Have Arsenal missed a trick on Wanyama?
News has been breaking in the past few days about the developments surrounding Southampton star Victor Wanyama’s potential move away from the South Coast of England this summer. Arsenal had supposedly held an interest in the midfielder in the past and could have even been a possible destination for the Kenyan a few seasons back. This was before Coquelin’s return to the club, but now the player is looking likely to sign for Spurs, so did Arsenal miss a trick by not signing Wanyama?
Victor Wanyama has previously been suggested as one of the Premier League’s best central defensive midfielders in past seasons, that was until Leicester’s N’Golo Kante graced his ability on English soil last year. Wanyama’s performances over the years for both Celtic and Southampton have made him a constant transfer target for clubs and in the media he is always surrounded by speculation about his future. Arsenal were rumoured to be interested in him whilst still at Celtic, and then again the season after he moved to Southampton. It now looks likely that he will be heading to North London this summer, but not with Arsenal. Instead those from down the lane at Tottenham Hotspur have supposedly struck a deal with the Saints, in a transfer rumoured to cost £11 million.
I personally would’ve loved to have had Victor Wanyama at Arsenal, but only a few seasons back. A few years ago we were struggling in midfield and desperately needed to add some steel, strength and aggression to our game. However we now have Coquelin back at the club who has proven he can protect the back line just as well as Wanyama, if not better. Coquelin has been called ‘the policeman’ in the past because of the job that he does, and I think that he stabilises our midfield like no other player that we have managed to find since the days of Gilberto and Vieria. Arsenal have also recent acquired Granit Xhaka, who is also not afraid to put in a tough tackle, as well as start the play from midfield.
With this in mind I’m not too disappointed to miss out on Wanyama now, despite him being a constant transfer talking point for the Arsenal fans in the past. Would you have liked to see Wanyama in an Arsenal shirt this summer instead of allowing him to head down to Spurs? Should Wenger have made an approach?
By AH
Now that we have Xhaka, we really don’t need wanyama. Simple as.
We want all players…sadly, Wanyama is not a wenger type signing…
we are ok in that department anyway, so no qualms…
Having said that,Spurs are solid in midfield now with Dembele,Wanyama, Mason,Dier,Alli and Eriksen..that’s massive…
But they will still be in our shadow regardless…*smiles
Neil lennon likening xhaka to charlie adams only proves why the British cant really be taken seriously on football.. that’s why all the top clubs have foreign managers and the players are average at best and no home grown quota or work permit issues is going to make them any better.
for that amount he is a steal.
£12m and EPL proven.
virtually the same amount Soton bought him from Celtic
How many midfielders do we want! Haha. I actually really wanted Wenger to sign him when he was at Celtic, as Arsenal badly needed a DM at that time, but Elneny has really impressed me, as has Xhaka at the Euros, and Coquelin has been very good since returning from loan. For once, central midfield is completely fine, other positions need to be sorted out now.
hats off to spurs about to buy a top d.m, better by a mile then everything arsenal have in their ranks in that position Fact. its going to be the same fans who wanted here at arsenal saying all of a sudden hes “average” etc, Wenger will never learn you can never win the premier league without the physical aspect to your team hence why we have not since 2004.
From defence all the way to the prima donna striker pathetic weakling players who can never hold their own in regards to a physical battle on the field and always get bullied.
struggle for 4th this year is a given
knocked out in last 16 in champs league guaranteed
possible cup run
same old same old and we all deep down know it.
Why is everyone so miserable and pessimistic today?
Admin along with arsenal fantv this is the most popular forum as it relates to our beloved club.. however like robbie you seem to have little or no source inside the Emirates as it regards to our transfer dealings.
No-one has a source inside the emirates regarding arsenal transfer dealings. The only way that information gets out is from the organisations/people that arsenal are dealing with.
Jaden smith?
He is definitely a good player but not WC that we should sign him instead of concentrating on other areas which are more imp. We need CF and CB then backup LB and RB. We already got Xhaka and even though he still has to prove himself in PL, he has been fantastic in Euro.
Lmao!
Lets face it, we all wanted him when Arsenal looked devoid of options through the centre. No strength, so we wanted one of the toughest footballers around physically speaking. What’s worse about this is whenever we played Sou Wanyama totally demolished our midfield. They’d put him on our midfield creator and Wanyama strangled the life out of our flow. This aside, when you watch Wanyama more regularly you soon realise that he is basically Coquelin except stronger and more likely to see red. Great for defending if you need to sit a bit but going forward he is worse than Coquelin, he cannot pass as well as a PL player should be able to. We came to the realisation that Coquelin needed to be bettered upon, I believe a similar would have occurred here. Look at all the best European teams, we always say we need to make ground on them by buying better players. How many of Europe’s great have a Wanyama in their side, none, even Atletico have bruisers who know how to pass.
i want to know where dear LEO is these days . i miss his spot on transfer gossip , he is always correct and everybody loves his posts . are you there leo , please come out of retirement and brighten up our days .we need your insight into the transfer market , most of these guys dont know what they are talking about , but you always have the top stories . can i tempt you out of retirement ?, please.