It was Theo Walcott that saved the Gunners? blushes, his strike cancelling out Krisztian Kenesei?s opener as Szombathelyi Haladas earned a draw on home soil against their more fancied opponents.
Wenger fielded a mix-and-match team comprising a healthy dose of both regulars and reserves. Adebayor did not feature, however; in fact, he did not even make the trip just across the border from Austria, where the team?s training camp is situated.
The Togolese striker, as far as can be ascertained, is not suffering from any form of injury ? except perhaps to his pride, after Arsenal refused to cave in to his demands of a ?120,000-per-week pay packet.
The 24-year-old thus appears likely to leave the Emirates this summer, with Barcelona thought to be leading the race after AC Milan conceded the ?35million price tag was too steep.
There have been whispers that Adebayor was left in Austria due to the uncertainty surrounding his future; that he is perhaps being frozen out until such time as he commits to the club or else leaves.
But Wenger refuted such claims, saying in The Daily Mail: ?I speak to everybody. We don’t make a case of anybody. We prepare as a team and focus on preparing well and Adebayor is like everybody else.
?The day we will sell somebody we will inform you like we always do. For the rest, we do not go into any individual happenings about the football market because we would never finish.?
One More Body
If Adebayor does leave, some portion of his transfer fee will no doubt be put towards recruiting a midfield partner for Cesc Fabregas, given the string of high-profile departures that have already occurred in North London this year.
Aston Villa?s Gareth Barry has been named among the lead targets, while the man he was tipped to replace at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso, has also been mentioned following the collapse of the Spaniard’s proposed move to Juventus.
Wenger admitted that he must fill the void in the centre of the park, but hinted that the names being linked are not necessarily the right ones.
?We need one more body in there, yes,? the Frenchman said. ?If we find a reasonable target we will get him. There is no special name. We are out there to look at a good opportunity.?
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