Arsenal's New £15m Attacker is "Brilliant"

Arsenal's transfer business this summer has been quite momentous. The sale of two of the clubs best players from last season, one of which was the top goalscorer, club record breaker and club captain, as well as the purchase of three very talented forward players for almost £40 million has been strikingly stirring business for a usually far more cautious Arsene Wenger.

The transfers into the club have enthralled and excited the Arsenal fans, who can look forward to further additions to the squad. However, the transfers have also had the Arsenal players inspired and thrilled to play alongside them. Who else then, would be better to hear from about this summers biggest signing, Santi Cazorla - a £15 million purchase from Malaga - than Arsenal's most expensive signing from last season, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The 19 year-old, who signed from Southampton last summer for £12 million is thrilled with Cazorla, observing genuine quality from the 27 year-old Spaniard in training, describing him as "brilliant." Chamberlain said of Cazorla:

"He’s brilliant. He’s a typical Spanish player, really technical. He’s got a good right foot, a good left foot and he can dribble. He’s small so he’s not the most physical but that highlights how good he is with his feet and with his mind. From what I’ve seen of him so far in training, he’s brilliant - a really good asset to the squad."

The season opener for Arsenal did not produce any goals, but Chamberlain can see in his new team-mate the potential fire-power his presence in the sides attack can produce. The English winger also noticed a certain "buzz" from Cazorla during pre-season:

"We saw against Sunderland what he’s capable of. I thought he had a good game, he did a lot of clever things. I played with him in Cologne in midfield and got on really well with him there. You know when you get a buzz off a player, and you could bounce off him and get good vibes. Santi has that with everyone because he’s that sort of player."

Indeed, another footballer who undoubtedly had those sort of "good vibes" was Cazorla's idol, Zinedine Zidane, whose position as a second striker is one which Cazorla hopes to one day assert himself in, as he had been utilized largely on the wing for both Malaga and Spain. The 27 year-old believes that Zidane was the best player he has ever played against - despite going head to head with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in La Liga last year: "He had it all as a player. He was elegant, he had quality, he was strong and he was tall."

Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arsenal fans are already thrilled at Cazorla's impact at the club, but if he can reach the vertiginous heights of Zinedine Zidane, this summers departure of van Persie and Song will seem like nothing when a super Spaniard is running the team from behind Podolski or Giroud.

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Barcelona Want Arsenal's Vermaelen?

Considering how strong, constant and solid Thomas Vermaelen has been in the Arsenal defence during his time at the club, it would come as no surprise that he has gathered a few admirers.

Indeed it would be silly to think clubs have not watched him and imagined him in a shirt representing their own side, so perhaps news that Barcelona are eyeing him up for a summer transfer should be taken seriously.

Barcelona are reportedly looking for another central defender to bolster the back-line, and have considered several options with AC Milan's Brazilian centre-back Thiago Silva, being their number one choice.

However, an offer of over £30 million from Paris Saint Germain has already been rejected by Milan, and it is thought Barcelona will not be willing to spend that amount on a 27 year-old defender.

Now they have, so the Daily Mail say, turned their attentions towards Arsenal's defensive talisman, Vermaelen. Arsene Wenger of course will not entertain the prospect of losing such an important player to Barcelona, and will, like AC Milan, reject any bid made for the 26 year-old Belgian defender.

Furthermore, only a few days ago, Vermaelen effectively committed his future to Arsenal, by saying rather definitively: “I will stay at Arsenal forever. There will be no transfer for me. I love London. I’ve got a house there, I’m happy there and I don’t see any reason to ever leave the club."

Unless Wenger suddenly decides there is no need for Vermaelen in his side, and Vermaelen has a sudden and extreme change of heart, Barcelona will have to look elsewhere.

So it seems that if the story is true, and Barcelona are interested in the former Ajax man who has spent three seasons at the Emirates, they will have a lot of persuading to do, and will need a significant amount of money to spend. Otherwise, this seems a no-go for the former European Champions.

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Arsenal's Ultimate Season Aim

Arsenal's form speaks for itself. Having suffered waves of incompetence throughout the season in which performances have been poor and confidence low, the team has managed to piece itself together for one final push at the most crucial stage of the season.

They sit perched at the very top of the form table, having won their last seven Premier League games convincingly, and are unbeaten in eight. In those last eight games, Arsenal have scored 22 and have conceded just six, with only Manchester United's form rivalling them. Arsene Wenger is obviously delighted, but highlighted the importance of staying composed:

"We have come through a very difficult period. We have learnt from that and must keep our feet on the ground and focus on the next game"

The Arsenal manager also revealed his ultimate objective come the end of the season; to finish in third place in the League so as to avoid having to qualify for next years Champions League competition. Third place would not only be a huge achievement considering how Arsenal's season began, but would also be extremely convenient in terms of scheduling, as an added qualifier would come at an unwelcome time after the Euro 2012 competition.

