Should Arsenal accept Campbell request to join Benfica?

I know that Arsene Wenger has mentioned Joel Campbell many times recently as part of his striking options for Arsenal. Not only that, but the Frenchman said straight out the other day that he was not going to let the young Costa Rica international go anywhere, as reported by the Daily Mail.

The Frenchman said, “We’ve had lots of enquiries and turned them down. There have been plenty of clubs interested, but I don’t know how many.

“Once I say to my assistant he won’t go out on loan, even if people ask about him, my assistant doesn’t even tell me. When I say no it’s no.

“He’s definitely a target and a player who is wanted by many clubs.”

But Wenger also said that the last few days of the transfer window were like a poker game and that there would be plenty of lies and half truths flying around, so it is hardly surprising that we take what he says with a pinch of salt.

Anyway, there is an Arsenal transfer rumour in the Portuguese paper O Jogo that claims the young Gunner has asked Wenger to be allowed to join Benfica on loan, as he is concerned about not getting much time on the pitch this season. If this is true, I don’t really blame the lad, because the Prof has not given him a chance yet, despite the Gunners being seriously short in the forward areas.

Wenger seems determined to stick with Cazorla in that left forward position which is Campbell’s most likely role> So although he has spoken about the youngster in glowing terms, his actions suggest that he does not have a lot of faith in the lad, with Sanogo and Alexis in front of hims as cover for Giroud, so should we let him go out on loan?

Tags Cazorla Sanogo Wenger

132 Comments

    1. exactly, we should force Sanogo to leave the club forever. He will never turn out to be a top striker. Campbell should stay and be given a chance by our MR. KNOW IT ALL WENGER

        1. falcao and arturo vidal are going to man united

          man u’s best transfer window in history?

          arsenal….lol

          wenger is a liar

          1. both players we could absolutely count on …
            both would change our entire season.
            man u with no champions league and comin seventh,are about to have the most ridicolous window in history

          2. A big fat liar he hasn’t bought any players that we need,there’s No DM No CF No CB I’m annoyed we are a laughing stock!

            1. Why can’t they?
              They have released (transfer/loan) many high wages players – ( Nani, Kagawa, Evra, Ferdinand and still releasing more (Zaha, etc) So they are financially ok to buy good stuffs without fouling FFP rules.
              As for not going to Champions League, some players have along brain to know that United, despite their present precarious situation, are likely to win their next trophy before us (Arsenal). I believe that too. SORRY IF I AM OF LITTLE FAITH !!

      1. Wenger says that he has strikers in Campbell, Poldi, Sanchez and Walcott. Play them there then instead of Sanogo. Cannot understand Wingers reluctance to change up the formation and tactics. I’d try:
        ——Poldi. Sanchez
        ————-Ozil
        Rambo ——–Wilshere
        ———-Arteta
        ———Back four.

        Emulate what Brendan Rogers is doing. We have the players.

        1. I see one weakness here, and that is Arteta. We need a beast on the midfield who can also send those long balls to Özil/Poldi/Sanchez. Arteta is not a beast, nor is he known for his long balls to the strikers/CAM

    2. Who is going to take a striker on a run of 0 goals in 18 matches?

      No sanogo is eligible to play under 21 and that is where he needs to play for now until he learns where the goal is again.

      Campbell or podolski should have been chosen ahead of sanogo or wenger should have stuck with sanchez up front then played wilshire or chamberlain. We must also get ozil back into the hole behind the striker.

      1. They buy players without a plan. “Oh look, a world class player on the transfer market, lets get him.” They got Herrera, which is a reasonable signing. They bought Shaw for £30M, even though they could just go with Evra/Buttner. They bought Di Maria for the same role they bought Herrera for, which makes one of those signings useless. They bought Rojo, but he’s actually a left back, even though he figured as a centre back last year for sporting. Now, they get falcao, even though they already have Rooney and RVP + talent and adequate squad players? They start to look helluvalot like City now, just without a plan…

          1. We do seemingly buy after a plan. Debuchy for Sagna, Chambers for Verm and Ospina for Fabi. Everything come downs to what we get today. We buy to fill holes in our squad, manu have seemingly bought players just because they’re huge profiles and availeable (Shaw, Di Maria, Falcao and Mata) Why buy Herrera if you were gonna buy Di Maria anyway, if you get what i mean.

