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Thanks Mambaman - btw I was delighted to see you have sorted your own Arsenal game out and look forward to seeing more of your story soon, I've been following it for a while and it's very good.

Calm down Stubbsmeister, Baptista's only on loan isn't he? He's providing good back up so what's the point in terminating the deal - I'm not even paying his wages. Why should I fund a year for Reyes at Madrid while they get Bap's services at the same time? Whether or not I get him on a permanent deal is another matter

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BBC SPORT

Wulfric Swaps Baptista For Fabregas

Arsenal manager Tom Wulfric today moved to sign Julio Baptista on a permanent deal in exchange for Cesc Fabregas, who Wulfric decribed as 'fat' and too fussy about British weather. Fabregas had been a target of Madrid's for some time and the Spanich Giants secured the services of their man after Arsenal offered £10 million plus the Spaniard.

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Dont worry - that didn't really happen, here are some more updates

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Sky Sports News

Marchisio Makes Arsenal Move as Chiellini Deal Hits Rocks


Arsenal have sealed a deal to sign Italian midfielder Claudio Marchisio from Juventus, but Arsenal’s planned double swoop on Juventus that seemed likely a week ago is now off after Arsenal failed to meet the Serie B club’s valuation of left back Georgio Chiellini. Chiellini has been on Arsenal manager Tom Wulfric’s wanted list for some time now, but it is instead his teammate Marchisio that has now beaten him to London. The gunners had been preparing a double swoop on Marchisio and Chiellini but Juventus’ asking price of £6,700,000 was too high for Wulfric. On the capture of Marchisio Wulfric commented, “I am delighted to have brought Claudio to the club, he has a very bright future and this speaks volumes for the ambitions of the club” Wulfric would not however be drawn on the subject of any possible future move for Chiellini, “He is their player still, and they have a very high asking price, so the situation is difficult” he said. The signing of Marchisio is expected to have cost Arsenal around £2,000,000 and the 20 year old penned a deal worth £1,900 p/w.

Although talks over Chiellini have now broken down, Arsenal may have one final attempt at signing the Italian before the deadline arrives, as they might have more available funds through outgoing transfers soon. Wulfric also remained upbeat over the summers wheelings and dealings. “I have managed to bring in some fantastic players,and hopefully one or two more will be brought in before the deadline.”

Despite remaining tight lipped on the identity of these players, Sporting CP midfielder Joao Moutinho is thought to be in talks with the gunners over a possible move, and sources close to the club are suggesting that Jeremie Aliadiere, Manuel Almunia and Lauren are all near to completing moves away from Arsenal, with Bordeux leading the race for the Cameroonian full back.

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The signing of Marchisio is very pleasing , and hopefully a few more will be following him into the club before the deadline. Perhaps a move for Chiellini will still be completed, though that still seems very unlikely, as Juventus are just asking for too much money. Most of my signings this summer have been young players who are a long way off their best, so that gives you some idea of my plans for the club.

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BBC Sport

Sporting’s Moutinho and Ricardo Replace Arsenal Trio

Sporting CP have allowed star players Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Pereira to join Arsenal in exchange for cash plus Manuel Almunia, Jeremie Aliadiere and Mart Poom. 19 year old midfielder Moutinho has joined for £1,500,000 plus Aliadiere and Almunia, while Ricardo moves to the Emirates on a season long loan deal, and Poom joins Sporting for £600,000. Arsenal had been looking to offload the trio all summer and now have Ricardo and Vincent Enyeama as cover for Lehmann with Joao Moutinho providing yet more competition and energetic youth in the midfield.

Ricardo, who is best known for his penalty heroics against England at Euro 2004, has a clause in his deal allowing Arsenal to purchase him at any time for £500,000 , less than what Estonian Mart Poom cost Sporting. Moutinho has been seen as the real bargain though, pundits have been quick to praise Wulfric for signing the Portuguese teen at such a low price, but were quick to point out that Arsenal have now got an extremely young and inexperienced squad now, something which could prove costly at the business end of the season when players are tiring and results are vital. This finally looks to be the end of Wulfric’s summer spending however as he confirmed, ‘the treasure chest is now closed’ and any more deals will probably be outgoing players.

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These are a couple of very pleasing deals, the Moutinho signing was a bit out of the blue, but I have had my eye on Ricardo for a while and I couldn’t really see a use for Aliadiere, Poom or Almunia. Also I have got both players on the cheap, which is important as I may want to get Gyan Asamoah on a permanent deal nearer the end of the season if he impresses.

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Despite my decision that spending should now be put on hold until January, I moved for one more player before the deadline.

