Arsene Wenger has admitted that his transfer window plans are dependent on how serious the injury to Nicklas Bendtner turns out to be.
There are fears that the Dane could be out for months if he’s damaged ankle ligaments, but the club won’t have confirmation of how serious the problem is until later on Saturday.
Asked if a long-term problem to Bendtner would force his hand in the January window, the boss said, “If it’s a question of up to three weeks, okay, but if it’s a question of months the situation is quite … well, that’s what we have to determine.
“We would have to. You want to keep your chances for the season at the best possible level.”
The Frenchman earlier ruled out a move for Dimitar Berbatov, and while the name of Diego Costa is being bandied around by all and sundry, nobody seems to have considered the fact that an Atletico side fighting for the La Liga title would be more than reluctant to sell.
It means Wenger will have to look around for something short term, something he admits might be the best option in January.
“Ideally, you want a longer solution,” he said, “but a longer solution looks much more difficult to find in January than a stopgap.
“You can find a solution somewhere – a club that has financial trouble and wants to get rid of a big contract for five or six months but to find in January exactly the player who will be tomorrow’s star in the longer term is much more difficult.”
So… Here we are at that fateful day… Our destiny is to be determined by the fabled TGSTEL. It is written.
Then after lending ear to wengers wise words……Bendtner in the confines of his home damaged his leg even further by landing a drawer on it. Why you may ask? its because he knew, he knew that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. We salute you Oh great tgstel.
He’s had a lot of twat moments but would you have even expected Gervinho to score there? There was a good 4 months where even Giroud would never have been expected to score a confident goal like that last season. Regardless of other troubles, Bentdner has been truly important to our side, even if but for a few games, and he’s settled adequately into the side considering how few match minutes he’s gotten. Regardless of what people, myself included, may think of Bentdner, I see him as, realistically, the most practical solution to back up Giroud at this point. He’s… Read more »
whos gervinho?
Seriously though, who is Gervinho? I thought we all agreed to forget that we ever signed the player and imagine we had no forward against Bradford?
Fuck that’s dark Heroldgoon.
We all know RVP is seriously unhappy at Manure – are his injuries this season even real (sorry I forgot he had his personal treatment table here) – but we could do worse than attempt to re-sign him. Any other Gooners on the same page as me??
are you fucking mad?
Just don’t sign Berbatov.. we currently have ZERO deadwoods
Park Chu-Young deader than deadwood.
Park Chu-Young is no longer a being of this realm. Not for him the earthly desire of first-team football. Not for him the egoistic pursuit of the adoration of the masses. He has achieved enlightenment. He has ascended to a higher plane of existence. He is legend.
You really should lay off the mushrooms.
I wonder why the media haven’t asked Wenger about Park Chu-Young, would love to see the expression on his face when giving his answer. *smiles…well, he’s doing a great job for the reserves, he might get his chance*
Park Chu-Young is in fact a unicorn that was signed to bring the club luck, either that or he’s the result of a practical joke somewhere along the lines
tumbleweed..
I wouldn’t say Berbatov is deadwood, he bangs in goals when he gets the service which Arsenal can provide. He’s in the unfortunate position of having been done over by Sir Alex after only being played for 12 games in the 2011/12 season.
I have to agree with pundits that say he would be a steal for Arsenal at £2 million, he’s a proven goalscorer with a proper poacher instinct and his experience could rub off on Giroud who needs to get his timing right of late
In truth I think Berbatov might be a steal for 2 million. He’s getting old anyways. He’d get a devent contract, score a few goals and we would find a long term solution in the summer. How convenient is that?
he’s 33 and diminshing. hasn’t been that great for Fulham
Signing him would mean forget all the Costas and Lewandowski in summer because he’s already here
not to mention he’s a pretty selfish player and extremely wasteful – I think we’ve got a far better poacher in Walcott.
