How many players can Arsenal buy? Homegrown Restrictions

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So with the summer well underway and with Arsenal seemingly ready to dip into their large cash reserves, we are unsurprisingly being linked with different players every day. With the squad size and homegrown restrictions the boss will have to balance players coming in with players going out. Over the last two transfer windows we have struggled to offload some of the ‘fringe’ players but this year I can sense a more ruthless approach. Squillaci and Arshavin have reached the end of their contracts and have been released but more telling is the release of Denilson who still had a year to run on his contract.

According to the Premier League a homegrown player is a player who “irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”

Each club may register up to 25 players, including 17 who may be non-homegrown. Additionally clubs may register an unlimited amount of U21 players, who will not be counted as part of the 25, i.e. players born after 1 January 1992 are eligible as an U21 player this season.

Below is our current squad;

Name	Homegrown	Under 21
Wojciech Szczesny	Yes	No
Abou Diaby	No	No
Bacary Sagna	No	No
Thomas Vermaelan	No	No
Laurent Koscielny	No	No
Tomas Rosicky	No	No
Mikel Arteta	No	No
Lukas Podolski	No	No
Jack Wilshere	Yes	Yes
Andre Santos	No	No
Olivier Giroud	No	No
Theo Walcott	Yes	No
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	Yes	Yes
Aaron Ramsey	Yes	No
Santi Cazorla	No	No
Johan Djourou	Yes	No
Lukasz Fabianski	No	No
Francis Coquelin	Yes	No
Vito Mannone	Yes	No
Carl Jenkinson	Yes	Yes
Gervinho	No	No
Kieran Gibbs	Yes	No
Marouane Chamakh	No	No
Emmanuel Frimpong	Yes	Yes
Ju Young Park	No	No
Nicklas Bendtner	Yes	No
Nacho Monreal	No	No
Ryo Miyaichi	No	Yes
Joel Campbell Per Mertesacker	No No	Yes No

Of the 30 first-team players listed above, 6 are U21 and 18 are Non-homegrown. As it stands we will have to sell some Non-homegrown players or simply exclude them from the squad before we buy a Non-homegrown player e.g. Higuain. Obviously we will see the exit of some players in the coming months whether this will be permanent or temporary.

Ideally we will see around 8 of the 30 players leaving this summer either by transfer or on loan. Nicklas Bendtner is assessing his options and should leave before the end of the month. Loanees Chamakh, Santos, Park, Djourou and Frimpong will be sold if suitable agreements can be found. Joel Campbell is likely to re-join Real Betis on loan and one of Mannone or Fabianski is likely to go through the exit door on a permanent deal.

So in summary we should have plenty of room for incoming players. I expect we’ll see the permanent departure of at least 6 players and the purchase of at least 4 players in addition to Yaya Sanogo. Over to you, Arsene.

Arsene makes his first summer signing

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Good evening all, the season is over and withdrawal symptoms are starting to set in. Thankfully we have some positive transfer news to keep us occupied. Before I go into that, you may have noticed some changes to the site, I have changed hosting companies so if there are any glitches, I’d appreciate if you let me know in the comments below.

Arsenal have completed the signing of Auxerre striker, Yaya Sanogo. The 20 year old is out of contract this summer and will sign on a free transfer. Arsenal will however have to pay training compensation to Auxerre. Last week Wenger spoke openly on the transfer saying “I am very confident (on the signing). He is a young striker who is promising, and has a big talent.” Sanogo is expected to be unveiled before the end of the week.

The Frenchman joins having scored 9 goals in 11 appearances this season. He follows in the steps of Abou Diaby who also made the move from Auxerre to Arsenal, and like Diaby, Sanogo has struggled with injury in the past. Below is a video of the striker in action.

According to @AFCAcademy Arsenal will also announce the youth signings of Julio Pleguezuelo Selva, from Barcelona and Danny Crowley from Aston Villa in the coming week. With the release of 15 players from the youth academy this summer, you would expect these are the first of many youth signings this close-season.

Newcastle v Arsenal – Projected line-up

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D-Day has arrived; it’s the last game of the season and yet again Arsenal need to win to secure a top four place. Last year it was The Hawthorns, this year it’s St. James’ Park, with the same result needed. Newcastle have nothing to place for but Arsenal being Arsenal means nothing is ever straight forward.

By this stage I’m sure everyone has gone through every possible result today for Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs but the main thing is, our destiny is in our own hands. There’s talk if Chelsea draw and if we score 2 more goals than Chelsea and win by one goal, there will be a playoff for 3rd. It’s not the most unlikely of situations but we have to focus on beating Newcastle first and if we can do it by 2 goals then all the better.

