ArseWeb Transfer News/Rumours

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Transfer Rumours

The following are rumours we've heard, not ones that we're starting or trying to encourage. People are often writing to us saying "have you heard anything about player X, my hairdresser's piano tuner's son works for his club and apparently there's a bid coming from Arsenal etc etc".

Well, usually we have heard the rumour and usually there's no substance to it. Here are the current top transfer rumours, together with everything we know about them. If the name you're looking for is missing from this list, perhaps they're in the dead rumours list below.

Please please please do not take the presence of a rumour on this page as any kind of confirmation. If anything the presence here makes it less likely because if we knew anything sensitive do you think we'd publish it on a web site before it happened? Arsenal tend to keep their signings secret till the last minute (another reason not to believe the rumours you've heard) and we're not going to knowingly screw that up for them.

Players names link to info pages (usually on current club's site)

In/Out Player Team Comments

In/Swap Robbie Fowler
(poss. for Seaman
+ Bould and/or cash) Liverpool This one's come to life again since Roy Evans' departure from Anfield. The ES reports we're likely to break our transfer record with a bid of &163;12million. Fowler's contract is up at the end of next season so (the story goes) they might want to cash in (or get him to sign an extension). Seems to me they might be thinking that way in terms of selling him in the summer, but it's a bit early for panic selling. There's less about the swap side of things in the rumour's latest incarnation. But Liverpool need the likes of Bouldy more than ever.
Makes sense. They need a goalie and a centre back. We need a striker and Fowler's age makes him a better buy than Shearer. But is Manninger really that ready? And don't we need Bould as cover for Adams & Keown, especially now Marshall's gone? We'd like to see Fowler arrive at THOF but surely we don't need to lose 2 great players to get a striker? Unlikely. 26/10/98 haven't heard much more of this one since Fowler's been back in the team. Liverpool's defensive problems seem to be due more to the the men in front of James/Friedel these days.

In Nwanku Kanu Internazionale 18/11/98 updateThe Mirror reckons we're close to pulling off a loan deal. (see here). Afci says that he "has not joined Arsenal, as has been reported in some quarters". Which, interestingly, falls short of denying the actual story, which is that Arsenal are talking to Inter about the possibility of getting him on loan.
He's only 22 and clearly a great striker. Has had big health problems though (plastic valve in his heart). Stories suggest we're prepared to pay £5million. But he's only just made it back to the International arena (with Nigeria) and it'd make sense that his agent may be trying to whip up interest. Don't hold your breath.

In Sergei Rebrov Dynamo Kiev He scored against us twice, so naturally we're trying to buy him. That's the mentality of the Mirror for you. Wouldn't be a bad acquisition of course, he's young, and has a better scoring record for Dynamo than that other alleged target Shevchenko. The Mirror reckons £8million is the bid, but Kiev want 12, and they add that he won't be available till after the group stage of the champions league. Seems to us that Kiev might need him after that, seeing as they're good bets to go through.

In Fabio Cannavaro Parma An Italian TV station has claimed that AFC will make a bid at the end of the season for the £5million rated defender. Generally speaking, news of real Arsenal transfers does not come first from Italian TV stations. Agent-created hype, however,.... (thanks to Tom Themistocli for this one).
Could it be that this rumour was started by a mis-hearing of "Fabian Caballero", the Argentinian striker we've taken on loan? Our correspondent reiterates that it was not.

In Zinedine Zidane Juve The Mirror. Yeah, right. This one's cropped up again because Juve are said to be signing Ariel Ortega.

In Matt Jansen Crystal Palace The story is that Jansen is officially out with flu, but has been spotted training, and that the reason for all this is a £5million bid from Arsenal. Is he really that good? 12/10/98 latest is Jansen says he hasn't asked for a move. Jansen didn't go to Ipswich last weekend with the Palace squad.
21/10/98 The Palace web site suggests Jansen is going to be sold

In Chris Perry Wimbledon The papers say that if Perry continues to fail to get into the England squad he wants to go to a bigger club. Not much substance to this one, but the best Wimbledon players usually end up moving sooner or later....

In Jason Euell Wimbledon ....which brings us to Euell. Wenger is known to be an admirer, and the Dons are said to be signing a new striker (Johan Mjällby) from IFK Gothenburg. AFC were reported to have had a bid of £5million rejected, but the player himself says he plans to stay with the Dons for another 2 to 3 years to learn under Kinnear (who says Euell's not for sale). Come and learn under Wenger!
13/10/98 We've learned that the Mjällby part of this rumour is all wrong - he's more of a defensive midfielder (scored against England). Also, he didn't play for IFK Gothenburg but for their arch rivals AIK Solna (sorry for the insult). Anyway, he's signed for the Bhoys now.

Please don't write asking about the above stories. You already know as much as we do.

But if you've heard another rumour recently that you think deserves a place on this page, please let us know. Thanks are at the foot of the page.

