Arsenal are ready to revive their interest in Portugal powerhouse midfielder William Carvalho. If reports are to be believed, the Gunners are looking to go ahead with the purchase of Carvalho after giving up on Arturo Vidal.
Wenger is one of those shrewd managers who know how to spend money – especially when it comes to transfer market. There will be enough naysayers of this theory who detest the ‘hands in pocket’ style of Wenger. But, when Wenger says that he spends money as if he owns every penny – he means every word of it.
So, when Wenger goes shopping for players in the market, you can be sure that he looks for the best value. Agreed – this is something that a section of supporters criticize him for. Playing in a market where prices are driven not by demand or skill but by agents and media, it is difficult to stay in touch with competition if you don’t spend.
That’s exactly what Wenger is trying to change through his purchases of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Again, his theory is that he wouldn’t shy away from big ticket purchases as long as they make football sense.
One such purchase which every supporter is longing for is a defensive midfielder. It is difficult to peek into the plans of Wenger but he could be looking for an ideal player to fit his squad. This is not to say that Carvalho is ideal compared to Vidal. It would be a grave injustice to the potential of Carvalho or the achievements of Vidal if we start comparing both of them.
The Sporting Lisbon midfielder has been doing really well for Portugal in the Under-21 European Championship. The youngster is a huge presence in the midfield and is undoubtedly one of the stars of the tournament. He has covered more ground than any other player in the group stages. This performance is sure to catch the eye of every club in the world.
This is not the first time that Arsenal is linked with the Portugese international. He was on Wenger’s radar in the past but they didn’t follow up with a concrete bid. It is any body’s guess if this time the interest would translate into an official bid.
There are other teams also interested. Manchester United were very strong with their enquiries when David Moyes was the manager but the price tag repelled them. The price tag is said to be around 37 million but his performances in the U21 Euro Championships may increase his transfer fee.
Will Carvalho be able to improve the Gunners? Difficult question to answer but his current performances are worth taking note.
Sridhar
I think he would and his learning ability is praised alot so it could well be that he adapts very quickly to the team and Premier League football. Just his whole style of physical prescence added with extremely calm football, he overdid that at the penalty last night but we have other players for that. His weaknesses are his decision making and forward distribution but at a team like Arsenal he could pick that up incredibly quickly just look at Coquelin’s growth in those from the moment he started this season.
Whether he should be valued for the fees mentioned is another thing, my answer would be no. That’s the only thing that prohibited a transfer to a top team imo I think he’d be out of there last summer if his clause was around 20m, whether to Arsenal or not.
I wonder if anyone really watched him play. Seems like everyone is just believing the hype. From the couple of games I’ve watched him I can say I don’t want him anywhere near Arsenal, he’s very calm on the ball, but often too calm when he should pass it on quickly and just lets the chance pass by. I just can’t see anything special in him. I’d rate him somewhere between Mason and Bentaleb, 20 million would be a shocker.
was it Leo I saw in the last article? #WelcomeBack
thanks dude
I’d say Le Cock is better than this guy at the moment and is more versatile. Our very own Furious Cock has been damn impressive!!! I don’t think William is worth the sum being asked for.
#PowerToTheCock
Agree to the freakin bone. Coq is by far better than Carvalho, and will forever be. We keep forgetting that Coq is still developing at the age of 24. Carvalho is bought because he has “potential”, yet he’s only ONE year younger than the great coq. I frankly don’t see why we would be interested in Carvalho, when we could buy someone like Kondogbia (Who went to Inter today) or Krychowiak from Sevilla.
We need a DM, no arguing that – but dont buy the first and best option that is available. Last time we did that, we ended up buying a striker that doesn’t score goals (unless it’s in the FA cup at Old trafford 😀 )
weird….why wouldnt we buy the first and best option….pogba would make arsenal a way better and more complete team though not going to happen!!!!!!!!! Coquelin is actually as much and probably more work in progress than this guy….but the more important point is that they are different so would offer more options in the midfield as long as we off load flamini and diaby he would be an upgrade….that said portugese players tend to be way over priced it seems to me which will be a factor for wenger….but do we need a powerful DM of course we do been saying it for 5 years and only wengers stupidity has blocked it …lets see if he has learnt anything
Carvalho is showing good progress as a DM, but AW is not going to spend £37M on a 22 yo.
20 or 25 mill might be OK for a player with bags of potential to give us strength in depth, and I would like to see us get him.
However if transfer kitty is £50M with outgoing sells matching what we paid for Cech, would AW rather spend 20-30M+ on a good striker?
