Author: Staff Writer

Arsenal remain in the hunt for Vélez Sársfield midfielder Ricardo Álvarez, but six other European clubs have also shown an interest in the Argentine play-maker.

South American executive Richard Law is said to have travelled to Argentina last month for talks over transfer, but the negotiations were quickly over, as Law was not willing to match the €12 million Euro’s president Fernando Raffaini demanded. However, scouting of the player has continued, and the Gunners are plotting their next move.

Reliable Argentine website Olé reports that Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Málaga, Sporting and a German club have all spoken to Vélez about Ricardo’s availability. A number of offers are on the table for the player, but Olé says Arsenal have the most ‘authentic’ interest.

Brazil based scout Sandro Orlandelli picked up on the left footed maestro three years ago, when he showed positive signs as a 20-year-old, and various scouts have since followed his progress.

It remains to be seen whether Arsenal would match Vélez’s asking price, especially as Álvarez’s would not be first choice, but more an impact substitute.

The transfer is expected to rumble on for a few more weeks yet.

Feyenoord have revealed their doubts over re-signing Ryo Miyaichi on loan, after Arsenal cleared the way for the Japanese winger to return to De Kuip next season.

Miyaichi will report for pre-season training with Arsenal next month, but Arsène Wenger’s initial plan to apply for a work permit appears doomed, after he was dropped from the Japan Under 22 side. A flood of offers have since arrived for Ryo, but Head Scout, Steve Rowley, has told the club a return to Feyenoord would be best.

Technical Director, Martin van Geel, confirmed an offer had gone in at the end of last season, and despite previously admitting his keenness to secure the 18-year-old’s services, van Geel now has doubts over the transfer.

“With Sekou Cissé and Jerson Cabral, we have two players who play in the same position as Ryo” he explained to Voetbal International. “We can’t turn a blind eye to this. We will have to analyse the situation and decide whether it makes sense to loan Ryo again”.

“Ryo is definitely worth it. The kid played amazingly well for us, but we need to look out for our own players”.

Feyenoord’s General Director, Eric Gudde, also confirmed the news Young Guns published last season, that Arsenal are now asking for a loan fee for Ryo. This initially put them off, but now Gudde says he is happy to pay it and make an investment in the player.

Whether Van Geel truly believes his statement or he is trying to force Arsenal into waving any fee, it remains to be seen, but Miyaichi’s short-term future still has a few twists and turns to come.

The way English clubs scout, recruit and develop young players is set to change, after Premier League chairman agreed on the terms for a Elite Performance Plan.

Ivan Gazidis was present at the meeting at the end of the season, in which chairmen discussed ways to revamp the current rulings on youngsters. The key changes come around the signing and development of players, with the ’90 minute rule’ set to be scrapped and coaching times increased.

The current setup means clubs can only coach players aged between 10 and 18 for a maximum of 2000 hours, but the new proposals allow up to 10,000 hours. Elsewhere, the rule on players only being signed to academies if they live within 90 minutes of the training centre will be removed, but there will be further discussions on greater compensation on the transfer of youngsters, especially with regards to lower league clubs.

The changes have been mooted for a number of years, with Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson two of the key pioneers of the EPP.

The rulings will come into action from the start of the 2012-2013 season, and the hope is that they will match up with those of Spanish clubs, allowing English sides the option to add more continental coaching methods to their development plans.

The FIFA Under 17 World Cup gets underway in Mexico this evening, and two of Arsenal’s lesser known youngsters will be taking part.

Dutch midfielder Kyle Ebecilio will be a key force in the Holland side, looking to follow up on their Under 17 European Championship title, won last month. The 17-year-old played a starring role there, and will be will be looking to have a similar influence in the tournaments opening game against Congo tonight.

English clubs will provide a range of players, across a number of different countries. Liverpool’s Tom King and West Ham’s Dylan Tombides will play for Australia, Chelsea’s new £8 million forward Lucas Piazón will turn out for Brazil, while the MK Dons’ Jevani Brown is part of the Jamaica setup.

The England team kick off their tournament tomorrow, against Rwanda. Arsenal will be providing one of the key players in the game, but despite being born in London, he won’t represent England. Exciting winger Alfred Mugabo, who only declared his desire to play for Rwanda a month or so ago, is set to be one of the Wasps key players.

Mugabo is a tall and skillful winger, who can play on either flank, or up front. He’s already shown bags of potential in a number of Rwanda’s warm up games, despite being the youngest in their squad.

The majority of the fixtures will be shown live on Eurosport.

