Arsenal fans long wait to see Carlos Vela return to the club took a step closer this evening, as loan club Osasuna played there final game of the season against Racing Santander.
Although it was Vela’s final game as an Osasuna player, there were more important things at steak with the club needing a win to guarantee La Liga status for next term. Real Murcia and Levante have already been relegated, but one of Recreativo Huelva, Real Zaragoza, or Osasuna would join them in the Segunda League next season.
A win for Osasuna would see them safe, but a draw or defeat would need results to there way. The game which could effect them the most is between Real Mallorca and Zaragoza, with the latter side just one point above them going into the final fixtures. Carlos Vela was yet again left on the bench, as coach Jose Angel Ziganda told his team they must plan for life after the Mexican.
Osasuna started the brighter of the two with Francisco Puñal trying to thread a ball through to Eduardo Dady, only to be flagged offside. The impressive Hugo Viana kept his place in the side, and nearly scored the opener only to see his left footed volley blocked and cleared.
Then delight amongst the fans as news came through that Mallorca had taken the lead against Zaragoza, meaning whatever happens Osasuna were safe from relegation. Dady then nearly snatched the lead for his side, but saw his low shot blocked and cleared.
Gonzalo Colsa then worked Ricardo as Racing fought back, before Moratón crashed Jorge López cross over the bar. Aldo Duscher then saw his low drive grabbed before Ebi Smolarek dragged his effort just wide as the half drew to a close.
Half Time – Osasuna 0-0 Racing Santander
The second half began in a scrappy manner with both sides exchanging fouls, before stoppages for injuries to Francisco Juanfran and Punal disrupted the flow. Then news that Real Zaragoza were level, however Recreativo Huelva were now 1-0 down meaning Osasuna were comfortably safe.
Eduardo Dady was hacked down by Ayoze, and failed to recover from the resulting injury so Javier Portillo was introduced. With half an hour left the game was showing the signs of an end of season clash, with the quality edging out of the contest. The Osasuna fans were then going crazy again as Webo put Mallorca in front meaning Vela’s team were well and truly safe unless a miracle happened in both games.
Óscar Serrano then nearly snatched the points with his low drive after good work from Ebi Smolarek, but it was swept out the goal by Ricardo. Time was ticking down and with little to play for it seemed both sides were happy with a share of the spoils.
One final chance fell to Mohamed Tchite, but he failed to keep his header down and it flew over the bar. Ricardo was then booked for time wasting before Carlos Vela was introduced on 83 minutes for his swansong. With Vela on the field just two minutes, sub Ivan Badola struck to win Racing the game but with results going there way Osasuna were safe.
Full Time – Osasuna 0-1 Racing Santander
Following the full time whistle all the players sat and waited for the other scores to come in. Zaragoza had lost 3-1, but Recreativo Huelva had equalised meaning the points tallys would have to be added up. It was then confirmed Real Zaragoza had been relegated, with Osasuna finishing one point ahead of them.
An amazing up and down season for Carlos, but he will return to Arsenal a much better player following his experiences at both Salamanca and Osasuna.
Reports in France back up the news i brought to you in the comment section’s earlier today, that Arsenal have agreed a fee of €17 million for Marseille play-maker Samir Nasri. So aroud £12.5 million pounds for his services, with Alexander Hleb expected to join Barcelona. The deal should be announced in the next 10 days, subject to personal terms.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Great news to good players coming in and i think helb will go to inter as i dont see barca wanting him after dos santos scored a hatrick
He cant go to Inter.. after the whole tapping up affair.. or Inter will get fined and potentially kicked out of Europe. Plus Deco is leaving.
Brilliant to finally have Vela back tho
J.Sanderson – you claim French sources, but is your only source the ‘La Provence’ newspaper?
