If I was the Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini, I would be a bit worried right about now. Everything seems to be going against the tough tackling Frenchman, at least as far as his continued career as an Arsenal player goes anyway.
It is bad enough for Flamini that the football media constantly report Arsenal transfer rumours linking the club with various central or defensive midfielders, such as Morgan Schneiderlin, Sami Khedira, William Carvalho, Moussa Sissoko and the German Bender twins Sven and Lars.
To add to that, Flamini’s place in the team has come under real threat from the emergence of his fellow countryman Francis Coquelin, who has become one of the main topics of conversation about the Gunners. We are told that Arsene Wenger is determined to sign Coquelin up on a three year contract but there are also reports that he wants some sort of assurance that he will play regularly.
But at least Flamini has a contract with Arsenal until next summer, so he could see himself as being in a better position than the club captain Mikel Arteta whose deal was due to end this summer. But now Arteta’s agent, as reported by ESPN, has revealed that the Spaniard has already signed a one year extension.
Inaki Ibanez said, “”Mikel is no longer free next June, because he now has an extra year on his contract.”
So what does this mean for Arsenal’s other midfielders and the chances that Wenger will sign a player like Schneiderlin, either this month or at the end of the season? It is odd that Arsenal have not announced this and suggests that the club might not have wanted it to be common knowledge.
I think it casts a serious doubt, especially on Flamini’s future. Don’t forget that we now have Krystian Bielik, the teenager dubbed the new Patrick Vieira. Depending on how well Coquelin does for the rest of this season and whether Bielik starts to break into the first team, it could spell the end of our transfer hopes in this area as well. What do you think Gooners?