Juventus submit late bid for Gallas and Arsene is prepared this time

It seems Arsenal have learnt a great deal from the past, as Wenger braces himself for an exodus of defensive players at the North London outfit.

I will let 'any one of my players who had done everything for the club' leave if they want to

The above scenario aptly describes what Joan Laporta President of the Catalan talent poachers who have refused to throw in the towel on a deal that is not only futile but stupid to waste time on (reading or even thinking of) during lunch time.

Gallas set to join Panathinaikos on a 2-year deal worth €5m

Panathinaikos have already initiated the move, and have discussed the personal terms of the contract with Gallas.

Gallas is Ok says Domenech

Out-of-contract Arsenal centre-back William Gallas might start for Les Bleus today against China in what is considered as their last warm-up game before the World Cup commences in South Africa.

William Gallas agent refutes Roma link - but will Wenger replace him now?

Wenger promised to look elsewhere for an option if per-chance Gallas refused to honor their May ending deadline... Question is; will he? The transfer window officially opened today, all we can do is hope he does something transfer-wise to rectify the situation.

William Gallas' agent Pierre Frelot, has rejected talks suggesting AS Roma might be the lucky recipient of the Bosman transfer's generosity.

Laurent Koscielny linked with Arsenal and Vermaelen wants Gallas to stay

Personally I prefer Per Mertesacker to Laurent Koscielny, but who cares if a deal for him goes through, and at last Gallas can boast of a friend in Thomas.

According to the Mirror, Arsenal are set to bid for Lorient's sought after centre-back Koscielny, who is valued by the French outfit at a paltry £8m.

Nasri: five Arsenal stars refuse to speak to Gallas

Samir Nasri, who is one of Arsene Wenger's French import has revealed that five Arsenal stars refuse to speak to William Gallas. But the midfielder quickly added that it doesn't affect the team's performance or results for that matter.

William Gallas might leave for France today on a sour note for his much touted

Taylor is an option as Arsenal reject Gallas

The 32-year-old centre-back's hopes of negotiating a lucrative two-year deal that will make him one of the highest paid players in the club has met a brickwall as the Gunners look set to consider the numerous options available to them.

According to this report Steven Taylor's agent is on red alert as he prepares to find a new destination for his client, who was

Robin hints at a few more signings

Chamakh in - Gallas out

Robin Van Persie says we need a strong, experienced squad and an extensive reserve to mount a genuine title assault. While, business-man Gallas wants out because Wenger has deliberately refused to play ball.

Arsenal's striker Robin Van Persie might succeed in persuading manager Arsene Wenger, to spend big this summer in other to forestall any unforeseen situation.

Transfer tidbits [Muslera, Gallas, Arshavin, Subotic]

Good morning mates!

Arsene Wenger is tired of Gallas' indicepherable attitude towards his contract extension, and has made it clear - he won't hesitate to buy (a new centre back) if the veteran French defender doesn't comply with terms at the club.

Wenger told the club's official website: "What is for sure if Gallas doesn't extend his contract we have to go out and strengthen this position," the manager said.
"For the rest we will see.

"There is a cut off point for Gallas. It doesn't depend only on me. Gallas can come and say "Boss we will stop the talks because I signed somewhere and that's it."

Wenger said he will give the player an ultimatum to decide his future: "I will set a deadline for us and that will certainly be before the end of May because we then have to look for someone else. We have more talks planned.
"I still have to access the Gallas and Campbell situation. Silvestre is still out of contract and the whole package has to be right - one goes, one stays. We have to get the number right.

"If Gallas and Campbell stay it will depend slightly on how well Djourou comes back about what we will do.
He looks good in training, quite positive," the 60-year-old maintained.

¤Fernando Muslera: The Uruguayan goal keeper has issued a statement denying contact with Arsenal, and other clubs who are interested in his services.

Muslera, is undoubtedly the holder of Lazio's team, the fans will indeed be pleased to hear their favourite won't be considering offers from Arsenal: "After three seasons I feel I'm here in Rome," he enthused.
"At first it was a difficult environment, but with the passage of time, and with the help of friends, things went well.

