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Come in No4…. Arsenal starlet Gibbs joins City as Lappin heads home

31st January 2008 By Latest News Leave a Comment

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As expected, Arsenal Academy prospect Kieran Gibbs has become City's fourth loan signing of the past 24 hours, putting pen to paper on a deal with the Canaries until the end of the April.

And as the transfer merry-go-round goes into overdrive, City forgotten man Simon Lappin has returned to his homeland to join Mark McGhee's Motherwell on loan for the rest of the season.

More on Lappin later but closer to home, the names of Gibbs and fellow Gunners whizz-kid Mark Randall had been bandied about after City boss Glenn Roeder revealed that he had 'first refusal' on an Arsenal youngster

But Gibbs has now signed on the dotted line and joins Middlesbrough defender Matthew Bates and Reading duo Alex Pearce and James Henry as the newfaces at Colney.

The North London club can, however, recall the 18-year-old with a 24-hour notice period after the first month of the agreement.

Whether that will now be that, we'll have to wait and see, but Roeder and Co have certainly had a busy few hours as they try to bolster the Canary squad in preparation for the gruelling home straight of the Championship season.

Gibbs is one of the many success stories of the Arsenal youth setup last season, he grabbed the attention with his performance in the FA Youth Cup Semi Final against Manchester United.

In the first leg in front of 38,187 supporters at Emirates Stadium, he scored the only goal of the game and in the return leg at Old Trafford, he again found the net. Over the two fixtures, he was the best player on the pitch bar none.

Gibbs ? who can operate in either central midfield or in a wide left role – made 23 appearances for the Arsenal youth team last season, scoring nine times.

And in a clear indication of how highly Arsene Wenger rates the Gunners starlet, he also made nine reserve-team appearances and was named on the bench for the first-team's final Premiership game of the season at Portsmouth.

He has since made two appearances for the senior side ? in pre-season friendlies against Barnet at Underhill and a starting berth as Arsenal defeated the mighty Inter Milan in the Emirates Cup.

As for Lappin, the writing has been on the wall ever since the dismal defeat at Plymouth and most of the famous 'Home Park six' have now left the building.

The former St Mirren man was a virtual ever-present under former boss Peter Grant and has clocked up 33 league and cup appearances for the Canaries, but Lappin has now joined 'Well on a temporary basis and it would be a major surprise to see the 24-year-old in a yellow and green shirt again.

Mo Camara and Ryan Bertrand have since been brought to the club and the Scot has been left to lick his wounds in the reserves.

Only 10 days ago, he told myfootballwriter.com that he was happy to stay and fight for his place, but with no recall on the horizon, it seems he has settled for a short-term move back home in an attempt to get some games under his belt.

Meanwhile, Birmingham look no nearer to allowing long-term City target Martin Taylor to finally join the Roeder revolution as their hopes of adding some more defensive steel to the ranks took a blow this morning.

The Blues' backline options are certainly thin on the ground and after Gary Cahill's decision to snub a cross-city switch from Aston Villa to join Bolton, the St Andrews club look set to keep Taylor at the club ? despite City's ongoing interest.

To cloud the issue further, skysports.com were this afternoon reporting that Coventry City had had an offer rejected for 'Tiny'.

Whatever happens, it looks unlikely that Canary supporters will have their wish granted – not until the summer at least.

Elsewhere, City's hopes of keeping man-of-the-moment Ched Evans until the end of the season received a boost when it was revealed that Manchester City were on the verge of completing a ?9m deal for Portsmouth striker Benjani.

With the arrival of the Zimbabwean at Eastlands and the emergence of Daniel Strurridge ? who has found the net twice in his last two outings ? the Canaries will be hoping Sven Goran Eriksson sees Carrow Road as the perfect place for Evans continue his education ? for the time being.

Tom Haylett


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