According to L’Equipe – via our friend Matt Spiro – comes news that Arsenal have reportedly made a bid for Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar.
Lyon expect to sell Houssem Aouar this summer, according to L'Equipe, but only offer they've received so far has come from #Arsenal. Arteta a big fan, Edu in contact with Lyon sporting director Juninho. Lyon haven't responded to offer of € & Guendouzi. #MCFC #Juventus also keen
— Matt Spiro (@mattspiro) August 20, 2020
Midfield is an area that Mikel Arteta is keen to strengthen, not least because there are question marks over whether Dani Ceballos might return, as well as Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi.
The young Frenchman sat out the final 10 games of the season, including the FA Cup triumph over Chelsea, after falling foul of disciplinary standards. Guendouzi is part of the offer to the beaten Champions League semi-finalists, but as yet the Ligue 1 outfit have yet to respond.
There is a very good line of communication between the two clubs, with Arsenal’s Technical Director Edu a former international teammate of his counterpart, Juninho.
The report says that Lyon are hoping for a fee closer to €60m because of how well Aouar has performed this season – with 10 assists and 9 goals in all competitions across the campaign. At 22, he has 137 first team appearances under his belt too, so plenty of experience.
One to keep an eye on, even if it does look a little out of our price-range right now, but let’s see.
We’ll go with a fence-sitting 5 on the Poo-O-Meter.
He’s in big demand, hard to see it happening. Then again, we did land Pepe last season.
Yeah, And the fact that only 5 poos are assigned by Andrew makes it look promising from an Arsenal perspective.
Cometh the Aouar…
Quality.
Top notch!
Fantastic sir!
I really liked him playing for Lyon but I also thought he’s a wee bit small…am I wrong?
yes
This would be a coup, if it were to happen. Dani, Aouar and Partey in midfield? Now that would be a dream midfield for me!
Although Lyon’s president is probably one of the hardest negotiatior in the planet…hopefully it eould be Juninho and not Aulas that we deal with. Make it happen, Edu!
If we can pull this off (cash + Matteo), we will get right into top 4. This kid is brilliant in the middle of the park and it will be a significant upgrade on our quality. But this is more likely to be a ploy to weaken Madrid’s stance on Ceballos. I don’t see us moving for both Ceballos and Aouar, EVER. Too similar. And Ceballos will be the cheaper option of the two, and the safer considering we had him already for the season. I, for one, will be delighted if we can pull off one of the other… Read more »
I don’t think Aouar and Ceballos play in the same position…at least looking at the position in which Arteta plays Ceballos. Aouar plays much further forward than Ceballos, and his roughly twenty goals and assists is a testament to that. I would think Aouar will be a replacement for an Ozil, rather than a Ceballos.
I think both Dani and Aour could play in the same midfield. Aouar oprares further up the pitch and acts as the creator (10 goals and 9 assists tells you a lot without going in to fully detailed stats) wheareas Dani spent most times at the base of our midfiled alongside Xhaka.
So Aouar is more of a 8 than a 6 and Dani played more of a 6 than an 8 role. I dont see why they can’t play together.
Where does SMITH-ROWE GET A CHANCE IF WE SIGN THESE PLAYERS??? SO FOR YOU IT WILL BE OK TO LOSE A GREAT PLAYER TO OUR RIVALS ??? I WANT TO SEE SMITH-ROWE IN THE TEAM ….
There will be plenty of chances in the EL, domestic cups, and from the bench, as long as we don’t waste any time with Ozil. Players will be exhausted during this compacted season/off-season, we’ll need to rotate more than usual to avoid an injury crisis/sudden crash in form
Besides, Smith-Rowe isn’t yet at a level where he should be or needs to be regularly starting games for us in order for him to progress. Let him impress as a squad player 1st
Well now you’ve put it in all in caps you’re bound to get what you want
Those who watched Gnabry yesterday didn’t give you a downvote.
Not even Tony Pulis?
Just think Wenger chose Iwobi over Gnabry!?!
