After eight highly successful years at Arsenal, Managing Director and Director of Arsenal Holdings PLC, Keith Edelman, has today announced his departure from the Club in search of a fresh challenge.



Maybe he has seen the future of Arsenal and that the way transfer have been going on he cannot afford to carry on to pay for the transfer that are needed and that Arsenal need to get somebody in what do you all think?

What does that have to do with it? He's a business man not an owner. Money from his pocket doesn't go into the team.

From the Arsenal site...Wengers also said that there is only player free to leave and thats Flamini. hleb still has 2 years on his contract and is not for sale. dont leave mathieu!

Mathieu Flamini's future will be sorted out by the start of next week.

Arsène Wenger had set the end of April as the deadline for the out-of-contract midfielder to decide his future. However "negotiation problems" have held up the process. Now, the Arsenal manager expects a resolution by Monday.

“It will be sorted out over the weekend," said Wenger. "Will he stay or not? That is down to him but the deadline is Sunday, Monday latest.

"The deadline moved for negotiation problems. Only he could tell you [whether he will go or not]. For me yes he stays, but does he tell me the complete truth, I don’t know.

"Ideally I want him to stay, but he’s free. That means if you get £2million here, £4 million somewhere else, you can go to the one who gives you four, or you can as well stay to the one who gives you two.

“He is free to make a decision and you have to accept the market. You listen to everybody in Europe and take some time, that’s why the situation has lasted a little bit. But overall he’s free to go where he wants. You have to accept that because he’s not linked by a contract.

Flamini has been superb for Arsenal this season but, although Wenger wants him to stay, the manager is confident that his side would cope if he did decide to go.

“[If he goes] we will find a solution, don’t worry," said the 58-year-old.

I wish it would hurry up and get sorted so we know if we need to move on or not.


On further note. Kranjcar has been linked now as well.

couldnt agree more

Boy were you wrong here papa.
Diarra looks like he's going to be one of the best in the world after seeing his performance against beating Man U and his last performance against Boro . I was gutted he left Arsenal but he wanted out and Wenger had no choice to let him go.

My concern is the players that may be leaving notably Hleb and Flamini.I think flamini could be replaced ,but will be gutted after his almost player of the season performance this year.Hleb on the other hand would be irreplacable. The man is almost impossible to tackle ,his dribbling success rate is better than anyone i have seen in the world and his passing is fantastic.He get's back and makes tackles better than the majority of attacking midfielders and he is a total team player. I think Wenger said in a recent interview that there is no way Hleb can leave ,if so how did Diarra leave after just signing a contract?

Agree specnur, ive watched his last few games and he has been outstanding.

There are rumours coming out of Spurs that we will sign him this offseason. Apparently a gentlemans agreement was made as part of the Defoe move to Pompey that they will buy him off you and sell him to us because Arsenal wouldnt do business with us.

Did dodgy Harry give you his word?

That's what i never understood about Arsenal fans,they don't know what they got until someone else tells them.I watched Hleb when he was at stuttgart and from the moment i saw him i said he's got to go to Arsenal without question.His control and touch told me that.Now when he first got signed he obviously needed time to fit in , but even though the signs were there . I think the focus by the press on players not scoring goals are basically brainwashing the public into being less sophisticated in their knowledge and understanding of the game.Hleb is unstoppable right now, he understands the way football is played in the Prem and that's why he's bieng touted by those fickle "experts" as bieng the best in the game.

there were times last season when he was man of the match but was totally overlooked by lesser performances by the media darling Cesc.You can not replace Hleb trust me ,you see all the hooplah Ronaldo get's when he dribbles past a player and he doen't even complete the play.Well Hleb is better than Ronaldo in that area by a wide margin.He's making tackles in the middle and he's cutting the defense apart with his passes,that fact that he doesn't score enough is something i can overlook with the ability he has shown.I am quite sure he will score more next season ,but the player is one of the best in the world.

The team interested in both Flamini and Hleb are a relief to me because i can't see either player moving to those (Inter & Juve) as they are lesser teams than Arsenal at this point in time.They would in effect be retarding their career by moving there.Barca on the other hand have that appeal that many players are attracted to and would be more likely.But that's a team in turmoil right now from what i can gather.

