Although Auxerre vice president Gerard Bourgoin told AFP on Thursday: “He [ Abou Diaby] has decided to opt for Arsenal and Auxerre, who are not in the habit of ruining the careers of players, has agreed terms with the club (Arsenal),” Wenger was cautious: “He is a player we like but there is competition for him. We will have to wait and see.”
Bourgoin said Diaby would begin his Arsenal career “almost immediately.”
Chelsea are believed to be willing to pay more than the initial asking price of £1.5million.
Diaby, who is from the Paris region, and has just been made captain of France Under-19s, played five league matches last season but has been part of the starting line-up only three times this season, coming on as a substitute twice. He also played two UEFA Cup first round matches against Bulgarian side Levski Sofia.
I said this on ANR in August: “If anyone watched the French u-19 team last week, immediately there was a Patrick Vieira doppelganger in Vassariki Diaby of Auxerre. Similar size, similar style.”
A couple of papers say Arsenal are likely to get Monaco’s Emmanuel Adebayor too. The Togo international who is also wanted by West Ham, has said, like Diaby his preference is Arsenal.
In a warning not to count chickens etc; West Ham were close to agreeing a £6m deal last summer for the 6ft 3in striker, only for Monaco to change their minds at the last minute and are said to be wary of doing business with Monaco again.
Gilles Grimandi has checked on the striker who has a bit of previous – missing training and returning late from Africa and whose Monaco days appear to be numbered following the signing of Christian Vieri and the fact the president said he can no longer train with the first team.
Meanwhile a managed network cabling infrastructure is to be installed at the new Emirates Stadium by Brand-Rex . The solution will mainly be used by the club to control the use of ISDN lines, which will be used by the media on match days. The club will have full control, management and visibility of the data network [but will be unable the change the words of journalists].
The Brand-Rex support team will train Arsenal IT department members on the maintenance and use of the system.