It was reported earlier this week by journalist Jose Luis Sanchez that Arsenal have had a bid rejected for the Real Madrid star, James Rodriguez. The bid from the Gunners is understood to have been rejected by the newly-crowned European champions as it apparently fell short of their £69 million valuation of the player.
The Colombian international has had to take a backseat this season with Kroos, Modric and Casemiro firmly establishing themselves as the Galacticos’ midfield trio. With this being the case, James made just 13 La Liga starts for Madrid last season and is said to be frustrated over his lack of opportunities under Zinedine Zidane. The player raised further speculation over his future by appearing to wave goodbye to the Real Madrid fans after being substituted during the game against Sevilla.
While the source of the information makes it certainly questionable, it does make sense that Arsenal would go in for James. Considering the fact that Santi Cazorla will not be available at least until November after undergoing as many as nine surgeries and the Spaniard’s spell on the sidelines very likely to be increased even further, perhaps there is a possibility of bringing in the Real Madrid man as a replacement.
When you think about it, James and Santi are very similar players. Just like Santi, James is a versatile playmaker who can play on the flanks, in central midfield or in his preferred position behind the striker as a Number 10. And much like the diminutive Spaniard, James is also quite ambidextrous and has a certain degree of expertise over free-kicks. Moreover, Arsenal’s new system allows for two players to play behind the striker.
Considering the player’s versatility, there is certainly room for him in the Gunners’ squad. While some people might call him a Real Madrid reject, it is worth noting that the reason he lost his place to Casemiro was that Zidane wanted to play a defensive midfielder alongside Kroos and Modric, something James is clearly not. So with that being said, I would be elated if Arsenal brought in the Golden Boot winner of the 2014 World Cup to the Emirates.
AT
But why would he join us ? Europa league ? Fighting for top 4 in the straight 14th season ? Fa cup ? Mediocrity ?
Surely everyone has deduced that Xhaka is Cazorla’s long term replacement in Wenger’s head? distributing balls from the base of midfield?
“But why would he join us?
Europa league?…”
Dude who calls himself Wenger out, where were Tottenham in the table when Erriksen, Vertonghen and Lloris agreed to sign for them? Vertonghen chose tottenham over Arsenal even when they couldn’t give him champions league football.
Where were Liverpool when Mane and Courtinho agreed to sign for them? Just because we are not in the champions league it doesn’t mean that we can’t attract the likes of Rodriguez. Didn’t Man United just win the Europa league with their new signings Zlatan and their record signing Paul Pogba who left a team that went to the final of the champions league this season? Where have you been? Do you follow football?
To answer your question. Why would he join us? Because we could give him a place in the starting line up. He would play all the time the way Sanchez has played all the time and would become a household name the way Sanchez was after he joined us. Don’t forget that Sanchez was a bench warmer at Barca the same way Rodriguez is at Madrid now. Rodriguez is in no position to snub us. Look what happened to Rodwell. He went to Man City and killed his career. Now he is complete pants. The same can be said for Sinclair who also went to Man city to be a bench warmer as did Wilfred Bony. Remember him?
If Rodriguez comes to Arsenal he would be a star, a first choice player in the first team instead of a substitute and would therefore gain the world wide recognition that Sanchez has now. Who did Sanchez turn down to join Arsenal other than Liverpool? Now Munich and City are fighting to sign him. If Rodriguez signs for us and lights up the way Sanchez did with all the gsme time he would be getting teams will be trying to prise him from us the way they are trying to snag Sanchez.
If Arsenal are willing to pay the asking price the prospect of Rodriguez signing for us is highly probable.
Yeh but the guys you are on about had won jack sh*t,Rodriguez has won many trophies at RM since he been there so why would he play in Europa when he has back to CL medals.Why would he play for a club who just wants top 4.
James with Morata perfect replacement for outgoing sanchez. We too required to replace Giroud or welbz with lacazette or mahrez. I would also need one good CDM to replace le coq.
Alexis is going to end up in Munich…. Gutted we cant match his ambitions
And Arsenal will need stupid selling Sanchez to City without asking of Aguero in return. If we were serious about winning a title next season, we will keep hold of him contract or no contract signed then buy top player like Mbappe (if we are really interested) or Lacazette, Seri and Mahrez. That will be a quality team not having a little team mentality. Sanchez is paid to do a job and he must respect his contract. We can then look to replace him next season at least.
AFC will not do that. he will be sold to the highest bidder home or abroad. That is the model we have had for years [finance above building for football success].
nothing has changed..
just political like rhetoric and marketing spin..
nape rise,sadly it’s not as simple in real life as it is when we play the video game versions of management like fifa, friend. None of us actually not what negotiations are taking place or what deals the manager is doing behind the scenes. It’s easy for us to speculate, react to fake news in articles from the likes of Metro and talk smack about the manager but none of know for sure what is going on. The same manager being berated for losing Sanchez to Man city (which has not happened) is the same manager who signed him from Barca when know one expected it. Wenger screwed up last summer and was unprepared for the start of the season even he admits this. He signed Kolasniac before this summers transfer window officially opened.