That’s not what happened
It is, in 2015-16 Gnabry was loaned out to West Brom and Iwobi played 13 premier league matches.
It’s quite possible had those matches been handed to Gnabry, which is likely as they play in the same position, he could still be with us.
It’s not a hard push to see who the vote of confidence was given to.
Gnabry had been out for 15 months or so with a knee injury, so needed a loan to play and get some fitness back.
West Brom was 100% the wrong place to send him, not defending that, but it wasn’t a choice of choosing one over the other. Arsenal made a mess of it, but it’s not the way you lay it out.
Any way you slice it there were numerous errors of judgement and considering the number of matches and injuries we historically had, Gnabry would have got ample playing time. Not only was West Brom the wrong place to send him, he also had only 2 years left on his contract, meaning he would only have 12 months when he returned, which is why we sold him. Any loan should have been conditional on him extending his contract before hand. But all things considered, under Wenger being sent out on loan was generally a sign he didn’t fancy a player and… Read more »
We needed to have forced Ox to put pen and paper to his new deal or promote Gnabry. Instead we did neither lost both. West Brom a poor decision to develop Gnabry. I suspect 9with good reason) as well that had he stayed with us, he would not have developed as he did with Bayern although they had him out on loan first season before becoming eventual owners. Its all missteps we keep habit of making on younger players. Current Guendouzi situation IMO not well handled. We should not be in a rush to sell (unless of course very good… Read more »
In fact Iwobi played 21 matches that season
still harping on about things wenger done wrong. get over it. the man is a legend remember the good times
It’s endless, i have a lot of material
You’re a complete sausage.
Correct. But those who back then pleaded the club to not sell Gnabry, cause otherwise he’d end up leading his future team to a CL final, please step forward now. And provide some proof of that, if possible.
I certainly didn’t have any sleepless nights back then, after he left us. I gladly admit that I was drastically wrong.
Yes, it was a mistake to sell him, but I guess 99.9 % of us would have made that mistake back then.
Did you notice that in the last 4 PL games before lockdown when Ceballos and Ozil played together Ozil got 1 goal and 1 assist.He alsomade the goal and the Auba chance Vs Olympiakos. This was because Ceballos could play the progressor role which allowed Ozil to operate further forward. Prior to this due to necessity for the team Ozil was dropping deep, breaking the press and progressing the ball so got many pre assists instead of assists, he was essentially moving the ball from deep into the final third. If you look at all Ozil’s underlying stats this season,… Read more »
Ozil has declined and his work rate is sub par, he’s not a starter at a club with champions league spot aspirations.
Why is it that everyone seems to have forgotten we have SMITH-ROWE and he needs playing time. The guy bleeds Arsenal and is a brilliant player.:Let him prove his class.. Getting in more players in his position will mean he gets less play time if any and in the end we will end up losing a brilliant player to maybe Utd City Liverpool…..
Fully with you on this. I for one want to see ESR in the starting lineup, he is an amazing prospect, we can’t continue to lose such players, look at jeff, serge, bennacer etc… Also, hopefully we let Laca go so eddie gets more chances and we don’t stifle his place in the team with a “replacement” for Laca – as Eddie already is Laca’s replacement…
‘Amazing prospect’ in a team that wants to bridge the yawning gap between them and the top 4?
As promising as E S-R is, we shouldn’t overlook a class act… and one that may be ready from day one.
Eddie is nothing like Laca. Laca is class, I can’t understand people talking about him like he’s expendable. Other than Auba, we don’t have a single other experienced attacking option. He’s an essential part of team for at least one more season, until we see whether Eddie or Martinelli are what we want and hope they are.
LACA – WHAT? HE AIN’T GOING NOWHERE. EDDIE IS STILL NOT UP TO HIS LEVEL.
i understand your frustration. We all want to see the next Jack Wilshire gracing our midfield. But we spent too many years giving chances to mediocre young players to come good (Denilson anyone?). Before we could afford to do that because Wenger continuously produced a top 4 finish. We can no longer afford that in the short term. Champions league is paramount this year. And are you not happy with Saka in the team? My point is if ESR is better than Aouar, he will play. Just like Saka kept Pepe out of the team for a while. Talent will… Read more »
Seriously mate, you need to get over this making top four business for a least another season. It’s not going to happen.