COYG
COYG
£50 million i wouldn’t believe that for 2 seconds of the day when we spend close to £80 million last summer, there will most likely be about the £70 million mark at a guess to spend. no doubt the papers made up this £50 million to make the board look bad and tight(both are myths made up by press during the lean years), but they have said in public they will back wenger with the big money on world class purchases, then i believe they will. even if it is a one off £50 million striker. because they trust wengers’ judgement of players and there values. but you are right about the outgoings this summer will balance out the cech deal along with f.a cup winning monies and released wages, so wenger will still have full access to his full amount in the transfer kitty from the start of window(today) onwards, i am looking forward to seeing what other players wengers got up his sleeve.
coyg
I said last week that I could feel that same bad energy of that last 10 seasons where we either sign players that are not the priority at that moment or just buy second rates..
I am one of the only few Wenger defenders on this site so I am not saying this because I am a Wenger out joyrider.
Wenger seems to just sign players on reflex, for example;
Ozil was never in our plans but when he became available we went for him.
Sanchez was never in our plans as we all wanted CB, DM and STRIKER at that time, but he became available and we sighed him.
Cech too has just been a reflex because he became available. I say this because Wenger signed Ospina a year ago..
We just seem to not have a definite plan, all we do is go into the market praying that we can get some bargains or just hoping for the best..
We all wanted one of Kondogbia, Schneiderlin, Vidal etc..
But then Kondogbia left Milan. We then said, it’s a blessing in disguise.
Schneiderlin looks set to join United, what did we say? He is over priced as Vidal is a better player.
Now it seems we were never in for Vidal we are saying could be a blessing in disguise.
Now we are onto an under 21 player (Carvalho)?.. Smh
We absolutely don’t have a well thought out plan each and every window, we just go for whoever becomes available rather than who we really need.
We have not even talked about a striker yet. And we all know we need one.
Starting to get that same old bad feeling.. Hope I am wrong and over reacting..
@goonster
You keep referring to “we” as if the fans/supporters have any influence on the workings, direction of the club.
Yes, “we” is appropriate a word and indeed fans do have some measure of influence on the “workings, direction of the club.”
Goonster, you do make some sound points but we are going on the word of tabloid newspapers. Sanchez i believe was planned maybe not the player but the position was and he turned out to be the best one of that position. We were supposedly talking to Reus before he got a serious injury, whether thats true or not i dont know but if you believe all those to be true well then this would seem a possibility.
Schneiderlin Kondogbia Vidal Carvalho, not enough proof to make those leaps of faith in my opinion.
Tho goalkeeper scenario. We bought Ospina as a no2. In my mind Wenger has finally realised how Szcz being first choice could well hamper any title aspirations.
@Goonster,you are absolutely correct my friend,what we see as the priorities are not Wengers priorities,we see this season after season with Ozil being probably the worst case,we all know a striker and a dm were more urgently needed.Some will say Wenger knows best but clearly he doesn’t because our progress is so slow we appear to be standing still.Sanchez came in did well,but we still finished further away than last year.An Giroud still doesn’t have any real competition upfront,im not a believer in Walcott as a main striker,if we do get a top striker like a Benzema it will most likely be a last minute deal after every1 has made their moves
I say no to the Portugal powerhouse midfielder Carvalho. The desperate hyping up of this guy in the article though.
And only a dumb out of touch person would be that mentally lacking if he or she paid £37 million for an average over hyped player that has not done anything of note so far. Carvalho is still in the Portuguese league, still an under 21 player and just a bench player for the national team.. £37 million?
He is not better than The Coq. For £37 million he should already be an established superstar.
For the last 2 seasons he has flatlined, you just have to watch a few matches in the past two seasons and you will see how he has not improved from when he was 19-20 years old… He seems so slow and heavy, can’t read the game, players just ghost past him. He is a powerhouse in physicality, but you need more than just power. The EPL is unforgiving.
Not convinced yet.
I think the fee is 37m euros, 28m pound. And i think he will go for less than that as the club is in massive debt, Portuguese clubs always put a huge buy out in before selling for less.
Goonster,
I agree that WC is a tad overhyped by football fans and the media however I think its a tad unfair to criticize the lad based on a $37 million price tag that he is no control over. Portuguese clubs are notorious for attempting to squeeze every last penny out of there prized assests, thus limiting there development and decreasing the opportunity to transition to more competitive European leagues.
$37 million for the lad is a good laugh but are Jack, Rambo and possibly Ox really worth the speculated $25-60M price tags that have been often discussed?
