Why All This Cloak And Dagger Over Cazorla?

It's that day of the week that comes after Sunday; the day of the week I'm more likely to get out of bed with a groan on my lips and an ache in my head from over-indulgence in sensual pleasures and this Monday is no different. Despite the combination of headache, vertigo and lethargy that was caused by last night's affair with Johnny Walker Black, I grabbed my computer to troll the usual suspects for news of the official confirmation of Santi Cazorla.

Looks Like We Have Reason To Cheer Today, Gunners!!!

Is it too early to raise our mugs of lager and shout, "Cheers, Gunners!"? Twitter has been abuzz all morning with stories of Carzola heading to London for medicals.

Twit by @AFCAMDEN

Watch Arsenal In Nigeria In High Definition

Sagna, Mertesacker and Podolski were in Lagos, Nigeria to meet Arsenal fans last weekend. Watch the trailer of "Arsenal In Nigeria" in high definition.

Sagna, Per & Podolski Danced In Lagos

Sagna, Per & Podolski Came To Play Monkey Post In Nigeria?

It was a serio-comic show yesterday evening at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos as Airtel and Malta Guinness hosted Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna in an interactive session with Arsenal's fans in Nigeria.

The players came to participate in promotional activities with regional partners Airtel and Malta Guinness who recently signed partnership deals with Arsenal that will allow them harness the club's merchandising, hospitality and content rights.

Podolski, Per & Sagna taking questions from Charles Anazado while us ordinary mortals watched

Like Arsenal fans every where else in the world, Nigerian fans were mostly interested in extracting guarantees of a trophy next season and one wanted assurances from Sagna that his injury from the end of last season had healed sufficiently enough for him to ensure that no goal will be scored through his position at right back.

It was a lesson in diplomacy to see the trio deflect all sorts of questions like, "Sagna, will you leave Arsenal if the likes of Manchester City offered you good money?"

"If it was all about money, a few of would have left ages ago," Sagna replied.

Is it just me or does anyone else see the answer to that question in that response? Not that I blame him though, that's a question no player can answer honestly.

Charles Anazado who emceed the occasion did a good job of protecting the players from some questions that would have embarrassed them. One female fan took the microphone and asked, "What do you think of Arsenal hiring a new manager?"

I turned around to see if the chick was blonde but she was blacker than my black arse and that's saying a lot because my arse is black.

What did she expect the players to say? You're right, Honey. The club needs to sack Wenger and bring in Redknapp.

Charles took the microphone back from her and as tactfully as he manages Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi and co on his SS3N football show, answered the question himself by reminding the audience that Arsene Wenger has only recently turned down a job offer from the Brazilian Football Association.

It was good to see the boys out here really but it hardly makes up for the disappointment of the cancellation of the game that was planned for August 5th. My ManU friend actually said the trio had been sent down to play "monkey post" in Nigeria; that's the backyard football game that requires 3-5 players on each side that's popular in Africa using a small goal post that can be set up with stones or sticks.

Monkey Post

All-in-all, it was a good show but we now look forward to the big one with the whole squad in attendance as  has been promised by the club.

We'll get back to transfer rumours and speculations in this space from tomorrow. See ya.

When Per, Sagna and Podolski came to Lagos, the clowns came to welcome 'em twitter.com/naijaendgooner…
— lalah D Gooner (@naijaendgooner) July 30, 2012

Pictures Of Sagna, Podolski And Mert In Nigeria

Sagna, Podolski and Mertesacker arrived in Lagos yesterday and have been participating in marketing promotions with Arsenal's Nigerian partners. Rosicky did not make the trip as originally planned. See pictures below:

                                                              Click on images to enlarge
 

The Squad's Arrival In Malaysia In Pictures

The boys have arrived in Malaysia and pictures show they had a good time in-flight and were heartily welcomed by fans in Malaysia. Enjoy the gallery.

Arsenal FC Is Bad For My Blood Pressure

I honestly can't wait for August 18th when the season starts and we have more football to talk about than who we are buying or selling and whether the Dutchman goes to United, City or Juventus. It's one hell of a job keeping up with all the rumours flying about.

