If Arsene Wenger does what most people in the football world think he needs to do and signs some players in the January transfer window to boost the Arsenal squad that is under serious pressure from the growing injury list, then surely a defensive midfielder will be at the top of his transfer wish list.
Although maybe the phrase defensive midfielder is a bit of a misleading one, as Arsenal fans have got used to the fact that our manager is not all that keen on an out and out midfield warrior and we only have only had the brilliant and combative Francis Coquelin in the first team because another injury crisis forced Wenger’s hand and then Coquelin proved his worth and made himself undroppable.
So I expect Arsenal to go for more of an all round player, a holding midfielder if you will, and that is why this latest Arsenal transfer rumour reported by The Independent sounds like a very realistic one to me.
The player in question is the young French international Adrien Rabiot who decided to stay and fight for his place in the PSG first team but is still not getting the regular football he clearly wants. Arsenal have been keeping tabs on him and are ready to make a move in January.
The report also claims that our north London rivals Tottenham are looking at Rabiot, but surely Arsenal don’t need to worry about that do we?
I doubt that we have any interest in Rabiot..My guess is his mother(who’s his agent) is just trying to get a better contract for him at PSG..He is just 21 yrs old and he does feature a lot for PSG..played excellent against Real..why would he leave PSG and go to Spuds..ridiculous !! Better look for Wanyama..ideal player to rotate with Coquelin,not cup-tied and willing to leave Soton..
it makes sense to get somone young and up and comming to replace flamini and arteta with 6months of adapting in place, the players that would suit us are;
yuri teilemens(anderlect) although he is still a teen this youngster has immense quality and the fighting spirit like coqulan making him the ideal long term arteta replacement. he has played us of the park last time we played them as well (at 17 years old)
ruben neves (Porto) another yougn player who is already a regular in Porto team and is arguably there most valuable player. he is technically blessed and very good reader and intercepter
ricary Bazoer (ajax) he is also being tracked by barcelona and set for big things in the game he is an all action midfielder does both def and att well
We are supposedly interested in Neves,
He is only 18 years old and already the captain of porto ?
But Portuguese clubs(esp. Porto) are difficult to negotiate with and you know Wenger and negotiations.We might miss out on him because Wenger refused to pay his airfare..lol..
If we have interest in any Ajax player then we should have the upper hand because of DB10..Tielemans is an exciting prospect but he is not the finished article and we already have a bunch of talented midfielders in the reserve team who are looking to break into the starting eleven.If we get Tielemans what happens to Crowley,Zelalem,Beilik,Hayden,Adelaide,Iwobi..Our midfield is already way too congested.No decent backup for Coquelin though.If we get Wanyama we get a player who knows the league already and is a more than capable replacement for Coquelin.Also he would not mind sitting on the bench from time to time.Plus against top 4 teams we can use both Wanyama and Coquelin as a double pivot.Tielemans I feel needs another 2-3 yrs of top level football.
Teilemans is fantastic he has the potential to be the top cm in the world to compare him to our youth team is laughable this lad is as bright as wilshire when he first came on the scene he also wouldn’t stifle players like kamara Hayden beilek who are more defensive.
The other players you mention will probably be in more advanced positions.
Another fostering experiment, no thanks …. Look for already ready-made and solid DM …
Wenger will NOT purchase a top DM baby please
He has said time and time again that he doesn’t purchase defensive players outside of the defense
He could sign a dm on loan like he did with Kim Kallstrom
However, with Flamini, Chambers, Bielik and Arteta, I don’t see him signing one
we need a younger better manager thomas tuchel for anyone here ? he will be ready made for arsenal, much better that klopp was at dortmund. They dont struggle the same like they did against different teams now, like before he has a tactical trick up his sleeve for all teams it seems. he sees to be the up and coming manager that could be a realistic contender for a wenger replacement if he can take dortmund further than klopp he would be a shoe-in for the post. what does anyone else think.
Arsenal needs to beat Wengers stubborn attitude to buy players.
Wenger will never buy a DM
I wish he wasn’t so stubborn.
I would love Krychowiak, Bender, Kondogbia etc
But Wenger will always be Wenger
tbh I thought we bought Chambers to train up as a CDM. If we boight another World Class one what would you do with Coq when he returned?
Is there a law against playing with 2 DM’s?
No, but that is what ManU are doing at the moment, and it can be pretty sterile. It is often better if you have an attacking B2B like a Santi or Ramsey who can join the attack. Especially, when your forwards are shy of goals. For teams like Barca with awesome front 3 fire power I suppose it would be ok provided at least one of the CDM’s could distribute the ball long.