Tomas Rosicky is expected to be offered a one-year contract extension by Arsenal, after his agent flew in for talks with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger yesterday evening.

The Czech Republic skipper has started just five Premier League games this season, which has sparked speculation over his future at Emirates Stadium.

Rosicky’s representative, Pavel Paska, arrived in London last night following reported interest from Fulham, although that was quickly dismissed as ‘press speculation’ by the Czech’s agent.

French tactician Wenger has been mulling over Rosicky’s future in recent weeks and its no surprise that contract talks have begun, with Wenger a massive admirer of the former Borussia Dortmund player’s professionalism and determination to return from long-term injury.

Arsenal’s injuries in midfield (Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin & Mikel Arteta) and several assured cameo appearances from Rosicky look to have earned the 31-year-old an extension expected to be in the region of £50,000-per-week.

If there’s one footballer with Arsenal DNA, then defender Per Mertesacker certainly has to be up there.

The 28-year-old’s boyhood affection for the Gunners stems from his teenage years, with Mertesacker bringing home an Arsenal shirt after visiting his auntie over in England – and he hasn’t looked back since.

German international Mertesacker, who joined the club on transfer deadline day in August, posted up a picture of himself aged 11 (pictured, right) via social networking site Facebook earlier.

“When I was young and visited England with my auntie, as somebody who was football crazy, I simply had to come back with a shirt”, Mertesacker revealed after signing for the club.

“I can’t remember why, but I came back with an Arsenal shirt and my brother had a Manchester United one. This affinity has grown over more than 10 years and now the loop closes because I am delighted to finally get to play at a team I always supported and where I always wanted to appear eventually.”

However, Mertesacker isn’t the only Arsenal player who has been pictured wearing a red and white shirt in their younger years, with current captain Robin van Persie showing his support for the club in an photoshoot as a schoolboy below.

Arsenal are 2.8 shots with bet365 to beat get their revenge on arch rivals Man United when they lock horns at the Emirates on Sunday.

The Gunners were trounced 8-2 at Old Trafford earlier in the season when they allowed Sir Alex’s side 14 shots on goal – the joint-most they have allowed in a Premier League game in the last five years – and will surely have revenge firmly on their minds.

However since then Arsene Wenger has turned things round in no uncertain fashion and this is going to be a really tough close fought affair in which they will surely have revenge firmly on their minds.

They will have to put a disappointing defeat away at Swansea last weekend out of their minds and be at their best to see of the Red Devils, but the stats suggest that they have a good chance of doing so.

Wenger’s men have won three and lost only one of the last five league meetings with United at the Emirates, and in Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry have two players capable of causing their defence plenty of problems.

The former is not surprisingly favourite in the first goalscorer market and at a general price of 5 will no doubt attract plenty of backers.

Henry is an 8 chance with bet365, and his record suggests that is a bit of value if given a start.

The Frenchman scored seven goals in eight home appearances against United, and his last goal at the Emirates in the Premier League was a last-minute winner against Sir Alex’s side.

For those that like to play in that market I would suggest a small split stake between the pair, but a far better bet in my eyes given that this game features so many capable of breaking the deadlock is backing van Persie to score anytime at 2.2 with Betfred and Boylesports.

I fancy Arsenal to edge it 2-1 in what promises to be an enthralling encounter, and that scoreline can be backed at 11 with Betfred.

Wolves midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong gave Arsenal a helping hand in their quest for a top four place, after Mick McCarthy’s side drew 1-1 with Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

The 20-year-old defensive midfielder, on a season-long loan at Wolves, produced a typically combative performance against Arsenal’s north London rivals before being taken off on 67 minutes due to being booked earlier in the first half.

Frimpong’s presence certainly wound up the Tottenham faithful who booed him for large parts of the match, although the Ghanaian took it in good humour by sarcastically blowing kisses to them when he was substituted.

Tottenham’s next six Premier League games could prove to be decisive in their apparent title challenge, with Manchester City, Wigan, Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester United all coming up against them in the next few weeks.

Other Loanee news: Nicklas Bendtner had another accomplished game for Sunderland, but couldn’t salvage a point for Martin O’Neill’s men against Chelsea. The Danish striker missed a late chance to equalise which overshadowed what otherwise was a very good performance.

Winning at Swansea has proved a bridge too far for most teams this season, but Arsenal are 1.8 shots with bet365 to bag all three points on Sunday and get back into the premiership top four.

The Gunners trail fourth-placed Chelsea by one point after losing 2-1 to Fulham in their last league start, but regained some confidence with a 1-0 win over Leeds in the FA Cup thanks to a goal from Thierry Henry.

Whether the on-loan Frenchman will make his first league start for the club in five years remains to be seen as Arsene Wenger can confirmed that Robin van Persie will be making the coach trip down to Wales.

The flying Dutchman has scored 17 of Arsenal’s 36 goals this season and since he has been rested Arsenal have looked to be lacking badly in front of goal.

But given that Swansea have a good home record and only one side – Manchester United – have managed to secure three points on their own patch this season he will surely be in the starting X1.

