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Arsenal’s pre-season has been almost ideal, with the Gunners seemingly having no cobwebs to shake off and swiping aside all comers ahead of the new campaign.

With the Asia Trophy and Emirates Cup accolades in the bag ahead of last weekend’s Community Shield, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first-half strike ensured momentum is firmly with the Gunners ahead of the resumption of competitive action.

Although bragging rights against a London neighbour and the winning of a piece of silverware are both key benefits to the 1-0 victory, the removal of a supposed hex between the clubs could well be the most important thing.

Ahead of the meeting at Wembley, Jose Mourinho possessed an imposing personal track record against equivalent Arsene Wenger, with the French manager never having beating the Portuguese during their mutual time as Premier League chiefs.

With the ill-feeling between the pair and Mourinho’s constant desire to stoke the flames with inflammatory comments in the press, Wenger will surely have longed for the victory that little bit more and the win would have tasted just that little bit sweeter.

In the aftermath of the game, the press have once more touted the Gunners as worthy title challengers, with the North London outfit hitting their stride at the right time and seemingly set to be a force to be reckoned with in 2015-16.

Regardless of this, most of the Emirates Stadium faithful will take the praise and heightened expectations with a pinch of salt – they, and Arsenal, have been here before.

Since the memorable Invincibles team of 2003-04, Wenger and the Gunners have been close to retaining the Premier League title but for one reason or another have ben pipped at the post by a competitor.

Even last season, when the North Londoners were unplayable in prolonged periods of the campaign, a lack of consistency and the inability to grind out results when it really mattered cost them the crown.

There is no doubting that Arsenal’s track record against English football’s biggest teams has improved over the last 12 months, with memories of the heavy defeats against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool from the season prior starting to fade.

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Beating the Blues and their outspoken leader Mourinho is certainly the next step in Arsenal’s evolution from nearly-men to champions but there is still a lot to prove for the Gunners.

Talk of Arsenal’s title credentials being increased is natural, the return of Alexis Sanchez will make the team stronger and on their day they arguably play the best football in the English game.

However, despite Mourinho no longer having a hex over him after the weekend’s result, Arsene Wenger will know that Chelsea are still the team to beat if Arsenal are to become 2015-16 champions.

I’m absolutely certain I’m missing something here: strive all season to land a top four place; talk up the importance of the Champions League and all its benefits; target Ashley Williams from Swansea as one of your prime summer signings.

Arsenal will probably suggest that there is method to the madness, but I can’t see it. I can’t see the sense in swapping out a very good defender in Thomas Vermaelen – a full international, a player with plenty of experience in the Champions League and one who is in the prime of his career – for Ashley Williams. Some may want to argue that Vermaelen is not a “very good defender,” but I simply won’t listen. I’ve mentioned it many times in the past and will continue to do so here: it just equates to short-term memory in football fans.

It’s a matter of progress. Sure, Williams looked good in the Swansea team. Hey, Wigan have a whole squad-worth of players who are FA Cup winners, why don’t Arsenal go ahead and pick a few of them up, too? Again, I’m probably missing the point here.

Doesn’t football have a lot to do with image and the one you create for yourself and then in turn how the rest of the football world looks at you? What I’m taking from this is that Arsenal are once again preparing to sell their captain and key player – because Vermaelen can still be a key player in a season consisting of 50-plus games – and then bringing in a player with two years’ worth of experience in the Premier League, not to mention the complete lack of evidence as to whether he’s capable of the step up to a Champions League team and one with aspirations of league titles.

The other side of the argument is that this could be an ideal signing for Arsenal provided other elements of this summer fall into place. This isn’t solely to campaign that Vermaelen should remain at Arsenal – although I do think he should – but rather one that highlights the regressive nature of possibly swapping one for the other. If Williams comes in as the team’s fourth choice centre-back and offers backup alongside Vermaelen, then it can be chalked up as a good summer signing.

I also don’t want to hear the absolute absurdity of an argument that suggests Williams will become anxious, unsettled or complacent without regular first-team football. What makes him better than Laurent Koscielny or Per Mertesacker? The League Cup is a no-go in that debate. The truth is he isn’t better. If there were problems with either of the first-choice pairing at Arsenal, you’d hope the club would have some sense to target someone other than the Swansea centre-back. But he can be a good squad member, relieving others when injuries or fixtures pile up – and it will happen. Barcelona, and Arsenal in previous years, are good examples of the need for depth. Williams can serve a purpose, yet only as an addition and not a replacement.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t want to insinuate that Williams is a poor signing because he doesn’t have that big-name-player tag. That really shouldn’t matter on the whole. Yes, this summer does need to be one that appeases the fans and marks a transition from one era into another, but it can still be a notable summer with low-profile names coming in. The biggest point to take from any of this is whether the signings are good enough. How do they match up when compared with teams who should be on equal footing around Europe? Are they going to take the club to the next level?

