While we’re not ones to indulge in specious transfer tittle-tattle, our old pal Matt Spiro has posted something this evening that might well be of interest to most Gooners.
There’s obviously still much to concentrate on this season, but we’re just a few weeks away from a summer break, and because of a late finish to this campaign and an early start to the next one, time will be tight this summer so some things should be in the pipeline already.
Anyway, on his Twitter account, Matt reckons the Arsenal manager is tracking Monaco centre-half Aymen Abdennour, as well as Lyon forward Nabil Fekir.
Back in April, Fekir’s father reportedly told French media, “Nabil would like to finish 1st or 2nd and play Champions League football with Lyon. If he leaves, it’ll be for Arsenal. It’s the only club that can enable him to progress, with Arsene Wenger. He will not go to Manchester City to sit on the bench.”
Obviously much can happen to swing a deal one way or the other, but Matt isn’t somebody who posts rubbish for the sake of it.
Silly season hasn’t begun yet, but but we can indulge a little transfer talk from time to time. Let’s see what happens.
Fekir & his agent said he’s likely to stay at Lyon for another year. I can’t help thinking that a Centre Back would be a strange signing, hes 25 so would expect regular football and I can’t see any of our current centre backs leaving. Even Chambers has struggled for game time since Gabriel arrived so it would be strange. I think its possible we may see Chambers cover Coquelin in DM more next season, as well as covering 4th centre back. Hes got some great attributes, he reads the game well and intercepts often, he has got alot of… Read more »
Let’s not forget we have Hayden as a CB (+CDM) too. Although he’s been injured for a chunk of this season, he’s a very promising youth player and should be amongst those that make the grade at Arsenal. Played for a the first team a couple of times and looked good in all of those appearances.
Very true, I like Hayden but just think that hes chance may have potentially passed him. He wouldve got game time this season if he was fit but now with Gabriel addition I am not quite sure he will. We have Julio Pleguezuelo who by all accounts is a great prospect at CB who is a couple years younger and also Bielik now in Defensive Midfield coming through so chances will be hard for Hayden now.
Coquelin being on a loan at Charlton, which got extended, only for him to be suddenly recalled and get a run in the side and become our first choice CDM gives me hope for our youngsters. 😛
Kos & Per are 30 & 31 respectively. I would be surprised if we didn’t pick up another from their ages alone.
Why? Centre backs can easily play til 34/35.
Pert wont play for much longer with the pace of the Premier League.
Kos Achilles injuries might be worse than the club is letting on. No harm having another CB to challenge.
Pace is overrated.
When has Per ever had pace??
The fact he has never needed to rely on pace makes me believe he can play much later into his career at his current high level than many others.
If John Terry can still play – even accounting for the system tailor made for him and his obvious dealings with the devil – I would be very disappointed for Mert and Kos to drop off in quality so soon.
Diggin’ the Cool-Aid man!
Koscielny is 29. He can rest and recuperate after the cup final. Surely he has another 3 years of top football left.
Kos is a relentless bastard. He’ll keep playing until he’s 53, at which time he & Sanchez will hang up their boot in order to give someone else a chance.
They are 29 and 30 respectively (until September).
Actually they’re 29 and 30, respectively, and will be until September. I know it’s not a big difference, but if you’re going to spout facts, at least make sure they’re correct.
We need a center back. Let’s not forget that Kos and Mert are both nearer to 30 than 25. In fact, isn’t Mert past 30? We know Wenger’s philosophy. And anyway, if he thinks Abdennour is better than what we have, which is possible as he was impressive against us, then go buy him. I have no problems wig adding another good center half
Yeah, I think watching in this case means tracking them for the long-term or for special circumstances like long term layoffs in our squad. A lot of reported “interest” is just that, being prepeared for the eventualities.
Replacement for Mertesacker, the player who can’t outjump a midget
At his height though he does not need to jump high, plus it’s tough to get much lift when bodies are pushing against you so would rather have him in an aerial duel than someone like Vermaelen who could really leap, but that leaping was minimized when someone was leaning on him.
Poo meter?
It’s funny, I would love to sign a team-mate of both of those players.
(Lacazette and Kondogbia)
If i were to choose between lacazette and fekir, i would pick fekir.
I love lacazette, but fekir is amazing.
I think Fekir has the potential to be the better player. But he’s also a lot like the Ox. We don’t have anyone like Lacazette in the squad – unelss you say Welbeck, and he’s not proved he can finish at nearly the same rate that Lacazette can.
OTOH both Welbeck and Ox have lost a lot of time to injuries so having another player like either of them in the squad might not be a bad thing.
exactly my thoughts 😀
So wengerlike though, when everyone and his dog is looking at Lacarzette/Kondogbia he goes for this two. I trust him though he’s been pulling rabbits out of ordinary hats for a long time, except for Andre Santos, the duck.
What’s the Poo-ometer rating on this?
Another forward? When I saw Lyon I hoped we’d be talking about Lacazette. Competition gonna be tight on the wings.
A smokescreen perhaps? Maybe our scouts are wearing those sunglasses with the mirrors built into the sides, so that every time they’re glancing towards Fekir they’re actually looking at his teammate. I’m clinging on to that.