Chances for Arsenal are likely to be few and far between judge’s on Swansea’s performances in front of their own fans, and van Persie is the one player who can be relied upon to take an opportunity that presents itself.

He is a 4 shot with bet365, Boylesports and Paddy Power to net the opener, and If anyone is going to break the deadlock for the Gunners it will surely be him once again.

bet365 also go 1.91 about him scoring anytime and I would suggest backing him in both markets to hopefully secure a profit.

Henry is a 6.5 chance to net the first goalscorer market, but I can’t see Wenger wanting to play both him and Van Persie together upfront.

I think the Gunners will prove too strong for the Swans and grab a narrow vital victory.

Arsenal to win 1-0 or 2-1 is my idea of the outcome, and those scorelines can be backed at 7 with Betfred and 8.5 with bet365 respectively.

There is not much that Kalou cannot do. He scores late goals from headers because he has played alongside a dominating juggernaut beast called Didier Drogba, and defenders do not always mark him the way they ought to when there appears a more obvious threat. All winger-forwards should be able to finish off strikers chances in the air for the the 4-3-3 system to be truly effective. Walcott does not because he is not sure where the ball will end up, and Gervinho does not because he isn’t concentrating and lacks aggression. Those players that run the line, and still finish like a striker are rare. Bale, Ronaldo, Podolski, Alexis Sanchez all can. Interestingly, Kalou can too.

Deceptively tall, naturally athletic, quick, lithe and wriggly; Kalou could score and make things happen in our attacking third. He’s a better finisher and runs where Walcott should to score tap ins and headers. Does he have the fire, heat and passion to win games week in-week out? I’m not sure. 

However, Arsenal want a player deemed not good enough to be a regular in the Chelsea side. Their signing players like Mata, Torres, Lukaku and frequently benching the Ivorian tells me they don’t really rate him. When Chelsea want to keep a player they always succeed because they have great resources and strong negotiators behind the scenes.

The message it would send by buying him fits into the latter of Arsenal’s two transfer strategies; 1) Sign the best young talent 2) Make opportunist and cheap signings (Park, Chamakh). It is not going to make Robin van Persie want to sign, it won’t scare Tottenham, it won’t sell ten thousand shirts, it’s not a ‘momentum’ signing that could kick start a season where a player arrives in rich form (Arshavin), and it’s not going to draw in other big signings.

We know that a few seasons ago Luis Felipe Scolari claimed that Arséne Wenger had wanted to sign Kalou as a striker. Wenger will obviously be desperate to sign a player that can play through the centre in the place of Robin van Persie. 36 goals in 67 games at Feyenoord is proof he can play there. Henry is short term, Chamakh could yet be sold and is ineffectual, Park has no present or future, and there are no serious alternatives at the moment. I expect Liverpool to join the race, because bar the fading Kuyt they don’t have a player that can score or run between lines and onto a target-man’s knockdown. Kalou’s contract expires this summer and a price of around£3m for a 26 year old that is “hardworking, versatile, eager to improve, and unafraid of the physical side of the game” (Mourinho) could be a bargain. 

Follow me on Twitter: @Detective82

Thierry Henry made a fairytale return to Arsenal on Monday night, scoring the winning goal against Leeds in the FA Cup third-round clash at Emirates Stadium.

The 34-year-old, who is Arsenal’s top goalscorer with 227 goals, came on as a second-half substitute with the match still deadlocked, and with 12 minutes to go, finished superbly with just his fifth touch of he ball.

“It is unreal,” Henry told ESPN. “Since I came back from holiday I did not think I would play for Arsenal again, now I score a winner.

“I love the club. I don’t know what I can say. I just wanted to help and hopefully I can do more.

“The feeling that I had when I scored was amazing. Scoring a goal when you support a team, now I know what it is like for the guys who played for Manchester United, Chelsea to score for the club you support.

“It is a wonderful opportunity. It is important because you do not know when you will get another one. It was important I took it.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted in his post-match press conference that the Frenchman could be used upfront alongside Robin van Persie for Sunday’s away trip to Swansea.

However, Francis Coquelin won’t be available for the weekend’s game after suffering a hamstring injury during the win over Leeds, ruling him out for “a few weeks” while Johan Djourou should be back following suspension according to Wenger.

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie is clearly enjoying his deserved break in Dubai, but it hasn’t stopped him from forgetting about football after the Dutchman met his ‘hero’ Diego Maradona yesterday evening.

The 28-year-old was given permission to jet away for a sunshine break earlier this week, following the well awaited confirmation of Thierry Henry’s loan move just in time for Monday’s FA Cup clash against Leeds.

Former World Player of the Year (1986) Maradona, who was appointed Al Wasl manager last year, drew praise from van Persie before the 2010 World Cup final when he said the Argentine legend is ‘someone he has always wanted to emulate’.

“I have a really big picture in my games room back home of Maradona holding the World Cup. It is an unbelievable picture, he is on his teammates’ shoulders holding the trophy with this huge smile on his face. I would like to make a picture like that,” said van Persie.

van Persie scored an astonishing 35 goals in 2011 – one short of Alan Shearer’s Premier League tally, but one ahead of Henry’s best club haul.