Problem I have with Berbatov is his defensive duties. Our team’s defense success is mainly due to Olivier/Per and Kos in Set pieces. Ollie also runs like mad(not as mad as rozza..but still does a great job) when it come to pressing. Having Berb(ST) and Ozil(No 10) Theo(RM), Am worried we might put our defense under pressure once we lose the ball.
Berbatov:
20 goals, 4 assists for Fulham in 51 apps. Scored 3 in last 5 trips to Emirates. remember??
Scored 56 in 149 for Man Utd.
if that is deadwood you need a new dictionary
Attitude like shit though
Not Berbatov. If you think it’s only about goals, you’re massively misunderstanding Giroud’s contribution to the team, from involvement in pressing to strong hold-up play to defensive work-rate. Can you imagine Berbatov tracking back into the box and marking an opposition player from a corner in the 90th minute when we’re defending a one-goal lead?
You could list his records for Leverkusen and sp*rs while you are at it.
HE IS OLD is my point is diminishing very fast, Signing him will only mean no more strikers in nearest future
If we are talking about stop gaps, Henry still has some juice left in him
Oh, and class is permanent. He has slowed down, but still the same killer instinct!
I think should buy regardless of Bendtner’s injury, I remember the 2008 squad where we were the best team in the league and we fucked up because Wenger didn’t use the January window, I’d hate to see that happen again.
On Berbatov, I’m not too sure about him, he has class about him but he’s lazy and it could go all ‘Arshavin’ it’s hard but I trust Wenger to find us someone.
How about drogba? He is more similar to Giroud in terms of his style of play than berbatov and needs no adjustment to EPL. Apparently he only has 6 months left on current contract so Gala might be willing to sell.
He was an option last January but not this one and did he ever get up after falling theatrically at the emirates cup??
I honestly don’t know what to wish for anymore. Before Bendtner’s improved performance in his cameo against Cardiff, I was conviced we needed a new back-up striker to challenge. Now I’m not so sure we could find anyone better than Mick in January in the mould of the big target man we seem to need in order for the team to function. So… Get Well Soon Bendtner?!
Come on Wenger, just sign Costa!!
Yeah, because it’s that easy.
I heard you’re that easy
I am, but I’m no Diego Costa.
Show up
activate release clause
put player in plane.
Show player bucket of money in plane.
register player in time
Puts on jersey in plane.
Land at emirates by 4pm: destroys spurs.
Yeiy!
Show up,
open door,
walk to counter,
pay money,
wait for a few minutes,
get coffee…………
If it was that straightforward, you had player’s agents crawling up one’s buttcrack for tea.
you forgot
*throw players agent out of plane…
….Agents can be such cunts
That release clause is bandied around — only is gossip columns and such. Most probably not true.
And if it is just pure bidding, two questions. 1> Why would Atletico sell? They are having their greatest season in a long time. 2> If it is general bidding, it will go up to 60M or more. Then how would we get Costa, an not oil-rich Chelsea?
Word is that Costa has a release clause in his contract – and not a Suarez-style one either.
If this is true, and he’s willing to come to Arsenal, then it might just be that easy…
And if so, dare I say that Bentdtner’s injury would become a blessing in disguise?
All players in Spain are required to have a minimum release clause written into their contracts, so they usually go for absolutely ridiculous sums. Wouldn’t be surprised if Diego Costa’s release fee is £100m+.
If Bendtner was at another club I think plenty of people would see him as a perfect solution to a sort-term striker shortage like the one we have. Let’s hope we can get him back soon, cause the guy has ten goals in him this season. Then we can crack on in the summer with another option when he moves to Galatasary or some place.
Just confirmed Bendnter out for 3 months !
At least it’s not 3 weeks!
Really hope TGSTEL is ‘out’ for 2 months, so Wenger gets another striker, then TGSTEL returns early from injury, only then will we have proper depth up front
I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU GOT SO MANY THUMBS DOWN. YOUR POST WAS ACCURATE AND INSPIRING
We need a signing like Henrik Larson was for Man Utd ( sorry to swear) but he helped Utd to the title that year and was a great tempory measure. That said Big Nicks number is up long term at Arsenal anyway I think we all agree so a long term bit of quality wouldn’t go a miss to.
