Gael Clichy - Arsene wants him to stay
Arsene Wenger has been speaking about the future of Gael Clichy. Arsene has stated that he wants his left-back to stay at Arsenal and that talks over a new contract are now ongoing. Clichy has just one year left on his current deal, and his absence from the closing games of the season was a clue to the fact that he had not signed a new one just yet.
At the start of last season I think most Arsenal fans would have been happy for Kieran Gibbs to replace Clichy in the starting line-up. Subsequent events showed this to be a place where, perhaps, Arsene still knew. However, despite the lack of an adequate replacement currently within the Club, most Arsenal fans would probably still be not too upset if Clichy moved on. Five years ago none of us were too worried when Cashley went to Chelsea - most regulars had been watching Clichy for a couple of years and knew that he was a better defender for his age than Cole had been in his youth. The problem with Gael is that he has failed to develop. He still makes the same mistakes he did five years ago. He still has a major problem with concentrating for the full ninety minutes. Any description of him as an attacking full-back is shown to be stupid by his stats - only two career goals is poor to say the least - and that's before you even look at his crossing.
All in all I hope these latest comments are a ruse by Arsene to squeeze another couple of quid out of any potential suitors for our French full-back. I wouldn't be upset if he went, but I would wish him all the best - he has never given any less than his best for Arsenal.
Alex Song has been fined for refusing to shake the hand of Samuel Eto'o on his return to the Cameroon team this Summer. You might remember that Alex "retired" from international football after being largely ignored during the World Cup last year. He was ostracised by Sven Goran Eriksson following his falling out with Eto'o and is still paying the price for it now. Personally I hope they continue to annoy Alex Song and that he re-imposes his personal exile from the Cameroon squad. They are effectively out of the African Cup of Nations following the recent qualifiers (in which Song didn't play because of injury) but there are World Cup qualifiers on the horizon in darkest Africa, and we could really do without Alex Song jetting off to play in them.
More tomorrow, I hope. Any chance of a signing? Please.
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