Does Coquelin sale mean Arsenal are set for big changes?

In the summer transfer window, Arsenal started a mass clearout of their ageing and underperforming players and even many young ‘promising’ starlets that were expected to be the future of the club. There were also quite a few youngsters, like Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chris Willock, that refused to sign new contracts to force moves away.

But some that Wenger wanted to sell did not get sold, like Debuchy, Jenkinson, Lucas Perez, Olivier Giroud, Chuba Akpom, Joel Campbell, and maybe Shkrodan Mustafi… But Wenger still managed to make a profit in the summer despite the arrivals of Lacazette and Kolasinac.

So is Wenger now continuing with his clearout? Theo Walcott looks nailed on to go and Olivier Giroud is waiting for a good offer, Sanchez and Debuchy are still desperate to leave, and now we hear that Wenger is keen to let Francis Coquelin go as well, with Valencia the favourites to sign him at the moment.

Wenger’s rotation policy doesn’t seem to have pleased most players, and Wenger said that the formation changes had left Coquelin out in the cold. The boss said last week about the French midfielder: “He is 100 per cent professional, Francis, and an example for everybody, and all the young players. Life has been a bit unfair with him, it’s true.

“That’s also down a bit to our change in system – he paid a heavy price for that – but overall he’s in a very good shape.

“We’ll have games, many games now, so that will help him keep his focus and maintain his quality at a very high level.”

One of those games should have been the FA Cup game against Forest, and Coquelin’s omission from the team sort of confirms that he is on the transfer list, but how many more is Wenger looking to offload, and how can he afford to replace them?

Could it be Wenger is just trying to build up funds for his successor to use when he arrives in the summer?

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40 Comments

    1. Wenger will never change anything…its been almost 13 years of doing same thing over and over again.

      even if he sells coquelin and buys a good DM like kante he will still tell him to pass sideways.

      we already have a world class striker in alexandre lacazette but we are not even playing to his strengths.we continue to pass sideways instead of being more direct.

  1. It will take 3 years to clear the dead wood.

    Expect some 7th or 8th places for a few seasons.

  2. The title is misleading. “Does Coquelin Sale Mean……”. He hasn’t been sold. In fact, there’s no confirmation that he is up for sale. It should have stated… “Does the possible sale of ….” or “Would the sale of Coquelin. ..”Im NOT correcting grammar. That would be hypocritical of me innit! My grammar is atrocious innit.
    But it’s clickbait. The title made me think Coquelin was sold. It is January after all.
    Just sayin

    1. It seems likely Innit. He was left out of FA Cup team, and Wenger was just asked about it.
      He said: “It’s a possibility but nothing is decided. It would not be for West Ham.
      “We have no contact with West Ham.”

      So he has had contact with somebody…..

      1. But as they say in court, speculation is NOT evidence. I do not say you are necessarily wrong. But I DO say you are merely speculating. Sometimes speculation comes true, sometimes not. If you throw enough “speculation ” out on this site, which you are prone to do, some willl be fruitful, some will not. As salesmen say, it is a numbers game.

    2. I am afraid your effort to pass yourself off as poor at grammar, is rumbled. You clearly have a fine English education but choose to pretend differently. No matter. YOUR COMMENT IS SOUND AND WELL MADE. Perhaps too well made for someone posing as semi- literate.

  3. I don’t think Wenger is keen to give his successor a bigger transfer fund and more rooms for rebuilding. I think he plans to stay longer and he might be looking for better players than what he currently has, so he could get another Premier League title before retiring.

    I admire him as the most successful Arsenal manager, but he has to realize his limitations. Guardiola was on the top when he resigned from Barcelona, because he thought the players could be bored with him and the players need some change (his words).

    Enrique is another example. He could only manage Barcelona for three seasons because Barcelona was declining under him during the last season, due to Enrique’s failed experiments and purchases (Andre Gomes, Paco Alcacer, Denis Suarez).

  4. There’s a young CDM playing for Sampdoria, Lucas Torreira, who we should be after.

    This guy is everything we need in the midfield:

    – pace
    – trickery
    – tackles and interceptions
    – long shots
    – young but experienced enough

    He’s short as Kante and little smaller, but a lot better with the ball. Check him out. But of course Wenger already knows about him as they know “every player in Europe (before Mislintat arrived)”.