Great blog js. great to have vela back where do you feel he will play for us????
also where will nasri play?
thanks
Before I get my hopes up, are you sure that the Nasri fee has been agreed? I understand that reports have been emanating from France that it has, but have you received any sort of confirmation. Thanks for the update once again – I notice you’re site is gradually increasing in popularity :)
YES NASRI IS THE SUPER TALENT WE NEED TO WIN THINGS !!!!!!!!!
HE HAS ROCKET SHOT UNLIKE HLEB
Yeah its good to get Vela back plus I dont know why people want helb gone I want him to stay but lets hope the Nasri deal pulls through.
12 MILL IS A FUKCING DEAL OF THE YEAR NOW LETS SIGN PATO AND QUARESMA
great news as usual j
Well.. firstly.. 24sport.fr claims it, and i expect Nasri to be used on the wings like we have done with Rosicky.
Stuart. i told people about it yesterday and today, then this news broke.
I hope if Nasri signs, he is Hleb’s replacement and we still sign Ben Arfa.
Wenger said he sees Vela as a striker, whether that means he will play him upfront from the start on do a Theo with him and play him wide (left), is anyone’s guess?
Cool!
J. Sanderson. Great job on this. We can now wait for Arsene Wenger to confirm with us the player who will replace the “great” ice cream lover, Alexander Hleb! I hope that we can also get someone in return in the Hleb deal, i.e. Yaya Toure or any other Barca wonderkid.
:D
Ive seen some videos of Nasri and he’s impressive but he needs to bulk up and score more goals. 12 in 122 games and 6 of those coming this season isn’t good enough tbh
somebody mentioned that Eduardo initally played as left winger in a few games which is true, i can see him getting most of his football there.
Nasri seems a real super talent, young engertic blood is what we need.
Cheers Sanderson :) To me, this was always one of those transfers that people have speculated about for ages, yet it was clear that it would never happen – an example being David Villa or Micah Richards – so please forgive me for being a little hesitant at first. Thankyou for the update.
Shame Carlos couldn’t end the season with a victory, but at least Osasuna live to fight another season and he has gained great experience while on loan.
A very good website. I agree totally with Stuart.Nasri is good. He can play on the wings besides the midfield and in the DB10 position. That can only mean one thing…..that Hleb is leaving. But Nasri is a much better replacement plus he is younger and he scores goals. Now for Yaya and Diego. The job will be complete. But I hope we get a centrehalf like Albiol, Richards or at least Dunne. A tower of a man.
Does anyone think that we should attempt to sign Murcia’s exciting 17 year old forward Dani Aquino?
Im signing for Arsenal in the summer im the CM everyone looking for first name specu last name lation
Sanderson by any chance do you know if the signing of Nasri is the creative player Wenger wanted meaning no more attacking signings or do you think hes a replacement for hleb i.e meaning we might get Ben Arfa aswell?
Mate im just passing on the news, i am not sure if it will happen but i suspect it will, the main focus for me is on Vela
Sanderson do you by any chance know if Nasri is the creative player Wenger wanted? Meaning he will be the only addition or do you think hes a replacement for Hleb meaning we could potentially get Ben Arfa aswell?
I would expect so, i very much doubt we will sign Ben Arfa mate
sorry for the same comment twice didnt realise it had appeared.
Don’t mean to put a dampner on things but Sanderon’s source ‘sport24’ merely quote a french newspaper ‘La Provence’. People are getting way too excited, remember Ribery..
Great article. I reported earlier about Nasri..
http://www.goonertalk.wordpress.com/
I hope we sing Nasri & not do the F Riberry & lose him 2.Thank U J.S
*You Have Already Linked.. Dont Spam*
if you actually read the translation from ‘la provence’ its far from convincing.
La Provence is Marseille’s semi official pr outlet
cant see the point of them running kuntish stories considering how well connected they are inside the club
thats bye bye to Arfa as far as I can see it
Thats why i said we should wait and see, its all a little shady at the moment
I have not seen that much of Nasri but he doesn’t strike me as the winger that we currently need. Ben Arfa looks like the flying winger who can get past his man when our passing isn’t quite working.