Why not the legend himself, Mr Henry?
Too bad Dempsey just signed with Fulham–he has decent hold up play, works hard, and wouldn’t be on the books more than a few months.
I almost posted the same comment, but figured I’d get lambasted for showing national bias.
He’s a proven scorer in the Prem. And some of those goals were in big spots. He did shit the bed when he came back to MLS though, so not sure how effective he is going to be this loan spell.
So he has been shit in the MLS and for some reason he would improve us?
Perhaps you missed the use of the conjunction “though”, as I was introducing something to qualify what I had just written.
So, whereas Dempsey is a proven EPL scorer and might have been a loan worth considering, his shit form in MLS makes me less convinced he will play at the level he did before going back to the US.
All i hear is lazy lazy lazy! you wouldn’t happen to have any other reason why we shouldn’t sign him would you? and tbf if i were to pick any position contributing slightly less than the rest then it would probably be the C.F position. Anyway i have my own opinion about Berbatov to me i feel he is demotivated at fulham. he is the only star there which kind of makes him think he’s not entitled to doing some of the hardwork. so would a title chasing team be the kick up the arse he’s been waiting for? mind… Read more »
T. Henry?
Brilliant brilliant! centre forward!! dont be ridiculous.
Why not sign Nikica Jelavic ? This guy is a perfect number 9 and with the quality we’ve got in the midfield goals are sure to pour in with this guy upfront. He proved himself in Rangers and Everton before injury hit him down like it does to most players. He has as well not played or is registered by any team in the UCL and will want to reestablish himself as the hot assert he is especially as he aims for a shirt in the Croatian World Cup squad. Atimes I wonder if these Arsenal scouts are wise at… Read more »
He’s such a perfect number 9 Everton brought in Lukaku barely months after buying him. The scottish league is so misleading. Gary hooper was banging them in left right and centre for celtic and was even touted for liverpool now the guy is at Norwich and hitting a barn door.
Nooooo
Wendger becomes conservative again. This year has greatest chance of getting the title but will be lost again be his narrow mind on spending. Did he think whether Giroud will turn fitted again after exhausting first half of season. Did he think whether his squaalud strong enough to bit Man City in next round. If not, in such tight competition, Arsenal will not get through. Dont forget Arsenal is be
Why are you adding your own letters to perfectly good words?
Don’t forget: Arsenal is be.
Don’t listen to me; I can’t even spell my own name ^^^
There are plenty of decent options out there if we just want a stop gap. Not sure if his loyalty is the reason hes never linked elsewhere but I think wenger could get the best out of a player like gabby abonglahor.
Just to make it clear, this person is not the real GoonTang, I am! And I thought that needed saying as I want to distance myself as far as possible from the above persons comments.
This has “ex-player” written all over it. If we HAVE to sign someone in Jan, AW is only ever really comfortable going back to his old players.
Either that, or RECORD SIGNING! (It won’t be a record signing.)
I think the Berbatov lazy tag is a bit overused. He has a very laid back style about him, agreed, but so did Kanu. He shouts at his team mates. So did Henry. Doesn’t take away from the fact he is class. He’s premiership experienced, he’s clinical, he’s got possibly the best touch in the league and his goals scoring ratio for a relegation fighting team is nearly 1 in 2 which is superb considering. He’d also be much more motivated for Arsenal than he is at Fulham. At £2m its not much of a gamble either and it could… Read more »
Berbatov can be lazy,
has all the pace of Sheringham,
looks to slow play down regularly
and can out-sulk Gallas
How exactly is that a fit for us?
Berbatov is a decent player but I’m not convinced that he’s what we need right now.
Our most productive attacking moves are played at a high tempo (think Napoli at home) and I worry that Berbatov would struggle to keep up with the pace.
People might argue that Giroud is not exactly greased lightning but he’s a lot faster, sharper and hardworking than Berbatov.
