Arsenal have opened preliminary talks with Birmingham City over the possible transfer of centre-back Scott Dann, according to Sky Sports.
After a summer of speculation linking the Gunners with ‘holy trinity’ Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Christopher Samba, it appears that the former England under-21 international is now very much on Arsene Wenger’s radar.
At 24-years-old, 6ft 2inches tall and with Premier League experience Dann certainly (on paper) has the qualities which Arsenal fans have demanded of a new defender.
Granted, he’s not yet played at the highest level or experienced Champions League football but given the nature of his potential signing he’d likely be blooded over the course of the season as back-up to Thomas Vermaelen, Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny.
His career history hints at a patient and determined character and one who has experienced and succeeded at every level he has played.
On the books with Walsall in 2004 he took in loan spells with Danish side Køge BK and non-league minnows Redditch United and Hednesford Town before returning for two years at the Bescot Stadium.
His performances in League One led to a move to Coventry City, with whom he was almost immediately made club captain, and just 18 months later a further switch to Birmingham City.
A fine first half of last season saw Dann firmly ensconced as a fan favourite at St Andrews with the defender marshalling the side to the Carling Cup final and into a seemingly safe position in the Premier Table. Alas, a hamstring injury sustained at the end of January saw Dann ruled out for four months, a period which correlated with a spectacular collapse by Alex McLeish’s team and their eventual relegation.
It remains to be seen whether Wenger does indeed try and seal a £6 million deal for Dann, but given the imminent exit of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri at least Arsenal fans can take heart from the fact he is still aware of a need to add to the defence as he gears up for a potentially hectic three weeks in the transfer window.
A fine signing in and of himself but generally underwhelming given the context. So that’s 3 Championship players (two of which are teenagers) we’ve bought and a French striker? Typical Wenger. Add to this the prolonged nonsense with Cesc and Nasri, both of whom look likely to do one (and at this point, I’d drive them both to the airport- though I might hide Cesc’s passport)- and this has been a completely rubbish summer hasn’t it? Meh.
Actually, I don’t think this summer has been one of “typical” Wenger signings. Yes, Gervinho fits that mould, but when was the last time we signed three Biritish players (for the first team) in one summer? Probably Campbell, Wright and Jeffers. I think there’s been a very clear and conscious shift in transfer policy this summer.
A lot of pundits say he’ll be a very good signing for 6 million. I’ve never seen him, so I can’t really judge myself.
Scott Dann is good. I rate him higher than Roger Johnson and he was one of the first names on my fantasy team last season. He scores goals, he is good on the ball, he is good in the air and doesn’t make stupid mistakes. He will be a good signing at that price
Arsene is quoted in ESPN as saying we have four defenders and don’t need strengthening in that position.
Great!!!
lol ESPN? wenger never such thing even gazidis said we are looking for defenders in a arsenal fans conference.
Not sure about signing players from relegated teams, but fuck it, he’ll do for me.
Arsenal, FUCK YEAH!
FUC YEH!!!!!!!!
what i really don’t like about this is it seems like the ‘cheaper option’. as if we don’t have money to spend. as soon as the prices for more accomplished players creeps up from ‘a bargain’ to ‘normal’ we seem to go cool and start getting linked to another ‘bargain’. I think maybe wenger is such a man of his word that as soon as everton say ‘we really don’t want to sell’ he stops pursuing that player. Other clubs obviousl;y would just bid 20m and maybe eventually get him, but wenger is totally by the book. I just resolved… Read more »
Great user name.
Sniff sniffing around and very much liking rectum spectrum. Is this what we’ve come to? Bertie will be spinning in his bust.
arselicker! ;0)
There were reports Jagielka didn’t want to leave Everton…maybe thats why wenger’s interest cooled so quickly
but regardless of why wenger’s interest cooled in Jagielka, Dann is taller and younger than Jagielka. Given BIrminham’s owner’s criminal charges and their financial troubles, this is the best deal available for an English defender at the moment.
If we can secure Dann’s signing and keep the likes of Liverpool and our other rivals from adding a cheap, quality, defensive reinforcement, it has to be considered a victory in the transfer market.
Decent back up, if we sign another centre back as first choice to play with Vermaelen… and by that I mean Cahill or Jagielka.
