Well Fabregas has been mainly positive over the recent weeks, speaking about the departure of Thierry and how Arsenal will do next season. While few share his optimism about winning the league, you can’t help be caught up in all the hype. He also touched on the patchy home form last season and how Arsenal need to make the Emirates into a fortress. There’s no doubt a new stadium effects form so hopefully Arsenal will be completely settled by the start of the new season.

I’ve been looking forward to the new campaign for a long time now – it will be exciting and intriguing how Arsenal perform without Henry but if Arsenal can get a decent run going in the first 10 games then anything is possible.

Arsenal have been linked with Anelka yet again. I can’t see that happening now since Arsene purchased Eduardo da Silva, who you would assume would be partnered with Van Persie. Adebayor seems to be improving all the time so you couldn’t see him being happy sitting on the bench too much either. I suppose it would depend on Freddie leaving, which looks like isn’t going to happen now.

I found an interesting article claiming that Martin’s ‘snubbed’ Arsenal to stay at Newcastle. If Martin’s loved Newcastle so much would he have signed for them insisting there was a buy-out clause in his contract? And it’s funny I’ve yet to see a single report about an official offer for the player.

There’s also increasing news about Stan Kroenke wanting to meet the rest of the Arsenal board after talking to Peter Hill-Wood and Keith Edelman. The press are getting excited about a possible takeover but who knows? The fact is the guy is a shareholder in Arsenal so it would make sense to at least speak to the other board members to introduce himself.

Finally, Jose Mourinho has said Spurs are in the title race next season – proving yet again that he is indeed an idiot.

The Future & The Past?

It’s still only July and Arsenal have signed yet another player.

I’m getting giddy as we speak.

And apart from my terrible headline (I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist) the signing of Sagna looks like an excellent addition to the squad. Wenger said:

“We are delighted to have signed Bacary Sagna. He is a very capable defender and has played consistently well for Auxerre in recent seasons.

He plays mainly at right back, but can also play along the defence or in midfield. He is strong, quick and enjoys defending but also has a good offensive side to his game. He has a fighting spirit and will be a very good addition to our squad.”

So Arsene can see Bacary Sagna playing across the back-four or even in midfield, so his versatility will be a valuable asset to the team. The guy is only 24 just like new arrival Eduardo da Silva so will be hungry next season with having something to prove.

You can also see exclusive photographs here on the official Arsenal website.

But as Arsenal add to their squad it looks like Freddie could be on his way out – possibly following Lupoli to Fiorentina. If he does leave then I wish him all the best because he’s been excellent for the club, and been one of the best finishers I’ve seen.

With Eduardo and Bacary coming in, you just sense this isn’t the end of the signings.

Do you feel it too?

Well here’s a link to Will.I.Am Gallas’ official website with the interview which is causing so much attention.

I have to say that reading his official site there’s nothing really outrageous in the statements he’s actually made, and he has even acknowledged the costs of the new stadium for restricting Arsene’s ability to splash out big money. Although saying that it’s not Wengers style to spend £20/£30 million on a single player like the other top 4 would.

And on the recruiting front, reports have been saying that the signing of Bakary Sagna will be completed soon – so we could have another player by the end of the day. The article also says that Sagna can also play on the left which could be useful since Gael Clichy is our only recognised senior left-back. People have pointed out to already having Eboue and Hoyte but at centre back we already have Gallas (maybe), Djourou and Senderos to cover Kolo. Eboue will be missing but could be used as a winger with Sagna’s possible arrival – he’s been more effective than Hleb and Rosicky in the few games he’s played further up and Manu isn’t afraid to shoot either.

The Online Gooner has an interesting article on our new Signing Eduardo ‘Dudu’ da Silva which is well worth a read.

Another Arsenal target looks to have been snapped up by our rivals, as Liverpool look to buy Ryan Babel for around £13.5 million. I haven’t seen Babel in action much to be honest although I’ve heard he’s a decent player. Arsene should really target a few crap players and then let the likes of Chelsea, United and Real Madrid get them – that’ll teach them to go after our transfer targets.

