Arsenal Chase Willian But Missed Out on Friedel

After losing the transfer chase for Phil Jones to Manchester United, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger will not be wanting to lose another one. Rumour has it, they are after Shakhtar Donetsk's 22 year-old attacking midfielder, Willian, with Wenger keen to add to his squad.

Several members of his current side have decided to move on including Denilson and Bendtner, while speculation remains over the future of two slightly more important players, Nasri and Fabregas.

According to reports in The Sun, (who haven't been hugely accurate recently considering they also reported that Tottenham would be willing to let go of Luka Modric for £20 million, only for Redknapp to announce he was not for sale at any price) Shakhtar would be willing to let Willian leave for Arsenal if Wenger sends Denilson in the other direction, along with around £4 million.

Wenger likes a bargain, and this looks like a sweet one, with the Ukranian side paying £11 million for Willian just four years ago. It should be noted though, that Willian only has one year left to run on his contract, which is probably the reason for such a low evaluation on the player who has been scouted by other Premier League clubs including Chelsea and Liverpool.

The player is known for his good passing and fluent style of play - a perfect fit then for Arsenal's kind of football, while his quick dribbling two footed ability and the bonus of being able to chip in with a few goals here and there are attractive feature's. He has scored 24 goals in 162 appearances in Ukraine, and helped Shakhtar Donetsk to the Champions League quarter finals last season.

Arsenal will have to move fast if they want him though, he is in high demand, and if they do lose out, it won't be the first time in this window. It wasn't just Phil Jones who chose another club over Wenger's, but Brad Friedel too. Arsenal reportedly attempted to hijack Tottenham's bid for the American late on in negotiations, but were told it was too far down the line to stop.

The mere interest in the experienced 40 year-old shows what Wenger is looking for, and it may mark the end of Manuel Almunia's career at the Emirates. Wojciech Sczcesny seemed to have stamped his position as number one at Arsenal, but as Jens Lehmann looks set to leave Arsenal again, Wenger seems to be turning to experience as back up between the sticks.

Nevertheless, there is plenty of time left in the transfer window for Wenger to make his move. He may not be inspiring confidence in Arsenal fans who are impatient with Wenger's youth and transfer policy and are agitated about another trophy less year, but there is still lots of time for Wenger to add to his squad. He has bought a new defender; Carl Jenkinson signed for Arsenal yesterday for £1 million from Charlton, and guess what? He's a "promising" young talent.

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Denilson confirms Arsenal Departure

Arsenal's Brazilian midfielder Denilson will be sold in the summer after speaking to Arsene Wenger and persuading him to let him go. The player sees his future in Spain or Italy, and is very much against joining another Premier League side. He said:

"I've simply been to see (manager) Arsene Wenger and told him how I felt - and he has agreed to let me go." 

"This has been the worst season of my life and I am so upset, so frustrated. I am a winner and I came here to win trophies but I've been here for five years and won nothing." 

"A footballer's career is over very quickly so it is time to move on. I know some people think I'm crazy. I need a fresh challenge and although I know I'm taking a big gamble I am ready to take that risk."

"I can't see myself returning in a Chelsea shirt, or Liverpool or Manchester City - and definitely not Tottenham. I think my future will be in Spain or Italy."

Denilson has played 153 times for Arsenal since signing in 2006, but has failed to ever make a real impact on the side with only 10 goals and 13 assists. As he plays in the centre of midfield, he has been crowded out by the other quality midfielder's in the Arsenal team including Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere, Alex Song, Abou Diaby and so on. Denilson has not been able to compete with them, and often looked out of his depth when he did play in the team.

TalkSport recently asked their readers which players they would like out of their clubs doors in the summer, and Denilson's name came top of the Arsenal fans' list. Sums it up well I think.

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Wenger on Twitter

In 2010, it was found that the number of Twitter users increases by 300,000 a day and a massive 55 million tweets are tweeted every day. A number of Arsenal players have contributed to those massive figures too, with Jack Wilshere only last week criticizing a referee decision after the Gunner's draw at Newcastle.

