To be fair to Chamberlain I didn't think he would feature much for our 1st team last season but he forced his way into the team and ended up becoming a regular until his injury in March. He is a bit slower than Walcott but that is more than made up for the fact he can actually cross a ball in the air, he has bags of skill and if he continues to work hard and doesn't think that now he has got the big money move his work is done then you will have quite the player. My one concern for him this season is that he barely completed 90 minutes for us as his body strength was not quite up to it. If Nasri leaves then I expect him to be a regular in your squad and he won't disappoint. If his body can take it, he is ready now.
Strength isn't the problem. His stamina isn't up to much yet. Maybe a result of a Pardew pre-season. It's stamina that marks Bale out from any of our other youth products IMO. He's epic.
Arsenal fans telling themselves it isn't 12 rising to 15 don't know anything about Southampton. We are a financially stable team who, unlike when Bale and Theo were around, had no need to sell Alex. Add to that we have a hardarse negotiator in Nicola who wasn't gonna be mugged off for £7m, and you've got all the ingredients to make £12m rising to £15m seem much more believable.
When we need defensive signings Wenger buys a 17 year old attacking midfielder with 'promise'. How many times has this happened to us?
Saints fan here. Thought you Arsenal fans might like to hear the Monday Night Club from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0131zt2/5_live_Sport_The_Monday_Night_Club_08_08_2011/ Start on 37 minutes. I think you'll agree with a lot of the comments. Good luck for the season.
Interesting stuff. A few weeks ago he was our second best player. Now, we are glad to see him go. £12 million plus for a third division player. You've been mugged. How did we feel when AW was in every paper chasing him? About the same as many of you feel about Barca with CF and ManCity with SN. You are bigger than us, Barca are bigger than you and Mancity have more money than anyone. Galling, isn't it? You have bought a rising star who will probably go to Barca in 4 years or so with Saints getting 40% of the sell on fee, meaning next time you will be mugged by 2 teams at once. COYS