Should Arsenal go for Van Dijk whatever the cost?

Arsenal seriously need a defensive shake up very soon. With Mustafi out injured since the Man United debacle, Wenger had stuck with his ageing defence of Koscielny, Mertesacker and Monreal for the next Premier League game against Southampton. The combined age of those defenders is 96 years, and they are not getting any younger as we all know.

I doubt Mertesacker will play again for us, except in cup games, until the end of the season, and Koscielny is looking tired and could get a flare-up of his Achilles problem at any time. The Boss doesn’t seem to trust Calum Chambers or Rob Holding any more and they are hardly world class anyway.

In my opinion Arsenal should go all out to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January, or continue to deal with defensive errors in the long run, which we can ill afford in our race for the Top Four. Van Dijk, who Wenger refused to pay 10m GBP for when he was at Celtic, is now going to cost much much more, but he is Premier League proven and coveted by many big clubs. But nobody needs him more than Arsenal and it looks like Southampton could be persuaded to part with him for the right price.

Van Dijk’s manager Mauricio Pellegrino, dropped the defender for yesterday’s defeat to Chelsea, and when asked about Van Dijk being sold he said: “I can’t control the market. I’m not the owner of the player. I can have my opinion and this I have give to the technical director, to the chairman my opinion. After, the board can decide all together which is the best for the team.”

“I will repeat that I can’t control the market right now. I can’t control this. I will recommend to try to keep our best player here in the club. The club was clear in the beginning and I have the same opinion.”

So what do you think? Should Arsenal go for him at any price?

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26 Comments

  1. When he was at Celtics I was begging Wenger to get him. He got Chambers for £16-18 million instead lol. Wenger never listens to me

    1. Who got Chambers?
      I personally believe that was more of a board buy as they was buying british and AFC made transfers Wenger wasn’t fully supportive over.

      I will point to the fact that Wenger openly said in an interview that he only wanted Welbeck on loan and yet he is an AFC player, same year that the board buy instead of loaning like Wenger wanted, we also got Chambers.

      Perez has been thrown out on loan as Wenger didn’t want him, Chambers seen himself thrown out on loan and even though he had a good loan, he still can’t get into the team.

      Wenger is showing non of that favoritism with Chambers is he?

      Heck, Wenger wanted Holding and he has been given more of a chance than Chambers and was bought after Chambers for a lesser fee… almost like Wenger being stubborn… He has to prove that his picks are better… Wenger isn’t known for doing that is he and hurting the tactics by picking favorites?

  2. They need to strengthen the defence desperately… I wouldn’t turn him down
    OT I hope Mustafi is back for the Liverpool game!

    1. They are destroying Bournemouth .
      It’s looking worrying for next week

      Hold me gooner cuddly bear …hold me

  3. Get VVD and mahrez at this transfer period ,at the summer add Fekir as Alexis replacement and maybe a new DMF if Xhaka continues to play the way he is right now.

    Cech
    koscienly VVD
    Bellerin Kolasinac
    Xhaka/Coquelin Wilshere/Ramsey
    Ozil
    Mahrez Fekir
    Lacazette

    1. I have lost patience with Xhaka, I would be willing to eat my own words but I want to see him sold ASAP, he has had over 12 months and the only thing he has improved on is his discipline. I want to see Carvalho bought to replace him, now before the WC where he may have signed a new deal and going to cost more if he plays well internationally.

      In the same spirit I would say get Fekir now, rumors are we are willing to pay £44 million for him and loan him straight back to Lyon for the remainder of the year, I think AFC should do that if they can.

      I agree with VVD and Mahrez parts.
      I dislike the formation, looks like a 222121 which is… just no.

  4. I’m afraid that signing any expensive defenders would not help as long as Arsenal is still using the same system. I think 30 millions is the maximum amount Arsenal should pay for a defender, because there are other pressing needs in the other departments.

    1. This club needs a complete overhaul Spending £70 million on a defender would be madness.Just ask yourself ,how many of these players would get into Man City team.The team is a complete mess and nothing will change until you know who leaves,which will probably be around 2030 if AW has his way

  5. Van dijk will join Liverpool
    With naby keita

    Matter fact how did so many scouts not spot mo salah .worth double now
    All those goals an assist before Xmas
    Incredible

    1. Wasn’t missed, just misread.
      Chelsea had him don’t forget but he needed a manager like Klopp to get the best out of him along with some more life experience which he got on loan deals and later that perm switch to Roma.

      Wilfred Zaha is a top player but another one which I feel has been misread due to failing at UTD, I do think with the right manager then Zaha could go a long way, I don’t think Wenger is that man so not gonna be begging for us to get him 😛 But someone like Pep…

      1. ZAHA single handedly won the last two crystal palace games. Always a big threat in the box. I have instructed wenger to sign him in January. Arsenal does not have a single player who can match his skills – maybe sanchez when at the top. This season sanchez not here, seems lost.

  6. AFC should go all out and get VVD, that type of CB could allow Wenger to go to a back 4 on a more perm basis.

    I also feel that Mustafi would do better alongside VVD and we will see the best out of him.

    Also get a top DM, someone who could act as a 3rd CB in times of need but also offer the team an outlet when going forward, like Gilberto did for us alongside Vieira. I would say Carvalho as I have been a fan of his for a few years now.

    Sell Xhaka and ElNeny to make space, I wanted Xhaka to step up his game so much but he has been a liability. He improved his discipline but not enough other improvements since.

