WENGER lining up a sensational swoop for Anelka

zocoss SG

ARSENE WENGER is lining up a sensational £11million swoop to take Nicolas Anelka back to Arsenal. And the Gunners boss wants Ajax stars Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Ryan Babel as back-up if he fails to land the Frenchman. Emirates skipper Thierry Henry is set to join Barcelona for £16m tomorrow after a medical and Wenger's top target to replace him is Bolton's former Gunner Anelka.

A source close to the Arsenal boss said: "Arsene reluctantly allowed Thierry to go. It is sad for everyone concerned but Thierry made it clear that this is what he wants to do. And Arsene definitely believes Anelka is the ideal replacement. "If he doesn't get Anelka then he will go for Jan Huntelaar and Babel is also a possibility."

Wenger has maintained a close link with Anelka, 28, despite the striker's acrimonious departure from Arsenal when he joined Real Madrid in a £22million deal in 1999. And we understand he's already held preliminary talks with Anelka's people to sound him out about a move to the Emirates. Anelka, 28, who joined Bolton for £8m last year from Fenerbahce, would jump at the chance to work with Wenger again. He bagged 11 goals in 35 Premiership games last season and three of those came against Arsenal.

The legendary Arsenal boss had discovered Anelka as a 17-year-old prodigy and paid Paris St Germain just £500,000 for him in 1997. But the France star left Arsenal just 18 months later to join Madrid the following season after forcing his way out of North London. Barcelona finally snatched Henry as we told you first and exclusively three weeks ago for £16m this week. It left Wenger looking for a top-class striker and if his move for Anelka falls through the French boss will go all out to bring Jan Huntelaar and Babel to the Emirates for a combined fee of about £25m.

Jan Huntelaar, 24, has also been targeted by Manchester United as well as Liverpool and Newcastle. The Ajax superstar bagged 37 goals in 48 appearances for the Dutch giants last term and Wenger rates him highly. Babel, 20, has already got 14 caps and four goals for Holland and was the star of their Under-21 side in the European Championships that ended last night (SATURDAY). He's scored 14 goals in 73 appearances for Ajax since making his debut as a 17-year-old prodigy a couple of years back.

CKeer SG

Orhh, the return of the incredible sulk. Laughing

Cheers.
CK

LazerLordz SG

Huntelaar, Babel and Van Persie..

Arsenal would have the future Holland strikeforce..and ironically appear like Barcelona..with so many Dutch and Brazilian players.

omgukilledkenny SG

Nooo...Huntelaar please come United. Sad

CoolMyth SG

Another "homecoming" eh? Laughing

gigabyte14 SG

wa

arsenal is going tops liao

no doubt about it

with a little luck, they might just be 2nd place

mundanE SG

I don't think Anelka is a good replacement for Henry, i think he can't make it.
Huntelaar maybe Laughing

LinkageII SG

huntelaar would be good Wink

omgukilledkenny SG

YOU'RE HIRED!

Le Sulk returns as Henry heads for pastures Nou

NICOLAS ANELKA is set to make a dramatic return to Arsenal as the replacement for Thierry Henry.

Arsene Wenger gave the green light to Henry's switch to Barcelona only on the understanding that the Emirates board would fund a move for old boy Anelka.

And a £10million bid will be lodged with Bolton this week.

It will be a truly sensational homecoming' for Anelka who first signed for the Gunners from Paris Saint-Ger main for £500,000 11 years ago.

In the summer of 1999, Wenger sold Anelka to Real Madrid for nearly £23million.

And now he is turning back to Le Sulk in a bid to compensate for the loss of Henry.

Privately, Bolton are resigned to losing 28-year-old Anelka.

Manchester United made a tentative enquiry earlier in the summer and promoted this response from the French striker: "In England, you have the big four clubs and it would be nice to play for any of them."

If Wenger fails to land Anelka, he will move for Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins, who has a £13million get-out clause in his contract. Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres and Juventus's David Trezeguet are also on his shortlist.

glacer SG

Sweet! If u all realise, Arsenal’s keyman is gilberto silva, not henry except they cannot score as ruthlessly. now with Anelka with some consistency, it would be so so great!

felirox SG

RVP,huntelaar babel..wah wad a superb strikeforce. but right now i can only dream abt it. I dont care who arsene signs as long as he can scores like wad henry did for arsenal.

used SG

anelka is not the man for arsenal. should use adebayor as lone striker and use persie as backup

glacer SG

If Anelka is in the right mood, he can be as great as Henry. Adebayor cannot score so its better he sit on the bench while Anelka can partner with Van Persie

used SG

i have a feeling anelka will be more of a problem than a solution for arsenal

glacer SG

Wenger once made Anelka a world class star who plays for one of the top clubs so have faith in Wenger and Anelka has behaved himself during his spell at Bolton Mr. Green

boredtulan SG

'Money is tight at the club at the moment and this is the main reason why Henry was sold,' says a source at the Emirates. 'The club has to service £250million of debt from the stadium build, and any budget Arsene has for new players covers their wages as well as fees. With Henry leaving he will have the £16million fee and will save about £5million a year on wages.' An indication of Arsenal's planning ahead came when they refused to sell striker Nicklas Bendtner to Birmingham, where he played last season on loan, said the source. 'We knew Henry would be leaving and Bendtner is a cheap replacement.'

there you go. You WISH you had anelka Sad

iveco SG

Wenger wants to bring back Anelka? Is he senile? That chap caused him so much grief in the past.

zocoss SG

Wenger set to rock the boat with Anelka bid

Arsène Wenger faces a battle to overcome opposition from the Arsenal board to sign Nicolas Anelka. The Arsenal manager has lined up the Bolton Wanderers forward, who spent almost three seasons at Highbury from 1997 to 1999, as the primary replacement for Thierry Henry.

Wenger has never criticised Anelka for threatening to go on strike eight years ago unless he was sold. Wenger believed that Anelka, then 20, was naive and the manager was more angry about the behaviour of Lazio and Real Madrid, whom Anelka joined for £23 million. Some senior figures on the Arsenal board have voiced their concerns and remain upset at the way that Anelkas brothers, Didier and Claude, who were acting as his agents, encouraged him not to honour his Arsenal contract.

Anelka scored 11 league goals for Bolton last season after joining the club from Fenerbahçe for £8 million. When he was linked with Manchester United earlier this month, he replied that he would not be able to turn down a move to Old Trafford and wanted to play for a top-four side.

LazerLordz SG

It's the Arsenal board who is causing the most trouble these days.

Frankly, Wenger has done more for Arsenal than Hill-Wood, Fizman and Bracewell-Smith ever did in the past 10 years. Rolling Eyes