With Monaco having sold many of their title-winning youngsters already this summer for incredible sums, it is looking more and more unlikely that Arsenal will be able to persuade them to part with Thomas Lemar, and if they did it would be for a giantly inflated transfer fee. The only way I can see this happening at all is if we offered Alexis Sanchez in a swap deal and that is even more unlikely!
But meanwhile, just a little way along the Mediterranean coast from Monaco, is Nice’s Jean Seri, who is probably much more talented and will come cheaper than Lemar. And if you want to get a recommendation for a midfielder let us listen to what Barcelona’s Xavi had to say about him. “When I was told that a Nice player was nicknamed the ‘African Xavi’, I followed him very closely,”
“I watched matches and a ton of videos. I didn’t know him and I was spellbound: I’m not used to seeing such a talent in midfield.
“Short passing, long passing, tactical intelligence, distance shooting, personality, organising play, that last magic pass… ‘madre mia!’
“He would do very well at Barca! He can play anywhere in the middle. Seri is fantastic. I can say, without hesitation, that he has what we call ‘Barca DNA’.”
Here is the original interview that Xavi had with Eurosport:
Le nom du joueur de Nice, Jean-Michaël Seri, revient parfois aussi pour renforcer l’entre jeu. Le connaissez-vous? On l’a même comparé avec… Xavi !Xavi : Quand on m’a dit qu’un joueur de Nice était surnommé le “Xavi Africain”, je l’ai suivi de très près. J’ai regardé des matches et une tonne de vidéos. Je ne le connaissais pas… et j’ai halluciné : je n’étais plus habitué à voir un tel talent au milieu de terrain. Jeu court, jeu long, intelligence tactique, tir de loin, personnalité, organisation du jeu, dernière passe magique… “madre mia”! il irait tellement bien au Barça ! Il peut jouer partout au milieu. Seri est fantastique. Il a ce que l’on appelle à Barcelone l'”ADN Barça”. Sans aucune hésitation.
Now if Xavi himself says that, then surely Arsene Wenger should pay attention and get the Ivorian at the Emirates as soon as possible!
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I saw Lemar played against England, PSG and Dijon (his most recent match). He didn’t do anything special and often gave the ball away.
Maybe people only saw his statistics, which are supposedly better than Bernardo Silva. In my opinion, he is not worth fifty millions and Manchester City chose Bernardo Silva over him.
Regarding Jean Seri, Barcelona has gotten Paulinho, so it should be easier for Arsenal to get him. If we cannot get him, Sergi Roberto has affordable release clause that Arsenal should be able to meet.
At last someone who sees my point.I struggle to see how people think Lemar is levels over Bernardo Silva or even better.But then again do we even need Lemar?This would have just been a typical Wenger signing where he gets what we want not what we need.Shockingly fans prefer it that way.I’m happy we didn’t get robbed on yhis one.
Instead of chasing Lemar who is a one season wonder if would love for Arsenal go sign Julian Draxler . Draxler is world class and would definitely lift Arsenal’s game to a new level . He can also soften the blow of Sanchez’s eminent departure. His price would prove a stumbling block as usual for the frugal Arsenal but if we are to move on from Sanchez, Draxler is one of few who come marginally close to filling the void .
Draxler has just moved to PSG last season, I don’t think he wants to move again so soon. Maybe Lucas Moura would be allowed to move, since PSG has got Neymar, Cavani, Draxler and Di Maria in the front.
That is true , however Neymars arrival means Draxler is not further down the pecking order for starting positions as is Lucas Moura. It been a world cup year hopefully he will want to move quickly to assure he is a regular starter . Hopefully Dortmund and Liverpool don’t come sniffing after him
JUST IN:Bad nrws as Arsenal officially pull out of the Lemar deal.When Resource and I was saying it was done it was actually done.Arsenal and AS Monaco had actually agreed a deal worth £55 for Lemar.The fee and personal terms were agreed.
ASMonaco then pulled out only for them to demand £65.Weeks have gone by and Arsenal have been doing their best for AS Monaco to soften their stance but they just wont budge.Thats what has caused all this delay.
As for Seri there’s genuine interest but no bid.
Dude give up
U flopped . Gave ppl false hope like other itks
U said ud leave if u were wrong
Ha ha… what a joke..
We can all read the news… cant believe you are saying ‘just in’ when its been in the news for days and you and Resource say you are in the know… you should have told us first … but then you dont really know any more than the rest of us
Just leave it now to proper journalists..
