Attention All Arsenal Fans - Trust Arsene; Show The Media The Door

I’m just going to cut to the chase and say that the only reason I’m writing this is because there’s a storm coming, and I’m not talking about the new Batman movie. With RVP’s contract still not sorted out (although there’s a lot of time left before anyone can say Arsenal left it too late), and certain players being linked to Arsenal – it is likely that fans online will explode if their ridiculously high expectations aren’t met. ‘SIGN ALL THE PLAYERS’, they said, in a very x-all-the-y-meme fashion.

I just want to try to look at these stories one by one and see whether they merit the intense discussion they are receiving at the moment, because hoping for a number of players to sign along with the already wrapped up signings of Podolski and Giroud might not do you any good as an Arsenal fan.

Oh, and a quick disclaimer – these are my opinions, and my opinions alone. You’re free to disagree with them, and I’d love to know why.

Right then, on with the show.

Is Hugo Lloris moving to Arsenal?

I’m going to refer to what Arsene Wenger said to a journalist who asked him if he thought Robin Van Persie would move to Juventus. To paraphrase his quotes, he put a nice creamy Cadbury Caramello on the line and blatantly stated that RVP was not moving to Juventus, and gave a bunch of reasons that would’ve more than likely set off a storm of abuses from Serie A and Juve fanatics. But I digress.

I’m going to match that bet and am willing to put my money on any reasonably priced chocolate with anyone to say that Hugo Lloris moving to Arsenal is not going to happen.

In my humble opinion, it is a silly rumor that has obviously spread across the internet like wildfire. It is important to understand that because the Internet has the power to spread anything so quickly, a lot of people will take any rumor seriously because, well, it’s everywhere.

But it’s not happening. If Arsene Wenger wanted to buy a goalkeeper, he would’ve done so a few seasons ago. He wouldn’t have let an incredibly confident youngster take that spot and make it his own. It is very easy to forget that Szczesny is just 22 – he has at the very least, 14 more years ahead of him, where he will continue to improve and learn from his mistakes. Wenger is not going to simply decide to give up on a very, very promising youngster for an undoubtedly flattering option in Lloris.

Hugo Lloris; A flattering option to say the least, but all in all, not one Arsenal need.

I mean, fair enough – he’s the French first-choice keeper, he’s done brilliantly at Lyon, and if he did move to Arsenal, he would have no problems fitting in considering our ever-growing French contingent. But it’s not going to happen. It would take easily over £10m, and I don’t understand why Arsene would spend that much on another talented keeper. As someone I talked to earlier today said, ‘it would be radically un-Arsene’ – and I don’t think Arsene Wenger is about to go and make a decision that isn’t what he’d usually do, would he?

What’s annoying is the fact that this rumor has clearly come out of the fact that we will most likely be needing a second choice keeper this season, considering Lukasz Fabianski wants out. Add to that the story of the Lyon president saying that Lloris will be sold at the right price, and Arsene Wenger’s policy of consistently finding players from the Ligue 1, and well, it’s not hard to add two and two, is it?

So yes, Hugo Lloris’ move is pure speculation by (surprise, surprise) the media who clearly have nothing to write about now that the Euros are over. Don’t bother reading into the rumors, you’re wasting your time.

 Is M’Vila moving to Arsenal?

This is a slightly tricky one, considering a lot of reliable sources have stated that we are/were interested at some point in time. And why wouldn’t we be – M’Vila seems to be a solid player who’d definitely add a bit of steel to the current Arsenal lineup. He’s French, he’s young, he’s talented – and therefore pretty much fits the bill for an Arsene Wenger signing. He’s been quoted as being interested in moving to Arsenal and the Premier League. But will it happen or not?

It’s a tough one to figure out to be honest, because there are some people who are adamant that the move will happen, regardless of the Rennes general manager Pierre Dreossi being quoted as stating that there were no offers for M’Vila as recently as, well, today. There are some people who lost hope as soon as the word spread that Arsene had decided to withdraw his interest after M’Vila was involved in a few incidents at the national level that raised questions about his discipline as a player. There are some people who are blatantly stating that Arsene’s never been interested and this is the media, just ‘doing their thing’. And there are some people who are not willing to side with any of the aforementioned, waiting patiently to see how things play out.

The way I see it, if you were optimistic, you’d probably be one of the lot who believe that he’s coming – but if you were cautious, you’d be part of the group that’s waiting it out. The latter is me – and it is only because there are too many contradicting stories that come from sources whose reliability can all be questioned, or are all worth paying attention to.

