Green Light and Price Cut to secure Carvalho’s Arsenal transfer?

He was one of the many central midfielders linked with a potential move to join Arsenal last summer, when we were all crying out for a player to finally come in and replace the great Patrick Vieira. Others like Lars Bender, Morgan Schneiderlin and Sami Khedira were linked but were not really available, while Carvalho was priced way too high.

So Arsenal fans were left frustrated again but looking at the way young Francis Coquelin has blossomed into his defensive midfield role since the boss prematurely recalled him from a loan spell, perhaps we should just be glad that Wenger did not just sign any old player.

But even with our young Frenchman doing so well, it appears as though the Arsenal manager is still looking at signing a central midfielder and according to a Metro report, it could be the young Portugal international after all.

His current club Sporting Lisbon have apparently accepted that their player wants to move on up as he has made no secret of his ambition. And they are also willing to drop their asking price from over £30 million to a much more reasonable £21.5 million.

Now we know how much Arsene Wenger likes a bargain and it appears that Carvalho has impressed the Arsenal scouts enough for the two clubs to already be involved in transfer talks for a summer move, with other clubs like Liverpool and Man United not having made contact yet.

My question, however, is do we really need a defensive midfielder now? Would it not be better to sign a more all-round sort of player?

Tags Coquelin Lisbon Wenger

23 Comments

      1. Ever since Leo formally secured a job with Caughtoffiside, he’s just been too busy to drop comments here.

      2. This rumor will never go away. We do need some good transfers this summer. Lots of chatter of good players not coming our way. If united get a third of the players rumored to come. They will be champs next year

  1. Not sure about his performances this season and did not watch him this season to comment on him to be honest but would be a good signing imo because he is a tall strong physical and natural holding midfielding player but first priority should be to get either schneiderlin or kondogbia if they are not gettable then sign carvalho to be a backup to coquelin or play both of them in tough away games next season in champions league and premier league chelsea at stamford bridge, old traffold, etihad etc.. COYG!!

  2. I would prefer either Schneirderlin for finesse or Wanyama for physic and they both have EPL experience unlike Carvalho who’s not proven in the big stage

    1. @Dee@ease
      From the matches I’ve seen him in, he seems sluggish. Everyone around him where working their socks off, while he just trudged along…

      1. My thought exactly. He’s looks too slow and heavy for my taste. Unlike Coquelin who’s like an angry terrier snapping at people

  3. I can’t see us buying an out and out DM maybe if Coqulin hadn’t stepped up then I’d would have said it’s very possible. You can argue with that but we’d have never bought 2 DM’s and now we’ve got one and Le Coq’s been as good as any DM the last few months. The only midfielder we’ve been linked to this week that I thinks possible is Gundogan, more the type of midfield anchorman Wenger likes someone who can tackle make interceptions but controls Possession and an unbelievable range of passing and can drive the team from defence to attack. A long term replacement for Arteta (although I still hope Arteta stays for 1 more year).

  4. My hunch tells me Wenger will NOT buy any DM again. He will stick with Le Coq, Arteta and young Bielik to learn under them.
    He might buy an attacking MF cum striker yet again.

  5. Coquelin was an average Joe
    But emerged as a quality player.
    When it comes to DM or holding
    midfielder why not look within again?
    Gabriel + Chambers tall, strong, focused, can pass.
    Chamberlain Gnabry bull at a gate types, can pass
    and struggling for game time further forward.
    Zelalem needs a loan spell now.
    Bielik wont be 18 till Jan so needs 2 more years preparation.

    1. Chambers most likely out of them- for competition with Coquelin, and then maybe sign a fourth CB

  6. I doubt we will sign a Mendosa player. I will give you instead another option. Something no one thought. Schweinsteiger enter his last year of his contract. He’s 30. Younger than Cazorla actually. I am sure Wenger is becoming smarter. He will want a push, a real one next year for EPL and who knows, maybe UCL. Bayern is shaking the excess, old players and even old employees. You all heard that also Ribery is about to leave Bayern. What better alternative is out there? Just think about it. Schweinsteiger will actually play more than at Bayern. Plus he will have german colleagues at Arsenal. And what better enforcer (and even a b2b option) can complement Coquelin and Chambers for their development?
    Wenger will have a go at Schweinsteiger. You heard this from Budd first, right here on justarsenal.

    1. It’s a nice thought but he is not the answer he’s not true dm and he’ll be 31. Guys like schweiny usually fit in like a glove but this is a fast and demanding league not sure how quick he will acclimate

  7. Arsenal midfielders array are as follows: Wilshere, Diabi, Rosicky, Arteta, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Flamini and Coquelin. Arsenal have 9 senior midfielders of different category (7CAMs&2CDMs) in their squad. Arteta is aging and injury prone and could be losing some agility. While Cazorla too is not far from aging but still reasonably doing well for Arsenal. Diabi is injury crisis and the boss is humanistic to him. So also is Wilshere, a injury plague not able to do much for Arsenal. But there is hope for a tree. Rosicky has played his best football for Arsenal. But the boss said, he is going to keep him. Well? Flamini may not be able to play at top level for Arsenal next season due to his becoming weak with age no longer favouring him as before. Coquelin is in top gear and has age on his side to count on. While Ozil has recovered from injury setback and playing at top level, and could continue playing well for the next 2-3 years or more for Arsenal. Young Bielik has his game ahead of him to prove which class he belongs. His recent outings for the youth team is not yet encouraging. This is the picture I can see of 9-10 Arsenal midfielders. I am not a humanologist. Save any miracles happening to some Arsenal midfielders. I think the boss can only count positively on Coquelin and Ozil for consistent outings next season. Wilshere and Ramsey can continue to give Arsenal intermittent service. The remaining 5 will give a very intermittent service for Arsenal going by their injury records.

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