Having missed the trophy last season, the season before that and the seasons from 2005, Arsenal is gearing up to jump the gun with extra gunpowder this season. They already are undergoing several changes in their team. On Monday, the Gunners added an extra knot to their lineup, after sealing the deal with Gervinho.
Gervinho – a new man in their Arsenal
The 24 year-old forward from Ivory Coast became an official Arsenal player in London on Monday. The team manager Arsene Wenger, in a press conference said “He is an official Arsenal player. Gervinho has joined training today at London Colney (in England)”. The club was in their pre-season trip on their way to Malaysia as part of their Easter Tour.
Gervinho or Gervais Yao Kouassi, joined Lille two years ago. Before this he played for Le Mans in France. He joined the Belgium League side Beveren at the age of 17. Internationally, he played for his country both at the Olympics and the World Cup held last year thus is performance have been growing with experience.
Gervinho’s records include scoring 28 goals in 67 games for Lille, the Ligue 1 champions. Earlier Wenger had expressed his inflexible decision on letting go of the team’s top midfielders: Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas. This however may be uncertain in the offing. When asked on this decision, Wenger remarks that Fabregas loves the club and the bid from Barcelona is not new. It has been dangling for many seasons now and we (Arsenal) hopes to conquer with him (Fabregas) in the team this season. “I have never spoken about what has happened behind closed doors but Cesc loves the club”, said Wenger, in the club’s official site www.arsenal.com.
He commented the same thing for Samir Nasri as well saying that as soon as the contract looms to be over, it is expected that the player will move out however Nasri is also happy with staying and hopefully he continues to play with the team. “I hope he will sign a new contract but I am not the only one to decide that”, said Wenger.
Another shift that is buzzing the team is of giving away the goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia and forward, Niklas Bendtner.
Gervinho’s last two seasons have been spectacular and Wenger expects the same performance by him in Malaysia as well. According to the British Media, Arsenal bought Gervinho for 12 million pounds, or $19.3 million.
The team sure has a whole new look at the moment and is itching to play in the coming season to make sure they get to hold the trophy this time.
Tags: Arsenal, EPL, Football, Gervinho, Gunners, Premier League