There is plenty of time for him to bring in the players we need. His first signing shows intent. It shows he is trying to avoid the mistakes of last last season.
I’m not even a “Wenger in” supporter but it is what it is and he is the manager for the next 2 seasons. Looking at the positives, there is time to bring in the players we need. There is money to bringi n the players we need. There are players available this summer that were not available last summer. I see no reason why we won’t sign a quality striker that will be an upgrade on Giroud and a quality winger or midfielder that will make up for the loss of Sanchez if he goes or take Santi’s role. Rodriguez and Lacacette are just to players that fill the requirements. There are others out there if we don’t sign Lacacette and Rodriguez.
I’d say James would be brought in to replace Ozil.
Who knows, maybe it actually happens?
I still reckon Sigurdsson is way more realistic signing.
I totally agree, i dont see James coming to the Emirates, When he can go to the likes of Chelsea… Sigurdsson, now there is something to ponder on, i never thought of him playing for the Gunners, Do you think he will fit in. I STILL THINK WE SHOULD SELL THE INCONSISTENT RAMSEY!!!
Maybe Arsenal is chasing him, but I hope not. As a 60 million plus player in his prime age, he cannot even start ahead of Modric, Casemiro, Isco, Vazquez and Asensio.
That obscene price is too much for a regular benchwarmer that cannot even compete with Real Madrid young players like Vazquez and Asensio. I don’t want to see another fancy midfielder that cannot dictate the game (like Ozil) join Arsenal.
As a winger, he might be better than Cazorla. But as a central deep midfielder, Cazorla is better than him. Cazorla has better close control and can possess the ball with more touches than him (you can count them), like Barcelona players.
He might win the Golden Boot title in the last World Cup, but I saw he relied on his speed and his teammates too much in that World Cup. I prefer to get other player that is used to play with Barcelona’s football level and has played with Messi, like Rafinha.
You would be foolish to doubt James’ quality, he is a genuine world class player. In the world cup and in his first season at Madrid he was one of their best players, scoring 13 goals and 13 assists in 29 league games. However he lost his place in the team because once Ancelotti got sacked, Zidane realised that a midfield 2 of Kroos and Modric with James in the no.10 position wasn’t strong enough so he changed the formation to a 4-3-3, bringing Casemiro into the team. Casemiro, Modric and Kroos have been outstanding as well as Isco meaning James hasn’t had too much game time, even so he has scored 8 and assisted 6 in only 13 La Liga starts. Reason why Asensio and Vazquez are ahead of him is that James has been quite vocal about his lack of game time which has annoyed Zidane.
Although I doubt we are interested in him, I feel he would be a fantastic signing, capable of playing in Santi’s position or further up the pitch.
Champion to 5th place
Zidane to Wenger
Can’t see it happening myself
Sorry but Zidane is managing probably the best club in the world. There is no basis you’ll tell me he won’t fail with arsenal or any other B-Club who doesn’t spend huge money/attract top talent like they do. Guiordola is an example. Zidane 3-4yrs in management shouldn’t mean he is better than Wenger.
But he knows how to face opponents unlike Wenger who used the same formation for 10 years in a row no matter the opposition.. Madrid players said they practiced something ahead of their UCL final game, you’ll never hear that from Arsenal players coz Wenger is always there to watch how they have fun during training and no tactical flexibility according to opponents whatsoever
“But he knows how to face opponents unlike wenger”
Bran99 Its funny that you say this. Didn’t the same Wenger use tactics to defeat Pep’s Mancity in the FA cup and Conte’s Chelsea in the final?
What is so hard to understand? Zidane managers the best club in the world with the best selection of players.
Pep could not replicate what he did with Munich when he came to City because City don’t have the same players. What is the the variable? The manager remains the same its the players that are different. If Pep was this godlike manager people built him up to be he wouldn’t have struggled to make top 4 this season. He only finished 3 points above Arsenal who played terrible this season even by there standards. He was nowhere near where he should have been in the table given his “experience” and the personnel at his disposal. The dude loaned out Joe Hart for Pete sake.
Can you really be so sure that Zidane could do what he has done with Madrid if he was managing a weaker team like Livepool?
If I won a competition where I could manage Madrid for the day I would probably win. I wouldn’t need to tell Ronaldo to try and score a goal, he’d do that on his own accord as would most of the players. I’m not saying that Zidane doesn’t have to do any work but his job is much easier when he has a front 3 of Bale, Ronaldo,benzema in a league where only 2 other teams challenge for the title. Just sayin!
Pep nolonger has the luxury of the Munich squad or the luxury of playing in a league where the other teams are far inferior.
Managers like Pep and Zidane are put on a pedalstool because they are winning in champions league and league titles but they are managing he best clubs I their leagues. Everyone was expecting Pep to magically run away with the title meanwhile Conte comes in a rejuvenates a team and wins the title in one season. 3 times he has played Arsenal and battled with Wenger. He has won once. So to say Wenger has no tactics and is unable to face opponents isn’t entirely accurate.
