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Mathieu Flamini’s agent called me to inform me that the player had accepted Blackburn’s contact offer and was ready to sign, the deal has been confirmed and I have completed my first sale of the summer. The ten 10% sell on fee which is included in the £3,400,000 deal means that if he goes on to succeed at the top Arsenal will still benefit.

Once sat down at my desk I had a look through the daily newspapers and found that Jose Mourinho had once again declared his interest in Rio Ferdinand. He may well end up yo-yoing between Ferdinand and Toure without signing either of them all summer. Mourinho had completed one big deal however, signing Inter Milan’s powerful Brazilian Adriano for a huge £32,000,000. Twelve million over our whole budget, that was pocket change to Abramovich.

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Another fax came in from Inter Milan, they have tabled a bid of £14,000,000 for Hleb. I have negotiated the deal, I want £10,000,000 plus Walter Samuel. If I do not sort out an exchange deal then I will issue a take it or leave it £17,000,000 deal to Inter.

I now await a reply from Roberto Mancini, though I am doubtful that he will match my demands.

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Some interest came from Juventus for Lauren in the form of an enquiry and I have sent details of a suitable transfer sum back to Italy. I will settle for £3,500,000 and while I had manager Didier Deschamps on the phone I made an enquiry into their left back Giorgio Cheillini. Deshcamps told me immediately that we were not the only club interested and he would get back to me.

In other news, Djourou and Lehmann have both signed new contracts, I have already decided that the all the other players (except Justin Hoyte) who’s contracts run out this summer will not remain at the club

My proposal of a friendly match with Galatasary has been declined and with the draw for the Champions League third qualifying coming up I decided against arranging another friendly. The team will be completely ready for the start of the new Premiership season after the qualifiers and so I turned my attention to more transfer buisiness, and training.

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Arsenal have been drawn to play either Zurich or Mlada Boleslav in the Champions League third round qualifiers. The second leg is yet to be played but Zurich currently lead 4-0 from the first leg and they are all but through.

The Premier League odds from Totalbet.com have also been released and Chelsea and Man Utd have been made 6-4 joint favourites to win the league. Our odds of 14-1 suggest that many believe us to be outsiders who are unlikely to come top this season. This is just the way I like it, I do not want to be under the pressure of being expected to win the league so early in my career at the club.

Faxes from Juventus and Inter Milan informed me that neither club would be following their interest in Lauren and Hleb respectively. I have stood firmly by my valuation of the two players and bids of less than three and a half million for Lauren and seventeen million for Hleb will be rejected. I am now playing hard ball and won’t be moved on my position. I have given up on Samuels and have sent out scout Giles Grimandi to take a look at Manchester City’s young defender Micah Richards as I intensify my search for a new defender.

I am yet to hear back from Juventus on defender Giorgio Chiellini, perhaps we can sort out a swap deal involving Lauren.

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I received a report from Giles Grimandi on defender Micah Richards, recommending the player and quoting a possible fee of £10 million to £13 million. I have sent a formal enquiry to City and hope to be advised on a fee.

Later Juventus faxed me a proposal of £6,700,000 for Chiellini, I have tabled a £3,800,000 offer which I feel is more reasonable and await an answer.

Gary Lewin has sent a physio report along to my office, Theo Walcott earlier suffered a hip injury in training and I have sent him to a specialist, he will unfortunately be out for two months.

A board confidence update indicated that fans are still displeased with my appointment, and the board are ‘still sure’ they made the right decision in hiring me.
I still have a budget of £18 million to spend on new recruits.

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Zurich held onto their 4-0 lead and will now face us in the CL qualifiers.

I have submitted my list of players registered for European matches. Most of the first team with the exception of Freddie Ljungberg have been registered. I had hoped to have brought in another goalkeeper by this point but I have registered Vito Manonne as I haven’t managed to bring one in yet.

Just before I was about to leave my office the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon, this is Roberto Mancini here, I assume I am speaking to Tom Wulfric?”

“Yes you are, how can I help you ?” I already knew the answer.

“I would like to enquire about Alexandr Hleb. I want to know how much you would be willing to sell him for.”

“We have been through this Mr Mancini” I replied impatiently, “I have set an asking price of £17,000,000 and as you now seem unwilling to part with Walter Samuel I suggest that either you come back with a bid that meets our evaluation or turn your attention elsewhere.”

There was a pause, “I will get back to you” Mancini finally replied

I put down the phone and sighed. Would they ever make a bid? Or would they just hover about with cautious enquiries, not followed up with anything serious?