See also the ArseWeb News Index and the Summer Rumours List (all the players we were linked to in the summer).

Transfer News

The following stories have the air of reality about them. But we guarantee nothing.

Unless stated otherwise, the dates refer to the date the information was added to this page.

Date In/Out Player Team Comments

17/11/98 In William Huck Monaco Huck has been on trial for a while, and has now been signed on a 2 year deal following impressive games in the reserves. He can play in midfield or as left back and is only 19.

29/10/98 In Fabian Caballero Cerro Porteño
(Paraguay) TeamTalk say the 6'2" 19-yr old striker has been training with AFC for the last few days. Don't worry about the fact that the Rete page on the club says they play in Uruguay. It's definitely a Paraguayan club.
29/10/98 PA reports that we've taken Caballero on for the rest of the season, with the possibility of a £2million fee if we decide to keep him. Caballero played for the reserves on Tuesday and Wenger likied him enough to extend the trial to 6 months. Caballero holds a Spanish passport, some reports have suggested that he has yet to choose between Spanish and Argentinian as his footballing nationality. The PA report calls him Fabian where our previous info had it as Mano. See also ANR
03/11/98 AFCi reports that Caballero has been taken on loan. There's no indication of the duration of the loan.

08/10/98 Out (free) Nando Perna Brackley ..according to Reuters. But who is he...?
Stian Reklev writes: "Perna was an Arsenal youngster, right wing/striker, same age as Omer Riza. I think he was profiled in one of the match programmes last season (Chelsea in the league?)."

08/10 Out on loan Paolo Vernazza Ipswich Initially a short-term arrangement, but Paolo may stay there till the end of the season. Better for his development than playing in our reserves, and we have strength in depth in the midfield at the moment.
26/10/98 Vernazza is playing regularly for Ipswich as Kieron Dyer is injured. There is speculation that Wenger will negotiate first-option on one or more of Town's youngsters if he sells Paolo.

05/10/98 In on loan
(1 week) Jermaine McSporran Oxford City Don't know a lot about this one yet. IS it a wind-up.....?
Apparently NOT! He scored 2 goals for the reserves in Arsenal's 3-1 defeat of Charlton on 06/10 (see AFCi report)
25/10/98 AFCi confirms that Arsenal will not be taking McSporran on. Wenger has iondicated that while McSporran showed a lot of potential, he's really looking for someone who'd be ready to join the firts team squad immediately.

29/09/98 In/Out
In/Out shake him all about Eric Chukwunyelu AS St Etienne This one's really confusing. Reported on soccernet as coming to AFC for a 2 week trial, but by the French press as being loaned by Arsenal to ASSE. Our latest analysis of the situation is that he was signed by AFC but then immediately loaned to ASSE. John Rodriguez has filled some of this in for us: "We spotted him (or most likely, one of Wenger's myriad contacts spotted him and phoned) playing for his club back in Nigeria..... We signed him to a contract.... We don't have space for him so in the spirit of our exchange programme with Saint-Etienne, we loaned him to them for a period of time (I've seen varying lengths, up to two years)." Eric is 18, we still don't know his position though. update 10th Oct: Here's some real information! (and a picture). Turns out "Chuk" comes from a Brasilian club.

11/09/98 In Halmstad Read ArseWeb's coverage of the signing

Thanks to John Rodriguez, Helge Olsen, Tron Enger, Tom Burrell, Ian Grant, Jase, Joachim Träff, Craj Kleberg, Tom Burrell, Stian Reklev, and others (sorry if I've forgotten you, please write and remind me).

Archive of dead rumours

Entries from the rumours list above will be moved here once the story has died.

