Transfer - Lassana Diarra (£5m-5.5m)

Arsenal Football Club have completed the signing of Lassana Diarra for an undisclosed fee of probably £5m-£5.5m at the death of the transfer window.

As yesterday threw up rumours of Manchester United scrambling around for anyone who can score and Everton being linked with Riquelme in spite of his signing for Athletico (the day before), the Arsenal were quiet. And effective.

This was the transfer rumour I described as one that would simply not go away. And in the end Chelsea did the unbelieveable and sold us the next Claude Makelele. A young French international destined to line up with Abou Diaby in central midfield for their country for a decade. Extraordinary. What on earth Chelsea are thinking is beyond me. But Arsene Wenger is delighted.

"Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad. Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right back.”

Chelsea will be gutted that another French international has forced his way from their club aiming to work with Mr. Wenger.

“I have great respect for the manager Arsène Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays. Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies this season and for years to come.”

Au revoir, Mourinho. The Arsenal project continues.

Transfer Rumours - Lassana Diarra

This one will not seem to go away. There have been whispers throughout the summer that Diarra wanted to move to Arsenal. However, the fact that Chelsea have the richest patron in world football would quickly suggest that they would not wish to lose face in having another player from their first team seek a move to link up with Arsene Wenger. Right?

According to reports.... wrong.

The apparent Claude Makelele understudy has turned his nose up at several Chelsea contract offers this summer and today has only 11 months left on his contract. Obviously there is now a Bosman risk for the player and with so little time remaining on his contract, Chelsea would have little leverage with which to negotiate terms. Arsene Wenger has held a long interest in the player and would have been very impressed with Diarra's performance in the France engine room alongside Abou Diaby against Austria in March 07. France boss Raymond Domenech sees this tandem as the future for the French midfield and as very pending replacements for the current engine room of Makelele and Patrick Vieira (... and the circle of life continues).

With Chelsea thought to be at the mercy of a £2m for the player, Wenger may well be interested in adding the midfielder to the likes of Song, Denilson, Diaby, Flamini, Gilberto and Cesc with Song likely to quickly move upon Diarra's arrival. When compared to the £17m spent on 26 year old Canadian Owen Hargreaves, £2m is a fantastic bargain for a French International adamantly claim Diarra to be the next Makelele.

With the confirmation that the actual Makelele has agreed terms with Chelsea for another year, it would seem that a Diarra move to Arsenal is an ever increasing possibility. The 22 year old defensive midfielder has appeared in 13 matches for Chelsea since his £3m move from French club Le Havre in 2005. Many of these matches have found the player ably fill in at right back. Arsenal would see his position as a medium term understudy for Gilberto.