Hola, Vela!

Mark it down, Dude. Carlos Vela will be the talk of town before long.

Pre-season runabouts are always fun. We all know, hopefully, that it's just a training exercise, but it's not to say it doesn't get you salivating when your team ships 10 goals. Carlos Vela is back from loan at Osasuna in Spain and, really, I'm expecting the lad to make an impact. I first saw him in a friendly with Mexico against USA earlier this year. He showed pace and composure every time he was on the ball, not to mention inch perfect crossing. Arsene has said that he'll slot him in as a striker. He'll definitely have the opportunity to make an impact with Eduardo still sidelined for the foreseeable future.

As Arsenal welcome back Fabregas this week and roll out the welcome mat for Samir Nasri, the team is shaping up. Most of us, I'd reckon, are holding our breath now for a big midfield addition. There was talk a week ago of hijacking the Liverpool flirtations with Gareth Barry. It's quieted down, but that'd be typical Arsene to nab someone just when we least expect it. It's been quite a bit of time since he's pulled the trigger on a truly big signing and, looking at the scale of the team over the last couple of years, it's easy to argue that the time would be right to fork out for experience. We shall see.