I doubt we will buy both.
Ben Arfa is more likely than Nasri.
Hleb Fabregas Nasri Ben Arfa , if those two deals pull through den arsenal will undoubtly have the strongest most powerfull midfield ever !
get them both
I have said all long we wont sign Hatem Ben Arfa, its media hype
He’s going to Marseille, if anyone read the quotes from a week ago, Jean-Michael Aulas said he’d prefer to sell him to a fellow Ligue 1 club, so his talents “stay in France”.
As i have mentioned before, Wenger will not do business with Lyon because of Aulas. Those two simply do not get on, and trying to do a business deal with somebody you do not like is difficult.
J Sanderson, is this coming from more than one source in France??
It started on one French website, and has since moved on to Sport24. So it seems it will be doing the rounds
JS; Thats YOUR opinion, nothing more. The fact that Hleb is off means we need 2 players now.
I have said all along we WILL sign Ben Arfa. See, I can do it too!
Oh and media hype you say? What the f*ck have you been posting as fact than? Er, media hype non?
Wenger won’t buy Arfa coz he doesn’t like Aulas???? Hahahahahaha! Are you serious? I am sure he doesnt like the chavs, Kenyon, Mourinho, yet we still did business with them, TWICE!
When we dont sign Ben Arfa i suppose you will dissapear and not show your face. I have announced loads of deals, and broken stories.. so it proves either i am the luckiest man around or i am in the know.
A trusted French source announces something about one of there own players that he is coming so its more trustworth than an untrusted English peper..talking about Ben Arfa.
Use your brain
I’d rather have Ben Arfa to solve our winger problem but i don’t mind both:D.
Nasri–Y.Toure–Fabregas–Hatem
———-Ade—–Eduardo———
JS have you heard the stories about Thuram/Kompany do you think there’s any truth in them?
Ben Arfa is very similar to Vela, plus he said he will stay in France like Chris mentioned.
So it seems all the papers who prinited it were untrue.
Hold your horses boys. There is no official confirmation of this yet.
If Nasri is a replacement for Hleb then we need someone else in midfield.
I agree Vela can play on the left or up front so do we really need Ben Arfa and is he really that good if he can’t get into Lyon first team
Aw diddums! How old are you?
Im guessing 12. You really need to chill the fuck out fella. Oh and this is a blog, why the fuck would I disapear if we dont sign Ben Arfa?
Sheesh.
Ben Arfa as has already confirmed Arsenal’s interest thugh so there is a genuine interest
The irony is the french press are still talking about a swap deal between Arfa and Nasri, we could end up with neither
Adam.. see my obove comment.
Yes i agree steer, it was something out of nothing involving Ben Arfa, and i never thought he would come. But the sources are stronger with this Nasri deal.
Lets wait and see though
I am 17, and how old are you?
because its the type of thing that happens, somebody comes and claims were buying so and so.. it doesnt happen and then they drift away quietly. The same people who come and shout the odds like yourself sir
I am chilled out nicely think you
Hello, nice article after spec every summer about players we want, its clear wenger wont buy any of the players mentioned just dont fell dissapointed
i dont like that arfa boy really, but wenger said he would be interested if he was for sale…and it looks like he is for sale…
still, nasri is great, i rate him far more than ben arfa, but do we need him ?i mean, wenger said he counts with randall, gibbs, merida, lansbury…add to these nasri…isnt it too many prodigies?
People saying that Ben Arfa is better than Samir Nasri are either blind or fucking dellusional.
Ben Arfa is extremely light weight, whereas Nasri looks lightweight, but is very difficult to take the ball off because of his superb ball control.
Nasri has the skill, technique and class to be a future Arsenal legend. I just hope the news which has come out in the next couple of days ends with the headlines: “Nasri Joins Arsenal”
;)
I am with you snaderson as there all these roumers but i saw an actually interview where ben afra said he wants to sign a new deal with lyon and stay
Nice to see AC Milan finished 5th, no CL for Flamini then.
