I'm sorry to bring it up again, but i think the 8-2 beating is somewhat a bless to many Arsenal fans now.

Wenger are taking aggressive stance in transfer market now after many reliable sources (as in quoted sayings from club/country managers) regarding MERTESACKER (FINALLY!) and Santos.


I'm not sure if this aggressive last minute move is pre-planned even before the beating or driven by the beating. But hey, i'm really grateful with what's coming up next.



With Park.J.Y already confirmed as our number 9 striker (I suppose he'll be regular first choice), we have another defender Mertesacker and left back, Santos.

This is the three signings Wenger promised earlier.

I always wanted someone of Van Bommel's charismatic quality to captain our team, but still, there's none. With few consecutive weeks, we already seen Van Persie is not captaincy material. Should've promote someone else with the 'fire' of determination rather than him, imo.

This thread is moving at the speed of light, i'm not sure if this is posted already, so ignore it if already does.


Arsenal close in on defensive double swoop as Germany's Per Mertesacker and Brazil's Andre Santos undergo medicals
Fenerbahce left-back and Werder Bremen centre-back are due at the Gunners' London Colney training ground to finalise personal terms on Tuesday ahead of completing moves


Aug 30, 2011 12:40:00 PM

By Wayne Veysey

Arsenal are closing in on the signings of £14.1 million (€16m) defensive duo Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker, Goal.com can confirm.
DON'T MISS
Arsenal in talks with Mertesacker - reportKeown: Wenger must stay and spend
Arsenal fail in move for Dortmund's GotzeArsenal agree fee for Andre Santos - report

The Brazil left-back and Germany centre-back are due at Arsenal's London Colney training ground on Tuesday to undergo medicals and finalise personal terms.

Arsenal have agreed a £7.9m (€9m) fee with Werder Bremen for Mertesacker, 26, and will pay Fenerbahce £6.2m (€7m) for Santos, who is 28.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday morning, Germany manager Joachim Low revealed that he had given Mertesacker dispensation to travel to London and sign for Arsenal.

Low said: "Per knocked on my door yesterday late evening. He told me that he received an offer, I gave him one day off [to sort things out]. I expect him to be back at the German camp later."

Werder general manager Klaus Allofs has confirmed that Mertesacker has long wanted to move to the Emirates.

He told Sportinformationsdienst: "Per has had the wish to force his career [for] some time. He wanted to play for a big European club. Arsenal was always his favourite club."

Werder Bremen's media director Tino Polster has also stated that the defender is in England as talks continue over a move.

"Arsenal has sent a request to us. Both clubs are in talks. Per travelled to London," Polster said.

Reports in Germany say that 6ft 6in Mertesacker has agreed an £80,000-a-week (€90,000) deal while Santos is said to have negotiated an Arsenal contract worth £40,000-a-week (€45,000) after they had met Fenerbahce's asking price for the attacking full-back.

Arsenal executives are busy wrapping up deals in the last two days of the window after manager Arsene Wenger acted to rescue a season that has been in danger of falling apart in the opening few weeks.

South Korea captain Park Chu-Young, 26, has completed a move for an initial £3m (€3.4m) - although this has yet to be announced by the club - and will beef up Wenger's striker options.

Mertesacker and Santos will also be expected to slot straight into the Arsenal team after the international break.

The German will provide the physical presence that was absent during Sunday's 8-2 humiliation against Manchester United, while Santos will leapfrog the injury-plagued Kieran Gibbs as the first-choice left-back.

They will provide the experience that was so lacking at Old Trafford, where the likes of Carl Jenkinson, Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny were torn apart by United. The fourth member of that defence, Armand Traore, has already signed for QPR.







Arsenal make move for Clint Dempsey but Fulham demand £10m for midfielder
Martin Jol ready to bid for Bryan Ruiz of FC Twente if Arsene Wenger follows up his enquiry for American with offer that matches Craven Cottage club's valuation

Aug 30, 2011 11:29:00 AM


Getty Images
EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey

Arsenal have approached Fulham about the possibility of signing Clint Dempsey, Goal.com can reveal.

The Gunners made their move before Sunday's 8-2 humiliation at Manchester United after Arsene Wenger identified the American's versatility and experience as qualities that can improve his threadbare squad.

Goal.com understands Arsenal are now weighing up a formal bid for the 28-year-old, who is believed to be interested in a move to a Champions League club.

Fulham do not want to sell their key attacker but privately accept that they will be unable to fend off Arsenal if the north Londoners match their valuation of £10 million for a player who is highly regarded at Craven Cottage and has two years remaining on his contract.

Martin Jol is ready to make a late move for FC Twente's Bryan Ruiz if he loses Dempsey. The 26-year-old Costa Rican has been closely tracked by Fulham during the window and has admitted that he is open to a move to England although the Londoners' £50,000-a-week wage ceiling could be a stumbling block to any deal materialising.

Fulham's main priority in the tail end of the window has been to hold on to Dempsey, who was the club’s leading scorer last season with 13 goals, including 12 in the Premier League. He has already added another two in the Europa League this season and scored in his team's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday.

There has also been interest in the USA international this summer from Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle in the Premier League as well as newly-rich Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla on the continent.

Sources close to Dempsey say he has aspirations to play in the Champions League after joining Fulham from the MLS in January 2007. He has established a fine reputation in England as a durable attacking midfielder who can play anywhere behind the main striker and create as well as score goals.




Armand Traore




Alexandre Hleb



This post has been edited by Frostymocha: Aug 31 2011, 12:22 AM

Wenger has always been a fan of Arteta. But a move for him is very unlikely to happen

1. He's vital player for Everton
2. Cost a bomb
3. Very little resale value
4. He's 30 years old
5. Fragile like Van Persie

Squillaci and Djourou needs to change their defensive stances. They can hardly make decisions on what they should do in different situation. Most of the time they don't dare to go aggresive to make the first move, but rather wait for midfielders to track back. And when they do, they got pulled out of their positions and left midfielders clueless of whom they should be marking.

agreed. 8-10 million is the max of what he's worth. Even for 10 million its very expensive for a 30 year old.

