Центральный защитник "Вердера" Пер Мертезакер не стал исключать возможности смены клубной прописки в ближайшем будущем. При этом игрок отметил, что хотел бы попробовать себя в английской Премьер-Лиге.

"Мой контракт с "Вердером" действителен еще один год, поэтому нужно посмотреть, как будет развиваться ситуация. Если заглядывать в будущее, то английский чемпионат был бы привлекательным вариантом. Бундеслига постепенно развивается, но испанский и английский чемпионаты по-прежнему впереди. Именно там играет больше всего топ-клубов. Сейчас я не хочу ничего исключать. Переезд в другую страну поможет мне сделать шаг вперед как игроку и как личности", - сказал Мертезакер.

Напомним, что в Англии 26-летнего футболиста связывают с лондонским "Арсеналом".

“We have developed the team, who I think are capable to compete at the top level in the world now. This team is getting mature, strong and we do not need to change our philosophy. We have to even be better in what we want to do. We are an offensive football team and want to be better in our offensive game than we have been, to continue to develop it and be stronger in what we want to do.” ~ Arsene Wenger

No, this isn’t a quote from last year, or the year before that. Although it very well could have been. No, this quote from our long-tenured manager was spoken yesterday. And I have to admit, this is not what I was hoping to hear from Mr. Wenger.

The promises of change and improvement the fans were given in June (right about the time of season ticket renewals), have slowly but surely been rationalized away. So far, the only thing that has changed at Arsenal this summer is the location of where the Gunners will be playing their preseason football.

I’m not here screaming for big signings, but the one thing that I hoped for from Arsene was a serious reevaluation of his team’s philosophy. Last season more than any other, there was a formula for beating Arsenal, and we witnessed it used to great effect by “big teams” (Spuds) and “little teams” (Spuds, but also West Brom, Newcastle, Stoke).

The approach was always similar: let Arsenal have possession but keep them out of the middle of the box, let them creep forward, then look to score from the counterattack or a set play. Think back and ask yourself how many times we saw this last season, the answer is quite often.

Many teams have tried to play this style against us in the past, but for one reason or another it was particularly effective last year especially at the Emirates. The question I have is, why can’t Arsene Wenger, who has forgotten more about football than I will probably ever know, why can’t he see something that is blindingly obvious to many fans?

I always think back to Cesc Fabregas’ interview before last summer’s World Cup, where he talked about the differences between Arsenal’s preparation for matches, and that of the Spanish National team.

“Here they give us much more information than they do at Arsenal, definitely,” Fabregas said.

“At Arsenal we don’t really look at anything from the other team, we look for ourselves and that’s it. [With Spain], maybe two three days before the game, we start looking at some videos, we know more or less the starting eleven that is going to play … we know nearly everything about them.”

That quote always stuck with me this past year, especially after watching Arsenal get beat the same way, time after time. It seems to me that it foolhardy to believe that your philosophy is so perfect, so superior, that if it is executed perfectly, it makes no difference whether your up against Chelsea or Wigan. In fact, in seems like it’s flirting with disaster, especially when other managers have begun to discover their own methods for beating your philosophy.

In other news, Arsene has apparently been very impressed by youngsters Ryo Miyaichi and newly acquired Carl Jenkinson. Both players have made the trip to Asia with the team, and the Arsenal boss has said that both players will get an opportunity to feature.

News of another young player who is progressing is always good to hear, but I’m sure many of us would freely admit to wishing Arsene Wenger was reporting good news about established players who had been added, especially in the defensive department. There is still several weeks to go in the transfer market, but it’s hard to get overly excited about our many “stars of tomorrow” when the issues at fullback and centerback have not yet been addressed.

Instead, the Dutchman believes Wenger should send out a strong message to their Premier League rivals with a marquee signing this summer while hanging onto star players like Fabregas.

When asked on how tough it would be for Arsenal to be a success if Fabregas left, Van Persie said in the Daily Mirror: "In general, I think it will be hard.

"From my own situation, he [Fabregas] is the one I first look at to see if he is playing or not. We have a connection - he knows exactly when to pass, exactly when to make his decisions in the game.

"He is quicker in his mind than most other players. That is very special. For example, one game against Blackpool away, I think in the first 18 minutes he gave me four or five unbelievable passes. I was one against one.

"I missed them, but he gave them to me.

"He is a really special player. He can see things quicker than others. He would be a miss for any team. That is why I hope that he stays and we can play on a bit longer together because I really rate him."