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BBC Sport

Emanuelson Makes Late Gunners Move

Ajax’s 20 year old Dutchman Urby Emanuelson last night completed a rushed move to Arsenal worth a reported £5,700,000. The left sided player who can play as a wing back or midfielder joins in place of manager Tom Wulfric’s main target Georgio Chiellini, who was priced out of a move to the gunners by his club Juventus. The Chiellini saga lasted most of the summer but it now looks extremely unlikely he will actually complete a move to Arsenal, as they now have Urby Emanuelson, Gael Clichy, Armand Traore and Justin Hoyte available for the left back slot. Wulfric decided to move for Emanuelson quickly, as he confirmed the Chiellini deal was becoming more and more unlikely to happen. “A while back I was quoted a fee of £6,700,000. But I when I made another enquiry recently that fee was rejected, so Juventus have obviously changed their mind about him. They set a huge fee then, and now I don’t know how much they would want before selling him.” commented Wulfric, “We aren’t on a huge budget so it was really just becoming impossible to match their demands. We weren’t really sure where we stood in negotiations either, but I was starting to believe we would have to cough up in excess of £10,000,000 and that just wasn’t an option.” The Dutch defender was surprised by the late move, “I was really surprised when I heard they wanted me, and I only heard two days before making the move, but I am delighted to be here”

The move for Emanuelson was supported mainly by the departure of Freddie Ljungberg in the early hours of yesterday morning, the Swede moved to Juventus for £4,500,000 with a sum of that being paid over 12 months. Wulfric claims he tried to include Chiellini in the move but that Juventus weren’t keen on the idea and ‘quickly stamped on it’.

Business elsewhere on deadline day saw Man City clinch a deal for PSV’s Jefferson Farfan, the Peruvian joined for £7,250,000 and he becomes their first and only major signing of the summer. Reading also completed a deal for Brazilian Luizao from Fluminese for around £3,000,000 while Empoli signed Czech Patrick Berger from Aston Villa for £200,000.

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Emanuelson was an out of the blue signing, but he is more of an alternative to Chiellini than a back up plan. He is very different, being more of an attacking wing back, and can also play in midfield. I do believe he will be a good signing and should offer plenty of cover down the left, he is also reasonably young and has plenty of room for improvement. The plan is that he will just play instead of would be signing Chiellini, who I was unable to buy simply because of his price tag.

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September

There is now an international break, with several players away serving their country, I just sat and hoped there would be no injuries. It had been a good start to the season, and I could really do without injuries disrupting the team. At least I had managed to buy a few players as back up in the summer, now it was time to see if they could all blend in well.

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With the transfer window closed, this is the whole senior squad :

Lehmannn
Enyeama
Ricardo

Hoyte
Toure
Richards
Gallas
Djourou
Senderos
Eboue
Clichy
Traore
Emanuelson

Guardado
Denilson
Gilberto
Diaby
Fabregas
Marchisio
Cardenas
Hleb
Obertan
Rosicky
Moutinho

Walcott
Asamoah
Van Persie
Baptista
Adebayor
Henry

The reserves include :

Connolly
O’Cearuill
Song
Van Den Berg
Fonte
Elston

I can’t really see any of these players establishing themselves at Arsenal but they will all be given a chance. Out of them I think Song and Fonte have the best chance of making a name for themselves here.

And then

Lupoli
Bendtner
Stokes
Vela
Reyes
Muamba
Gilbert
Larsson
Garry

Are all on loan at other clubs. I will be keeping a close eye on Vela and Bendtner and I also feel Kerea Gilbert should be given a chance as I think he could become an important player for the club. Ryan Garry will be released as soon as he returns though, he has been at the club for many years without doing much, he simply isn‘t good enough. I very mush doubt either Larsson or Stokes will be at the club much longer either.

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The squad list has been submitted for the group phase of the Champions League :

Registered :

Lehmann
Ricardo

Hoyte
Toure
Richards
Gallas
Djourou
Eboue
Clichy
Traore

Guardado
Denilson
Gilberto
Fabregas
Cardenas
Hleb
Obertan
Rosicky
Moutinho

Walcott
Asamoah
Van Persie
Baptista
Adebayor
Henry

Emanuelson and Enyeama are both inelegible, and Senderos had to make way as he is injured and I felt it important to include new boy Joao Moutinho, because he adds another dimension to the midfield with his flair, skills and determination.

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England smashed Andorra 6-0 in their Euro 2008 qualifiers at Old Trafford today, including goals from Dean Ashton and Kieron Dyer. Micah Richards was omitted from the squad to make room for former gunner Sol Campbell, now at Portsmouth. Hopefully Richards will make enough appearances in the next year or two show his quality and push for a place in England’s Euro 2008 squad, hopefully Theo Walcott will also make that squad.

A report from Gary Lewin indicated Alexander Song is out for a week with flu. He will be sent home to recover and return in a few days.