  1. Yes why not!
    In fact why not sell all of the Arsenal players, pack up the Stadium and sell the site to Tesco!
    If Wenger keeps employing his poor tactics and sticking with the likes of Sanogo, (not blaming him) and Mert we may as well 🙁
    Sorry feeling negative and the need to vent my frustration!

    Seriosuly we should keep him and play him, the kid is hungry and has the talent, cant blame him wanting to go to play, poor management from AW

  2. We are so lacking in pace and attack, Campbell is there but we would rather keep playing Sanogo who has never scored any serious goals in any Top stage competition.. He has never even been at any Top class competition but we are keeping faith in an experienced player like him?

    I am not bashing Sanogo, it’s not his fault, he is a young inexperienced player that has been pushed into a hot furnace expecting him to make a difference..

  3. I was going to say this is all Giroud’s fault, he f*cked up our transfer plans by getting injured until I remembered that we already needed a striker when he was fit.

  4. Why would Arsenal bring Campbell
    back if they do not intend
    to use him? Raise his value a couple
    of mill is that it? I am confused.
    IMO Campbell should be given a chance
    to show his quality. I hope its all rumour
    him wanting to leave. He surely would
    have been told to be patient, that it takes
    time to integrate into the system
    and that he must fight for a place etc.
    With Giroud injured Sanogo struggling
    and injury prone why sell an up and
    coming striker?

  5. Falcao on a plane into Manchester:
    Thumbs up MU get him.
    Thumbs down MC get him.

    I’d rather City won, #hatemanuandvangall

    1. We can’t afford Falcao’s wages, he will be either in one of the Manchester clubs or in Madrid. I can see a huge salary auction taking place and he will bleed dry the team he is going to.

  6. Falcao 2 Man U? Wenger’s 4th place trophy is even threatened as never.
    Is this man no through with his poker game?…..What a pathetic day being an Arsenal fan…

  7. If I were Campbell…I will hand in transfer request…Seeing a person not of my quality starting ahead of me

    1. Sanogi is possibly the worse player I have ever seen play centre forward for Arsenal. His touch is appalling I just can’t understand why Wenger would do this to us its so destructive. Campbell is a much better player of course he must be pissed off its insulting to be considered worse than sanogo.
      Wenger has really stuck his neck out on this one and I think he’s going to suffer for it as will we and as will sanogo.

  8. 3 games have gone, Campbell needs to be patient but equally he needs to be given a chance by Wenger. By that I mean a 90 minutes chances, and the Leicester game would have been ideal.

  9. @galen
    News flash dude. Jack consistently plays than all of those players you named. Yet he continues to get a pass as well as game time over much better players. Wake the f**k up…

  10. weve seen campbell play when he came off the bench he was dreadful couldnt even control the ball,I know sanogo hasnt scored in the bpl yet i would rather campbell left then him at least he seems to work hard for the team because sanogo doesnt have the goals yet evrybody talks about getting rid of him thats stupid his overall game is pretty good its just that final touch if he learns to control that he is going to be our main striker in the years to come……Campbell will not reach that level at afc i dont know why i think that because he is clearly a talented player but just dont see it happening for him here…………………

    1. So Campbell comes on for the last 10 minutes and you rate him on that? Sanogo has had all last season and most of this season, what has he done on those games?

      But because Campbell came on for 10 minutes for his first game in weeks and you have made up your mind on him.. While Sanogo who has had a whole season at Arsenal and has had more times on the pith this season compared to Campbell needs more time to become our main striker in the coming years?

      I ain’t no problem with Yaya but he does not deserve more than Campbell, they should all have been given a chance to prove themselves.. Sanogo was given all last season and did FCK ALL… He has been given this season so far and he has done FCK ALL so far..

