Arsenal have been strongly linked with the Portugal and Sporting Lisbon star before, when all the Arsenal transfer rumours or at least a large portion of them were focused on the search to finally find a deep lying central midfielder to fill the role that many think has been needed since the departure of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva.
Howver, the emergence of the former Arsenal academy player Francis Coquelin when he was brought back from a loan spell with Charlton Athletic appeared to have solved the problem and the rumours linking us to William Carvalho faded away.
Now they are back, probably because Coquelin did not have the sort of season we expected and the arrival of Granit Xhaka in a big money move last summer does not seem to have given the Gunners the strength and control in midfield that a team needs if they want to challenge for the Premier League title.
With The Sun reporting Arsenal’s interest in signing Carvalho this summer along with his club colleague and young winger Gelsons Martins I wonder if Arsene Wenger has decided that Coquelin is not the player we need in the middle.
I do not think he is going to dump Xhaka after just one season so I reckon it could be the Frenchman whose time may be up if these reports are true. Carvalho is a strong and effective presence in the centre who is a regular and key starter for his club and country, so could be the man to finally fill the boots of the great Vieira?
Bob.
Seriously as fatboy said am so much happy having Lehman in the squad. He seems to be a tough character and he will kick the buts of Ozil and Co that wants to be lazy. COYG
And I will say I’ve been impressed by that Carvalho. Didn’t know much about him until the Confederations Cup. He is so strong and posses quality. Not really convinced by Gelson Martins
@Napersie It’s a well known fact Lehmann off the pitch was quiet and didn’t talk to the players, especially in the dressing room.
Henry said “lehmann was always talking”
Lehmann won’t take any ???? he will slap those bitches up during training lol ?? Gone are the days of smiling and joking about.
loooollll i would love it
I don’t know if anyone is with me but I rather lose Mo Elneny than Coq. The guy has never really caught the eye.
OT – what about Wilshere? Is he staying or leaving? Is he really needed?
Wasn’t the Goal Elneny scored against Barca eye catching? some times its about composure, accuracy and getting job done. He accuracy to me is above 90% and plays simple football, hardly makes mistakes, Coq gets yellow nearly every game if not red lol, Elneny is top player I think.
One single goal dismisses the notion he hasn’t been particularly eye-catching?
Five Yellows in 20+ appearances per season and one red in three seasons does not constitute “yellow nearly every game, if not red”.
And using passing accuracy as a reason to rate a DM is terrible. Arteta had a better passing accuracy and a couple of great goals and we all know how much better the team was when Coquelin replaced him.
M. Elneny doesn’t do incisive passes that can split and disorganize opponent’s defences like carzola does. He plays safe and too careful passes mostly passing back and sideways which doesn’t help us much going forward. I dont rate him that much and perhaps carvalho should come in for elneny rather than coquelin. Coquelin is younger and a rough diamond that can be polished.
I disagree, Elneny whilst likable; is a nothing kind of player.
– Yes, he runs around a lot – like ramsey.
– Yes, he makes safe passes – like denilson.
– Yes, he scored against Barcelona – like Arshavin.
All in, he’s a deeply average player who should move on for his Career’s Sake.
The reason Le Coq get booked so often is in part due to the fact that he was only one willing to defend and would be pulled from pillar to post trying to cover the middle of the park as his midfield partner goes walkies (see ramsey and early season xhaka).
I know I sound like a fan boy but for years we begged for a destroyer but instead had Denilson, Diaby, Elneny, Arteta who whilst there decent passers they wren’t/aren’t really into defending.
Then we finally get what we need in Le Coq and people complain that we need a passer in the role instead….
If you’re talking about first team. Elneny is not a very good player. Neither is Coq. As squad player, he is much better than Coquelin. You need a squad player to hold the fort while waiting for players to return. Elneny all round has it over Coquelin. All Coq can do is sit in front of defence. Elneny adds to the passing, adds to defending on the front foot as well as sitting in like Coq. He doesn’t make unnecessary errors, when first team players are out this is crucial. We don’t need a one trick pony, but we do need decent squad players.
@#Rorie_Day
Infact you’re so spot on bro, I love this wonderful comment of yours, like you cloned my mind..
@#wizardcalidad
Great Minds and All. ;D
We’ve been after this guy for years. I watched him in the U21 Euros a few years back- He and Emre Can were the stand out midfielders in that tournament. He is definitely an upgrade on Coq.
Leave Mo alone! He had the best passing accuracy in the league last season. No prizes for that, but we did miss him when he went to AFCON and the midfield injuries started piling up. The Europa League is no joke, we will need bodies.