I'm not sure about at the back ,but up front Arsenal needs a player who can run at the defense and finish it off with a goal.The player has to be quick and unpredictable.The only players who i feel fit that bill from what i have seen are Benzema ,Martins and Zidan.It looks like Benzema is out of the question,but the other two are possiblities. Martins looks happy at the moment with Newcastle and i think that keegan has got the feeling that if he doesn't start Martins than the Nigerian superstar would be off in the summer.He would fit fantastic with Arsenal because he has a dimension that Arsenal haven't had for a long time Quick ,strong,good in the air for a short player and makes something out of nothing.Zidan who is at Hamburg
can be one of the players of the season in germany last year after almost singlehandedly saving his old club from relegation ,He can be named on of the best African players after Egypt won the nations this year but find himself on the bench game after game at Hamburg.Don't what's going on there ,but what iv'e sen of him is that he's a little immature ,but he unlocks the defense in a second.His biggest attribute is that w he would relish the chance to play in the prem which would make him an even better player.I see him making the same effect on a game as Zarate for Birmingham the other day.He's basically just like that.'I think Zidan would be a bargain also as Martins and Benzema would require deep pockets.

More importantly Arsenal needs two defenders or one general back there like an Adams.

That would stink.I know Diarra has stated that he intends to move from Pompey when a bigger club comes for him ,but going to Spurs doesn't make any sense in that logic.The kid defnitely doesn't lack in self belief and when you see the way he's been playing recently he's right.I just wish he was a little more diplomatic with his use of the English language though.

Haha well i say that cos surely you couldnt write it down in the contract? Gotta be some rule against it.

I don't see how I was wrong. Wenger didn't want to lose him, and he was very reluctant in selling him. The only reason he did so was because Diarra was adamant on leaving (and the price Portsmouth were willing to pay for him). There was a reason why Wenger set the price tag so high, it was to keep teams away from approaching him, but Portsmouth were desperate for a player like him in the middle. If Portsmouth didn't sign him, I can pretty much assure they wouldn't be in the FA Cup final right now. He played a huge role in getting them there.

At the time there was no way he was worth £6 million, especially after Arsenal bought him for £2 million. He had only started 5 matches (most being in the Carling Cup), and subbed in 5 matches before he was sold. And during that time, nowhere did he prove himself to be rated at £4 million more from a couple months prior. Is he worth that price now? Yes, but at the time of his sale to Portsmouth, no way.

If you read some of my other posts about him, you will see that I was upset that he was sold, and that I thought he was going to be a great player in the future. Selling him was a huge blow to the depth of our squad, he could have helped us a lot when the likes of Fabregas and/or Flamini were hurt or fatigued.

Lehmann's little cameo today against Everton was in fact his curtain call as he's leaving the club after the final game.

Sounds like Flamini is off so who do you think Wenger will bring in to replace him. Looks like Flamini may be going to AC so maybe a deal could be done to bring Gatusso to the emirattes. Hed give some great cover for the defence, allowing Fabregas to venture forwards on every attack.

Or will he go for youth, heard Wenger is a big admirer of Michael Johnson. Or will he go for another foreigner, Javi Martinez maybe?

If you read the article on page 9 (posted by me towards the end of the page), it states that Wenger's target will be Michael Johnson to replace Flamini.

I wouldn't mind Gatusso coming in, but he's a bit old. He's already hit the big three-oh, and Wenger's and Arsenal's policy for players over the age of 30 is one year contracts. So it is highly unlikely Gatusso will come to Arsenal.

Could be his agent just trying to tout his player, but who knows.

Not quite sure how I feel about Martins. I haven't watched too many Newcastle matches, but from the little that I've seen him. He seems pretty decent. Not sure about the £15m price tag though.




LB Maxwell is threatening to leave unless a new deal is made with Inter.

Oba Martins will not be going to Arsenal in the summer. First of all he loves Newcastle and the fans love him. Secondly i dont think Wenger will make a 15m bid when there are much better strikers around.
If you do sign Oba you will soon find out that he doesnt have a footballing brain. I have lost count how many times he picks the wrong option and his passing is poor. No one with poor passing is gonna be a target of Arsenal. However, Martins does qualities that will appeal to Wenger. The main two are his speed and shot power. I do think martins needs some proper coaching to get the most out of his talent. Since Keegan has been there and since we have been playing 4-3-3 he has been a better player. I personally love Martins. When he plays you can tell just how much it means for him to play for the club. He never stops trying and always does his best.
I cant see him going to Arsenal but if he does there will be many gutted Newcastle fans. We all love lil Oba!

martins is an african footballer.

that says enough on all levels

What exactly does Essien lack?