Yet.
I think it’s realistic to say with a couple of these signings we should be pushing for it. Liverpool and City will be way out in front. Chelsea’s signings make me think they will be 3rd, but we should be challenging Utd, Spuds, Leicester & Wolves (the last 2 of which I think we’ll easily surpass).
If we can cement the positions of the likes of Saliba, Gabriel, Pepe, New CM, Saka, etc, and accept there will be some mistakes at the back as they settle, we can have a rocking second half to the season
If we bring in Aouar, Gabriel and Partey; and Aubameyang signs a new deal, I’ll fancy us for top 4.
The gap between us and Man U (third last season), is not as wide as the table made it look.
United still look like a team in search of its soul.
Chelsea’s defence will still be their drawback again.
Spurs is no better.
Leceister won’t have the season as last season: their small squad will run out of steam.
The same goes for Wolves.
United didn’t scare me alot in their EL game vs Sevilla. These teams are not as far away from us as some think. Of course, if we only reach approximately 60 % of our own capacity like last season, we will not compete with them and end up 8th to 10th again. If we unleash our full potential, we are right up there in my opinion.
Top four is happening this season
I’m sure Edu and Juninho are good friends. Edu will sort this one out, no pressure.
The point is try to land Aouar without being scammed by third parties as it happened with Pepe last season.
Our Frauded by Raul
Because of your name sir Pat, I will always give u an upvote. No matter what
Interest in Partey and Aouar implies we’re not expecting (or prioritising?) Ceballos.
Then again, Zidane apparently likes Aouar, so if he goes to Real, then presumably that frees up Ceballos.
I really hope we get Aouar over Ceballos. Think how inconsistent Ceballos was this season and how people were complaining about him. Think how little end product he offers and how he lacks athleticism, how he dwelled on the ball and often made the wrong decision and slowed moves down. Yes he’s a talent and did well for Spain at U21 level but I think there is some real recency bias at play as well as sentimentality because of his apparent passion and the FA cup win. We need to remember he was playing in a very limited role in… Read more »
Yes, we did with Pepe but haven’t recent revelations shown we got him by paying considerably over the actual valuation? Given that “modus operandi” we’ll almost certainly get this guy (and anyone else we want, come to that) – the only problem is we’ll be bankrupt.
This is the legacy of Wenger. It always amazes me truly the impact the had on us, the fans. So I get your thinking. I don’t think fan of any other big teams thinks like the way we do. Any time there is a transfer rumour, I always think first “how much he costs? Can we afford him?” If I only sometime paid the same type of attention to my personal finances, I would be a rich man..?. I remember before the Pepe signing happened, i refused to believe it… because it was so un-Arsenal like. Paying over the top… Read more »
With all due respect, that’s nonsense. The reports about Pepe’s transfer suggest that we paid substantially over the odds – NOT because we were in a bidding war with another club, we just paid much more (some reports suggest £15 million+) than was necessary to buy him. That’s plain daft (to put it mildly, there are laws of libel) which could be why the owners put their lawyer onto the Board. Yes, I agree the owners won’t get to the actual stage of declaring Arsenal bankrupt but they’ll certain cut back spending long before then to ensure we don’t run… Read more »
My whole point is that the club has a better handle on finances than many other clubs and hence transfers like Aouar should be welcomed in a transition season like this to help Arteta. Not met with skepticism! I am not sure what are the basis of your “assumptions” regarding the finances of our club or Kroenke’s club? You were assuming we have a “modus operandi” of transfer to buy whatever players we need by paying over the top. that type of transfer is apperrently no longer a modus operandi since we are already internally investigating the transfer and the… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more with you mate. Some of the guys on here go on about money as if it were there own
If we sign him and Partey, every game will be Aouar Partey.
