Wolfsburg have confirmed that left-back Ricardo Rodriguez will leave the club this summer.
The highly-rated 23-year-old, who played alongside Arsenal new boy Granit Xhaka as Switzerland beat Albania in their opening game of EURO 2016, has been touted as a possible replacement for Kieran Gibbs.
It’s believed that Wolfsburg’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League has triggered a £20 million release clause in Rodriguez’s contract.
“Rici has stated that his future is not with us,” sporting director Klaus Allofs told Wolfsburger Nachrichten. “But we can live with this decision.”
The Gunners aren’t the only side linked with Rodriguez, there’s also interest from Real Madrid and AS Roma.
On the subject of a move to Italy, the player’s agent, Gianluca Di Domenico, told TMW Radio: “Ricardo loves Italy so much, so surely if there was a serious proposal we would see.”
“But we need to see if there will be. I spoke with [Roma coach Walter Sabatini] on the phone a few times, but never about Ricardo Rodriguez.”
After a season on the bench it does seem pretty likely that Kieran Gibbs could call time on his career at the Emirates…and that, in turn, means we need someone to rival Nacho Monreal. Given his young age it looks as though Rodriguez could fit the bill.
Its time for Arsenal to sign him for real this time rather than in football manager
A haircut better be in the contract.
Four poos?! Why do you do this to me, blogs… :'( I hope we sign him now.
Personally I hope Gibbs stays as he’s been a bit unlucky and can think of better ways to spend £20m. However I can understand him wanting more game time – if he does want to leave let”s hope we get £20m plus for him!
Only someone like Andre Marriner would pay 20 million for Gibbs.
Wasn’t that the Ox?!
That was some epic trolling from the official club account on Twitter.
I can’t think of a better way to spend £20m. We are rolling in it. Why not spend 20 on a left back? Then spend 30 on a winger, and then drop an easy 50 on a top striker. Surely that’s how this transfer window thingy works is it not? Save money, find better player than player we already have, buy better player, sell crap player, jobs a good-un. How hard can it be??
totally agree. when we had all those debts and we needed to be fiscally conservative in the market, I’d say yes that we could use the 20 elsewhere. now that we have plenty of cash, 20 mil for a promising young LB is good value in the current market. get another striker for whatever the cost, again considering what other clubs will pay, a Walcott upgrade (abundance of those options) under 20 mil, and even try to target a CB for under 20 mil. this isn’t even that far fetched of an ask, so no one should reply with some… Read more »
What a load of bollocks! Just because I have lots of money I would not pay over the idea for anything. That way leads to financial ruin. So, would you pay £1,000 for a snickers bar just because you have a million? I think Arsenal have been prudent with finances. Their quants will have assigned values to all players and I suspect Wenger would not pay over the odds for anyone. Vardy at £25m to £30m would be good value otherwise the bid would not have been made. Just because someone has a good reputation, some on here would want… Read more »
asking for an upgrade at fair market value in three to four positions is not bollocks. go back to penny counting, we’re all just hoping that they spend some money, not break the effing bank.
It’s just that spending 100m actually is breaking the bank, since the Arsenal’s profit per year is nowhere close to 100m. So you are basically spending next year’s transfer budget (or half of the money the Arsenal ever saved, depending how you look at it) – and calling you for that is not penny counting.
Plus, thinking that ‘dropping an easy 50’ will land you a top striker is seriously out of touch.
Are you Wenger in disguuuiisse!
If the Snickers could play left back for the next 5-10 years for my premier league club.
Snickers bar and Carbon rod down the left would be great
I once paid a thousand quid for a Snickers bar, haven’t drank methylated spirits since.
lets just sell everyone and play the kids, I can’t see what would go wrong th (oh, we tried that?, bugger)
How has Gibbs been unlucky ? He’s basically sleepwalked his way through games since it became clear Monreal was manager’s no.1 pick. When he was no.1, Monreal fought like a demon every time he got a chance to impress until the manager had to make him no.1. Gibbs has completely failed to do the same when the situation was reversed. He’s been a huge disappointment.
