Many Arsenal fans have been calling for Arsene Wenger to bring in a top defensive midfielder for the last few years, but nothing has materialised so far except that we got lucky when we recalled Francis Coquelin from Charlton.
But now with Matthieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta getting on in years, we probably need a back up to Coquelin for next season to really provide cover and take us to the next level. The latest Arsenal rumours are saying that our Number One target is the out-of-favour Real Madrid star Asier Illarramendi, who is said to be available for £28.9million this summer.
This seems a bit steep for a player that has struggled to get into Madrid’s star-studded side, and still hasn’t yet made an appearance for Spain at senior level. It seems the Spanish giants have lost faith in the ex-Real Sociedad man and has already signed Lucas Silva in January to replace him in the squad.
Obviously Arsenal are only looking for a backup to the in-form Coquelin, but no matter what his previous reputation has been, it seems to be a risk to pay that much for a player unproven in the Premier League.
Personally I would much rather we got someone like Morgan Schneiderlin who would require no settling in period at all!
What do you think?
NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Let Spuds or Liverfools get Lllaramendi (how do you put that name on shirt?) Or Schneiderlin
We need quality world class players
1.Kondogbia
2. Busquets
3. Matic
4. Mascherano
5. Pogba
6. Vidal
Not Illamarmendi or Schneiderlin.
Think BIG not small
or Javi Martinez 😉
Something tells me you would change your tune[s] if chelsea captured Schneiderlin, i have a sneaky feeling that mour is going to target one or both of Southampton midfielders.
Or Wanyama, a bit stronger and dirtier!
Such a stupid comment so matic vidal only become world class at Chelsea and juventus not benfica and leverkuson! Schneiderlein would be a great signing . If matic was at Southampton u wouldn’t want him !! Hilarious
Mascherano is 33yo ageing and doesnt have the legs anymore….
Chelsea will definitely sell Matic to us….
Pogba will definitely want to come to Arsenal
an u are definitely talkin bollox
Hey, Pogba could want to come to Arsenal!
We have lots of french players to help him settle, we can guarantee him a legendary role (the new Vieira will become just Pogba), Wenger is a trumf-card, being french and all as well, and we’re currently second in the league – Pogba would make our midfield cringeworthy.
Just think about it: Coquelin with his form as it is now being a normal – beast. Pogba, beast physique, great ballhandler and a fantastic distance shooter. Özil, magic playmaker, a mastermind in the attack. Call me biased, but that sounds like one of the best midfields in the world – not even Matic, Fabregas and Oscar could beat that.
Did you guys no that pogba model his game of yaya toure and our abou diaby?
Wenger would be delighted to have him here as abou was wenger a big project that was ruined by injury
Prefers us then chelshite.
haven’t really heard much bout ILLaramendi since after the sociedad days…… Is he still a wanted man?
Pogba is not a defensive MF.
agreed hes a box to box. an i dont mean girl to girl 😉
Only player better than Coquelin is Busquets and Pogba isn’t a CDM. Either Kondogbia or Schneiderlin would be good
Kondogbia seems like more of an Arsene Wenger type of transfer. Young with good potential to compete with Coq and playing in the French league. Would be a good buy if not overpriced by Monaco in my opinion. Morgan would be good too. A defensive mid is a must this summer. Coquelin cannot play all the games a season and we do not have any reliable backup for him. Other than that I just hope we retain our key players this summer. Still but all that is far away.
Lars Bender allday everyday for me
Pogba is indeed not a classical DM, but he’s the muscle-power and the distanced shots that would make our midfield indestructible. He will not only be our new Vieira, he will simply be our Pogba. If we get Pogba and Kondogbia, we can let Cazorla (not that there is any reason to sell him), Rosicky, Flamini and Arteta go, then base our midfield on Coq, Ramsey, Wilshere, Pogba, Kondogbia, Özil – and let young guns like Zelalem and Crowley start getting subs for the first team.
I guess Pogba would go for about 50-60 mill pounds. He might not be worth that amount right now, but he will definetely be one of the very best players in the world within a couple of years. Kondogbia? I have no idea on Monaco’s finances, their owner had the most expensive divorce in history recently, is he still willing to spit in millioins in the club – if so, how much money would we have to throw their way to let Kondogbia sign for us? Could be everything between 10 to 40 million…
But then again, how many players do we need to buy next transfer window? We have our CB in Gabriel, I dont see any need for new strikers or wingers, neither right/left backs, we only need to fill the lack of a quality backup / contender for the DM-spot.