I support your point but then again you need to lokk at what will be right for us.I don’t see Jean Michael Seri adding any form of solidity to this team.He’s just gonna increase the tippy tappyness of the team.We need a hard man who can defend and attack.Someone with Coquelin’s ability defensively ability but can drive a team forward,dribble,pass and disciplined.This is what we are lacking.It’s a shame though.When the mistake is made it’ll probably be too late.
I can’t say a lot about your (re)sources but agree with you on this. We don’t need Seri imo. He is not what the team needs at the moment. What we are desperate for is a top drawer DM with excellent mobility, passing, and positional awareness- a serious upgrade on Coq- A Kante-Wanyama-Dier hybrid of sorts. I don’t know Seri but his stats suggest he is more of an attacking midfielder- how may of those do we have/want? As for the comparisons with Lemar- I don’t think they are like for like so the comparisons are flawed. We actually don’t need Lemar if Sanchez stays and his head is in the game.
In central midfield, we have only one recognised DM in Coq whose work rate and tackling are up there but his positional awareness is wanting. I think Cazorla really hid his flaws when he played alongside him or maybe they just communicated better?
El Neny like Xhaka are holding CMs. El Neny has Coqs work rate but not defensive nous. Creatively, he is also wanting. Xhaka has great vision and passing range but lacks mobility. The partnership with Ramsey works because of his mobility complements Xhaka’s lack of.
We need a mobile DM for difficult away games or to shut up shop when the job is done.
Just seen in the mirror that Xhaka covered more ground than any other midfielder- 7.6km against Leicester- last weekend. Why does he look so immobile? short sprints or just slow sprints? Must be the latter. The PL is so fast that anyone not moving at Bellerin pace isn’t moving.
He plays last man in midfield and tucks in with defenders, also goes forward to take corners and join play at times. How exactly do they judge distance covered, is it how many kilometres they run or is it the actual distances from one end to another of the pitch.
I’m all up for a Sanchez/Lemar swop. Anything to end this saga!
Lemar deal is supposedly off as mentioned by Wenger
Wenger do not think Monaco will sell him this summer…same thing he said with Martial
funny thing is players that other clubs are interested have always submitted their transfer request or skip training to push a move such as Dembele, Van Dijk and Coutinho to name a few….
None of these happen to Arsenal targets
…players (im sure you know) try using interest from afc to improve the prospect of transfers. presenting players under this bogus reality is designed to raise the purchase price.
JUST IN:Bad nrws as Arsenal officially pull out of the Lemar deal.When Resource and I was saying it was done it was actually done.Arsenal and AS Monaco had actually agreed a deal worth £55 for Lemar.The fee and personal terms were agreed.
ASMonaco then pulled out only for them to demand £65.Weeks have gone by and Arsenal have been doing their best for AS Monaco to soften their stance but they just wont budge.Thats what has caused all this delay.
As for Seri there’s genuine interest but no bid.
Wenger has already said its over
(friend)…a deal couldn’t have been done. because any who knows what comprises a contract will be aware of the components of a “done deal”. there’s nothing been said or done to satisfy the certainty of a valid contract – no acceptance by a.s.monaco not at any point in time = no “done deal”.
Kev: Sorry to say but your definition of a done deal is not everyone else’s definition of a done deal. You can not pull out of a done deal. You can agree to terms and change your mind before the deal is done and increase an asking price but once a deal is done you can not pull out. Monaco never wanted to sell Lemar to Arsenal and a deal was never done.
Don’t feel bad about it because rumors swirl this time of the year and everybody claims to know someone who knows someone.
@ Kev…. Are you a journalist like David Ornstein or a fan like me? Anyway, I don’t know if you are for real or just predicting. Whatever it is, thanks for the lacazette info…
It wasn’t me who broke the Laca info.It was Resource.I just get transfers from insider sources through another person.He’s been wrong only on the Neymar one so far.All other transfers regarding other teams have been spot on.People should expect some bad Oxlade Chamberlain news from media soon.
If Wenger sells Oxelaide Chamberlain then it will confirm Arsenal have no aspirations of wining the title . Oxelaide Chamberlain is one of our better players currently, why sell to a rival ?? . I would rather sell Bellerin and give the right wing back spot to Oxelaide Chamberlain, he does a far better job.
Agree, Chamberlain is too dangerous to be allowed to Arsenal’s rivals. He should be sold to clubs outside England, if he doesn’t want to extend his contract.