Aouar,Partey and Xhaka/Cabellos will quite a midfield trios. Then imagine Gabriel to our current startable defenders and Auba, Pepe and Saka/Martinelli in front of them? Can we dare to dream?
Everybody’s finances are screwed and we have an interesting project developing here so I guess it might
Arsenal should sign someone already.. The league fixtures are out!!
€60m? Houssem, we have a problem.
Brilliant!
I know it was against Bayern but he was pretty much invisible last night
He was good for first 20 minutes.
Disagree, after Depay went off he took the armband, was driving the team forward and made a few chances.
It’s almost like he didn’t actually watch the game.
Agree with you–he looked brilliant to me. If that’s a typical performance, and the statistics indicate it might be, then he will be at Madrid or Barca, I’m afraid.
Had a great run into the box in that secound half, and what about that chance he made for Ekambi. With what he had around him, he led a great rally to try and trun the game around.
Willian, Partey, Gabriel and Aouar would be a hell of a transfer window.
And Saliba joining. Boom!
Plus Auba signing the new deal
What’s holding up Auba signing, do you thinks it’s purely down to the fact he is on holiday?
This could happen only if we sell players at a good price.
This transfer window for us is so different than what I was expecting, with COVID-19 financial restrictions I was expecting us to just make the best of what we’ve got. Is it me or does it feel like for the 1st time for years, the boss and associates really are working to a plan and pushing forward what they want. Seem to be doing buying before we start selling, normally we are so sluggish in the market, waiting for other teams to do their business and then seeing what is left to buy. This year Arteta is going for definite… Read more »
This one feels a little above our level.
It is. All because Kroenke has ruined everything built up to 2006. And, sadly I fear, the worst is yet to come.
I never understand this idea about Kroenke. We’ve spent loads in the past few seasons for an owner who ‘doesn’t spend’ and ‘ruined the club’!
OK, let me explain: This guy has invested NONE of his own money. ZERO. ZILCH. He has heaped tons of debt on the club (to buy out the Russian oligarch) and we now owe him the stadium debt too. The money spent on transfers is money raised in the transfer market (and through commercial, TV & other revenue streams). Big clubs don’t sell their players. Arsenal have consistently been a selling club for the best part of 15 years. All Kroenke has done is enriched his portfolio of *franchises* by buying Arsenal, which has increased his capacity to finance his… Read more »
Spending what we make has always been our way. Personally I’m only interested in the club being run in the right way with good decisions being made by owners and employing the right people to make those decisions. That’s not to say they’ve done that either up to this point. They seem far more reactionary than visionary but even if their motives are purely financial it serves them best to ensure this club competes at the top. They’re far from ideal owners but if they’re genuinely trying to improve things and learning from experience then I’d say there are also… Read more »
To be fair, I think most of what we have spent in the last few seasons has been out of Arsenal’s own pocket (generated revenue), and not much out of Stan’s pocket.
While this does sound like a prudent approach, some cash injection from Stan could do even bigger wonders in the market.
I don’t want a rich guy who buys players from his private money. If you’re up for such a model, there are plenty clubs to chose from. It’s not the Arsenal way. But if Stan was that greedy c*nt a lot of people are saying he is, he could easily take the money we’ve earned in the last seasons out of the club instead of investing it in players. I have a problem with the 55 redundancies (and even there, the Covid situation and the Brexit are factors that make a smaller scouting department reasonable), but apart from that you… Read more »
He did do that for a couple of seasons paying himself 3 million a year but the fan pressure made him stop doing it. We are the only club who gets no investment from our owner. It’s fine to be idealistic but we will unfortunately continue to be just above average while we refuse to do what every other big club does and excuse it away talking about “Arsenal values”. Our club has been taken over by a ruthless billionaire, we may as well pressure him to spend something and increase the value of his asset, it might even put… Read more »
Except spending money got us nowhere, it takes more than money -just look at Everton. It’s not like Kroenke is calling the shots on player recruitment and contract renewals. A major portion of blame for our current circumstances falls on Gazidiz and Wenger, with a topping of Emery and Raul.
