As ever with the t’interweb, there is no shortage of Arsenal news all over the place. You can read about Arsenal on football websites, Arsenal blogs, Twitter, Facebook – so much so that I pretty much shield myself from all of that. I don’t have time for rumour and gossip, and quite frankly it bores me. My Arsenal knowledge and opinion comes from watching the matches, the official Arsenal website, Arseblog and the BBC Football website.

So it peaked my interested when it was reported that Arsenal have agreed a deal for Lukas Podolski. Apparently we have agreed a deal with Cologne, although Podolski has yet to pass a medical or agree personal terms.

So it’s hardly a done deal.

But if all of this does happen, then what does this mean for Arsenal?

Essentially it can only mean one of two things. It means that Arsenal are finally bringing in quality players so they can compete at the very top, or it means that Arsenal are preparing to lose their captain Robin Van Persie.

The problem is that we have a reputation of losing our captains year after year. We lost Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, William Gallas and Cesc Fabregas while they were Arsenal’s club captain. I’m not sure whether giving a player the captains armband is Arsene’s secret way of telling the world that is our star player and they’re up for sale. With the exception of Gallas, obviously.

The other problem is if you had to name another player in the game today that is most similar to Van Persie, then it’s Lukas Podolski. You can be as pedantic as you like, but they both have a a truly wicked shot with their left foot and can bury a chance when the opportunity presents itself. They are both technically excellent on the ball and both of them have 5 letters in their first name. The only difference from what I’ve seen, is that Podolski has more natural pace.

And the key question is, can you imagine Arsenal playing Van Persie and Podolski together?

The answer is yes, but will Arsene use Podolski out wide or down the middle? Podolski is equipped to play down the centre, in Van Persie’s position or with his pace, on either wing. Does Arsene see him more of a provider or a goalscorer?

The answers to these questions won’t be answered until he starts playing for us (if he does come) or when and if Van Persie leaves.

Has Arsene had enough of Gervinho and Walcott?

The possible arrival of Lukas Podolski poses more questions than answers.

Firstly, a happy September to you all.

So what a dramatic final day of the transfer window eh?

Arsenal wrapped up the signing of Mikel Arteta from Everton late last night, who has penned a 4 year deal. Arteta is not a typical Arsene signing, with most of his acquisitions over the last 5/6 seasons either being from the lower leagues or from abroad. Let’s hope Arteta’s time at Arsenal is more fruitful than the only other Premier League signings, Diarra, Silvestre and Gallas.

He is also 29 years old, which is certainly not an age Arsenal likes to recruit players. With Mertesacker at 26, Santos at 28, Chu Young Park at 26 and Benayoun at 31, you wonder if Arsene has finally conceded defeat in only recruiting youngsters or whether it is the board who have put their foot down and demanded proven experience be brought in.

BBC’s Sports News Correspondent, Dan Roan, has just revealed on Twitter that Arsenal lodged an initial bid of £5 million on Tuesday, and then offered £10 million yesterday, both of which were rejected by Everton. It was only when Mikel Arteta handed in a transfer request at 7pm that the move materialised. So essentially we did a “Barcelona” to Everton.

It has also been reported that Arteta was on £75,000 per week at Everton, and he has taken a pay cut to join Arsenal. I’ve spoken to friends who are Everton supporters and they have mixed reactions to Arteta leaving. Some are truly gutted as he was their talisman while others are being quite defensive, saying he’s past it and only passes the ball sideways.

Personally, I think it is an excellent addition to the squad. He has Premier League experience, doesn’t need time to adjust himself to the country, is excellent on set-pieces and has that creative spark we desperately need. The fact is though he’s already scored goals this season and while his goal and assist statistics may not be in the same league as Cesc Fabregas, it must be remembered he’s been playing in an Everton side which most supporters will admit play far to negatively. So at Arsenal he will have far more attacking license.

And onto Benayoun. This signing is a little more confusing but again, he is experienced so I’m not going to complain! I can’t seem him as a regular starter but after speaking to Chelsea and Liverpool fans last night, the response was far more positive than I thought. Chelsea fans will point to Benayoun having a fantastic pre-season with Chelsea, and he only left because they brought in Mata and Meireles in the transfer window.

