsene has to say about Theo's injury in more detail will be interesting, to say the least. We know he's never been a fan of international friendlies, particularly pointless ones like the ones this week, so I suspect he's not going to hold back. His frustration won't be helped by how important Theo is to us. As for the issue of compensation I think Arsenal should go for it. I did some reading around last night and came across an article about Michael Owen and one of his many injures suffered whilst on England duty. An FA spokesperson said:

The FA takes out policies to cover for injuries sustained on international duty. This figure can be up to £100,000 a week but it is not the FA who pay this money out, it is our insurers, if they deem it is fit to do so.

So the precedent is set and if the FA are paying insurance then we would be foolish not to make a claim. Losing a player for a week or two is one thing but three months entirely another. 

Where exactly this leaves us for Saturday's game against Man City remains to be seen. We'll be without Cesc through suspension and I think Eboue is still injured. If that remains the same then you have to think one of Ramsey or even Jack Wilshere will be drafted into the team, perhaps to play in a 5 man midfield. One thing Theo's injury does is highlight the paucity of options available to us. Don't get me wrong, I think Ramsey and Wilshere are great young players but that we're hoping for either a 16 or a 17 year old to come in and save our bacon just isn't right for a club like Arsenal. Anyway, we'll find out more about that later on, I'm sure.

One man who will come back into the team is Robin van Persie who scored two for the Dutch last night. Hopefully he can keep those shooting boots on because I think we're going to need them. There were no other reports of injuries for those involved in matches last night, fingers crossed it remains that way.

Arsene Wenger also hinted at changes in the centre of defence, talking up the qualities of Johan Djourou. He said:

He has gained in personality, in determination and in quality. He is pushing all the other players. At the back you want players who are strong in the duels and strong in the air. Johan's size is a big advantage. He is among the top quality.

I really don't see the harm in putting him in at this stage. We've seen Kolo + Gallas doesn't really work, nor does Gallas + Sylvester (9 goals conceded in 5 league games with them at the back), so I suppose it's time to see if Gallas + Djourou works (despite the obvious common denominator in those previous partnerships). There are signs that it might though. I think Gallas had his best spell as an Arsenal defender around the turn of last year when Kolo had gone to the ACN. Senderos played and as the kind of centre half who attacks the ball he allowed Gallas to play the 'mopping up' role he does best.

If Djourou plays in a similar manner then at least we'll have someone who adds some presence and aggression to the centre of defence and we might see an improvement in the performances of the captain which, until we can address the problems in defence during the transfer window, would be very welcome.

Right, not much more happening at this early stage. The players will be coming back in dribs and drabs today, leaving only tomorrow for the manager to assess his squad and get things in order for what's going to be a tough game in Manchester.

More on that and other stuff tomorrow. 

Morning all,

bad news to start the day I'm afraid. This round of utterly pointless international friendlies has claimed its first Arsenal victim and the consequences could be quite serious. Theo Walcott dislocated his shoulder and could now miss as much as three months while he recuperates.

He fell under a challenge from West Ham's Scott Parker and was stretchered off to hospital. England coach Fabio Capello said:

Our priority is Theo and making him as comfortable as possible before he returns to England. We’re all very disappointed but the most important thing is for Theo to travel home and make a quick recovery.

Really though it makes little or no difference to England. The next World Cup qualifier isn't until April 1st but for Arsenal it's going to cause a massive problem. Theo has played in every league game this season and has established himself as the first choice at right midfield. Now we're really stuck. I have no idea how long Eboue, the next obvious choice for Arsene Wenger, is out injured but with Bacary Sagna out Eboue could provide cover for that when fit (although Kolo Toure can do a job).

With Manchester City coming up on Saturday we now have no Cesc (suspension) and no Theo. Those are two of our most dangerous midfielders and life will be much more difficult without them.

