Arsenal Transfer Update: There Could Be a New Center Back, but It'd Be a Shock

The January Transfer window will be closed in just a matter of days. That leaves Arsenal very little time to make what is a very necessary center back signing. Earlier this month Arsene Wenger said that the best option would be to loan a center back short term rather than buy one. This would prove to a good arrangement, as if Arsenal bought another center back they would “too many”. But why hasn’t Wenger acted on this.

At the beginning of January Arsene Wenger told the Official Arsenal website that he would only buy a center back if injured center back Thomas Vermaelen suffered a setback in his rehabilitation and was not able to come back before the end of the month. And guess what happened next. Vermaelen had a setback.

What’s more? Summer signing Sebastein Squillaci suffered a hamstring injury, leaving us with only two fit center backs. Wenger then made another statement saying he was looking for a center back to sign, but had made no progress in finding one.

Earlier this week Arsene told the Official Arsenal website that he would try to get a center back on loan to serve as cover for our two, soon to be three, fit center backs.

Now, it seems, Wenger has no intention of center backs at all, on loan or otherwise. Arsene Wenger says he would be "surprised" if Arsenal made a new signing before the transfer window closes. How would that surprise him? Isn’t that largely up to him? He said he would get someone, didn’t he?

Now Wenger says that he is confident that Arsenal will cope if they do not make a new signing before the transfer window closes.

Wenger has been seriously on the look-out for defensive reinforcements since Sebastien Squillaci joined Thomas Vermaelen on the injury list after the FA Cup tie against Leeds on January 8.

However the French defender has now overcome his hamstring problem and could return for Sunday's FA Cup tie against Huddersfield. The transfer deadline passes the day after but Wenger says he cannot foresee any activity before then.


“I would not see it as a missed opportunity,” said Wenger.

“Vermaelen looks to be making good progress, Squillaci is back available, so that was the only position we were short, at centre-backs. If I don't make any signings it is because I have not identified a special player who could strengthen our squad at the moment.”

"Transfer-wise there is no news and I would be surprised if there is any," he said.

Box Office Update: 'Green Hornet' on Pace for $40.5 Mil Holiday Weekend

TruebloodWith data now in for half of the four-day holiday weekend, it appears that The Green Hornet will finish the frame slightly stronger than initially expected. According to studio estimates, the Seth Rogen superhero movie won the three-day weekend with $34 million. That’s the third-highest January debut ever, following 2008′s Cloverfield and the 1997 re-release of Star Wars. The $110 million action film is on pace for an estimated four-day harvest of $40.5 million, which would rank as the second-best Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend opening (also after Cloverfield). The Sony release predictably skewed male, with 61 percent of the audience sporting a Y chromosome, and 3-D screens accounted for 69 percent of the film’s business.

Universal’s The Dilemma snatched second place with a three-day tally of $17.4 million. If estimates hold, it’ll be star Vince Vaughn’s worst opening since 2001′s Domestic Disturbance for a movie debuting in at least 1,000 theaters. The $70 million comedy, which attracted an audience that was 60 percent female, is heading for an estimated four-day figure of $20.7 million. True Grit slid only 23 percent to lasso $11.2 million. Taking its four-day estimate of $13.3 million into consideration, the Coen brothers’ Western should boost its cumulative gross to $128.5 million by Monday night. The King’s Speech, which expanded into 1,543 theaters this weekend, rose a regal 41 percent for a three-day take of $9.1 million (and a four-day estimate of $10.9 million). Not far behind in fifth place was Black Swan, which spun a three-day total of $8.1 million. The Natalie Portman thriller should finish the holiday frame with a cumulative gross just under $75 million. Check back here on Monday for the complete box office report.

Here are the three-day studio estimates (with four-day estimates in parentheses):

1. The Green Hornet — $34.0 mil ($40.5 mil)
2. The Dilemma — $17.4 mil ($20.7 mil)
3. True Grit — $11.2 mil ($13.3 mil)
4. The King’s Speech — $9.1 mil ($10.9 mil)
5. Black Swan — $8.1 mil ($9.8 mil)