Late Fitness test

The team news is everyone apart from long-term absentee, Abou Diaby should be available. Mikel Arteta will undertake a fitness test this morning and if he’s anywhere over 60% fit, you would think he’d start. Olivier Giroud rejoins the squad after his three match suspension.

Predicted Line-up: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski.

We need some Santi magic

I expect us to line up the same way we did against Wigan, depending on the fitness of Mikel Arteta. If he’s to miss out Ramsey is likely to replace him and Wilshere would start alongside the Welshman. Although Podolski hasn’t played the best as the central striker, he popped up with two crucial goals midweek so if he doesn’t start today he’ll feel hard done by.

This game is looking increasingly likely that it will be Bacary Sagna’s last at the club. Aside from some rocky moments this year, he has been very good for the club the last few years. I hope he stays for another year but the signs are signalling otherwise. Hopefully he can produce a big performance today.

From the moment I woke up this morning I could feel the nerves in my stomach. Perform to our best and we will win, anything other than that and it’s a bit of a lottery. If we don’t make silly mistakes or get a man sent off I’d be very confident. I won’t make any score predictions but what I will say is we’ll endure despair and happiness today, hopefully by the end of the match it’s the latter. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Arsenal v Wigan, Predicted Line-up

Player of the Season, Result

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Not the best results this weekend for Arsenal but our destiny is still in our own hands. If we win our remaining two games we will finish fourth ahead of Tottenham, anyway more about that in the coming days. Over the weekend I gave you all the chance to vote for your player of the season so here are the results of the top 5 ;

5. Per Mertesacker – 5.45%

The ‘Big Friendly German’ has enjoyed his second season at the club, starting 31 of our 36 league games to date. This season we have gotten to see the reason he has won 88 International caps for Germany. His first year at the club may have been indifferent in terms of his form but his experience and calming effect on our defence this year are two of the reasons why we have the second best defensive record in the league. Mertesacker piped both Giroud and Podolski to 5th place by 0.5%.

4. Mikel Arteta – 6.44%

In the mid-season poll I did in January, Arteta was 4th place with 9% of the votes. This time he has remained in the same position with just 3% less. Arteta has had a consistent season in the heart of our midfield. His passing stats are up at the very top and his experience of breaking up attacks has been very useful. The Spaniard has also helped out with 6 league goals in our bid for Champions League football.

3. Theo Walcott – 6.93%

Theo Walcott is enjoying his most successful goal scoring season at the club, with 20 goals to date. He has scored in both our last two games against Manchester United and QPR. In the mid season poll Walcott finished second with 16%. The drop of almost 10% is no doubt linked to his form since the end of January. Injuries and poor form meant he hadn’t scored for a while but he has his shooting boots back now and hopefully he can nick a couple more before the end of the season.

2. Laurent Koscielny – 10.4%

In January if I had told someone Laurent Koscielny would be our second best player of the season, I would have been laughed at. He received 1% of the votes for player of the season up until January so it’s a testament to how well he has done since then that he is second. The decision of Arsene Wenger to drop his captain away to Bayern Munich and select Koscielny was a bold one but the right one. I have to say the Frenchman is one of my favourites at the club, his ability to nick the ball in front of strikers and his recovery speed are excellent. Together with Mertesacker, they make a solid partnership.

1. Santi Cazorla – 51.49%

Top of the poll in January and top of the poll now, it’s no surprise that Santi Cazorla has been selected as player of the season. He’s a huge 40% ahead of everyone else which is a feat in itself. Twelve goals and ten assists is only half the story about the little Spanish magician. His ability to pick out a pass is top quality and his enthusiasm to always look forward with the ball are some of the many reasons why he has endeared the Arsenal fans in his first season at the club. The fact that this is his first year and he has won by such a landslide is quite an accomplishment. I’m looking forward to watching him again on Tuesday and hopefully he can prove the difference once again.

Poll: Who is your player of the season?

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So it’s that time of year again, even though we have two games left, Arsenal are not in action this weekend so I thought this would be a good time to run the poll. I ran a mid-season poll in January and the top 5 players with the highest votes then are listed below.

Cazorla	39%
Walcott	16%
Wilshere	13%
Arteta	9%
Podolski	7%

I don’t want to talk too much about the candidates now as to not influence your judgement so I’ll keep it short. The top 5 players for the first part of the season, with the exception of Arteta were all attacking players. The last few months the likes of Mertesacker and Koscielny have brought a new solidity to the defence and the energy shown by Rosicky and Ramsey in midfield with the attacking quality of the 5 players above has had a big effect on the turnaround of our results. I’ll leave it up to you to choose.

[polldaddy poll=7095190]

QPR v Arsenal – Projected Line-up

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Afternoon all, a trip to Loftus Road is what is in store for Arsenal today. We face an already relegated QPR team in the late kick off today in what is our third last game of the season.

