Despite Krystian Bielik saying that he felt he wasn’t yet ready for first team football at Arsenal, it seems Arsene Wenger has other ideas.
The young Pole will sign officially on Monday after passing a medical today, and with the Gunners in need of reinforcement in the defensive midfield area, the Arsenal manager says he’s going to be a first team player from the off, although he admits it’s something of a risk.
Speaking to the press today, the Frenchman said, “Yes, he will go into the first-team squad. He’s a defensive midfielder, 6ft 2, he has a good energy level and technical level.
“It’s a gamble but, on what we saw, it’s worth to take the gamble. It’s an awful lot of money for a player if he doesn’t succeed. If he does succeed, then it’s cheap.”
Earlier, the player himself told a Polish newspaper, “I’m going to London to fulfill my dreams. I want to prove to the manager that he did not make a mistake by signing me, but it does not mean that my goal is playing in the first team right away. I’m not ready yet.”
We know well that if Wenger considers a player good enough he’ll play him, regardless of his age, so he’s obviously seen something in this lad that makes him confident enough to throw him in at the deep end – especially when Arsenal are chasing a top four spot.
He’d best get ready, but it remains to be seen how much he will actually play this season. Despite Mikel Arteta set to miss three months after surgery, Wenger has Francis Coquelin and Mathieu Flamini to call on and it seems more likely they’ll get the nod due to their experience.
For some reason I am very excited for this unknown, polish, 17 year old midfielder.
Why ?
Because Arsene fucking well knows.
Let’s hope Wenger hasn’t dropped a Beilik! 🙂
Well, all the signs that he is good. The question is, good enough for us and PL?
I have a positive feeling about the boy as well. COYG!
Because last season we got Kallstrom
You are excited in the same way a starving man is excited to be given a mouldy slice of bread.
Hat’s off to that analogy!
agree or not, great analogy.
I watched a lot of his YouTube videos (which are probably youth team games, I imagine), but this kid looks like a right-footed Matic. Very good breaking up the play without taking fouls and a good long range passer. Of course, these are highlights…would be better to watch him in a full game.
At his age, he might even get taller too!
In Wenger we trust! (as long as there’s a solid CB signing, haha)
The only CBs I’d want to see at Arsenal right now is Laporte or Van Dijk. They look very promising.
Rambo came straight into the team at 17, cesc was a mainstay by this age, theo was beginning to break ground… i don’t see why age should impede any player’s path, if Bielik’s good enough then let him play. Although i must say i did laugh at the description i read of him on the web as being the “Polish Vieira”. Hahaha
It’s stupidly premature for sure, but the comparison is there to be made if you watch him play. He’s got those same long legs and the same purposefulness in his running from deep positions. He’s very young yet but particularly when you see him playing against other people his age he’s got this feeling of power to his game that is very reminiscent of Vieira. Whether he’ll turn out to be even 1/10th as good nobody knows obviously at this point.
Power? lol, looks quite scrawny to me 😀
Good luck!
He’ll play for U21 but train with the first team is the impression I get…if he does well/we have a crisis then he might get some first team minutes…he’s basically in the same boat w the likes of Zelalem and Maitland-Niles only difference is he has an easier route to 1st team because of his position
No, he’s a direct replacement for Arteta, who is out for the rest of the season. Flamini hasn’t convinced as the holding player and although Coq has done well, Wenger doesn’t see him as the long term answer.
Le Coq has done brilliantly. He’s ahead of Flamini now, in every way. Wenger thinks he’s the one…
You’re chatting complete Bieliks… *gets coat
Inb4 Ballon d’Or
Imagine the scenes if we lift the champions league with this polish kid anchoring the midfield… Scenes 😀
Seriously though, he’s one good prospect for the future.
A guy can dream …
I need a pouch of weed too. That dream is priceless
I wish he were the solution to our defensive woes. Poor lad, hope he doesn’t get beat up and knackered
I know nothing about him other than he is 17
He’s Polish.
He’s a DM.
He is Gooner
Anyone heard anything about that diaby fella?
I think 17 y.o. Bielik signing and going straight to train with the first team says it all.
It also says a lot about the manager when he replaces injury proned deadwood with an unproven 17 year old kid that he has not even seen training with the first team yet. DM is a position we are lacking in and he solves it by buying unproven polish kid from the polish league. I am not in any way trying to say that he is a bad signing. But wenger’s plan to have this kid solving all of our problems is just a fucking joke frankly.