I would soon find out.

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Gilberto Silva has sustained a damaged shoulder and will miss the start of the season. I am getting tired of these constant injuries and will be reviewing the first team training schedule within the next week.

After reading this unpleasant news I received a message through the fax machine, it featured a black and white Udinese crest in the top right corner. It concerned the loan offer I had made for their 20 year old Ghana striker Gyan Asamoah

Tom Wulfric, Arsenal Football Club

Dear Mr Wulfric,

We thank you for your interest in our player, Gyan Asamoah, and have decided to accept your offer. Should the deal go through, below are the terms and conditions.


Type : Loan
Fee : None
Wage Contribution : 100%
Future Fee : £5,000,000

The player will be asked to agree to the deal before it goes through.

Udinese F.C.



Good news indeed. I had been looking for another option up front and Asamoah would fit the bill perfectly. He was also available for a decent fee.

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Paris have joined the list of clubs interested in full back Lauren. The more the merrier, I am hoping to spark a bidding war and the more clubs that want him the more chance of a decent fee.

I have made bids for two goalkeepers, Igor Akinfeev and Vincent Enyeama.

Akinfeev was a 20 year old Russian with 12 caps to his name playing for CSKA Moscow and he is showing great potential. Valued at £2,400,000 but I had known that a bid of that much would have been laughed away and put in an offer of £6,000,000 with a 50% sell on fee. Definitely one to watch for the future and would be a great understudy to Lehmann at the present time

Enyeama was a 23 year old Nigerian valued at £150,000 by his club Bnei Yehuda. He has 20 caps and looks a decent player for such a low price. I tabled a £625,000 bid.

More interest in Lauren, this time in the form of loan bids from Valencia and Espanyol. Both bids were rejected though. Lauren only has a year left on his contract and if he went on loan I am sure he would just end up leaving on a free next summer.

Money bags Chelsea have pulled off another deal. An article in the Telegraph reported that they have won the tussle with Man United for Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiassio. Chelsea splashed out £11,000,000 on the Inter player. With Inter now rolling in cash I guessed they would be more generous when trying to sign Hleb in the future.

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My offer for Enyeama has been accepted and I have offered a contract. A problem that I have now thought of is that he will require a work permit, something he probably won’t obtain. I hate work permits.

I am considering a move for Mikel Arteta he can play anywhere in the midfield and has a touch of class that would really help if Hleb leaves the club. Arteta is currently considering a move away from Everton amid rumours linking him to Dortmund and a few other clubs.

It is Sherman Cardenas’ 17th birthday and he has signed his professional contract with the club. He is looking more and more likely to feature in some form soon with Walcott’s injury.

As I read this news yet another damn physio report came in. This time it was Tomas Rosicky, he is out for three weeks with a damaged shoulder.

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CSKA Moscow have rejected my bid for Akinfeev, and I have decided to stall further negotiations until I have offloaded a few more players.

I had had more luck with Gyan Asamoah, who had accepted the loan deal and would now require a work permit. This was applied for and I am hopeful that the deal will be wrapped up soon.

And so to my first competitive match, the Champions League third round quaifier first leg against Zurich. This was to be my first real test as manager, and the media were keen to seek my opinions on the matter. The team coach was due to set off for Heathrow airport at 11:30 am and I was on my way to joining up with the rest of the team when a reporter appeared from nowhere.

“Mr Wulfric, could you spare a minute? ”

“If it really is a minute”

“The fans are still sceptical of your appointment and your abilities, this is your first competitive game as manager, are you feeling the pressure?

“Well of course pressure comes with every match but I enjoy it and this kind of pressure is healthy in small doses, I know where I am and the job that has to be done and of course in my first game there will be expectations. It is my job to turn the fans around and prove that I should be here.”

“Are you confident of victory despite it being an away match in unfamiliar surroundings?

“The team has already travelled to Switzerland this summer for a pre season tour and they know what it’s about there. Also the Swiss contingent in our squad mean we are by no means stranger to this sort of football and the type of game in Switzerland. I am confident we can get a good result on Wednesday.”

“One last question Mr Wulfric, reports in the new recently have seen you linked with Manchester City’s teenage defender Micah Richards, is there any truth in these rumours.”

“Well I won’t deny that I have had a look at him and he is the sort of player I am looking for but as yet no contact has been made and he is still their player.”

I left for the team coach, hoping desperately that nothing would go wrong in Switzerland, and that I would get the right result to start to convince the fans of my ability.