ARSENAL WOULD COMPETE FOR TROPHIES- WENGER

Arsène Wenger is confident his side will challenge for the title this season - and says they are well ahead of last summer's preparations.

Wenger has already signed established internationals Lukas Podolski , Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla, and watched his side finish their pre-season schedule with a 4-0 win over FC Cologne on Sunday.

Arsenal recovered after a difficult start to finish third last season and Wenger believes they have the same desire to fight for honours this time around.

"We are in a much stronger position now because last summer we lost Nasri and Fabregas, and on top of that we lost Diaby and Wilshere [to injury]," he told Arsenal Player. "So we lost four players at the start of last season and thatis not the case this time.

"We want to [compete for honours] and we have a desire to. We are up for it and what we want is to come out of the season and know we have given our best. I feel we did that last year, finishing third with the start we had.

"The first target is to do as well as we can in every single game and see where we stand at the end of the season. But of course we want to fight for the championship."

SOURCE: www.arsenal.com
VNTI NIGERIA

ARSENAL'S RYO MYIACHI JOINS WIGAN ATHLETIC

Arsenal Football Club announces that Japanese Youngster Ryo Myiachi has joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan.The 19-year-old winger will be looking to build on the four-month loan spell he enjoyed with Bolton Wanderers at the end of last term.Ryo 's time at the Reebok Stadium followed a good start to the season with Arsenal, where he featured in League Cup victories over Shrewsbury Town and Bolton and was a regular in the reserves.Ryo became a firm fans' favourite at Bolton Wanderers, playing a total of 14 times for the club before their Relegation.Ryo now heads to the DW Stadium to gain further first-team experience under Roberto Martinez. SOURCE: www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ryo-joins-wigan-athletic-on-season-long-loan

ARSENAL VS COLOGNE: MATCH REPORT AND VIDEO

New Arsenal Signing, Lukas Podolski hit a brace against his former club which he left to join Arsenal as Arsenal completed their pre-season schedule with a comfortable 4-0 win at Fc Koln on Sunday.The German striker struck his side's second and third goals in a dominant first half in which all the new signings made impressive debuts. Santi Cazorla looked an elegent, intelligent addition to the midfield and his corner allowed Thomas Vermaelen to head home the opener after just five minutes.Olivier Giroud also caught the eye and was denied on a number of occasions byCologne keeper Timo Horn.After the break, a much-changed Arsenal side could not match the intensity of the first 45 minutes. But Gervinho did squeeze home a fourth goal on the hour.This was a heartening performance for Arsène Wenger, whose side were fluent,incisive and composed in equal measure.And the impressive adaption of those new three newcomers can only bode well for the campaign to come. Click Here To Download The Match Highlight