Premier League Roundup - Part 1: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers
Arsenal
Arsenal Reserve player Thomas Cruise is hopeful of going through with a season-long loan deal. The defender has only made one appearance with Arsenal in his career. The 19-year old thus wants to gain more first-team experience and claims that a loan move elsewhere would provide him the perfect outlet to do so. The player said that he would like to go out on loan this season and gain the much-needed experience as he expects to benefit from it. If there is such a chance, Cruise would prefer to go to a club which employs a short passing game. The youngster claimed that he had the ability to feature both in defence as well as midfield and would prefer playing in the mid-order to have more control in the game. Thomas clarified that although he would love to be a part of Arsenal’s Carling Cup squad, but if that doesn’t happen, he would prefer to be loaned out. The player was hopeful that when he does return from the loan term, he would be considered in the first-team, but hasn’t had a word with manager Arsene Wenger.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa defender James Collins has been declared as being out of harm’s way, after he was allegedly elbowed right in the face on International duty. The full-back has been checked out of the hospital fully fit after being taken there due to a collision with Miodrag Dzudovic. Collins represents Wales on the International scene and his team recently met Montenegro in a Euro 2012 qualifying match. Wales lost 1-0 to the side but it has been confirmed that Collins is out of danger. Welsh manager John Toshack feared that the player may have fractured his cheekbone or broken his nose, but nothing of the sort happened. The 27-year old is now expected to return to Aston Villa for further assessment by the club doctors. Villa now travel to Stoke in their next Premier League fixture (Aston Villa vs. Stoke City) but don’t play that match until next week.
Birmingham City
Birmingham City has confirmed that they have re-opened negotiations with Sebastian Larsson for a new contract. The midfielder has been in contract talks two year ago, when Birmingham found itself relegated from the Premier League. The Swede couldn’t make up his mind, even after Birmingham claimed top flight the following season. Owing to this, Birmingham has extended another 12 months for the player on with his current contract, which would be running out next summer. If, however, talks fail with player, Larsson would then be allowed to hold talks with other clubs for a possible pre-contract in January. The 25-year old’s agent is expected to meet up with Birmingham chairman Peter Pannu. The midfielder has openly claimed on previous occasions that he would love to stay put with the current club.
Blackburn Rovers
Rovers have allegedly missed out on a transfer deal for striker Ivelin Popov, as according to club chief, John Williams, the club never receive any bids for Jason Roberts. Former Litex Lovech forward Popov was seen trailing for the Rovers at Ewood Park back in August and the manager was very keen on bringing the player to Blackburn. The Bulgarian has only just signed with Turkish club Gaziantepspor and Blackburn Rovers previously claimed that they couldn’t complete the Popov deal owing to work permit problems. The president has now revealed that the signing couldn’t be solidified since Roberts couldn’t be offloaded in time. Signing Popov would give them 5 strikers, which is not acceptable by any standards. “We were expecting a bid for Jason Roberts. We were confident he would be fit and ready to fight for his place if he was still with us, but deep down I think we wanted a move. The problem was we couldn't let him go without a replacement,” stated the Blackburn chairman.
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