I expect a bit of fallout in the wake of this injury. Arsene Wenger, never a fan of friendly internationals at the best of times, will be absolutely furious about this injury. And it opens up the whole debate about compensation for players injured while away on international duty. While the FA can, perhaps, justify ignorning claims of clubs when a player is hurt during a competitive game they simply cannot do the same for a friendly like this.

The FA should now be made to pay Theo's wages for the duration of the injury. As is stands Arsenal are the ones who suffer on the pitch and in the wallet and that's simply not right. As well as that there should be more debate about the need for a friendly international at this stage of the season. As I mentioned England's next qualifier isn't until April, what benefit is a friendly now? Why, when almost everyone in football agrees that players are overplayed, do they see fit to schedule a round of games in November?

In England December is a crazy month. There is no winter break. There's a full Christmas schedule, yet instead of giving players a break FIFA and the national associations look on this as a little money-spinner. It's wrong on every level and I would heartily endorse the club taking a stand on this issue. Of course Theo could have been injured on our time but then we would take responsibility for that. As it stands the FA simply send him back to us saying 'Ooops, I think it's broken. Bye!!!'.

The shoulder Theo dislocated is not the one he had surgery on previously but we may find this requires the same kind of operation. Once a shoulder is dislocated it becomes easier for it to be injured again. I suppose we'd better just wait and see what the prognosis from the club is but given the way things are going at the moment we might as well prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario. Anything else would be a bonus.

Everything else today is related to internationals and we had better all get praying that none of our other players come back injured. Aaron Ramsey is set to make his debut for Wales, which will probably result in him rupturing his spleen and dislocating his head. Robin van Persie will shatter every bone in his body under in innocuous challenge while playing for Holland and Gael Clichy will be killed stone dead when an Raymond Domenech tells him to go 88mph in a DeLorean car which never gets above 87 and smashes straight into a wall.

Pfff, stupid internationals. Get well soon, Theo.

It's dark these mornings, isn't it? And I bet the clocks are going back/forward soon and it'll be even darker. Is that happening this weekend actually? Stupid time.

A bit of a quickie this morning. We'll start with Theo who says that other teams will be scared of playing Arsenal after seeing us lash five past Fenerbache. You might even suggest that Fenerbache were a bit scared after seeing us stick four past Porto. Theo also reckons the European win will help us focus when it comes to the league, saying:

It definitely does help because the Premier League is important as well. We always want to play well whatever game we play, but we are just looking at every game as it comes, not getting ahead of ourselves and that's all we can do really.

I can't help but think that another Blackburn type performance in the league would do a lot more for us than the European wins. That one game aside we haven't really put anyone to the sword in the Premier League and a good thumping of someone would send a nice message out.

Emmanuel Adebayor talks about winning the Champions League and improving on last season's performance. Perhaps it's a bit premature to talk about winning it just yet. There are plenty of games we need to concentrate on before we get down to the nitty gritty of Europe.

We've got two vital London derbies coming up in the space of three days. West Ham away on Sunday then Sp*rs at home on Wednesday evening. What we've done in Europe thus far is now irrelevant and all the focus must be on those two games. Adebayor will, I suppose, have a big part to play. He has replaced Robert Pires in as much as he's taken over the mantle of the bloke who always scores against Sp*rs. In his relatively short Arsenal career he's scored 6 goals against them so far and with his form a bit patchy so far this term he could do with a big goal or two in the next couple of games.

Arsenal's AGM takes place today with Stan Kroenke expected to attend. There's no word yet as to whether or not the disgusting, fat, Man United supporting Jabba the Hut looking cunt will be there but I'd be surprised. After the usual presentation there's a Q&A session with the floor being opened up to shareholders. The manager is usually in attendance and I suspect today there might well be some difficult questions regarding the spending, or lack of, during the summer.

As always I'll endeavour to bring you an AGM report tomorrow and hopefully there'll be some coverage in tomorrow's Arsecast as well.

Not much else happening so I'll leave it there for today. Told you it was a quickie.

Three points. Not the most convincing three points we've ever won but three points all the same.

