Beckham begins training as Arsenal look closely at Dimitrov

It had been coming for a little while but finally David Beckham has begun training with the Arsenal squad.

The ex-England captain, who of course plays in the United States with the LA Galaxy, had previously made an agreement with Arsene Wenger and the club to do some extra pre-season training with Arsenal after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Interestingly, Beckham has even been given a squad number by the club – 23, his LA Galaxy number – and looked every bit an Arsenal player as he went through the motions at the club’s Colny training ground.

Beckham stretches with the Arsenal squad

I checked out the video of Beckham training with the squad and found it funny that he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. And while the rest of the team were seemingly delighted to have him on board I sincerely hope that having Beckham around brings something to Arsenal’s young squad as well as the player himself. Indeed, I very much doubt that Wenger would be naive enough to open the doors to a man like Beckham without expecting something in return, whether it be some words of advice for his players about dealing with pressure at the top level or some pointers on how to hit more dangerous crosses. Either way, the presence of Beckham should add some extra spice and freshness to the training ground over the next few weeks.

One of the players who will be have been extremely surprised to have the opportunity to train with Beckham will have been Nikolay Dimitrov, the 20-year-old Bulgarian winger who is currently on trial with Arsenal. The rumours are that Dimitrov (aka Hicho) – who judging by this YouTube clip (I know, I know) is a player who loves the beautiful aspects of the game – is set to sign a deal with Arsenal in the next week or two. Of course, no official news about the signing will be released by the club until it is done but I get the feeling that it is a matter of time before an announcement is made.

Lehmann looks set to move to DortmundWenger still loves Jens

Meanwhile, the only Arsenal player who looks set to leave the club during January – goalkeeper Jens Lehmann – has been praised by Wenger for the mature way that he has handled the difficult situation. The manager also confirmed that Borussia Dortmund are keen to get Lehmann, despite the fact that his signing was not announced in a recent press conference held by the German club.

“I have heard that Dortmund made a press conference and they did not announce Jens but they are hopeful.  The door is not closed for Jens, but at the moment we have not reached any agreement.”

I’ve said it before but I’m pretty confident that Lehmann will leave. Dortmund look the most likely candidates but should their offer fall through there will still be a host of other clubs who will be looking to sign the German. And after his admission a little while ago that he could play as low a level as the German second division I don’t think he’ll care who he signs for. The most important thing for Lehmann is to get game time and he will get that if he signs for Dortmund. As with the Dimitrov transfer, as soon as I find out more you’ll be the first to know.

There is of course a game later today, the FA Cup clash with Championship side Burnley, which Lehmann is set to start in. There’s not too much to say about the game on top of what I said yesterday so I’ll leave it there. The most important thing is that the boys grab the win and whether that comes through a 8-0 thumping or a narrow victory I’m really not too concerned. All that really matters is that the final result is not a draw, which would add some congestion to an already busy Arsenal schedule.

What do you think?

Have your say on Beckham, Dimitrov or Burnley by leaving a comment.

Loading...

Comments

  1. I think having having Beckham train with Arsenal is a win – win deal. Beckham gets to keep fit for England over the close MLS period whilst the young guns get to train and get advice off of a veteran who has done it all, scored goals, captained a country + club, one of the best free kick takers in the world (second to only Juninho). Beckham can tell the youngsters what they hav in store in their football career, he has been there and done it and done it very well, he is an icon and its hard to explain but because Beckham is training with our youngsters, our young guns will play better (can anyone put that into better words?)

  2. having beckham in training with young gunners gives extra strengh and to the players will learn more how to defence,how to cross long balls and scoring free kickes on a spotform the specialist on that area

  3. having beckham training with aresnal will give extra morola and strengh to the squad and to the young players will learn how to defence,how to pass long ball and score goals from free kickes on a spot

  4. pls becks teach our boys how to score spot kicks and pls enlightene clichy and sagna on how to get balls from the wings directly nto Eduardo,bayor and bendtners path.its nice haing u around

  5. did anyone notice that beckham was so close to Cesc the King? i guess he is giving him advice on free kicks and Cesc in turn teaches him how to pull the strings from Midfield lol

  6. Van Persie (out injured) is our free-kick taker, and has similar qualities to Beckham in this.

  7. You guys gone all soft at sight of Beckham. Couldn’t care less about Beckham as long as he keeps his circus at home then that’s fine.We don’t want any inteference from his publicity machine that follows him. I hope Wenger has laid down few conditions before agreeing to this.Burnley won the FA cup 1914. yes, a long time ago but they will be no push overs they knocked Liverpool out of FA Cup in 2005, and it will be quite a test for our young squad. Turf Moor is a tough place to go to .I beleive Wenger is fielding a mixture of senior and reserve players. He takes the FA cup seriously so it should be a win today.

  8. Let’s hope so. I’m quite looking forward to it actually. Just on the Beckham situation, Wenger did make it clear that it would not be a ‘circus’ so I think things will be OK. They’re being very careful not to let publicity get out of hand, and if some of the boys can learn a thing or two from the fellow then I think it will turn out to be a good decision to let him train.

  9. 2-0. Eduardo AGAIN – 6 goals from his last 4 games (Blackburn -2, Everton -2, West Ham -1, Burnley -1), and then Bendtner. Not a game where we dominated or even deserved but we kept a clean sheet (Lehmanns first of the season may i add) and scored 2. Liverpool drew 1-1 with Luton, OOOOHhhhh! In the Round Four Draw.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.