100 PLAYERS NOW LINKED TO ARSENAL THIS SUMMER
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 11:45AM
GM

Give me an L. Give me a U. Give me an X.

What does it spell?

Well LUX, obviously. But I'm not trying to create a fanbase for a bar of soap, or spectacle manufacturers Luxxotica (thanks to Google for that one).

Nope, Arsenal Addict is brought to you today by the letters L, U and X, because they are the only letters in the alphabet that are missing in the list of player's surnames who have been rumoured to be on their way to Arsenal during the summer.

Indeed, the list of players that have now been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium now numbers 100, according to our friends at blog site She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, who fastidiously track these things.

Being the Addict that I am, I can't help but read every single snippit of Gunner gossip. I study every minuscule line about who Arsene Wenger might be watching or where the scouts may or may not have been, just to try to get an insight into who Arsenal might be signing. Most of the time, of course, I'm left thinking 'What a lot of Bollocks' and cursing myself for wasting another minute or two of my life on some fantasy concocted by some bored sports hack.

Not that we should be too surprised, as Le Gaffer himself recently disclosed that he has had calls from agents offering the services of more than 200 players who want to play for the Gunners.

Of the century of names below, Arsenal have signed just two of them during this transfer window - Welshman Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff on a reputed £5 million deal and Frenchman Francis Coquelin who joined on a free transfer from some club called Stade Lavallois.

Of the remaining 98, Samir Nasri seems to be accurate and we all have our own thoughts about who should be on the wish list - Karim Benzema, Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Toure would be among my targets - but I just thought I'd copy and paste She Wore's current A to Z for you in case there are any rumours that you've missed. Check their site in a few days time and I'm sure the list will have grown.

Anyway, if you have any observations - good or bad - on any of the players mentioned below, be sure to share them with your fellow Arsenal Addicts using our comments facility. Or if by any chance there is anyone missing from the list - perhaps a player with the elusive L, U or X initial -  then let us know and we'll endeavour to fill in the gaps.

So here it is, She Wore's alphabetical top 100 of supposed Arsenal-bound players that my fellow sports journalists have been filling white space with in the past few weeks.

A. Albiol, Alcantara, Aquilani, Arda, Arshavin, Agbonlohor
B. Ben Arfa, Barry, Balotelli, Boruc, Bia, Bischoff, Bentley
C. Camacho, Coquelin, Chantome, Caceres, Christofi, Chellini, Crouch
D. Dunne, Drenthe, Dabo, Diego, Delgado, De la Red, Derdiyok, Diogo (also known as Santos)
E. Eto'o, Edu
F. Frey, Frings, Falcao
G. Gattuso, Gomez, Gudjohnsen, (Mario) Gomez, Guiza, Gervinho, Ghilas, Guzan, Gouffran, Given, Gomis
H. Huntelaar, Henry, Hart, Hibbett, Hennessey
I. Inler
J . Johnson, Jaaskelainen, Jibril
K. Kompany, Kranjcar, Keita, Kirkland, Kaya
L.
M. Martins, Marchena, Makoun, Maxwell, (Mark) Milligan, Moutinho, Matuidi, Mertesacker
N. Nasri, N'Lundulu, Neves, Noble
O. Obertan, Ozyakup
P. Puyol, Pele, Pjanic, Perrin, Parejo, Podolksi
Q. Quaresma
R. Ramos, Richards, Ramsey, Robinho, Ribery
S. Stilic, Santa Cruz, Saha, Spear, Silva, Senna
T. Toure (Yaya), Thuram, Trochowski
U.
V. Villa, Veloso
W. Wright-Phillips
X.
Y. Yebda
Z. Zarate, Zapate, Zhirkov

Article originally appeared on Arsenal Addict (http://www.arsenaladdict.com/).
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