Still hope he is not one of the ‘one or two’ defensive signing that AW said he was after.
At this point it doesn’t really matter. We can go the distance in the FA Cup without those two mythical signings while the other competitions are realistically out of our reach even with them.
I think Wenger is willing to give Coquelin the rest of the season to prove that we can rely on him – not a bad idea. There is Flamini who is not actually bad in lesser games. We have Ramsey whose engine and tenacity helps out defensively. That should do till the summer. By then, we can let go of Flam and Coq if it doesn’t work out and get that ready-made CDM. Make no mistake, the little I have seen of Krystian Bielik (on youtube), this guy has the POTENTIAL to own our midfield for years. He is more… Read more »
@Man Manny, ‘more skilful than Viera’, really? I couldn’t possibly say as I haven’t seen Bielik actually play a game yet…..
His clips are even on youtube; check it out. He is very comfortable and can beat a man. He is actually more skillful than Viera.
Have you ever seen a 17 year old 6’2” player in an under-17 game with 21 5’2” players? He looks fucking unstoppable. I hope he turns out to be so good that they stop saying “next Vieira”, but until we see him playing against the gentlemen of the Premier League a few times we aren’t really going to be able to judge. Youtube clips are pretty worthless in reality, so at the moment all we have to go on that is meaningful is our scouts’ and Wenger’s opinion of his potential. I trust them to know potential in a 17… Read more »
I have seen the YouTube clips, but as I said I haven’t seen him play a game yet , or play in the PL. There is a difference…
I trust Wenger’s judgement on players ability/potential. Just scares me when he says its a gamble, we all know he doesn’t have the best record when it comes to gambling
Alexis made it into the first team at age 16, and he was a beast back then. Sometimes we forget that all players need their oportunity. Alexis was (and still is) nicknamed “Wonderkid” (Niño Maravilla) in Chile because of this. so I’m expecting a lot from this young man, he looks promising and I’m excited for him. COYG
Have a fucking good feeling..He’s no Khedira or sissoko but still..
I don’t know why Wenger does this, he’s not going to be around when this kid hits his prime. He should do what Fergie did and buy the best around, like RvP, and go out in a blaze of glory. Instead of sniffing around kids.
I admire the commitment of the guy but he just doesn’t help himself, always sticking his neck out. Giving people the chance to bash him…….
You mean like Alexis Sanchez? That kind of signing?
Or Ozil? Or Debuchy?
Is it me or is Wenger piling on the pressure with this kid already? Maybe he is over the Bendtner generation of failures and is gonna give them a harsher time of it
Hmmm. Just don’t know. Chase for 4th continues!
The signing is a clear indication of our ambition. A 17 year old boy from some obscure league, Joke of the season. I know some might say ‘but we signed ozil and Alexis’. Great signings no doubt, but I always ask, why does wenger always take one step forward and three backwards? Shouldn’t he buy virtue of the standards he set for the club decade back, want to challenge for the premiership?. The young man that he just signed at best will be something for the future. But we need immediate solutions to the obvious inadequacies the team has. I’m… Read more »
One of the 2 signings Wenger was talking about I guess.
Oh and lets forget he’s not a starter at Legia. Very different from Cesc and Ramsey.
Cesc was in barca’s b team and Rambo was playing in the championship, neither is really all that different to polish reserves one hopes?
At 17 Cesc was in our first team. How could he have been playing in Barcelona’a b team?
Ramsey at 17 played more games for cardiff. The polish league isn’t that strong and he isn’t a starter.
Anyone who thinks this kid is ready for the first team is deluded.
On this side of the argument there are quite a few delusions obviously
The man has developed quite a few world class players in his career. So if he thinks he is ready to play at this level, I’ll agree with him. His track record speak for itself
Legia has a dipshit named Henning Berg as a coach. Some might remember him as a player for Blackburn and Man United, but most people wont remember him as a highly unsuccessful manager of Blackburn a couple of years ago, lasted a couple of months.
Lets hope he helps our bielikeured midfield.
Surely we need a poo meter for puns as well by now.
