Despite admitting he’s got to buy a central defender, Arsene Wenger says that Arsenal will miss Per Mertesacker in the wake of the German’s knee injury.
The BFG has been ruled out until next year having picked up the problem in the pre-season friendly with Lens, and the Frenchman has bemoaned the absence of one his most senior and truested players.
“I don’t count that Per will be back before the end of the year and I will miss him deeply,” he said.
“We have lost a heavyweight in our dressing room.”
The German was expected to be named club captain for the 2016-17 season, but Wenger may decide to look elsewhere in his absence.
He’s also praised new signing Rob Holding after an impressive start to his Arsenal career, albeit in pre-season friendlies.
“I am impressed by his performances and by his capacity to adapt very quickly to a higher level. He shows intelligence, composure, character and it’s impressive. You do not see that often.”
That is not expected to affect transfer plans though as the Arsenal manager is keen to bring an experienced head to make up for Mertesacker’s absence.
Mustafi please
Mustafi would be the ideal replacement, not only for the short-term but also long-term. The guy has all the attributes to be a top player and leader. Although many people criticise Per but he is a good leader on and off the pitch and is also a very good player on his day. Get Well Soon Per and please Wenger bring in Mustafi as his replacement.
Mustafi is poor in the air. Him an Kosh would not work.
It’s a big blow for sure. I hope we get a decent replacement. Not that ex Manure player.
Big Missing German
Big Fractured German 🙁
I hope he’s still involved in the dressing room shenanigans.
We need a no 9 even more than a replacement for BFG if we play 4.2.3.1 this season. Giroud will be wasted by the New Year if not.
This must be the week when Wenger gets at least the CB, hopefully the central striker too.
Yea, we all wake up daily to that desire brother
And we reach for our phones for any new updates :S
miss him deeply? bring in someone so we wont. and please dont ruin Holding by expecting him to do so.
Can you please clarify a bit where from to bring a player that is a world cup winner, is with the team a few seasons, and can be made captain? Thank you so much.
Saying he won the world cup is like sarong John terry won the champions league
They dropped him as he was a liability from the team earlier in the tournament but keep your rose tinted spectacles on
He played 436 minutes in the tournament including half the semi-final, not many fewer than Bastian Schweinsteiger, no doubt equally irrelevant to Germany’s victory. It’s hardly a surprise that he’s not necessarily the best option when the team was trying to play as high a line as against Algeria. He is as much a world champion as anyone else in that team.
no I cant clarify. really! we do it your way. there is no one who can feel the void and we are doomed to miss an injured player deeply through the season with a month left before TW closes.
You know fuck all about my way.
If Arsenal had Defoe last year, they’d have won the league. He got 15 for Sunderland and kept them up. That kid Hernandez, whose out in Germany now. He’d get 20 league goals next season and turn Arsenal into serious contenders. They don’t need a great footballer, they need some little bastard who’ll put the ball in the net.
I’ve been banging on about Defoe since last season. Eduardo is proof that we just need someone to finish. The rest of the team can do all the flashy technical stuff.
I think Per reads Arseblog, so if you reading this right now, get well soon you BFG!
Thank you. I will be back
Oh yeah sorry! Per big miss.
Nice guy
Won’t miss him as a footballer. He hasn’t been good enough for a long time. Any one think he is remember kane in the corner at white Hart Lane? One of the few defenders who’s actually shorter when he heads the ball. The guy should be an absolute beast not a big friendly giant
He should have been replaced a long time ago
I feel he should be a squad player and not in the starting 11. We just need 1 great defender and 1 great striker and the league and dare i say it a lot more! would be ours for the taking!. But we all know we’ve been waiting for those two players every year for the past 12
Holding looks like a decent player so far. But do blood him in slowly. I hope he dun have to go through what chambers went through. Rush him through so quickly and after some good performances, only to be benched last season after an encouraging start.
Cechesacker co-captaincy I reckon. Is co-captaincy too communist a concept to be acceptable for the Premier League in 2016?
People who say we won’t miss him simply don’t understand the game. Per has been massive for us. perhaps even more so than Koscielny. YOu can somewhat replace the pace of KOscielny (perhaps not as much the anticipation) with Gabriel but the Brasilian cannot replicate the captain’s positioning. Over myriad games, the BFG has saved us countless times with timely intervention despite a perceived ‘lack of speed”. There have been plenty of times when Koscielny has made mistakes despite his speed in particular he had a poor spell when returning from injury (which of course is understandable) But Per has… Read more »
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