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It appears that Arsenal have ended their pursuit of Wayne Rooney in favour of Gonzalo Higuain, who appears close to an Emirates switch.

The BBC’s David Ornstein, who has very reliable contacts within Arsenal, had twice denied Arsenal are in for the England international, despite rampant Twitter and press speculation to the contrary.

Today he confirmed Arsenal were interested in Higuain and continued to deny Rooney.

Volumes

The information Arsenal leak to the press is normally driven by an agenda.

Many times they’ve told the BBC they’re not interested in a player, only to sign them a week later. Normally confirmed interest is only when a player is close to joining.

So considering they’ve confirmed Higuain is a target while still denying Rooney is close means that’s probably the closest thing to the truth we’ll get until the 31st of August.

The news that Arsenal are pursuing an attacking midfielder as well as Higuain also suggests Rooney is no longer on the agenda, as the Englishman fulfils a dual role as a number 10 and number 9. It seems Arsenal want two distinct players for each of those two roles, however. Which is no bad thing.

Careful

Arsenal could just be keeping a deal for Rooney very quiet, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Various Twitter accounts are convinced he’s close to signing, but there hasn’t been much in the way of reliable press reports on it, bar a couple, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Still, Higuain looks reasonably likely to join, so that’s no bad thing.

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Comments  

+1 #16 TC 2013-06-29 09:23
The pie man will never come to us.
+1 #15 pastor Chami 2013-06-28 15:17
For me any strong,fast and tactical striker is highly needed at Arsenal team.Forget about famous names, bring in someone who will make things happen.In backline i have been always ask, where is Samba? At mid zone bring in someone strong to assist Arteta and Carzola and Foward line bring in the likes of Rooney or Drogba. In that way no one will stop Arsen Wenger men to snatch cups.I urge AW, the scouts and the management to wake up and make things happen. We Arsenal fans are in need of cups and not mere words
+1 #14 amadile 2013-06-25 08:09
Wenger is known of perfoming miracles at the end. Let's wait to see rouney at arsenal.
+1 #13 TC 2013-06-21 20:37
TF for that, who needs the pie boy.
#12 Robin c 2013-06-20 21:37
Yes I would be great for Rooney to sign for us we have great players and he is English .
#11 egumz 2013-06-19 13:48
wenger isn't serious.how can you just leave a player like rooney despite the premier league experience he has///
+1 #10 Rudy 2013-06-18 22:38
''Normally confirmed interest is only when a player is close to joining.''
So many times have Arsenal confirmed interest in someone, so we can later find out he was miles away from signing.
I'm not saying that is the case right now- I only wouldn't make a rule out of it.

Cheers

R
+4 #9 Dominic 2013-06-18 08:55
All Wenger said was that Rooney was a great player and any team would like to have him. Suddenly the press was full of stories that Arsenal were going to buy him. Never going to happen
+4 #8 neil 2013-06-17 06:18
They were never after rooney, never, paper talk and inuendo, Wenger would never pay 200,000 quid a week to anybody

did you ***s actually believe that bull***
+1 #7 william 2013-06-17 03:16
we need a striker, huguin or rooney , fellani plus a solid centreback , and the Brazil goalkeeper from QPR , we have the rest and with all the other clubs having new managers this be our year , but only if we get these players and keep what we got
+6 #6 RobM 2013-06-16 19:29
Quoting Msr1886:
Who ever we end getting we need to sort things out early.
No point in doing are business the last week of the transfer window.
It will be good for the team if it happens soon, the players and fans.
Then we no where everyone stands and focus on bringing some silverware to the emirates.


While you're not wrong about not waiting to the last moment, to carry on about it when we're only just halfway through *June* is a bit desperate.
+2 #5 Bri 2013-06-16 18:21
I can`t think of a player I would hate to see wearing an Arsenal shirt more than Wayne Rooney.
Then again, John Terry runs him a close second!
+3 #4 Sharpehunter 2013-06-16 16:12
Another story concocted from absolutely nothing. Guys like Ornstein and Samuels need to review their job descriptions, I'm sure journalism is about corroboration and verification.

Although I have it on very good authority that Arsenal are no longer engaged in discussions about bring Messi to the Emirates. Despite the player desperately wanting to get out of Spain because he is being harassed by the Spanish revenue Arsenal have refused to up their original offer of £2:50p to the Nou Camps £100m valuation.
-9 #3 Effiedufu 2013-06-16 16:04
Rooney will sign for arsenal
+6 #2 Msr1886 2013-06-16 15:49
Who ever we end getting we need to sort things out early.
No point in doing are business the last week of the transfer window.
It will be good for the team if it happens soon, the players and fans.
Then we no where everyone stands and focus on bringing some silverware to the emirates.
-9 #1 Paul 2013-06-16 15:01
The transfer window closes on Septemeber 2nd not August 31st.