Personally would love to see Lacazette join. As well as one of Kondogbia and Schneiderlin
They were actually looking at their RB!
Joke!
Signed him back in FIFA 12. Turned out to be a beast. 😀
Fekir seems an amazing player and I really hope we’re in for him. He’s only going to get better and much more expensive, he truly looks like the next big deal to me. About Abdennour, he looked great against us but you can bet money that Wenger was already interested in him when he was at Toulouse. I’d rather we go for Kondogbia. As would everybody else on here I think.
Fekir is more of a Wenger signing than Lacazette. Lacazette would have been a Wenger signing last year. This year he’s broken onto the scene too much to be a steal any more and Wenger hates paying over the odds more than just about anything.
Looking forward to the Coq + Fekir link up and how much easier it will be for Blogs to dream up new headlines for reports.
My thoughts exactly, love to get the Fekir in
Fekir right in debuchy
Lazy Fekir
God please let this be true…Fekir would be the perfect replacement for theo if he leaves. Find it odd he’s going for Abdennour, it would mean per might leave(which i don’t to happen because ozil might get lonely being the only german left) or it could just be that he thinks per has one more season as a first teamer.
If we don’t go for lacazette, carlos bacca would be another good option. Heard we had a 16m pound bid rejected by sevilla.
Gnabry! Our Ivorian German. Looking forward to seeing him killing it in the premier league. Sucks that he’s been injured the whole season.
A short, skillful attacker?
If he is injury prone, a deal for that little Fekir is guaranteed.
From France too!
Abdennour Is a beast, I would love to have him in the team, Fekir looks exiting, I already tired of the silly season. I hope we get our business done quickly and smoothly in the summer.
Imagine a forward line with Giroud, Sanchez, and Fekir, it would be the sexiest forward line, the world has ever seen ..
Even more excitingly he’s the player with the longest surname in alphabetical order in world football.
If you spell it a certain way…
We’ll always get linked with Ligue 1 players ahead of the window. Fekir is definetly a possibility. But why do we need another centre back? I think this window is a lot about the players we should cash in on. I would say that Flamini, Podolski, Sanogo and Jenkinson seems like 4 obvious players to get rid off. Neither of them will be able to take a spot for the team next season.
Why do we need another CB? Because Mertesacker can’t jump and run
Not at the same time. Bet you can’t either.
I can’t see Sanogo being sold. Loaned again possibly but not sold.
Don’t need either of them. We have Chambers and Gnabry who can’t get a game at the moment.
Poo rating or it didn’t happen.
Fekir is a good player and a possibility but may not be top of our list. Don’t think we are hunting for a Cback having just signed Gabriel and with Meterscielny still thoroughly effective. It is hardly a priority. Media are a weird bunch. Now they have it in their mind. Now they have it in their mind we need 4 players thanks to Henry and dumbest of all we need a goalkeeper. Its utterly idiotic but they do it every season and they never get it right. We will likely sign 2 players max this summer. Maybe a third… Read more »
Yeah, I noticed after we demolished Hull that the narrative had switched back to ‘they need a goalkeeper and centre back to challenge.’ Seriously? Our defensive arrangements haven’t exactly been leaking goals of late, but then the media cunts aren’t exactly sharp. The only reason that we didn’t run the blue fuckers closer this year is because the medical room resembled a Somme field hospital for the first half of the season. If we can keep what we have fit, we’ll be fine.
We’re probably watching them, that’s what scouts do to be prepared, doesn’t mean we’re going for them now. I think there’s a wrong preception in general about tranfer activities are just start on a whim or a hunch. A lot of the work behind the scenes is just keeping tabs on players and preparing files for the eventual case that these players become available or there is a real need in the squad. Especially with prospects like Fekir who will probably move for big money. Those tranfer don’t happen over night, you better know who you’re signing when you’re investzing… Read more »
And I like Fekir, he should be on our radar but we should be aiming for Dybala imo. He can play striker but also function on either wing and crucially has the magic feet we need. He is much sought after so he may be courted by PSG (and the likes) and be swayed to go there. They have Moura who could make way (or not) but I would think due to wages, it is better for us to target Dybala rather than take someone like Moura off of PSG if discarded (unless wage differential works to our benefit in… Read more »
I
Whoops. I wanted to say: I’m sick of players who can play as striker or on the wing. This usually means that they’re best as one of two strikers in a two striker system, and we haven’t played like that in ages. They almost never work out well as lone striker in the premier league (was Van Persie the last one?), and quite often they’re not the player you really want on the wing either, because they tend not to get involved in midfield as well as you want from a winger. Sanchez is an obvious exception to the second… Read more »
i kindda see what you mean there. right now we have only alexis, walcott, gnabry and ox as wingers. gnabry is still not the finished article, and for that matter ox will still develop. on top of that, wenger says ox will play in midfield in future (seeing as arteta, flamini, and rosicky have are ageing, cazorla too, we’ll soon need him there… we still have yet to see how the contract situation works out… my point is we’re at least one genuine winger short.
walcott* contract situation
Poo o meter please!