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There will be a better understanding of this potential signing come September, as well as his status in the squad. The concern, however, is that Arsenal are moving backwards instead of forwards, or sideways at best. Last summer and the year before and so on, it was about the club replacing rather than supplementing. You can see where ‘squad’ players can come in and offer more than what’s currently available in the team, but based on what can be made from stories heading into this summer, the signing of Ashley Williams could be another move that offers little to the club in the bigger picture.

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Juventus are already eyeing up January reinforcements and have identified Manchester United’s Nani and Arsenal’s Theo Walcott as possible transfer targets according to Mirror Football.

The Serie A champions were busy in the off-season in strengthening their squad but it is believed that the Bianconeri will dip into the market at the start of 2013 also.

United attacker Nani was rumoured to be on his way out of Old Trafford this summer after contract negotiations were not positive, and Zenit St Petersburg were close to agreeing a deal to bring the Portugal international to Russia.

Meanwhile, Walcott is in the last year of his contract at Arsenal and has spurned a new five-year deal from the Emirates Stadium club.

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The England international will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club in January, and Arsene Wenger may be tempted to sell the star should it becomes clear that he will not prolong his stay in north London.

According to ESPN FC, Javier Hernandez is preparing to leave West Ham United at the end of the season following a disappointing 2017-18 campaign.

What’s the story?

West Ham beat a number of clubs to Hernandez’s signature last summer, with the Mexican moving to the London Stadium off the back of scoring 39 times in two seasons at Bayer Leverkusen.

The striker managed 37 Premier League goals during his time at Manchester United, and it would be fair to say that the West Ham fans were excited about his arrival.

Hernandez has found it difficult to hold down a regular spot this term, however, and according to ESPN FC, he will seek a move away from the club in this summer’s transfer window.

There will certainly not be a shortage of interest in the former Real Madrid striker, who has a record of 49 goals in 100 appearances for the Mexico national team.

Should West Ham fight to keep him?

Hernandez has actually scored eight times in 28 Premier League appearances for West Ham this season, which is far from a disastrous record. When considering that the forward has struggled for starts, his total of goals is not too bad at all.

The West Ham fans would not have been pleased to see the 29-year-old walking around the pitch, however, when he came off the bench against Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

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There is no question that Hernandez, who is valued at £16.2m by transfermarkt.co.uk, is an excellent goalscorer, but his face just does not seem to fit at West Ham, which is a surprise when considering how popular he was at United.

Hernandez actively looked to leave the Hammers in January before ultimately remaining at the club, but it would be best for both parties if they were to part ways at the end of the season.

With Robin van Persie slowly succumbing to age and Radamel Falcao looking like anything but a £55million striker this season, Manchester United’s strike-force is expected to undergo a bit of a reshuffle this summer.

Indeed, RVP has been linked with a move to Premier League retirement home Serie A, where running is widely discouraged, and the Red Devils are unlikely to make Falcao’s loan move permanent, having netted just four times for his adoptive club across all competitions.

Unfortunately, however, United’s priority pick to fill the void, Edinson Cavani, appears to be on the verge of agreeing a summer move to Juventus – as The Daily Mail revealed last week – and currently, world-class centre-forwards of the Uruguay international’s mould aren’t in copious supply.

But fear not Red Devils fans, for Football Fancast is here to help. Using our god-given powers of transfer know-how, we’ve come up with FIVE potential alternatives to the Juve-bound PSG star.

Can one of these strikers prove equally effective at Old Trafford?

CHRISTIAN BENTEKE

Just when Christian Benteke appeared on the verge of plunging into the realms of mediocrity, he’s re-emerged as one of the most formidable target men the Premier League has to offer.

Indeed, the Belgium international has been on fire since Tim Sherwood took Aston Villa’s managerial reins from Paul Lambert in February, bagging eleven goals in his last ten appearances in all competitions to bring his Villains total to 48 goals in 97 appearances.

