Transfer Rumors: Emanuelson and Boruc

According to the Sunday People Ajax left-back Urby Emanuelson is now on trial with Arsenal. Supposedly, if Arsene Wenger wants to pick him up after the trial he will cost the club somewhere in the region of £5 million, a pretty decent price for such a promising youngster. However, it seems as though this rumor is completely untrue, as the article stated that he had been on trial before this week - but he played for Ajax during their 4-1 drubbing of Heerenveen on Sunday. While we may still be in the market for Emanuelson, he is not on trial at Arsenal.

Another rumor, this one thrown up by Sportingo (whose source is the Daily Mail), has once again linked us to Celtic's incredible shot-stopper, Artur Boruc. He is also being linked with Aston Villa. It is very likely that we are only being linked with him based upon Jens Lehman's blunders, so unfortunately, while I would be very happy to see this deal go through - Boruc is a quality keeper - I doubt that it will materialize. Not only is Wenger unlikely to make a bid for him, I can't imagine that Gordon Strachan would let one of his best players go for a reasonable price.

So there you have it, todays Arsenal transfer rumors. And what do they amount to? As usual, they tell us that there is very little chance of us buying anyone (although I still have my hopes up and would like to see both of these two at Arsenal).

Urby Emanuelson to come to Arsenal?

Rumor has it that Arsene Wenger is poised to make a move for talented Dutch international, Urby Emanuelson. Although he is fairly well-known (and not French) the Ajax left back fits almost perfectly to Wenger's mold - he is only 21. His experience, however, belies his age. He has played 61 matches for Ajax since his debut in 2004, and has also played 6 matches for the senior Dutch national team. He was also a member of the Dutch U21 team which recently defended their U21 World Cup crown. In the U21 World Cup, Emanuelson was named to the UEFA Team of the Tournament, following his impressive displays at right back. To top it all off, he was recognized as the Talent of the Year at Ajax Amsterdam, an award recently recieved by the likes of Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder.

So, he seems fairly qualified for a 21 year-old. The real question, though, is do we need him? Well he would be an able replacement for Armand Traore, but it would seem like a waste to have two of the most promising young left backs sitting on the bench waiting for Gael Clichy - one of the best left backs in the premiership - to get injured or suspended. My verdict: if we sell Traore, then Emanuelson would be a great buy - and the trade from Traore to Emanuelson would certainly be a trade up. However, if we intend on keeping both in our squad, it would simply be squandering talent (unless of course Arsene Wenger manages to work some of his magic by transforming one or the other into a player of a different postion - a left winger perhaps?) Wenger has said that he is not looking at any new players, but it would be great to see Wenger back in the transfer market, so lets hope this rumor is true.

Edit: The Sunday People is now claiming that Emanuelson is currently on trial with Arsenal.