The omission of Francis Coquelin from yesterday’s FA Cup third round squad raised some eyebrows, especially in the wake of some comments from Arsene Wenger beforehand talking up his quality and professionalism
It led to speculation that he could be on the move, and earlier today reports emerged linking him with West Ham and Crystal Palace.
This evening, a story from Spain says that Valencia are interested in the midfielder, and have been in negotiations with Arsenal for a number of weeks about a possible transfer.
Cadena Ser say that the 26 year old could move on loan with a compulsory option to purchase in the summer, or the La Liga outfit could pay a transfer fee now to secure his services.
The two clubs have done plenty of business in the last little while, with Shkodran Mustafi arriving in August 2016, and last summer we sold Gabriel there for a fee of around £11m, so there are good lines of communication.
It would be a great move for Coquelin, certainly better than having to play for either West Ham or Crystal Palace, so we’ll keep a close eye on this one.
It seems almost certain that he’ll be on the move, and with Arsene Wenger saying the club will definitely do business this month, we could be on the lookout for a midfielder to replace him.
If correct, good luck Coq.
You deserve a fresh start.
Arsenal will no longer be able to use the Coq. Feels like the midfield getting neutered.
Yeah, one downside here is that we’ll no longer be able to make Coq jokes. And there were so many possibilities in the event Holding and Coq would have played together! Did Granit and Coq ever play together? Another opportunity now lost forever.
Some things are best left as a mystery I think. Personally I think coquelin is a very useful squad player, and imo brings something different and more useful than elneny in terms of the coq’s attitude .
I’ll always remember that human flying scissor block attempt. One of the funniest things I’ve seen
I’ve enjoyed thinking of it as the Shooting Star or Starman tackle
For this reference, the winner is you!
I’d agree with that. I loved Coquelin’s desire and aggression. Elneny seems a nice fellow and fine footballer, but he’s not got that spark. He’s another player who should be playing for a mid-table team, not Arsenal.
Wow Wenger’s coq could be on his way to Valencia, exciting stuff! I wish him all the best, never looked the same without Cazorla next to him. Loved the guy and he really helped the team at a desperate time.
Hope we replace him with real quality, Nzonzi isn’t a bad player but we can do better. We need to sign a world class dm and stop dicking around with our midfield.
I’d take Abdoulaye Doucoure from Watford…very talented younger player with huge potential.
Dust off those boots Kim, you’re getting un-retired
KK: But I’m not currently fit!
AW: Didn’t matter then, doesn’t matter now!
It’s not beyond us.. I don’t know what would be worse, signing a retired kallstrom or kallstrom with a broken back.
Everyone knows the opinion I have on Wenger here, but boy if Wenger pulls off the signing of Kim Jong Un, then he deserves a new contract.
Media would go nuclear at that. Will be a full on twitter melt down.
By Coq then leaving, we’d miss all the joke opportunities from the Coq and Rocket Boy playing together…..
Personally, i’d prefer us to keep Coquelin. I love his attitude. commitment and he does bring something we don’t have elsewhere. Also, we’re starting to look a little light of experience in midfield as we saw at Forest.
Yeah, but my coq is bigger.
I like Le Coq (not like that) all the best Francis.
With this move dare I dream that after Coq leaves that Ashley Maitland-Niles takes his spot in midfield & that we buy Sessegnon from Fulham to fill a slot at left back?….probably.
On Coq, he came in when our midfield options were depleted by injury & he really made a difference & built a decent relationship with Carzola. He hasn’t really been able to build up the same relationship with anyone else so it makes sense for him to be moved on.
I wouldn’t mind a big strong defensive midfield coming in…but I’ve been saying that for ten years!
Ashley? Don’t remind me of that tosser
Ergh, I’ve done the Ashley/Ainsley thing, tut tut.
No excuses, I shall make amends by watching all of Kaba Diawara’s you tube videos *shudders*
Big strong defensive midfielder or Ashley Maitland-Niles? Which one Glocken?
I’d go for the strong defensive midfielder to play alongside Rambo (Xhaka’s not good enough to start). Wilshere to replace Ozil when he finally goes. I wouldn’t mind Mahrez (anyone better’s going to cost sillyons) and Lemar to replace Sanchez. All in all I think that comes to about £180 mil – 90 for Lemar, 50 for Mahrez & 40 for the big strong midfielder.
Why not both? I would much rather we played 4-3-3 then 3-4-3. I would argue that we need it.
I would like Mahrez but Arsene hasn’t bought direct pacy players for ages. He is obcessed with buying slow sideways central midfielders & putting them in positions where they can’t play.
We won’t get Lemar as he’s seen the state of us and Liverpool & Chelsea fancy him.
However unlikely I’d like five players in the window –
Young RB
Young LB
CB
DMF
AMF
If a center back is going for 75m Lemar will be over 100.
Thank Christ we were depleted by injury halfway through that season. If Arteta had stayed fit we would have finished with no top 4, no FA cup & Coq would have been let go on a free. Sometimes injuries dig you out of a hole as well as putting you in one.
Good luck to Coq if be goes. Decent player but another victim of Arsene’s disinterest in midfielders who excel at the ‘uglier’ side of the game…..if I thought a better replacement was coming I’d be thrilled but….
What’s a compulsory option?
Yeah, my question too. If something is compulsory, can it really be an “option”?
It can, if ‘compulsory’ was one of the options for the kind of deal it is, right? I.e., you choose the compulsory option over the non-obligation option.
The initial deal is a loan which becomes permanent in the summer. Why clubs do this I don’t know, probably financially or due to some regulations.
I suppose clause would be a better definition.
I think it means having the option is compulsory. i.e. the agreement has to have an option to buy at $X. But they have a choice whether to buy or not at the end of it.