I honestly think koscielny is better than both Cahill and Jagielka however he plays on left side of the CB pairing like Vermaelen. Dann seems like a good option
I’m sure it was him who, in the Carling Cup final, picked up an injury around 70 something minutes and battled on limping around until the end, dealing with everything that came his way. He certainly looked the part then. i haven’t seen enough of him to say anymore though!
As for signing him from a shit club, let’s not forget, we signed Sol Campbell from Tottenham and they’re shit.
That was Roger Johnson, who is at Wolves now.
Don’t hold your breath. Though I too am hopeful. £6 million is good value though.
Scott Dann was injured in Birmingham City’s Carling Cup semi-final and didn’t play again after that…missed final.
LOL owned
Probrably level to koscielny and djourou ability wise but hopefully with a bit more steal! Plus anything that pushes squelchy further out the picture is a plus in my books!
Yes we need more defenders who can steal the ball from opposing strikers!!
What scouse defenders are available then?
Well its a start.
Solid, English, established, hard, tall, committed, good in the air, no nonsense stopper – no doubt Wenger will play him on the wing.
for 6m that is a good bit of business
Hi guys! Fuck off 🙂
Why do I find your comment so funny !!!!
PS Nasri is a cunt
No not him. Please, he is average at best. One half decent season in the prem, followed by going back down to the Championship… Yeah maybe he will work out, but really? Are we just signing him because he is English? For that money, on paper, Mertesacker seems like money better spent, but then, I am guessing here a bit..
Fingers crossed we get someone a bit better than this lump of clogger
Didn’t Tony Adams fall out with him at Wycombe ?
Just got confirmation that it was Roger Johnson NOT Scott Dann who fell out with Tony Adams at Wycombe.
Scott Dann has never played for Wycombe.
can people stop confusing roger johnson and scott dann. i believe they’re different defenders… hope wenger hasn’t got them confused too
I believe so, but Tony Adams is a shit manager.
oh fair enough. Still, Tony Adams is a shit manager.
He used to go on Match of The Day when he was Portsmouth boss and basically say, after getting completely thrashed, “I don’t know what I’m doing. Just making it up as I go along”
I fucking love arsenal like the club was one of my own kids. Lets get dann and a couple more like him in and win this fucking league. Come on you gunners.
how the fuck do you get those cool pictures?
BLOGS????????????????
I’m not sure we want to see your cool pictures, Mr. spectrum.
^ heh
Visit http://gravatar.com sign up, upload a superman image, crop it, assign it to your email (the same email you used to comment here) and it will follow you all the way until you change your email.
its like looking down a tunnel, you’ll be fine son, don’t worry.
Hardly seems like using all of Cesc fee on a £6 million defender, no doubt arsenal mean using the fee in wages also. go for a proven top defender not a paper weight.
Not happy with this current defenders are better apart from squid why is wenger goin for
The problem that relegated Brum was not leaking too much goals. It was because they scored less goals than Blackburn Rovers and because they were managed by a mug.
Would be a better option than squid also young enough to develop into better than he Is now unlike jag
Also the price makes sense
Only 2 more sleeps then it’s back
I’m excited
Cheaper is not necessarily inferior
but why take the risk when we’re really rocking at the minute. rocking as in the champ on the ropes, not as in oasis at glasto. not in a good way.
we need no question marks – we’ve already signed question marks – chamberpot, forehead, magiatchi, jenkinson, campbell probably.,
any other additions – and now that cesc and nasri are going there should be three – need to be known heavyweights. no kore question marks!!!!!!!!!! no scott dans or cahils!
Exclamation marks are obviously superior to question marks.
I’m putting 2 and 2 together and getting Sneijder. Perfect replacement for Nasri and Fabregas
I’ll have what you’re having…
I’ll take two.
He and RvP don’t like each other. Didn’t you see that he never pass the ball to RvP? And he wants a six-figures wage.
Stop making sense
250,000 a week? yeah of course!…was that a flying pig just went past my window?
Matt, yes it was a flying pig, it was majestic wasn’t it
Good back u signing. Now let’s bring in Cahill and mata
*up. Fucking shit phone
http://www.damnlol.com/after-i-watch-300-2966.html
I can’t believe he’s signing a centre back and not a 17 year old winger, the cunt 😉
Nice one.