      1. no i havent based it on just that game i have clearly said that he is a talented player i just dont see it working out for him at this club and also 10 minutes or not if your a professional footballer you shouldnt lose the ball everytime you touch it he and sanogo looked great against benfica but who was better that fact is weve seen campbell have one good performance in an arsenal shirt in preseason he coudnt even be arsed to track back at everton and he had only just come on……..and in my personal opinion i would rather keep sanogo then campbell i know not everybody will agree but that is my opinion…

        1. We are just 6 games into a 50+ game season, of those 6 we have won 3 and drawn 3, lost none. We have qualified for the champions league, picked up a trophy and extended our unbeaten run to 14. We are in the top 7 and in the mix to win 4 trophies.

          Anyone would think we have been knocked out of the league cup, not in Europe and failed to win a match all season the way people are reacting.

          I am not saying for 1 minute, we shouldn’t sign someone, in fact I think we should make a real statement by spending £100m+ today.

    2. I guess your saying lets
      get 10 mill for him now
      before every one else
      realises he is no good.
      If Ryo Park Bendtner
      Chamakh Sanogo Diaby Jenkinson
      got years to prove themselves
      Why not Campbell ?
      Heck even Kalstrom got 6 months.

    1. its disappointing, but we’re not leeds-could be worse chap

      just accept that wenger is stubborn an that wont change

  11. Let me say this again.. Just a single DM will not change a thing as long as we still have these emotional players who can’t take a stand for themselves.

    As long as we have still got Gooners yapping about, “Awww, I feel so so sorry for OZIL because he is being asked to play in the wing and has to track back, Ozil shouldn’t be asked to help out in defence, he is an attacker and the best #10 in the world so he should be left to just float around in the final 3rd.”..

    “Cazorla should not be played on the wing too as he is not good at tracking back, he is not good defensively,” Blah blah.. WTF?

    When did we reach this point as a club that players are being sweet talked, they are not good at defending or should not help out the team when we are under attack?

    What is so special about OZIL or CAZORLA that is different from SANCHEZ? The guy is new but he is playing like he has been here longer than these two? Why should he run around the whole pitch minute 1 to minute 94 hustling defenders and helping tracking back and defending for the team? If Sanchez can play as a striker but chases the ball and run past Ozil or Cazorla in the center circle then we are in trouble..

    Stirling did not cost as much as Cazorla or Ozil, hw is even more younger than them, but the boy will run all game, Henderson is not the best but he puts in the underrated performances.

    Hazard, Willian, Cesc, Oscar, Schurrle etc all do their same for their teams…. Nasri, Milner, Navas, Silva, all do the same for their teams. Why should our player be the exception?

    As long as we don’t attack with pace as a team, as long as we don’t defend together as a team, then you can buy all the DMs you want and you will have wasted your money..

    Play as a team.. DEFEND AS A TEAM………. ATTACK AS A TEAM…

    Simples..

      1. @NY_Gunner..

        For real, man, I just don’t get the mentality of our fans sometimes.. They think that a single DM will stop that Leicester goal, that came from the right corner flag? We had Mertesacker out there and he was run past like he was not there, Where was debuchey? Where was OZIL? On the left Monreal is being helped by Sanchez, so there is not much trouble there..

        Mertesacker on that right is slow as hell, Debuchey I don’t know where he was all game, Ozil was just floating around not looking bothered, the guy has all the time to measure his cross, in the middle we had a half hearted Kossy who was winded and wounded and did not want to aggravate his head injury, so he just jumped for the sake of jumping just to show that he tried heading that ball away, but it was a mental thing, he had just had a head injury so he was not going to use his head to header that ball.. lol..

        The whole team does not look up for the fight, I am scared for us against City, they lost against Stoke so they will be going hard..

        God help us.. lol

    1. Agree with you that after the last game, we may have deeper problem than a lack of quality in few positions.
      It seems like none of our players are on form including Ramsey and our most expensive player Ozil.
      Hopefully it is a short term fitness issue with us being affected by the short pre-season and two intensive CL qualification games. And Wenger may need to revise his tactics, it just does not work.