As for Schneiderlin, i fear he will be costing us sh!tloads of money (seeing how Lovren went for 20, he could be going for at least 30-35. worth it?)
“Think BIG not small”? How about think sensibly or think who is realistically available. Matic? Busquets? Vidal? Come on man get real. And Pogba as a specialist DM? Lol. Kondogbia is perhaps the only one on your list with any semblance of reality. Real Madrid broke their club transfer record for a Spanish player to land AI – he is a class act, at the right age with massive potential despite his apparent lack of progress at RM. MS has a decent profile as well, and classy.
So we already have a better player at Arsenal than Matic, Coquelin is simply better, scores higher in every way.
Out of the rest of them Progba is the only one I would break the bank for.
Schinderlin and Kondogbia are equal in talent and skills.
Do you even watch football?
If Wenger thinks him the best option im good with that. Would prefer Schneiderlin myself, looks so mature solid and knows exactly whats going on all round and at times looks a CB in front of CBs… other times a little cescish.
Also i think Schneiderlin is good captain material.
I don’t think he’s better than Coquelin although I want him at Arsenal to provide competition
Koeman seems eager to get his hands on a good wedge of cash for Schneiderling who now becomes available albeit regrettably. I would love to know who the sneaky Dutchman has got lined up as a replacement. Probably someone better and a fraction of the price. What say you…
Nah can’t see anyone THEY can get better then him.
The players they shipped out were overrated and overhyped.
Schneiderlin isn’t either. He does a job, either as a DM or further up.
I think what Madrid do in the summer Could Have an effect on our summer. For instance if Pogba does leave Juventus And Madrid do make a move then it would be difficult to see him going anywhere else. Would that mean Madrid would have to sell someone? Modric Maybe I personally really rate Asier Illarramendi real quality player & I think Wenger could make him great definitely has big potential but he’s been behind too many superstars at Madrid. Javi Martinez Would be a good option but will he get back to a decent level after his injury?
Also I’d keep Arteta far too underrated by arsenal fans I don’t care about his age he’s still very good and a very good role model for younger players if him and Rosicky leave it would be a big loss there the best players to have around youngsters. Flamini on the other hand I like him but not quite at the consistent level we need. But buying a midfielder in my opinion depends on where Wenger sees Chambers future and how far Bielik is of the first team.
I agree about Arteta, a player’s attitude is just as important as their skill. Our young midfielders have learned to keep his composure and Sanchez’s work rate, hopefully the dressing room’s attitude will also affect Wilshere.
AF – Agree with all of that. Good post, very level-headed and accurate imo.
@ Alan frank
I agree with everything you said except about illarimendi he just hadn’t looked the same since he went to RM it’s like Madrid sucked the life out of him and I don’t think the English game suits him
I think AI is on the wrong side of town – looks more like an Atletico player than a Real Madrid man. I disagree and actually think the PL would suit him OK – he does possess physicality. But not worth £30M.
Wenger is already bad at remembering names. How is he going to remember this one?
I believe Arsenal will surprise us again and buy someone we long expected. My bet is going to be on a striker and/or defensive midfielder. Personally I would prefer someone not very expensive in the DM position. And I don’t mean B2B player, pure DM. These guys should not be very expensive (probably Scheiderlin will be exactly because of our interest in him) and pundits tend to look mostly at big spends when they want to bash a club. A striker is going to be a different issue. Here we need world class because Giroud and Sanchez already firing on all cylinders and is difficult to outpace them. Question is : will Wenger leave a legacy and buy someone promising or he will buy a 20 goals striker in order to win some silverware.
I think that FFP will bite in most team’s ambitions to buy this summer. City is on a free fall and because of the FFP they will have to sell massively in order to buy quality. They and the Spuds spent a truck of money on players they don’t even trust. Add to this the fact that they are pretty old and see where this goes. Chelsea escaped by selling Luiz for a whopping 50 milion, an amount only an oil club would pay for a defender and they are in good shape. Only thing is that in order for them to make a good run they will have to change their game. Small teams already smelled blood around big teams.
