Mata & Jagielka to Be Arsenal Players Very Soon

Arsenal have upped their offer for Phil Jagielka to around £15 million, while the Juan Mata deal, worth around £17.5 million - which is the 23 year-old Spaniard's buy-out clause - is nearing completion.

Earlier in the week, I reported that Arsenal had considered and had prepared another bid for Phil Jagielka, Everton's 28 year-old defender, after having a £12 million bid turned down last summer, and another £10  million offer rejected this summer.

Jagielka is Arsene Wenger's known favourite target out of the three Premier League defenders who have been linked, the others including Bolton's Gary Cahill and Blackburn's Chris Samba. While the latter two players are marginally younger than Jagielka, Wenger is going for experience and leadership in the back line - something Arsenal fans have been pleading for in recent times.

While the prediction of The Star, as reported here two days ago, that Valencia's Juan Mata "will sign for Arsenal in the next 24 hours" has proved to be incorrect, it is increasingly likely that the player will transfer in the coming days.

Valencia are ready, although reluctantly to sell their young star for a fee of £17.5 million and it is being reported that Arsenal have offered an amount that Valencia can accept. Valencia are not entirey enthusiastic about the move, but the technical secretary Bralui Vázquez has refused to rule out the possibility by saying:

"We have a back-up plan in case Juan leaves. That's not just the case for Juan, though. We have a plan like that for every player. We have to be prepared if something happens."

Mata's arrival may help Cesc Fabregas' case of moving to Barcelona this summer, but thanks to the news that Samir Nasri will be staying for at least one more season, Arsenal will have a strong side next season. Mata can play both on the left or in the middle, as is the same with Samir Nasri, so expect to see the two swapping positions from time to time if the deal were to materialise.

It is exciting timed for Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger attempts to silence his critics with some big money signings. He has already spent over £10 million on the Ivory Coast striker Gervinho, and with the news that he is closing in on the £15 million and £17.5 million signings of Jagielka and Mata respectively, things are all of a sudden looking up for Arsenal.

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Arsenal In New Jagielka Bid - Wenger Wants Respect

Arsenal's second bid for Phil Jagielka in as many summer transfer windows was once again rejected by Everton, but the Gunners will now apparently make a third bid, and raise the stakes in the hope of coming closer to the Merseyside clubs valuation of the England defender.

Many reports have suggested that Everton would be willing to listen to an offer if it was closer to £20 million, especially as David Moyes knows he must sell before he buys, and Arsene Wenger is now willing to up his £10 million offer for Jagielka.

Wenger has said that he will "certainly" purchase another defender in this window and is working very hard to do so, and his previous bid for the 28 year-old may have been simply a sign of his interest, as he surely could not have imagined a £10 million would be accepted.

According to the Express, the Everton manager would encourage the board to accept a £17 million bid for his star defender, but whether or not Arsenal would offer that much is debatable, especially considering the players age and Wenger's strict policy for younger players.

Wenger refuses as a matter of principle to discuss his targets, because he doesn't wish to sink as low as Barcelona have in attempting to purchase Cesc Fabregas through various comments and gestures.

However, he has also been angered by Manchester City's interest in Samir Nasri, with Roberto Mancini openly discussing his desire for the Frenchman to be a City player, or at the very least giving large hints to the media about it. The Arsenal manager has had enough, and demands some respect be shown to the transfer rules and that the rules be reviewed. When asked whether or not he believes City have broken any rules regarding Samir Nasri, Wenger said:

"I would like to return the question to you. What do you think? We live in a realistic world. I do not want to assess what I cannot prove." 

"I know how things happen. It doesn't necessarily go through the player or the agent but I think it is a rule that has to be reviewed. It's not really respected."

He also commented on the players he has at the club, and who he is prepared to let go. Both Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Eboue have been allowed to talk to other clubs about a move, but everyone else, Wenger continues to "fight" for them to stay:

"How many will leave the club? I said from the start I will fight to keep everybody. Nicklas Bendtner might go and Emmanuel Eboue might go. They can talk to clubs, but the rest I will fight." 

