A quick one before I whizz off to the Gold Coast to watch Fulham vs…the Gold Coast. How extraordinary.

What a pity that Brede Hangeland is in Europe due to wedding commitments. Were he to be playing in Fulham’s pre-season tour of Australia, I’m sure I would not be the only Gooner waiting to do a bit of tapping up for the giant stopper.

But in his absence, perhaps a few of his fellow team-mates / reserve-players can get a bit unsettled into revealing the ins and outs of suspected transfer dealings.

Wishful thinking, but one can only hope. It will be good to get a closer look at Zoltan Gera, a player I’ve always liked and, while not quite up to Arsenal’s level, will be a mini-favourite after that lovely goal against Manchester United.

Here’s hoping I can single-handedly engineer the move myself.

Swap-deals risk Arsenal’s squad depth

Arsenal.com have released some excellent pre-season training photos featuring most of the players back from holiday. It’s when you see the returning players from injury, loan spells and new signing Thomas Vermaelen that you realise: We have a pretty well stocked squad.

Rosicky and Eduardo’s return is excellent, Senderos leads the run-around and there are many younger troops like Troare and Barazite to stock up the ranks.

The much publicised and in-demand central midfield position has been cited a number of times and mixed reports are out that Felipe Melo has already signed for Juventus, but other reports link Eboue and Senderos in a swap deal for the Brazillian midfielder.

The one thing to be careful of all of this is that 2 players for 1 midfielder cuts into our side a bit, especially considering Senderos can play a role as a rotational defender and Eboue’s been mentioned a number of times in this blog as a useful utility.

So I leave it to you: Is getting rid of Senderos and Eboue in exchange for Felipe Melo really worth it? Or should we turn our attentions to other potential targets like Matuidi or Lorik Cana?

Your thoughts in the comments box. I’m off to be a pain in the arse for Fulham! Photos and a blog, all tomorrow.

Filed under: Arsenal, Blogging, Transfer Rumours