"My future? I want to stay at Lazio. I read interest of other teams, but my agent has not told me anything. Here in Rome, I am well, I want to stay here and achieve important goals with Lazio," Muslera declared.

¤Andrey Arshavin: Wenger admits he is pissed off concerning Arshavin's Barcelona rumours.
The Russian striker's words (if they have an iota of truth in them) didn't go down well with the fans.
But in typical Wenger fashion, the manager vented his anger on the translators of the speech: "I am very dissapointed because these statements contradict his behaviour here," Wenger said.

"He wants to renew his contract with us, it's very difficult to explain the noises coming from Russia. He looks to be very happy here.
"I think everybody has the freedom to speak but you want to make sure first of all that you respect your club. I just put a question mark on the things that come back translated."

Wenger warned the 29-year-old forward not to push his luck farther than he has already: "We do not of course accept that," he said.
"When you are at Arsenal you are at Arsenal. When you are somewhere else you are somewhere else.
I beleive that your pride means that first you defend your club," Wenger reiterated.

¤Neven Subotic: The 21-year-old's excellent performance for Borussia Dortmund this season has won him many admirers from Europe's elite clubs.

According to German newspaper Bild, the energetic centre back is sure to trigger a real auction in the coming months between Arsenal, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.

Kolo Toure: Gallas made me quit Arsenal

Kolo Toure has revealed that his rift with William Gallas made him leave the Arsenal. He spent seven years at the North London outfit and will be returning to the Emirates stadium today for the first time in almost a year.

The ex Arsenal defender spoke his mind on the topic - and to a large extent I believe he has succeeded in dispelling the numerous rumours trailing his £16m summer switch to City.

Kolo said: "I was at Arsenal for seven years and everything was fantastic. But the last two years were difficult.

"I had a few problems with a few people there and wasn't feeling happy, I was looking for somewhere else and a new challenge.

The Ivory Coast international cleverly refused to expantiate on the nature of his feud with the ex Arsenal captain, but judging from his utterances - it is crystal clear that Gallas took his respect for granted: "Gallas and me misunderstood each other at certain times and one of us had to leave. As a player I had great respect for him as he was older than me," The Ivorian said.

"In Africa when someone is older you have respect for them, but I think sometimes he took advantage of that in someways.

"That was it," he continued. "I think Arsene understood that. I didn't want to make any trouble for Arsenal because I'd had a really good time there and they gave me my chance.

Toure said of his relationship with Arsene Wenger and why he refused to communicate with William Gallas: "There was no problem with Arsene and me. I have huge respect for him. But me and Gallas? We didn't talk to each other at all.

"It really came down to me, because I didn't want to leave the team in a difficult position and I was the one who said I wanted to go."

Toure stated in unequivocal terms that he left Arsenal because he was bullied, and for the simple reason that he thought Arsenal has lost the winning mentality associated with them. Toure, added that he joined Manchester City to further his blossoming career: "At the end of the last few seasons we were without any trophies," he said.

"That was difficult for me because I was getting used to winning trophies with players like Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, so after four years without that it became difficult.

"Everytime we got to the end of the season and had key games, we always seemed to have injuries or were unlucky."

Although Gallas and Toure, might not have buried their hatchet yet, the latter still believes in the Arsenal and expects Wenger to turn things around next season: "It's been like that for a few seasons now at Arsenal but Arsene is a really intelligent man and for next season he will change a few things," he concluded.

Gallas out of Barca clash

The Professor has finally conceded to defeat in his bid to nurture
William Gallas back to fitness in time for Arsenal's Champions League
cracker with Barcelona on Wednesday.

Gallas suffered a recurrence of his calf-injury and he's set to miss
our Barclays Premier League match against Birmingham this weekend and
might watch from the stands as his team mates prepare to duel their
visitors from Spain at the Emirates.
The defender has served Arsenal well, irrespective of what he has done
or what he's capable of doing, the Frenchman is undoubtedly the best
man for the job. And I hope either Sol or Sylvestre will rise to the
occasion by ensuring our defensive frailties are non-existent or at
least kept at the barest minimum possible.