From what I’ve seen of him, he’s gonna be some player. We really need some stature in that position because no matter who we usually swap in or out, Wilshere, Arteta, Flamini, Ramsey, Coquelin etc we get towered over by the likes of Toure, Matic, Wanyama even Diame so yes great signing, fairly unknown which for the BPL will be exciting and hard for oppositions to predict how to deal with him. He may not be Vieira but the general atmosphere of his signing feels very similar, exciting.
How many Polish reserve league games have you seen?
Good luck to the kid….Chels, City, Barca and Madrid must be absolutely shitting themselves. *cough*….unbelievable we’ve not bought what we really need by now….
Unbelievable but not really. A typical Wenger transfer window.
Some of you fellas are trotting out the same deluded stuff for years about bring excited, remember a special signing called sanogo
I do, and I’m excited to see what he can do with first team football and less pressure. It’s win-win, he either shows his potential and comes back into the first team squad next season, or he shows enough to know he can’t cut it and then we can loan him back out until somebody pays us for him, freeing up that space in the squad for Gnabry/Akpom or even a new signing.
Remember an exciting signing called Sanchez??
How about Vieira or Henry??
Ridiculous .Another young players confidence ruined by Wenger by being thrown in way before they are ready.WE NEED A PROPER PHYSICAL MIDFIELDER ,A MAN,not a kid ffs.You can get away with a 17 yr old winger but not in the heart of the midfield supposedly breaking up play and protecting the back 4.And the fans will all moan about the ref and the nasty opposition when he snaps his leg in two.Wengers decision making is increasingly bizarre.Well Wenger if you don’t finish in the top 4 ta ta close the door on your way out.
You idiot!
When you sign a promising 17-year-old what you absolutely must not do is slowly introduce him into the side. Instead he should be thrown in at the deep end; this worked brilliantly with both Sanogo and Callum Chambers.
The ideal way to develop a teenage player is to shove him into the pressure cooker of an average side which is desperate to finish fourth. And I’m sure that opposition players won’t target a naive, inexperienced kid – especially away from home.
Jay, you are so dumb.
You know what Jay.. Arsene Wenger will not be given the sack cuz his decision making is so spot on! He is definetly not senile, and he can definetly zip up his own zipper. Arsene Wenger built this club, ofcourse he can do what the fuck he wants. Who do you think you are?
It’s the Weekly Meeting of the Gooner Doom Club.
Agenda:
Item 1: Slate Wenger for buying a young player
Item 2: Slate Wenger for not buying an experienced player
Item 3: Slate Wenger for being Wenger
Looks good long term signing but the coq is looking better every game. Now for established CB please.
Wenger for the love of God leave the youth development vanity project alone now. You’ll be gone in two years.
I’m so fed up of this nonsense year in year out. We should have been out of the blocks on day one of this transfer window. Instead we’ve signed (albeit a solid youth prospect) a player who is not ready.
Wenger is the biggest troll in history.
You aren’t fit to lick his boots, or do up his zip
Peers – is that you !
Piers?*
Yeah! Shame on him for taking a geniune interest into the future and well-being of the long-term future of this club…
Actually, mate, you’ve got it all backwards.
Comment: most fans are not getting it here, how can that lad be able to stop the likes of matic, toure, even stock city players? Wenger should get us a good Dm and a Df period.
Another person who doesn’t understand that there isn’t a limit of 1 new player per Club this January.
You gotta laugh. If you dared to even mention the idea of “Wenger once again buying unknown kid” you were immediately shut down with the classic “but he’s one for the future.” Now its being spun as “imagine he lifts the title for us”. Only at arsenal. Doesn’t matter the age, if Wenger becomes personally involved in a public transfer, it’s almost always for the first team. And you can mention Cesc, Rambo and Jack all you like, but only Cesc was arguably making a difference immediately (in a squad of successful, experienced men). The two others were just exciting… Read more »
It is kinda true though, signing prospects does not preclude buying proper players when they’re needed.
Aside from CBs apparently.
What rise? He’s played OK against a couple of shitty clubs at home. Means nothing. Just like this 17-year-old means nothing, yet.
Arsenal fans are so fucking stupid sometimes. Miyaichi this, Miyaichi that, Eisfeld, Gnabry, Park, Chamakh, Sanogo, Wellington, Bischoff, Miquel – all acclaimed by supporters as the next big thing, where are they now? Over the past decade, Wenger’s record bringing through young players is pretty fucking abysmal.
