Hull City 1-3 Arsenal

Arsenal left it late, but eventually prevailed over a battling Hull City in a Premier League game, Saturday.

The Gunners came into this game requiring 3 points to keep pace with Aston Villa in the race for 4th spot, and got off to a good start, Emmanuel Adebayor scoring from Robin van Persie’s deliverry to make it 1-0.

Hull fought back though in the second half, Daniel Cousin turning in Bernard Mendy’s cross on 64 minutes to level things up. Arsenal kept up the pressure, and just when it looked they would be held to another disappointing draw, van Persie found Samir Nasri with an intelligent pass, and the Frenchman scored with a nice low shot to give his side the lead.

And in the dying moments, van Persie again showed his class to find Nicklas Bendtner, who scored to confirm the result, condemning Hull to yet another defeat, and leaving them perilously close to the relegation zone.

Wenger confident Adebayor will stay

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he expects Togolese international striker Emmanuel Adebayor to remain with the club amidst continued speculation over his future at the Emirates.

The striker scored 24 Premier League goals last season for the Gunners and has been linked all summer to transfers to Barcelona and AC Milan but Arsenal has maintained that the striker is not for sale and this was echoed by the Frenchman when he stated vehemently that “Adebayor is under contract.” “We expect him to turn up on Monday and practice with us.”

“And of course, I expect him to stay.” A young Gunners team edge past lower league Barnet with a narrow 2-1 pre-season friendly victory and concerns arised as to whether Adebayor will be at the Emirates next season. The Gunners have only managed two signings this summer; Samir Nasri’s arrival from Marseille and the capture of 17-year-old Welsh playmaker Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff City for a fee of around £5 million.

Wenger stated that more signings are expected before the transfer window closes at the end of August.

“Ronaldinho a better choice than Adebayor” Galliani

Today Ronaldinho went through his first training session as a Milan player while Adriano Galliani explained his choice of the Brazilian midfield maestro over Arsenal’s striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Galliani stated that “It was wonderful to see 40,000 people at San Siro just to see Ronaldinho for a few minutes.”

“He is a player with great media impact, whereas Adebayor is not. These characters elevate the interest towards our League on behalf of the media, help fill the stadiums and certainly make the challenges more interesting.”

Arsenal refused to sell Adebayor after both clubs could not arrive at an amicable transfer fee for the Togolese striker and the Rossoneri opted for Ronaldinho at £18million.

Is Adebayor replaceable?

Arsenal has been one of the most consistent teams in the Premiership for the last fews seasons and one of the reasons they have been so dominant is their potency up front. A potency they found in Ian Wright, Marc Overmars, Nicholas Anelka and Thierry Henry.

The departure of the Frenchman Henry was greeted with mixed emotions and though many thought he was irreplaceable, Arsene Wenger being the artist he is found a replacement in the 6 ft 3 in tall Togolese striker who had his finest season in the Premiership thus far when he scored 26 League goals for the Gunners.

But after just one fairly good season the striker has decided to move on, being linked with numerous transfers to AC Milan and Barcelona. Truth be told Adebayor provided a different option up front for the Gunners and no I’m not alluding to his ability to score 1 in every 15 chances; his ability in the air gave Arsenal a dangerous look when they attacked from the planks.

Wenger is undoubtedly one of the Premierships best managers and even though it seems hard to replace Adebayor, Wenger will find a replacement if he does leave the Emirates.

Arsenal drops Adebayor price to £17 million

The 24 year old Togolese international who has been the subject of many transfer talks mainly with Barcelona and AC Milan, may yet get his wish to leave the Emirates.

Following earlier reports that AC Milan were no longer interested in the striker, it is believed that Arsenal have reviewed their initial £30 million price tag on their striker, a ask that AC Milan admitted they could answer.

The Gunners have reportedly dropped the asking price for the striker to £17 million, the striker who scored 24 League goals for the Gunners last season may well be on his way to the San Siro following his ex-Arsenal teammate Matheiu Flamini.

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