Stay safe – hope for a transfer, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t move to Arsenal, feel free to break out a shameless grin if he does.

It’s probably the safest option too – I think we’d do great by signing M’Vila, but if we eventually don’t, as long as we do sign a creative AM, this would ease the burden of providing assists on players like Alex Song. Song in particular, would benefit from an AM in my opinion, simply because he could then focus on doing what he is expected to do – shield the back four.

So to put it simply – don’t be surprised if M’Vila doesn’t move to Arsenal, because if Wenger was interested and he decided to withdraw his interest, it’s probably for the best. I know a lot of haters say a lot about how Arsene Wenger is the reason we do not have trophies for the last seven seasons – but no person with a reasonable IQ can deny that he has an uncanny ability to spot talented prospects. And under the circumstances that M’Vila does don the red and white of Arsenal, do proceed to lose your mind and yell yourself hoarse visualizing what our first choice eleven could possibly look like.

 Is RVP going to sign a contract extension at Arsenal?

I’m going to bring us back to what Arsene Wenger said to that journalist a few weeks ago.

“There is no reason why a top player, a big champion would want a move to Serie A in terms of the prestige of the League, the level of play or financial considerations.”

I’m not going to agree or disagree with that statement. I just think that it is an interesting viewpoint and one that is worth considering, even Juventus are an incredibly successful club. The point is, how would Robin Van Persie be making the right move in leaving Arsenal and moving to Juventus. One might state that he has a better chance at winning the Serie A and the Champions League than Arsenal have a chance at the Premier League title and the UCL. Maybe, maybe not. But is he really, really, going to give up all that he has achieved at Arsenal (let’s not judge his time at Arsenal by silverware for one second), and move to Juventus?

As for rumors of him moving to City, it’s not going to happen. You’d have to be pretty daft to assume that him moving to City is possible, and let’s just leave it at that.

That being said, I do believe that it is important to remember that Arsene Wenger has backed RVP throughout his career at Arsenal, a career that has been injury-plagued save for the last season. RVP has been an Arsenal fan for a long time – he’s said so on more than one occasion and there are pictures of him in an Arsenal jersey to further prove this point.

Robin Van Persie has been an Arsenal fan for a long time – well before he moved to Arsenal, in fact. Could emotion play into his decision?

RVP’s case is already touchy considering his career has been plagued with injuries – and clubs may not want to risk spending money on him this summer in the situation where he got injured and didn’t return on their investment with goals. With murmurs of RVP being kept at Arsenal regardless of whether he signs a contract extension or not, I believe that he’d be silly to not sign a contract extension with the club that has patiently waited for him to deliver on his potential. Also, by the time he becomes a free agent (give or take a month or two), he’d be on the wrong side of 30, and for a striker – being on the wrong side of the 30 could mean that clubs look at you in a completely different manner. He might not get as lucrative a deal a year from now as he is being offered at Arsenal right now.

Now, last season for Arsenal proved that players, regardless of what a club or a manager might have given to them, have become incredibly self-indulgent and therefore selfish – I’m not going to mention any names here in lieu of avoiding the resurrection of a completely unrelated debate, but players loved by hundreds and thousands of supporters, to put it simply, do not care about the emotional aspect of playing for a club and will do whatever they like in order to achieve whatever it is that they desire.

It is undoubtedly sad that this emotional aspect of playing for a club is possibly dead or dying out as certain players’ eyes light up at the sight of oil money. Him staying and continuing to perform at the level for however long he can would only make him a legend at Arsenal, and if he truly loves the club, he ought to not waste any time and put pen on paper.

But if the ideal that players want to play for a club because they genuinely love the club; not because they are more likely to win trophies and not because they are going to earn more money; if that ideal, is not dead yet – then RVP could be the last bastion of hope, for the ideal, especially considering he has shown that he has a genuine emotional attachment to the club. RVP’s mum and wife have both said that he should stay, his dad has hinted that he might stay at Arsenal in the long term – the signs all point toward a contract extension, and it would be shocking at the very least if he decided to leave.

Arsene Wenger is well aware of how important RVP is to Arsenal, recently being quoted as stating that the club must keep hold of their captain at all costs. Let’s just hope he is able to do so, but do not forget that if he does indeed leave, Arsene Wenger will find the right replacement. People laughed at how we started last season, how Nasri and Fabregas left, and we ended up finishing with more points than last season, and I might sound like an obsessed fanboy here, but Arsene Wenger is largely responsible for that.

I know I’ve said a lot here, but to put it simply – trust Wenger, don’t blindly trust the media. With Arsene Wenger at the helm, we’ll be fine.