Arsenal is close to completing a move for Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Lemar according to reports.
The Frenchman was a target of Arsenal in 2017 with the Gunners going head to head with Liverpool for his signature, however, both teams failed to sign him and he moved to Spain 12 months later.
Lemar has struggled for form since he moved to Spain and Diego Simeone has admitted that he has not been up to the standard required of him.
He has been linked with Arsenal this month as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his team and reports in El Chiringuito via Metro Sport claims the Gunners are close to completing the transfer.
Lemar has been below par is Spain but there is a case for him being a victim of Diego Simeone not being able to use creative players.
It is believed that under the management of a good manager like Arteta he can become just as good or better than he was at AS Monaco.
Arteta needs more creativity in his team as he looks to builds his system into the current group of players.
However, the team has had to rely too much on Mesut Ozil for creativity, the arrival of Lemar would ease the pressure on the German and make Arsenal even more unpredictable.
Lemar would become the second Arsenal signing following the impending signing of Flamengo’s Pablo Mari.
This January transfer window may turn out better than expected for Arsenal if this report on Lemar turns out to true.
Deja vu 😜
Hi pls buy he Thomas lemar
If we sign Lemar, it’s gonna be 4-3-3 then
Xhaka…Torreira….Lemar
Pepe….. Aubameyang….. Martinelli
I could happily put up with that tbh.
Arteta has to accommodate Ozil in the starting line-up until he leaves in 2021, so I bet he would keep using 4-2-3-1
If Lemar comes, he would likely to be a winger or act as Xhaka’s backup
You must be out of your tiny little mind,, Thomas Lemar ,,” used as back up for Granit Xhaka?? One of those two guys is a phenomenally good football player, the other one cannot run can’t tackle can only pass the ball sideways and is using the club to line his pockets of £100,000 per week for doing absolutely zilch week in and week out. Guess which is which
That is true
Arteta will change formation next season.. every top teams play 433 or 4141.. we lack personnel, hence, the unchanged formation
there’s no need of Ozil he is the laziest player in that team we need to sell him n recover some cash he is getting paid a lot of money for nothing
you right dear
Xhaka cannot play effectively in a 433 formation…. That is what Emery tried and failed…
U think as me
Until isee lerma in Emirates ,that’s when I will believe in these rumours.
same to me bro. I’ll only believe by seeing any signed player in a fully numbered jersey. with our team we only mention and pave way for other teams to buy
Why sign a player, who has not been sucessful for a very long time? Overrated player IMO.
Em THIERRY HENRY🤭flop in italy. SAY NO MORE👏👍
that more an exception than a rule. Also, Lemar hasn’t really even shown he has the tools to be nearly as successful. He’s done nothing since his one good season at Monaco.
The classic was Stuart Pearce denigrating Dennis Bergkamp as an expensive flop, when he was bought by Arsenal after not meeting expectations at Inter Milan.
We all know how that turned out!
He cost Athletici 60m euro and is now available for 33m Euro.
Considering we were willing to pay 90m quid for him 2 seasons ago that seems a bargain.
Also cheaper than 80m quid Palace wanted for Zaha.
But we splashed 70m on a winger Pepe in the summer and he is yet to perform.
Spending another 33m on an apparent failure sounds ridiculous.
Good money after bad.
Right now he is no better value than Nelson.
We have gone from Vityenko 33m to Mari at 7.5m.
More likely Arsenal is bringing in a 17 year old French kid on a free.
How dare u coming are Lemar to Nelson?.. Lemar is a superior talent. Because Simeone can’t handle attackers well doesn’t mean he’s a flop.. we don’t have players who can do what he does, so I’ll have him all day
If he is being brought to ease the pressure on ozil why not use ceballos instead,for me ceballos is more creative than lemar and had very good link ups with ozil whenever they played together,the only problem is who can we trust as a lone CDM.
And for rumours about lemar and his absence from training,
Lemar was absent due to gastroentirities(via football.london)and they also have quoted,
“However, RMC Sport (via Get French Football News), state that while Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are in contact over the player, a deal between the parties is ‘nowhere near’.”
We need changes on our team
If lemar join Arsenal there will be a positive change in Gunners
Lemar will improve Arsenal midfield. we won’t have to reply so much on Xhaka.
I think he should have stuck to making songs.
