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I received another phone call that day, this time from Mark Hughes, enquiring about Mathieu Flamini. I told him that I would consider an offer of £3,400,000 with a 10% sell on clause.

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The Telegraph

Wulfric Snaps Up Cardenas In First Summer Deal

Arsenal completed their first signing of the summer yesterday when Sherman Cardenas joined for a fee of £750,000 from Buceramenga. The Colombian, who turns seventeen on August 7th has already been tipped for big things by his new manager. “I signed Sherman because he has big potential that I believe will blossom at Arsenal.” said Wulfric, “He will hopefully be the first of a few signings in the next few days.” Arsenal, who had been quiet in the transfer market up until this point, are reportedly close to sealing a couple more deals but Wulfric would not be drawn on the subject. “All I will say is that we are close to sorting out a few more transfers but I will not be saying who. You will hear more shortly.”

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I feel that Cardenas will provide the team with some much needed extra width on the right and with Alexander Hleb’s future in the balance he could prove very useful this season. He is also very young and should become a big player for us in the future, whether on the right or in the middle.

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I have received a report from Giles Grimandi recommending that I move for Walter Samuel quickly before another club tries to get him. I have now contacted Roberto Mancini to give him my verdict on the offer.

I have negotiated Inter’s offer for Hleb. I have switched the £9,400,000 over a period of 24 months to the same amount straight up. If Inter agree to my demands then I will accept the deal.

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FourFourTwo.com

Arsenal Seal Double Winger Deal

Arsenal have today completed the signings of two teenage wingers. 19 year old Mexican left midfielder Andres Guardado has joined from Atlas for a fee thought to be around £2,800,000, while 17 year old French right midfielder Gabriel Obertan signed from Bordeux for £825,000. Arsenal have now signed three wingers this summer and the arrival of Obertan is likely to pave the way for Alexandr Hleb’s departure. Hleb was thought to be the subject of an exchange deal bid from Inter Milan, with Walter Samuel heading the other way. With Cardenas, Obertan and Walcott all now available for the right side of midfield Wulfric may well be more open to offers for the Belerus international. The only possible problem is that those three players are 16 - 17 years old and lack vital experience, it remains to be seen whether these youngsters can step up to the challenge the Premiership offers. Also in need of stepping a gear up will be Guardado, who has been signed as a player who will ’hopefully break into the first team soon’ by Tom Wulfric. Arsenal have been short of a real left winger since the departure of Robert Pires last summer and Wulfric clearly sees the young Mexican as the ideal replacement. The original replacement was Tomas Rosicky, signed by Arsene Wenger before he left, but Wulfric announced some time ago that he wants to play Rosicky in the middle, the Czech Republican’s normal position.

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I am really pleased to have pulled off both these deals, and I am particularly excited about Andres Guardado, who I believe is set for a great future at the club.

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Shortly after returning from the press conference unveiling my three new signings, Cardenas, Obertan and Guardado I received a surprise visit in my office from chairman Peter Hill Wood.

“You’ve certainly got the fans excited with this young Cardenas lad” he commented, passing me a cutting from a newspaper. It was an article from the Times.

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Wulfric Praised For Cardenas Deal

Arsenal fans from all over England have been flooding late night Radio phone ins, praising their new manager Tom Wulfric’s vision and ambition in signing 16 year old Colombian midfielder Sherman Cardenas. Fans are delighted that Wulfric has secured the youngsters signature and several well respected pundits have even gone on to state their admiration for Cardenas and believe that with the right guidance he could become a key player for the club. Fans of the club have been no stranger to young prospects being brought in this summer, with teenagers Andres Guardado and Gabriel Obertan following Cardenas into the club. More sceptical pundits are claiming that Wulfric needs to concentrate, not only on players in other positions but also more experienced players.

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“It’s great to see us signing promising youngsters and I know you were keen to strengthen that area of the field” said Hill Wood, “but perhaps you need to turn your attention to players other than 16 year old wingers”

“I agree that I am signing a lot of wingers” I replied, “But they all have different qualities and Sherman was also signed as an attacking midfielder. And also we are short of back up in those areas of the pitch. I have identified several other targets and I hope to complete a few more deals soon though and you know with Alexandr looking more and more likely to leave the club, I really do need some right sided wingers.”

