Arsenal Transfer Rumours Continue as the Season Nears

Today is Tuesday, August 3, and it marks the second birthday of "Cesc Is God." I started this blog two years ago solely on Oleole and I didn't really know where I was going with it at the time. I did know that I had a lot to say about Arsenal and I wanted to share it with other Arsenal fans.

Now, two years later after various ups and downs I'm getting far more people reading it daily than I could have hoped for through a mixture of Oleole and Bleacher Report, with some able help from everybody on Twitter.

It's not always easy to manage a daily blog when you have to work, play football twice a week, and have a wife and three kids who are quite fond of the occasional bit of attention too. However, I do my best to report on all things Arsenal as I see them and I will continue to do so as long as I feel that there are people out there to read my thoughts whether they agree with them or not. 

The rumours about Cesc continued yesterday as Carlos the caveman denied the quotes attributed to him in the English media last week. On his web site he denied saying that Arsenal had failed to match Cesc's expectations despite Cesc giving them everything he has for seven years.

I suppose it's no surprise to think that the English media would make up stories to help them sell a few papers despite what damage it may do to others.

The publication in question hasn't exactly covered itself in glory in the past and it still can't be bought in a lot of shops in Liverpool 21 years after its reporting of the Hillsborough disaster. It doesn't surprise me at all and I can proudly say that I have never spent one single cent of my hard-earned money on that paper and I never will.

Football fans should remember how many of the papers in particular will make up any story at all to sell papers no matter what harm it does to their club. There is only one way to stop them doing it and that's by not buying these rags.

With Barcelona completely unable to keep their mouths shut, the latest inane ramblings are coming from ex-president Joan Gaspart as he said that Arsene Wenger wanted to manage Barcelona in 2001 but Arsenal told him he was under contract and had to stay. Never mind the fact that our boss has never walked out on a contract in his life and I'm sure he never will unless he is asked to go.

Gaspart also said that he told the current Barcelona president that he will have to get on a plane and fly to London for a face to face meeting with Arsene Wenger if he is to do business with us for Cesc. He said that you have to meet our boss face to face to know he is bluffing and he has met him in negotiations before when Arsenal ended up selling.

He doesn't mention how good a price Arsenal got for the players or how their careers at Barcelona were checkered to say the least. Cesc is still a few years from his prime and it is not just a negotiating tactic that Arsenal are using as he genuinely is not for sale. Joan Gaspart would seem to be talking out of the part of him that produces gas.

There are reports that we are to miss out on signing Gourcuff from Bordeaux as Man City are now favourites to sign him. I don't think the boss was ever really interested in signing him as the fee was too high and Cesc was never going to be sold anyway. 

We are also rumoured to be in the market for 29-year-old centre back Emir Spahic from Montpellier and Bosnia. I'm not entirely sure what truth, if any, is in these rumours, but we need a player in that position and and the rumours will continue until we sign one.

There is also a possibility that Sanchez Watt will go out on loan to Leeds this season as they seem to have been pleased with his efforts there at the end of last season when he was on loan.

Two young Arsenal players collected winners medals in the European under-19 championships at the weekend as both Gilles Sunu and Francis Coquelin were in the French team that came from behind to beat Spain 2-1. Sunu scored the equalising goal for France and there are high hopes for his future as there are for Coquelin, who is spending this season on loan at French club Lorient. 

The club announced Thompson Sport as its official UK Travel Agency partner and they also announced that they have entered a six-year agreement with MP and Silva for our digital media rights. All the details of both deals can be found on the club site . 

Finally for today, there's the small matter of my fantasy league and the fact that it now has over 100 teams in it, which means that there will be a trophy for the winner. If you want to sign up the link is here and the code to join my league is 33954-12064 after you have set up a team.

As the number of teams is now nearing 200 I'll have to consider a runners up prize too and if it does reach that figure I'm sure there will be one.

I'm running the league this season with a little help from 11Gunners and I'd like to thank them for their help in promoting my blog and the fantasy league too.

If you do sign up please take the time to join Captain Arsenal's league too as he has been a great help to me in promoting my blog on Twitter. The code to join his league is 13028-5211 and he would be delighted to welcome you to his league.

Here's the goals from Saturday's 1-1 draw with AC Milan.

See You Tomorrow.