Liverpool fans on the whole, rate Benayoun. I pointed to the fact that he never seemed to play for Liverpool but they seem to think that he was one of their best players when he was fit, and Benitez preferred to play a more “solid” formation with Torres alone up front and Kuyt in behind. And despite being mainly a substitute in his 3 seasons at Liverpool, he did still average around 10 goals per season which is a decent return.

So how will Arsenal line up this season?

We’ve brought in 5 experienced players over the last few days, along with Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho. So a total of 8 new players, but I can only see 4 of those making the starting line-up on a regular basis.

For me, our regular line-up will be as follows:

Arsene is going to want to limit the amount of disruption to the team and Gervinho is already settled into the squad. Arteta can slot in where Ramsey has been playing this season and he can fill in for Jack if he’s out injured. Santos is certain to start with sicknote Gibbs being out on a regular basis and Mertesacker will play alongside Vermaelen, or Koscielny depending if the Belgian is injured.

Chu Young Park is simply a squad replacement for Bendtner and can fill in if Van Persie gets an injury. Jenkinson has proved he is a solid performer and the same goes for Frimpong. It will be interesting to see how much Arsene uses Benayoun however; he has been a bit part player for both Liverpool and Chelsea in the past and you would think he joined Arsenal to get more playing time. At the moment though I can’t see him being more than an impact sub, as he’s been utilised in the past.

And if you still need to get excited over the arrival of Mikel Arteta, then here’s a compilation of his goals and assists at Everton:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVq4mEdpTbc[/youtube]

And do you know what, I couldn’t care less!

Arsenal have brought in Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker and Chu Young Park over the last day or so, which I thought would be the last of the transfer dealings.

But tonight, drama took over when Arsenal were linked to Mikel Arteta. I thought this was complete nonsense and inevitably, the deal broke down as I expected.

But then, with only a couple of hours to go in the transfer window it was dramatically announced that he wanted to leave Everton.

A massive shock to myself, but a pleasant one at that!

After that it was a nail-bitting wait to see if Arsenal could complete the deal in time.

But the bottom line is that we’ve brought in Yossi Benayoun and Mikel Arteta, along with the other signings we’ve made, and while they might not be “marque” signings most Arsenal fans wanted, I am more than happy with them.

I never wanted superstar signings but just players with Premier League experience, and players that don’t need to acclimatise to the country and the pace of the Premier League. Arteta and Benayoun are solid performers and add strength to our midfield, and that is fantastic news.

Well done Arsene and Arsenal, after the shambolic 8-2 defeat against Manchester United on Sunday, that have redeemed themselves with some astute purchases on transfer deadline day!

We’ve brought in experienced players and you can’t ask for any more than that really.

Suddenly things don’t seem so bad anymore…

With only a few hours left of the transfer deadline at 11pm, the strongest stories at the present moment are the potential signings of Mikel Arteta for around £10 million from Everton, and Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea, possibly on loan.

The problem is, the signing of Arteta goes against Arsene’s whole transfer policy.

Over the last 7 seasons, Arsenal have brought in:

Hleb, Diaby, Mannone, Bendtner, Adebayor, Walcott, Rosicky, Baptista, Gallas, Fabianski, Eduardo, Nordtveit, Sagna, Diarra, Vela, Ramsey, Nasri, Bischoff, Silvestre, Arshavin, Vermaelen, Chamakh, Koscielny, Squillaci, Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho, Joel Campbell, Chu Young Park, Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker.

The common theme?

The players are either from the lower leagues or abroad.

Apart from Diarra, Gallas and Silvestre, all of the players we’ve brought in have been from outside of the Premier League. So clearly this is a conscious decision made by Arsene and his team.

Why is this?

Maybe he feels Premier League players are over priced? Whatever the reason, bringing in other players from teams from the Premier League is something that Arsene clearly likes to avoid.

So don’t bank on the Mikel Arteta deal to go through.

And the rumours are that Arsenal are offering £10 million for his services. Although Arteta is obviously not in the same league as Cesc, £10 million is under-valuing him if you ask me and we saw what happened when Arsenal tried to get Jagielka for a similar price.

Arsenal can always say they tried to sign a creative midfielder later on in the season if Arsenal struggle to score goals or have to play the younger players in midfield.