Where to start then? Well, why not with Arsenal considering yesterday’s impressive performance. Now Arsenal fans may have gone from thinking they need six new players (four of them defenders) to thinking they are absolutely fine without any new signings. That’s what a solid 2-0 win at the Etihad can do to you.
Not that Villarreal’s defender Gabriel seems to care. He says that his agent is in talks with Arsenal to secure a move before the January window closes. The best thing, though, is that he says that he won’t “lose his head” whatever happens, whether he stays or goes. Full story here.
Oh, and Arsène Wenger has just slapped a £20m price tag on Francis Coquelin. Actually, he hasn’t. But maybe he should after yesterday’s performance at the Etihad.
Over in the Bundesliga, Hamburg are after some reinforcements to pull clear of the relegation zone but their plans to sign the Swiss international Josip Drmic from Bayer Leverkusen have been thwarted by an injury to Bayer’s Stefan Kießling. Hamburg do need to sign someone, though, that much is clear.
Nicklas Bendtner has ruled out leaving Wolfsburg this month despite talks with the manager Dieter Hecking over the lack of goals. “I don’t know what has happened, Bendtner told Kicker, “I thought I was on the right way.” Ecking does not seem wholly convinced: “To constant work, and to get involved all the time, will be important areas for him [to work on] if he wants to make an impression in Germany.”
Having said that, the HSV coach Joe Zinnbauer may find it hard to attract new signings after he told all players that from January their working days started at 7.30 every weekday. Ouch. That’s like “proper” work. And the quotes from the club’s sporting director, Peter Knäbel, are unlikely to have made any work-shy professional footballer out there wanting a transfer to HSV. “That is not a punishment that is rather to show them that we want to be with them, that we would like to have an intense working relationship with them.”
West Ham, meanwhile, may be another club who do not feel they need to mae any signings this window but that hasn’t stopped Swedish central defender Marcus Nilsson deciding to travel to London to train with Sam Allardyce’s side this week. His contract with Utrecht has run out and he would be available on a free transfer.
More news from Sweden (and France) as SVT revealed last night that Bordeaux have improved their offer for Malmo FF’s Isaac Kiese Thelin from €1.9m to €3m. The forward has only been at the club for six months after joining from IFK Norrkoping and would be the sixth player to leave the club after the Swedish season finished.