We started with a strange formation, the manager preferring to use Alex Song at right back instead of Eboue, a more natural right full. Song struggled and when Everton opened us up way to easily to score the first goal his effort to get back and defend was, at best, idle. I think perhaps he's a victim of nobody knowing what his best position is. Maybe he doesn't actually have one.

Everton had one cleared off the line as our weakness from high balls was exposed again while van Persie had our best chance of the first half, Twitchy Tim making a good save. At half-time there was a chorus of disapproval from the home fans, those that had stayed to watch the end of the half anyway, and it was very worrying.

The manager said something though at half-time and in the second we were much, much better. Theo Walcott came on for Kolo Toure who had injured his shoulder and his presence on the pitch certainly unsettled Everton. We scored quite quickly too. Just three minutes after the restart the ball fell to Nasri just outside the D and he low shot nestled in the bottom corner. Just what we needed. Walcott created a good chance for van Persie but he whacked it over with his right foot.

There then followed some aggro with Arsenal player aggrieved at Tony Hibbert's tackle on Denilson. The Everton man came flying right through the Brazilian. He may have gotten the ball but it was from behind and dangerous. When confronted by Gael Clichy he then grabbed our left back by the throat. The result, a yellow card. Shit refeering from Peter Walton. Hibbert should have been sent off. Arsenal's mood was not helped when Walton gave a goal kick when van Persie was obviously pulled down in the area - a more stonewall penalty you won't see this year.

But van Persie had the last laugh when, after Adebayor's clumsiness saw him spurn a chance and Cesc's subsequent shot was saved by Howard, he nodded home from 6 yards to put us in front. We then lost Nasri to a thigh injury with Abou Diaby coming on in his place. The game was made safe right at the death when some nice interplay between Walcott and Diaby saw Theo arrow one between Howard's legs to make it 3-1. Relief all round and the three points secured. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

What was very important today was that the team has shown personality by being 1-0 down. We played our season today, we could not afford to drop a point. The way we responded when we were 1-0 down was of course vital. I wasn’t nervous at half time because I had confidence and belief that we would change the game.

I think he must have been the only one who wasn't nervous. The fans were and you could see some of the players were too. Defensively we have some real issues. I think Sylvester did pretty well for the most part, after a shaky start but some of the problems we have are just down to doing the basics. Look at Lescott's header which Clichy cleared off the line. Everton played a short corner to Baines who had all the time in the world to drop in his cross. Why did nobody pick him up? Why was nobody awake to the threat in the first place?

The way we were opened up for Osman's goal was very worrying too. It wasn't like it was incredible forward play. It was simple pass and move stuff which we didn't cope with at all. Osman won't score an easier goal in his life and you have to wonder how we'll cope when we face teams whose movement and interplay in the final third is so much better than Everton's.

It does seem churlish to criticise after a win so I'm not going to say a lot more that's negative. All I will say is that I wish Bendtner was fit because I'd like to see him get a little run of games ahead of Adebayor whose form is clearly not as good as it should be. I'd also prefer to see the manager play players in their best positions and not hope to muddle through using utility players to plug the gaps.

On the positive side Nasri got another goal (perhaps balanced by another injury) and again he looks, to me at least, like a much more productive player than Hleb ever was. Theo scored and caused all kinds of problems to the Everton defence and, of course, to come back from 1-0 down at home and win is always a good thing, even if being behind in the first place is hardly idea.

The three points yesterday were absolutely vital though with United, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning. If we can sort ourselves out against the so-called lesser lights of the league then it's going to be the games against these sides that sort out the title.

We go into Tuesday night's game with something approaching an injury crisis though. It seems Kolo's injury is ligament damage to the shoulder and according to the boss it doesn't look good. We may have Djourou back and Bendtner so that'd be something but the already thin squad is really being stretched at the moment. We'll find out more in the next day or so about the Champions League game.