Yes because the inability of Miyaichi and co to break into Arsenal first team is purely down to stupid fumbling Wenger and not the quality of coaches and youth staff, not to mention whether the individual himself is capable or focused enough to make it at this level.
And the bar these players failed to meet? Set by a bunch of excitable fans who have watched a a COCup match and a few minutes of Youtube. You are beating Wenger with an imaginary stick for something he isn’t at fault for.
Yea, because he fucking chose the players….that’s why he’s paid that much…to do his job….if you’re a ceo and have the responsibility to choose your executive team and you chose someone inept…the excuse you’re going to give is “well, he didn’t have the focus and ability to make it at this level”, that also shows your ineptness at evaluating talent…and there’s no excuse for that
You are now comparing a situation where a CEO has the whole professional history of potential executives in front of them. The CEO has clear standards of measures to evaluate the candidates. What does Wenger have? 6 years of playground football for the youngsters? Is this enough to form a psychological profile of the player? The situations are completely different.
Wellington still has a chance, ironically. Still only 21 and playing against the likes of Madrid and Barcelona. He could do a Coquelin next season.
You’re still an arse though.
This. I am sure Bielik is a talent and has genuine potential for the future.
But if LVG had just plucked a 17 year old from obscurity, with virtually no senior team exerience, and was indicating he might fill the hole in Man United’s decimated midfield, I would think many would find the idea questionable.
That’s because LVG is not Arsene Wenger. There’s only one of those.
Spot on.
I simply cannot understand the unqualified optimism and praise here. None of us have seen him play, and we have history with bringing in players of this age amounting to nothing. Most amount to nothing, in fact. It’s another Sunu, Bischoff, Miyaichi, whatever you want to call it.
The fact is, these kinds of signings are massive gambles. 9.9 times out of 10, they don’t make it.
That’s not offensive. That’s true.
You can’t know how they will perform at a top club when you buy them. There are many reasons why a young player may fail to make the cut. You deal with this by having a large pool of young and promising players to choose from. This means buying many players in order to find the few who will make it. There is nothing wrong with being optimistic when we buy a new young player. We are well aware that he might not make it and has limited experience and none at a truly high level, but we also know… Read more »
Coquelin + bielik = coq lik?
Sure coq and bieliks is funny enough?
Can’t wait until Wenger gets his Beiliks out….
Forgive my obvious statement, but am I the only one who is unnervingly looking forward to this chap playing for us?!
Looks like Bielik coq could last longer than our Coq..long live the COQS
If he succeeds, we can finally shut up about needing an “imposing DM” for the next 10 years
Man would I appreciate that.
But then they’d just turn on Ozil and Giroud (or take your pick) again. It never ends.
Not even winning a trophy can slow it down.
People always want to compare our current team with the invincibles and ignore any factors that allowed the Invincibles to proper that our current team may lack. They tend to either forget who put the Invincibles together, or declare him finished because he hasn’t done it again.
Looks like a giant defensive version of Rosicky to me. He has that Rosicky thing when he gets the ball, drives directly forward with pace, force and technique.
But if what he does in Poland can be done in England, who knows.
All i know is, he has the ability to do it!
the reaction is so goddamn predictable. Sorry we signed this guy when we needed someone else. This could be a great signing or just shit. Doesn’t really matter for this season. I’m sure that this isn’t Arsene’s solution for the current woes. He’ll sign defensive cover or he won’t. Either way, this kid isn’t the problem or the solution. Hope he has a fantastic career here, and isn’t maligned because he wasn’t the answer for this season. Now, if he does turn into the next Gilberto/Makelele/Essien/Busquets/Pirlo etc hybrid in the next week, I’ll change my tune and say I told… Read more »
Kristian, welcome to The Arsenal. I am looking forward to seeing you develop and thrive here.
He is 17.. that means he doesnt need to be registered to play in EPL. We have empty a slot by loaning Podolski, so we still can have our fabled experience CB/DM if needs to be.
Dont forget the 25 man squad limit.
Yeah. A gamble. If he fails it is a lot of money Wenger. You’re right. And also a CL place. But ho hum. After dining at Groucho for Sanchez now let’s eat at Cottage Chicken. Just don’t complain if we get the shits.
So I’ll look forward to him being played out of position at RB.
