January draws near

This blog has no Christmas calendar. Here, we count down to 1 January, when the window opens.

Let this first entry after weeks of hibernation be dedicated to counting. Here's the Top 3 rumours, in and out, since the last window closed on 1 September.

Players in:
1) Wilfried Zaha, 30 mentions
2) Fernando Llorente, 18 mentions
3) Adrián López, 13 mentions

A total of 49 players have been linked with Arsenal in two and a half months. However, Zaha reaches the top of this list with only 30 mentions. Like Llorente and Adrián, the England youth international has been linked with several top clubs.

While the two Spaniards are mentioned as Robin van Persie successors (even if two have been signed already), Zaha is thought to be a player-for-player replacement for Theo Walcott. His contract issues make him by far the player linked most times away from Arsenal this autumn.

Players out:
1) Theo Walcott, 55 mentions
2) Marouane Chamakh, 12 mentions
3=) Andrei Arshavin, 11 mentions
3=) Bacary Sagna, 11 mentions

As a keen follower of transfer rumours the last few years, and not least the machinations behind them, I'm astonished to see yet another first team player winding down his Arsenal contract. The negotiations with Walcott should have been in progress a year ago. His deadlines should be set then. A place on the transfer list should have been his if a deal wasn't made by January that was.

This is, by the looks of it, the case for Sagna. At 29, he's a year younger than van Persie, and looking for his last big contract a year later than the Dutchman. However, they both appear to have sporting ambition as their main motivation. Sagna is disheartened, much like many Arsenal supporters, and may or may not have good reasons.