Spending money badly got us nowhere. Spending money well got Liverpool a champions league.
people like you will never enjoy football. you have come into a positive article about us maybe signing a good player , and are talking doom and gloom. big clubs sell players all the time. things are not perfect right now , but they never have been if you take rose tinted glasses off. chill out and enjoy it for what it is. you’re going to make yourself ill mate!
Ooh aah!
Oww argh!
Haha
€30m + Guendouzi – take it or leave it (please take it)
Nah give them €10m + Guendouzi because they will sell Guendouzi for more than €50m to Barca in few years!!
i love that
He is a highly rated player and is on Arsenal radar since couple of seasons. Although I don’t agree with Lyon’s valuation but he should be close to €40m as fair valuation. Offer Lyon, €10m + Guendouzi and they should take it 😀 because they will sell Guendouzi for a profit in few years.
Why not60? what 22 year old allround midfielder is better than him? He has it all
Yes, of course.
In fact we should immediately make a counter offer of 120 million to show how good we think he is.
Oh my bad mate..did I blow your cover? Were you on an airborn mision to low ball OL to sell?
Price tags are more complex than how good anyone thinks he is…
ivan gazidis school of finance.
He’s a very impressive player and perfect fit for Arsenal. I’d take him over a (way cheaper) loan deal for Ceballos any day of the week. If clubs like City come in for him, I’m not sure we’d have any chance of making a signing like this though.
Can’t seem to shift Guendouzi. According to these reports I keep seeing we’ve offered him to everyone
He’s round my place now fixing the boiler.
He’s a skilled craftsman but an annoying little s@@@
Our current midfield is Xhaka, Torreira, Guendouzi and Elneny…Sigh.
So happy! soooo sooo happy!!!! Eaven just the fact we are trying to do this!! Feels good, feels right..cuz if you love this game you love this guy! he’s cazorla on the ball, can position to defend, can transition, can set up, can score…..can WE sign him?????????
Quite a lot of fence sitting poo these days. I’d not want to live in that neighborhood
Neighborhood is not so bad, just stay clear of the fence… it’s covered in shite 🙂
How many poos does the Poo-O-Meter go up to?………………….is that 5 out of 10?
We’ll probably end up signing Juninho ??
I’d take that. He’s probably an upgrade on everything the club currently has.
One hell of a free-kick taker.
Its all good that we are looking for extra players and getting rid of certain players, but lets not forget what we already have coming through the ranks in midfield. In that i mean Smith -Rowe a player that is ready to light up the premier league and replace players like ceballos and Ozil… He can only show what his is made of by getting game time and a run in the team.. Smith-Rowe in my humble opinion is ready and i think he will be brilliant if he gets a run in the team….
Give it a rest carl
LETS get the Partey deal done first and concentrate on getting rid of players… and then maybe then look else where….
what about ESR though ?
Aouar would be a dream! If we could pull that deal off it would add a lot of creativity to our midfield. Him sat behind Auba would be amazing.
If we could get Auba (new deal), Partey, Gabriel, Auoar, Willian, and shift the fringe players this summer I would be amazed.
Why do I do this to myself!?
I keep seeing people talking about Guendouzi being a makeweight in all kinds of deals, as if a) he doesn’t have the final say in where he goes and b) other clubs are falling over themselves to get him. He’s tarnished goods, everyone knows about his attitude problems and that we just want rid. In one sense we’d almost be wiser to loan him somewhere for a year and hope that his value returns, because we certainly won’t be getting as much for him now as people seem to think. For players like Aouar, the club who owns them hold… Read more »
WHAT ABOUT SMITH-ROWE ?????
