Cazorla Sale To Atletico – Possible Replacements by AvdL
Arsenal have not been great in getting good value for the players they have sold recently. Now that Santi Cazorla is in great form he is attracting all sorts of interest. One of the clubs that is after him is Atletico Madrid according to Guillem Balague. Some reports state that his contract runs out in 2016 and other seem to think it runs out in 2017. This summer could be the right time to maximise his value by selling him as he is 30 years old.
The return of Ozil has seen the CAM position recently taken by him and pushed Cazorla to the B2B role on defensive midfield. This was the first time that both Ozil and Cazorla were excelling in the FA cup game against Middlesbrough. However in the B2B role we have Wilshere, Ramsey , Rosicky and also Oxlade-Chamberlain. For the CAM we have Ozil, Wilshere, Rosicky and academy talents like Zelalem & Crowley.
So a sale of Cazorla to Atletico Madrid could be a catalyst for summer transfer targets. Some of them we know and some of them are new.
• Julian Draxler – Wenger has been a long term fan of Draxler who plays CAM and LW at Schalke 04. We tried to get him in the winter transfer period of 2013/2014 season but ultimately we failed. He is young and regarded as one of the biggest talents in Germany. Julian has been injured most of this season, which is a worry.
• Dennis Praet – We all remember how good Dennis Praet was in the 2 games we played against Anderlecht in the Champions league. This was not a one off, he has been the Golden boot winner in Belgium this year. He is 20 and is a CAM with great close ball control and can deliver splitting passes. A young alternative to Cazorla and affordable.
• Georgino Wijnaldum – Not much in the news in the UK , but this CAM who plays for PSV Eindhoven is having a great season with PSV totally controlling the Eredivisie. He has a total of 13 goals and 2 assists this season. Him and Depay have a great partnership.
• Nabel Fekir – This CAM who plays for Lyon has declared his love for Arsenal. He works extremely will with France’s current top scorer Alexandre Lacazette. If we get both we can continue this strong partnership. Fekir has 10 goals and 6 assists this season.
• Isco – If there is someone that can out do Cazorla on ball trickery it has to be Real Madrid’s Isco. With Isco not getting enough playing time due to Ronaldo and James he could be for sale. However the prices quoted have been ridiculous. I read somewhere € 65 Million. Isco has made 5 goals and 7 assists this season.
• Sterling – One of the biggest talents in the UK at Liverpool. He is holding out on his contract. If Liverpool do not qualify for the Champions League he could be a player that will leave. I am not so sure if Liverpool will sell him to Arsenal though. Sterling has 6 goals and 6 assits so far this season.
These are all CAM positions and they would have to compete with Ozil. The sale of Cazorla could also be the catalyst for the B2B side of the CDM role however I do think this role is covered well enough, although I would love to see Pogba here.
Your opinions please….
Arthur
Didn’t even take long to think about this: ISCO!
basically a younger version of Cazorla that will definitely integrate quickly into the Arsenal system if he gets signed. But I highly doubt Cazorla will leave Arsenal at this point, he’ll surely be here for at least another season.
Too expensive… Lets go for Pogba!
(yes, irony intended)
Oh I wish we could have gotten Pogba on the free when he left Utd but that was intentional blocked by Man Utd and I don’t know how they blocked a free transfer… Sir Alex must have known what he could or would have been under Wenger. Also if that move had happened I don’t think Flamini would be here now or one of Ramsey/Wilshere wouldn’t be here either just saying that was during the time fans where calling for Rambo’s head if I remember correctly…
Isco plays like he has velcro on his feet, his ball control is a joy to watch but that price tag, ouch!
That said, defense is sorted, spend on Isco and Progba and the midfield would undoubtedly be the best in the PL.
Has to be someone younger or close in age to Özil really, as Özil is Cazorla’s replacement so we would need a future one to replace and to even play alongside him as well in my eyes. Isco and Quintero comes to mind…
if atletico want cazorla then they need to give us koke nuff said. Santi turned down R. Madrid in his prime and also said ‘There are many other things in football besides Real Madrid ‘ why would he want to the second madrid team after R. Madrid?!
