As hints go, the one given by Unai Emery about Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti has to be considered one of the biggest.
We all know that we have been consistently linked with the France international and ever since he lost his starting place alongside Gerard Pique to Clement Lenglet, and recently our hopes of signing the 25-year-old have risen considerably.
This is what Emery told RMC Sport when asked about Umtiti
‘He’s a very good player,’
‘France has a lot of very good footballers who are playing abroad.
‘The French league is a very attractive market for a lot of teams.
‘I’ve always had French players in my teams. At Valencia, Sevilla, PSG and here at Arsenal.
‘I’ve always been able to count on those players.’
That must be as close as you can get to actually saying I want him and will sign him if given the opportunity.
Umtiti will not come cheap, he will cost at least £60 million and you have to think that the manager will seriously consider splashing out that sort of cash, he must know that the defence needs strengthening.
The scene is definitely set for a summer bid, Umtiti’s time at the Nou Camp looks limited, Emery has said he likes him and that he can trust French players and the money is not beyond us, though we will have to qualify for the Champions League I would have thought.
But I think he could be our very own VVD. What do you think?
Bad knees and physically don’t think he can stay fit in PL. We need a winger first, and other CB’S out there that can do the job for less than 60 million.
Not worth the gamble in my opinion, I would look elsewhere.
PS. Gpt in before you gotanidea, hate to break that streak of yours being first in to comment.
Top 4 still likely for you my friend, but not tops, lol.
? top 4 …?
Yeah, cannot keep up with Admin’s frequent posts nowadays
Totally agree with winger and CB
O.T I wantted to reply to d last article
I dont think its our defemce dats the cause of our poor away form, it has to be with complacency
Wen we played spurs away we played very well and almost won the game, Arsenal has failed put in d same effort wen we face weaker teams and thus we get poor results
Its really sickening
Spot on, mate.
Against ManU too at OT, we had the game in our grip because the players put in a shift. If not for Kolasinac’s late gaffe, we would win that game.
But against Everton, as against the likes of Westham, Soton, etc, the players just didn’t turn up.
Only those over-paid blokes know why this is so.
I don’t think CB is a top priority
Yes we need top CB to fight for the Premier league but we need almost a new Starting line-up. We need lots of players and we can do with the CBs we have for one season ie Koscielny, Sokratis, Holding, Chambers and Mavrapanos. We can’t get all the players we need in one summer
Although, We should sell Mustafi if we can and perhaps sign a good, reliable defender If possible
This summer focus on
1. CAM to improve over Ozil
2. Box to Box or deep lying CM to improve from Ramsey/Xhaka
3. Wingers
We desperately need top wingers. Aubameyang is a striker. Iwobi and Mkhytarian aren’t good enough. Honestly at the moment, Bellerin could be our best Winger or Welbeck if they were healthy
Hopefully “one of our own’s out for the rest of the season. Could be the best news of the week.
??
Does Stan know about all these potential signings? We are probably scouring Europe for ‘free’ over 30 year olds. I suppose we can but dream!!!
I will take Lascelles(Newcastle) or Boly (Wolves) anyday before i consider Umtiti who will both be expensive to buy and his wages inflated. Yes he is good but not £60mil good. Maybe £30-35mil. If De Ligt is rumoured to be around £70-80mil, why not go all out and get him.
I do agree that while we do need a starting 11- a winger must be the first priority. The type where that deal should almost be done do be announced at the end of the season so that they have a full preseason with Emery. There are a lot of good “bargain” players that can be bought and if we dont have money, why cant we go for them? That reported £40mil we have better ALL go towards one winger, not try buy a squad
“A group of sheep led by a lion will always defeat a group of lions led by a sheep” – unknown.
The problem is simple, our team does not go out to the pitch with a specific plan other than ‘to win’.
To grind out games like manc, livp or any strong team does, you have to go to the pitch with a specific target every time.
~ win by 2 goals margin.
~ keep a clean sheet; score 2+
~ stop opposition counters at midfield.
~ get 10 shots on target.
that’s how a winning mentality is developed. The arsenal player are good, but having that specific target in place is how they(even you reading this) can get better, because everyone automatically knows how&what they will have to give to get that target.
It is as simple as that.
There are more than a couple of players need replacing in the squad, definitely Mustafi who can be useful one minute then useless the next, agreed Umtiti has good experience but i think we can pick someone up cheaper that can improve the defence , I would like to see Holding and Mav as a pairing if they can get back to full fitness and spend higher up the field Iwobi is not going to be up to it and Elneny well we saw on sunday why he cannot get a run in the team, Ozil is a great player on his day but is costing the club too much money, time to show him the door too we are blest with good attacking players but yes a top quality winger is a must, Emery is no mug and has done well since arriving here,lets hope he can continue to improve things and get us back where we belong.
A very good player but injury prone and lacks the physical presence to dominate in the PL.He is 6ft and would struggle to cope with the aerial bombardment he would face on a regular basis in England.In Spain with Barca he rarely comes under pressure.