He needs to be eased in and don’t forget injuries… We need more quality
Good player. 60m isn’t an astronomical amount, but not cheap either. It would be nice to think that now with Edu involved, we can start making reasonable and honest offers befitting this club rather than laughable penny-pinching offers or downright dishonest offers. I’m trusting that Kroenke knows that he has a good man in Edu; it’s just whether or not he’s prepared to invest. Can’t say I blame Blogs for sitting on the fence with this one; I’ll be surprised indeed if it happens. I hope so, the lad is a good player and would definitely improve our creatively starved… Read more »
Wow .
Partey at the base of the midfield
Ceballos operating as progressor at 6..
Nd auour in front of Dem.
Or God I ll cum every game..
Beautiful football is back baby..
Dat would actually be the Bea midfield in epl. …
You shoulda finished after your first line…
Please please enjoy your moment.
Because 90% of these stories are just agents trying to drive up value, or two-bit journos trying to get clicks. Enjoy it now, because reality will most likely be something completely different.
That said, if you can send me a big old “I TOLD YOU!” in a month, i’ll be happy to take it, *and* buy you a beer 🙂
I understand that in this context teams need money, but I can’t possibly understand why would Lyon refuse an offer of Guendouzi + 20M/30M€ if they get it. 1 – We can hate on Guendouzi (an deservedly so) but he’s still a very promising young lad. He had the level to start in premier league, he’ll dominate in Ligue 1. Just look at what the Jeff is doing. I think he’ll be a very good starter from day one. 2 – Guendouzi as an enormous re-sell potential. A few good seasons under his belt, a few more call-ups in the… Read more »
I never believed in the discipline alibi to sell Doozy. It is all about selling him to muster the money needed to buy other players (fair enough). Anyways, he was too much of Emery project.
In a documentary about bad boy Anelka, Wenger said he wasn’t playing him when he came. The guy disappear at halftime. Wenger went to find him. Anelka was packing his belongings to leave the club. Anelka is bad boy Grade 1 and Matteo Grade 4.
Guendouzi hasn’t done much to be kicked out yet.
From watching the Anelka doco … his brothers/advisors were money-crazy and Nico whinged a lot. Was good for us but no legend.
Free Doozy … he must have borrowed Mikel’s styling mousse.
Guendouzi has enormous re-sell potential, but only if he can be put on display. You might as well ask why we didn’t play him after the forced break and now sell him for a huge profit? Or why we don’t play him next season and sell for profit next summer? There seems to be something that prevents our manager from doing just that and any buyer might encounter the same problem. If their manager isn’t confident that he can 100 % “handle” the player Guendouzi, such transfer is a huge financial gamble. Concerning your third argument, Lyon might have trouble… Read more »
I think we can definitely offer Aouar more game time than Man City. They have De Bruyne, Gundogan, Phoden, Rodri…
I don’t think Aouar and Ceballos play in the same position…at least looking at the position in which Arteta plays Ceballos. Aouar plays much further forward than Ceballos, and his roughly twenty goals and assists is a testament to that. I would think Aouar will be a replacement for an Ozil, rather than a Ceballos
Aoaur can play from deeper next to Granit but he is more left sided.
Ideally we should be retaining Ceballos and play Ceballos right , Aouar left with Granit at the base.
We will likely need one more to supplement Granit. There is space for Guendouzi if we can fix his head. He is a talented player who could eventually succeed Granit. He is too impatient.
The gaffer IMO should sit down and have a word with Guendouzi again instead of being too emotional and trying to sell him (worse to worse we should loan him)
I like it. Think of the destruction on that side with Tierney overlaping, Auba either being released by Aouar in behind or staying on the left creating space in the box for him to score.
If we are playing 3 up top, we will likely have an inverted triangle with Granit at the base so two ahead of him…
Lyon are always a cunt to deal with for transfers. They demand top dollar. Was the same with Lacazette and has been every time we’ve been linked with one of their players.