Lol got that one
ha ha Someone Should Tell You It’s Not That Easy….
Very good 👍
ceballos invites opponents to the final box not attacking minded
If he comes, play him in Ozil position OR Left Wing
ie.
Pepe……Lemar…..Martinelli
……..Aubameyang
Or
Pepe…….Ozil:-(…….Lemar
………Aubameyang
While not go for ziyech
If he can play as CAM then welcome like Wenger moved Carzole from wing to middle. If he can make the same transition under MA and becomes anywhere close to Carzole then he’ll ya. Sign him up but if he is to be played on wing or in place of Ozil them not required. We need a CM and Good CB who can be paired with our young CB Sielba n holding.
We looking for a loan again, but don’t we have Ceballos, he can’t even get minutes in that ridiculous same formation.
He first lays names Xhaka Torreira to defend, there’s no room for an attacking midfield, no mention of Ozil he wont remove nor actually same position at all.
He is gonna need to adapt to EPL and won’t mentally cope in a sinking ship! Not used to be in losing team, just as that Flamengo,same exact move when we have Mav, Holding. If he can play Sokratis, Luiz, Mustafi before these Arsenal young players who combine more talent, speed, awarness and energy; I guess we need another same profile we have in thisa 3 players named!
Lemar! He is not playing and injury prone in Spain!
We must focus on next games cuz these dudes won’t be in this team for a minute.
Sokra-Luiz are Arteta CB pair! He won’t change that! Lemar will come for a winget it Ozil, when Saka should be played, he can obviously play from deeper if he can play winger and LB role he seems forced to take as Kolas is out for minute!
Shouldn’t that be priority, a back up at LB and RB we never had, starting season?
Maybe I am all wrong, let’s hope Saka doesn’t get injured, nor Bellerin, they do have to play every games, Saka at least, Niles is as Saka when Kolas is back!
What a waist of talent!
I know will be looking better and hope he doesn’t mess up, Xhaka should be right there, sitting infront of CBs! Mustafi is a defender with energy, speed, he will do better than a winger, Saka should not be used up there so he can go seat when Kolas in! Mustafi can be more useful in set pieces defending or attacking corners! Hope and think he got as everyone that Xhaka can do well in that central defensive zone we have issues with, play him infront of CBs always, or Luiz can be good in that role…Allows other midfield to play forward, which makes team do so, if 2 out of 3 midfields just defend, it is no transition in middle to create goals and attack!
Martinez
Bellerin – Mav- Holding – Mustafi
Xhaka
Niles – Willock
Nelson Martineli. Saka
I have been reading so many comments by fellow fans n a lot of them desire for a tall n heavy build CB. Why this obsession with tall and heavy weight CBs? I prefer we sign a ball playing, quick, good at interception, good at analysing the danger, good at reading the game and with a good high ball judgment to make those headers defender. Defending is an art, it’s not always about tall and being body builder….remember canavaro, puyol,…n remember Mert n sakho (Liverpool).
The last thing we need is another ball playing CB! All the other attributes you mention can be found with any quality CB. Apart from speed, if you’re looking exclusively at heavy set CBs.
I agree that CBs don’t have to be tall to be good, but it’s something we definitely need. After huge success with tall, physically imposing players, Wenger went for small, weak players…and it was a disaster! The EPL is physical, and demanding.
Hey JW, I don’t think the statement is true in relation to small CBs, at that time we had limited finances so we went with cheap CBs n they were not all small my friend. Verm was small n koss who has been one of the best CBs post invisible era was avg height rest John djoru, squllaci, Gallas, Mert etc etc they were all tall n strong build defenders. Going back to your other statement that EPL is physical, yes it is but that did not seem to matter or have any big effect when they play against Barca and real of old with small players all over the pitch they still got dominated by so called little men. Now a days it’s actually becoming less physical then what it was in history. More mid table n bottom table teams actually play the ball on the floor and try to play attractive football….clear example of two teams we just encountered shiefield n Leeds.
