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Transfers - Gossip Shop: Arsenal in for Hangeland

Eurosport - Fri, 22 May 15:38:00 2009

After Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal lacked experience and leadership at the back, Fulham centre-half Brede Hangeland is being tipped for a big-money move across London.

FOOTBALL Fulham defender Brede Hangeland, linked with a £15 million move to Arsenal - 0

The Norwegian colossus has marshalled what was previously a leaky back four to the fourth-best defensive record in the Premier League and, after a long meeting with chief executive Ivan Gazidis, French tactician Wenger has been promised a big war-chest to allow a £15 million bid for the ex-Copenhagen stopper.

Now £15m is a lot of money but there are very few affordable, proven centre-backs with the experience and dominance that the Gunners require.

One option - Joseph Yobo - just came off the market after signing a five-year deal to be third-choice behind Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka at Everton. Loyalty or lack of ambition?

In return, Fulham will ask for the bulk of the cash plus one of Swiss defensive duo Philippe Senderos or Johan Djourou , and promising Norway U21 starlet Havard Nordveit.

The rumours linking Emmanuel Adebayor with a move to Chelsea intensified when he failed to show at the Arsenal end-of-season party at posh Mayfair bar/restaurant/boast-house Sketch.

The Togo hit-man could argue that his time in Gaul-land has made his palate immune to the dubious delights of the venue's nouveau-French cuisine, and that the chinny-reckon hamstring injury that kept him out of the goalless draw against Manchester United needed treatment ahead of his non-appearance at home to Stoke this weekend.

But the writing is on the wall and the ex-Monaco player will join one of Milan, Chelsea, Internazionale or Juventus this summer.

Dean Ashton could be on his way out of Upton Park with West Ham ready to cut their losses on the big striker due to his chronic injury problems.

One of the best target men in the division when fit, the £7m former Crewe and Norwich goal scorer has played only 51 games in two-and-a-half years and just four this season.

With former suitors Newcastle set to drop into the Championship, A ston Villa and Everton are primed to pounce in a cut-price deal for the 25-year-old.

He could be replaced by Juve forward Vincenzo Iaquinta who, despite impressing when used, is not first-choice in Turin and, with a big-name manager set to take the reigns following Claudio Ranieri's sacking, a big-name striker is set to follow.

One man who will not be moving to London from Italy is Inter right-back Maicon.

The Brazilian had been linked with a move to Chelsea, which is bizarre enough in itself as he is effectively Jose Bosingwa without an EU passport.

However, the 27-year-old - who almost joined Manchester United in 2004 but was refused a work permit - has insisted that he will stay at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Midlands rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham have both been linked with Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia.

The 23-year-old Anderlecht man is valued at around £8m and, despite Villa having more cash to spend, Birmingham are at the front of the queue by virtue of having less options in midfield.

Should Martin O'Neill opt to sign him, it would be a clear indication that Gareth Barry is on his way to Liverpool .

Blues desperately need to add some flair to their solid but tedious squad if they are to stay in the top flight next season, and the names keep coming.

Derby duo Kris Commons and Giles Barnes - the latter currently on loan at Fulham - would cost around £6m together.

Boss Alex McLeish could also raid former club Rangers, with defender Madjid Bougherra and disgraced former captain Barry Ferguson on his list.

"He has done well but I would expect Rangers to ask for a high fee," the Scot said of Bougherra.

"Barry (Ferguson) can be anything he wants to be," he added. "I feel for him, the way it has happened. He came back from England and helped myself, my staff and the Rangers followers to a title in 2005."

A move back south of the border beckons for Ferguson.

Do you have any grounded, unfounded or ultimately baseless transfer tittle-tattle to spread wildly among your peers? If so, feel free to comment below.

Eurosport

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  1. pliz mr wenger dont sell adebayo but pliz buy one­ striker pavlochenko from totenham and yaya from bacer­ on difenders i belive ur the best man to know wich one­ u want.but pliz make the best taem ever this­ saeson.THOM POLITE CHANZI FROM ZAMBIA CENTRAL AFRICA IM­ ONE OF THE BIG SUPPORTERS IN MY COUNTRY AND IM IN­ SUPPORT OF U MR WENGER U ALLWAYS MAKE ME PROUD.THANK U

    From chanzithom, on Fri 5 Jun 3:48PM

  2. yey \:D/. sell adebayor!!! then bendtner, thenn buy­ benzema/aguero, and a strong defender like campbell­ used tot be for us, then we have ourselves a dream­ team:D. in fact just buy a defender, spend 30 mil­ pounds, i don't care about the attackers, we have v­ persie, vela, eduardo,walcott, so just buy a world­ class defender, pleaseeeee:)

    From First L, on Sat 30 May 1:31PM

  3. Sell some weak Arsenal players and buy strong/good­ one's?? Arsene wenger

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:56AM

  4. Wenger Guthrie and Steven Taylor are also worthy of­ been signed?? If you could remember our last game with­ Newcastle we were able to score and win them because­ Steven taylor who was the pillar of their defence got­ injured and went off,causing their defence to be leaky­ and we took control of the game,scored and won 3-1

