Arsenal are reportedly racing to sign 17 year old Southampton starlet Luke Shaw, in an attempt to solve defensive problems. The St Mary's Stadium has been something of a happy hunting ground for Arsene Wenger, in terms of transfers at least, with the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain making their way to the Emirates from Southampton. In addition, Spurs' highly-rated Welsh winger Gareth Bale is also a product of the Southampton academy.
Meanwhile, the Saints aren't taking Wenger's covetous glances lying down. The Mirror reports the Premier League newcomers are planning an audacious bid to try and tempt Walcott to return... the £15m price tag and player's exorbitant (for the Saints) wages notwithstanding.
In other news, Wenger continues to assemble the best squad he can and feels Russian midfielder Andrei Arshavin could be a useful player to have around. However, he wasn't quite so interested in retaining Nicklas Bendtner, Park Chu Young and Sebastian Squillaci.
"Bendtner, Squillaci and Park will be on their way to go somewhere," the Frenchman, quoted by the Daily Mail, said, adding, "Arshavin, it depends. We have to sit together and talks. He could still have a future at the club."
Wenger also spoke on lessons learnt from the pre-season tour of Asia and despite the 0-2 defeat to Manchester City in China, the Gunners' boss was pretty pleased with the tour.
"There are a lot of positives because we had to fight in every game and for the team it was a great experience. Seeing different countries, for the players, was absolutely fantastic. You can see how much people care about our club - it was a great experience for us. We have learned to play when we are tired against good opponents and to dig deep and not lose. That is always good," Wenger was quoted as saying by the club's official Web site.
"We loved Malaysia, we loved China and here in Hong Kong it is absolutely amazing. You have everything you want here; the sea, a nice city, good football. In my next life maybe I come here!" the Frenchman added.
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