William Carvalho could be the most important player Arsenal have signed in years…if this report is true. He is a player who rarely ever gives the ball away. He is a verified midfield general distributing the ball both short and long. He has amazing stamina and would team up with Granite Xhaka to make a real Viera/Gilberto midfield. We could play 3/4/3 or 4/2/4 as needed. Our defence would improve significantly. Sorry for the eulogy but he is that good, that influential, that important. I pray this report is true. Buy this superb player.
I’ll sell Jack because he’s going to be another Diaby, also sell Coquelin because he’s good enough for a mid table team and also Ozil because his good days are over and he’s not worth for 200,000 per week. So sell all these and replace them all with Isco, Gortkza and Seri. Imagine what a force we’ll be with Alexis and Lacazette. Off load Gibbs, Debuchy, Jenkinson Wallcot, Campell. Sell Paulista and buy Rugani fro Juventus and he’ll be a perfect replacement for him and Per who can retire next summer.
You playing FIFA dude?
@Milton John
Someone like you will sell me for making comments you didn’t fancy… lol
RIP Santis Arsenal career. It was fun while it lasted.
Carvalho is a top player, bosses central midfield. I wanted him bought 5 years ago. Different player to Vieira but has the same impact. He is the equivalent of Xhaka and Coquelin combined and with Cazorla added.
He will not be benched.
let him sell these players and resign new ones per,gibb,giroud,wacott,ramsy elminey gabriel jerkinson coquelin dubuchy infant a player that canot put effort to title
I still think coq has the room to up his games; I believe ssomething happened that led to his inconsistency cause as a matter of fact the guy was hot in PL to the stance of catching every eye. Maybe new season with new partnership in the mid will arouse his talent back to his level best. All I think needs to be considered is to have strong super sub in vital positions; cause another contributing factor to our last season flop was injuries in vital areas.
Been hoping we would sign Carvalho for the past few years.
I hope it is true this time.
Me too !…been saying it for a while…hes like viera,gilberto and xhaka all rolled into one…a midfield beast of a player….cant understand why nobody has snapped him up before. Probably been on wengers radar but now everton showing an interest and spending big time, maybe wenger worried about more competition from koeman for ucl places next season ?
Lacazette spotted at Arsenal’s training ground ?
I like the look of Carvalho, but it will never happen, as that would mean the end of Ramsey. I don’t think Wenger has ever loved a player as much as Ramsey! He is injury prone, he’s usually our worst performer most seasons, and yet he’s still here, and starting!
I agree. As much as I like Ramsey and Wilshere as people and Arsenal fans, I think it would be better to sell them Ramsey for the reasons you stated and Wilshere because of his injuries. I think Man City or some team wanted him last summer for £25 million so I guess Wenger wants to keep both Wilshere. Ramsey
If we got Carvalho we would have
Carvalho, Cazorla, Xhaka, Coquelin, Eleny, Wilshere, Ramsey and Ox for CM. That’s a lot of cover for CM
Arsenal have uploaded a YouTube video of our new kit with Alexis in it
But Richard Keys has just published an article and he believes Alexis will leave because he thinks Mahrez is coming
I think Arsenal’s video would be quite mean if Alexis is leaving. I hope the video is a subtle hint that Alexis is staying
YES please get Carvalho. He is the defensive Midfielder we have needed for a long time.
We are also reportedly in for Gelson Martins a winger who plays on both flanks and can also play RB
Mahrez is not a replacement for Alexis. Not enough goals. To replace Alexis you need a 35 plus goal scorer. In some people’s mind Lacazette plus Mahrez is a good replacement for Alexis. I think not. Neither of these bring to the table what Alexis brings. a for William Carvalho, bring him on!
Carvalho is he physical presence we’ve needed for a long time !
As for the xhaka comments , he improved dramatically at the end of last years campaign , I fully expect us to focus on the fact he needs to be fitter next year as his inability to get round the pitch was the reason he lunged in so much imo.
Expect a top class midfielder to turn out next , because xhaka can play !!!
The biggest problem I see with Coquelin these days is he’s gotten too comfortable. Since that breakthrough season, he’s begun to dribble too long, attempt long passes that never reach their target, and stray too high at times. His best season was his first back because he felt he had something to prove. He played well defensively and played simple attacking. When he realized the spot was his he played riskier and that’s how he plays now. His passes can be so frustrating as well as his lackadaisical jogging back on the opposition’s counter. He just needs to play his role and nothing more like that first season.