You can view a transcript of the web chat from Friday June 17th web chat below.

Emmanuel Frimpong admits his future at Arsenal ‘won’t look good’ if he isn’t part of Arsenal’s first-team squad this summer. The Ghanian also confirmed interest from both Cardiff City and Charlton Athletic over a loan move.

Frimpong will return to pre-season training next month, almost a year after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage which forced him to miss the majority of the campaign. However, after a handful of matches with the Reserves and an intensive summer gym schedule, the 19-year-old is approaching peak fitness.

However, it’s not yet clear whether Arsène Wenger will include Emmanuel in his squad during the summer, and the powerful midfielder is already thinking about options elsewhere.

“It was a difficult season for me with the injury and the comeback, but I think I will need to look elsewhere if the current situation continues. There have been talks about Cardiff and Charlton Athletic, but I know I can be a regular for Arsenal if I stay clear of injury.”

“If Mr Wenger comes to me this pre-season and says ‘Emmanuel I want to give you another opportunity’ then I have to show him I can do what I did this season, but if he doesn’t, then obviously my time at Arsenal doesn’t look good.”

His push for inclusion is aided by Francis Coquelin’s international commitments, which will see him miss pre-season due to the Under 20 World Cup.

It remains to be seen whether Frimpong will get another first-team chance, but having missed almost a year out of the game, a loan spell in the Championship looks a solid option.

Note: I’ll be hosting a live web chat from 7pm UK time tonight. Click here to a set a reminder and get involved.

Arsenal have opened talks with Southampton over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Young Guns has learnt, but the two sides are still far apart in their valuation of the 17-year-old.

The deal appeared to be close in January, but Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese pulled the plug on the transfer after Arsène Wenger went public about it. However, Arsenal have since returned to the negotiating table, and have been given permission to talk to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has already visited London Colney.

The England Under 21 international has all but agreed on a contract, but Southampton are yet to receive an offer they are happy with. Arsenal are thought to be prepared to offer a little more than the £10 million they put forward in January, but its not clear the payment structure of that offer.

It remains to be seen how quickly the two clubs can settle on a deal, with Arsenal now concentrating on tying up the formalities for Gervinho, as well as closing in on other targets.

Levante have opened talks with Arsenal over Brazilian duo Wellington Silva and Pedro Botelho, as Arsène Wenger begins to shape his first-team squad for next season.

The La Liga outfit are rebuilding their squad under new manager Juan Ignacio Martínez, who coached Botelho at Cartagena last season. Martínez has made the pacy winger one of his top targets, and initial discussions have proved fruitful, with Wenger already telling Botelho he will not be part of his first-team squad next year.

Levante are also keen to secure a second loan spell for Wellington, who spent the final six months of last season with the Valencia outfit, but only made two substitute appearances. Martínez is a big fan of the young forward, and confirmed he tried to sign him in January, only for Silva to rejected the offer of regular first-team action for the attractions of La Liga.

Botelho has two years left on his contract, and the initial signs are that Arsenal won’t renew it, without a spell in the Spanish top flight. The club had to pay 90% of his wages last season, as Cartagena remained skeptical of his attitude. However, his cult status there is now secure, after a stunning campaign.

The step up to La Liga promises to be a good one for Botelho, and with Wellington set to work under a coach who has close contacts with Arsenal, the pair would significantly benefit from securing deals with Levante.

Arsenal are following a number of promising young players, but are not close to firming up that interest with firm offers, in a week which has seen a number of exciting prospects transferred.

Steve Rowley and his team have all bases covered at present, with a contingent of scouts working at the current Under 21 Championships in Denmark. Elsewhere, Gilles Grimandi has recently returned from the Toulon Tournament, on another fruitful trip.

Grimandi has been hard at work throughout the season, and two of his more highly rated finds are being strongly linked. Those include French Under 21 duo Emmanuel Rivière and Raphaël Varane, with the latter being subject of praise from Arsène Wenger this week.

Much has also been made of an apparent deal for Southampton’s 17-year-old winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein has confirmed to Young Guns that his sources know nothing of such an agreement. Arsenal remain interested, having been in talks during the January window.

Two players Arsenal have been scouting that are unlikely to be signed are AIK youngster Alexander Milošević, who looks likely to stay another season in Sweden, and Argentine midfielder Ricardo Álvarez, who is subject of mass interest from Malaga and Roma. Both clubs are due to open talks over Álvarez shortly.

The priority for Wenger is clearly more experienced faces, but expect him to sign at least one promising prospect in his summer reshuffle.