Arsenal's Almost-Complete Squillaci Deal and Other Transfer Gossip

It's Tuesday morning and still we have no confirmation on whether Arsenal have signed Squillaci or not. Up to now, the deal has moved fairly fast by Arsenal standards as it was only first rumoured last week. If the stories are true, he was in London yesterday for a medical and everything went well, which only leaves his personal terms to be sorted out.

The transfer fee is believed to be in the region of £6.5 million and it's pretty good business for a player of his experience and ability. He has had plenty of problems with injuries in the past but then again what Arsenal player doesn't have injury problems. It would seem that he's in the last season of his deal with Sevilla which is why we have got him at such a good price.

It's also rumoured that he will be given a three-year contract, which isn't exactly keeping with the club policy for players over 30 although he is 30 and not actually over it.

With Squillaci just about added to the squad and a week left in the transfer window, all the focus will now hopefully be on a new goalkeeper. Schwarzer's name is still on top of the list, but clearly Fulham will only sell at their own price as they are perfectly entitled to do. If we really we want him it looks like we will have to pay over the odds for a player of his age but there's nothing we can do about it other than pull out of the deal. 

There is still the possibility that the boss is waiting to see how Ajax fare on Wednesday night as failure for them to qualify for the Champions League will mean that some of their better players are for sale. At the moment, they have to be favourites to progress as they are at home to Dynamo Kiev, having drawn the away leg 1-1.

It would seem that the only possible target from Ajax might be their goalkeeper Stekelenburg at this stage as Vertonghen would probably be surplus to requirements once the Squillaci deal is finalised.

There are still rumours that we are in the market for more defenders, as Sky reported last night that both Juan of Roma and Ciani of Bordeaux are possible targets as the boss  looks to further strengthen the defence.

Personally, I can't see either of those deals happening as we now have the required four centre backs and signing another one would surely be a blow to the development of Djourou, who the boss rates highly. There is of course the possibility that Djourou's injury problems are not behind him and we need another player because of that, but I don't see it happening.

With the reserves back from their mini-tournament victory in Ireland it would appear that a few of them will be going out on loan in the next few days. JET looks set to go on loan to Doncaster where he did quite well last season, and Lansbury looks destined for Swansea.

They're both very good players with a very bright future in the game but it won't be easy for them to progress into our first team squad. They do fit into the regulations as under-21 players who don't need to be named as members of our squad, and as a result of that I think their loans should only be on a month-by-month basis just in case we have an injury crisis of epic proportions like last season.

This week's Premier League games came to a close last night when Man City handed Liverpool a 3-0 beating to leave Liverpool 17th in the table. City played well enough but Liverpool were very poor and Mascherano apparently refused to play as he wants out of the club. I have said before that I am not at all impressed by the players they have brought in, and I think they will struggle to get anywhere near the top four this season. 

We should have beaten Liverpool last week and if we had a full team out there against them we would have won easily, in my opinion. From what I have seen, Liverpool aren't particularly happy to have the ball and are hoping to mop up pressure and hit their opponents on the break.

However, their ability to defend isn't helped by having Agger at left back, a past it Carragher at centre back, and Macherano no longer wanting to play for them. If Gerrard and Torres don't excel in every game, Liverpool have a very ordinary team and Roy Hodgson has a very tough job ahead of him.

In the fantasy football stakes, I had a bit of a disaster this week and I'm already considering using my wilcard to completely change my team this week. I'm outside the first million places overall and 462nd in my own league. However, that league is ranked very highly thanks to some of the other teams in it who are doing so well.

Canadian Gooner James C still remains on top of the league with his team Vancouver, but there's no point in naming the teams at the bottom of the league as they joined in late and are a week behind in scores, although they will probably catch me very soon.

Finally for today, I have set up a "Cesc Is God" facebook page and I would welcome any views on it and what I can or should do with it. At the moment my blog can be read there every day and I'm uploading pictures of Cesc, Arsenal, and the Emirates stadium. I hope to link a few videos of Cesc too and anything else of interest to fans of Cesc, Arsenal, and football in general. 

Here's a look at how Rosicky played against Blackpool on Saturday.

See You Tomorrow.