Lassana Diarra has signed on for Arsenal on the deadline day of the transfer window. The midfielder has apparently signed a long term deal with Arsenal and this late signing clearly shows how highly Wenger rates him. We already have a big enough contingent of center midfielders but Diarra is touted to be the replacement for Gilberto Silva once the Brazilian leaves/retires from the club.
Diarra later talked to the press about his transfer.
“I have great respect for the manager Arsène Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays. Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies this season and for years to come.”
He was unhappy with the lack of first team action at Chelsea, but it’s pretty strange that he chose Arsenal. Here the opportunities are restricted like at Chelsea as we have surplus of central midfielders.
Wenger also spoke about this deal.
“Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad. Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right back.”
This transfer also throws doubt over the future of some players.
First, Mathieu Flamini. The arrival of Diarra won’t help him at all in geting more first team action and it looks pretty sure that Flamini will leave in the next transfer window or the one after that. Flamster is a great squad player who has always given his best. I wouldn’t like to see him leave, but he won’t be pleased to be sitting on the bench. We’ll hear more about him and his future soon.
Second, Gilberto Silva. It is pretty early to say that Gilberto’s days at Arsenal are counted, but Wenger’s policy of preferring young players over 30+ aged players throws doubt in my mind. Gilberto hasn’t signed a new contract yet and he is supposedly unhappy with the captaincy decision. It would be foolish to let Gilberto leave soon but Wenger has his plans and we’ll hear more about Gilberto’s future in the coming sumer.
We recently had the Champions League draw and now it’s the turn for Carling Cup. We drew Newcastle United and kept the tradition of drawing tough oppositions in league matches. Wenger will sure stick to a youthful team. The only question is whether he’ll mix youth and experience like last time, or will he go for a full young squad.
We have lots of rumors about takeover, but I hate to go into those things as i hate a takeover even though it’s headed by David Dean. The whole situation is a big mess and totally unnecessary.
Between all this, we have a match tomorrow against Portsmouth. It’ll be played at the Grove and as always it’s important to come away with a win. The likes of Kanu, Lauren and Campbell will return as they look set to start. It will be interesting to see what formation they go for, but the most probable one is a 4-5-1.
Coming to Arsenal team news, Alex Hleb is doubtful for this match as he fell ill and his inclusion in the squad will be a late decision. Hleb is a vital part in the team as we haven’t signed any wingers and Walcott is still raw. We also have Sagna, Gallas, Eboue and Lehmann in the injury list.
Pompey will be tough to beat at it is important that our defense maintains its concentration throughout. Last time they visited, we went two goals down before fighting back to get a 2-2 draw. We need to win and i won’t mind if its a scrappy 1-0.
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