Gibbs is f*cking terrible. One injury to monreal and we have an open door to our goal down the left side.
this guy was pretty impressive in the Swiss game on the wknd. For that alone we should sign him!
He’s been good in general. I watch him and think this is Monreal for us but in a 23 year old’s body and with an immense free kick. If Gibbs goes, I couldn’t see a better replacement and I’m confident that our future on the LB position is sorted for at least the next 7 years.
It feels good to be fighting for a target with Real.
If Wenger is able to sway him, it would bode well for the seasons ahead.
can anyone else imagine a main front three of Sanchez Mahrez Mkhitaryan? do you like that imagination? please use the fucking thumbs below to express your opinion.
Guess that means we don’t like
In a kind of ‘false nine’ formation? Looks tricky and pacey but maybe a little lightweight. Even Barca ditched it.
was thinking more like a City with a fit Aguero than a false 9 WC Germany or last Euros Spain (false 9 brings tons of draws and only works best in tournoment not long leagues). although Chelsea tried (a few years back with Schurlle then Hazard and Oscar in front) and failed everytime. though I feel Sanchez has what it takes to do an Aguero/Suarez with likes of Mahrez Mkhit and Oezil around him.
Is one of those three a striker in your thinking? Or are they playing behind another man up front? (Which would hardly be much better since you’ve left out Mesut Özil.)
The left back position is about the least problem position in the squad.
Good player but I’m struggling to get excited about this to be honest.
I don’t think transfer negotiations work that way?
You work on several targets and positions simultaneously.
Given that our club is Arsenal I would imagine they have the resources and infrastructure to handle negotiations for several players at once.
Unless its Arsene doing everything which is nigh on stupid.
It’s not the least problem if Gibbo’s got other plans. It’s a real problem then if anything happens to Nacho (knocks on the desk..) and for the future.
Competition is always good. This season there was none as Monreal was pretty much given in the first eleven.
If Gibbs is going this guy looks like he would make a good replacement and future number one. I’m sure everybody would agree a striker is more important, we need goals first and foremost but we also need a strong squad. Also Rodruigez looks like he might give is something extra going forward.
Xhaka, Rodriguez, Mikatharyan….blah, blah.
None of it matters or will make sense until we get the striker/centre forward we need.
Calling it now. Wenger will turn him into a right side inside forward.
And then centre forward
I’m not even concerned about the left back position. Happy if Gibbs stays. This Rodriguez is very good attacking wise but not so sound defensively. Plus he costs alot if he’s going to be second choice to Nacho. Need a striker asap. That’s all I’m concerned about
Why ASAP? There’s not any serious football to play for a few monthsmonths yet!
Yeah but I would be shocked if Gibbs himself didn’t want to leave to play more. And while Arsenal aren’t bound to let him leave just because he may want out, if Wenger doesn’t think he’s good enough to get onto the pitch, why not get an upgrade?
I love Monreal, it’s crazy how good he’s become to be honest. But I’m sure if Rodriguez comes to Arsenal, it won’t be merely to slot into Gibbs’ role of never playing, but rather to challenge or even supplant Monreal.
Can’t begrudge Gibbs for wanting a move in search of first team football. Nice lad and very decent player.
I know very little about Rodriguez. Skeptical his ponytail can pass the medical, only David Seaman has been able to do so with flying colours.
Petit?
Cygan?
Oh, wait..
Would be a great signing, however id like to get sorted the striker, cb and the right wing first before we go looking for left backs. But if Gibbs decides to leave then Rodriguez would be a perfect replacement. I like Campbell on the wing, he works hard, can take people on and whenever he played this season he made stuff happen. But Wenger does not seem to fancy him that much playing literally anyone else if fit like Iwobi, Walcott and even deploying Ramsey on the wing ahead of him which is a pretty big hint for Campbell to… Read more »
Like Campbell, he’s a hard worker and a good player but he doesn’t score or make many goals. It’d be nice if we had three forwards who can all bang in the goals.
Wenger to spend £20m on a second choice LB?????? Not one of our starting back 5 has cost that much so I’m a bit hesitant on it
I dont think he will be 2nd choice though
The idea being that he grows into the role, competes with Nacho and then when Nacho’s time is up he can take over……..