In a quick Sunday round-up the News of the World reports Cesc has turned down an improved contract from the club, 'paving the way' for his exit at the end of the season. Shut up, News of the Cunts and stop trying to ruin my Sunday. Normally you'd dismiss the stuff from the NotW as bollocks but with his agent now Dein Jr and the fact they have a little bit of history in leaking stuff to papers for their own benefit I'm slightly less dismissive about it. Anyway, the bottom line is this: the best way for Arsenal to ensure Cesc stays at the club is to build a team capable of winning trophies. If we build it he will stay.

Update: Cesc is the most awesome human being on the planet. The ink is barely dry on the News of the World's first edition and he's already dismissed it as 'mischief making', saying:

A newspaper report suggesting that I have rejected a new contract is untrue. The article is just mischief-making. Everybody knows I have a long-term contract and that I am happy here. I'm focussed on doing my best for Arsenal.

Even Ming the Merciless would make this man captain of the universe. 

Julio Baptista talks about his time in London and at Arsenal. 'The Beast' will play for Roma against Chelsea this week. May he score many and injure many.

And that's really about it. It's good to get a win under our belts, no matter how nerve-wracking it was. Onwards and upwards, arsechums.

Jesus Christ the rain here this morning is fierce.

Should I be worried that I saw an old man gathering two of each animal before heading for his self-built boat sitting atop a nearby mountain?

Is it a sign of the impending armageddon that Amaury Bischoff actually played a game of football? Something strange is going on in the cosmos, people. Torrents from on high and the Bisch is back. He played 56 minutes of the reserves 3-2 win over Stoke yesterday evening and did quite well by all accounts. The game also featured Mikael Silvestre for his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt and despite going behind we came back with goals from Francis Coq au vin, Jay Simpson and Rui Fonte. Report here.

With the players away the mischief starts a bit with quotes from Cesc appearing in the Spanish press. Speaking to Spanish radio he reportedly said:

I have decided to give my all to Arsenal and to give my maximum, I’d like to try and win more titles here, nevertheless we will see what happens next year.

Now, the other quotes about it being his dream to move back to Barcelona being a 'dream' are no surprise whatsoever. Home town club, one he supports, friends, family etc. We can all understand. The quotes about having a think about his future next year are mildly worrying though.

I have no doubt that Cesc wants to win things with Arsenal. No doubt at all. On the other hand though, if I was Cesc I might wonder how realistic that goal is with the current Arsenal squad. Anyway, there's one way of making sure that's not relevant and that's by winning something this year. And making him captain. And setting Gallas adrift on a tiny raft somewhere in the pacific attached to a boat in which lives a great big tiger. I honestly think that would make a big difference. And I'll even supply the tiger.

Manuel Almunia says that Theo Walcott adding an angry side to his game has added to his game. Apparently he exposed himself to gamma radiation and now, when he gets an angry, his clothes get too small and he turns all green. Almunia says:

Theo was too nice maybe in the last two years, but this season you can see that when he gets tackled he gets furious, and that shows you he has changed. I just spoke with him once, I told him he had to be a bit more aggressive and not so nice on the pitch because if people can kill you they will do so.

There's nothing like being in fear for your life to change your attitude. I used to be very nice but when I was told that people were trying to kill me I certainly became a different person altogether. Literally. I changed my name and everything.

There is nothing else to talk to you about this morning though. As far as the Arsenal goes that's it. So, if you'll excuse me I'll go get some breakfast, daydreaming of tigers and rafts and giant crashing waves and whales crossed with squids. I call them squales.

Till tomorrow. 

I wish you all a happy and *boilk* free Saturday in the vain hope that the universe will reward my good wises and thoughts and render me free of the *boilk* which is *boilking* the shite out of me. Not literally though. Well, not yet, at least.

Still, at least there's football today to help me through. I was expecting a whole lot more team news but I can't seem to find any beyond what we knew yesterday. At least the team will be a bit of a surprise then. We have to wait and see about Nasri and the thinking about Threeo is that he'll probably start on the bench after playing two games in a week for England. 

