It's basically desperation. No one is going to sell their top player on the last day without a serious premium, so we're going for short term solutions that can help secure our top 4 spot.

@YoungGunsBlog: Juventus chief Marotta not too pleased to sign Bendtner: 'Clearly he isn't top player we wanted, but we needed reinforcements'. 😆

Initially i was thinking that loan signings were only a short term solution till this crop of youngsters were ready but obviously what you say makes much more sense.

This is going to be a long day.

French football expert Matt Spiro: "Lyon's financial predicament means they have little choice but to sell today. If Tottenham do not meet the asking price for Hugo Lloris, club chairman Jean-Michel Aulas may encourage striker Bafetimbi Gomis to open talks with Fulham, who have already registered an interest, while exciting Brazilian winger Michel Bastos also has permission to leave the Stade de Gerland."

Get Bastos Arsene!!!

Wenger said last week that we would see a lot of loan deals due to the fact that the money available for clubs in Europe to spend is minimal, and in England players are too expensive.

Rohit wrote:

Initially i was thinking that loan signings were only a short term solution till this crop of youngsters were ready

To be sold?

Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail reporting Damiao on LOAN to pool with option to buy for 13 mill next year. If I see this happen especially after Sahin, I'm going to have to kill someone.

y va marquer wrote:

Wenger said last week that we would see a lot of loan deals due to the fact that the money available for clubs in Europe to spend is minimal, and in England players are too expensive.

So basically we've abandoned any pretence of being an ambitious club building for the future and become an up market version of Fat Sams Bolton and West Ham surviving on loaned players hand to mouth.

Biggus wrote:
y va marquer wrote:

Wenger said last week that we would see a lot of loan deals due to the fact that the money available for clubs in Europe to spend is minimal, and in England players are too expensive.

So basically we've abandoned any pretence of being an ambitious club building for the future and become an up market version of Fat Sams Bolton and West Ham surviving on loaned players hand to mouth.

I don't think he was referring specifically to us, more a general comment on the situation in the market.
Still though, we don't even seem to be engaging in any loan activity either.
Not a peep about us on those rolling transfer news feeds.

Everyone else seems frantic.

If Liverpool sign Damiao and we end up with some reject on loan then that's that for our CL aspirations. Our inertia is baffling.

I Am Arsenal Till I Die wrote:

Bastos is off to UAE isn't he?

That's what I heard a couple of weeks ago.

De Jong went for €5 million. Thats a steal, better than getting Essien on loan.

What makes all this worse is that if we scrape 4th on the final day of the season the club will smugly say they got it right. Idiots!

timBO! wrote:

What makes all this worse is that if we scrape 4th on the final day of the season the club will smugly say they got it right. Idiots!

It's obvious that's our only priority. Our squad is looking very thin. Couple of injuries and and we will be struggling.

We're not even shifting players out for chrissake.
Not a mention of Chamakh budging, not a flippin' word about Park.
We don't even put them on our bench and yet they're still bloody here.
Jeez even Liverpool have managed to shed Spearing

I am just not convinced that Wenger believes the squad at his disposal now can even compete, or, that alone, even be comfortable in the race for the Champions League places. How can the club be so stingy?

Imagine Jan and Feb when the FA Cup CL and prem games together. Gerv won't be here. So basically all we'll have at our disposal to use is Theo Giroud Podolski Ox. Any injuries and Diaby and Santos on the wings.