I am just a fan who wants to watch the team he loves get out on the field and play beautiful football and win games. The politics of pro or anti-Usmanov, pro or anti-Kroenke, pro or anti-Wenger, pro or anti-Gazidis, support or against Dein's return and all the other debates that are currrently drawing a line between supporters is really beginning to get to me.

Arsenal First Team Stars To Fly To Nigeria

On the heels of the cancellation of its trip to Nigeria in August, the club has announced that four first team stars will be flying to Nigeria to take part in marketing activities with regional partners, Airtel and Malta Guinness.

Sagna, Mertesacker, Podolski and Rosicky have been chosen to fly to Lagos with club officials in two weeks to take part in club events and activities organised by Airtel and Malta Guinness.

Arsenal’s head of global partnerships Vinai Venkatesham said: “We were disappointed to have to postpone the game and intend to visit Nigeria next summer. However we are delighted to be bringing this group of players to Nigeria to take part in events with our regional partners. It will give us a chance to engage with local supporters and reinforce our commitment to the market.”

The players will take part in a busy schedule of events in Lagos. Emmanuel Agu, marketing manager for (Malta) Guinness Nigeria plc commented: "Malta Guinness is the Official Malt Drink of Arsenal in Nigeria and we are looking forward to welcoming the Arsenal players to Lagos.

"We are sure that they will have a most enjoyable visit as they experience the energy and vitality of their Nigerian fans. Over the next few days, we will be announcing how fans of the nation's No 1 malt drink - Malta Guinness - can enjoy not only the goodness of our new lower sugar variant, but also win the opportunity to interact and get involved with their idols at a number of exclusive events during their stay. You can get more information by going to www.facebook.com/maltaguinness."

The players will also be making appearances for mobile network operator Airtel. Deepak Srivastava, chief operating officer and executive director for Airtel Nigeria, said: "Arsenal has a very large supporter base in Nigeria and Airtel is eager to connect these fans with some of their favourite football players.

"Indeed, Airtel is extremely committed to creating opportunities to excite and engage telecommunications consumers just as we are passionate about realising our brand vision of being the most-loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians."

Arsene Goes After Paulinho For His Mental Tougness

Arsenal eye £9m move for Brazilian star, Paulinho.

Now that was a decent rumour to wake up to this morning. Been a while since we had a decent one to   whet our appetence for fresh blood to add to Giroud and Podolski. A Brazilian. Wait a minute it isn’t just any Brazilian, it’s a Brazilian STAR.  

I know what you’re thinking, “Denilson is Brazilian too”. I did think it too but I didn’t let that dampen my euphoria. The boys from Brazil are usually fantastic ballers. Was sheer bad luck we got the 1-ina-million who isn’t. Besides this one’s name ends with “nho”. Like Ronaldinho and Robinho.

Uninteresting Times At Arsenal

It's a brand new week and I hope it will be more interesting with all things Arsenal than last week was. Very little came out of Arsenal in the way of news last week so most media resorted to dishing out the mundane, the unremarkable and the humdrum to fill the pages. May this week see us living in interesting times.

Pre-season training resumed last week Monday with most of the first team reporting for duty. Seemed no one told Andre Santos that his pal Benayoun was on loan last term and has had to go back to his owner. He sent the twit below to Benayoun the day before pre-season resumed and got a cocky response from Benayoun.

While this provided comic relief during a mundane spell as regards darling Arsenal FC, I did pause to wonder why there was this gap in communication.

The Gunners Have Landed in Nigeria!

Yes, I know that title amounts to taking the piss. I couldn't resist this one so pray, forgive a disappointed Gooner who had cancelled every other engagement to be at the Abuja National Stadium on August the 5th but must now wait until next summer to see the team he loves play in his home country. This is the closest I'll be getting to them in Nigeria until then.

If you look beyond the obvious state of disrepair of the bridge railings in the picture above, you'll see one of Airtel Nigeria's billboards located at Costain in Lagos showing a picture of members of the Arsenal team. I took this picture out of my car window while driving at a 130km/hour

The Boys Are Back In Training

Most of the first team reported back to the London, Colney training ground yesterday for pre-season training.

Only those who participated in Euro 2012 were exempted from the session that was overseen by Arsene Wenger, new assistant manager Steve Bould as well as first team coach Neil Banfield.

Click HERE to see exclusive pictures of the session on the club's official website.