  12. Campbell is a wise rat trying to jump from a sinking ship with Captain Arsene at the helm.

    I expect nothing less than this today:
    CB – anyone better than BFG, (not difficult).
    DM – Matuidi/Kondogbia/Carvalho/Gustavo/Schneiderlin
    STR – Anyone better than Sanogo, Reus or Cavanni please.

  13. chicharito undergoes madrid medical and United agree falcao deal and at the end wenger will say I didn’t see any good quality players available.

    1. There is more to it, Remy 8.5m and Balo 16m….both affordable.

      I can’t blame Wenger for Balotelli, we don’t know what he will be up to.

      1. Didn’t kagawa join dortmund again? I still have a little bit of hope. Lets see only a few hours left anyway.

        1. no dude sorry. everyone at dortmund has made it clear he stays.
          even marcos family have said as much.

          sorry man i would love him too but reus is staying

        2. Throw 50million + podolski at dortmund and offer reus 180k pw wages might aswell give it a try we are that desperate

  14. and wenger is being a t##t now you cannot start the transfer window with sanchez and end it with a f’ing wellbeck i will be dissapointed if we get that desperate only big name striker now would be cavani but no point even saying it,we all know he thinks he has brought enough typical frustations for us gooners why can we challenge the big teams for the big players suarez to barca,I would of been happyt with balo liverpool,costa chelsea,if they do falcao united wich is a complete joke if he is happy going to united he would have been happier coming here with ucl and all,lewandowski bayern,its all a joke we better get a reus or something of equal measure you cant buy sanchez and place him as a striker when you need him as a winger if defeats the purpose we either get another winger or a striker.

  15. While I would’ve liked to have had Falcao at Arsenal ( I REALLY would) I do understand why Wenger isn’t after him. He’s 28 so already nearly past his best so £55M is far too much for a player at that age.
    Pictures have surfaced a couple of minutes ago of Wenger at Heathrow supposedly flying to Rome. Maybe Destro?

    1. Past his best. Every single fottballing brain out there suggests strikers dont peak until 29/30.

      Ill put it this way. Id rather have a 40 year old Falcao then a 21 year old Sanago

      WENGER OUT

      1. rvp was amazing at 28 lol
        an falcao is a loan deal
        hes clutching at straws!

        we need a cf. worlds best cf besides suarez is available.
        its not rocket science

        1. I’m not speaking just from my persepective. Wenger would never spend that money and ridiculous wages on a player at that age. Especially after Falcao was out for the majority of last season with an injury that significantly weakens a player. Falcao is top quality and I would’ve loved to have him, but I do understand why we haven’t gone for him.

          1. u make a good point,but i guess the obvious question is..why has wenger not reinforced that position prior to today?

            1. I think he thought he had with Alexis. After these first few games he now realises that we need another striker because Alexis has looked a lot better on the wing. We need to add a striker for sure. But Falcao doesnt make sense as he could easily be out for long periods of time because of his past injuries and we would have to break our wage structure for him.

  16. Manu- Falcao, VP, Rooney.
    MC -Jov’, Neg, Dze, Agu.
    Pool- Sturridge, Balo, Markovic, Lambert
    Everton-kone, Lukaku, Eto

    us-Sanogo, TW, LP and JC are not proven or outright strikers!! FFS

  17. Game not to watch this season… ars vs manu….ars vs chelsea…ars vs man City.. ars vs Liverpool.. ars vs everton… I can’t afford to die young…

  18. I dont get the absolute hate for Arteta.
    He joined our club at the most lowest time in the Wenger years.
    He was 29 already then. And a massive upgrade over the midfielders we had.
    Also we played him out of position.
    Now he is 32 past his prime. But still does a decent job.

    1. the only flaw people see in him is his age, true i’d prefer the ramsey-arteta double pivot over a “beast” DMF everyone keeps talking about…

    2. Real talk from Sumo

      Since Arteta has been injured we have struggled to get any kind of meaningful attack going.

      For all of his flaws, Arteta is very intelligent in making himself available for the first or second pas out of defence and then getting that ball onto the right player from attack. Flamini is playing virtually in defence and it is killing Ramsey as he keeps on dropping back to the pivot position.

      What we need a Barry/Alonso in their prime type player. A dual pivot/DM type that is more intelligent than a Flamini type and gets his positioning right when the ball is going forward.