Valbuena will be great. Xame stature and playing style…Lmao
@Sir Bee
Valbuena is a solid work horse. Tough as nails and looks well and able to hack it in the EPL.
probably bring in Reus (Iknow about the new contract but they areina terrible league possition) and move Ozil into the middle
Isco would be awesome but highly unlikely as we have Ozil who is one of the best attacking/creative midfielders in the world. So someone like Reus would be ideal as he can play attacking midfielder, Left wing and Right wing.
Again, I think a player who can play both CAM and Winger would be ideal
I strongly agree and the only way to soften the blow of Cazorla leaving “IS” to get Reus in my mind or even Isco. Fans including me would go mental if we downgraded on his replacement.
Off topic: just seen footage on the news of the racism in Paris from Chelsea fans. That’s disgusting what they did to that man. They have black/ mixed race players in their own team the complete utter tools…. Scum of the earth.
Racism exists everywhere, even in Arsenal. We’re just “lucky” enough to not have our black sheep exposed.
Arsenal stil loosing its best playrs…thats nt gud news and i can see evryone welcomin that news of cazorla leaving!
Arsenal fans love Cazorla. Nobody would welcome the news of him leaving. I want him to stay
I think it’s fantastic to have both Ozil AND Cazorla
(Actually Sanchez and Rosicky can play in CAM too). However, we are fortunate to have both Ozil AND Cazorla
Cazorla 15 mill.
Podolski 10 mill.
Monreal 10 mill
Jak Wheelchair 20 mill. Injury prone. Not up to it.
Chamberlain 20 mill . Same as Jak.
Release DeadRB, Ryo, Flamini.
I believe Wenger will keep
Arteta + possibly Rosicky. Mertesacker + Wellbeck.
Sanogo, Campbell + Jenkinson. Who knows?
You ask “who knows?” I thought you did davidnz – can’t believe you don’t have a definitive view on the matter.
No one can replace him, he should stay. He is loved here, he is our hero and his name will always be sang by the fans. I don’t even want to think about him leaving the club.
What’s Sterling doing there? He’s more winger or attacker. Can’t play the deep playmaking role that Cazorla is playing at the moment.
I don’t see Santi leaving this summer. He just bought a new house in London, Wenger loves him and he loves Arsenal. I don’t see him asking for a transfer and Wenger unless someone offers us stupid money for him isn’t likely to let him leave. Let’s not forget Ozil has missed some time with injury.
If he were to leave Isco is my #1 choice as a like for like replacement, Wengers a big fan of Rabiot (PSG) too. I honestly see Wenger choosing to promote from the youngsters to understudy Ozil though and Ox has been tried and did well in the Middle and I thin Wenger has mentioned he sees Ox in that role. Crowley, Miles and Zelalem all very promising. I’d prefer we focus on a true wing player like Reus.
Many have been raving about ozil performances lately and thats good and well, but selling Cazorla would be like removing the heart of a live man walking. Cazorla has been that man for arsenal, not ozil, not sanchez,not kos, but that little spanish wizard. This team is now Cazorla team he has been there defensively this season and offensively, he has become the box to box midfielder this season.
He has basically become irreplaceable
I agree – his performances against City and Boro were 2 of the best individual Arsenal performances i have seen in the past 10 years. But we can’t disregard the fact that he had nowhere near the same impact in some games in between. I think we should always wait until long and sustained performance levels are in evidence before deciding either way. Personally I find it hard to believe an individual could replicate those performance levels on a weekly basis – but really joyful to watch whilst it lasts. And I don’t think Ozil’s performances have been far behind Santi’s recently – but his lighter more subtle efficiency tends to evade the spotlight – he keeps things ticking along so nicely, think all 11 players touched the ball at least once in the build-up to Giroud’s first goal but Ozil formed the link 3 or 4 times in that passage of play.
Pauli Dybala
Jon Toral