Everybody's talkin'

"I'm going where the sun keeps shining
Thru' the pouring rain"
- Everybody's talkin' by Fred Neil, 1966; Harry Nilsson, 1969

We've witnessed an Arsenal renaissance the last few weeks. Seven wins in a row can make anyone feel the sunshine, especially after the torrents at the start of the season. Today, however, Silly Season has slipped into a higher gear. Whether the sun shines in August remains to be seen, but for some reason a collected English press have made predictions for Arsenal's transfer dealings of the summer. And they are more or less the same.

Why this sudden interest in ins and outs at the same time? Whose is the primary story, who is the source?

Judging from the publishing data on the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph websites, copies have been filed at the usual time before the printing presses were switched on. So is the case for most other papers' websites. This means that they're not all just reporting what one of the others claims to have found out. The stories have bylines, are written by proper reporters based (it seems) on their own trusted sources.

The Telegraph's Jeremy Wilson is focused on a new deals for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott. At the same time, he reports that chopping dead wood from the squad will bankroll their new salaries. In the Mail, Sami Mokbel reports the possible ins as well: Lukas Podolski, Eden Hazard, Yann M'Vila and Mario Götze are Arsenal's targets.

Podolski is a constant in this merry-go-round of rumours, but there are other names in other stories. The Daily Mirror points to Jan Vertonghen of Ajax as Podolski is already a done deal. Junior Hoilett of Blackburn get another mention. Even the stub from the Sun counts four names: Vertonghen, Podolski, M'Vila and Oliver Giroud.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports the quite incredible rumour that Arsenal backup defender Johan Djourou in some way or other has caught the eye of Juventus. Vertonghen would in that case be a handy replacement.

And in the London Evening Standard, their football reporter and commentator James Olley provides analysis. Perhaps that is the piece to recommend the most, as it contains the gist of every other report: Arsenal will make their deals early in the summer window. Last summer's deadline day will not be repeated. The players signed in 2012 will be better than the bargains signed in 2011.

That seems to me to be the primary story: Arsenal have identified their targets as well as their surplus players. But why has every paper in the nation picked up the exact same story, but with separate details on who are leaving and who are joining? It looks like they are all fed the same cake, but with different icings.

The baker has to be someone close to the club, credible enough for all these reporters to trust. But where there's a source, there's an agenda!

Let's hope this particular agenda isn't to create unrest among Arsenal players named and shamed as flops, or just for sale. Or to drive up the prices in the transfer market, exposing Arsenal's plans and alternatives before the bidding starts. Neither of these scenarios are now unlikely, regardless of the source's identity.