Van Persie reckons the club has no choice but to shell out the cash to buy an established star, otherwise the Gunners run the risk of falling further behind their big spending rivals Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

"You need investment to keep up because, when you look around, Man City is buying loads of good players, Liverpool are doing it now, Man United have been doing it for years," Van Persie was quoted as saying.

"So, in a way, you need to keep that up, because if everyone is doing something you need to do it as well.

"I think it's a good thing that we have competition. Everyone needs competition because no one really wants to go to sleep.

"I think in an ideal world no one is really sure of his place - maybe the captain and the goalkeeper but all the other players shouldn't really be knowing before that they will play. It's always good to have competition and be on your toes."

"These days, proper players cost money. Sometimes you see players go for loads of money and you think, 'Is he that good?' It needs to be seen. Most of the time, they are.

"But the main thing is it's not just a label, 'multi-million pound signing', it's more about the quality. If you buy a player who's got one year left normally he's not going to be worth 40 or 50 million, he'll be a bit less.

"So it's not really that you get a clear picture of how good someone is when you play a lot. It depends on loads of things."

He added: "The very least for me personally is to win something. It doesn't matter what it is: Carling Cup, FA Cup, the league or Champions League.

"It's going to be hard but, after a couple of disappointments, it is time to win something now and hopefully we can achieve that this year.

"The frustration [last season] is the game against Birmingham [in the Carling Cup Final]. It is a big frustration. We were so close to winning that match. Although it was 1-1 just before full-time, I saw four or five players from them limping off with cramp.

"You know, if it goes to extra time, we were going to win that game. Everyone could see that.

"Birmingham played a very good game against us but still, everyone felt we should have won that game.

"If you are fair, from that game on we didn't really have the best record of winning games. If you look back at that game and onwards until the end of the season, we didn't, as a team, play our best football.

"That is a big frustration but, as a sportsman, it should make you more hungry. We can't keep thinking about those moments.

"We need to move on as soon as possible - don't sit in the corner and cry. There is no time for it in our job."

Arsenal are currently in Kuala Lumpur as part of their pre-season tour in Asia. The first game of the tour is on 13 July against a Malaysia XI, before an encounter with Hangzhou Greentown in China on 16 July.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has conceded that Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri must stay for his side to still be considered a “big club”.

Fabregas, 24, has been subject to strong interest from Champions League holders Barcelona, whereas Nasri, 24, has only 12 months left to run on his contract, leading to interest from both Manchester clubs and Chelsea.

The north London side have already lost Gael Clichy this summer to City, and their manager admitted the club cannot afford to let their star players leave.

Wenger was quoted as saying by The Mirror: “Imagine the worst situation - we lose Fabregas and Nasri - you cannot convince people you are ambitious after that.

“And even if you lose Nasri, to find the same quality player, you have to spend again the same amount of money. Because you cannot say, you lose the player and you do not replace him.

“I believe for us it is important the message we give out. For example, you talk about Fabregas leaving, Nasri leaving.

“If you give that message out, you cannot pretend you are a big club, because a big club first of all holds onto its big players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they just cannot come in and take away from you.

“We worked very hard with these players for years to develop them, and now it's a time for us to keep them together.”

The Gunners, with Nasri in tow, recently departed for their Far East pre-season tour, and Wenger says the France international will “definitely” stay.

Arsenal risk Nasri running down his contract and leaving on a free transfer next year, but the French coach is confident the player will sign a new deal.

Fabregas misses the trip because of a hamstring injury but resumed full training on Monday.

The Emirates club have rejected offers of €31 million and €39m this summer from Barcelona and Wenger admitted he is upset that Camp Nou president Sandro Rosell claimed Fabregas was worth less this summer than 12 months ago.

“That is disrespectful to Cesc,” Wenger continued. “I rate Cesc so highly. For me, he is top, top world class, certainly in the top five midfield players in the world.

“For us, it's not a question of money. It is a question of Cesc wanting to be with us. And I think he is torn because he loves the club deeply.

“We will fight until the last second to keep him.

“I think Cesc has always been torn between his love for Arsenal, that I feel is really genuine, and, as well - and what you can understand - the desire to play for the biggest team in the world. I think both exist in his head.

“I am confident, because I hope he will see that there will be no greater achievement for him in his life than to lead this team to success and that it will not be the right period for him to leave.”