Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia commences in little over a month and it still remains somewhat uncertain as to which players will be making the trip. As far as the first-team is concerned, much speculation centres on the possible departures of Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas, as well as the likely the exits of Denilson and Nicklas Bendtner. There is also much debate surrounding players joining the club, with a deal for Southampton’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain thought to be close.
If Oxlade-Chamberlain were to join, then he would become one of the club’s large group of young professionals hoping to make an impact on the first-team picture this pre-season. Amongst that group is recent recruit Carl Jenkinson, the defender whose arrival at Emirates Stadium was confirmed earlier this week. Jenkinson has not yet been given a first-team squad number, but has been assured that he will partake in the Asia Tour, where manager Arsene Wenger will make a judgement as to whether and, if so in what measure, he will be involved in the first-team squad next season. There have been suggestions that Jenkinson could dislodge Emmanuel Eboue as back-up to Bacary Sagna whilst, as far as the other full-back berth is concerned, Pedro Botelho could capitalise on the uncertainty over Clichy’s future and Kieran Gibbs’ injury by staking a claim at left-back.
Botelho has spent the past four seasons gaining valuable experience on loan in Spain, but this could be the Summer when we finally see him in an Arsenal shirt, particularly as he is now considered a ‘senior’ player as far as the club’s 25-man Premier League squad is concerned.
Kyle Bartley could be given an opportunity to prove his worth at centre-back before deciding on whether to embark on another loan spell with Rangers, whilst there are several other returning loanees who will be seeking assurances on their standing within the club, including the likes of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Henri Lansbury. Emmanuel Frimpong will also be desperate for action having missed almost the entirety of the last campaign through injury.
Ryo Miyaichi and Wellington, the exciting wide players, are also set to spend pre-season with the club, with Miyaichi in particular hoping to impress Wenger, although his situation regarding ascertaining a work permit is uncertain.
There are others, such as Gavin Hoyte and Rhys Murphy, who could well be entering their final seasons at the club, with the two players likely to be sent on loan next season before being released.
All of this suggests that, as well as the crucial decisions he has to make regarding players coming in and going out of the first-team, Wenger also faces some equally difficult decisions about which youngsters to promote to his squad. Pre-season should make his task somewhat easier.
Jeorge Bird's Arsenal Youth 
will be interesting to see, especially regarding Miyaichi, Lansbury and Bartley who have done very well out on loan. Jenkinson was announced at reserves and youth part of official website, which might be an indication
Say what you like but MU and Liverpoole have made a statement of intent. They have bought the players who have played in the epl. Jenkinson may be full of talent but has not been proven as yet and for all you know maybe out depth in the epl.Theat is the problem with getting kids.
Wenger better get his signings right. If the gunners fail to challenge,don’t be surprised he quits or is forced out by Xmas 2011.
The board would never sack Wenger, but the Nasri, Cesc situation does not help matters at all because no big name player will come here if they see us selling our best players
JB – It seems like George Brislen-Hall will stay at Arsenal after all, as for Kyle Bartley, he could be a good holding mid-fielder.
Apparently The Mirror is claiming Arsenal are signing Chamberlain for £12M.
If we lose Nasri and fabregas we need to sign top quality we can’t challenge anything with kids that is proven. we need quality signings.
Arsenal have so far acquired Jnkinson with Chamberlain probably in the bag.These two aint the finished product and will take at least half to a season to get used to the epl.Yeah we have heard it before. When they develop et c hey will dominate.
Franly the cliche is wearing thin and until Wenger gets the finished product,the fans aint convinced. I believ e
Nasri will say he is right to leave. These are early days. Until Wenger has really signed some epl established pproducts,the top guns will continue to have itchy feet.
So far Wenger has got the gunners two kids.I read Pires berating his former boss for stuffing his team with too many kids and foreigners.Remember Pires has played in the epl so his words carry weight.
It remains to be seen whether the future signings will be kids or not. Surely by now Wenger should realise what are the problems with the gunners. They have been there the last six years.
If he carries on as before the danger is the gunners could be a mid table team by May 2012.I have a hunch the gunners will be fouthr favourites fo the title when the bookies take the bets .It is not surprising. Persie has said so..He must know what he is talking.
I’ve heard people say we won’t be in the top four so many years in a row, it’s nothing new. And they’re always wrong.
jekinson cost peanuts ( well in today market anyway) and chamberlain is a good gamble.both this player will be bought with bendtner,denilson,and other sale money and do not effect our budget transfer
manu and pool have spend already lot of money but on two prospect too who have little experience in top level.
wenger i suppose is first trying to sort the cecs and nasri saga before making his big move because if one or both move he will need to spend on another position
I have heard great things about Jay Emmanuel Thomas, but I honestly haven’t seen much of him and he is approaching that age where you have to sell or play. Which do you think it should be?
