With Arsenal’s continued problem with our injured defender, Arsene Wenger has revealed that he may dip into the transfer market to bring someone in but he has made it clear that we should not expect any big name signings and they are not available and will not be sold by their clubs.

Rather Wenger will look at bringing in someone who is good and experienced but can not get a game at their current club or he will get in a young player no one knows about, and we all know how good Wenger is at finding these young talents.

“At the moment we are exploring potential situations we can take advantage of but there is nothing concrete,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“Hopefully the players will come back very quickly now. With Carl Jenkinson we had very good news on his scan and he is starting to practice again, we have Thomas Vermaelen who is the first to come back, Bacary Sagna is evolving well and Santos is doing well too. Let’s hope they all come back quickly.

“All over the world we have our eyes and we look for good [players].

“It is very simple in a situation like that. You might take a player who doesn’t play at all somewhere, who is not necessarily fit quicker than a player who is injured. Or you take a young, potential player who has not made it somewhere.

“A player who plays anywhere in the world at the moment will not be available on loan, it doesn’t exist. It can only be a guy who doesn’t play or a promising player who has not yet made it completely who you could take advantage of.

“That is why it is not an easy situation. You have to consider that a guy who has not played for two months is not necessarily back quicker than Bacary Sagna or another player who is just coming back from injury.”

Well we all saw it didn’t we. I was happily, yet casually, watching the Arsenal vs Leeds game when who should appear on my TV, none other than Judas himself Samir Nasri, who was spotted in the stands at the Emirates on the night of Thierry Henry’s sensational return.

However, the Manchester City midfielder wasn’t wearing his trademark cheeky grin. Instead, the Frenchman sat uncomfortably in his seat, and it even appeared that those around him didn’t want to be associated with him, but there he was. Straightaway it got me thinking, does he regrets leaving the club that shot him to fame? And I think if he was to be asked this particular question and answered honestly, I think he would admit that he made a mistake in leaving.

Nasri once had his own song at Arsenal. We cheered him and respected him for what he did and gave to the team. This time last season he was in amazing form and arguably one of the best in the Premier League. But then his head was turned. He got greedy and claimed he wanted ‘success’, but we all know what he left for, the lure of Manchester City’s cold hard cash, promises of Champions League glory and the chance to become a huge star with a bigger wallet.

I was looking into stats so since he joined Man City and saw that he has only played the full 90 minutes on 5 occasions out of 20 starts, has been replaced by a team-mate 13 times, brought on as a sub 5 times, and has actually been an unused substitute on 3 occasions – shocking, especially when compared to Arsenal stats.

Nobody will be surprised by Nasri’s poor form this season and cameo style appearances. With David Silva playing well, Nasri simply doesn’t have the draw that you would expect from a player who cost £24 million. Was it good business on Arsenal’s part? Absolutely!

Man City fans are already starting to question the purchase of Nasri. We all know they are a fickle bunch, but people questioning the club’s decision to buy him isn’t going to help his cause, and soon enough he will end up on the transfer listed paper.

There is no question in my mind that Nasri deserves everything that he has got this season, which so far is nothing. He has gone from being a great player to simply a joke, and if reports are to be believed that he was seen walking round Emirates after the match on Monday, then he may well be regretting his departure from our club.

You did have a chance to get half the response that Thierry Henry got Samir. You had that chance to be forever loved by the Arsenal fans, maybe even one day to be referred to as a legend, but in that one move to Man City, with the money and your comments about the Emirates and Arsenal fans, you blew it mate. You maybe regretting your Emirates exit, but don’t expect any sympathy from myself or any Arsenal fan for that matter.

Should there come a time when you leave Man City, do not think for a second it would be an easy trip back to London to rejoin ‘the Arsenal’, the fans have moved on and, if ever you did comeback, you’d have to prove yourself all over again and apologise to every single Arsenal fan for your ridiculous words against the club.

Article courtesy of Iain Culverhouse at Gunnersphere

With Arsenal’s growing injury problems to our defenders, it is being reported that Arsenal are lining up a move for Barcelona left-back Eric Abidal. The French defender is in the final year of his contract and Barcelona may decide to cash in on the 32-year-old this January if he does not want to sign a new contract or stand to lose him for free in the summer.