Lets wait an see who we sign. I think Krankear, from Portsmouth would be a good buy if Hleb leaves.
Nasri would be a great signing but so would Ben Arfa. Would be nice to get them both but either would do. Oh and Flamini’s gonna be playing UEFA cup football next year, that made my day!
hleb OUT, Diego IN. nasri back up.
gallas +5m to madrid = robinho
robinho + diego (ptnrship in santos) = flair an goals
but robinho + yaya toure + cesc + diego = 1/0 (frightenin)
quaresma an nasri as back up 4 wings and rosicky in cesc role as sub( he’l never be injured again, plus cesc can get a rest.
senderos out, in mexes.
lucio to replace gallas.
splash the cash on villa to please CESC an all AFC fans.
Why is peeps trying to attack J.s bloody hell but I agree about ben afra I do believe its media hype but every player were linked with is media hype.I hope we get nasri but the player that could replace helb is diego he’s amazing plus wenger said one creavite player so i doubt we will get two signings in that area.
lucio and mexes are crap and villa going real mardid
Sanderson, for a 17 year old this is one hell of a site mate. Ignore those who quetion your sources and keep up the good work….one question totally unrelated to the football, did you build the site yourself from scratch?
Yes. That will defiantly happen tmurrey.
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=acvULONR_Io
Nice Goal. :D
I think ben arfa will follow nasri to the emirates. Nasri will be hleb’s replacement. I guess rosicky, due to his injuries, will be restricted to a squad player n ben arfa will be regular. I dont see any more big money deals. Maybe a good defender on free transfer or an unknown player who will be good. Thats all. As for nasri’s goals, he is the creative force of the team like our fab. He sets up lots of goals n creates half chances. In our style of play, he can actually get in to the scoring sheet as we have fab, rvp, tom n even sagna who has a good final ball. Unlike hleb this boy doesnt hesitate to shoot. He dribbles better n faster than hleb. He holds the ball well. N tracks back too. N he is premiere league quality. Anyone saw the first leg of liverpool vs OM?? He made their defence look like derby’s. OM won it 1-0. He missed the 2nd leg n OM lost it. That’s called impact. We’ll be in serious business next season. Gunner4life.
L’OM will not be signing Ben Arfa as they have already lined up the signings of Kim and Pascal Feindouno.They also have Ziani,Valbuena and Ayew.
Yes mate i built it myself, all the ideas are mostly mine as is the info.
The banner was made by my good friend Alex from CV News, but other than that everything else is produced by me
I agree with you jits, Nasri has enough creativity to crack any team, and the lads only 21 so he can improve his other attributes such as his shooting.
whay are arsenal fans so deluded? that skinny mexican kid wont do amything in the premiership
J sanderson, you always seem to have a real insight to club affairs and you get the best breaking stotries. I dont know how you do it but most of us appreciate it, so thanks. Ignore twats like Spike, they clearly have huge chips on their shoulders. Even if you linked to 3 concrete sources, they’d still come on here spouting crap.
I still harbour hopes that Hleb will stay. If you add Nasri to that as well as Vela then you are starting to talk about a very strong squad in the attacking positions. Eboue need never play on the wing again! They say Rosicky might be fitter next season too after his surgery.
Ben Afra is trouble. he causes trouble with a lot of team mates including Diaby in the French squad. Nasri is the better player with a good attitude.
Now we just need some defensive balance to the squad. I dont think Denilson can replace Flam but if wenger does then can we question him? Also I am convinced that Gallas and Toure are not the unbreachable defensive pairing we need. one of them needs to make way for a new guy. My bet is that Gallas will leave AFTER the euros and wenger will have someone already lined up to bring in at about the same time. Nasri will be out only business for a while.