The boss has been talking about Theo again, revealing he knew he wanted to sign him after seeing him play against us in the FA Youth Cup. Apparently we'd sent scouts to watch him more than 50 times. Which must be boring as fuck for a scout.

'What have you got lined up for me today, boss?'

'Go to Southampton and report back on Theo-'

'Walcott, yeah yeah. I know'. 

Back to today though and it's traditionally a tricky fixture. The tired old media lines about how Arsenal don't like travelling to the north-west will be spewed out again but Blackburn are a tough, physical side. As well as that this is the first time that Paul Ince will have faced one of the top clubs in his short Premier League management career and he'll be desperate to show he's got what it takes. I expect a very motivated Blackburn side today and we're going to have to be 100% focussed with no international hangover if we want the three points.

I think we've got the quality to do it, we have Robin van Persie who loves scoring against Blackburn, and we know that we don't want to be playing catch-up this early in the season. Three points an absolute must today, especially in light of the lack of transfer activity. Things have calmed down a lot and as I've been saying good performances and good results will keep things that way. 

Speaking of Robin van Persie he has ruled out any move to Moneybags City and reveals that the manager did try to bring in a certain player but the price being asked was too high. I think we all know who that was but it's interesting to hear it from one of the players. 

I know you know this already, what with Arseblog having exclusively given you the news yesterday, but here's confirmation that Mineiro took part in a behind closed doors friendly at the training ground this week.

There was some bad news about Tomas Rosicky as well. His return had been earmarked for the middle of this month but it seems he's as far away as ever. The Czech national coach, Petr Rada, says:

Tomas has started another stage of recovery, including training with the ball. But recently his knee reacted badly to that.

While Rosicky's agent says:

Without the permission of Arsenal I am not allowed to be more specific on Tomas' health.

The injury he suffered was very serious and very, very rare, I'm told, so nobody really knows how to estimate the recovery period for it. However, at this stage I think I would be surprised if we saw Rosicky in an Arsenal shirt again. I think we need to plan for life without him and if he does make it back then it's a nice bonus. Fingers crossed he can beat this though.

And that's really about it. The game is on TV over here today, which is most excellent. Here's to the three points, talk to you tomorrow. 

Some Arse related Interlull action last night and what a way for Theo Walcott (OleOle link) to make his mark on the international stage.

A hat-trick against Croatia as England won 4-1. Despite it being rather unsightly seeing him pawed and mauled and kissed by the likes of Lampard, Ferdinand, PenalTerry and others, it was absolutely great for the young man and great for us as well. It's another sign that his game is developing the way everyone hoped it would and it will fill him with confidence and other stuff similar to, or exactly the same as, confidence.

Check out the goals here - goal 1, goal 2, goal 3 (via 101greatgoals). So while the press will go crazy with headlines like 'Threeo Walcott', 'Threesey does it for Walcott',  'Theo Walshot' and 'Threeo, threeo, daylight come and Thee wanna go home' the young man isn't going to get suckered in. He says:

I'm not going to get ahead of myself. I know what people will be saying about me but I will just be ignoring it and keep taking positives from the game. My family and friends have brought me up well, look after me and help keep my feet on the ground. That's what I've always been like and I won't change at all. 

Splendid. And we need to make sure we don't expect too much from him either but I'm expecting at least a hat-trick against Blackburn on Saturday. Seriously though, well done Theo. 

As far as I can tell the only other Arsenal scorer last night was Nicklas Bendtner for Denmark as they beat Portugal while Johann Djourou was in the Swiss team beaten 2-1 by Luxembourg. Remember the days when Luxembourg couldn't beat their way out of a wet paper bag? Mad.

So it's time to start looking ahead to the weekend and the return of proper football. We may have Abou Diaby available for the first time this season but he may find himself pressed into service on the left hand side as we might be missing Samir Nasri who was pulled out of the French team because of a knee injury which may need treatment. I think from now on we need to do a knee smash in our medicals. Only players whose knees can withstand 6 blows from a lump hammer should be signed. No doubt we'll get a fuller update later on about who's fit and who's not.