Our old striker (no, not that one) has backed Fiorentina’s bid for Freddie. There has been a lot of speculation about Freddie leaving and he clearly wants to stay, but ultimately it’s Arsene’s decision.

New Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has expressed his admiration for Cesc Fabregas, sparking yet more transfer speculation about the young Spaniards future. The interesting thing is that in none of the quotes does he actually say he wants to buy Fab, but of course that doesn’t stop the silly season transfer news.

There’s no way that AW would let Cesc and Henry leave in the same summer.

And if I was Bernd I would be thinking about where he’s going to work next year after Real sack him after one season!

Meanwhile Willie Gallas has shown once again how egotistical he is by claiming to know what’s best for the team. He has his own website for God’s sake. While many will probably support what he’s on about most of you would agree that a public rant isn’t exactly the best way to go about things – and not exactly great for team spirit. If he has any problems he should speak to Wenger privately.

Our old captain has said what most gooners think about young foriegn talent over English youth – it doesn’t matter what your passports says as long as you’re good enough. Would you rather have Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry or David Bentley, Jay Boothroyd and Matthew Upson?

Exactly.

There have been many reports recently on Arsenal signing Bakary Sagna, and the players have even come out and said publicly that he wants Auxerre to let him join us. Wenger’s transfer dealings are usually very secret, although it would make sense with Kolo and Eboue missing some of the season on ACN duty.

And finally, a few of Arsenal’s fixtures have been re-arranged to accommodate television rights – mainly to Sky Sports and Setanta. 3 (Pompy, Liverpool & United) will be shown on Sky, while 2 (Sunderland & Reading) will be on Setanta. I don’t have Setanta Sports because Sky is bloody expensive as it is and I probably won’t next season by the looks of it if they’re showing games like Sunderland.

Goals, Goals, Goals!

Well Arsene has done it again.

He’s bought a player and no-one had any idea it was going to happen. Arsene Wenger is the ultimate stealth in the transfer market – and we all know Arsenal.com only report on completed deals and not speculation!

So who is this new signing?

Well it’s the Brazilian-born and Croatian International Eduardo da Silva, who gave Arsenal a scare last season when he scored the first European goal at the Emirates for Dinamo Zagreb – finishing off Toure’s failed interception and slotting past Almunia in the Champions League Qualifier last August.

He’s also 24 years old, the sort of age Wenger likes to bring in talent.

And Dinamo Zagreb President has said on record that the deal is £16.24 million although there are reports that he was mis-translated and the fee is closer to £8 million. He’ll be joining on a 4 year deal subject to a medical.

His record for the Croatian National team is 7 goals in 12 games which isn’t bad, but he also finished last season with a record 34 goals in the Croatian league – which is quite impressive.

Just take a look at his goals in the video link below.

It might not be the big summer signing of Torres or E’eto that a lot of Arsenal fans had probably been hoping for but I for one am excited about what this guy is capable of.

You might knock the Croatian league, but notching up 34 goals shows that he has at least the natural goalscoring ability that will be vital in converting the numerous chances Arsenal make every game.

That was a big problem last season.

Wenger obviously believes this guy is good enough for Arsenal and the Premiership and who are we to disagree?

The main thing is that we all give this guy a chance.

He might be coming from Croatia but they beat England in the qualifiers – and ‘Dudu’ scored the opening goal in that match. Scoring against Paul Robinson before even joining – that’s a big plus in my book!

Another interesting story is that Fabregas’ agent Joseba Diaz has outlined the little Spaniards desire to stay at the club, but also pointed out Arsenal are going to buy a lot of good players. Does he know something we don’t?

It could be just hearsay but who knows?

Video: Eduardo da Silva’s Goals 2006/2007 (YouTube – click here)