Wenger: Song could leave

 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that Alex Song could be the next player to leave the club, with Barcelona set to seal a move for him.

 Wenger was unusually open about the possibility of further exits from the Emirates Stadium after Robin van Persie moved closer to completing a £24 million transfer to Manchester United.

 Pressed on the subject ahead of Saturday's season opener, Wenger replied: "Both could happen, but my focus is on the Sunderland game.

 This decision (on Song) is not made." Asked if the Gunners had received a bid, he replied: "No. I cannot tell you more." Wenger suggested he would be open to a sale, given the number of players at his disposal.

 "Midfield is a different area because we have nine or ten midfielders of top-class quality," he said. "Just today we have six or seven midfielders available, plus Wilshere and Frimpong who are coming back.

 Diaby is available again, Arteta, Cazorla, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain now plays central midfield - this is an area we have much more freedom to make decisions." El Mundo Deportivo believes Arsenal are holding out for €25 million for Song, but Barcelona are only willing to offer €20 million.

 Even so, Adriano this week became the latest Barca player to speak positively about the prospect of his arrival. "He is a very good player," Adriano said. "In our matches against them you could see he is a footballer with a lot of quality.

 He would be welcome here and well received." Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin has been linked as a replacement for Song, and the Arsenal boss said he was considering his options.

 "He [Sahin] is one of the players we are following," Wenger said. "Anyway, I am happy with my midfield options whatever happens with Song.

 In fact, I feel we are better prepared this season than we have been for some time. We have so many options and even though we are all disappointed to lose Van Persie, the squad we have is strong in every department."

 Meanwhile, Thomas Vermaelen was appointed as the new Arsenal captain with Mikel Arteta handed the vice-captaincy. "It is Vermaelen and Arteta," Wenger said.

 "Vermaelen was vice-captain, so it is a quick decision. I think we have many potential captains in the squad, but at the moment it will be like that."

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Wenger hits out at reckless spending

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger fears big spending from clubs such as Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain this summer will cause football to suffer.

 Wenger is reportedly on the verge of signing Santi Cazorla from Malaga for £16 million, which would take the Gunners' summer spending to £39 million.

 However, with Europe's "mega-rich" clubs spending more than double that amount during harsh economic times, Wenger insists clubs must begin to act responsibly.

 "We consider ourselves in a privileged position because we have a massive income," Wenger told the Sun. "But overall we are not mega-rich because we do not [have] unlimited resources.

 "A club can buy players like PSG has done or Manchester City or Chelsea, with unlimited resources, but overall football suffers. Look at the activity on the transfer market since the start of the summer. "PSG are ambitious and they have resources and that's it.

 We talk always about the same things. I don't think anything is new in that domain. "Europe at the moment is like the Titanic but we live in football like nothing matters.

 More than ever we have to run our club in a strict way because it looks like everybody suffers in Europe. "I would be surprised if football is not touched by it at some stage.

 If you look at debt in football across Europe at the moment it is quite massive and we have to be responsible. "We have to be ambitious but also make sure we are not getting in trouble financially.

 It is difficult for us because the wages in some other clubs are very high. But of course our players quite rightly compare themselves to the players of the other clubs." Despite their investment over the summer, Wenger does not feel Chelsea's recent achievements will change the game in England.

 Wenger also believes the Blues' Champions League triumph last season demonstrates how competitive the Premier League is. "I don't see what it could change. Maybe it will wake up the appetite of [Roman] Abramovich again. I'm proud when any Premier League club wins the Champions League.

 "It shows how competitive the Premier League is because Chelsea finished fifth in the Premier League and that is the real quality of a team.

 More than the Champions League it is about where your finish in the league. That just shows how good the Premier League is," said Wenger.

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Arsenal Boss Keen On Barcelona Pair as Wenger Looks to Strengthen Gunners Squad

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will attempt to land either of two Barcelona targets that he has earmarked as summer transfer acquisitions.

 The Gunners boss will look to make offers for Dutch international Ibrahim Afellay and Carlos Tello as he seeks to strengthen his Emirates Stadium squad.

 Barcelona may well be considering options for a number of their squad players as new boss Tito Vilanova looks to secure funds to mount significant offers for targets he himself has taken a fancy to, most prominent of which is Spanish international Javi Martinez.

 The Nou Camp side have already purchased Jordi Alba from Valencia and more additions may be forthcoming as the Catalan side look to bolster their squad having seen both their La Liga and Champions League titles wrestled from their grasp last term.

 Wenger has long been an admirer of 26 year old adaptable performer Ibrahim Afellay, having tried to sign the Utrecht born attacker prior to his move from PSV Eindhoven to Barcelona 18 months ago.

 Afellay would have expected to face a fight to garner regular first team football but thus far he has been in a losing battle, managing just 1 start last term and just a handful the term before.

 The Dutchman has apparently been informed by Vilanova that his chances of being part of his plans are no more increased then during Pep Guardiola’s reign.

 Some sources state that Barcelona could accept offers of as little as £6m for a player who cost the La Liga side just £2.2m in January 2011.

Wenger is also tracking youngster Christian Tello who impressed many with his displays in the Barcelona first team last season.

 The 20 year old made an instant impact, netting seven goals in 22 appearances in all competitions, appearing mainly in wide roles coming from the bench.

 Arsene Wenger has scouted the local born attacker and is ready to make an offer for the Spanish Under 21 international and will hope that the promise of a better chance of securing regular first team football might tempt Tello.

 Indeed the wide-man’s first team chances may be hindered by the arrival of Alba and given that Christian Tello is also vying for a first team spot with the likes of Pedro, Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi, David Villa, Isaac Cuenca and Cesc Fabregas a move to the North London club could be of interest to the Barcelona starlet.