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:54AM

  5. Can't we sign Karim Benzema,Aguero,Torres under­ ''probability'',Hulk,Bojan,Robinho,Pato­ ,Tevez etc

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:46AM

  6. Wenger sign Hulk from Porto that player is strong in­ attack doesn't give up a chase easily unlike­ Adebayor,Bendtner and others

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:43AM

  7. Wenger Serbians are Good in Defending Sign defenders­ from there??

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:41AM

  8. I think Serbians are Good in defending if you check the­ likes of ivanovic and vidic? So i suggest you get the­ comprehensive details of Serbian players especially­ those of whom are DEFENDERS and sign 2 or 3 of them,­ you see their will be a change next campaign! Wenger

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:39AM

  9. Wenger BUY STRIKERS LIKE TORRES,BENZEMA,HULK,AGUERO,­ when it comes to DEFENCE i suggest U BUY DEFENDERS LIKE­ IVANOVIC,VIDIC,TERRY,ALEX, and a Goalkeeper like­ CECH,BUFFON,LEHMAN,GIVEN OR any other one u feel is­ good! Wenger

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:34AM

  10. We need QUALITY STRIKERS,GOOD DEFENDERS AND NICE­ GOALKEEPER to be able to challenge next season! Wenger

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:26AM

  11. If you check most of the games we played last season?­ You will find out that our problem is DEFENCE,STRIKING­ AND GOALKEEPING! Take a look at Chelsea's squad­ Wenger,defence so robust,strikers good and goalkeeper­ nice! Please do something Arsenal plus Wenger!

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:23AM

  12. No! dont Buy him (Hangeland)

    From francis_esogwa, on Tue 26 May 3:18AM

  13. liverpool should get david villa and silva of silva and­ aguero. then barry but alonso cant go. get johnson­ albiolAND HANDELAND BUT MOS OF ALL LENNON HE WILL BE­ AWSOME . BUT LFC HAVE TO SELL­ BABEL,LUCAS,DOSSENA,VORONIN,AND PENNANT .

    From Rob LFC guy, on Sat 23 May 10:33PM

  14. Please Please David Villa come to Liverpool....and­ bring Silva with you. Xavi Alonso...you are a leader.­ Something special is happening at Liverpool and need­ you to be part of it.

    From teinqui, on Sat 23 May 9:30PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tevez is going liverpool , man city will buy 4/5­ players for 150million+ and get relegated adebayor to­ inter drogba to barca, BIGGEST NEWS DAVID VILLA TO­ SPURS its been signed already

    From markclayden, on Sat 23 May 3:36PM

  16. Dont have much to write but guess i should let u all­ knw that Tevez is going to Man city...no doubt abt it.­ Its a done deal.
    From a Gunner.

    From NICE GUY, on Sat 23 May 2:23PM

  17. AGREE WITH 44,NUMBER 40 MUST BE A BIRD

    From bangkokblue, on Sat 23 May 1:38PM

  18. number 40- Adrian W- are you mental, Juande Ramos for­ City? i can only assume you're not a city fan.

    From Ben, on Sat 23 May 12:41PM

  19. Dear Readers,

    Actually I am the most ultimate­ supporter for the Liverpool FC which is one of the­ legendary clubs in Europe. The strongest desire and­ passion is so obvious that no one can make a question­ about my wish for LFC.
    The issue I would like to­ explain about is this summer transfer for club.­ Liverpool must think about midfield left winger where­ there is no present player can come to fit to perform­ the utmost support to get goals which are very crucial­ for to keep winning most of the match during each­ season.
    Mr Benitez only thinks about his Spanish­ winger, A Riera who can not provide his abilities and­ skills to meet the standard for LFC. Clearly LFC­ manager in here must think about to sign the most­ suitable and talented player, like F Ribery, A Robben­ or J Cole for LFC. I could not possibly deny the fact­ that these players will be expensive and we are­ required to use the cash resources of the club­ effectively.
    However, I would like to ask you only­ one question, that is, how much money did LFC use to­ get players, for example: Dirk Kuyt, Jermaine Pennant,­ Albert Riera, P Crouch, R Kean, and Yossi Benayoun? If­ we calculate the total cost of transferring of these­ players, it will be the clearest answer for us since to­ get these players; it will cost around 65 million­ pounds or even more.
    Truly it must be essential for­ LFC to use the budget efficiently, and to get the real­ players for victories of LFC. This means that we should­ not spend our cash resources to get ordinary players,­ like above mentioned those who could not provide the­ last minute effort which can transform the result of­ the games ultimately. Thus, we could not find at­ least one title after winning UEFA Champion League and­ FA cup in 2005, and 2006 respectively.

    From Roger, on Sat 23 May 11:18AM

  20. Newcastle United out:
    Owen (i'll drive him to­ wherever),
    Viduka,
    Enrique,
    Butt,
    Smith,
    Collicinni,
    Ba­ rton,
    Duff,
    Bassong­ (reluctantly)
    Xisco,
    Gonzalez,
    Cacapa,
    Geremi,
    The­ Entire Coaching Staff,
    I reckon we might get £20­ million for the lot, and 12 of that will come from­ Bassong to Arsenal!

    In:
    A Miracle Worker.

    From cameron w, on Sat 23 May 11:06AM
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