It's all about interpretation

Transfer rumours are precisely that: rumours. No transfer is a fact before player and clubs have confirmed the move. For football supporters everywhere, this is an important thought to cling to throughout Silly Season.

The rumours themselves are fed and cultivated by those who want to appear in-the-know. First and foremost the media, whose role it is to know things others don't and tell them to enlighten their audience. (I use the term 'enlighten' loosely here.) The well known cliché of "the man in the pub" reflects the day-to-day conversations of ordinary people who want to impress on friends and strangers alike. Don't we all want to look more important than we are?

And finally, rumours are kept warm by the football people themselves: players, clubs and agents. Quite a few of the current rumours surrounding Arsenal can be interpreted into familiar patterns from transfers dealings everywhere.

Today's story in the Daily Star Sunday is based on one - 1- unnamed source within the club. The gist of the spread is that Robin van Persie may well be sold if he doesn't sign his new club record contract. Anyone bidding £30m or more will get him. The so-called "Emirates insider" says that manager Arsène Wenger wants to keep his captain, but that the club shouldn't panic about having to sell him should worse come to worst.

This can be interpreted as a thinly veiled warning to van Persie's people. Arsenal aren't as dependant on him as the agents think.

At the same time, several media outlets report that Theo Walcott's contract negotiations have broken down. A report in the Sun on Sunday even suggests that the current English household favorite is holding out to see what van Persie decides to do. This story also has one - 1 - source, fairly obviously linked with Walcott's well-wishers and not Arsenal.

With both Walcott and Wenger at the Euros, any ongoing talks are held between other club officials and the player's representatives, anyway. An impasse at this stage isn't critical. However, it can be interpreted as the agents trying to pressure the club into working harder and stretching further to close the deal.

As for the club's own targets, a closer inspection of the Summer 2012 rumour page on this blog will tell you that some are hotter than others at different stages of the Silly season.

Yann M'Vila was touted to Arsenal and Inter Milan five weeks ago. Back then, my take was that Arsenal wasn't his preferred destination. This may have changed (or I have may have changed) because his last quotes in the Daily Star Sunday suggest that he's very keen indeed.

At the same time, mentions of M'Vila in the media have intensified again after the transfer rumour went stale two weeks ago. Perhaps M'Vila's people didn't get the deal they wanted in Italy, and Arsenal look to be the best ticket out of Rennes after all? Perhaps the French international's temper and attitude leaves him short of options?

I don't think it's a coincidence that mentions of M'Vila almost died out in May before suddenly emerging again now.

The contrast is his international teammate Olivier Giroud, Ligue 1's top scorer and champion with Montpellier. His name has been mentioned more and more often the last five or six weeks, and as is often the case, mentioned in passing when other supposed Arsenal targets are the real focus of a story.

As Lukasz Podolski before him, Giroud has the good sense to shut up about any transfer rumours. Which makes it so much more likely that something might really be afoot...