Van Persie was stretchered off during Holland’s goalless friendly draw in Italy on Saturday night.

He damaged his ankle in a challenge with Giorgio Chiellini in the early stages of the clash.

Afterwards Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk suggested Van Persie had torn his ankle ligaments, althought the extent of the injury will not be determined until Sunday when tests will be carried out on the striker.

If confirmed, Van Persie would be facing around two months on the sidelines – something which would threaten to derail Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge.

Van Persie has scored seven league goals for the Gunners this season, helping them to second place in the current standings.

They trail leaders Chelsea by five points but have a game in hand on their London rivals.

Transfer Talk

Liverpool are also keen on Arsenal striker Eduardo and are poised to make a £10m bid for Croatian.
Full story: News of the World

Arsenal are preparing a £5m bid for Hoffenheim’s Brazilian midfielder Maicosuel.
Full story: News of the World

The Gunners are also keen on Cardiff City full-back Adam Matthews and are planning a £5m swoop for the 17-year-old. (Sunday Express)

The official website has said he is due to back after this weeks international break versus Croatia but in my opinion I doubt he will figure against Man City, seeming the importance of the game and risking him would not be worth it.

Why I hate interntional breaks

I really do get bored on the breaks for games for your country simply because it means Arsenal are not playing and aren’t in the news. It’s very boring to read about how England have beat Slovenia 2-1 and how a penalty that is totally insignificant in the scheme of things makes 3 days news for a bored journalist. I’d rather read about club stories and transfer gossip (even if 95% is total rubbish) because it gives you something to hope for and support.

Also watching England play and most other national sides with the exception of Spain and Brazil, is very boring simply because the style of football is simply not pleasing on the eye. Watching Arsenal is great because the ball is zipped around the field at great pace and we are always looking to attack. With England this is not the case and you find yourself nodding off throughout matches.

Don’t get me wrong when big tournaments like the world cup and Euro’s are on it’s good fun but watching England this week won’t give me the same feeling coming home as waiting to see Arsenal.

Anyone else share my view?

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The Arsenal defender went under the knife in Geneva on Friday, with the Swiss football federation confirming the procedure had been carried out on their official website.

The 22-year-old had been hoping to push for a regular starting berth with the Gunners this season, following the summer sale of Kolo Toure to Manchester City.

However, on the advice of medical staff, he has opted to have surgery in an effort to rid himself of a niggling ailment.

The Switzerland international was forced to pull out of his country’s clash with Italy last month after struggling with a recurrence of a knee problem.

Djourou is hoping to be back in action by March 2010 and is still hopeful of being involved at next summer’s World Cup finals – should Switzerland qualify.

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In all this is what he said on the matter:

“From last Saturday we lost Cesc Fabregas who did not train today” the manager said.

“His scan was quite reassuring as he has no muscular strain but it will take a few days to settle down.

“There’s a chance he’ll be fit for Old Trafford.”

Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Samir Nasri (broken leg) were already sidelined before the manager spoke to Arsenal TV Online on Thursday afternoon. However, in that interview, the Frenchman ruled out Theo Walcott (back), Johan Djourou (knee) and Lukasz Fabianski (knee) from the trip to Goodison Park, while Abou Diaby (groin) is classed as a doubt.

This interview shows this:

We need a replacement centre back and good defensive midfielder because Diaby and Denilson just aren’t good enough. So cmon Arsene please buy.

The Dutchman picked up a groin problem in the FA Cup Semi-Final defeat to Chelsea on Saturday. His Togolese strike partner is rested because Arsène Wenger does not want to gamble on his tight hamstring.

Van Persie and Adebayor

On the upside, Bacary Sagna is back after sickness. But, at his press conference on Monday afternoon, the Arsenal manager was unsure if the right back would start or not.

“From Saturday we have lost Robin van Persie, who has a little groin problem,” said Wenger.

“Emmanuel Adebayor is rested. He has a little hamstring alert and we don’t want to take a gamble on him.

“Bacary Sagna is back in the squad we’ll decide if he can play tomorrow.”

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Almunia – is out for 3 weeks or 6 matches as his ankle has a problem

Gallas – is out for the remainder of the season with ligament damage

Clichy – is out for 2 weeks with a back problem

What Arsene said…

“Gallas is a quick recoverer but we think he will be short to come back before the end of the season,” said Wenger at his pre-match press conference. “It’s a big, big blow but that’s where the squad come in.

“I believe as well we have lost Manuel Almunia for three weeks and we lost Gael Clichy for two weeks with a back problem. We lost three players on Tuesday night so we have to once again rely on the depth in the squad – that is quite strong. As well we have to rely on our mental strength because until now we have dealt well with all our injury problems.

“Robin van Persie and Eduardo will have tests tomorrow morning. They might be available. And of course we have Andrey Arshavin available for Saturday.”

Just a little extra…

“Tomas Rosicky, at the moment, is not close to coming back. We have to be very patient there as well,

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p>0-1 Bendtner

1-1 Martins

1-2 Diaby

1-3 Nasri

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Just to add to that….

Arsene Wenger revealed some good news about Walcott’s latest knee injury. He told Setantain an interview that there is no ligament or cartilage damaage but just  some blood stuck in his knee. Therefore he will only be out for 10 – 12 days!

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This is rather upbeat from a man on MOTD (Match of the day) who generally is criticising, so I’m rather pleased about his comments.

If we beat Blackburn today we will go fourth for at least 24 hours and then tomorrow for the first time I will be cheering on Spurs to beat Villa. Unfortunate news is that Eduardo is out for the game today due to a slight groin strain but nothing serious, only out for  this game.

Mark Lawrenson on Arsenal side!

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His return means the manager has a straightforward ‘two from three’ decision at centre back ahead of the Champions League Knockout Round second leg tie at the Stadio Olimpico. His options are Toure, Willam Gallas or Johan Djourou.

Samir Nasri and Denilson also come back into the squad after missing the 3-0 win over Burnley on Sunday.

Before flying out to the Italian capital on Tuesday morning, Wenger reported a clean bill of health from the weekend. In addition, Mikael Silvestre is fit but he will not travel as he only returned to training on Monday.

“From Sunday, we have no new injuries,” said Wenger. “Kolo Toure should come back into the squad and should be fit to start.

“Samir Nasri and Denilson are in too. Mikael Silvestre is available again too but he is not in the squad because he just came back yesterday.”

Some more news….

Theo Walcott has been getting purposely rumbled in training ahead of the Roma clash after he has previously been wacked arounf in european games.

Theo Walcott struts his stuff