French Connection to help Arsenal beat United to Benzema transfer?

There are a few clubs around that Arsenal would really prefer not to have to go up against in a transfer battle this summer. Big foreign clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG are a few, even though the massive money from the latest TV rights deal gives clubs in England a big advantage but we lose even that advantage against our Premier League rivals.

So even without the relaxing of the FFP rules, Arsene Wenger is still likely to have a smaller transfer budget than our big Premier League rivals and with Chelsea and the Manchester clubs also able to offer the lure of Champions League football, our manager will be hoping that his transfer targets are not the same.

If the Arsenal transfer rumours linking us with the Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema are true, however, then Wenger is going to have to find some leverage other than money because The Guardian is reporting that moneybags Man United are after him as well. And they might even want to include Benzema in the transfer of their keeper David De Gea to the Spanish La Liga giants so you can see we have a problem.

The only way I can see the Gunners beating United to Benzema is if the player himself chooses us over them. Being based in London is one advantage but we also have that French connection that has seen a string of Wenger´s compatriots playing in the red and white since he took over as manager.

Right now we have three regular France internationals in Koscielny, Giroud and Debuchy, while Flamini, Sanogo, Coquelin and Diaby would make Benzema feel at home. But will this and Wenger´s reputation be enough against the financial behemoth that is Man United?

Tags Giroud Koscielny Wenger

19 Comments

    1. damn man u really on this afobe cat, i hear u i see him escalating into the real deal within two years.
      but yeah f*ck benzema , talkin bad about us, i didnt forget b”tch!
      or that underage prozzie u an ribery were paying for…

      karim u a punk

      1. @muffdiver
        I’m just pizz’d the dude didn’t even get a shot to prove himself after coming up through the ranks as a kid. Yet we signed Yaya and Danny who ain’t don’t jack but always got a game or 6. Now we linked to this kid toucher Bengdover. AW lost a big chunk of my respect for lettin dude go for next to nuthin…

        1. I think Benzema is a fairer less dirtier and all round nicer player than Costa, they are very similar players other than Costas nasty streak.

          If im being true to myself i would like Martinez over Benzema even though Martinez is unproven somewhat because of league status, however seeing him explode in the CL puts those concerns to rest with the quality of champions league football being undeniably superior.

          Martinez has the height athleticism speed and is better suited with back to goal where im concerned, and as for where Davidnz is concerned he is more the right colour lolol;D

          Benzema is consistent it must be said, one would get what they expect which is a very decent return. The thing is though i would love to get surprised and once again for us to have the stand out goalscorer{s} in the whole of league.

          Cavani – Lewendowski – Martinez – Higuain … could be the surprise i spoke of, some may name Benzeme just as easily but not for me.

    2. Afobe ? Who heard about him after we sold him? If he’s EPL material then we should see him this season against us. I doubt this will happen though. Arsenal does not release players so easy. Ffs, we still keep Ryo, Diaby, Podolski etc. Maybe in 3-4 years he will be a marquee signing for some team in EPL, right now I trust Arsenal for taking the right decision.

      1. Its not often I read one of your comments Budd and nod my head in agreement but on this I have to say yu are 100% on the money Afobe will MAYBE a to notch plyer one day but right now we didthe right thing letting him go, the only thing that I will say is that we have always let players go when the world asked why and on hindsight have been proven right, HOWEVER why have we had players like Diaby on the books when it was clear he would never ever be fit enough to fulfil his potential and why on earth have we currently got Sanogoals or Wellbeck on our books whe its obvious to all and their mothers that neither of these kids will ever be anything other than average squad players at best.

      2. @Budd
        YEAH AFOBE!!!
        If you’d been watchin The Championship, then you would have heard about him.He’s always been EPL material. And talkin about we don’t cut loose players so easily, tell that to your man Gervinho.
        Ryo, Diaby, Podolski, Yaya and Welbeck. All right decisions by AW I’m sure you trust in also…

        I remember a few months back, calling for the return of Le Coq, sayin he was our only true DM. While many of you on here claimed he wasn’t good enough for our 1st squad…

        1. Of course I have heard about him but my point was about the fact that you think it was a mistake to release him. I am not saying you are wrong but I don’t believe you are right either for the simple reason that he never played EPL football.
          If he’s EPL material then of course we will see him on MOTD.
          As for Coquelin I don’t remember there was opposition on this site. I know Coquelin since 2008 (I admit I havent heard about him until he came in) and I was one of the people getting thumbs down when I said that Flamini should be left out and call Coquelin from Freiburg.Remember people saying we should keep Frimpong? I don’t know why I have the feeling here is the same case.

    3. sick and Tired of all repititive sh*tty articles……. How many times do they have to write about benzema?……..we will continue to be linked with him until he hits retirement age

      1. The guy isn’t even ‘world class’.

        The Messi’s and Ronaldo’s of the world will get you on average 1 goal every game.

        A ‘world class striker’ will get you around 3 goals every 4 games. That’s where the Henry/Ibra/Aguero/Suarez’s are (Plus where Cavani was at Napoli, and Falcao back in the day, interestingly).

        A very prolific striker will get you somewhere around 2 goals in every 3 games. Players like Huntelaar, Lewandowski (at Dortmund) and Jackson Martinez are here.

        A prolific striker will get you around 1 goal every 2 games. That’s where players like Higuain and Rooney are, roughly.

        Between 1 goal in 2 games and 1 goal in 3 games is what ‘good’ strikers will get you. This is where Giroud is. But Benzema’s goal average is also below 1 goal every 2 games. That’s not just at Madrid either. That’s also with France and even at Lyon back in the day.

        So really, not only is Benzema not what we’re looking for, he’s not really an improvement on what we have. Don’t be fooled just because he plays for Real Madrid.

        1. Good analysis Mick. If you apply an even broader brush to the goals/game stats and look at career club goals all comps and take Messi and Ronaldo out of the equation then every player you mention falls within a range of 0.43 – 0.63 goals/game. I think if you started analysing the players in that range, the teams they play for, the leagues they play in, their all round contribution, assists etc you might well end up saying “sod it”, give or take a few they are all “a goal every other game”.

          Btw – all club goals all comps ratio for Ronaldo 0.70, Messi 0.82. Pele is the closest to true goal a game with 0.98 (admittedly in some pretty weakish regional Brazillian leagues).

          Last point, interesting that the 2 most prolific players in football are not CFs/lone strikers. We go to town on OG but we have 2 wide/second strikers in TH14 and AS17 who have league goal/game ratios of 0.41 and 0.44 respectively over the last 3 seasons. That is why I sometimes prefer to consider the composite picture for our front 3 rather than just cut and paste a new CF with a 0.1-0.2 better goal return than OG in to our team and expect nothing else to change – shape, style of play etc.

    4. Benzema will definetly join us ahead of united. We are the better side and have more chance of winning trophies. We are currently on the verge of winning our third trophy in a matter of a year. Coyg…bring on benzema and Vidal, if we get these two players I have no doubt we will win the bpl next year. Two quality signings.

  1. Id be highly surprised if Benzema came to us anyway Ill be every very surprised if Wenger goes in for an established striker this summer my own feeling is that he’s already put his balls on the table with his statement regarding giroud.

  2. Honestly, if we get any of these players I will be well pleased: Lacazette, Martinez, Dybala, Benzema, Cavani

    It’s not really about Giroud as it is about Welbeck and Akpom. If Giroud is injured it’s good to have an established reliable striker. When Costa is injured or banned, Chelsea had Remy and Drogba

    Having Giroud, Benzema and Welbeck would
    Be better Than no Benzema

    I’m Still hoping for Lacazette (nearly 30 goals)

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