Arsenal and Barcelona agree Song fee

Arsenal have confirmed via their official website that they have agreed a fee with Barcelona over the sale of midfielder Alex Song. Song will now travel to Barcelona to sort out personal terms and complete a medical. It is understood that Song stated his desire to join Barcelona to Arsene Wenger and the Frenchman didn’t stand in his way. He has also confirmed that with Song’s departure it is likely the club will sign another midfielder before the transfer deadline. Real Madrid’s Nuri Sahin is believed to be Wenger’s target and a loan deal is likely to happen, with the Turkish midfielder reportedly rejecting Liverpool’s loan offer, despite Jose Mourinho preferring to loan him to Liverpool, given his good relationship with manager Brendan Rodgers and his poor one with Arsene Wenger.

Song has two years left on his current deal at the club but after Song said he wanted to leave, Wenger decided it was best to let him go. The fee is believed to be around £15m. Song and Van Persie were two key players for Arsenal last year. Whether Wenger feels he has replaced Van Persie already with the additions of Podolski and Giroud, I don’t know (despite what he’s said in the media, I can never believe what he tells them any more). Song will also need replacing and Sahin may fit the bill. We will have to wait and see. We don’t have long to wait, when we all wake up on the morning of September 1st, we shall know the squad for next season. With Arsenal you can never tell until the deadline.