Assuming that the Arsenal transfer rumours are right then we could soon be seeing the end of the second spell as a Gunner for the French midfielder Mathieu Flamini. Whether that means that Arsene Wenger will be going into the transfer market to sign another central midfielder, however, is anyone´s guess. But if he does then I do not think it should be the young PSG player Adrien Rabiot.
Flamini rejoined Arsenal on a free transfer a couple of years ago after spending five seasons in Serie A with AC Milan and his second spell with the club has been reasonably successful and gave the boss the option of being more compact and combative in the middle instead of using the more technical Mikel Arteta.
But after Francis Coquelin came back with a bang last season, Flamini has been largely surplus to requirements and did not start a single Premier League game in 2015. And reports like the one in the Evening Standard claim that he is now set to join Lukas Podolski in signing for the Turkish champions Galatasaray.
That space in the squad could be filled by Rabiot and we have been linked with the 20-year old before. A Metro report reveals that his mother has dropped a big hint that her son is looking to move on from the French champions because of a lack of playing time.
She said, “Adrien wants to have a career at PSG.
“But it’s not possible. Are PSG trying to tarnish Adrien because we have asked for a transfer?”
“If Adrien leaves PSG, he is not leaving for the sake of leaving, he is leaving in order to play.”
I am not saying that he is not good enough for Arsenal but if he is going to bitch and moan about being on the bench he would be better to go elsewhere as he is going to find it just as hard as Flamini did to get a game ahead of Le Coq.
We need competition for Le Coq. He has only played for half a season for God’s sake and you are already treating him like a legend that can not be replaced. On that account we should have never bought Cech because Ospina played so well for half a season!
Bring in competition for Le Coq. If he is as good as you think he is then he will be the starter if not his competition will. We need to have competition in every position!
Big clubs don’t give up the opportunity to sign a player like cech. Ospina was good and great at times, but cech is a class above bro
How about chambers in the middle?? For competition and variability, wenger tries it once and it was not too bad, I think with a lot of training and grooming he can play there, + won’t mind waiting on the bench for his chance. Still an option at the CB again. Then we can concentrate on ST in the market. Just a tot.
We also have Isaac Hayden, who can play CDM & CD. Before his injury he was one of our best prospects from the Academy.
Given the knowledge of fan, every team starting lineup must have a typical DM.
It seems Wenger has different opinion, Carzola + Ramsey are starting as double pivots versus Everton. We will see more in the Emirates Cup. If he continues to put faith on Ramsey and Carzola to be discipline enough to provide defensive cover, Le Coq won’t start more than 50% of our games – rending the need for a backup for him (beside Arteta) not as a compulsory as we fan think. And we also had Bielik, Wenger won’t spend a few million squids on a youngster then frozen him out.
You are right that Wenger has not always placed a premium on DM position – who knows how he will choose the lineups.
But to draw any conclusions on positioning and lineups from pre-season games is just plain foolish. Pre-season lineups, even games like Community Shield, are notoriously unreliable predictors of how a manager will approach the regular season.
It is an observation rather than conclusions.
We may only know for sure once we kick off the season at home with West Ham
Spot on Jim.
Doesn’t mean, as many seem to keep saying, that we need someone with the exact traits of Coquelin. Just someone who is capable of playing in the deepest part of midfield.
Wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us bring in a disciplined technician ala Arteta to provide options. Talk of Bielik is fantasy, he’s just turned 17 there’s no shot he touches the first team proper outside of a carling cup appearance or two for at least the next 2 years. Someone like Moutinho would be very nice given Wengers desire to play two holding mids, coquelin is the physical DM, no chance we get someone else with a limited skill set.
Might not see anyone come in this window, but longer term it seems Coquelin is replacing Flamini and we’re likely searching for an heir to Arteta.
ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON, Mate.
he is a good player and i am not saying that we have to get him but. . i think he can be transformed into the busquets role?? . he has good passing and his technique is just outstanding. if he can work on his positioning and adapt playing in a deeper role then he can be one hell of a player for us. just my thoughts……
Agreed. Well said
I’m at the point now with a CDM that I don’t care who it is just as long as flamini is sold and replaced even ki from Swansea would do as back up at least he can pass to his teammates and would be happy with a back up role to le coq! Obviously I want wc but I’m not convinced were gonna get it in this position! I believe a WC striker will arrive tho (touch wood)
Wouldn’t lars bender be a good transfer for us?
Seen bender is more of a dm
Lights, Camera and Action. ..
Roll with the wenger panic buys : )
We should develop our
own youngsters.
.
we need competition for everyone….
split the games….19 games each
Even though not my first choice I think Rabiot is good. We should go after somebody better and proven though. What would you guys even value him at in the market right now?? 10-12 million?
Rabiot would not take flaminis place in the squad, he is only 20 so would be taking jack jebb’s place at the club, both born 1995. For me that is a great Deal as Rabiot is far better than Jebb.
Rabiot would not even take a place in the 25 the season after as that goes to players born 1994. So as one for the future, dam right we should go for rabiot, to replace Jebb now and eventually arteta.
rabiot is quality.I say get him
Silly silly suggestion. Coquelin could have up to 65 games to play. Injuries can kick in too. We DESPERATELY need to cover for Coquelin with a specialist as a deep distributing DM. If it turns out they are better than Coquelin no problem. It seems Wenger likes Rabiot or Sergi Samper. It would be silly not to bring one of them in. Samper in particular is brilliant. Remember Santi may leave next year or do. We need to develop someone to replace him.
We got a young lad named Zelalem who can replace Santi as well.
Let’s see how high Wenger rate him
We need to be realists and admit that Arteta and Flamini have never been top players.
A top DM and a striker might even make us favorites for the PL
Rabiot is not a bad option but we have young lads, I guess they should be given a try and if they can prove what they’ve got, I say try them instead of bringing someone in