    Oh the arrogance of this fool.

    1. Arsenal already have Xhaka that is:

      – Tall.

      – Strong.

      – Young.

      – Handsome (to sell more shirts).

      – One of the best passer in Premier League, even though most of them are backpasses (premierleague.com/stats/top/players (the Passes section)).

      – Has good technique.

      – Forces Coquelin to sit on the bench.

      – Most fans on this site were ecstatic when Arsenal announced they bought Xhaka.

      Now Xhaka just needs to be more mobile, more hardworking, more anticipating, more aggressive, produces less wasteful shots and should better in possessing the ball.

      1. 😀

        Yes Xhaka is almost there. He only needs to:

        – be more mobile
        – more hardworking
        – more anticipating
        – more aggressive but not too aggressive
        – better awareness
        – better forward passing
        – cut his hair
        – get a real job
        – control the midfield
        – do his taxes
        – drive Über
        – better at shooting
        – take part in the #metoo campaign

      2. Glad that is all his faults amount to then! It would be a great shame then, if all the many, myself included, on this site who think him rubbish should be proven correct after all. BTW, I DO REALISE YOUR COMMENTS ARE IRONIC.

  5. Szscesny better then Cech and Ospina so we sell Szscesny ?
    Gabriel better then Holding, Chambers and Mertesacker so we sell Gabriel ?
    Perez better then Iwobi, Walcott and Welbeck so we get rid of Perez ?
    Coquelin better then Elneny… it continues………

    Bravo!!!

    I could recall Coquelin being absolute world class when paired with Santi.
    Coq is still better defensive minded than any of our midfielders.

    1. I think it was the summer of 2016 when Coquelin changed. He changed his tough-tackling mentality into a poor man’s Pirlo. No doubt Wenger was responsible for this. After all Coquelin was permanently dropped after his red against Spurs in that 2-2 draw.

      1. “He changed his tough-tackling mentality into a poor man’s Pirlo. ”
        absolutely correct.. It’s annoying though when I watch him and he tries all those diagonal long passes he doesn’t have and ends up wasting them.
        He dropped form.
        But still Coq is a better option to keep than Elneny, Coq gets form, then loses it, gets it back…
        Elneny has been average and not even at its best.
        That Bro is bang average and brings nothing to the team both in case of marking or going forward, just another sideways passer

    2. Theo has earnt a move away but to say he is worse than Perez shows the biased thinking.
      Theo last season got better stats than Perez did for his ONE good year which we bought him for.

      Perez doesn’t offer much and was a waste of a transfer, AFC shouldn’t have panic bought Perez last season when Wenger wanted Lacazette, AFC should have got Lacazette 12 months ago.

      I do not think Wenger wants Theo, Welbroke or Perez, I think Iwobi is slowly heading towards the door as well. Theo is being forced out the 1st team. Welbroke transfer had Wenger say in an interview that he only wanted him on loan and we all know Perez was a panic buy.

      AFC didn’t support the manager.

      I do not say this to support Wenger, I say this in excitement for Raul Sallehi appointment (hopefully next month), transfers have been an issue and I am hopeful that this new guy with his contacts and experience… He can get transfer targets.

      I want the next manager to not have to deal with AFC being tight fisted and to be able to build AFC up.

      1. Almost heartbreaking how poor little Theo is being forced out. Oh that brute Wenger; so decisive, so ruthless. Poor Theo will now have to sign on for benefits , presumably!

  6. The players underperforming cause they playing in new formation and position.
    Wenger use 343 formation now, he should buy players that suit with 343, not to force players to adept, or use formation that suit with players we already have.

  7. I’d be happier with no changes, than major changes. Under Kroenke, we can only change into a Southampton. I’d rather stay in the top 6, than to have a major change toward the midtable, because midtable is good enough for the yank oligarch.

  8. As long as Wenger stays noting will really change. PLayers will come go, staff will come and go but the PL title will remain a pipe dream.

    It really doesn’t matter who we buy or sell the outcome will not change.

    In fact, I see more and more evidence that suggests Wenger takes players backward.
    At first, we could hardly lose a game when Mustafi played than he went downhill. Kolasince was genius when he first started playing for us. Then Wenger got his hands on him and now he spends too much time on the bench. Laca showed early on what he could do if he was given the chance, now he is the most substituted player in the PL.

