We've sign Koscielny

Arsenal has signed Laurent Koscielny on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee. He's a 24 year old central defender from a middling club in France, with one good season of Ligue Un behind him. And yes, he's not Kjaer, he's not Sakho, he's not Hangeland, he's not Cahill... but on the bright side, at least he's not Mikael Silvestre.

The jury's out on him until he fronts up for the Arsenal. Remember Vermaelen? He was dismissed by many (including me, I think) for being too short, too unfamiliar, too Belgian. He came from a weak Dutch league, and hadn't been linked to any of the big clubs. And he's turned out okay. Fingers crossed that Koscielny will turn out okay as well.

Wenger generally has a good record with buying experienced players above a certain transfer fee. Sagna, Arshavin, Nasri, Hleb, Adebayor, Vermaelen, Eduardo... these were all fairly good signings, circumstances permitting. At £8.5m, Koscielny's on the borderline. Above £10m, and you get quality like Arshavin, Hleb and Vermaelen. Below £10m, and you get speculative signings from weaker leagues (Eduardo, Sagna) who may or may not make the jump.

Personally, I'd want us to sign someone else. At the moment, we have Vermaelen and Koscielny as our first choice, then Djourou and (maybe) one of the geriatrics. I'd like us to sign another experienced defender to even things out.

Anyway, Koscielny had this to say:

"I'm very excited to be joining Arsenal. They are one of the biggest teams in Europe with many great players. I'm really looking forward to playing in the English Premier League and the Champions League with my new club. Also, in Arsène Wenger, Arsenal has one of the best managers in the world and I can't wait to work with him and do my best for the Arsenal supporters."

Damn right Koscielny should do his best for the Arsenal supporters. We're an impatient lot - we dismiss new signings we've never heard of, we pine for players we've been linked with, and we boo everyone in the red shirt with white sleeves who doesn't look world-class every second of the game.

So on the 290th last day of my 20s, I got up to watch Spain beat Germany. Really good game. Germany passed well, played well, but couldn't get the ball off Spain. Spain played at a low tempo in the first half, then ramped it up in the second. Got a goal with a set piece, but could've got more if they'd been more direct and more incisive from the get-go. I keep saying that they play like Barcelona without Messi. They need someone who can keep the passing direct and quick. They need Fabregas.