Wenger - My squad is fully stocked with strikers now

VfB Stuttgart 1-3 Arsenal

Venue:Mercedes-Benz Arena
Wed, Jul 30, 2008, 8.15pm

By Richard Clarke

The pre-season form of Nicklas Bendtner and Carlos Vela has re-affirmed Arsène Wenger’s belief that he does not need to sign another striker.

Both players scored with classy finishes on Wednesday night in the 3-1 win at Stuttgart. In addition the Dane hit four and the Mexican three against an admittedly weak Burgenland XI two days earlier.

If you add these two players to Wenger’s pool of forwards then suddenly it appears the manager has many options for the start of the campaign — Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Vela and Bendtner. While Eduardo is well on course for a return by November.

“We are not as short of strikers as people thought,” said Wenger after the Stuttgart win.

“We have Vela, who has integrated well into the team, and Bendtner was a force at the end of last season. He will confirm that again this year.

“In all the areas in total we are perhaps one player short. But up front we don’t need anybody.”

[ Thursday, July 31, 2008]

Source: www.Arsenal.com

Portuguese midfielder Amaury Bischoff joins Arsenal

Arsenal can today confirm the signing of midfielder Amaury Bischoff.

The French-born Portugal Under-21 international, 21, was a youngster with French clubs SR Colmar and Strasbourg before moving to Werder Bremen in 2005.

Bischoff, who can play either in the centre of midfield or on the right, was a regular at youth levels for Werder Bremen. His one senior appearance for the Bundesliga club came against Celta Vigo in the UEFA Cup in 2007.

Amaury has played for France's Under-18 team, however in 2007 he elected to train with Portugal and to date has appeared for their Under-21 side.

Everyone at Arsenal Football Club would like to welcome Amaury, who will wear squad No 28, and will join up with his team-mates for pre-season when the squad returns from their training camp in Austria.

Arsenal Signs Samir Nasri

Nasri agrees to join Arsenal from Marseille

French international midfielder Samir Nasri has agreed to join Arsenal from Olympique Marseille on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

Nasri (21), who made two appearances for France in Euro 2008, was voted as the French Ligue 1 'Young Player of the Year' for 2006/07 and was also Olympique Marseille's Player of the Year for 2007.

Nasri, has made twelve appearances (scoring twice) for the French national team, making his debut for his country in March 2007 in the 1-0 friendly win over Austria. He was also a French Under-21 international and part of the French Under-17s who won the European Championships in 2004.

The young attacking midfielder made 145 appearances (scoring 11 goals) for Olympique Marseille, during which time he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2005, was a French Cup runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and helped his side into third place in Ligue 1 last season, thus securing a UEFA Champions League place for next season.

Manager Arsène Wenger said: "We are delighted to be signing Samir Nasri. He is young, quick and technically an outstanding player. He has shown great potential with his performances for Marseille and the French national team over the past two seasons and he will add great quality to our squad."

Nasri added: "I'm very happy to become an Arsenal player, it means such a lot to me. This is a very important step in my life as a football player because Arsenal is a massive club. I really hope everything will go well for me here. I will do my best for Arsenal and its fans and I am honoured to be part of such a great football club."

Samir Nasri is due to join up with his new Arsenal team mates for pre-season training on 21st July.

Source: www.arsenal.com