Sometimes they’re based on number of matches played, or as suggested a way for the buying club to delay the transfer fee. Most likely the latter.
Usually the deal would become permanent if the player plays a number of games for the new club. Happens a lot when clubs want to put spending in different financial years too, like Mbappe, where there’s isn’t even a game time requirement in his compulsory option.
From the 3 senior players in our squad who are able to play as a number 6 he’s the last one I’d sell. Rate him more than Xhaka and Elneny. A very good tackler and he always gave his everything and loves the club.
Certainly he has his weaknesses (as do the other two), but he’s the most unlike the other two in that his strengths are actually what he does when we don’t have the ball (in short: win it back), so I agree it’d be better to keep him and sell one of the only two (nothing against him, but Elneny would be the one to go for me).
I recall arsenal trying to sell Elneny this past sumner but he declined the move
But Wenger doesn’t like DMs. He liked his deepest lying midfielder to be a no.10 (Xhaka).
He likes his AMs to be no.10s (Ozil)
He likes his box to box CMs to be no.10s (Jack, Rambo)
He likes his Wingers to be no.10s (Iwobi, Sanchez).
Heck I wouldn’t be surprised if he coaches his CBs to be no.10s. Would explain a lot (their positioning).
It’s like being on Oprah, EVERYBODY GETS A NUMBER 10.
He’s a better DM than those two but let’s be honest, that’s not saying much at all.
Another who showed promise as a dm destroyer before being assigned as a rampaging dummy runner at the opposite end of the pitch to where he was needed
the recent history with Valencia has certainly favored them. Getting Gabriel back for essentially the same fee as he was sold, but held us to EPL-premium for Mustafi. I get that he’s not playing and that not every club has the EPL TV spoils, but hoping we get a decent return, else I’d favor a sale in-league.
He was originally signed from Villarreal
Coquelin and Cazorla. If only we got a full season out of them together. WE COULD OF BEEN SOMEBODY!
Good luck to him, would be nice to get an upgrade, won’t hold my breath though….
Kondogbia’s currently on loan there from Inter. Wondering if we could do some kind of deal whereby they don’t take up the option to buy and allow us to step in. They could have a bit of Coq on the cheap in return. Would think the Geoff could help shore up our midfield. Always rated him since he bossed us when playing for Monaco
The club will definately do business this month – Yes a host of players leaving & Jonny Evans coming in. Really not sure what the perfect answer to our current dilema is…but I’m almost certain that it is NOT that.
He got us right out of trouble a few years back and you could never fault his attitude!! All the best if it’s true
There is no way we’ve identified a midfield target ro come in January..we just don’t do common sense.
But Sven?
Not the player we should be trying to get rid of.
Maybe he hasn’t fitted in particularly well but he is the minimal standard for a utility role.
Instead the mediocre Elneny should go out.
And along with him I would also strongly consider Walcott and Debuchy.
Wrong priority.
If things keep going like this all we will be left with will be Arsene and theo. Lord help us!
All the best to coq, wenger decided to sell him when he cab still make a profit of him since he played only cup games and not considered to start in PL. 12 mil js a good buisness for a guy who chartlon didnt want to pay 900 000k. I wonder how Gabriel is playing at valencia who sits at the top 3 in La liga he has to ve playing good and from what am seeing this year from our Center backs he deserved to get a proper run of games. To conclude there will not replacment even if… Read more »
Gabriel is probably playing well, he’ll have a midfield in front of him that’s functional and protects it’s defence……..
However one player I don’t mind coming our way in exchange is Geoffrey Kongdogbia.
He’s on loan at Valencia from Inter.
Strong, quick footed, at 24yrs, he is just reaching prime years.
Needs a bit of discipline but could be molded into the sort of player we have been missing sans Viera and the unfortunate Diaby.
6’2 frame will be useful and in particular ability to pick through the middle on the dribble.
If Coquelin goes in exchange, it may make better sense.
I don’t like the thought of a band aid with Evans but if we can bring in Mahrez for Walcott, do some sort of exchange deal with PSG for Alexis and Draxler to happen in the summer, bring in Kongdogbia now for Coquelin (preferably Elneny) and sell Debuchy, Evans as a stop gap, better than nothing.
But I suspect we will do half that business only and some none perfromers who are more deserving to be rid of than Le Coq will hang on in the peripheral contributing F all from the bench not even as a Plan B.
xhaka will get his wish and his number 34
So long Coq jokes. I will miss you more than the player
Get yourself out while you still can, Coq!
I for one am looking forward to the resulting decline of dick jokes
I dont get it, coq and elneny are equal in quality but cog comes from the academy surely he must be the ideal one of them to stay?
must be something behind the scenes.
” we could be on the lookout for a midfielder to replace him.”
HA.
I will miss him! I remember how much of an impact he had in that season when he dovetailed so well with Cazorla. One injury, two casualties, unfortunately
Is it a possible Part exchange deal? Coq for kondogbia perhaps?
It makes sense… The only true DM in our roster has to go…
Steven nzonzi to follow? ???
Le Coq hamstring pop
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JdwTyqkBjFc
As a Gooner who lives in Valencia this is win win. We need to offload and he’ll really complement their squad. Great for Maitland-Niles too!
Shame that he’s leaving because I think he still should have a role since he is the only one in our squad with his type of skill set.
Also he’s a great mate of Lacazette and helped convince him to join us.
surely he will get a chance to say good bye to hazard right?
give him a chance boss.
Notwithstanding anything else, on what planet is Coq worth £100k per week?
I am not a fan. But to those that are partial, I hope you find a suitable place for the Coq.
Wenger has been Holding Coq back from penetrating the attack like Granit…lol