Rodriguez is a beast on Fifa and Football Manager 2016, and given that I’ve lead Arsenal to domestic and European success with Rodriguez as the star left back, we should buy him.
this kind of thinking leads to Ibrahima Bakayoko, Chris Wreh and Kaba Diawara………….
With Jamie Vardinho bringing in his vast and winning experience to take over when Wenger retires I can see these guys making a shock comeback 🙂
Honestly don’t know how to feel about this one. Rodriguez is a brilliant talent but he won’t give us the balance we need what with Bellerin playing almost as a wingback. If you think Bellerin is attack minded, Rodriguez is atleast twice that. He basically camps in the opposition’s half.
But I guess great players can always adjust..
I mentioned last summer that we should be on the look out for young LBack. That said, I feel Rodriguez is slightly ahead as he is 23yrs. I’m not sure what the value would be of getting rid of Gibbs. Monreal is the better player but also the one crossing the 30 line. That said, if we bring in a replacement, it is more likely to be a Bellerin age player to develop/polish for the next couple of seasons and eventually take over from Monreal and not Gibbs. I don’t hear terribly much discontent from Gibbs granted his International career… Read more »
Why? We have 2 good leftbacks. This transfer smells like Debuchy 2. Keep Gibbs and play Nacho. Then spend Big on a Big Striker (Lewandoski would be nice)
why stop at Lewandowski? I say we should go for Messi…
There have been a fair amount of rumblings about Monreal wanting to go back to Spain for family reasons. Though I’m not sure where he’d go that’d be up to his level – Real, Barca and Atleti are all sorted.
If those rumors are true maybe this makes more sense.
fairly unconvincing rumours bearing in mind his recent wishes that led to an extended contract
Perhaps we actually plan to rotate players?
That would be sort of nice.
If you have a chance to sign world class you do it. I remember people on here didn’t want Khidera, Vidal, or to resign Fabregas because we had those positions covered. If it’s an upgrade than its an upgrade, if its not than it adds competition and depth. Did Bayern Munich need Vidal? No. They signed him cause he’s world class, and that always adds something to the squad.
Yawn.
Striker & centreback please.
This makes sense, Gibbs is not reliable in terms of fitness, Rodriguez is better and Monreal is 30, if we can get this done we absolutely should
Someone commented on a previous Rodriguez article that this transfer would result in Nacho moving to central defence. If so, it makes sense. Rodriguez starts. Central defence is kosc + nacho/gabriel/per/chambers. Vardy or Alexis would have more freedom out left as an overlapping Rodriguez soaks up defensive attention.
Monreal at CB? No.. just , no.. no more experiments. Let’s just get a qualified CB who will slot right in and a class Striker. I also think we ned a proper winger… Kingsley Coman would be nice
Buy the Iceland team??
Peter Andre?
Then use the other 99.8% of the transfer budget to invest in Icelandic Real Estate, I like your thinking.
pass…..looks too much like Diego Costa for my liking
We’ve got left backs down at the leftorium, all at great diddly doodely deals.
We have the best left back in the league and a more than capable back up in Gibbs, I just don’t fucking get this at all it literally is the last position on the pitch we need an upgrade! Gibbs — see out your contract, and Wenger go and buy a shit-hot striker, a shit-hot winger and a young CB. That is all.
Those saying they’re underwhelmed about our pursuit of a left back, Nacho is 30. He’s very good at 30, but he is still 30. It is likely he will lose a step in the next year or two. Would you rather scramble for enforcements and overpay for someone in a year or two, or nab an exciting, established youngster like Rodriguez right now at a pretty decent price to challenge Nacho now? It’s not that simple, granted, but if the guy is this highly coveted you might as well take your shot. As much as I love our fullbacks, they… Read more »
Also worth mentioning that he dramatically improves our Handsomeness Quotient at LB. Can’t put a price on that.
Still love ya, Nacho.
If we enter a bidding war with Real and City, there is no chance we will win simply because these teams need a LB more than us.