Arsenal news in brief -19th September

To save ploughing through mountains of articles, I have collected a bite size summery of today's Arsenal news.


Cesc refuses to rule out Arsenal return.


Cesc Fabregas has admitted that although unrealistic, a return back to Arsenal one day is not impossible should he find himself unsettled at Camp Nou.


“It’s absolutely fine by me [that the clause was inserted into the contract]. I enjoyed my time in Arsenal. I had some great years there. I developed as a player and as a person. I finished there as captain of the club and I will still follow the club and their results.

“I don’t know if it’s realistic that I would return one day. But maybe I said the same when I left Barca, so you never know. If that was the final thing Arsenal needed to agree on to let me go, then I’m satisfied.”

George Graham sticks oar in on Arsenal defence (Daily Mirror)


Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was today urged to tighten up his defence by the man who built the great Gunners backline.

George Graham, who as Arsenal manager from 1986 to 1995 built a side renowned for its stubborn nature, detailed his concern after seeing Wenger's team leak eight goals away to Manchester United and four in defeat at Blackburn.


He said, "I think they left it a bit late to bring in all these players.

"Two weeks of the season had gone by, and he's not had time to work with the players he's brought in.

"Especially among the defence. He's bought a new left-back [Santos], a new centre-half (Mertesacker].

"Defensively they've not had enough time to work with the back four."

Graham added: "It's been generally known they had to shore up the defence.

"Some of their attacking play is still the best in the league, and even at the weekend against Blackburn some of their possession play was fantastic.

"But again the old problems defensively cropped up and they lost 4-3."

Djourou says Arsenal have to "bounce back" after Blackburn defeat


"We have to bounce back because we have another game and we have to be ready for those," he told arsenal.com. "We are disappointed but there is still a long way to go and things are not over yet.

"The team is building together and we are getting stronger together. We could have won the game but this team has got a lot of potential and we have to work hard to be the best."

Phil Jagielka admits transfer speculation effected him

Everton defender Phil Jagielka has admitted he was effected by the transfer speculation linking him with a summer move to Arsenal.

He said, “I was slightly affected because my name was in the papers a little bit. But I spoke to the manager a couple of times and he let me know what was going on. It was difficult. We were all a lot happier when the window shut.

“Unfortunately we had lost Mikel and Jermaine but that’s what we needed for the club to go forward. Hopefully we will have a good season and that will be the turning point.

“We’ve balanced the books and brought a couple of players in on loan who have done really well. We’ll go from there.

“It was difficult because I’m not used to speculation. There wasn’t a part of me that expected to go, so it wasn’t hard mentally. If I had wanted to go, I’m sure the gaffer would have expected me to kick up a fuss. But me and him had a chat and there was an understanding.

“He’ll probably tell you that it was the easiest transfer saga he’s dealt with. There was never an issue.”

Arsenal squad want defensive coach in to ease crisis (Daily Mirror)

Arsene Wenger has the full backing of the Arsenal players – but they want a defensive coach to help them through their crisis, according to The Daily Mirror.

Arsenal have a respected former full back in Wenger’s No.2 Pat Rice, but do not have a specialist defensive coach.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has been touted as a possibility while Steve Bould and Neil Banfield are already at the club working with the youngsters and reserves.