At the moment, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Jack Wilshere, Johan Djourou, Wojciech Szczesny, and Sebastien Squillaci are among those big name Arsenal players who pour their thoughts onto the social networking site. So naturally, it is of interest to their manager, Arsene Wenger to know what the Internet phenomenon is all about to keep his players in check - making sure that they don't deliver any controversial messages and get themselves into trouble.

The Arsenal manager had this to say about Twitter:

"I don't believe you can stop the players using it because everyone has the freedom to press his point.”

“You want it to be intelligent in a good way, in a positive way. The players can get closer to the fans and that is one of the positive aspects of it.

“But let the referee do his job and let us make sure that we are 100 per cent right with our attitude and behaviour.”

“We do not want to get involved in referee's decisions, we want to take care of our attitude and behaviour.

“No matter what kind of decisions we had on Saturday we could have won the game and that is what we want to take care of.”

So it seems that Wenger won't be dusting off his keyboard any time soon to sign up for Twitter, and will leave the informing of fans up to his players - just as long as they don't insult the referees. Someone the Arsenal manager doesn't need to worry about is Theo Walcott, who expressed his confusion at the concept:

"I don't tweet myself, I really don't have a clue what it's all about. It doesn't really interest me."

Managerless Ipswich Beat Arsenal - and it was no Fluke

A couple of points above the relegation places in the Championship, without a manager, and off the back of a humiliating 7 - 0 thrashing at the hands of Chelsea, Arsenal's Carling cup semi-final first leg against Ipswich looked as if it would be a breeze. It was anything but that however, as Ipswich were able to control a lot of the game, make more chances and even win the game through a Tamas Priskin goal in the 78th minute.

Arsenal were not able to cut through Ipswich as they would have liked, and what Arsenal fans would have expected, as predictions ranged from a comfortable 2 - 0 to a 4 or 5 nil thrashing. Walcott had a couple of good chances, but the keeper Fulop stood up strong to save. Fabregas had a clear chance late on, but his view was obscured as the cross came in by a jumping defender, and he wasn't able to connect as he would have liked, and instead of scoring a tap in, the ball was scuffed/headed wide. It wasn't Arsenals night, and although putting out a strong team including 11 first team starters, perhaps excluding Denilson, they could not get that goal that they may have been able to build on.

Ipswich worked very hard throughout, chasing lost causes, pressurising the Arsenal players in all areas of the pitch, defending resiliently and eventually getting the winning goal. All of the players had great games, and all worked hard, but Connor Wickham, the young Ipswich striker whom I have not seen play much before looked particularly impressive. He is certainly a big prospect, and will be attracting, if not already, Premier League teams. Its quite amazing that he is only 17 years-old.

Ian McParland stood in as manager as Paul Jewell watched on in apparent delight to see his future team playing with such passion and commitment to the cause. Beating Arsenal is a tough feat, but anything can happen in the cup, as Ipswich have proved.

Arsenal are still favourites to progress to the final by winning the second leg at the Emirates, but now the Arsenal players know, the Ipswich side should not be underestimated. With Paul Jewell being the manager by the time the fixture is played, and probably a more stable team in place, Ipswich will not simply role over and let Arsenal win. They should rise to the occasion and prove that this show of quality was no fluke.

Denilson to Wolfsburg?

According to several news sources, the former England manager and current manager of German side Wolfsburg is very interested in signing the Arsenal central midfielder for around £11 million in the January transfer window.

It is thought that Wolfsburg are prepared to let their centre back, Simon Kjaer leave for Chelsea, who are keen to strengthen their defence with the £7 million signing so that Wolfsburg can then use the money in the Kjaer sale to help facilitate a move for Denilson.

The 22 year-old has played only 8 time in the Premier League for Arsenal this season. His lack of game time may persuade him to move away from Arsenal instead offighting for a first team place against the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere - who can all and have all played in a similar position to the Brazilian. Aaron Ramsey is also likely to return from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest in January, which would leave Denilson in the midst of a massive fight for a first team place.