We don’t want a “player who will be tomorrow’s star”! We want a player who is a star today! Hard to find in January maybe but we definitely need someone. I’d like us to spend £30-40m on someone of top, top quality. Give the whole team a massive boost for the second half of the season!
Name me one top star forward we can get for 40M.
I have only one name. Wayne Rooney. Thanks, but no thanks.
I think Berbatov has the football intelligence,but I don’t think he has the heart!I’d take heart any day. To work for your team is the sign of all great players!
Well said
Will bringing Henry back be such a bad idea
Does the fact that he played for Sp*rs affect you? I don’t want anyone who could of had it all,with Utd and never took his chance playing for The Gunners!
Berbatov (like Saha for Fulham) scored for Rotten Ham against Manure. Then Purple Nose brought Berbaflop to Manure with the express intention of weakening Spurs and ruining Berbatov’s career.
How do you think that sourpuss Baconface won the league so many times? He bought the best players from premiership rivals. Cantona, Rooney Saha, Sheringham, Berbatov Carrick (PML) Owen (PML) van der Saar, Ferdinand (PML) Robin van Sick Note, the list goes on.
Berbatov (like Saha for Fulham) scored for Rotten Ham against Manure. Then Purple Nose brought Berbaflop to Manure with the express intention of weakening Spurs and ruining Berbatov’s career.
How do you think that sourpuss Baconface won the league so many times? He bought the best players from premiership rivals. Cantona, Rooney Saha, Sheringham, Berbatov Carrick (PML) Owen (PML) van der Saar, Ferdinand (PML) Robin van Sick Note, Andy Cole, the list goes on.
Why not benteke? Already a gooner, fast young powerful we know he can do it in Prem & isnt champ league tied & he’d jump at chance to come to emirates. & i dont think villa in a position to turn down £20m at mo, im amazed theres been no mention of him
Villa would probably go down if they flogged him. Recently signed on for them. They would demand serious funny money for him.
Don’t laugh…Samaras at Celtic might do a job. He’d cost a couple of pints and in same mould as Giroud and Bendtner…I said “don’t laugh”
I think you play too much FIFA.
I’m laughing anyway.
Is Yaya Sanogo still missing? Isnt it about time we put posters up?
We play best with a target man, so we will need a Giroud-esque type of a player. People talk like we need a smaller more technical centre forward to mix it up when plan A doesnt work, for me Theo can do that anyway. BUT…. say we bring in a llorente who has these similar abilities, and you have giroud fit and ready? Who ever Wenger tries to bring in will need some convincing that they will get their time. I think as fans, we do not want to look back at this as a lost opportunity, maybe we should… Read more »
After several years of thinking Arsene had lost the plot, I’m now pretty sure he knows what he’s doing. He has his reasons that we often don’t appreciate. Let the man get on with managing the team as he knows better than most what is required.
We are lacking a specialised striker. Wenger said that himself. We currently have two first-team quality, specialised strikers- Walcott and Giroud; What we need, is a technical striker (a quality we lost with RVP) or an all-round finisher, to complete our arsenal upfront. But first and foremost, we need to understand Giroud’s quality and future role in the team; Is he the one we should look to create chances for, or is he better when given a role, and rotated with different types of forwards to accommodate our game-plan? Is he the one to provide the 20+ goals with consistency,… Read more »
why are you adding your own letters to good english words?
I would like Wenger to buy Martinez from Porto. Not quite sure how much the release clause is set to, buy Porto usually sell 🙂 He is also proven in CL.
Mandzukic (if lewa moves to Bayern this month)
Vucinic.
Diego Milito.
Morata.
Claudio Pizzaro.
Thierry
If he’s out of contract in the summer then pay Fulham the £1000000.1M as loan to sort of recoup the wages berba has used up im sure. i wouldn’t want us to sign him for more than the summer coz that would further hinder our chances of landing a super top striker and or leave berba as 3rd choice (something i imagine his ego wouldnt take) if that top striker arrives anyway.
