Arsenal will launch a £10 million bid for Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin this summer. The Sun reports that Arsene Wenger has been keeping a close eye on his compatriot since the player joined Saints for £1.2million from Strasbourg in 2008. The 23-year-old signed a new contract at St Mary's in February.
Since signing with Arsenal, Abou Diaby has made just 92 league appearances for the club and has, by talkSport's estimations, suffered 35 injuries.
The frustration with Diaby's injury-prone history at Arsenal is that he's an amazingly gifted central midfielder who often makes a profound difference to the team when he's in the side.
Abou Diaby's injury nightmare has continued with the Arsenal midfielder now ruled out for nine months.
Abou Diaby of Arsenal (Wikimedia Commons)
Since arriving from Auxerre in 2006 for a fee of £2m, Diaby has enjoyed only two relatively injury-free seasons. Other than that he has been plagued by injuries during his career, and in the current campaign he has started just ten Premier League games for the club.
So we know that we are without Theo Walcott who would insist of travelling with England, silly boy, Abou Diaby, and possibly without Kieran Gibbs who is ill.
And we know Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna are fit.
We also know that so far this season we have scored seven [.
Sometimes there is news that makes you so sad that it feels as if the bad news is about yourself. This is how I felt when I read on arsenal.com that Abou Diaby will be out for at least 8 to 9 months.
Arsenal finally gets back to Premier League action on Saturday March 30 when they take on relegation-battling Reading at home at the Emirates. As has been the case all season long, the Gunners will be determined to earn all three points in the race for third and fourth place along with Tottenham and Chelsea.
Here is my outlook on the midfield hope you enjoy it .
Abou Diaby. Average player does his shift some games other games he's just unreliable and prone to giving the ball away.
Should he stay or should he go?
Tomáš Rosicky. Great player but he seems to have lost his way since the injury set back, can be unplayable at times but this season we have not seem him at his best.
Here is my outlook on the midfield hope you enjoy it .
Abou Diaby. Average player does his shift some games other games he's just unreliable and prone to giving the ball away.
Should he stay or should he go?
Tomáš Rosicky. Great player but he seems to have lost his way since the injury set back, can be unplayable at times but this season we have not seem him at his best.
The goalscorers celebrate but more importantly, Per also made the journey
Inserting a "Nacho" related pun would be the first thing on the bloggers and headline writers mind today. You will not find any of that sort from me. The reason is simple, I couldn't think of any and I don't want to make a fool of myself with a lame pun.
Arsene Wenger has sprung a little surprise with his selection of Arsenal team for a hugely important Game against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Lukas Podolski starts on the bench with Cazorla in his left sided position, Aaron Ramsey will start alongside Mikel Arteta, possibly as an answer to the threat of Gareth Bale.
Abou Diaby made a rare start for Arsenal yesterday (his 8th of the season), he played reasonably well despite his lack of fitness, but inevitably he had to be taken off after an hour and replaced by Aaron Ramsey.
Most people simply thought that the reason for bringing him off was because of the shortness of fitness, but it seems that he had a recurrence of his thigh problem (hamstring?
A dejected Francis Coquelin of Arsenal reacts following his team's 1-0 defeat during the FA Cup against the Blackburn Rovers-Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
It is looking increasingly likely that Arsenal will finish yet another season trophy-less after failing at home to Championship side Blackburn in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Arsenal-Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
With the Champions League knock-out round first leg against Bayern Munich looming large, it's likely that Arsene Wenger will rotate his side with that game in mind. While the FA Cup is his side's best chance of a trophy, it would be foolish to neglect it entirely in favour of such a daunting task against the German champions, but Wenger will be keen to prove a point on the biggest stage, and will want his best players to be fresh.
So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .
So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .
Time to move away from the Young Jack eulogising and onto some proper English PL football, and there are few grounds more suited to a return to earth than the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland is a fine town with a fine history. It has one of the lowest incomes per head in the UK and yet almost 40,000 people go to watch their home games (5k more than Spurs!
Time to move away from the Young Jack eulogising and onto some proper English PL football, and there are few grounds more suited to a return to earth than the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland is a fine town with a fine history. It has one of the lowest incomes per head in the UK and yet almost 40,000 people go to watch their home games (5k more than Spurs!
Arsene Wenger was hoping that he would be able to select at least one out of Mikel Arteta and Francis Coquelin for Arsenal tomorrow. Liverpool come to the Emirates and the Gunners are well aware that Brendan Rodgers' team have plenty of attacking threat. Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling have lots of creativity and movement and Arsenal have not been at their best defensively this season, not by a long way.
Arsene Wenger has revealed that the lack of a real dominating team in England means that he will rue missing the opportunity of winning the league this season in May.
Both the Manchester clubs and Chelsea have been weaker than their respective previous versions this term and Wenger believes it was the perfect chance for his Arsenal side to end their title drought.
Tonights game is a must-win for Arsenal after losing their last two League matches, but it seems that Arsene Wenger is yet again going to have problems with picking a strong midfield. Abou Diaby has just made his comeback and I'm sure Wenger thought he was going to be "like a new signing", but he is doubtful to be playing so many games in such rapid succession.
Well I think from now on I'll take a heavy dose of Standard Saturday football, or maybe even Wonderful Wednesday before I ever look forward to these ill-fated Super Sundays. Another defeat and we now sit 24 points off the top of the table. 24 Dutch infused points to be precise that really could have been avoided.
