All the targets that weren't

Today's news that Jan Vertonghen's drawn out move from Ajax to Tottenham is finally sorted, has prompted me to sum up a few of the moves not involving Arsenal already this summer.

The Belgian defender has been linked to Arsenal for some time (76 times this Silly Season, 16 times last winter, 7 times last summer, 9 times the summer before that, to be precise) but despite this there has been no known contact with Ajax to try and arrange a transfer. Again, the likeliest scenario is that Arsenal's name has been bandied about to speed up negotiations with other clubs. Arsenal never comment officially on transfer rumours, unlike i.e. Tottenham's previous manager.

A week after the transfer window officially opened, a number of other players from the rumour lists have found new employers. Famously, Eden Hazard chose Chelsea after having been linked with Arsenal for at least as long as Vertonghen. Mohamed Diame has left Wigan for West Ham, Riccardo Montolivo from Fiorentina to AC Milan, the Crewe comet Nick Powell chose Manchester United (here I believe Arsenal were at least interested) and Gylfi Sigurdsson will be playing in the same team as Vertonghen next season.

And thankfully, evergreen transfer rumour Salomon Kalou has joined Lille in France, where he is joined by Marvin Martin coming in from Sochaux. The French international has been intermittently linked with Arsenal the last year or so. (All French internationals are, of course.)

But while all these players most certainly have been scouted several times by Arsenal's vast network, only Powell seems to have been close to a transfer target as such.

While hundreds of players are watched, often multiple times, by the club every year, only a select few are subject to real interest and an eventual transfer bid. The scouts' job is to spot talented players who can play a role in the future. An Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or an Aaron Ramsey signed at the right time will blossom into a full international level footballer.

But the same time, when needs must, the scouts will know that a Per Mertesacker or Mikel Arteta will be available on deadline day.

Any report from any scout can quickly evolve into a full blown transfer rumour in the media. And when a club has many scouts, there tend to be many rumours. That's why more than 120 players have been linked with Arsenal this Silly Season alone!

These mechanisms are at work especially when there isn't too much else news around. Not that Arsenal reporting correspondents are struggling on that front these days...