SoccerZero » Arsenal

Gunners target Danish starlet Eriksen

RQ — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:25:31 +0000

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has made Ajax Amsterdam’s young Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen his new target. Reports in the Guardian suggest that Arsenal might swoop for Eriksen in the summer, as his contract runs out at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Eriksen, who made his first team debut for Ajax two months ago against NAC Breda, has been been tipped by club manager Martin Jol to be a future Wesley Sneijder or Rafael Van der Vaart. Both players honed their skills at Ajax before moving to greener pastures-Sneijder to Real Madrid and Van der Vaart to Hamburger SV. Party Bets is offering you all the latest Premier Leauge odds, results and news.

Ajax are reportedly keen to tie Eriksen to a long term deal to ward off interest from the Gunners. Eriksen is said to be quite happy with the way his career is progressing in Holland and sees no reason to leave the Dutch giants at this stage of his career.

Eriksen made his international debut for Denmark last month and is a possible candidate to board the Danish plane to South Africa this summer for the World Cup.

No playoff for the final Champions League Spot

RQ — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:38:58 +0000

The Premier League clubs’ chairmen have shot down a proposal which would have seen a playoff being played between fourth and fifth placed teams for the final Champions League slot. As per the current regulations, the top two finishers in the Premier League have direct qualification to the UCL while teams finishing third and fourth have to play qualifying rounds. The proposal mooted that the final Champions League spot be granted to the winner of the playoff which was to be played between the fourth and fifth placed teams in the League after the end of the season. The fortunes of the top three finishing teams were not to be affected.

The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were quick to voice their dissatisfaction over the suggestion. Other teams in the top half were considerate enough to give it a thought with Martin O’Neill describing it as “interesting” and one that “people might go for”.

Any change in the current format would have needed the approval of 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs. With the television deal in place for the next three years, any change would have reflected only after the current deal expired.

Also, the general consensus at the meeting was that the team finishing in fourth position after a gruelling season deserved to play in the Champions League. The congestion in the English football calendar did not help the change at all. Premier League bosses feared that this change would reduce the significance of the FA’s other tournaments especially the FA Cup. Why mend something that ain’t broken?

Fabregas wants Barca rumours to stop

RQ — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:31:57 +0000

Arsenal’s captain and Spanish midfielder Francesc Fabregas has denied reports that he has agreed to join Catalan giants Barcelona at the end of the current season. These reports which emanated out of Spain had suggested that Fabregas had reached a verbal agreement with the Barcelona officials regarding the move. But Fabregas came out in public after Arsenal’s win against Liverpool to clear the air. He said that he was fully committed to Arsenal and his main focus was to help Arsenal mount a serious challenge to the Barclays Premier League title. To quote Fabregas, he said, “They have denied it, I have denied it. I just want to focus on Arsenal.”

But comments made by Cesc’s father have added to the confusion. Fabregas Sr. admitted that his son would be open to a move to Camp Nou at the end of the season. Arsene Wenger though has been caught in the crossfire. He came out trying his best to douse the fire by saying ‘nothing plus nothing is nothing’.

Cesc Fabregas was a part of the Barcelona youth system and scored at an alarming rate for a midfielder. He moved to Arsenal in September 2003 sensing that his participation at Barcelona would be limited. With the emotional attachment towards the Catalan club, a move to the Nou Camp can never be ruled out.