Powerful, tall, aggressive and blessed with an imperious leap, the 23-year-old would be perfect for the direct style of football Louis van Gaal has tried to implement at Old Trafford.

Sherwood has admitted Benteke could force a move away from Villa Park this summer, leading the tabloids to value him at around £30million.

But if there’s one criticism of Benteke, it’s that he’s not a natural suitor to the stylish, technically demanding football United fans crave. Him and Marouane Fellaini in the same team might be deemed a tad too attritional.

Carlos Bacca

Perhaps not a first-class centre-forward but certainly a first-rate second-class centre-forward, Sevilla star Carlos Bacca will be available for just £21.3million this summer through a release clause.

And although the Colombian international isn’t considered to be in the same company as Luis Suarez or Robert Lewandowski, he’s been in absolutely lethal form for the Spanish outfit over the last two campaigns, netting 46 goals in 104 appearances.

That fired Sevilla to last term’s Europa League title, whilst this season they’re just three points shy of qualifying for the Champions League in La Liga.

Speedy, direct, stocky in frame and unorthodox in style, the 28 year-old seems like a good fit for the Premier League. He could certainly keep the Red Devils ticking over for a season or two, but probably isn’t a long-term option.

Harry Kane

We’ve only seen a single season’s worth of superlative football from Harry Kane but what a season it has been.

The 21 year-old has emerged from the peripheries of Tottenham’s squad to become the Premier League’s top-scoring Englishman – his 20-goal haul only surpassed throughout the division by Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.

But more than simply his goals, it’s Kane’s infectious enthusiasm and all-round contribution that truly stands out. He’s got a bit of everything about him; power and pace, hold-up play, cute little link-ups with Christian Eriksen, imperious ability in the air and perhaps most impressively of all, an absolutely phenomenal work-rate.

If Louis van Gaal wants to sign a United striker for the next decade, then Kane seems as wise a gamble as any. But the chances of Spurs cashing in this summer, for anything less than an astronomical fee, are rather unlikely.

Gonzalo Higuain

Louis van Gaal likes his ‘multi-purpose’ footballers and Gonzalo Higuain certainly falls into that category.

The 27 year-old’s predominant strength remains goalscoring, boasting a career return of 212 goals in 447 appearances throughout his prolific spells with River Plate, Real Madrid, Napoli and the Argentina national team.

But he’s also a smart link-up player who has often featured out wide for his respective clubs, perhaps epitomised best by his impressive haul of eleven assists for Albiceleste and 15 during his last two Serie A campaigns.

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The former Los Blancos forward looks set to leave the Naples outfit this summer following their failure to qualify for the Champions League and The Metro believe he could be available for around £29million.

That’s a fair price for such a proven and versatile centre-forward, but Arsenal and Liverpool are considered his likeliest suitors.

KARIM BENZEMA

Should rumours of Real Madrid’s intentions to sell Karim Benzema prove true, as claimed by The Express, Manchester United should be biting their hand off.

The France international is one of the best front-men Europe has to offer and he’s almost purpose built for Premier League football, blessed with fantastic height, power, strength and aggression – which is why Sir Alex Ferguson tried to bring him to Old Trafford back in summer 2009.

Furthermore and perhaps most importantly, after spending the last six years in Cristiano Ronaldo’s shadow, the 27 year-old still has a point to prove if he’s to be remembered as one of his generation’s greatest strikers.

His rumoured £40million price-tag, for a player in his peak years with four terms remaining on his current contract, represents fantastic value for money.

He’d be my first choice of Cavani alternative – but admittedly, any transfer rumour involving Real Madrid always comes with an element of serious doubt.

Manchester United boss David Moyes will have to rival Real Madrid in order to sign target Arturo Vidal, as reported by talkSPORT.

Madrid launched a massive £36million bid for the Juventus midfielder last night and are now heavy favourites to snap up the Chilean who has impressed in Serie A over the past two seasons.

United are desperate to add reinforcements to their midfielder after missing out on Barcelona youngster Thiago who appears to be close to joining Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

United are not willing to match the ambitious big money offer made by Real Madrid and so may once again have to look elsewhere after suffering transfer disappointment.

The likes of Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa and Anderson have failed to stake their claim to partner Michael Carrick in the middle of the park for United which is the key area to strengthen now Paul Scholes has retired.

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Arsenal manager Arsenal Wenger has had stern words with defender Andre Santos after the player was caught speeding.

The Brazilian full-back was caught for dangerous driving last weekend, which has been confirmed by the Metropolitan Police.

