13 июля: товарищеский матч против сборной Малайзии.

16 июля: товарищеский матч против клуба "Ханьчжоу Гринтаун" (Китай).

23 июля: товарищеский матч против клуба "Кёльн".

24 июля: женская Супер-лига: "Арсенал" - "Ливерпуль".

30 июля: Кубок "Эмирэйтс": "Арсенал" - "Бока Хуниорс".

31 июля: Кубок "Эмирэйтс": "Арсенал" - "Нью-Йорк Ред Буллс".

5 августа: жеребьевка раунда плэй-офф Лиги Чемпионов.

13 августа: начало сезона Премьер-лиги 2011/12.

16/17 августа: первые матчи раунда плэй-офф Лиги Чемпионов.

23/24 августа: ответные матчи раунда плэй-офф Лиги Чемпионов

Alisher Usmanov has increased his stake in Arsenal to 29% it has been announced.

He previously had a 28% stake which has now increased to just over 29%. Once he reaches 30% he will have to make a formal bid to take over the club, which of course will be rejected and he will then have to sell shares to go below 30% again, reports that he would be able to gain access to the company accounts, as far as I am aware, would be therefore untrue.

What I’m unsure of is if he will be able to gain access to the accounts from when he hits 30%, and then whilst a takeover bid is being made through to when the bid is rejected, whether or not he can gain access to the accounts under a different set of laws whilst that process is being done. That is what I’m not 100% sure about.

Usmanov has recently made statements about the rise in ticket prices and membership prices, likely to try to win over some fans who are currently upset with the club for putting in such rises.

For those of you that were there when we thumped Everton 7-0 on a Wednesday night at Highbury in May 2005, you might recall singing ‘one more year’ to the tune of ‘here we go’ over and over again for the last 20 minutes.

It was our last home game of the season, with a cup final to look forward to, so why were all our voices in accord that evening? The whole of Highbury were saluting the genius of one man, who if I recall correctly, came on as second-half substitute and we were imploring him to sign a one-year extension to his current deal at the club – this man of course was none other than Dennis Bergkamp , and he did indeed sign on for one final year.

Now the circumstances are not the same in 2011, but one could certainly argue that we need Fabregas for one more year now, more than we needed ‘the Iceman’ in 2005. Dennis was in his mid 30’s, and whilst still a remarkable player, the team was not built around him or reliant on him as it had been in earlier years. Indications this week are that Cesc will stay as he has told us himself that only monsieur Wenger can make the decision to sell him and will not ask to leave. However, he will return to Barcelona one day, and with Xavi turning 32, you have to think 2011/12 could be the ‘one more year’ for our skipper.

So I hope he stays, and I hope, as I have said in a previous article last week, that we revert to a four man midfield, but only last week I thought that would be without our uniquely talented Spaniard. With a stronger back four, as we had in the 1998, 2002 and 2004, we do not need a genuine holding midfield player. So I hope we do give the traditional formation a go, but either way, Fabregas will thrive. He is not necessarily a genuine goal-scoring central midfielder yet, but like the great Dutchman before him boy can he create goals for those around him.

I have heard so many tributes to the retiring Paul Scholes, and heard him described as a one of the greatest creative central midfielders of the Premiership era. And for years we have had to suffer the boring debate about which of Lampard or Gerrard is the greater.

Well I am happy to tell you all that when it comes to creativity, vision and pure improvisation, none of them compare to our Spanish talisman. Fabregas was the youngest player in Premiership history to reach 100 assists. In fact, Fabregas reached 100 assists in only 190 games, creating an Arsenal league goal more than every other game. It took the mighty Paul ‘I never learnt to tackle’ Scholes 325 games to reach the same milestone. This is the player that Zidane describes as the greatest English player of his generation? It took Gerrard 332 games and Lampard 354 games to create 100 league goals and before you comment that they both score more goals check your facts. Neither Lampard nor Gerrard came close to scoring double figures in a league season until they were 25, and Cesc did so in 2009/10 at the tender age of 22. At 23, Cesc has 35 league goals for the Gunners, and at the same age, Gerrard and Lampard had 20 and 12 respectively.


I have given you plenty of evidence there to suggest that our enigmatic captain is the best creative central midfielder in the Premiership in this century. Of course what he is missing to go with this mercurial talent are Arsenal trophies and for that we need proper sensible investment this summer from Wenger and the backing from the board.


By sensible investment I do mean in proven experience Arsene, not unproven French potential. It is not a case now of what Fabregas owes Arsenal, but what Arsenal owes him.

So let’s make the right defensive signings, keep our best players, and ensure that if our skipper gives us ‘one more year’, he can leave England with more than just incredible statistics, but with a Premiership winner’s medal around his neck, and like Bergkamp, as a true Arsenal legend.

Carlos Vela is likely to stay an Arsenal player next season, despite a whole host of interest from teams throughout Europe and South America.

Mexican starlet Vela, who had spell on loan at West Brom last season, is one of several fringe players who have had offers welcomed for them.

However, the Gunners are adamant that any deal involving Vela would be a permanent move, while the 22-year-old’s agent Eduardo Hernandez admitted in late May that he is likely to return for London Colney for pre-season training shortly.

“The instructions I received is that Carlos must report back to Arsenal immediately after holidays. Carlos is an Arsenal player and at the moment there is no transfer movement”, Hernandez said.

The upcoming signing of Ivorian frontman Gervinho means that Vela will need to push harder to stake a claim for a place in the Arsenal squad next season.

Similarly, Nicklas Bendtner’s future is close to being sorted out after representatives from German side Borussia Dortmund flew over to London on Monday in hope of securing a move for the wantaway Danish striker.

More movement is expected when the transfer window ‘formally’ opens on 1st July.

OWEN COYLE has invited Arsenal and Manchester City to make a bid for Gary Cahill.
The Gunners and City are in a tug of war to secure the services of the 25-year-old Bolton centre-half, who is valued at over £20million.
Wanderers have so far resisted all approaches for the England international but now boss Coyle has called on Arsene Wenger and Roberto Mancini to make an official approach for the defender.
Coyle said: "I believe he could play for any club — I'd put my reputation on it.
"There's been a lot of interest — and you don't have to be a genius to work out some of the top clubs in this country have been interested — but nothing concrete yet.
"It would take a lot of money to get him but it is up to those clubs to put something firm to the chairman.
"He is not a player we want to lose, I have to stress that, but we have to accept if it is the right deal for the club and the player it has to be done and that then frees up cash for us to invest in the club.
"I would love him to stay. He is a fantastic player for the club and I am not saying I want him to go, but if he does it will be the right business for the club."

BLACKBURN star Chris Samba has told the club he wants to join Arsenal.
The 27-year-old defender was linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium in January but talks between the Gunners and Rovers broke down.
Samba then penned fresh terms at Ewood Park which will tie him to Lancashire until 2015.
But Anuradha Desai — chairperson of Rovers' owners Venkys — admitted Samba iss still keen on a move to north London.
Desai said: "We don't want to let Chris go. I'm confident that we can keep him and I hope he'll stay.
"I know he has an ambition to play for Arsenal but I hope we can keep him for another year at least and prove our own ambition."