The next week or so is going to be tough going. We've got three tricky away games. Firstly Blackburn on Saturday, then a trip to the Ukraine to play Dinamo Kiev on Wednesday followed by a trip to Bolton. I think that's what you call pure slog but that's all part of the game. We need to get ourselves going again.

Gunnerblog speculates that our new Chief Executive could be Paul Donovan, who has left his post as CEO Central Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Affiliates of Vodafone Group Plc. An announcement is expected shortly from the club.

Right, that is about it. More tomorrow with an Arsecast of some description. 

All still very dull and non-arsey.

Theo Walcott apparently played quite well for England against Andorra the other night, which is good for the young man. Good for us too if it boosts his confidence and he says he's coming to terms more with playing on the wing. Capello, like Arsene Wenger, is still urging patience due to his relative youth and inexperience but it should be interesting to see how he fares against Croatia, if he keeps his place that is.

Chairman PHW has been talking about the possibility of somebody making a bid for the club. In the light of the Manchester City purchase he says:

If somebody came and made a really huge bid then you cannot recommend shareholders turn it down because we don't like it. We want the club to stay in its current ownership and, of course, you have some concern that someone will try to buy the club.

The directors don't want to sell but we are a public company. It depends on the price.

And that's just the reality of the situation. With Dein having been shafted by Usmanov you do wonder if there's something about to happen there. And if a multi-squillionaire sheikh decided he wanted a new plaything and was prepared to spend a tiny fraction of his fortune there's really not much anyone can do about it. Naturally it would be great if the current owners could keep on keeping on (minus the fat, disgusting, Man United supporting Uzbeki oligarch cunt, of course) but football is going through some mighty changes right now.

William Gallas spoke about Joey Barton and Samir Nasri, saying:

The moment Barton came on to the pitch he made a bad challenge on Samir Nasri. Samir responded with an act that maybe wasn't especially nice. But bearing in mind the player he did it to, then fair enough.

heh, I think that's the first time Gallas has ever said something funny in his time at Arsenal. You just know that Barton will be stewing over being made look a chump by Nasri and by the time we play against him again he'll be out for revenge. If he comes onto the pitch with a lit cigar we'll know the way he's going to play it.

Not much else to tell you about though really. Arsene Wenger is having training sessions with just Almunia and Denilson. Apparently they're just playing three and in all day long before going off on their BMXs to play Commodore 64. Good old days.

Morning all,

so we won a trophy! Hurrah. I think that's the third time we've won the Amsterdam Tournament. We drew 1-1 with Sevilla in a game which told us little that we didn't already know.

Lukasz Fabianski had a quite marvelous game in goal, commanding his area and making some fantastic saves. I was glad to see him have that kind of a game as things like that will ensure competition between the two keepers and competition means you get better performances.

We saw that for all their talent that some of the kids are still very raw. Aaron Ramsey caught in possession twice just outside our box, Johann Djourou once and our full backs got the run around all night. Our goal came from Carlos Vela who showed good strength to hold off the defender and finish well. I think he's going to really push on when surrounded by more experienced players. The manager said it was a lesson in defending under pressure and really it won't have done anyone any harm.

So, pre-season is over and done with and now it's time to get on with the real thing. We start with the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday against FC Twente and with midfield looking very light at the moment there's unlikely to be a signing before that game. Arsene Wenger says:

At the moment, I am not close to concluding any transfer deal, because I am too busy here. Maybe next week something can happen, but for now we have to focus on the Champions League and forget about transfers because it is a big target for us.

Of course it's a big target but wouldn't signing a good player make life a bit easier? Perhaps that's just me. It does look as if there is something going on though and as I said yesterday I think the sooner we do the deal the better. I think, as it stands, we're more than capable of beating Twente but I think everyone would feel a lot more confident if the squad was that bit stronger.