In/Out	Player	Team	Comments
In	Rio Ferdinand	West Ham	Wenger is rumoured to have secured first refusal on Rio when selling Wrighty. His England ambitions are said to be a factor in his (alleged) desire to play for a bigger club. But playing for West Ham doesn't seem to have hurt his chances so far, and they don't seem to be a selling club just at the moment.
In	George Weah	Milan	This rumour will keep coming back till Wenger or Weah retires. He's stayed longer at Milan than their foreigners usually do, and Bierhoff is above him in the pecking order. But surely even the bond between Weah and Wenger isn't enough to overcome the problems of age and cost. Wenger doesn't seem to mind one of these factors being high, but not both.
In	Sigurd Rushfeldt	Rosenborg	Top scorer in Norway this season with 25. Says he got a phone call from Arsenal asking if he'd be interested . He's a tall strong striker, 90% of goals from less than 8 metres. Had a short stay at Birmingham some time ago and was linked to Leeds last year. Contract runs out in 1 year. 25 yrs old, in the Norwegian Euro qualifiers squad (8caps 0 goals). One possible stumbling block is the fact that he is likely to need an operation to repair ankle tendons in December. 12/01/98 latest from Rushfeldt is that Arsenal agreed to talk to him again after Norways 2 Euro 2000 qualifiers (2nd one on 14/10). Apparently Rushfeldt is represented by our old friend (and George's) Rune Hauge. 15/10/98 Apparently today Rushfeldt is denying ever having contact with Arsenal, and so this story becomes a classic and salutary tale of an agent trying to whip up interest in one of his clients. One report claims that Arsenal might have been interested if it weren't for Hauge's involvement but even that might just be an attempt by hacks to salvage a story from a wind-up. Ah well, probably wasn't that good anyway...
In	Steve Watson	Newcastle	Probably the most likely Newcastle reject to arrive at THOF (being an English full-back), although he looks set to go to Villa or Everton. Having seen Newcastle recently, do we really want someone they want to cast off? This rumour died 15/10/98 when Aston Villa signed Watson for £4million.
Out	Jason Crowe	Crystal Palace	According to reports, Arsenal agreed to sell for £500,000, but Crowe turned the move down saying he wants to fight for a place at Highbury. By our reckoning there are now at least 4 players ahead of him for the right back spot. Crowe's claim to fame is of course his ridiculously quick sending-off
In	Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus	Italian Press reports on 12/10/98 that Arsenal and Barcelona are preparing offers for Del Piero. This is simply a non-starter. If Wenger balks at Shearer's wages or Kluivert's, Del Piero is simply out of our league. As are Barcelona, financially speaking. Nice dream, but that's all.
Out	Tony Adams	Spurs	It had to happen - the rumours linking George Graham with bids for his old team have started. And where better to start than with his captain. Virgin Radio has reported that George wants Adams as his assistant. Credibility rating? Not worth the trouble, surely? 26/10/98 Too absurd for words, this story's death came with the same inevitability as its creation.

Date	In/Out	Player	Team	Comments
17/11/98	In	William Huck	Monaco	Huck has been on trial for a while, and has now been signed on a 2 year deal following impressive games in the reserves. He can play in midfield or as left back and is only 19.
29/10/98	In	Fabian Caballero	Cerro Porteño (Paraguay)	TeamTalk say the 6'2" 19-yr old striker has been training with AFC for the last few days. Don't worry about the fact that the Rete page on the club says they play in Uruguay. It's definitely a Paraguayan club. 29/10/98 PA reports that we've taken Caballero on for the rest of the season, with the possibility of a £2million fee if we decide to keep him. Caballero played for the reserves on Tuesday and Wenger likied him enough to extend the trial to 6 months. Caballero holds a Spanish passport, some reports have suggested that he has yet to choose between Spanish and Argentinian as his footballing nationality. The PA report calls him Fabian where our previous info had it as Mano. See also ANR 03/11/98 AFCi reports that Caballero has been taken on loan. There's no indication of the duration of the loan.
08/10/98	Out (free)	Nando Perna	Brackley	..according to Reuters. But who is he...? Stian Reklev writes: "Perna was an Arsenal youngster, right wing/striker, same age as Omer Riza. I think he was profiled in one of the match programmes last season (Chelsea in the league?)."
08/10	Out on loan	Paolo Vernazza	Ipswich	Initially a short-term arrangement, but Paolo may stay there till the end of the season. Better for his development than playing in our reserves, and we have strength in depth in the midfield at the moment. 26/10/98 Vernazza is playing regularly for Ipswich as Kieron Dyer is injured. There is speculation that Wenger will negotiate first-option on one or more of Town's youngsters if he sells Paolo.
05/10/98	In on loan (1 week)	Jermaine McSporran	Oxford City	Don't know a lot about this one yet. IS it a wind-up.....? Apparently NOT! He scored 2 goals for the reserves in Arsenal's 3-1 defeat of Charlton on 06/10 (see AFCi report) 25/10/98 AFCi confirms that Arsenal will not be taking McSporran on. Wenger has iondicated that while McSporran showed a lot of potential, he's really looking for someone who'd be ready to join the firts team squad immediately.
29/09/98	In/Out In/Out shake him all about	Eric Chukwunyelu	AS St Etienne	This one's really confusing. Reported on soccernet as coming to AFC for a 2 week trial, but by the French press as being loaned by Arsenal to ASSE. Our latest analysis of the situation is that he was signed by AFC but then immediately loaned to ASSE. John Rodriguez has filled some of this in for us: "We spotted him (or most likely, one of Wenger's myriad contacts spotted him and phoned) playing for his club back in Nigeria..... We signed him to a contract.... We don't have space for him so in the spirit of our exchange programme with Saint-Etienne, we loaned him to them for a period of time (I've seen varying lengths, up to two years)." Eric is 18, we still don't know his position though. update 10th Oct: Here's some real information! (and a picture). Turns out "Chuk" comes from a Brasilian club.
11/09/98	In		Halmstad	Read ArseWeb's coverage of the signing