Are they in the category of world class players Thierry Henry was talking about?
top top top top top top top top top top top top top top quality players
Damn. I was hoping to see lacazette, not that it will mean anything
Click bait, click bait! Tut tut
Mr Blogs 🙂
Agree, lots of conversation generated on something unlikely to happen.
Would prefer to read news on this Arseblog News site ie something that has happened (this is usually the case, to be fair).
[There are lots of sh*te sites that I know to avoid, due to them delivering this type of article, would prefer this site isn’t added to that list.]
I agree with the sentiment, though Blogs did qualify the article as an exception, and probably realised it’d give us an excuse for a general natter about squad and recruitment. I doubt he wants to give his life to administering a crap site.
I disagree. What I appreciate about this site is that it only presents speculation from trusted sources. As well, in moderation, transfer speculation is a lot of fun.
Should go balls-out for a player of Pogba’s quality in Central Midfield. Kondogbia or Schneiderlin would be good, but Pogba would take use to the clichéd ‘next level’ with his power and leadership/determination. Should bid Ozil type money for him or a bit more. Barca can’t compete due to their transfer ban, RM have been threatened with a ban too so there’s less competition. (prime competition would be CHelsea and Bayern Munich, maybe City and United too) Lets face it, we have LOTS of money to spend and CM and ST are our 2 weakest positions with DM/CM the one… Read more »
There is no way in hell that we’d get Pogba. I think the price tag would be like £70m+ and I honestly think there are but 2 alternatives for the lad if he wants to go to a club which would mean an upgrade from Juventus.
Barcelona or Real Madrid and I’d put my money on the latter. Bayern Münich are not likely to spend the kind of money it would take to bring Pogba in, and rightly so.
I saw on internet that the Argentina player Messi is good. Wenger should sign him.
He’s already 27, and looks pretty good on youtube. I reckon he’s as good as Park
Let’s not get carried away here.
Unfortunately he has Barca DNA so would be a waste to sign him just to have to sell him again in a year or two
Top players wenger was talking about?
Real question is: How much do they grow in FIFA?
Abdenour much about Fekir tbh
Just wanted to say Aymen to abdennour.
If we need a top, top, top player then I think we should go Maxime Go alons capt. Lyon & not all this players with inexperience, no leadership qualities, mental toughness, not players who break down on big occasions. Go through OL games then you see the leader of the pack. Coq & Bielik will learn from him & he can player as a CB. Morgan & Kondogbia a way behind him. A complete player & top quality. @ 26, he can give us at least 8 years of loyal service. He is not normadic, has been at Lyon all… Read more »
“It’s the only club that can enable him to progress, with Arsene Wenger. He will not go to Manchester City to sit on the bench.”
Nabil Fekir is destined for success with a father like that!
Fekir it!
That fekir ejit
Fek
When Sanchez or Giroud need a rest we can play the other Fekir up front.
Especially against the blue racists of stamford bridge
Fek chelsea and Fek mourinho
If Walcott leaves, I would like to see reus here and a top class midfielder to play deep.
Right now cazorla has adapted to that role and we found a way to play oz and the little magician together but still I would like to see a midfielder that can operate from deep.
No more transfer business. We can sell poldi, Campbell, flamini.
We have the Coq who loves to play deep .. I’ll go get my coat ..
The contracts of Podolski and Flamini expire this summer (on transfermarkt), so we can’t sell them.
Poldi’s contract runs until 2016. It’s his contract with Inter that only runs till June of this year.
fekir-ing hell, silly season started already…….
Why do we need that Fekir? We have Akpom and Sanogo, even Walcott and Sanchez.
And Welbz. How could I forget dat guy.
How much do you reckon a Kondogbia is going for these days at Home Depo??
Transfermarket says 14 mil. He was valued 15 mil when he was sold for 20 mil. But then was time when russian sugar dady had no troubles. Now after his divorce he seems lost interest in club. I hope Arsene can get him for 16-20 mil.
I am sure we are tracking alot of targets around the globe. That is what the scouting department is for after all. Spiro also said “among others”, we just got a sneak peak at two of the names on the priority list. But Arsenal have probably tracked thousands of players through the years whom we ended up not signing.
Not sure I could handle the “Fekir” jokes added to our already well established Coq repertoire! 😉
Lets not forget we have very much to play for at this moment. If we win all games remaining we will be runners up and hopefully gain some points nearer to the chavs and one big party day to end the season. If we beat the mancs, finish 2nd and lift the fa cup. For myself its been victorious season. Thats the priority now and although our record goal scoring skye pundit is correct we need additions to win PL next season, lets enjoy the great team we have now. Too much talent to be afraid.
PS i deliberately misspelt it SKYE as they have too much publicity. Just a small protest.
Off topic lads. Anyone watching barca and bm? 2 teams willing to play football. Maureen and Chelsea must watch this a wonder what’s going on.
good game.
There was a Tim Stillman article about how we’ve never truly replaced Pires which is why rumours of buying a pacy, strong and creative French attacking mid excites me
Why is there a picture of Flamini at the top of the article?