Lassana signs

What a day to miss, you would think. Straight into the news, and Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Lassana Diarra from Chelsea, for the proverbial undisclosed fee and ‘long-term contract’. Given the No.8 shirt vacated by Much-Loved Freddy, Diarra will provide good cover (I want to say ‘excellent’, because this is a signing I was hoping to come through, but will avoid hyperbole) in defence, and may possibly be the future successor to Gilberto. All in all, it is yet another last minute signing from Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window, which raises further speculation that they’re nothing more than a feeder club to the Gunners. Heh, don’t we wish.

It’s certainly a welcome placement to have ‘the extra body’ in the squad, and Wenger is naturally enthused about the new signing’s quality:

“Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad. Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right back.”

Diarra himself had something to say, as supposedly democratic presses seem to make allowances for:

“I have great respect for the manager Arsène Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays. Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies this season and for years to come.“

Furthermore, Jay Simpson - world famous Englishman who scored the first hattrick at the Emirates Stadium, is off to Millwall for six months. I’d hope to see more of the kid, in that he could be a Julio-Baptista-esque style player, only hopefully with a bit more application and skill.

More fallout appears in most of the news-threads with regards to takeover talk, which no longer bores, but frustrates me. Arseblog does an exceptional job in covering the important bits and bobs of the whole mess, which can be found here. In other news, we’ve been drawn at home to Newcastle for the League Cup third round, and Toure has mingled his Islamic faith with a faith in the Deity that is Wenger, in what is a rather shoddy article from The Telegraph overall. Ah well.

Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday once more, but sometimes there’s just no computer to get to. Stay well until tomorrow, and here’s hoping for 3 points against Portsmouth. Adieu.What a day to miss, you would think.