Is Arsenal a Club in Crisis?

Every thing was going so well. I mean, we had signed Podolski -a proven forward from the German league and only just announced the acquisition of Olivier Giroud -the French League's top scorer from last season.

For the first time in years, Arsenal fans watched happily as the club went early into the transfer market and signed other than delinquents who are still wet behind the ears. We were making all the right noises in the transfer market too; there was still talk of our pursuit of Yanni M'villa and the French goal keeper Lloris, both first class internationals whose abilities can not be faulted. Not exactly marquee signings but we were looking like a club with true intent to contend next season not one who at the end of the season looks like they "also ran".

Arsenal Postpone Nigeria Trip

Arsenal FC has today announced the postponement of the trip to Nigeria which was originally billed for August 5th, 2012. The Arsenal first team was slated to play the Nigerian national team at the National Stadium in Abuja on the last leg of it's pre-season tour.

The club in a statement on the club's official website blamed "complexities linked to the planned game against Nigeria..."

BREAKING NEWS! RVP HAS JUMPED SHIP!!!

At 4.03pm this evening, the worst fears of every Arsenal fan was confirmed when club captain Robin Van Persie released a statement on his personal website notifying the fans that he will not be extending his contract which has one year left to run. Below is the statement in full:

This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.
As announced earlier this year I had a meeting with the Boss

This Podolski Wen We Dey Wait Sef

Last night, Italy dispatched Germany in impressive style to ensure that the last two standing Gunners at Euro 2012 will head home before the Final game on Sunday July 1st. Mario Balotelli sealed Germany's fate with a brace before the break; the 2nd goal, a strike that was reminiscent of the late Rashidi Yekini in full glory.

While Per heads home without kicking a ball for Germany throughout the tournament, new boy Podolski played in four of Germany's five games racking up 290 minutes of football, has one goal and zero assists to show for it. Podolski started for the Germans but an ineffectual display had him replaced after the break.

Airtel Goes With Arsenal

Arsenal FC has today announced a three year partnership deal with African mobile network operator Airtel. Announcing this earlier today, Arsenal's Head of Global Partnerships Vinai Venkatesham said, "“I am delighted to welcome Airtel into our family of Commercial Partners. This is the second long-term partnership arrangement to arise from the continent and we look forward to developing a number of exciting initiatives with Airtel, starting with our forthcoming tour to Nigeria in August. This underlines the depth of our following in Africa and how the profile of the Club continues to grow internationally."

The deal allows Airtel to harness the club's merchandising, hospitality, and content rights in five markets including Nigeria, Rwanda, Gambia, Uganda and Ghana

Keshi Vs Wenger

I find myself in a bit of dilemma this morning. It's the old club versus country dilemma that has either made or marred the best of us. Oh, I love my country with all my heart and will scream it from the top of the Udi hills if need be. But I also love Arsenal and have very often chanted "Arsenal for life!" or "Arsenal till I die!". But in all this I never for once believed both these loves of mine will line up against each other and make me choose. What colour of jersey will I be wearing when I arrive the Abuja stadium on August 5th

Giroud Poses For Gay Magazine

Our new £12m signing Olivier Giroud may have made himself a target for opposition supporters before he has even kicked a ball for Arsenal by posing topless for French gay magazine Tetu.

The 25 year old will be in London later this week to put pen to paper on a five year contract after France's elimination from Euro 2012 by Spain.

"I am proud to become a Gunner," Giroud said to a reporter from The Sun as he confirmed rumours of his move to Arsenal for the first time.

Giroud can definitely expect some heckling on this score from the terraces every time he lines up in an Arsenal shirt in England as the football world has expressed zero tolerance for homosexuality.

Olivier will be joining Arsenal from Montpellier where he finished the season as league champion as well as the Golden Boot winner after Euro2012.

Giroud who was recently voted the country's sexiest footballer featured on the front cover of the latest edition of Tetu and reportedly said, "I have no taboos. I will be glad if my gesture will help change the mentality of some people involved in football. I don't see any difference between a straight person and a gay one. Tetu is a magazine like any other."

Hmmmm. He had better produce fast if he does not want the Arsenal supporters to get on his back as well. We can also be politically correct as long as he's banging in goals.