After a horrifically unproductive close season in the transfer market, the rebuilding has finally started as the club confirmed they are close to announcing the £6m signing of Fenerbahce left-back Andre Santos, 28, who has 22 caps for the Brazil national team.
They are also expected to complete the signing of South Korean striker Park Chu-Young from Monaco and have confirmed an enquiry has been made to Chelsea for Yossi Benayoun. Park, who is 26 and is also wanted by Lille , is obliged to do two years' national service with the South Korean armed forces. While the rules stipulate that it has to be done before the age of 28, it is Arsenal's understanding that Park will be able to give the club three seasons before having to complete his service. There's hope though: United's Park Ji-Sung was exempted from national service for being part of the side which reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals. Maybe if the new boy inspires Arsenal to a league title...?
Yesterday a source at the club said that there was no question of Wenger's position being unstable in spite of Sunday's defeat to Manchester United, which leaves the us with one point from our first three games. A source close to the club board said yesterday: "The club is 100 per cent behind Arsène. The guy has given us 15 years of unprecedented success and that is not going to change. It is not even an issue.
"Everyone is right behind him from Stan [who owns 63 per cent of the club] to Ivan [Gazidis, the club's American chief executive] and we are working hard to bring some players in before the end of the [transfer] window [tomorrow]. We have a strong squad and we believe that we are in a good place, we just need a few more in between now and our next game. There will not be any knee-jerk reactions and that comes right from the very top."
The arrival of Santos has also precipitated the sale of left-back Armand Traoré, who played in the defeat on Sunday, to Queens Park Rangers. There is also still interest from in Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill and the Sochaux midfielder Marvin Martin, a France international. Though given that we've been drawn in the same Champions League group as Marseilles , our proposed loan move for the Argentine midfielder Lucho Gonzalez, who plays for the French club, would appear to be a non-starter. However, rumours are circulating that we retain an interest in Yann M'Vila of Rennes , although the €20m (£17.7m) asking price is the key problem.
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