Peter Hill-Wood welcomes Kroenke

After previously voicing serious reservations, chairman Peter Hill-Wood is now claiming that American billionaire Stan Kroenke is welcome in the boardroom. After making a 10% purchase of the club in 2007, Kroenke has upped his share to 12%, but this does not seem to bother Hill-Wood anymore, as he does not feel Kroenke has intentions of seizing a majority share.

"I think he could make a contribution - whether he would want to do it, I don't know,"

"I think he would be a good addition. He seems to have been very sensible.

"I think he would be quite happy to buy more shares but I think he has absolutely no intention of buying the whole thing."

So there you have it, not all American investors are evil. I don't think he can be characterized the same way as Gillette, Hicks or even the Glazers, because those men were not football men. Kroenke is. Not in the sense that any Brit will ever give him credit for because he is, after all, a "yank". He does own MLS side Colorado Rapids and genuinely appreciates the game. I cannot comment on his exact knowledge of footballs intricacies, as I don't know the man, but he appears better suited for the task than the Americans who have come before him.


In other news, Adebayor has moved to refute reports of a move away from the Emirates, which is undoubtedly good news and not very surprising in all actuality. As the day went on yesterday it seemed there was little behind those rumors.

"I am very happy here. Reports which suggest I have threatened to quit are rubbish," he said. "I love the club and the fans.

"We have a great set of players here with a fantastic team spirit.

"We have had a good season, but next year we want to go one better by winning a trophy."

Adebayor to Milan?!

In an absolutely shocking headline, goal.com is reporting that Adebayor has agreed to a deal that would see him join former teammate Mattieu Flamini at AC Milan. According to Italian sources all that needs to be done is for Milan to agree to the Gunner's 40 million euro asking price, as personal terms have already been made between the striker and the San Siro based club. 40 million euro seems a lot of money, but the Rossoneri have vowed to spend big this offseason after missing out on the Champions League this past season, so it isn't unreasonable to think that they would spend that type of cash. The news comes as a shock to me and was pretty much the last thing I expected to see when I rolled out of bed this morning at 10 am. 

On the bright side so, at this time no other publication or website that I frequently check is reporting anything of the sort. Hopefully they never do, and Ade moves to deny the reports sometime later today. In any case, this would be a gigantic loss for the Gunners, with Flamini and Hleb already parting ways. Losing all three would be an absolute catastrophe for us and it is really difficult to see us getting on well next season without all three. Wenger will absolutely need to splash the cash if this story has any validity to it. Villa or Huntelaar are absolute musts. Ya Ya Toure needs to be brought in, and the Nasri deal finally needs to be sorted out.  But like I said, goal.com is the only site reporting the story, and I am only in semi-panic mode, and will only move to full fledged freaking out if more outlets pick up the story.  Hopefully the asking price won't be met and he will stay. Or maybe the story has nothing to it either way. But in any case, f*ck Milan for attempting to raid our team.

Villa's dropped price

What exactly is the impact of David Villa's reported price tag dropping to 17 million quid? Right off the bat, 17 million does put Arsenal in the picture, if they want to be. I say that going off of previous statements made by Keith Edelman who said Wenger would have a war chest in the range of 70 million. More recently he advised not spending more than 25 million before he left the club. So I really don't know how much we actually have to spend. I would think that we have enough if 70 million was the amount just a few months ago. With that said, I doubt Wenger will splash that type of cash, although 17 million would be an absolute steal. We have money available, so it is kind of frustrating to know that Wenger is so reluctant to splash any of it. I understand the clubs pension for spending shrewdly, and understand the philosophy being implemented. It actually is kind of refreshing in the world of football dominated by foreign billionaire owners who control the market. Unfortunately that is the world that we live in today, and our main competitors are spending that kind of money. Lets just look at this, since Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea in 2003 Arsenal only have that one Premiership trophy that they won in his first season. Since that time we have not won the title and have only collected an FA Cup title. Chelsea and Manchester United are spending all the money and winning all the trophies.

With that said, I still think the Wenger can splash some cash and still stick to his morals. The core of this current team has been shrewdly built under his philosophy of buying low and forming talent. He has built a championship quality team. The core is his. I think he can go out and buy Villa, Ya Ya Toure and Nasri and still not be violating his morals. Thats roughly 40 million right there. Hes not breaking the bank by any means, especially considering the losses of Hleb and Flamini. Granted, I am unsure of the need for a forward considering Wenger will most likely spend shrewdly once again. If hes going to pinch pennies, we don't need a forward. It would be wise to spend elsewhere. I have said that over and over again. However, if hes willing to open up the pockets and spend a little more Villa is a possibility. If those three mentioned players could be brought in, I believe that is a championship squad right there.

