Matthew Le God

Yes they have, he is number 26. He is also in the Arsenal squad for the Champions League game against Udinese.

It is lazy journalism, as that deal doesn't see "Saints' previous transfer records blown out of the water" as the Saints OS describes. £12m rising to £15m however does and that is what the PA, BBC, Sky, The Independent and numerous others are saying.

It has, was put on there at 5:45pm http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2414134,00.html

They want to reassure Saints fans that they got a good deal without giving the exact fee away. Leaving it undisclosed could potentially mean it is more than £15m, but no-one would know.

Reported fees vary. Some reports have said £5m upfront with upto £5m later, other £7m upfront with upto £5m later and probably the most reliable from the BBC, PA and Independant said £12m upfront with upto £3m later. Having it undisclosed still leaves an element of doubt and strengthens Cortese's bargaining position in the future.

Because when Saints start buying new players it helps in the negotiation process if the other club doesn't know if Saints got £15m or £50m for Chamberlain.

You could also pick another five, six, seven (countless number) of top players that did. Lets say... Pele Maradona Cruyff Rooney Giggs Beckham To start with...

From the Press Association... Alex Chamberlain will cost Arsenal up to £15m, as I understand it. #SaintsFC will get £12m up front & potentially £3m more in add-ons. 1 minute ago Favorite Retweet Reply Great deal there!

From the Echo...

From the Echo...

5 minutes of highlights here for free... http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,,16428_7087297,00.html

You have taken one quote out of context of a whole paragraph. Wenger in any case delegates training out to his coaches and takes relatively little part in it himself. Why do you think he is also loaning out numerous young Arsenal players to the lower leagues? They won't have him, Arsenal coaches or Arsenal first team players helping them. However Wenger still thinks it is more worthwhile than keeping them at the club.

I'll beat you back with that stick, as bowers-sfc said that the deal was being finalised and not completed, so that is prior knowledge and being kept informed.

Then why do so many top players either have a history of playing in their teenage years for their club or being loaned out for professional game experience? If they are loaned out they aren't in training with these "top players" or "top coaches". Playing against other professionals in the 2nd tier is much better than training at a big club and never getting game time in a competitive match. What makes you think what Wenger does in training is so much better than what Adkins does? The only difference is the quality of his teammates, which of course can be a factor to improve a young play, but I think that is far outweighed by the positives of playing regularly. Every manager who loans out youth players agrees (which is pretty much all of them).

And why does that require prior knowledge of his signing?

Why would someone that works on the till in the club shop be kept informed of player transfers?

Media sources say he is at WBA.

So Gareth Bale being valued at £10m in 2008, £3m in 2009/10 and £40m in 2011 doesn't count as a "stall" in your eyes? That is not an upper curve on that valuation graph throughout his career. It is a significant drop and then rise i.e. he stalled from 2008 to 2010 due to lack of games!

See post #901

Nottingham Forest. For a reported £3m in the 2009/10 season. Saints sold him in 2007 for £10m and in 2011 he is valued at £40m by some in the press. So I think that counts as a stall in the middle years... The Chamberlain's should take not of this.

Name some top current players in the world game that didn't get game time in their teenage years, either on loan or with their own club. You will find the majority played games. No matter what Bale and Walcott did, coaching they had etc etc they would always have come good in the end. However both their career's stalled after their moves. It took them a long time to get going again. As highlighted by Spurs nearly selling Bale on the cheap to a Championship team as recently as 2009.

It took him a long time to become a regular at Arsenal. Had he stayed and Saints he would have had regular games. Yes, he is a regular for England and Arsenal now, but it is 5 years later. That doesn't mean his career didn't stall when he first moved. Same applies to Gareth Bale, Spurs took ages to realise he was class, they very nearly sold him to Nottingham Forest.

Lots of people only naming 5 subs, it is 7 subs in the League Cup.

In the Football League yes, it was only used for two years.

Jeremy Wilson has said similar before. Boy who cried wolf too many times...