Last week we produced a mixed performance against Manchester United to gain a point at the Emirates. The first 40 mins was the best football I’ve seen us play this season. In fact I hadn’t seen that intensity of tackling and closing down from us for a number of years. We all know what happened next but all in all a point is a good result against the Premier League champions.

The squad is likely to be the same as last week, Giroud is still suspended and Fabianski is due to resume full training this week.

Projected Line-up Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Cazorla, Podolski.

Sagna was at fault for the goal last week and made a couple of other defensive misjudgements but with Jenkinson not playing in weeks the Frenchman will likely keep his place. Tomas Rosicky worked very hard last week and would have been disappointed to have been subbed for Jack Wilshere.

Theo Walcott scored 2 minutes into last week’s game but was almost anonymous thereafter, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see ‘The Ox’ get a run out. Podolski struggled as the lone front man but the boss has been talking him up in that position this week so he will keep his place at the spearhead of our attack.

If we play like we did last week I can’t see anything other than an Arsenal win. QPR have nothing to play for and there seems to be some conflict in the camp but ‘Arry would like nothing better than denying Arsene Wenger and Arsenal another year of Champions League football.
Verdict: An away win for Arsenal.

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Arsenal v Manchester United – Projected Line up

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Sorry about the lack of updates recently, I’ve been very busy with exams and haven’t had a lot of time to write. Today’s match has been talked about all week, it’s massive. Even though United secured the title last week, there’s the guard of honour, the RVP factor but most importantly we need to get a result.

The team news is much the same as last week, Fabianski remains out and Giroud will face the first game of his three match suspension.

Predicted line-up: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs/ Arteta, Ramsey/ Walcott, Wilshere, Cazorla/ Podolski.

With Giroud out, we are short of options up front so Podolski looks the natural successor in leading the line. At left back Gibbs and Monreal both stake good claims to start but the pace of Gibbs might just edge it for him.

In midfield we are lucky to have options, Arteta and Ramsey have formed a solid partnership and it would be difficult to see why we would alter that now. Jack Wilshere was rested last week against Fulham so that respite will hopefully helped have done him good. In the games against Norwich and Everton he struggled to make an impact but coming off the bench against Fulham he looked a little brighter.

If Wilshere is to start it would mean Tomas Rosicky will be on the bench. The boss will have another tough decision as to who will start on the right. Chamberlain has looked impressive in recent weeks and while Walcott has hit a bit of a stale patch, I think he’ll go with Walcott though in order to give Podolski some more support.

A win would be great but a draw wouldn’t be the end of the world either. Tottenham’s slip up at Wigan yesterday means there’s less pressure to get the win, but if we do it would be a huge step towards Champions League football. We’ve struggled against the big teams this season but hopefully today will be different! Victoria Concordia Crescit

Arsenal v Norwich – Projected Line-up

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We welcome Norwich to the Emirates today, in a game which is a need-to win for both teams. A win for us would see us leapfrog both Chelsea and Tottenham into 3rd place albeit having played a game more than the former. Norwich find themselves just four points outside of the relegation zone and with Villa playing at home this weekend they could get pulled further into the relegation dog fight if they fail to pick up points today.

There’s mostly positive news on the injury front. Walcott and Wilshere are ’90 %’ likely to be in the squad but Tomas Rosicky is an injury doubt. Mertesacker will serve his one match suspension so that will open the door for Captain Thomas Vermaelen to re-enter the fray.

A lot depends on the availability of Rosicky. If he misses out there could be a lot of chopping and changing, Wilshere could directly replace him or Cazorla could move more centrally with Walcott or Podolski possibly playing on the wing.

Predicted Line-up: Fabianski/ Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Monreal/ Arteta, Ramsey/ Gervinho, Wilshere, Cazorla/ Giroud.

Last week was the first time we had Monreal and Gibbs both fully available so it was interesting to see who the boss favours in that position. Monreal did well in the game against West Brom so you would expect he’d get the nod here too.

Gervinho has done well of late and looks to becoming more confident now so I think it would be something of a sin if he was replaced by Walcott straight away. Theo wasn’t on a great run of form before his injury so hopefully the time off has re-charged his batteries and maybe he can come off the bench to impact the game today.

On a side note, don’t forget to vote for Thierry Henry for best Premier League player here. Here’s to another 3 points later! Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Arsene Wengers Magic

"Arsene Wenger's Magic, he wears a magic hat, and when he saw the double, he said I'm having that"

How many players can Arsenal buy? Homegrown Restrictions

Arsene makes his first summer signing

Newcastle v Arsenal – Projected line-up

Arsenal v Wigan, Predicted Line-up

Player of the Season, Result

Poll: Who is your player of the season?

QPR v Arsenal – Projected Line-up

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Arsenal v Manchester United – Projected Line up

Arsenal v Norwich – Projected Line-up