I was really impressed by Feindouno at the ACN, i’d like to see him in the Arsenal jersey
I really don’t know how people can come on here and slate you J.S. You’ve given up your time to create this site and put up lots of interesting stories for our enjoyment.. Really what people want is for you only to mention something once it’s been reported on Arsenal.com? Once it’s reached that stage what’s the point. The whole point of blogs and websites like yours is so we can discuss the present and speculate on the future. Great site mate.
guys look at this
Arsene Wenger is furious with Emmanuel Adebayor for using Barcelona’s supposed interest in him to ask Arsenal for a pay rise that would see him earn more than Cesc Fabregas, according to a report.
The Togo international may have attempted to nip the rumours in the bud, but it is believed that his insistence on a pay rise infuriated the Gunners manager even more, Catalan daily Sport states.
Wenger plucked Adebayor from Monaco in 2006 and has made him into a star and is desperately unhappy to see his faith paid back with a demand for a larger salary.
Barcelona are said to be in the market for a new striker, despite Samuel Eto’o’s claiming he does not want to leave, and Adebayor’s name has been put forward by the media.
Barca are still interested in Alexander Hleb, according to Sport, and are monitoring his situation after it was reported that he was set to quit the Gunners this summer.
Yeah i second that. Great Site!
In your opnion J.S do you think he will come?
I fancy we will get Nasri.. and a defender who can play holding midfield..
Albiol.. maybe somebody like Marquez.
Then a couple of kids for the Reserves :D
Hey dudes.Im a scouser,but i must say that THE ARSENAL play the most attractive football..Wel done
wot bout the real madrid guy and/or the french guy you mentioned – will they come?
I believe this story, I think he will sign with us. I seriously doubt that we will sign Ben Arfa.
We know that Wenger wants 3 players:
– a creative player (said it in an interview)
– a tall defender (shareholders Q&A)
– a defensive midfielder (he said that Song won’t play there)
I do not believe we will sign anybody else than those. Hleb will leave and Nasri replaces him. I think Wenger knows Hleb is going away and that is why he is looking for a creative player. Vela will come in to deepen the squad as well as Lansbury, Merida and Barazite.
We will sign a tall defender and sell Senderos. Then we have 5 centre backs which means that either Gallas leaves or Djourou leaves (or used as a utility player). If Gallas doesn’t leave then he will be back-up for Clichy; Toure and Eboue (obviously not going anywhere) will be back-up for Sagna. We will not sign a GK, unless an experienced third choice.
Then we need a replacement for Flamini. Wenger has not really talked about this (as far as I know) but it’s obvious that Flamini needs to be replaced. Veloso looks very good but I trust Arsene to find somebody who will blow us all away.
I could not care less if Hleb and Adebayor leave. Hleb probably will and Ade will go for a way too high 30 million pounds. That will just be like selling Anelka again. We can use the money to buy Villa or a world class defensive midfielder.
PS. I think that Pjanic goes to Lyon and therefore Ben Arfa will be sold. Benny goes to Marseille to replace Nasri who comes to Arsenal to replace Hleb who is going to Barca to replace Deco and Gudjohnsen. Very complicated move. It would have been easier just to get Pjanic and forget about the rest :)
J.Sanderson, I’ve been reading your blog for quite sometime and it is extremely impressive. Well done mate. You are probably used to the praise but it is deserved. You deliver more accurate news than all the tabloids combined, and a few broadsheets I could mention, and at 17 as well, remarkable. Look into journalism when thinking about Uni or college, your reports are quality and with a bit of polishing, would be world class.
Back to the topic at hand, Nasri looks like a much better prospect than Ben Arfa. He knows when to let the ball go. Arfa reminds me of one Adel Taraabt, currently of Spurs. Lots of flair and dribbling ability but hampered by selfishness. Great winger and if Arsene adds him fantastic, but would need a lot of coaching in the Arsenal ways. Nasri could slot straight in.
Btw. Nasri is of Algerian origin and in Arabic, Nasri means victory. So it looks like we are going to sign a real winner into our great team.
