Arsène Wenger is ready to make an audacious move for Atletico Madrid’s young superstar Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Camacho as he shakes up his squad.
Wenger is poised to hit back the only way he knows how, with Mathieu Flamini and possibly Alexander Hleb leaving the Emirates.
He sent top scout Steve Rowley to watch 18-year-old Camacho score twice for Atletico last weekend.
Camacho is an attacking and, more importantly, goal-scoring midfielder who would be ideal to play beside Cesc Fabregas.
The teenager was captain of the Spanish under-17 team that dazzled in recent tournaments and Arsenal will move in fast to sign him.
Atletico will want £15million even though Camacho has played only 11 times for them.
Arsenal will have a real fight on their hands as Atletico look good to qualify for the Champions League and will not want to part with their best young players - a problem Chelsea are finding in their pursuit of striker Kun Aguero.
But the fact Wenger has good contacts in Spain and sent trusted ally Rowley for a final look at Camacho suggests he thinks he has a chance.
And the Gunners, always on the look-out for the best emerging talent, are well aware that Aquilani has emerged as one of the world’s top young stars.
The 22-year-old was watched by Gilles Grimandi, who is in line to be named the Gunners’ new director of football, as Italy beat Portugal on penalties at the European Under-21 Championship on Thursday to qualify for the Olympic Games. The Roma play-maker was named man-of-the-match for a superb display and spectacular long-range strike in the 2-2 draw with England the previous week.
And that display was enough for Grimandi to be dispatched to Holland to run the rule over the elegant midfielder.
All of Europe’s leading clubs had representatives monitoring the Championship. Aquilani was acknowledged by the scouting fraternity as one of the true stars of the tournament.
ARSENAL have won the race to grab Lyon winger Hatem Ben Arfa.
Gunners boss Arsène Wenger beat Liverpool. Chelsea and Manchester United to land the Tunisia-born star.
And Wenger has agreed a £16million deal for the 21-year-old, who was called into the French national team last season as a replacement for Louis Saha.
Wenger is set to reignite his interest in Hamburg’s £15million-rated defender Vincent Kompany.
The Belgian centre-back had been on the radar of the Arsenal boss prior to his move to the Bundesliga for £5.1million two years ago.
Now Wenger believes the 22-year-old star, rated one of the best young defenders in Europe, is ready for the Premier League.
Kompany has Champions League experience having played against some of the top teams in Europe during his days at Anderlecht.
He sparked the interest of Chelsea during the reign of Jose Mourinho after impressing against the Blues. But after moving to Hamburg Kompany rejected a move because he didn’t want to follow the examples of a string of top players whom he believed had moved to Stamford Bridge only to see their careers stall.
Kompany said then: “Chelsea came in for me but I refused although I could have earned double what I had at Anderlecht. I would rather never go to Chelsea than go at a bad moment.”
Arsenal were were joined by AC Milan in the race to sign goal keeper Heurelho Gomes, who is set to quit Dutch club, PSV Eindhoven in the summer.
Niko Kranjcar’s father has confirmed that Arsene Wenger is big fan of the Portsmouth star.
The Croatian midfielder is believed to be high on Wenger’s list of summer targets, and with the futures of Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb far from certain a move for Kranjcar could be in the offing.
Zlatko Kranjcar is former national coach of Croatia and is a huge influence on his son’s career and he has confirmed Arsenal’s interest. (more…)
Milan have confirmed that they have agreed a four-year contract with Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini.
The out-of-contract France international underwent a medical on Monday and has reached an agreement that will keep him at the San Siro until June 2012.
A statement on Milan’s official website read: “Milan would like to confirm that we have signed a contract that will tie the French player Mathieu Flamini to the Rossoneri from 1st July 2008 till 30th June 2012.”
On the agreement, Flamini told reporters: “I am very happy, thank you.”
Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Uefa.com: “Flamini is a very good player - we saw this when he played against us in the UEFA Champions League. This is an excellent signing.” (more…)