Sorry, a slight miscommunication. I was talking about all positions in relation to small, and weak, not just defenders. You can get away with the odd small one here or there, but generally, you need more taller, physically imposing players. Especially for Arsenal. We need old school, ugly, tall, aggressive CBs, not more flare like ball playing CBs. Look at the disaster that is Luiz. Sokratis is a decent CB, but is made to look worse than he is when asked to play it out. Get quality CBs in, and just let them focus on defending, and that’s it! Think how many times over the last decade we’ve conceded unnecessary goals, chances, and pressure from playing out from the back. We’ve never actually been any good at it, yet it seems to an obsession with our managers! Let the full/wing backs and midfield create, and not the CBs.
Third MAN JW, I am completely with you on physical power and height where possible too, esp at CB being vital in our Prem. The Prem is unique in demanding great power and speed, esp speed of moving the ball, and certainly more than other European league. Some folk want to reinvent the wheel but for many successful decades in the past, the prime job of a true defender was to keep a clean sheet. Now, so many folk prefer fullbacks who cannot defend, eg Bellerin, but who can get up the field and back, despite the fact that this weakens the defence as fewer true defenders are behind the ball. From his very start I noted that Bellerin has no proper defensive skill almost at all and were I manager he would not be our RB. Simply put, he has not defensive talent. I DISLIKE PLAYERS LIKE HIM IN DEFENCE FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THAT HE IS TOO SLIGHT, TOO SCRAWNY AND CANNOT WIN HEADERS, NOR TACKLE and is often out of his position when needed. DEFENDERS DEFEND, MIDFIELDERS HELP TO DEFEND AND ALSO CREATE,PLUS SCORE AND FORWARDS SCORE AND ASSIST. Though it is not as rigid as it reads, it is nevertheless what mostly happens and some folk forget it at their peril.
Basics that has been the problem for so long agreed if row z is the answer then put it out until the players do the basics it doesn’t matter what system you use we’ll still concede goals we are not good enough to play out from the back and like another guy said what’s the point Bellerin racing forward and leaving gaping holes !!! Square passes how many have we seen?? Xhaka loves them and as for mustafi I’d rather senderos !!! Football is simple we just make it hard because we have players who think that they are better than what they are
👍
Squallaci and gallas were pretty small mate certainly not strong or heavy CBs as was koss as was vermaelen lol we do need a commanding tall and athletic cb who can read the game with composure and with minimal silly errors
@Rory, that’s what I said verm was small n kos was not that big either….squllaci n Gallas where both 6 feet my friend that’s not small unless you are comparing with Peter crouch.
Lemar is agood player but should be on wing so sign the player
U brought in Pepe who has been a complete failure and again u want to bring in Lemar who is also a failure. Go to man city and sign sane.
Apart from weakness at CB at the moment, we are desperately in need of a DM like Francis Coquelin. Then kick out Xhaka as well as everyone that prefers to play sideways and backwards instead of forwards (Guendouzi, Özil, etc) and this team will rattle some cages. The time for pussyfooting around with so-called creative ball players that stroll around the park is over. Hard work beats lackadaisical creativity every day. Have not experienced that time and again this season?
Well said. Feel like this has been Arsenal’s problem since post-invincibles honestly. Some strange obsession with trying to be like Barcelona in the EPL and it’s been a disaster in term of results. We need to go back to having strong players that work hard. Even Cazorla, for being small was a hard worker as well as creative. Dont see that in our midfield. It’s either one or the other, or neither.
👍
The only signing I care about is that Ukranian kid, a composed, ball playing CB. Exactly what the club needs.
Matviyenko may be a better bet. Very technical and can play CB, FB and DM…and he is young. Lemar is too unpredictable. Start at the back and build the midfield in the summer.
At first I thought Matviyenko was too short, but when I caught up with his play, he can play CB, FB, and DM. He has skill and technique and looks tough. Just what we need. No more Mustafi, no more Luiz, no more non-athletes, no more rubbish.
No one with a normal amount of brain cells believes for a single moment tht Lemar is coming to Arsenal . He obviously is not, so move on from this silly and clearly false article!
modern football is the not just about quality players but system of play. Arteta rebuild city he understands the art plus he was a student of a professor of system of play.we didn’t the future and cried for winning games and its very clear we are experts when it comes to complaining. we should relax and let mikel Arteta do his j0b, one week ago no one knew PABLO MARI
Love what am seeing with de transfers in arsenal
The one player that Arsenal have not really replaced is Rosicky – if Lemar can match TR7’s all-action creativity, then go for it!
please sign Thomas lemar he is perfect for us #Arsenal