Keep calm, carry on

The last few days have brought a series of media stories about French international Yann M'Vila and his imminent arrival at Arsenal. It's just that he's not joining, is he?

It was just too good to be true. For Arsenal to spend a club record €22m on a central midfielder to compete with established stars like Alex Song and Mikel Arteta, or present and future stars like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, wasn't very likely.

The leaks that told of the upcoming move probably came from M'Vila's people, not from traditionally tight-lipped Arsenal.

And predictably, after a day or two of intense speculation, the club make sure of a leak of their own, choosing the London Evening Standard as their vessel to deny the whole thing.

There may well have been negotiations, of course. It can be just as good a guess to think that a breakdown in talks have urged Arsenal to call off the deal - in the public eye, anyway. But it's more likely to be as reporter James Olley writes: the name of Arsenal have again been used as a bargaining tool to invite interest from other clubs. In M'Vila's case it's Inter Milan.

At the same time, respected Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf quotes Ajax and Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen as preferring a move to Tottenham.

Thomas Vermaelen's international defence partner has been linked with Arsenal for the last three transfer windows at least. However, this is another story where one big club after another is linked with the same player. Agents' talk and manipulation of the media again look likely.
 
And consider: if it were true that both Manchester United and Arsenal were keen on signing Vertonghen, why would he pick Tottenham before any Champions League participation was confirmed?

Added later: When is calling a bluff a bluff in itself? An alternative take on the mumbles around Yann M'Vila has been published by John Cross of the Daily Mirror today. A brief, but interesting read.