We’re thinking of breaking the transfer record and possibly bankrupting ourselves for Berbatov? What are you smoking? 😉
With that money (£1000000.1M you could buy the entire Football League and the Bundesliga as well
Nobody is talking about yaya sanogo?
“If it’s a question of up to three weeks, okay, but if it’s a question of months the situation is quite … well, that’s what we have to determine.” As far as I am concerned, it’s not okay even if it is a matter of one week! Have a look at the table! Thankfully things fell in place in the final minute against Cardiff, otherwise we had to compromise on a single point for wanting a striker. If that continues to happen and if we don’t find ourselves lucky enough, ..I don’t even want to think about it. I agree… Read more »
I disagree we need a back up. Bendtner is Giroud’s back up and replicates much of what he has to offer in terms of a physical approach up top. They are necessary to our game currently as most teams will sit deep against us and compact the penalty area. But we need another player on the apex who can be predatory and has speed to burn. Preferably this player can also be highly technical and take out 1-2 players on his own if need be. If we pay attention to the type of striker Wenger was trying to sign in… Read more »
what about the morata thing???
Zlatan
If we’re going to talk pure fantasy, let’s mix the DNA of Messi, Pele, Ronaldo (both of them) and the pre-cocaine Maradona, form the perfect footballing superbaby, then use a time warp to age him to 22 years while simultaneously training him to be the best player the universe has ever seen. That has about the same probability of happening as signing Ibrahimovic.
nice scout-manager discussion going on here. only problem is where is the Manager?
He is rubbing horse placenta onto Bendtner’s ankle. Do not disturb please.
A lot depends on Bendtner because he already replicates what Giroud gives us. And if Giroud looks to be fit again 9which seems to be the case likely against Villa), then we should be really looking for someone who can bring in a slightly different set of skills up top. preferably IMO someone who has a bit of pace and can technically get past a player or two on his own… If we take any indication from the players Wenger was pursuing actively in the summer (Suarez, Higuain), they were not of the same sort of muscular approach as Giroud… Read more »
Another alternative iMO is to go for someone like Michu who can adapt to our game, can play up top with sufficient guile and mobility (not to mention without sacrifice to height) but who can be re-roled to midfield (in lieu of Rosicky) in the summer, should we choose to dip in then for a more permanent solution. He isn’t quite at the level he was last season for Swans but that could be as much a result of service as anything. Should strike up an understanding with Santi and possibly Monreal on the left side where much of our… Read more »
And he is out for weeks with an injury.
Wenger knows best!!! i would suggest solommon Kalou!!! great man upfront…doesnt miss chances and has played in the premier league before plus won the c.l with chelsea!!! his physical strength upfront!!! killer instinct carazy!!! Lets get him before he gets too old!!! just my opinion.
Solomon Kalou is soiled goods.
Wearing that filthy blue shirt renders one irredeemably polluted (like being on a list of registered sex offenders) and unfit for employment at a great institution like The Arsenal
Little bit Rondón (my sources *boilk* tell me Rubin are having a sale) or maybe a little bit Eduardo or Doumbia. I think I’m playing FIFA with too many russian league teams
“Dont forget Arsenal is be”
Wise words. Never forget Arsenal is be
Get well soon bendtner your goal was a title decision for the new year & theo, it is important to get a few back up players if possible this window look what flamini, ozil have provided on the field, its time to put our injuries curse i call it over the bridge, because as afc top of prem beating, look how close the team are to being a challenge in any cup game. Coyg
It’s easy, sign Henry in a player/coach role so he can be a very short term solution while also helping out longer term through coaching. Then he can retire at his beloved Arsenal! It’s a perfect end to a beautiful story.
” …but to find in January exactly the player who will be tomorrow’s star in the longer term is much more difficult.”
Why do we still have to take a gamble on such a vital position? Let’s buy today’s star if we can afford it. Then see if Yaya turns into our next Henry.
There was talk of us getting Demba Ba on the last transfer deadline day.
Personally, I think getting him on loan til the end of the season would be a great deal. He’s a proven finisher and would slot away the chances we lay on a plate for him