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Wenger: I will Certainly Buy a New Defender

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal will be back in the market after the purchase of striker Gervinho to strengthen the defence.

While Arsenal have had a £10 million bid for Everton's Phil Jagielka turned down, they have been linked to other Premier League defenders including Blackburn's Chris Samba and Bolton's Gary Cahill. The Arsenal manager has now claimed he will work "very hard" to bring in a new defender to add to his ranks. Wenger said:

"Certainly, we will have to find one more defender. We [are] working on it."

"I can promise we work very hard on it. In fairness, everybody looks for players. Everybody looks for the same area and you see that nobody turns up with magic. It’s all about being steady, working very hard on it and being calm as well."

"I don’t want to comment individually because I do not want to destabilise clubs. I do not want to do to other clubs what some clubs do to us so I wouldn’t like to comment individually on any player."

It is a "promise" which will relieve many Arsenal fans who may have feared the manager would once again turn his back on signing a player that many fans have been calling for in the defensive positions. However, he did not specify what position he would be buying the defender for.

Arsenal may need a left sided defender as back up to Gibbs, now that Gael Clichy has left, or perhaps Wenger will simply go for a strong, solid, experienced central defender to partner the returning Thomas Vermaelen, who himself is looking forward to a new start to the season. The Belgian defender said:

"Everybody starts from zero and everybody has to start again. You get a new chance and that's always a good feeling when people give you another chance to win something.

"The past is behind us and it's good to look into the future. That's what we do now - we start all over again with a new chance and we will go for it this year." 

If Arsenal are to win a trophy like Vermaelen and all of the fans want, Wenger's mysterious defensive target will certainly play a big role in delivering it. A lot relies on this signing, and Wenger better hope he gets it right.

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Wenger Needs A Big Signing

As Arsenal struggle to keep hold of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the club also faces losing out on potential transfer targets, with the latest £10 million bid for Everton's Phil Jagielka being turned down and the young Costa Rican striker, Joel Campbell putting a move to Arsenal on hold.

Gael Clichy has already left the Arsenal door, and slammed it in Wenger's face on the way out by claiming he left so he would have more chance of winning a trophy with Manchester City. It may be considered as a low blow. It may also be considered as the truth; Arsenal's title winning chances have been fading for a while.

In the past six years, the club has no silverware to it's name and has instead come only excruciatingly close. That isn't what players want. Nowadays, football players, especially in their mid twenties, or approaching that age who are ambitious and know that time may not be all on their side, need immediate success. They need to be winning games and winning trophies, as a footballing career, on average, is not very long.

The likes of Manchester United and Manchester City are spending big this summer, and they are able to attract the best players through a few reasons in which Arsenal simply cannot or will not compete in.

First of all, a bigger wage is always more attractive to a footballer. As Arsenal offer Nasri a £115,000 per week deal which would make him their highest earner, Manchester City have offered the same player £45,000 more, and he still wouldn't be close to City's highest weekly wage packet.

However, money is only one small feature of the attraction at clubs like United, City and Chelsea who are willing to pay large sums that Arsenal are not. The main attraction is surely the potential to win trophies and the top class players already at the club who can help achieve that. Arsenal currently face letting their best players go - what message does that send to players subject of interest from Arsenal?

Arsene Wenger must change that view. He must move in the transfer window to bring in a player who can not only help to win trophies at Arsenal, and make the team all around more clinical, but who also has the star attraction for other footballer.

Manchester United have Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Ferdinand, Vidic - all players who are known throughout the world, who many younger players look up to and aspire to be like on the pitch. Even City have their fair share through Yaya Toure and David Silva, and apart from the anomaly Carlos Tevez, who wants to move to a new club every two seasons, the players want to stay as they have a good chance of success.