The boss also dismissed reports that Justin Hoyte would be leaving the club saying no firm offer had been received. There was a Boro scout in the stadium last night and I suspect someone told Hoyte because he played like he didn't want to be bought. I thought his performance was very odd last night.

Rounding up the stories in the Sunday papers the News of the World we're 'keeping tabs' on Yaya Toure. Zzzzzz.

They also have a story where Manuel Almunia says Theo Walcott needs to be a bit nastier on the pitch. I remember some film where this American footballer guy was running through to make a touchdown and from under his shirt he took a gun and started shooting the defenders out of his way. That would be cool although probably just a touch too nasty.

And that's really about it. Have yourselves a good Sunday.

This summer, as I'm sure you're aware at this very moment, has revolved mostly around Arsenal players going to other clubs. Hleb and Adebayor in particular.

So it was with great interest that I saw a story emerge yesterday with direct quotes from Adebayor saying how he was going to stay at Arsenal, and that money wasn't everything and blah blah fucking blah. Now, don't get me wrong. On its own this is good news. I'd rather Adebayor stayed than left but everything we've heard over the last couple of weeks suggests that the player is happy for his people to find him somewhere else to play football nect season.

Despite what he says about playing for the love of the game and money not being the be all and end all further quotes emerged. When asked whether he;'d be at Arsenal for the season ahead he said:

I am footballer, I have a three-year contract at Arsenal but as you know, a lot of clubs are interested in me. At the moment we are just going to sit down and talk and decide what to do. All I know is I have a promise from Arsene that they will call me next week. Nothing has been decided yet. We will decide next week.

There's more here in this article which, despite being in the Mail, quotes the player directly. It's hardly the unequivocal statement which would have killed off any transfer speculation. Not even close to Gael Clichy's 'I told my agents I want to stay at Arsenal' which saw him sign a new deal last week. The comment about Arsenal calling him next week suggests he's waiting to hear an answer to a request and I don't think you need to be a genius to work out what that might be.

As I've been saying for the last little while I'm refraining from commenting too much on this for the time being. When it's appropriate I'll say more but surely I can't be only one slightly put off by the fact Adebayor used an Adidas press conference to talk about his Arsenal future. It's pure profile raising and puts you in mind of somebody who's gotten a little bit above their station.

To then come out with two very contrasting statements about his plans for next season is just silly. Even the Spanish press this morning are 'confused'. Now, I like Adebayor but this kind of stuff smacks of someone who's believing everything the agents are telling him and who's lost touch with reality a bit. I'm told there's definitely been a demand/request for more money from Arsenal and all this speculation regarding his future has nothing to do with what's best for him on a football level but entirely to do with his earning potential. Sad. Frustrating. Tedious.

That he's already trying to justify a move based on the fact Arsenal might make a profit on him speaks volumes. I think there's going to be a lot more to say about this one before the summer is over. Maybe even before next week is over.

Speaking of sad and tedious David Dein says Arsenal need Alisher Usmanov's money if they want to stay in the top 4. Doesn't he ever get tired of the same bullshit scaremongering? Let's be very clear about this - Usmanov is Dein's only way back in at Arsenal. Having cashed in his shares and sold his stake in the club he loves so very much he relentlessly champions the inclusion of a man that most sane Arsenal fans want nothing to do with. Usmanov is a bully and Man United fan. Go fuck yourself, Dein and go fuck yourself Usmanov, you horrible fat bastard cunt from hell.

David Villa looks set to miss the Euro 2008 final on Sunday which means Cesc Fabregas is now likely to start the game. His performances in the last two games in particular merited inclusion whether Villa was injured or not but I suppose the injury to the Valencia man has saved Aragones from having to make a difficult decision.

There's been a small change to next season's squad numbers which were announced last week. Theo Walcott will wear 14 next season instead of 32. Fair enough. I mean, it's not like people are going to make comparisons just because he's wearing the same number as one of our greatest players, is it? I do hope that Theo can live up to the expectation though as the new Martin Keown.

Right, that's it. More tomorrow.