A brief period of hibernation

Silly Season never relents, but this blogger needs a break. As of 27 June, the summer rumour list is up to date. But through the next weeks any edits will be fewer and farther between than usual.

But relax, it's just the family summer holiday. Updates and normal service will resume in mid-July, and the backlog will be dealt with as well as I can manage.

Taking a break now is a pity, though. As we all know, the Gonzalo Higuaín transfer is only hours, days or weeks away. Or not, if Tottenham want to exchange Christian Bale for Higuaín. Or was that something we heard back in March, or a month ago, but now being recycled for the sake of reporting something "new"?

The media are working overtime to find a new angle on this rumour. Their sources claim it's a done deal, but no parties to it have seen fit to confirm anything. You can smell the desperation to print "news", which aren't, because there aren't any.

Instead, new rumours break out all the time, whether Arsenal scouts have watched games abroad, players have been interviewed, agents have been travelling or family members of any of the above have been overwhelmed by the media attention.

Some are old rumours being re-hashed, others are the result of journalists actually doing their jobs. In France, the magazine Le 10 Sport were the first to report on Arsenal's supposed interest in Lyon's young midfielder Clément Grenier back in May. Tomorrow, the new edition brings an update on what might end up in a deal, reporting Arsenal's second bid at a bit below €10m.

Another youngster linked to a number of English clubs is Barcelona's Gerard Deulofeu. The young attacker may be loaned out, and Arsenal are one of the teams mentioned by El Mundo Deportivo.

These two stories carry no more or no less weight than the other 200+ stories linking players with the Arsenal since 1 February. I mention them just as examples. Expect Grenier and Deulofeu to star in the English tabloid reports this weekend!

Meanwhile. the transfer of Johan Djourou to Hamburg (rather than Hannover) is a big story in the German media today. Lest we forget, more than 20 first team players have also been linked AWAY from the Arsenal. Some have already been released, but Djourou and Nicklas Bendtner look likely to leave shortly. The Danish striker has, true to form, been linked with a host of clubs in this window. It used to be his agent/father who talked him up. In the latest months, rumours have generally been reports from anonymous sources in the Danish tabloids. So probably no change there, then.

See you in a few weeks.