Today's Round up

Got a late start today, had a flat tire to deal with ... anyways ...

Finally appears that Jens Lehman is on his way out to Stuttgart after signing a one year deal with the Bundesliga outfit:

-"The talks with the leaders of VfB Stuttgart were very pleasant from the beginning," new signing Lehmann told Stuttgart's official website.

-"I look forward to Vfb and the Bundesliga and I want to play my part in a successful 2008/2009 season."

It was fun to have him here as long as we did, Jens was always good for a laugh and/or some controversy. My lasting memory has to be him stopping Riquelme in the Champions League Semi-Final (Below). So long, and good luck.






In other news it now appears that Hleb has agreed with Barcelona over personal terms of a deal that would send him out of crazy and hectic London. According to his agent the only thing left to be done is reaching some kind of agreement with Arsenal. Hopefully that agreement is in the form of Ya Ya Toure. But I mean, c'mon, if he's going to bitch that he hates the city life of London then how is Barcelona any better? I've been to both cities and trust me, the nights are much later in Spain than in London. Barcelona is wild. Let's see how he deals with that.

I have long since come to terms with the fact that Hleb was/is going to leave and I feel strangely comfortable with it. His comments last week when he kissed Wenger's ass were little more than a smokescreen to portray himself in a better light. His skills and dribbling are indeed world class, but his lack of finishing, or even lack of attempts at finishing have infuriated me. Ultimately the lack of finishing and production from width is what has separated this team from the past championship teams. Pires and Ljungberg could be counted on for putting in 20+ goals a season between the two of them. Until we can get some consistent scoring from our midfield winning the title will remain a difficulty.

Lineup for Next Season?

With all this talk of who's coming in and who's rumored to be going out I'd like to take a look and try to figure out realistically what our best XI will look like come seasons start. By all accounts it appears the Nasri deal will be done at some point, and I also feel the Hleb is inevitably going to leave. The Guiza and de la Red rumors have picked up some steam and they appear to have some validity to them. So I am going to attempt to pick a lineup that I personally would love to see next year at the Emirates.

van Persie ........ Adebayor



Rosicky ......... Fabregas ........ Ya Ya Toure .......... Nasri



Clichy ...... Gallas ....... Toure ...... Sagna



Almunia

Granted this depends on the health of Rosicky, and on any given day Walcott could get a run at either of the outside midfield positions, and Eduardo will hopefully be able to fill in for RVP or Adebayor if needed. It will be interesting to see how Vela does as well. I would not mind seeing an addition in the form of Vincent Kompany, who can play center back, as well as in the center of the midfield. However, it is more likely that a player like Trochowski would come in for 5 million rather than a Ya Ya Toure who is priced at over 10. Then again, there is that lingering rumor of landing Ya Ya through a switch with Hleb. That seems the more likely possibility if he is going to land at the Emirates and getting Ya Ya would greatly diminish my anguish over the loss of Flamini.

Rumor Mill

Talk of Dani Guiza has picked up some validity today, with Sky Sports also reporting that Arsenal are hot for the striker. Sky Sports also reported that the Gunners are also hot on fellow Spaniard Ruben de la Red. The midfielder has just had his option picked up by Real Madrid after seeing fine form this season at Getafe. As previously said, I am not too sure on how desperate the Gunners are to bring in another forward, and believe that money would be more wisely spent elsewhere. Check out the short video below for some de la Red highlights.



Elsewhere, the Nasri move again has once again hit a snag, with wage complications slowing the process. Wenger has been quoted this week as saying he hopes to have the deal done after the Euro's. I am just a little fearful that is Nasri enjoys a good tournament his fee will only go up and more suiters will be lining up to land him. With that said I hope the deal is done before the Championships begin.

Latest Transfer Gossip

Yesterday, The Daily Star reported that Arsene Wenger may be interested in a player swap with Barcelona including Aliaksandr Hleb for Ya Ya Toure. However, just today the Daily Mirror reports that a 12 million pound deal has been struck between the Catalonian giants and the unsettled play maker. In other rumors, Goal.com has posted that the Gunners are prepared to make a 5 million pound bid for German international Piotr Trochowski. A teammate of another rumored Arsenal target Vincent Kompany, the HSV Hamburg midfielder is currently with the German national side preparing for their Euro 2008 challenge.

Not Surprisingly, when put together these reports are extremely contradictory in nature. If the Hleb for Ya Ya story has any weight to it, then it is extremely unlikely that the Trochowski deal as any truth, and vise-versa. Of course these reports need to be taken for what they are, tabloid gossip. With that said, if the Gunners are to lose Hleb, then it might as well be in the Ya Ya Toure swap.