Diarra can read?

"I really can't understand why Mr Wenger is choosing to make such a fuss over me again. Why does he not move on? He speaks about me more than when I was there. It's a very strange one. Perhaps to lose one French international midfielder may be regarded as misfortune. To lose two looks like carelessness."

- Lassana Diarra, in the News of the World

I have my suspicions about the veracity of this quote. Firstly, I got this from tribalfootball, which got it from News of the World. In the game of media Chinese whispers, this is the equivalent of a message being sent by a gossipy teeny-bopper via her mischievous ten year old brother.

But also, I've never encountered a footballer who would paraphrase Oscar Wilde. If it is true, wow. For a brief moment, we had a footballer who (presumably) reads books, watches plays, and has a literary background. No wonder I liked him.

I've always liked Lassie. I always felt he had more potential than Flamini, and I was gutted when he left. I thought it was incredibly foolish to let him leave permanently, instead of on a season loan. I also thought it was foolish for Lassie to leave permanently, as well. How does he expect to oust Flamini from the national side when he's playing for Portsmouth?

I don't understand Wenger's reasons for selling him. Sure, we had Diaby, Denilson and Gilberto as backups to that position. But Diaby and Denilson don't play that defensive shield role, and Gilberto is getting old. Flamini hadn't signed his contract, and surely, the sensible thing was to keep a hold on Diarra while Flamini wasn't certain?

Wenger's too nice, sometimes.

Anyway, with Nasri on his way, we still need a few more signings. A holding midfielder, another winger and a reliable centre-back. I hope Wenger's got his coupons ready...