Another transfer window wasting away.
Not trying to be a party pooper.
But that kid looks fragile.
He looks like another addition to our long injury list already.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that our defensive problemas begin and end with Mertesacker’s lack of pace. The football we play, or at least intend to play, screams for a high line, and that’s not possible with the BFG in the team. Should we sign a faster CB in the summer, I think Wenger would deploy a flat 3 at midfield, or at least a 2 of Ramsay and someone else with Ozil at the tip (this not a Coq joke). Pressing high as a unit would alleviate most of the frankly stupid goals with leak.… Read more »
Unpopular opinion it might be but I agree. Mertesaker is great in position and next to Kos. Without Kos beside him Mert has issues but none compare with the issue of pace. Take the Dortmund game (we won) as an example. Mertesaker was completely out of position several times, had joined attacks with Dortmund countering. Often he arrived back in defense so late Dortmund’s attack had already (luckily) broken down and we had re-taken possession. I timed Mertesaker getting back into position one time (from their penalty area…which in itself was absurd). He took a further twenty seconds longer to… Read more »
Should Wenger play this new lad against City it will say a lot for the player and, I might add, a lot about Wenger that, I for one ,never expected. Good luck to both.! Arsenal to win in an upset 1-2.
How good is this kid?I’ve never seen him play
seriously guys we can’t field a 17 year old and then say we want to end our league less drought. In my opinion it’s good that we signed the lad , but haven’t addressed the problems we have i.e CDM and CB.so for me wenger hasn’t signed anyone we need complete players , tired of trying to predict a players future.
Thrown in deep end of the season which means when we have attained a position in the table when results dont matter. But just curious what will be Chambers position then Wenger saw him too in that CDM role only for him to shine in every position he was played in at the start of the season. Chambers has shown promise and sure looks like a great talent but dont want him to have a career like Phil Jones who started of seemingly well and with him played too often not at any one position . Remembering Jones played at… Read more »
Lets not get delusional, despite a much improved Coquelin, he is still some ways away from rivaling Arteta or for that matter Flamini. The pecking order is Arteta, Flamini and then Coquelin (who is catching up and there is no limit to his potential) Coquelin made some very rash two footed challenges that had it been Flamini youwould all be screaming or moaning at. This is a double standard against Flamini who is much improved (consider his passing statistics) and more importantly he has more experience at the moment. In Arteta (and Diaby’s absence), the signing of Bielik seems sensible.… Read more »
Artera is pretty much out for the season, and Flamini is Flamini Our hopes for comfortably finishing fourth or doing better, progressing in the cup until we hit a big club, and getting past the quarterfinal round of the Champions League rest in Coq being better than he was before and a 17 year old kid pushed into the first team. Have to be a bit disappointed that this is out stopgap DM rather than someone older or acclimated to the Premier League. I sure hope we can do better with our defender signing. I’m sure Bielik will end up… Read more »
Again, like i keep telling you, if you think the DMs and Strikers we have are good enough to win the league or ucl, then you’re clearly out of your mind. John obi mikel(a second choice in chelsea) is far better than what we have at the moment.
Bringing unknown young lad, when Man shit signed a proven Bony. We ‘re not ready yet 4 title challenge.
Our current position in the league table, 13 points adrift, says otherwise.
There’s nothing quite as sad as premature ejaculation.
There’s also nothing so useless in the Premier League this January as a striker who is spending it in Africa.
So the correct comparison at this time should be: We bought a player who could play for us next weekend if we need him, while Manchester City bought a player who will probably get a debut in February.
We need a Carvalho 🙁
Watched YouTube video of him at Legia and must say that he does play with real maturity
Hopefully a good signing but i thought we were after some experience – our scouts seem about as accurate as the American air force!
We’re allowed to buy more than one player in January.
Ramsey at 17 played more games for cardiff. The polish league isn’t that strong and he isn’t a starter.
Anyone who thinks this kid is ready for the first team is deluded.
Translation: we’ll count on Flame and Coq for the defensive midfielder roles and when they get injured we’ll throw in a 17 years old who came from the Polish league.
Geography is not the main factor determining skill at football.
Hope this kid doesn’t count as one of the one or two..we need a bully in the centre of the park!
Go round his house and tell him he’s a wuss. Come back here afterwards and tell us how you got on.