“Shortly after 9.30am on Friday Aug 17, a 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop for police on the A1, near to Junction 22 of the M25,” said a spokesman, published in The Telegraph.

“Officers’ attention was drawn to the vehicle due to the manner of its driving. The man has been bailed to return at a date in mid-September to a North London police station.”

The Gunners have confirmed that the matter will be dealt with internally, with Santos receiving a warning.

“The player and club are co-operating with the police regarding this matter,” said a club spokesman.

“Arsenal Football Club expects the highest standard of behaviour from all its employees and is taking this allegation extremely seriously.”

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By Gareth McKnight

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Southampton have had a miserable season and are in danger of dropping into the Championship.

As it stands, Mark Hughes and his men are in the bottom three alongside Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.

The club are four points adrift of safety with as many games left to play, and they are due to face Bournemouth, Everton, Swansea City and Manchester City.

The club have not tasted league victory since February when they earned a 3-2 triumph over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.

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Most supporters are resigned to the likelihood of life in the Championship next season, and their dismal status has led to some fans looking back on past teams.

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Over the years, the coastal club have sold a number of first-team stars, including Adam Lallana, Morgan Schneiderlin, Nathaniel Clyne, Luke Shaw, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk.

On Reddit, Southampton fans discussed past teams, wishing that they had some of those figures to save them from relegation.

Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..Comment from discussion I miss these guys..

So far so good for Louis Van Gaal. He’s achieved what he set out to achieve without really setting the world alight. He’s convinced without ever really being convincing.

But that’s a good thing, and there’s more to come.

Building a football team is a progressive thing. Jose Mourinho came back to Chelsea and worked on the overhaul in the first season and saw the benefits in the second. His first season back was itself a case of convincing without ever really being convincing. Chelsea came third, were kind of in a title race and made it to a Champions League semi-final. It sounds like an impressive season, but there were too many slip ups against the lesser sides – it was close but no cigar. Still, it was progress.

This season Chelsea are back to where Jose Mourinho feels they belong. They’re champions and they’re not going to stop there, they’ll strengthen their side.

And that’s the model Van Gaal will surely follow. One season to steady a rocking ship, add some more quality where he needs it – a striker and a defender should surely be on the list – and then challenge for a title next season. Sounds simple doesn’t it?

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We can be fairly sure that United are going to spend big when the transfer window opens. It’s United’s way of acting like a big club. They’ve worked so hard to build up one of the most lucrative business models in the world – or you can call that billions’ worth of debt if you’re of the jealous type – and now that they are in trouble they can use that money to bail themselves out. So Van Gaal has a considerable war chest to dig into this summer.

Despite the well-publicised defensive failings last season, Louis Van Gaal is probably more worried about his attack than his defence. United’s defensive woes were partly caused by a myriad of factors. Youthful inexperience, individual errors, injuries and maladaptation to Van Gaal’s formation and tactics are all blame-able to various degrees.

Their attacking failures are a little more difficult to pin down. United suffered three consecutive defeats against Chelsea, Everton and West Brom as their season came to a grinding halt. But worse than the defeats was the fact that United didn’t score in any of those games. They had 60%+ of the possession and created a multitude of chances but never rippled the net fabric. For a team that has spent so much on attacking options, that’s simply unacceptable.

The stats don’t lie either. United’s goal difference of +25 is worse than all three teams above them, they scored 62 goals – almost 10 fewer than Chelsea (73) and Arsenal (71), and 21 fewer than Manchester City (83). Defensively, though, it’s a better story. United conceded just five goals more than Chelsea and a goal fewer than City.

In an attacking sense, it’s clear to see that United are struggling. For all of the wonderful possession stats, United’s domination of games has been sterile. They’ve offered a lot of passing around the final third but little penetration, even resorting in the end to lumping it to Fellaini with varying degrees of success.

An interesting stat is that United are 6th in the chances created table. Last season they managed to create 391 chances (interestingly, QPR managed 385), but that’s a whole 141 behind leaders Manchester City. Arsenal and Chelsea managed a similar amount to each other, and are still miles ahead of United.

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And that’s where United need to strengthen. It’s important to score the goals. If the defence looks weak it’s probably because United camp in the opposition half for so much of the game. The whole team is just shifted up the pitch a few yards, so one bad pass allows a counter, and Premier League teams are all adept on the counter. But when you have 60%+ of the ball possession, the opposition doesn’t get many chances to counter.