Christopher Samba



vs

Gary Cahill



vs


Phil Jagielka




vs


Scott Dann


This post has been edited by Frostymocha: Aug 31 2011, 12:46 AM

btw.. here's some of Wilshere's tweets

jack_wilshere
Jack Wilshere: Someone needs to tell Dzeko to stop playing Fifa on the pitch! #Finesse
14:24 PM Aug 28th

Eventually most of the attacks comes from wing attack and long ball direct to the center defence. Midfield wise we need to replace Cesc, but seriously? Where can we find such quality in given short time? Wilshere, Rosicky, Song already established themselves as first teamers, with Ramsey and Diaby coming in as backup. With 3 essential signings we're already grateful the main problem is solved, but Cesc role is not something to be replaced as easy as anyone thought it would be

RC ran half of the field to shoot the ball. Its such a pain watching those balls hit the 'wall' players. Usually takes more than 5 minutes rolling on the pitch after suffering direct hit from the cannon ball

Parker hands in transfer request
August 30, 2011

By ESPNsoccernet staff
West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan has admitted Scott Parker is likely to join Tottenham Hotspur before the close of the transfer window after the midfielder handed in a transfer request on Wednesday.


Scott Parker: Expected to return to the Premier League
• Spurs in talks with Parker

Tottenham are in talks with the Championship club over the signing of Parker, who has also been a target of QPR, with the Hammers reportedly seeking around £5.5 million for the England international after the club's relegation.

Sullivan told the London Evening Standard: "The deal will probably happen although we are desperately trying to persuade him to stay."

And on Wednesday evening, Parker handed in an official transfer request. He said on West Ham's official website: "I have had a fantastic four years at West Ham United and will never forget all the support I have had from the fans and everyone associated with the club.

"The manager and board have tried hard to convince me to stay but at this stage in my career, I need to be playing in the Premier League, especially now that I am involved with England. I hope the fans will understand and respect my decision and I wish the club every success in their fight for promotion this season."

Parker, 30, joined West Ham from Newcastle in 2007 for £7 million and has since made 109 league starts for the club, while last season he was named the Football Writers' Player of the Year.

Wenger is in France now, which leads me thinking that he might sign someone from Ligue 1 clubs. So far the main contender for Arsenal transfer target is M'Villa, the Rennes anchorman.

Mertesacker confirmed going for medicals, and i'm unclear with Santos as his news flow died halfway.

Malouda is totally out since we're fully equipped at both wings (Oxlade, Walcott, Arshavin, Ryo, Gervinho)


I wonder if Bentdner's transfer still working... the last time i heard he's linked to Stoke City.

Not much details released about Joel Campbell.

Arsenal is struggling to get a work permit for him. He's applied under special talent visa (He's a Costa Rican)
Not sure if it's settled now.


Anyway, which arsenal blog did you guys visit? the reliable and interesting ones. There's too many out there when i googled it out

Rennes won't be letting go their highly rated midfielder unless Arsenal meet their evaluation of excess 30 million pounds, while Arsenal evaluate him at 25 million.

---

Added on August 31, 2011, 6:36 pmWhat time is the transfer window closing? In M'sian time

This post has been edited by Frostymocha: Aug 31 2011, 06:36 PM

4 hours more O_o

So i guess its just 1 more player to sign since Wenger is in France.

IN: Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson, Joel Campbell, Ryo Miyaichi, Mertesacker, Park Chu-Young, (1 more)

OUT: Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Armand Traore, Gael Clichy, Mark Randall, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Emmanuel Eboué

ohhhh.... lulz

sounds like we've plenty to expect then

gosh this thread is moving so fast i can hardly catch on.

gonna go for dinner soon, not sure if i can catch up with this thread, lol.

---

Added on August 31, 2011, 6:49 pmwe've good sense of humor. lol

This post has been edited by Frostymocha: Aug 31 2011, 06:49 PM

Then why are we not in for Phil Jagielka?

Arteta's situation is winning for both sides.

1. Everton needs cash
2. Arteta resale value consider high for Everton at 10m transfer (30 yrs old)
3. Arsenal needs experienced midfielder, and Wenger has been a long time fan of Arteta.


Forget Cahill, we're not interested on being hold ransom by Bolton. Plus, Owen Coyle had a spat with Wenger regarding the transfer via twitter. It's very unprofessional of Coyle to release the confidential information of the transfer in public.

haha, yesterday night the news keeps popping up.

now we've sealed park, per mertesacker and santos.

only left 1 or 2 signings to be made.

Though signing Arteta was all against Wenger's policy, i still admire him as a player and wanted him to come join us at North London.

So far under Wenger's administration, we've seen many clubs acting professionally on transfer negotiations.
The only 2 clubs that pisses Wenger off is Barcelona and Bolton.

i think soccernet quoted Wenger before, that Arsenal has 20 personnel working on the transfer thingy. So its not surprise that these personnel working to negotiate the deal at the same time as Wenger does. Of course, i don't think all these 20 personnel is tasked to negotiate, maybe some is medical personnel that conduct last minute medicals at their current clubs or so.

ITS 2 HOURS MORE TO GO!

Is that Mancini the person above Wenger?

Chris Murphy: Jack Wilshere has been back on Twitter, taking issue with Ian Dowie's doubts over whether Benayoun is the player Arsenal need: Disagree with Ian Dowie..do you want Arsenal to buy Messi? Benayoun will create and score goals for us