He has alot of natural talent but he does not show it most of the time exept for short burst’s in games, and you may be able to get away with that in the lower divisions but in the EPL you will not, personally speaking i would loan him out to say Bolton Wanderers to see if Owen Coyle can get anything out of him but if he can’t i would then sell him.
Oh ok, thank you! He does look like he might be lazy, perhaps it is from easily dominating so much as a youngster that it’s ingrained.
See how ‘Gooner’, ‘Queens’ and ‘kings’ all say basically the same things and have the same avatar? It’s all one person. Don’t be fooled by these doomer trolls.
i see that Jens Lehmann has been removed from Arsenal.com no official statement or a thank you???
Randall, Cruise and Deacon still there though
any worst coach than stuart pearce out there.this man was a very good player but man give up a sh*t coach manager.
he leave his two best creative player on the bench (cleverlay and lansbury) not even take McEachran , pack his team with physical player who have no idea what to do with the ball..henderson 20 M, on the little i ve see he is not worth 2
I only saw the second half. Lansbury was playing in the middle this time and was good. He should take Hendersons spot. Sturridge and Welbeck was good too. But the rest was not good. Too little creativity and too much going forward without brain. Cleverly should definitely start in the other wings.
Since I think Pearce done it wrong from the beginning I hope the England team fails. It will not be good for Lansbury who is the only guy I care of in that team, but I hope he proves how wrong it is to start with a guy who doesn’t really how anything special. 20million is a joke.
Lansbury did well in both games, has to start next game. Only player showing creativity and vision.
And its been confirmed on Premier League website that Tom Cruise and Roarie Deacon have been released, kinda harsh on both.
Fortunate that Jack didn’t go, it would have been waste of time for him, good luck to Lans anyway!
This was one of the main reasons AW didn’t want him to go. Wenger knows Stuart Pearce is the most inept manager on these shores but has far too much class to say it in public. That’s why the Club got Jack to tell porkies about being burned out so that he doesn’t go along and waste his time like the rest of these poor lads. Moreover, Jack gets to recharge his batteries and take his game to the next level next season. Some of you may know that i’ve criticised Danny Rose in the past and said he’s not good enough but i always tell it how i truly believe it is. Rose is a perfect example of a player who isn’t the most talented, but strives to improve on his game and really, really works his socks off. I actually envy that quality in him and wish a few of our ‘pampered’ youngsters could be more like that. He’s definitely improved as a player over the past season but he’s still not good enough in my book. He’s a dream player for Pearce though, as he’s the quintessential English player – bags of heart and fight with pace and strength!
To add to the Henderson comments, i can’t for the life of me see the sense in Liverpool and their deal for this player. This isn’t off the back of this latest performance. This kid is ridiculously average at best! He runs into blind allies, continuously misses great passing opportunities, at times looks clueless and has a poor to average first touch. Forget that i’m a Gooner for a second here, but Lansbury’s a different class altogether (i don’t give a fuck who has the PL experience here and who hasn’t). You can see how Henri instantly gave the team a different dimension when he came on. His first involvement was a stray elbow in an opponents face that left the Ukrainian lad pole-axed for a couple of minutes but when play resumed, and with his next contribution, it wasn’t the least bit surprising to see Henri play the very first through ball an England midfielder played in the WHOLE game to Sinclair (who unfortunately took a poor first touch when through on goal, wasting the opportunity). Lansbury is more cultured than the likes of Henderson, Cork, Albrighton, Cleverley, Muamba and Rose. They have qualities that are better than that of Henri’s too which leads to me to the one thing Henderson has on him – a brilliant engine. This England under 21 squad BADLY lack creativity but in Lansbury, they have the very closest thing to a playmaker. In fact, once Pearce made the decision to take this particular squad over there, he should have been wise enough to know that Lansbury (or someone in his mold) should be paramount in his plans! How the hell are England supposed to unlock these defences? I’d love to ask Pearce the neanderthal that question! England’s future is extremely bright! But only, and only if they educate the players correctly. After the Spanish lads COMPLETELY dominated his England side the other day, his defence was that “50 years from now they’ll be keeping that much possession against us”. Well, not really. Not if the English lads are coached how they should be.
I hope the FA appoint a new U21’s coach for the start of the season because Pearce should have got sacked after the last UEFA U21 championships because his tactics and touch line antics were embarrassing to watch
I hope he can prove himself I like what I have seen of him