“Yes, I understand what you’re saying, I just wanted to make sure that you were sticking to the sensible transfer market tactics that you need to use.”

“Of course sir, that is still my aim.”

And with that Hill Wood left the office. I knew that all the players I had signed were players that would be very useful. There were a few more deals I hoped to complete before the end of the summer as well and I hoped Hill Wood would understand my signings.

Mike T

Nice work so far, looking forward to more.

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A bid came in from Blasckburn of £3,400,000 and a 10% sell on fee as requested and I have accepted the offer. Flamini was called to my office and I basically told him that he has no future at the club and it would be in his best interests to seek football elsewhere. He was informed of Blackburn’s bid. I am hoping he will agree terms because I have no use for him and I could do with a bit of extra cash.

Another call concerning Flamini came later, this time from Everton manager David Moyes, who was interested in taking Flamini on a loan deal. I politely informed him that, due to the current status of the bid from Blackburn, Flamini is not currently available on loan.

One player who is available on anything from a loan to a free transfer is Ryan Garry, who I have no use for. I have accepted a loan bid from Tranmere for him and when that deal ends (if it goes through, I will get rid of him).

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Two pieces of bad new awaited me when I entered my office this morning. The first was that Inter Milan had withdrawn their offer for Hleb and so Walter Samuel would be staying at Inter. This was disappointing because I needed a new central defender more than a player like Hleb and Samuel would have cost a fair bit, so to get him and over nine million would have been a good deal from my point of view. Real Madrid and Milan have now joined the list of Hlebs admirers and I have set an asking price of £17,000,000 to fend them off potential suitors who are not seriously interested.
I may look for another exchange deal if a bid comes in for Hleb.

The second was in the form of a physio report from Gary Lewin. He reported that Armand Traore has dislocated his shoulder and will be out for two months. This is a blow as Justin Hoyte is now our only left back as Clichy is also injured. It is good that Guardado can play left wing back and so he will offer cover for the start of the seaon.

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The Times

Mourinho After Arsenal’s Toure

Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho last night admitted his interest in Ivorian defender Kolo Toure, who is currently a key player for rivals Arsenal. Mourinho has been searching for a defender since the departure of William Gallas and Toure, who now plays with Gallas at Arsenal, is top of Chelsea’s wanted list. Toure came into Mourinho’s plans after he cooled his interest in Manchester United’s defender Rio Ferdinand. Neither Ferdinand nor Man United were willing to discuss a transfer though, and Mourinho was forced to identify other targets.

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The same day I was stopped by a reporter outside the club’s car park.

“Mr Wulfric, Jose Mourinho recently declared his interest in defender Kolo Toure, do you have anything to say about this?"

“I have not had any contact from anyone at Chelsea and until I do I shall not be taking any notice of this” I replied.

“Do you think the riches of Chelsea would make it impossible for you to keep Toure at the club?"

“Certainly not. Money is not Kolo’s priority and he would not move clubs just for that I am sure. He has a good life at Arsenal and I cannot see why he would want to leave.”

“Would you let him leave the club if contact was made from Chelsea?”

“No.”

The headline in the Mirror the next day read :

Wulfric Lashes Out at Chelsea’s Toure Interest

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I have started to negotiate new deals with Johan Djourou and Jens Lehmann. Djourou has been offered a three year contract while Lehmann has been offered a two year deal.

On arriving at the club I also called Lauren to my office and told him that I was placing him on the transfer list. He reacted badly, criticising my running of the club and claiming that I did not have the ability to succeed at the club. He has been sent to train with the reserves and I have no use for him at the club anymore. This intensifies my search for a new full back to help out Justin Hoyte and also maybe replace him at some stage, as I am still unsure whether he has a future at the club. I will go for a young player, if I wanted experience I would have offered Lauren a new deal but I am trying to build a new team, and he isn‘t the type of defender I want anyway.