We all know how rumours linking Arsenal with French players are never to be ruled out largely due to Wenger’s positive influence on his fellow countrymen.

Abidal may not be the quickest of players these days but his experience could be very much welcome at Arsenal coupled with the fact that he can play across the entire back four with no problems.

Do you think that Abidal would be a good signing for Arsenal?

There has been a lot of talk today (Monday) about Arsenal making a move for out of favour Chelsea star Salomon Kalou. The striker is currently away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast but there are reports today that he has been allowed to leave the camp by Ivory Coast so that he can go tie up a deal with Arsenal ahead of a £3million move.

The 26-year-old Kalou would be a great addition to the Arsenal squad in my opinion. He really has not been given that many chances by Chelsea but when he has been asked to play he has delivered: 58 goals in 135 starts is not bad at all.

We need some more fire-power upfront for Arsenal to help Van Persie with the goals. Kalou may not be your fox in the box striker that many fans are calling out for but he will do well to link up with Van Persie and Gervinho.

What are your thoughts?

Demba Ba is one of the hottest names in the game today as the Newcastle striker has set the stage alight this season by banging in 15 goals already.

The giant striker signed in the summer by Newcastle from West Ham apparently has a release clause of £10million according to the Daily Mail.

If this information is correct then you can be sure that a whole host of top clubs are going to activate that clause and try sign Ba as he is a quality striker. You can understand why his release clause may be that low: not many people would have thought he would have hit the heights he has this season in the Premier League.

Now with Arsenal in need of another quality striker, I think we should make a bid for Demba Ba in the summer as he would be the perfect compliment to Robin van Persie. What are your thoughts?

There has been a lot of talk about Theo Walcott leaving Arsenal as he has not been offered a new contract with his current deal ending next year. It is being reported that Walcott wants a large pay rise in his new deal which Arsenal are not willing to offer.

With that said, Walcott has now been linked with a move away from Arsenal with Juventus being a potential destination.

But Arsene Wenger has come out and quashed any chance of Walcott leaving the club.

The Arsenal manager said: “We want to keep Theo and he knows that. Of course [he earns his money] he works every day and works very hard.

“His attitude is great, I have no problems with that at all.”

No Arsenal fans, it is not the Suarez you are thinking of! I do not think I would want Liverpool’s Luis Suarez at Arsenal after his racism saga.

But instead, Arsenal are linked with another goal scoring Suarez: Argentina forward Matias Suarez.

Suarez is currently playing for Belgian side Anderlecht and Arsenal scouts have been impressed with what they have seen of the 23-year-old striker and are ready to make a bid for him this January.

Suarez is valued at £10million which in my opinion is not a bad fee at all to pay for a striker who has managed to score 14 goals in 24 games this season.

With Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh off to the Africa Cup of Nations, we need some more backup in our striking division. We may have Thierry Henry back but we need someone more permanent to help Van Persie.

Arsenal are desperately short on defensive options right now and The Metro is reporting that we may be ready to sign out of favour Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge on loan for the rest of the season.

Bridge has fallen down the pecking order at City and the 31-year-old defender is looking for a new club.

Without Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos through injury, Bridge may prove to be a good short term signing for Arsenal.

We have struggled in the left-back position this season and having someone with the experience of Bridge could benefit us.

Relax guys, it is not what you think!

Van Persie has been allowed to go on a break to a sunny destination by Arsene Wenger so that he can re-charge his batteries. Van Persie has been allowed to leave as he will not feature in the FA Cup tie this weekend and that will give him so well deserved time off.

Our top goal scorer has been very lucky with injuries this season as he has been fit most of the time and Wenger has to continue managing him well because if Van Persie goes down injured, we could be in trouble.

With Henry set to return to Arsenal we now have more options upfront but it is not looking likely that Henry will play against Leeds as he has not been registered yet meaning that Marouane Chamakh or Ju Young Park could start upfront against Leeds.

Well, he’s quite simply the man of the moment.

While there was frequently loose talk of the ‘wheel’s coming off’ the mighty Arsenal machine, one man didn’t capitulate. One man chose to raise his game and make a stand. That man was Robin van Persie
The only thing that could possibly top his magnificent season is Arsene Wenger announcing that he 100% will not be sold at the end of it. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy:

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