 Arsenal have already begun a summer clear-out with Manuel Almunia being released and Carlos Vela securing a move to Real Sociedad.

 Wenger is also said to be keen on offloading Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh, Sebastien Squillaci and Park Chu-Young whilst the futures of first team regulars Andrei Arshavin and Theo Walcott hang in the balance.

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Wenger concedes Van Persie could leave Arsenal this summer

Despite the Dutchman's refusal to sign a new contract with the Gunners, Wenger insists that the club's main aim is to keep the skipper at the Emirates, but hinted that he would prefer any deal to be done before domestic action gets underway.

 Wenger told reporters: "We are very, very ambitious.

 You know that. Not only very ambitious but also very proud of the way we run our club.

 "Van Persie is a world-class striker and I am a big supporter of him. I have supported him throughout.

 "He has one year left and is in demand but our desire is to keep him, however, we will do what is in best interest of the club. If you have a decoder in your head you can decode that.

 "The official transfer deadline is August 31 but then we can create an internal deadline."

 When asked if that would be before the start of the current campaign, the 62-year-old replied: "Of course.

 I believe the transfer market should stop before the season starts anyway."

 The Frenchman also dismissed claims that a move for Van Persie could destabilise the Gunners' squad, pointing to the arrivals of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud as proof that Arsenal can still be successful if the Dutchman does leave the Emirates.

 Wenger continued: "The situation is not the same as last season [when Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri left] because we have a squad that is solid and used to playing together.

 "We have bought two strikers in Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski.

 "The seriousness of last year’s situation was made difficult for us by injuries, not only through the transfer market."

 The former Monaco boss also highlighted his doubts that Van Persie was behind the statement issued on the Dutchman's official website, that claimed he would refuse any offer of a new deal with the club.

 He noted: "I wouldn’t like to comment too much on that situation because you’re not always sure that it’s Van Persie’s statement, you know.

" Theo Walcott is also entering the final year of his contract, and has similarly been linked with a departure from north London, and while Wenger insisted he also wanted to keep the England international, he hinted that he is confident Walcott could be replaced from within the squad.

 And Wenger said: "The contractual situation is the same. They both have one year and the selection of the tour is not linked to that.

 "We will see. We sort these situations out always in the best interests of the club. We have plenty of young players and you see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain here.

 "We have plenty of young players. We bought Walcott when he was young and we want to keep our players. We always want to keep them."

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Robin van Persie will not sign new Arsenal contract

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has announced that he will not be signing a new deal at the club.

 The 28-year-old, who has a year left on his current contract, confirmed that he had met with manager Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

 But he revealed that they disagree on the way the club should move forward.

 "I've thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract," the Dutchman wrote on his personal website.

 It is not yet clear whether Van Persie, who scored 41 goals in 53 games for club and country and was named both the Professional Footballers' Association and Football Writers' player of the year last season, will see out the remainder of his contract or seek a move away from the Emirates.

 The Gunners do not want a repeat of last summer, when Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri were sold after the season had started.

 The Dutch international added that there would be further meetings once Gazidis returns from a two-week holiday in America and that he would provide updates "if and when there are more developments".

 Referring to his meeting - on 16 May - with Wenger and Gazidis, Van Persie said: "This was a meeting about the club's future strategy and their policy.

 Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all. "I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.

 Out of my huge respect for Mr Wenger, the players and the fans I don't want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.

 On Tuesday, Wenger wrote in his Eurosport column: "We want to keep Robin van Persie at all costs, because we depend on him offensively.

 I have always supported him even in the hardest times, and I hope he will end his career at Arsenal.

 Van Persie, who Joined from Feyenoord for £2.75m in 2004, said his statement was a necessity because of the abundance of media speculation regarding his future.

 I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens," he added. "I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal FC.

 "Everybody at the club and the fans have always supported me over the years and I have always given my all [and more] on and off the pitch.

 I am very proud of being part of this fantastic club for the last eight years.

" Arsenal have seen a number of their club captains leave over recent seasons, with Patrick Vieira (to Juventus), Thierry Henry and Fabregas (both to Barcelona) all departing.

 The club have not won a trophy since beating Manchester United on penalties in the 2005 FA Cup final, the summer after which Vieira was sold.

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Wenger: Manchester City & Barcelona have tried to destroy my work

Last summer saw former club captain Cesc Fabregas leave north London to join Spanish giants Barcelona while French duo Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy were lured away by Premier League champions Manchester City.

 And the 62-year-old manager admitted he has found it frustrating watching his young stars leave the Emirates at an age when he believes they could have driven the Gunners to that ever-elusive trophy.

 Sometimes people try and destroy your work," the 62-year-old said.

 I lost Nasri, Clichy and Fabregas at an age when they could have made the difference for Arsenal.

 Arsenal have already added Lukas Podolski to their ranks this summer, and Wenger has confirmed that a deal for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud is close to completion.

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Arsene Wenger is Confident that Robin Van Persie Will Stay

Arsene Wenger is 'certain' Robin Van Persie will stay at Arsenal. 

 The Dutchman has only one year left to run on his current deal at the Gunners and has yet to agree a new contract at the Emirates.

 Van Persie has been targeted by both Juventus and Manchester City, with rumours suggesting a fee of around £30million should be enough to force Arsenal's hand.

 But speaking to Corriere Dello Sport, Wenger claimed those reports are wide of the mark and that the 28-year-old will stay in north London.

 "I am certain that Robin will remain with us," he said.

 "If you want to know why I am so certain Robin will remain with us, it is because there is no reason in this world why a great player like Van Persie should go and play for you, in Italy and in your competition. "Your football (Serie A) is at an inferior level to the Premier League."

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