I think it all depends on the development of Apkom. He described Sanogo as a similar player to Anelka and Welbeck is rated by both Fergie and Wenger. In my opinion they’re his legacy and he can afford to get a ready-made striker. But the problem is that there’s no good striker for Lewandowski and Suarez.
*except for
Wenger will still be around long after Akpom and Welbeck hang boots. God willing of course…. am sure Bergkamp will will it,.
I’m not saying I want him, but I think Wenger will sign Cabaye
If we really want new dm than Shneiderlin is perfect, he knows EPL, knows system and he is briliant defensivly, look at Coq he isnt scoring or assisting, his main job is to took ball, and thx to God he can do that crazily good, in distance future Coq will get injury and who will replace his skills, Shneiderlin is good call, plus we will have Arteta in special situations!!! add Cech and maybe surprise signing someone like Bale who will rise our collective team and we will dominate epl!
Tonight Arsenal u-21 starts in 7 pm, live on Arsenal watch, dont miss it guys, we can watch our youngsters plus Diaby, Wilshere and Gnabry starts so it will be interesting to see !!!
i don’t want to see Diaby, Wilshere and Gnabry.
Not good enough
Sell and get Vidal, Pogba and Rodriguez
If we think small, we will always be small.
Why do you want Marmite when you can have Beluga Caviar?
Why have Bucks Fizz when you can have Dom Perignon?
why have an arsenal fan when u can have a nutcase whos never heard of ffp
Why have a brain when you can be a cranky WUM?
Illarramendi would be an amazing buy, sure he’s not midfield destroyer like mascherano but he’s more of a deep lying play maker like alonso. Against team who park the bus you can’t always be dilly dallying pretty passes to probe their defense, you need some one like him to float the ball to a target man like giroud.
I really dont care about any name we signing so far he is yielding results and performing what is expected of him. What people tends to forget is that Pogba, Vidal, Kongdobia, Schneiderlin (spelt and sound German to me), Busquet and all these household names are nobody before they create niche and names for themselves which we all proudly call today. SAF besmirched Le Coq even to the extent of thinking he cant successful footballer but he defied all the negativity around him and makes a turn around when people didnt believe in him and when his back was against the wall but look at him today, a match cannot go buy without his name on every lips, press and media praise him, even our legend Henry couldnt hide his admiration for him by calling him a police officer. My point is no matter the DM bought, if he performs game-by-game even if he is a 16 yrs old lad, it is okay be me. Do you guys still remember William Carvalho? He is the only player the media hasnt linked us to.. God bless Arsenal
I am finding all these discussions on who we should buy to replace/compliment FC very confusing. Lots of people are throwing what appears to me just random names of any vaguely combative, high energy CM that they can lay their hands on. To my mind the starting point to the discussion needs to be “will Wenger persist with his 4-1-4-1 formation/system”? I don’t know whether he stumbled upon by design or by accident but it is what we are going with at present and it appears to working quite well for us. I’d suggest that there are very few CDMs out there that could slot straight in to the FC role without a major revamp of their innate playing styles. It requires leaving your ego at home, ultra discipline and concentrating on the hindering and destruction of opposing playmakers in front of the back four and getting rid of the ball sensibly and quickly as if it is a live hand grenade (I have been amazed at Santi and how he is immediately available in close proximity every time FC gets the ball back). Historically at Arsenal I can only think of Gilberto Silva who could play this role effectively. Makelele further defined this role a decade or so ago. Xavi Mascherano is the only really big name player out there I can think of who could drop straight in and do the job. Carrick is the closest thing presently in the PL but his is more guile and cuteness than physicality. I think the likes of Kondogbia/Gonalons could do this with minimal tinkering but I get irritated when I see Pogba etc get mentioned in the conversation. It is for these reasons I can’t see Schneiderlin as a direct FC replacement. All discussions about Schneiderlin, Pogba, Vidal, Khedira etc etc are valid if we are talking about reverting to a 4-2-3-1 system and we are then talking about replacements/upgrades/back-ups(?) for the likes of Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta etc because FC is unlikely to feature imo if we revert to a 4-2-3-1. The system with 2 central midfielders requires more technically gifted all-rounders than FC.