Baseless comparism between Wenger and Zidane. when did Zidane starts coaching? let him go and manage Arsenal and letz his magic. Guardiola is a good example.
Wenger must spend the whole R150m on Ronaldo and keep Sanchez…. OMG can you Picture that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we dont need him he is past his sell by date
All hail King James and we’re all the true fans trust Wenger’s judgment and have no doubt he james le bron will be a great addition, that suggests that Wenger, at last, has acknowledged that not all the world’s problems can be solved by neat, slight midfielders with nice hair. Arsenal’s May uptick this season felt different to what had gone before because it involved such a radical structural change, such an admission from Wenger that his tactical outlook required modification. The signing of Kolasinac suggests that the process of reform, a return to a more physically aggressive Arsenal, is continuing. Kolasinac too will form part of a solid defensive core and given his age will only get better with each passing year. The best in his position in Germany? For free? I’ll take him. This guy is a 23 year old with five years experience in the Bundesliga, hardly an unknown youngster for the future. We’re looking to offload Gibbs, who’s been treading water for at least a year now, and Kolasinac looks like he fits the bill. It’s basically a zero sum signing, which will have no bearing on the rest of our transfer window. Good to see Wenger finally going back to a focus on recruiting real men who wont wilt or reach for the hairspray when the going gets tough. Mustafi carried some great form coming into the club, the momentum helped by a large portion of Arsenal supporters treating him as a minor saviour, the “finally” answer to years of apparent defensive weakness. But a couple of below-par performances at a time when the mood around the club turned acutely toxic, and he seemed to get dragged down by it all, then got injured. I’m hoping he finds the form he had in Italy again and provides good competition for the middle position. It’s nice for Arsenal to have options worth a damn. There is an unconventional element to Kolašinac, especially going forward. He is an improviser, and difficult to categorise within a single style because he is so capable of changing with one move to the next. There is such variety in every aspect of his attacking play, as his technical ability allows him to provide a range of crosses and in turn act as a goal threat himself at points. His runs are unpredictable, offering width and a narrow threat as the situations call for it, and keeping up with him or getting the ball off him can be most enviable of tasks for opposition defenders. Wenger believes his approach to squad building requires greater skill than buying established players, but is not concerned that his rivals in the Barclays Premier League will try to muscle in on his territory. There are some big ‘ifs’ that need to fall our way in order for us to compete for the title next season. If all these happen, I don’t see why we can’t compete all the way:
1) We renew the big 4 question mark players (Alexis, Ozil, Oxlade and Bellerin). It has to be renewed deals because if Alexis and Ozil stay for their final seasons but doesn’t renew, that will be a massive psychological negative and will scupper our title challenge.
2) Signing 2 of the following 4 players: Lacazette, Turan, M’Bappe and Mahrez to join alongside Kolasinac.
3) Offloading fringe players like Jenkinson (no way we get more than 4 million for him, forget 10 million!), Debuchy etc.
4) Santi Cazorla gets his fitness and confidence back quickly.
5) Further improvement from 2nd year players (Mustafi, Xhaka and Holding)
6) Maybe one or two youthful players breaking through to the first team squad (Nwakali, Malen, Nelson?)That’s a lot of things that need to fall our way in order to compete for the title but right now all of them are a possibility, if not a probability.
After all what has happened we the true fans still trust Wenger especially when I think of who we could get that would do a better job.so fingers crossed we get some of the players being mentioned and keep the ones we’ve already got. Although whatever happens I’ll still be an Arsenal supporter at the end of the day and continue to be behind the club 100%.
IN SIR ARSENE WE TRUST.
?? Hey! Take your medication,Man.
Sing with me:
? Someone’s crying mee Lord, Kumbya ?
? Oh, Lordy, Lordy, Kumbya?
lets all hold hands now…
sing with me.
hari krishna, krishna hari…
Yawn….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
copy pasting it everywhere, keep it up may be Admin will recognize your effort and display it as an article, may be
White coats men will escort this dude.
how can you say james to replace carzola? who writes these? do you watch football? james cant play carzolas role, just like ozil cant play carzolas role as well….if James is coming hes taking ozils spot, not carzola. carzola can play as an attacking midfielder and a central one…IMO hes a better attacking midfielder than ozil as he consistently gave you double digits in goals …season in and out and still created chances. Isco may be the perfect carzola replacement
Someone like Seri would be able to cover/replace Cazorla.
Rodriguez would more than likely be a replacement for Sanchez and not Ozil.
Anyways, Zidane is happy with his squad, reports suggest that he wants to keep the players he has.
We don’t really need to buy any players. Perez can replace Sanchez when he is sold and Wilshere can replace Ozil and Iwobi to replace Cazorla.
Confirmed… In true clickbate style: 17 year old wonderkid to join Arsenal’s first team, next season.
“We have some young players who will join the squad next season,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “Like Reiss Nelson, like Ainsley Maitland-Niles already. So they are two players.
“So we have quality players who might have a chance next season and hopefully we will be able to do that again because that’s part of the DNA of the club as well. ???
Asene won’t sign all these players we r hearing now, wen time comes, we ll see d real players, Wenger ll sign.