I believe one big signing for Arsenal could do wonders for the morale of both the team and the fans. It would take pressure off of Wenger, and allow him to continue his job without calls for him to spend a lot of money. If Wenger can get the trouble positions sorted, a big signing of a big player, world renowned would certainly refresh Arsenal's world wide popularity, and perhaps they can look forward to bringing more of the same in, rather than see them leave looking for success.

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Wenger on Transfers: "We Want to Strengthen the Team"

Arsene Wenger recently gave Arsenal a 5% chance of winning the Premier League title this season. Arsenal are 6 points behind Manchester United at the top of the League with three games to play, starting with a visit to Stoke on Sunday, but Wenger remained defiant that his side had a chance, although small of winning the title. Next year however, he will not want to be in this position. He will not want to be chasing the title with games running out, and big opportunities missed. For that reason, he is willing to make changes.

After two transfer windows in which Wenger brought few players in, whilst not spending big for some time, he has admitted his regret. He told of how he should have bought a defender to replace the injured Thomas Vermaelen, but the ambiguity of his injury prevented him from committing to a new signing. 


Now, he has informed Arsenal fans that the club will be using the transfer window in the summer to build on his young squad. He insists his side have immense "spirit", but evidently, it has not been enough to fight in four competitions successfully. Wenger said:

"We have a very young team and we want to strengthen the team."

"Number wise, how much that will be I don't know. It depends as well who goes out, we have a big squad.

"You have the same problem everywhere. If you don't have enough players, people say 'why don't you have another striker on the bench?'

"It is a price to pay, I believe it is part of being a football player."

"Also, on the other hand you cannot reproach that the players have not performed as well as you wanted if you don't give them a chance. It is difficult."

There has been no shortage of players linked to Arsenal recently, with Phil Jagielka of Everton one central defender being reportedly scouted by Arsenal, as well as a Blackburn double of Phil Jones and Steven N'Zonzi. Jones is a promising young centre back while N'Zonzi is a similar player to the former Arsenal captain, Patrick Vieira, and plays in the defensive midfield position. Jack Rodwell is another player that has been linked as has Ajax goalkeeper and Manchester United target Maarten Stekelenburg.

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Arsenal Rumours: Jagielka in, Bendtner Out?

The latest transfer rumours surrounding Arsenal are Wenger's attempts to bring Phil Jagielka to the Emirates to add some experience and solidity to his defence which has long been called for at Arsenal. The other suggested move in the papers is with Arsenal's Danish striker, Nicklas Bendtner, who Mark Hughes will apparently attempt to bring to Fulham this summer.

Phil Jagielka is a player who Arsenal have been linked to for a while. There were reports last summer that Arsenal had made several bids for the 28 year-old Everton defender, one of which was £15 million. Wenger has maintained his interest in the former Sheffield United defender, and some sources suggest there has even been a new bid offered by Arsenal for the defender.

Arsenal have missed their rock at the back this season, Thomas Vermaelen through injury, and Wenger understands that depth and experience are key to success in a long, hard season, it is just a question of how much money he would be willing to spend, which has often been problematic, as he tends to avoid big money transfers in the fear of putting Arsenal in a difficult financial situation.

An Everton source said: "We have had major interest in Jagielka ahead of the next transfer window. But it will take a huge offer for the club to let him leave." No doubt it would take a big offer because Jagielka only signed a new 4 year deal with Everton in March of this year.

Meanwhile, the Mail reports that Bendtner wants to find a team who will offer him first team football, and with Fulham reportedly seeking two strikers to add to their squad in the summer, it looks a good match for both parties. Fulham had a £5 million bid for the 23 year-old turned down in January of this year, with Arsenal looking for Fulham to match their £6.5 million valuation of the striker who has scored 2 League goals in 15 games this season.

Bendtner, who spent a season on loan at Birmingham in the past is apparently "open to offers", with Everton and Blackburn also interested in his signature, though it seems highly unlikely that a confident player with his ambition would want to transfer to sides battling relegation.

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