How dare you call our manager a cunt?!? I’d say that makes you show more ‘cuntable’ characteristics. 🙂 He’s the best 17 yr old in the universe, and we beat Fergie to his signing!! Plus, we’ve all seen how Fergie has developed a liking for young boys.
haha
Listen the only cunt is Nasri I keep telling you and also Tottenham fuck off as well your also cunts
You have a massive cock sitting on a ball how cunty is that
Why are you rebeating the same sentence over and over again on every post, Craig? Be creative and come up with useful talk mate. Labeling our manager a ‘cunt’ is Spuds material.
its a running joke mate, let it slide…..:-)
Great! loosing cesc and nasri and this dude is on his way in. I’m ecstatic!
Not a bad signing but hardly making a statement and doesn’t fill me with any more confidence.
Plus he’s not exactly the “experienced” player we need with 6 months in the prem and at his age – Dan 24hrs – Djourou 24 – Kos 25 – TV 25.
Kind of wondered the same thing. Maybe Djorou’s on his way at last?
So much lack of knowedge here hasn’t just got “6 months” experience – he played a full season in prem when Birmingham stayed up and was their best player and played half of last season still going strong before injury led to birminghams relegation…
I think the most underwhelming thing about this bid is that we know Arsene has put in bids for Samba (in Jan), Jags, Jones and possibly Cahill (although never confirmed). So even if we do sign him we know before he’s even played a game that he’s probably Wenger’s fourth of fifth choice, which is surely not the best of starts.
Now we just need to sign Garrincha and Eusebio COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
Bahhhhhhh everything is shit
Wouldn’t it be funny if he turned us down……
he wants to stay at a team with ambitions
LOL
wait, not LOL. 🙁
I wonder what the reaction would have been like if the Internet was around when we signed Steve Bould! If Dann is half the player Bouldy was then he’s alright by me!
Why is Wenger so tight ? I bet we are still haggling over 50 quid on transfer deadline day and we’ll sign also rans. I blame Gazidis !
We should all blame Gazidis, his pas experience was with MLS in the early 2000’s. Back then MLS lost 20 million pounds a season.
Slightly underwelming, but rather him than Squillaci or Djourou. I was hoping we get Jagielka, but if Everton want 15m+ for someone thats 29 soon, then I guess that one is a no go. Arsene won’t sign two new CB’s, we need to get real here. So it will be Scott Dann and only him (if we sign him)
There’s no way Arsene will sign two new CB’, as we would have six players for two positions.
I just hope this Dann bid is a ploy to get Liverpool to bid so we can have a free run at Cahill
Now this is a theoretical approach to our remaining transfer business…
OUT: Nasri, Fabregas, Clichy = approx 63m
IN: Jenkinson, Gervinho, AOC, Campbell, Dann, Jadson = approx 34m (If we actually manage to sign them)
That’s approx 29m remaining that will go straight into the share-fattening kitty..
And Liverpool have got Downing and Henderson – it’s just not fair!
Delirium is setting in…..I can’t refresh newsnow quick enough…………..
Heh, Yeah, thanks for that. £20m for Downing stil makes me chuckle.
“Super Quality?”
Whenever I read “Scott Dann” it’s in the same voice as “MAAT DAAMON”. I don’t know why.
That’s funny, because I always read it as lt. Dan (from forrest gump)
Desperate Dan?
Buy cheap, buy twice. That’s my motto.
I don’t have any problems with Scott Dann. He played for one of the most notorious defensive dogshitts in the EPL and was managed by one of those defensively born mugs. Koscielny and Vermaelen/Dann and Vermaelen/Djourou and Koscielny will work. I’m not sure about Koscielny and Dann partnership though. As for Cesc, he is not a winner. His backpass at Cave Nou still hurts and he hardly inspired the team last season. He spent most of the time injured, watching F1 games in Spain when the team needed his presence. Denilson was right, Fabregas was never a leader. He forced… Read more »
What the fuck is happening here? We’re getting excited about gaining a $6mio signing when we are about to lose the two best players from our club…? I simply cannot believe our ineptitude with the whole situation of players in and players out. Every season for at least the last four i have firmly believed that we will win the league steadfast WE WILL WIN Fuck United. Last season i thought we may struggle because of our squad size and i was proved correct. This year i am completely blank. Cold. No fuckin idea… and i fear our board and… Read more »
You’ll run out of ?????’s and !!!!!!!!’s as well if you’re not careful.
