Arsenal Greet a New Friend and Await the Return of an Old One

Good morning. Despite the fact that there is still, inexplicably, no mention of the Squillaci transfer on Arsenal.com, the transfer was confirmed by Arsene Wenger in his press conference yesterday.

I must say I think Arsenal have gotten themselves a good deal here. The reported fee is around £5 million for a 30-year-old defender who has played at top clubs for most of his career, and clearly has a bit about him for that to be the case.

I don't see why anyone would be concerned about his age either—30 is prime age for a central defender, and I must say I would have thought a player with Squillaci's credentials is coming in to be first choice ahead of Koscielny and Djourou.

Then again, the fee paid for Koscielny (reported to be somewhere between £8 and 10 million) wouldn't suggest he was bought to be a backup either, so I think we'll have an intriguing fight for a starting place there with Djourou, whom the manager also rates highly, in the mix. With this addition I think our central defence is stronger than it was last season, and the competition for places should keep everyone on their toes.

The other big news of yesterday was the Champions League draw. Arsenal could have done with avoiding a lot of travelling, as five of the six Champions League group matches are followed by away games in the Premier League. Unfortunately though, Arsenal drew Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, and Partizan Belgrade.

The away trip to Donetsk will be very demanding for the squad, but fortunately it's followed by the only home league game (against Newcastle) that follows one of their group games.

However, the away matches to Partizan Belgrade and Braga are followed by away games at Chelsea and Aston Villa, respectively, which is going to make for a couple of tough weeks.

Of course, playing Shakhtar Donetsk means we will see an old friend again in Eduardo. I must confess I don't know how he's been getting on over in the Ukraine, but I hope he's settled in well. I think he's an outstanding bet to score against us in both games; after all he did score the first goal in European competition at Ashburton Grove, putting Dynamo Zagreb 1-0 up against Arsenal on the night.

In any case, he should get a rousing reception from the Arsenal fans and rightly so. Often when popular players leave, the fans don't get their chance to say goodbye, so it's nice that on this occasion that opportunity will be presented.

Arsenal's chief executive Ivan Gazidis says the Champions League final being held at Wembley this season will be an added incentive for the London clubs to do well in this season's competition. I don't know how other fans feel about it but I couldn't care less.

Wembley is a terrible venue. All it has going for it is that it's big. The concourses inside the stadium, especially in the upper tier are too narrow meaning you can't move for people, getting in and out of the ground is an absolute nightmare (fans shuffling up Wembley Way might look impressive on TV, but the experience of it is just annoying), and the area the stadium is in is a pit of despair.

In my opinion it's not fit to hold a European Cup final (or World Cup games, for that matter). Bring back the Millennium Stadium.

Moving on, tomorrow sees Arsenal go away to Blackburn Rovers. A more thorough examination of the game tomorrow, but I was amused by Arsene Wenger's description of some of the challenges that went in on Spurs goalkeeper Gomes last Sunday as "rugby."

You can see why Wenger has highlighted it, last season Arsenal lost at Blackburn because the home side very successfully targeted Lukasz Fabianski with high balls and tough challenges in the box because they knew he didn't have command of his area and was good for a mistake or two.

Tomorrow I'm sure Almunia will play, but he also has the reputation of being good for a mistake and could find himself in line for similar treatment, and so you can see why Wenger is trying to put protection for the goalkeeper at the forefront of the referee's thoughts. 

I think we will be helped tomorrow by having more fighters on the pitch. Thomas Vermaelen will not be having any of Blackburn's bullying, neither will Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, or Alex Song. I anticipate a very different game to the one we saw at the end of last season, and I think there's every chance of Arsenal taking three points.

That's about it for today, no news on any further transfer activity by Arsenal, Arsene Wenger did say in his press conference yesterday, "We are where we are—we have four great keepers and it is important we give confidence to them for the next game.

"I do not rule it out, but at the moment I say I am not in a position to sign anybody. At the moment, it is all dead."

Some people have taken that to mean Arsenal are definitely not signing anyone else, but I really struggle to see how they've arrived at that conclusion. The deadline is closing in anyway, so we'll know one way or the other soon.

So that's your lot for today, preview of the Blackburn game tomorrow.