  19. Well, logically, Arsenal should not accept any kind of bid for Campbell, but, in the other hand, Campbell should force a move it he wants some regular play time.
    He won’t get his chance with Wenger because he is not Arsenal tailored… Wenger wold rather play the players he so called “trust” instead of the obvious quality he has on the bench.

    We still need a CB (Vermealen is goneand need to be replaced… Has he forgotten about it?), a DM (not holding my breath and hoping for a miracle) and a striker.

    A striker is crucial because without Giroud, yes “Giroud” we are f*cked… Remember the Walcott scenario? Wenger thought, again, he was clever not to recruit! We missed 10 to 15 goals last season because of that deluded clueless and tactically inapt twat…!!

    Find your “balls” Wenger and do the right thing for once.

    17 years in the CL… Yeah well done… That is 17 years of a “pay day” because as far as winning the trophy, we have not a glimpse of a chance, that is just too much of a challenge for the players, the club and the manager.

    A top club is not notice because of his “healthy” financial status or “delicious” balance sheets… Trophies, major trophies, are the pin point factors. We are not near to put our name on that European Cup. We have been silent CL participant for year and it will continue until we get a “coach” with knowledge, passion and drive.

    Wenger is just a corporate financial advisor with “some” coaching skills.

    For Wenger it has been the day to day routine for years and he has been rewarded with an astonishing wage, essentially undeserved.

  20. the type of striker falcao is his best is probably still there for a bit longer he is a drogba type of striker but with better technical abililties he more of a power player not a messi type once messi loses his speed if they still have the intricate passers he may last longer aswell but through intelligence,i hope theo comes back with his pace and dont take it the rong way guys but thats his best asset…………

  21. A good tactical move from Man u for Falcao, they will no doubt make more quality signings today.
    These signings will enable them to push for top 4 and cl football next year.

    Firstly we need to sign 3 players and secondly our current players need a kick up the but and to wake up and start playing better with more energy, fight and creativity.
    If they dont we will finish 5th or 6th this year!
    Better keep your Thursdays clear next year guys 🙁
    Not being negative or dramatic just realistic.

  22. for two years now afc has required a striker,a defence protecting player and defensive cover.i wonder.was Sanchez bought so early to prevent players like kos..ozil caz from forcing their way out of the club

    1. That is exactly what I think happened. I said on a post yesterday, the likes of Ozil, Kosc, OX, Cazorla will very soon get pi$$ed off with Wenger soon. Cazorla pretty much hinted that yesterday walking off when being subbed

  23. Falcao for £55M? What a rip-off. He turns 30 in 17 months. Why did we let Chelsea get Remy? lmao. Transfer windows with Arsenal are a damn joke. We could’ve lined up against Leicester yesterday with Remy or Balotelli, but no.

  24. i am hoping against all hope that wenger is sitting on a big pile of dirty cash ready to do THE BIG LOAD OF TRANSFERS #ANYTHING UNITED CAN DO WE CAN DO BETTER, HOPEFULLY HERE WE GO i still wonder what SECRET is was talking about the other day

    COYG

  25. @gooneretic. You are spot on. Sanchez was to appease the fans, (and sell shirts and season tickets) also please the current players. They are now playing like they have lost belief in Arsene and Arsenal, every player on the pitch knows we need a striker and a physical DM.

  26. Love the fact that Wenger and all the team said they were HUNGRY for more trophies following the FA Cup win. Where did that hunger go?????

  27. And for those GOONERS that keep going on about we so badly need a LW.. What? lol..

    Who is City’s Left winger?

    Who is Chelsea’s Left Winger?

    Who is Liverpool Left Winger?

    United’s Left winger?

    Spuds Left Winger?

    Not a single LW for those teams..

    They are all Right wingers or attacking midfielders playing there..

    This excuse from the fans that Ozil and Cazorla should not play there is weak.. We have never had an out and out LW since wenger has been manager..

    Pires was exactly like Ozil or Cazorla, very slow as a snail, but he played that false left winger… How many goals and assists did he get every season? And he was slow but always tracked back..