Arsene Wenger said: "He is back from his rehabilitation today and I
believe he will return to full training tomorrow (friday), Saturday or
Sunday.

"But he is too short to be available for our game at Birmingham this
weekend - and certainly as well for the midweek game with Barcelona."
The manager also, admitted that it was too early to ascertain whether
the veteran defender will be available for selection next week against
Wolves: "It is too early to say whether he will be back for our
following League game against Wolves - we will have to assess him next
week," he said.

Vermaelen eager to learn from Sol

Arsenal's Belgian import Thomas Vermaelen, has revealed that he's
willing to learn from Arsene Wenger's prodigal son [Sol Campbell].

He went further to say that Sol's presence in the team shouldn't be
understated, because he's the balm that soothes the team's fears
during difficult moments. And the Belgian understands the age-old
adage that says "to be the best you have to learn from the best" and
he's ready to put that into practice by entertaining classes from the
ex England international.

Vermaelen has been outstanding in a pack of impressive players this
season, I guess I won't be wrong, if I refer to him as the best
defender in the Premier League so far. He's got what every manager
will spend for; great strength, determination, courage, good vision,
ability to deal properly with aerial bombardments and above all, an
eye for goal.

"I can learn a lot from him," Vermaelen told Arsenal Tv Online. "He
speaks a lot on the pitch and for young players and a young team it is
important to have somebody with a lot of experience who talks a lot on
the pitch."

The Gunners defensive enforcer also thanked William Gallas for the
successful partnership they have developed. He insisted that Silvestre
and Sol are the best options available for the vacancy created by
Gallas who is currently suffering from a calf injury.

"If he plays next to me it makes it easier for me.

"But he's not there (at the moment) and we have other centre-backs
like Mikael Sylvestre and Sol. They are both experienced and it is
really good to play with them," he enthused.

Arsene Wenger regrets Gallas' gamble

Arsene was infuriated with his decision to push William Gallas back to
fitness in a late bid to prepare him for action.

But the French International couldn't recover from his calf injury in
time to help the Gunners translate their European dream into reality by beating FC Porto in tonight's UEFA Champions League cracker.
Instead he broke down in training and the manager who has already lost
Cesc Fabregas admits that the 32-year-old is "back to square one" and
he faces a long time (up to a month) on the bench all because of his
impatience.

Arsene Wenger is alarmed at the number of Arsenal players injuries
have brought down in the last five years, and has since launched an
investigation in a bid to unravel the mystery behind our injuries and
to curtail future occurences.
Albeit the gaffer also said that he was unhappy with the
unsatisfactory results the findings have shown and he's certain he
will get to the root of our injury problems.

The Boss on Gallas' injury: "Gallas has been out for a month and now
he has had a recurrence of his calf injury. He felt very well on
Saturday and went out, but he has gone backwards again.
We are back at the starting point with Gallas unfortunately.

"We don't know how long it will be. He will have a scan and we will
assess it from there, but for Hull this weekend, for example, he has
no chance.

"We were impatient with him and we pushed him and he wanted to
get on as well, that is why maybe it has happened. But there is no
obvious sign as to why it keeps coming back. He has no pain at all,
then goes for a jog and then it goes again."

Though we are gonna lack Gallas' authority and experience at the back which
makes us more vulnerable to a full-fledged Porto attack, we can at least take
solace from the fact that we play as a team and that is one huge
disadvantage of Porto, whose majority play selfishly. And also derive
some joy from the news that Fabregas who will miss the encounter with
Porto tonight, will not be going under the knife in a bid to end his
nagging hamstring injury.
Fabregas was missing in training yesterday as a result of his
lingering injury and Wenger decided not to gamble on the young
Spaniard to avoid escalating his already bad situation.

Meanwhile, the skipper said he would have loved to play against Porto
but was restricted by the doctors attending to him.
"I wanted to play but the doctors recommended that I rest and avoid
any risk. I am very sad to miss out because Porto is important to us.
I will suffer far more than usual, having to watch from the side."

Today it's gonna be for Kieran Gibbs, so go and make us proud boys. . .
We are counting on you.