Arsenal Transfer News: Cesc Circus and Schwarzer Sillyness

A very good morning, much of the Arsenal talk still centres around Cesc Fabregas this morning, and more specifically the "hilarious prank" played on him by Puyol, Pique, and Reina where they forced him to wear a Barcelona shirt, albeit briefly, during Spain's World Cup celebrations.

Both Cesc's Dad  and then later Cesc himself have dismissed the incident, and I whilst I don't think anyone looked at it as a sure sign that Cesc was going to sign for Barcelona, there will be plenty of irritated Arsenal fans as a result.

Calming things down is the right thing to do, and Cesc has done that.

At this stage, the circus that Barcelona have created surrounding Fabregas is overshadowing Arsenal's preparations for the new season and we can't have that. I'm sure Barcelona are aware of that and hope they can pressure us into selling as a result.

Perhaps they think if they cause enough disruption then Arsenal will back down just to get the matter resolved, as perhaps we have on other occasions when they and Real Madrid have attempted to sign our players.

This time however, I think the resolve is quite strong from the club and the fans that we should not give in to Barcelona's bullying tactics.

I'm sure there'll be plenty more nonsense spoken from Barcelona before the end of the transfer window. No matter how clear Arsenal make their position, Barcelona will continue with this farce in the hope that they'll wear us down. We should not allow that to happen.

Moving on, Arsenal have apparently been told that Mark Schwarzer would cost at least £4 million, which is very silly money for a player as old as Schwarzer. Is our need for a goalkeeper so great that we should pay over the odds for a player soon to be 38? I'm not convinced, myself.

I know the development of Szczesny must be a contributing factor in the manager's decision to go for an older goalkeeper, but if Szcesny is really that good then he would overcome a younger obstacle to get into the first team.

The goalkeeping position should be a priority this summer, and preferably it should be resolved soon so the new keeper can start working with the defence in preseason.

If it's going to be Schwarzer, then great; if it's going to be someone else, the manager needs to get his skates on and crack on with signing them.

The beginning of the preseason makes the new season seem that much closer, and therefore new signings that much more urgent. The squad is certainly not ready the way it is. As well as a goalkeeper, another defender is a necessity, and it seems likely the manager has ambitions in other areas of the field as well. Time to crack on and get these things sorted.

That'll be all for today, I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with news that we've signed a job lot of experienced, quality defenders, and Paul the Octopus's much larger older brother to be our new goalkeeper.