Adebayor will not leave. Do not believe those cunty bastard monkey rat spanish turban wearing shizaz!
Nice article with encouraging news, couldn’t be more happy if it really comes true.
J.Sanderson, if the supposed Nasri deal is done, can you tell me who would get the better deal, Arsenal or Totenham in their new player Mordic?
They always try to take our targets and I would like to think that we got the better deal.
i know its of the point, but any news on the lansburys fitness i’m hoping that he could be involved in pre season, maybe for the emirates cup?
Re: T. Rosicky. I have it on good authority(From someone
‘high profile’ at Arsenal) That TR will quit football completely
as his knee is absolutely ‘fucked’
Re: last entry. i know ‘F***ed’ will be censored. So let’s just say completely knackered!!!
There seems to be conflicting accounts regarding Vela that don’t make sense. On the one hand I read he now qualifies for a Spanish passport and then I read reports Wenger is applying for a Work Permit for him, which of these is true?
As a Spanish passport holder he does not require a work permit/entry clearance as he will then be in a position to exercise his treaty rights. Obviously without the Spanish passport he will then have to go through the procedure of applying for an entry clearance and then a work permit, assuming he meets all the new criteria relating to working in the UK under new Home Office rules.
Yes he qualifies for it.. but we have to apply for it..its like we have to go and claim the permit.
Pablo: I think that we are applying for a passport. Maybe Wenger just said work permit as a spanish passport is kind of a work permit into the EU, just better.
im excited but we havent signed him yet and we might not but i hope we do.
All good, Carlos has bags of potential, bit worried about how much he’ll get to play aswell as the other players he’ll block off in being made a striker, but aslong as he does well it doesnt really matter in the end, Wenger is a good enough manager to beable to judge whether hes better than the talent competing for the forward positions or not. Good news about Nasri aswell, especially if Hleb is going in the end, hes a young player who already has end product, Hleb isnt going to improve much past what he already is and while i consider him an important part of the first team i dont think hes irreplacable and he definatly lacks end product, which is something hes lacked with and away from Arsenal throughout his carear.
J.Sanderson thanks of this article it is such a wonderful way to start my monday …all football lovers are invited to join soccerfanbase.com for the best of news update and forum discussion
I believe Wenger will buy Nasri and Ben Arfa. Nasri is an ideal replacement for Hleb who is determined to leave. Ben Arfa is a SUPER young player who has dribbling skills of messi and vision of zidane, it is what we need on the left hand side with vela playing up top, Ben Arfa will provide competition for the injury prone Tomaz Rosicky. Diaby will be played through the middle, im convinced of that and I feel Wenger will add a powerful centre back like Zapata, M.Richards or Kompany.
Vela’s potential is very exciting.. and you know he is some player.. because he even has his own blog ;)
http://carlosvelanews.wordpress.com/
alright mate, im adding your link to my blog roll now
Pingback: Carlos Vela jugara en el Arsenal en Junio » Blog Mundo
let’s buy Quaresma.
hey J.Sanderson, I often read your blogs & like many TRUE gunners fans appreciate you taking your time & effort in to keeping us informed on various issues surrounding OUR club! keep up the good work mate.
Just want to say also that I find it dissapointing when I can eventually get tickets to a game i am often let down by the lack of atmosphere & support! Arsenals a family club & familys are supposed to unite & stick together (Wengers the daddy LOL) So come on gunners lets get behind our team!
Oh & ha ha ha Flamini…enjoy the UEFA cup you sellout!
Just would also like to add I would like us to sign Quaresma & Nasri… both real flair players, I miss the days of Freddy & Pires in their prime :(
I think Theo is coming along nicely & next season can make a real impact, fingers crossed!
Also want to add my dissapointment on behalf of Clichy & sagna not gettin in to the French team, classic case of people overlooking Arsenal, Another example would be how on earth did Henry or Bergkamp at their best never get world player of the year??? thats a crime in itself!