Dann would be a great partner to Verminator.
i don’t think Thomas is gay mate, but listen to you anyway Cilla!
Mertesacker. 26, 6’6”, 75 International caps and ‘apparently’ available for as little as 6million. I know who i’d rather have
i’m with you. we need proven players. seasoned winners.
Your mum is hot.
That’s all I’ve got to contribute
Unlike your mum
you must mean John ‘child killer’ Terrys mum?
My mums stinking.
well actually Per Merteballsacker has not won much in his career. Google it if yo dont believe me.
He’d fit in well then….
Yes, why are the majority of people excited about this Scott Dann rumor? Six million pounds for a relatively young, unproven, uncapped defender? How is that “a good piece of business,” when we need “super quality” and proven talent and furthermore have the cash to make it happen?
German Senderos.
Think everyone getting the name confused. He’s actually lieutenant Dann the one from Forrest gump who lost his legs in the war. Should make an excellent addition to the squad.
I’d still have him before The Squid.
This lad will be an Arsenal legend. For no other reason that he’s got 2 first names (badly spelt obviously).
Michael Thomas…….George Graham………..Tony Adam(s)………Terry Henry…….
Charlie Nicholas
Obviously this theory doesn’t apply to those with three names – Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
Can do. ROBIN van PERCY.
Actully, on the subject of those that haven’t made it – Ryan Garry.
Cornishlee, Garry was an Arsenal reserves legend
And legend from the 30s ALEX JAMES !!! And CHARLIE GEORGE
Sammy Nelson
Good calls. I knew there were others, but my brain’s having a day off.
Don’t forget Oguzhan Ozyakup, he needs a mention in all this.
Zack Ansah too.
Dann do this to me Arsene
I realise Scott Dann might not be the super quality defender we had in mind but Metersacker is soooo slooowww. He would not be a good fit in the premier league.
QUOTE,..: “Arsene Wenger,. We work very hard, we are non-stop working throughout the summer. I am positive because we have good quality and a style of play that is known by the players. So we want to add not quality but super quality”. END QUOTE,. Is Scott dann super quality? Meanwhile barca are reported to be close to be completing a deal with arsenal for a player of the most super duperest quality in our captain, who has 3 yrs left on his contract for a fee less than our valuation?? & also Samir na$ri is also reported to be… Read more »
Dann will be good business for us because he will settle in quicker though he will need game time with both Koscelny and vermalean to become effective. Though when gibbs gets injured expect Vermalean to move to left back and dann and koscelny to be Cd’s. The biggest worry for us is two days to go to start of season and Nasri and Fabregas are on the way out any replacements brought in will need time to bed in, in nasri’s case Arshavin gervinho and myachi all had good pre seasons so could fit into that role easily We could… Read more »
Fair shout. Don’t forget Aaron.
I would like us pay whatever it takes to get Brede Hangeland from Fulham! he is EXACTLY what we need
omg ffs lol lmfao…. ahem… excuse me, I just came over all funny.
A link to Scott Dann in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gskfvnhK9y8
Could be just what we need to keep Joey Barton in check when we sign him for a nominal fee.
For a minute there I thought it would be Scott Dann vs. Joe Hart
Oh good.
I like this signing am hoping it happens, he can grow into a top international defender he is already a very good one
“… Alas, a hamstring injury sustained at the end of January saw Dann ruled out for four months, a period which correlated with a spectacular collapse….” Well, you gotta say he’ll fit in nicely if nothing else!
Wengers found so many decent players so I guess we will have to trust his judgment if we do sign Dann. Maybe he sees him as good as Cahill or the other fella who’s surname I can’t spell and infect is good business? In any case crack on SATURDAYS NEARLY HERE! ( we’ll need a 5-0 head start this time)
6-0, don’t forget they had a perfectly good goal ruled out for offside despite Rosicky playing everybody on.
Fortunately, Nolan and Barton were found guilty and sucked after they started to flirt with the daughter of the Magpie boss.
Who sucked them? She did? No wonder they were made unwelcome..