Wenger said: "It makes a massive difference [to finish in third] because fourth place is a qualifier and third place is really the Champions League. I would prefer not [to have to qualify], as would everybody, but if we have to do it, we do it. And don’t forget, it’s after the Euros so we might not have all of our players.”

Arsenal's great form is in complete antithesis to their closest rivals for third place, Tottenham's, who have won just once in their last six League games. The Gunners are now three points ahead of Spurs, but the race is still very much on for that all important third spot.

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Arsenal's New Young Talent Mature & Ready

His first season in the Premier League after his £12 million summer move to Arsenal has given Gunners fans a tantalizing taste of what the future holds, and with two goals today against Blackburn, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is certainly not shy of enforcing his promising power in the present day.

The 18 year-old has looked skillful, dangerous and coolly composed even under pressure which was demonstrated in a fantastic performance against relegation battlers Blackburn as Arsenal cruised to a 7 - 1 win at the Emirates. His manager, who spotted this raw talent a few years ago whilst the youngster began at Southampton, was impressed with how much Chamberlain has progressed in such a short space of time.

Wenger believes that despite not being ready for first team Arsenal football when he first joined the club, the improvement witnessed has been exceptional, with maturity coming out in his game along with his personality. The manager believes that in the next three months will tell us more about what Chamberlain has to offer. He said:

"The next three months will tell us. We live in a world of immediacy. Everything is instant. In September, I could not expect him to be so mature because he was still a boy. Now suddenly it looks like he can take pressure."

"He has the personality to produce under pressure. But he has still only played one game at the very top level so let’s see how he does."

An extended run in the Arsenal team will certainly be a benefit to the enthusiastic young Englishman as he looks to assert a regular position in the side. Minus Andrei Arshavin who is severely lacking in confidence or support and therefore likely to leave the club in the summer, Arsenal's youngster has a big opportunity to add to his 12 appearances and four goals in a red shirt.

His talent is clear, but it is yet to be seen as to whether the former Southampton youth player can make an effective impact in an England shirt in the upcoming Euro 2012 competition.

The buzz around the player is continuing to grow on the back of this performance against Blackburn, more and more people are suggesting he would be a decent addition to the international line-up. Wenger has seen this situation before with Theo Walcott picked for England and not being used, but would not dismiss Chamberlain's chance for the country. He said:

"I do not want to rule it out [Euro 2012]. Just because you are 18 years of age does not mean you should never play. At the same time after one good game you cannot say he has absolutely to go. You have to see what he will produce. We will see in the next three months. Why not?”

“For an English national team player you have to be at the top level by 18. Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard — they all played at 18. One or two come in later but the basis of the national team are players who started at 18.”

Despite his excellent form, Fabio Capello would be rather reluctant to throw such a young player in at the deep end at the Euro's with the heavy expectation of the nation, and would certainly require to see him in a few friendlies before the such a competition this year.

His performances and obvious talents shown this season would seem to put him ahead of Walcott in the squad, but the other Arsenal winger who also put in a good shift at the Emirates this week-end is more experienced and settled in the England team, giving Capello a big decision to make.

Nevertheless, already Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is looking like an exceptional buy for a club renowned for finding promising young talents. Wenger will be careful not to overplay him, having learned his lesson through Jack Wilshere's stress fracture and extended period out of action, but will certainly be encouraged to make the most out of his new English starlet hungry for success.

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Watch: Arsenal's Joel Campbell Goal vs Spain

Arsenal's 19 year-old Costa Rican striker, Joel Campbell, currently on loan at the French side FC Lorient scored an impressive goal against the World and European Champions Spain on Tuesday night.

This was the young strikers third goal internationally in his seventh appearance for Costa Rica, and it will certainly be one to remember - against such fantastic opposition. This kind of skill in front of goal is what Arsenal have to look forward to having signed the youngster in August of 2011 amidst interest from several other top clubs. Watch his goal below:

 

After going two goals ahead, Costa Rica then lost their surprise lead thanks to strikes from David Silva and David Villa meaning the final score settled at 2 - 2.

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Arsenal's Miyaichi Granted Work Permit

Arsenal's 18 year-old Japanese midfielder has been granted a work permit and is now officially allowed to play for Arsenal in the Premier League.

Arsenal had lodged a special talent work permit late in July to allow him to play and work in England, and now that this has been accepted, his immediate future at Arsenal has been made a whole lot clearer.