Well I think from now on I'll take a heavy dose of Standard Saturday football, or maybe even Wonderful Wednesday before I ever look forward to these ill-fated Super Sundays. Another defeat and we now sit 24 points off the top of the table. 24 Dutch infused points to be precise that really could have been avoided.
Arsenal has once again been linked to a move for French midfield enforcer Yann M'Vila from Rennes, according to The Times.
It was widely speculated that M'Vila would make the move to the North London club in the summer, especially following the sale of midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona.
When Arsenal took to the snowy Stamford Bridge pitch at 2:30 on Jan. 20 they showed they were fully prepared to take on third-place Chelsea. The only problem was the kick off was at 1:30. This was truly a tale of two halves. Chelsea dominated in the first stanza and took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after 45 minutes while Arsenal turned the tables on their London neighbours in the second half, but it was too little too late as they fell 2-1.
Finally got around to watching the entire game. Business trip have denied me access to the game and dodgy internet line wasn't helping on the stream either. Glad to see us qualify to the next stage of the competition. Trip to Brighton won't be the easiest of Fourth Round ties, we only have to remember what happened when we last faced a lower league side to know that.
The task of facing Chelsea in a football game at Stamford Bridge once used to be the most difficult away fixture in the Barclays Premier League and it was extremely rare for the travelling clubs to come away with their pride intact, let alone any points.
The Blues famously enjoyed an extraordinary run of 86 matches (or four years) unbeaten at home in the league between February 2004 and October 2008 before a then Rafa Benitez-led Liverpool ended that run through a deflected Xabi Alonso-strike.
You can forgive me for thinking that Walcott's new contract is the solution to Arsenal's current problems. You can also forgive me for thinking that if anyone merits those sort of wages and signing on fee it's our own academy legend, Jack Wilshere. Don't get me wrong, I am glad Theo has chosen to stay albeit slightly annoyed at the way this has dragged out, and, to be honest, still unconvinced he is the answer to our striking problems.
You can forgive me for thinking that Walcott's new contract is the solution to Arsenal's current problems. You can also forgive me for thinking that if anyone merits those sort of wages and signing on fee it's our own academy legend, Jack Wilshere. Don't get me wrong, I am glad Theo has chosen to stay albeit slightly annoyed at the way this has dragged out, and, to be honest, still unconvinced he is the answer to our striking problems.
What a strange season it has been and who can predict how it will end? Could we win the FA Cup? Why not, we have done it before and what is more, the last time was in Wales following a drawn game which must be a good portent.
We haven't done very well against Swansea this season, have we? If ever there was proof of Rasp's opinion that The Arsenal are not as good as the individual components of the team, those two games are it .
What a strange season it has been and who can predict how it will end? Could we win the FA Cup? Why not, we have done it before and what is more, the last time was in Wales following a drawn game which must be a good portent.
We haven't done very well against Swansea this season, have we? If ever there was proof of Rasp's opinion that The Arsenal are not as good as the individual components of the team, those two games are it .
Arsenal battled it out to the very end in grinding out a hard-earned 1-0 win at Sunderland on Saturday Feb. 9 even though they were down to 10 men after 62 minutes. They controlled the match in the first half, but started to lose the plot a little after the break as Carl Jenkinson received his second yellow card of the game just after the hour mark.
Arsenal's pedestrian 1-0 win over a toothless Stoke side could see them gain points on every club that stands between them and the coveted fourth-place position in the table this weekend. With Rafael Benitez's Chelsea dropping more points via a 3-2 last-minute loss in Newcastle and Everton fighting back from a 3-1 deficit to draw Aston Villa 3-3 at home, Gunners could see a near perfect weekend take place if West Brom happens to beat Spurs at the Hawthorns in Sunday's early match.
Arsenal did just enough to squeak by Brighton and Hove Albion 3-2 on Saturday Jan. 26 on the south coast and advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup. However, they had to bring the big guns off the bench to do it as Theo Walcott shot home the winner in the 85th minute after coming on as a sub with Jack Wilshire in the 68th minute.
So, after over 18 months of refusing to sign a new contract, Theo Walcott has put pen to paper and committed his future to Arsenal.
Good, because it means that a tedious, drawn-out saga is over. Good, because Arsenal have secured the future of a player who, while still far from the finished article, looks to be improving and maturing.
Morning from a thoroughly wet and miserable Dublin. We had sun the other day and it was quite warm. Please join me in a moment's silence/applause for the passing of summer 2013.
[I was gonna put a tumbleweed in here but it can't tumble because it weighs 8 stone soaking wet]
Anyway, all the talk this morning is of Luiz Suarez and the 10 game ban he's been issued by the FA for gnawing on Branislav Ivanovic.
We'll start with the Abou Diaby story, and the French midfielder's injury curse continues as he was ruled out yesterday for up to 9 months with a cruciate ligament injury. It's unbelievably harsh news for a guy who was happily proclaiming he'd learned to manage his own body just a few days ago.
Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany has done something that many young children always dream of doing. He's bought his own football club.
Kompany has bought third division Belgian side FC Bleid, who currently sit 19th in the table. The Brussels side will be renamed, will have a new logo selected as well as new kits and a new slogan.
Morning all, I know I'm prone to weird dreams, but this morning, between snoozes, I dreamed that I was watching Football Focus, and Alex Ferguson's answer to Robin van Persie's goal drought was simple.
'We're going to find the biggest mains tap we can, stick it up his arse, and turn it on full blast.