    Wiltord, Ljumberg, Reyes, and even Bergkamp etc all kept interchanging in those position when they all played for us..

    The current group of player are just weak mentally, physically and emotionally, why should they be paid £140,000 a week or £80,000 a week but they can’t be bothered to man up and fight for the team?

    Earn your wages, and stop acting like females on their Period. We have to get out of this dangerous mentality of favoring and making excuses for certain players..

    They should all fix up..

    1. Did you just say Pires was slow? hahahahahahahahaha

      just FYI, Pires never tracked back past halfway line. They didnt want him to, because he was so good going forward.

      You are probably the thickest commenter on this site. Go back to bed

      1. Another twisting of the facts for a long line of attacks on Ozil. Yesterday he was apparentl playing on the left and not tracking back and the left side was a disaster whereas the right was solid.

        Today, Sanchez was playing on the left and helped Monreal and the left side was solid and the right was a disaster.

  28. It is sad seeing our purported best transfer mkt of the decade (given the early transfer business) ending in the worst transfer mkt of the decade…
    I hope Wenger prove me wrong

  29. Manure strikers: van persie, Rooney, falcao, welbeck?
    City: jovetic, augero, dzeko, negredo
    Chelsea: Diego Costa, drogba, remy.

    Arsenal: Giroud(crocked) sanogo well sanogoal? The boy needs loaning out to learn his trade. Won’t loan out campbell, yet we won’t play him??
    Has podolski done a john terry and fcuked arsene wengers mrs??

    I thought things were looking good for us……. We need a transfer miracle to sort our s*it out now 😐

  30. As it stands the only changes I see to our champions league squad, is
    Walcott ospina and ryo in
    Giroud, macey and zelalem out.

    I am begging you wenger, please make at least 2 signings.

    1. Is there even a point anymore to hoping Wenger will make last minute signings – (a) He will probably waste the club’s money by buying more like Sanogo (b) even if he managed to buy a decent player he either (i) won’t play him (ii) play him out of position (iii) play him in a team that is lacking organisation
      At this stage the biggest threat to the club is the good players that we have will start losing interest and/or confidence one by one through playing week after week in a tactically clueless setup and being constantly played out of position.
      I would say Ozil already regrets opting for Arsenal, how long will it be before Sanchez starts to just go through the motions. I bet Fabregas is thanking his lucky stars the Wenger decided we didn’t ‘need’ him.

  31. Wenger must be bored of finishing 4th and is going for mid table this year. Its the only explanation I can think of because no way is this squad strong enough to finish top 4 now. You might not want to hear it but if you compare it to our rivals you’ll see its true.

  32. When the season started we had to improve LB,CB,LW,DM,ST. The only area we addressed was the LB position. We brought in Sanchez who is more effective playing on RW where we really don’t have a shortage. This team has no balance. Ozil is moved to accommodate Wilshire, Carzola not very effective on left wing infect no one on the leftwing. Striking position lacking. No Defensive Midfielder. No proper cover at CB we throwing Chambers in the deep end must say he has coped well i’m impressed.

  33. With Wenger’s reluctance to play him, who would fault him! Yesterday a draw was written all over and Wenger only made the substitution in the 77th minute!

  34. @john077. Defoe or no one?
    I heard he was coming back to the PL.
    WTF is Wenger doing flying to Rome on the last day of the window? Why not Dick Law earlier in the week? Destro?

  35. @dboy.
    Yep Wenger is using the season to experiment with formations that try to accommodate his favourites. Has he heard of pre season?

  36. We are missing so many players because Wenger is too faithful to the current players, he doesent rotate and takes forever to many changes!

  37. Yes. Campbell doesn’t deserve to be sitting on a bench after the season he’s had. If Wenger won’t play him he should let him go. Ditto for Poldi.

  38. What all people here are failing to understand is Campbell is too light weight to play as a lonely striker for us. Look at what happened when Podoslki came in! He only touched the ball once, but Sanogo would hustle with the defenders for possession. To play Campbell on the left wing , there is also competition, Podolski, Carzola, AOX, Rosicky, Wilshere!

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