Miyaichi has excited many around the world during his loan spell at Feyenoord when Arsenal were deciding his future as well as in his appearances in Arsenal's pre season games. He has been able to play in the pre season friendlies, as a work permit is only required for competitive games, such as the Premier League and FA Cup.

Arsene Wenger is clearly excited by the talent Miyaichi holds, showing his delight that the work permit has been granted, saying:

"We are absolutely delighted that Ryo has been granted a work permit. This is almost like a new signing for us as we weren’t completely sure we would be given the authorization. Ryo has worked extremely hard in pre season and performed well in the matches in Asia Germany and Portugal."

While the young attacking midfielder may not be put straight into the first team for the big games at Arsenal, it will be interesting to see some cameo performances in the Premier League, starting next week as well as competitions such as the Carling Cup.

 To find out more about Ryo Miyaichi, Click Here.

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Arsenal's Pursuit of Samba Boosted

Arsenal have been given a boost in their pursuit of a central defender, as Chris Samba of Blackburn - a known target of Arsenal's, announced his desire to play Champions League football.

Despite being infuriated by the sacking of Sam Allardyce last season, he signed a new four and a half year contract early this year. However, Arsene Wenger's determination to sign a new defender will certainly have been helped by what Samba said after Blackburn's 1 - 0 defeat to Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the Barclays Asia Trophy:

"At the minute I am at Blackburn but we will have to see what happens. If you have a player who has no ambition to play at a higher level, then he made a mistake and chose the wrong sport. He should do something else."

"When you are a footballer – or if you play any high-profile sport – you should be ambitious. It is difficult at the moment but I am just waiting to see what happens and concentrating on my pre-season preparation."

"I don't know about Arsenal as I am not the one who is dealing with it. I'm just trying to get myself fit. Of course, I would like to play in the Champions League, which player does not dream of that? It would be a lie if I told you everything was good and that I didn't want to play in the Champions League. That would be a big lie. Every player wants to do that."

Blackburn's new owners have long term ambitions to steer the side to the Champions League, but this is surely too much of a wait for the 27 year-old defender. That is especially unlikely considering the strong competition from the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham for a place inside the top four as well as Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal who are usually certain of a top our finish.

Five seasons in the Premier League has given Samba ample experience in England, and is a strong and reliable defender - something Arsenal would certainly benefit from. Arsenal just need to make the move for him now, although Blackburn may be looking for a fee in excess of £10 million considering his contract and the fact that Blackburn have already let Phil Jones leave for Manchester United.

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Manchester United to bid £20m for Arsenal's Nasri?

The "Samir Nasri to Manchester United" story started off looking like just another unrealistic piece of speculative gossip to be thrown on the enormous pile of transfer rumours which end up not to be true. It looked destined for that large, disappointing, ill-informed pile which raise many hopes only to be let down miserably. However, it has, like all good summer transfer stories, built up a lot of momentum - so much so, that reports are emerging that Manchester United are set to bid an impressive £20 million for the Arsenal play maker, as well as meet his wage demands of £130,000 a week in an attempt to persuade the Frenchman out of Arsenal.

With only a year left on his contract, talks between Nasri and Arsenal were said to be ongoing, but Manchester United's interest has remained throughout those talks, and now it seems Sir Alex Ferguson will turn that initial interest into a genuine bid.

I have previously evaluated the likelihood of Nasri leaving Arsenal for Manchester Untied, concluding that despite Nasri's ambition and United's success compared to Arsenal's drought, he would continue talks with Arsenal and decide to stay. This was of course, guesswork mixed with pessimism, but it seems every day that goes by, a deal seems more likely. Perhaps this is why a Nasri move away from Arsenal is made more likely?

Naturally, there is talk on Twitter about this, with Nasri having apparently already had a medical, or one booked for next week at Bridgewater Medical centre, depending on where you look and what you read. Others say, that despite Arsene Wenger's insistence that he would not sell Nasri to United whatever the circumstances, the Arsenal board has over ruled the Arsenal manager because of the amount of money in the prospective Manchester United bid.

Of course, all this talk must be taken with a few pinches of salt, but it will be interesting to see how this develops over the next few days, as we will surely discover if there is actually any truth behind this. 


Meanwhile, as Arsenal try to keep hold of their players, they are also obviously looking to recruit some new ones, and Ricky Alvarez is said to be a player high on Wenger's list. He wrote on his Twitter account the following:

"Me encantaria jugar en el arsenal, seria un sueño para mi! Ojala dios quiera que se concrete!"

Which translates to:

“I would love to play for Arsenal, it would be a dream for me! I pray to God that this becomes true”

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