Eduardo And Almunia May Leave Despite Arsenal Win At Barnet

It's Sunday evening and, after a very lazy day, I am just now getting around to the business of Arsenal and all that is happening in their world.

The traditional curtain raiser for our season took place at Barnet yesterday and it ended with a fairly comfortable 4-0 win for Arsenal. The goals came from Arshavin, Nasri, and Simpson who scored twice. We also got to see our two new signings and the new first strip for the coming season.

I thought it was a little strange to see the players wearing the first strip considering that it can't actually be purchased until the end of the month. It will be available for purchase just before the Emirates Cup. I suppose the reasoning is that the first home games of our pre-season schedule will take place that weekend. 

I'm sure there are plenty of people who put there orders in and will be receiving them in the post that week but I'm also sure that the club shops will be heaving and the sale of jerseys and numbers and letters to go on them will be fast and furious. Personally I'm still not sure if I'll buy one or not as I know it's for one season only.

Getting back to the game there were a few notable absentees from the squad list given by the club. Almunia didn't put in an appearance at all but the other three keepers in the squad all played despite the fact that Mannone and Szczesny were not included in that squad on the club site. Another player that should have been there and wasn't is Eduardo and there are rumours that his time at Arsenal may be over.

After the game the boss said that there is no number one at the club and all the keepers will get a chance to show how good they are.  He also said that we are still in the market for players but he obviously didn't confirm who any of them are.

When asked about the reports linking Arsenal with Schwarzer he didn't rule him out completely but all he did say was "not really".  You can read what you want from that but he is never going to make any ongoing negotiations public as it would only complicate matters further.

The reason given for Almunia missing yesterday's game was illness but I have my doubts about that. He missed quite a few games last season for the same reason when his form was bad and I have a funny feeling that he might just be in negotiations for a move away from Arsenal if he thinks he is no longer the first choice as  goalkeeper.

The manager was happy with the contribution of the two new signings as they both played half a game. Koscielny slowly adjusted to the required challenges in the air while Chamakh was very good at bringing players into the game. The manager also seems to think that both players will suit our style of play with creative midfielders.

As for Eduardo, there are reports circulating that he is about to sign for Shakhtar Donestk for a fee of around €7.5 million. There is nothing on the club site yet but if it's true, it will mean that we will probably be in the market for another striker. I can't be sure who that striker will be, but I also can't imagine that the boss would let him go without having a replacement in mind.

He's a player I have a lot of time for and I genuinely feel that he would have had a great career at Arsenal if he hadn't suffered that horrific injury at Birmingham two years ago. He was a fantastic goal scorer, and if he does go, I hope he can rediscover that form at whatever club he joins.

The boss also said he expects both Gallas and Silvestre to leave and even though their contracts are up they are still listed as Arsenal players on the club site. He's not too sure about Campbell but as he's due back from his honeymoon next week, I would imagine that we will find out then. I did read a story today that Newcastle expects him to sign for them but I don't know what truth is in it.

I have avoided the subject of Cesc so far and I'll probably leave it until tomorrow as there is a fair amount to talk about on the matter as more people continue to have their say.

As for yesterday's game, I  was impressed by what I saw from Arshavin, Nasri, Frimpong and Wilshere. It's very hard to judge from the first of many pre-season friendlies but in my opinion the signs are encouraging and with the right additions I feel we can improve on last season. 

Finally, don't forget that I'm running my Fantasy league again and there will be a trophy if the league has 100 teams in it. At the moment there are 63 teams, and with a little less than four weeks to go I'm sure it will reach 100 teams. The game can be found here and after you set up a team the code to join my league is 33954-12064. That's it for today.