Arsenal Transfer News: Updates from a Vuvuzela-less Emirates Stadium

Good morning to you, there's a fair bit going on this morning but sadly little of it relates to incoming transfers for Arsenal. The main news is that Eduardo seems all set to leave for Shakhtar Donetsk.

I'll leave the obituary for his Arsenal career for another day, but I must say that it's very sad that things have panned out like this for Eduardo. There can be no doubt that Arsenal fans really took him to their hearts when he suffered that horrific injury.

I remember going to a Member's Day before the '08/'09 season I think it was and it was the first time Arsenal fans had seen Eduardo even able to do a bit of jogging since the injury and his appearance was given a rapturous reception from the fans that day.

We all wanted him to come back to his best, but sadly although we did see one or two glimpses when he came back into the side, it didn't really happen for him. That ridiculous nonsense from the media with the penalty against Celtic didn't help either.

One of Eduardo's greatest assets when he first joined Arsenal was his absolute composure on the ball, something that seemed to desert him when he returned along with his confidence. I suppose when you've had your leg snapped by a disgustingly violent challenge, then that possibility will be in your mind every time you step on a football pitch from then on.

I don't blame Eduardo for it, I just hope it won't be the same for Aaron Ramsey.

I hope playing in a different league and having a new start will help Eduardo recapture his best, even now that he's leaving the club I'd still be delighted to see him finally overcome the demons of what happened at Birmingham that day. Good luck to him.

Barcelona's vice president has said that his club is trying to build better relations with Arsenal. Of course, he also says once that's done they'll try to sign Cesc Fabregas again, so the Catalans really aren't learning their lesson here.

The main source of Arsenal's displeasure with Barcelona comes through their relentless talking in public about trying to sign Cesc, perhaps they should try not doing that as the first step of building better relations.

Also, if they wish to get in our good graces then they might want to try flogging Xavi   through the streets of Barcelona, or at the very least gagging him. 

As Arseblogger   points out, there must be something seriously wrong with Xavi to need to talk about another human being as much as he does about Cesc. 

The Sun reports that we want to offer Mark Schwarzer a player-coach arrangement, so he'd have a role to play after his playing career comes to an end.

Sounds okay to me, providing the club crack on and do it. As I've said before, if Schwarzer is the man we want, then the club need to get the deal hammered out so the team can start training with Schwarzer as soon as possible, since the start of the new season is no longer as far away as it once was.

Johan Djourou is ready to put his injury behind him, and hopefully make a big contribution to the team this season. As one of only three centre-halves currently in the first team squad, it would seem chances are going to be abundant for Johan. We know the manager rates him highly, and we saw him do a great job for us during the 2008/9 season, one of the few players you could say that about that season.

And some good news to finish off with, the possibility of the vuvuzela becoming a part of Premier League football is being steadily exterminated. Arsenal were one of the clubs that announced a ban on the plastic horns yesterday.

I didn't find them as irritating as others did at the World Cup, but I wouldn't want to hear them every week in the league, I'm glad they're being purged before they even have a chance to take hold.

And that wraps it up for today, take it easy. More tomorrow.