    Wilshere has done well and I do believe AMN could surprise us all in CM, they both have concerns so and I think they could both offer more as a B2B type than DM type. Coquelin can defend and while offers nothing going forward, if alongside a good enough player (Cazorla) then he was good enough to be competition and cover for a star DM. Wilshere offers a lot of what Cazorla did and sits deeper than Rambo which means he is available to receive a pass more from the CM partner. AMN I believe could grow into this, he has shown all the qualities that Vieira had except experience and consistency… but he is just a kid breaking into the 1st team.

    If AFC have money and going to push the boat out then get Fekir and Mahrez in Jan as well, loan Fekir back to Lyon if it means we can secure him and we will have Mahrez as an injection of newness.

    4231

    Bellerin(Debuchy)/Kos(Mustafi)/VVD/Sead(Monreal)
    Carvalho(Coquelin)/Wilshere(AMN)
    Mahrez(Theo)/Ozil(Rambo)/Alexis(Nelson)
    Lacazette(Giroud)

    In the summer replace;
    Giroud with Eddie Nketiah, Alexis with Fekir and buy big for a Coquelin replacement, someone who can offer something going forward as well.

    Could have a cheap summer if we spend big in Jan, that big spending could also be the catalyst for Ozil to sign a new deal, he wants to win the UCL so we need to match that ambition… Which to be honest, I want AFC to win the UCL so I want the board to invest now rather than lose out and spending more in a few years time due to missed opportunities.

  7. When will people learn? Doesn’t matter who we buy, nothing will change! The likes of Koscielny, Mustafi, and Mertesacker are far superior than the likes of Djourou, Squillaci, Senderos, yet we look as bad defensively now, as we did back then!

    You don’t get 104 caps playing for a nation like Germany if you’re rubbish, yet Mertesacker has been poor for us. Clearly it’s noting to do with the players, it’s the tactics, and the coaching which is letting the players down. Signing VVD changes nothing! In fact, if we did sign him, and kept Wenger on as manager, we’d see a gradual decline in VVD’s performances, just like with all of our players.

    1. Exactly the way i see it. Someone said non of our players will get into man city team. That statement is a complete false. Did anyone saw Magala play yesterday. He was a different beast. The question is, is he better than our Kos or Mustafi. Is otamendi better than those two even Mets. I don’t want to talk about Delph. How are De bruyne or Fernaldino rated before Pep. My point is Gardiola makes the difference. Take Wenger out of equations we will definitely see different arsenal. Don’t berate and slate these players because arsenal is a mess because of we know who.

  8. VVD is not the answer to our centre back problems.While he is a cut above Mustafi and is commanding in the air he is complacent and takes risks when he should not.Arsenal and other top premier league teams watched him at Celtic on a regular basis before Southampton snapped him up for around £10m He has been inconsistent this season and he would be overpriced at £30m let alone the rumoured asking price of £50m Arsenal missed the boat when they decided not to go for Joe Gomez and Harry Maguire but as we know Mr Wenger has a poor record when it comes to recruiting centre backs .

  9. At whatever the cost? Of course not. VVD at the right money would of course be a decent, though far from world class buy, but the overhype for him as the greatest thing since sliced bread is nonsense. In any case we urgently need two decent CB’s not just one. Kos is on his last legs, injury wise and cannot play regularly and is slowing and less reliable. Merts is retiring, thank God, as he has always been far too slow esp for the Prem style of play, despite good positional sense; Chambers is not good enough, again too slow and not the standard we need, Holding though promising, is far from the finished article and not yet ready at top level. Mustafi I do like , to a degree but again he is no Kompany in standard. We ought to have three top CB’s not just one injury prone aging one in Kos and a decent but not great one in Mustafi.. Just as vital we still need , after a decade a CDM who is good enough. We have had a succession of subpar ones, including the dreadful Xkaka, mediocre Coquelin and bits and pieces , fill in, journeyman Elneny. And others too, going right back to Gilberto to find the last one good enough. To challenge at top level next season, we must have several proven Prem quality experienced but still fast defenders, At present we do not have ONE totally reliable outfield defender at the club , since Koscielny started fading(mainly through his recurring chronic achilles , which will never get better). WENGER HAS CONSTANTLY DOWNGRADED DEFENCE AND THIS IS WHAT CONTINUES TO COST AND HAUNT US. Why he finds it totally impossible to get a good enough CB and CDM, is a mystery as other rival clubs get them. So why not us?

  10. We should defiantly buy him, we should use Walcott or Chambers as part of the deal. Would also like to see William Carvalho and Thomas Lemar. It’s very unlikely that Sanchez and Ozil will be with us next year, but maybe by showing a little ambition in the transfer market, we could make them reconsider.

    Cech
    Bellerin vvd Mustafi Kolasinac
    Carvalho Ramsey/whilshire
    Alexis. Ozil. Lemar
    Lacazette

  11. Why do we have Chambers and Holding?…….they badly need game time……..you don’t get to see the potential of players if they don’t play enough………..either Arsenal let’s them go or play them…….they do have the potential……but lack experience……….why has Wenger not used Maitland as a defensive midfielder?……..

    1. They are both 22 it would be good to loan them Ox and Theo should have been loaned down the years instead they stagnated

  12. Players are not our problem,u know who.
    give Guadiola this set of Arsenal players and see what he will do with them.
    Arsenal will never come close to winning d league with Wenger in charge.

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