The progress United need to make is up front, they need to create chances and they need to convert the ones they do make. That’s why Van Gaal seems to be blindly focussed on attackers at the moment. Surely that’s where they’ll strengthen this summer.

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Football Chiefs being jailed for ten-and-a-half years, referees accepting bribes, four national team players caught match fixing, teams going on strike and fans not wanting to watch any more.  Can football in China really make a comeback?

Football in China hit rock bottom in 2012, in total over 50 officials and governing body members were sent to jail, 33 were banned for life.  Incredibly, one of these was former Chief of Chinese football Xie Yalong and Vice-President Nan Yong, both were given ten-and-a-half year sentences and both were handed a fine of 200,000 Yuan (£20000).  After being tortured and having his family threatened Xie confessed to accepting bribes of up to ¾ Million.  These included Nike officials to secure a sponsorship deal with the Chinese Super League and Zhu Guanghu, in order to keep his place as National Team Coach.  On the other hand Nan was guilty of accepting up to £140,000 in bribes.  This is all kick started after a campaign to clean up Chinese football started in 2009.  Unfortunately for the Super League this wasn’t the worst of it; four national team players were found guilty in accepting 8Million Yuan (£800,000) in bribes in order to fix domestic league matches.  All were fined 500,000 Yuan and given up to 6 Year sentences.

Not only were players and governing members mixed up in all the corruption, it appeared officials had played a part too.  Ex-Referee Lun Ju, who had previously refereed at the World Cup in 2002 and the Olympics in 2000, was put behind bars for five-and-a-half years.  It was reported he accepted 790,000 Yuan to fix seven Super League matches.  Ju’s imprisonment caused quite a storm showing a sharp decline in his fortunes since his impressive career achievements.  One of the clubs he had said to have officiated and altered the outcome of were Shanghai Shenhua.

Shanghai Shenhua have been one of the biggest teams in terms of wealth and performance in the Super League.  However the team was cast a bad image when it was found guilty of involvement in bribery.  Chinese Media reported Shenhua offered bribes to officials to secure a 4-1 victory against Shanxi Guoli.  In addition to being fined, the club were given a six-point penalty and were stripped of their 2003 title in what was formally known as the Chinese Jia-A League.  In total 12 clubs were given financial or point-based penalties.  Shenhua must have thought they turned a corner when they signed Nicolas Anelka and then Didier Drogba.  Two big name players which arose plenty of excitement as these were some of the first globally named players to participate in the Super League.  With Drogba on the back of winning a Champions League winners medal, Shenhua had hoped this would bring good publicity to not only the club but the Super League itself.  Both were paid handsomely, Anelka’s salary was $12million annually and Drogba was on £200,000 a week.  However both left only after one season, those saying money is everything were proved wrong.  Anelka left to train with PSG with no real statement as to why he left.  Drogba departed on more controversial grounds as he joined Galatasaray immediately after returning from the African Cup of Nations.  Shenhua claim that Drogba is still their player and are ‘deeply shocked’ after taking on the Ivorian for a two-and-a-half year deal.  It is very clear that something is very wrong to send both Drogba (11 games, 8 goals) and Anelka (22 games, 3 goals) running in the opposite direction only after one season.

It is clear to see with the evidence shown that football in China is in a terrible state, it got to the point at when fans were being interviewed they said the didn’t want to watch the game anymore.  It was all fake.  Something big needs to happen to grab Chinese football by the scruff of the neck and bring it back into the light.  That ray of light has somehow appeared to be David Beckham, international superstar.  With having previous experience in being an ambassador for the Olympic and World Cup 2018 bid, and not to mention his world loved reputation, this could be China’s man.  David Beckham has taken up the role as ambassador for Chinese football, and with the new league only having just started, it seems like this is a new era for the Super League.  Although many Chinese journalists feel there is no way back, even just the sheer presence of Beckham should create an impact big enough to start the change of Chinese footballs reputations.  Beckham will take on a tour round China in a bid to promote a better side of football, one which should invoke passion.  Make the youth of China fall back in love with the sport which has been ridden by treachery.

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It will take time before we see an impact, if any from ‘Little Becks‘ as he is known in China.  But it will take years before football can be returned to a normal state of affairs and all is forgotten.  Football in China is in too deep, it needs serious help, Beckham is a start, however China needs something more.  If they can lure big name players and create a league that has all of a sudden become very attractable, only then will the past be forgotten.