IT’s Day 57 of transfer speculation since the final kick of last season and there is a new hat in the ring as a possible replacement for you-know-who.
According to those seemingly informed bods at the Daily Mail, Arsenal are considering moving for Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac. “Gignac, 23, was the French league’s top scorer last season and Arsenal had scouts watch him on Friday night in a friendly against Bordeaux who had Marouane Chamakh in their line up,” reports the paper.
So are these legitimate targets and will AW splash the cash? Well, as ever, it’s very much cloak and dagger stuff from our esteemed leader.
He tells the Guardian: “We’re not on the verge of signing anybody but I’m able to spend the money if we find the right players. We’re not in a hurry because we have a big squad. We’ll see in pre-season if we need to make any additions.”
But wait, it emerges that Chamakh is on AW’s radar. he continues: “If we need to add something we will. Chamakh is one of the players we’ve followed and if we need to go for a striker he’s a possibility. We’re keeping an eye on him.
“We have Rosicky and Eduardo back so we’ve lost a big striker but have gained two offensive players who were absent last season. We also have Nicklas Bendtner, Andrey Arshavin, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott who can play striker. We have top players we can use as strikers.”
And it is the Czech dynamo Rosicky on whom The Sun focus this morning, asserting that AW is convinced he can fill the void left by Manchester City’s new saluting buffoon.
It claims: The injury-hit Czech midfielder, 28, played his first game in 18 months in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Barnet on Saturday. And Wenger said: “We have internal players lined up for Adebayor. I’d feared Tomas wouldn’t play again but now he’s back.”
That titan of the tabloids, the Daily Star, concurs with its Fleet Street rival and quotes AW thus: “We have a lot of offensive players and now we have Rosicky back, so we have gained a player who was absent last season. There was a time when I feared Tomas wouldn’t play again and he feared that too, certainly.”
Bring on Day 58, that’s what I say fellow Gooner brethren.