    Wenger in charge means no Lemar or Aubamayang (neither one of which would likely want to join us) would make a big impact on our PL escapades.

  9. Free:
    (Cech Koscielney Mertz
    Monreal Cazorla Debuchy )
    Jenkinson 7m Coquelin 10m
    Walcott 25m Giroud 10m
    Sanchez 25m Perez 10m Campbell 3m
    Money in 90m.

    25 man Squad
    New GK ? 10m Ospina Macey
    Chambers Holding Mustafi Evans 25m Mavropanus
    Bellerin Niles Kolasinac Bramall
    Xhaka Ramsey Elneny
    Iwobi Ozil Wilshere
    Lacazette Wellbeck Akpom.
    Nelson Willock Nwakali
    One marquee player 55m to keep AKB’s happy.
    Money out 90 m.
    Net spend = Nill. Stan happy. Arsene gets contract extension.

      1. It would be a miracle if we get 25 quid given his exhorbitant salary demands … but still a miracle I am hoping for … The whippet previously known as Walcott is indicative if the football decay under wenger

        1. Whippet? Well he does “play” in dog tired fashion. More like an ancient and broken down chihuahua.

  10. On how the first transfer window with a new structure at club is working…
    “The transfer window should be banned to keep our life a bit more focused on football.”

    Hmm, sounds like Wenger is not happy at all about the changes, arrivals of Mislintat or Sanllehi.

  11. We have needed a proper CDM for 10 years. Coquelin was amazing for about a season, paired with Santi. However I feel, due to Wenger, he kind of lost his own identity as a footballer and tried to do things he is not good at e.g. expansive passes.

    Would love us to sign either Danilo Pereira/Nzonzi/Carvalho/Romeu/Doucoure/Gueye however I am bracing myself for the following nonsense from AW:
    Wilshere is back he is like a new signing
    We have Ramsey and Xhaka
    Willock and Maitland-Niles can play CM as well

  12. players will always come and go and if the club are thinking of replacing Wenger then i do not think he should be given money to spend in this transfer window. Any money would be best kept for the next manager to spend.

    1. I agree. If he is given more money he will only waste it on more crap players such as Xhaka.
      Having said that it will still probably happen as that is what we did with George Graham a couple of days before he was fired.

      1. Xhaka has failed to live up to the hope that came with him, can’t deny that.
        I would say Wenger is to blame for persisting with him, he is to blame for his signing.

        I will now point at Alexis, Ozil and Lacazette as big money signings that was pushed through because of Wenger.

        He can spot talent, he just can’t utilize it fully. Even Xhaka, playing him as a DM… He wasn’t before he came to us and he had a DM playing alongside him to get the best out of him… Bad tactics from Wenger aiding in Xhaka flopping?

        Look at the players AFC panic bought when Wengers target couldn’t be signed…

        Perez and ElNeny come to mind instantly. Both are not good enough for AFC. If Theo isn’t good enough and he produces more than Perez then I fail to see the argument of Perez being a wonderful ignored player.

        Wenger wanted Xhaka… AFC bought ElNeny.
        Wenger wanted Lacazette… AFC bought Perez.

        Wenger wanted Lemar… AFC failed.

        See, Wenger does pick good targets! Just a damned poor tactician.

  13. Please, I am available for sale. I win games as a striker on PS 3 and I hardly draw games! if Wenger is looking for a match winning striker, he should contact my agent…Oh my Arsenal!

  14. Lecoq was excellent when paired with cazola. After his injury lecoq never played with a proper box2box MD. I believe the biggest DEADWOOD @ AFC is Wenger

  15. Currently our squad is not great if you remove sanchez, ozil and Santi who I fear well never see play for us again.
    So to think others want to leave who will we buy? I can’t see us paying over the odds to sign mediocre players which could be needed with no CL participation this or next season!
    Well have no sqaud left.
    What a bizarre situation how did we let this happen as a club and I’m interested to see put business model come player sales and Wenger walking.
    Reminds me slightly of Alex Ferguson when he retired and left an ageing inferior sqaud.

  16. For someone who touts himself as an economist, Wenger has really mismanaged players contracts. While other premier league teams gets loads of money for their prized assets, Arsenal lets their star players go for peanuts. A sad situation, indeed!

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