Still think Imbula from Marseille @ $15M would be a great singing.
carvalho’s agent is Jorge mendes can’t see this one happening still think vidal is our main target
Carvahlo aint coming to arsenal forget it,what do u think buying a 23yr DM will do to the development of beleik(if that’s the name) when we hv hv 24yr old powerhouse Coq??if @ all we will sign some type of DM,vidal has a higher chance of coming.
the only thing that could give this carvalho story legs to run would be that wenger was quoted as saying earlier this season, he would on the look out for a prestigious veiera type player(not including the next veiera bielik) if one was available that is why this carvalho rumor wont go away so easily. because the press take wengers words and use a bit of poetic license to make up a story that sound right on the mark or close enough to believe. as for how good the kid is there is no doubting that he is physically veiera like, but whether his game skills are good enough remains to be seen, he has by all account had a great under 21 tournament, but that is different to the harsh realities of the p/l game in game out. i am sure wengers scouts would have compiled a expert report on him so he would know by now if he is the player he wants or not, and what the right price to pay is.
Have said it a couple of times now that we don’t need carvalho…The epl is way tougher dan d under 21 cup…so he is still a risk at his current price…37million is just too much for a raw talent!….why wenger keep doing this???….morgan sneiderin is out there waiting…why not bid the 25million and get our man…with the way this carvalho rumours is gathering pace,I think the interest might be genuine….I’ll welcome him if he does make the switch(carvalho) but I still stand by my words…MORGAN SNEIDERIN is a better buy,and am sure most gunner faithful agree…#COYGs
Oh and plus,as I mentioned b4 £37m is too much for a bench warmer. Carvahlo isn’t gonna bench coq we all know that. Some guy responded to me saying “why the surprise didn’t we buy ozil @ 42 n sanchez @ 35??? I was so weakened but that stupid comment that I cudnt respond cause I far as we know those two are starters !!!
Diaby released.
This doesnt bode well for Diabys character or loyalties if we offered him a pay as you play and he turned it down. The fortune that we payed him whilst giving him the best of care for such a long time and then if he said no thanks i want a full contract even though there are huge doubts over my fitness.
I would have thought a player in his position would feel like they owe the club massively.
it depends on what style of d/m wenger has in mind to he might want big strong dominating type like a carvalho, imbula or one like arteta a holding midfielder who can pass like lars bender or illramendi not big in size quite mobile but very intelligent on how they position themselves but can still plug the gaps in front of the defense, or a seek and destroyer type like le coq but with no major passing skills but shuttles around the d/m area and snuffs out all danger most likely example sven bender.
carvalho £37 million, imbula £18-20 million
lars bender, illramendi £18-20million
sven bender £18 -20 million the choice is wengers.
lars bender and illarmendi are nothing like Arteta,they are much more athletic and put in much more tackles
almost forgot to mention it is most like to be the case that le coq. would have been told he would be guaranteed to be numero uno d/m next season, to get him to sign contract extension, so i would guess whoever is coming in will have to work hard to dislodge him out.
wenger should just go all in £50million for either lewandoski or reus and see what happens, no messing about just straight in there.
if thats the case regarding Coquelin then i would suggest that we aren’t going to buy a defensive midfielder at all,especially if Arteta and Flamini stay,i think this is a mistake,but Wenger made our bed by not releasing these 2
I believe Wenger is a manager who could bring the best out of Carvalho. Its also a good thing that we have Coq now performing well because i think Carvalho could take a bit of time adjusting.
This is all going on the pretence that we are interested in the boy.
If Carvalho goes it wont be for the 30 mark being asked. Id say 18 to 25m, somewhere along those lines. He would give our midfield a much wanted injection of strength, himself and Coq would certainly be no pushovers thats for sure.. however inexperienced they may seem.
Wenger was right when he said if Le coq was bought for big money everyone would be praising his performance and contribution to the team. Since he is from the academy very few people think he is not enough for a title challenging team
We don’t need Carvalho or any other defensive midfielder. We still have Mikel and Flamini, who are both happy to sit on the bench. I know Coquelin would not be able to play all matches, but he would be able to play majority of them. Flamini and Mikel are enough back ups for the coq, we have Ramsey, Wilshere, etc… There is no need to buy any DM, because someone has to be benched, Coq wouldn’t want schneiderlin because they are of the same nationality and they play the same position, they both need play time and space to master their craft. Unless we sell both Flamini and Mikel, I repeat, no need to buy a DM
And don’t forget Arteta, He is still here!
As fans, I believe when we discuss potential signings, we should ignore the price tags, because first of all, it is not our personal money, and 2, prices of players in d transfer market are determined by a lot of factors, not just dia ability.
So we should concentrate more on the quality, of the player, mentality of the player, competition they would provide, durability, adaptabilty.
Price tag, thats for d club to sort out.