He will be priced high. If we get him, we need to be prepared to put most of the budget into him. Which means less likely as we have other areas we have to add. We may also need a back up in the holding role for Granit. If so, I would suggest maybe adding Khedira or Banega on a 1+1. The foremer surplus to requirement at Juve the latter on his way to Al Saad. No 3 year deal please like with Willian on 220K per week. Another option is Diawara at Roma maybe less spectacular but good back… Read more »
While that might be frustrating for us, I have to say: Good for Lyon.
Wouldn’t anybody like his own club to be like that?
So they’re everything we’d like to be…
Always a tricky balance between young players and transfers. Problem is so many youngsters promise much in late teens then fizzle out and end up as journeymen in lower leagues. Smith – Rowe is a great prospect but no where near ready to be the main playmaker in the premier league. Ditto Willock. And I don’t rate N’ketiah at all, released by Chelsea, underwhelmed at Leeds and not particularly impressive back with us. If we can get some new players in clear the glut of average players we have and keep a gentle progression for the kids its a good… Read more »
Poo on a fence? I once licked a fence in kindergarten and my tongue got stuck (this was in Norway during winter).
Should that be “fence-sh*trying”
Fml..
“Fence-sh*tting”
Edu & Juninho.
Deal done then!
I don’t know. He’s short and thin. We have played with a midfield of smurfs for too long. One of the reasons teams like to “get into Arsenal” is that they can. The referees have bought into it as well and that’s resulted in Eduardo, Diaby, Ramsey, Debuchy, and Leno being seriously injured. Sanchez got pushed into a brick camera pit but survived and one suspects that Ozil’s decline has much to do with the lumping he receives each time he touches the ball. I fear Aouar would be just another Reyes getting kicked off the field. I’m not saying… Read more »
He plays more on the left but can function across attacking midfield. He can also play from deep albeit he is more from the left where Ceballos was more from the right.
He’s more about carrying the ball forward and retention for us.
Ideally Ceballos right, Aoaur left with Granit at the base would be fantastic.
He isn’t short like Torreira…
Aoaur is 5’9 just an inch shorter than Ceballos. And its more about control these days.
Santi was 5’6 on a good day but helped us hold and dominate the ball.
He isn’t thick, buff and pugnacious like Torreira either. At his best, Santi was one smurf who could hold his own and also had Coq around to keep bullies in line. I loved Santi, but in the wrong position he was left out to dry. At his worst, ….well. Before Arsene paired him with Coq as a double pivot he had him out on the left of midfield. I have a very painful memory of a February day in 2014. Santi was regularly stripped of the ball around the center line. That lead to a series of jailbreaks that lead… Read more »
Interesting you ignored the rest of my post and the context I developed. When he’s getting the crap bullied out of him who’ll stand up and get some back? Xhaka (card, card, gone)?
The huge difference is that Torreira is a defensive minded mid who’s better off the ball than on it, where Aoaur is the exact opposite!
That’s true, but…where was Emery playing him? Not at DM.
Oh don’t worry you are well wrong, if we get him he will be the most attacking midfielder, tracking back only to cover the passing lanes and position to defend space, it’s the opponents that will need to use all the size and strength to try to stop him.
We offered them Guendouzi, 150 euros and a pack of crisps.
Jamon ruffles?
Good to see at least we are trying for him (IF TRUE) Definitely worth it if 40-45m IMO for us. He can cover across midfield from left to right and through the middle but can also play from deep (ala Ceballos) Extremely versatile, still not complete product but very good track record now at Lyon and proven. OTOH downside is Lyon may play hard ball and we are vulnerable to being hijacked by a top end CL club. How the player feels a bout us could also be critical. Which is where I feel losing Lacazette may be detrimental as… Read more »
Most likely though we won’t get him. RMadrid apparently interested and Benzema is his idol.
But it may work out to our favour somewhat as it may mean if RM get him they may relinquish on Ceballos.
Diawara at the moment a different type of player but probably more likely for us given Roma interest in Torreira.
Apparently Napoli is the one interested in Sokratis if we get Manghalles proviso City buy Koillibaly… quite the circus this year
Aouar – Partey – Ceballos.
The midfield we want, but probably don’t deserve.