If he does leave, Porto’s Ricardo Pereira would be an excellent replacement as an RWB.
News of Ox has been in the press for weeks.. this is the first time you are mentioning it re ‘bad news’ when it has been highlighted by other media about potential £35mn bid … not because of any insider info source you have
If you had said 3 weeks ago that OX was going to be sold for £35mn then it would have some gravity but sadly you have not said one thing that anyone else can read in the news
You are also saying breaking news re Lemar when that was being said last week
Not sure why Arsenal are so obsessed with Lemar anyway, when we’re in desperate need a DM/CM. We only have three fit recognised central midfielders, four when Coquelin comes back, and not one of them is WC. We’ve got extra fixtures to contend with, what with Europe, so why aren’t we strongly linked with anyone?
I think Wenger’s love for Ramsey will blind him once again in yet another transfer window.
Wenger’s terrible in the market.His obseesion with Lemar who we don’t even need has driven his focus away from where we actually need to strengthen.This window could end up very very badly for us.
His obsession, that’s rich.
I think Arsenal likes Lemar’s versatility. He has good skills and is good when playing in several positions, even though he didn’t really stand out.
I think Lemar is worth thirty millions maximum and his work rate is one of his plus points.
I agree with this article i think (as log as we keep present squad) we will have enough winger type players..I have been saying for a while we need a CM (equally as important as we need a CB..CB might have a bit of an edge)
And If Xavi of all people is given Seri the green light then we should really look into him..i think he can walk into our first team and partner Xhaka and give use a bit more of a Santi Feel in the Middle
Seri is good. I have seen him play on a number of occasions. He might be better suited to the La Liga because of his size and the sometimes brutish nature of the PL but he would be worth the risk. As always I am nervous now that we have waited so long to make a move for him.
Have u see Kante? So size doesn’t always matter. After all he will be playing football and not rugby.
Man, you got me laughing out loud there!!!!!
What Arsenal should do is stop playing around with transfer dealings. If the situation is about freeing spots you have to decide. Do you want to battle it out for high transfer fees for players that you know you don’t want anymore at the risk of still having them when the window closes or do you want to free the spots you need as well as reduce the wage bill?
I am for the latter. Gibbs, Jenko, Debuchy, Perez they all should be gone. Elneny made his case but cases could be made for Gabriel, Chambers if the manager really doesn’t want him and Wilshere as well.
Ultimately that’s up to 8 players that are all still HERE. You need a squad of 25 and we have around 33 players. Let’s see I personnaly want both Lemar and Seri. But in Seri’s case an enforcer with more to his game unlike Coquelin would also be a good option.
Wenger has made it perfectly clear that Jenks and Debuchy has no place and yet AFC still has them, it is frustrating.
I believe this is a fault of Gazidis, he is not good enough to get transfers done, him and Law are like a pair of clowns and it hurts us as a club.
Man City got Txiki (in 2010) to help with getting transfers done, this was the guy who was the Director of Football for Barca for 7 years, 2003-2010. Just to point out, this guy knows how to get players, just look at Barca transfers with him. Look at city transfers since 2010… Henry for Barca and Aguero for City is 2 prime examples.
Compare that to AFC getting Gazidis.
1st thing that happened when Gazidis arrived is Wenger getting the slander of being penny pinching, never got called that when Dein was doing transfers.
Wenger word on forcing players to honour the contract became a joke, he forced players to stay, Flamini was a great prospect and we lost him. Compare that to Nasri, Wenger saying he didn’t want him sold in the same window as Cesc and what happened? He got sold, Nasri since came out and said it was the board that sold him.
Gazidis is a freaking joke and he has gone under the radar by large number of supporters, Wenger is the figurehead and so that is who people point at.
Same thing in sales, Gazidis wants as much as he can get and if he loses a few million on a transfer then that is the end of the world. Man City sold Fernando for £5 million, they could have gotten more and if that was Gazidis then he would have asked for double and screwed up the sale.
At last someone else also believe Gazidis is the cancer that has killed this clubs ambition. From the moment he was appointed we have regressed.
and the AOB’s will never even consider it might be Gazidis and Kroenke who have halted the progress at the club !
I think there won’t be any more signings will be coming in. or there might be couple of panic buys if we lose Alexis or Ox or Both.Whenever Wenger starts talking about exceptional player that means we are done buying and we are just finding some bargains in the market.
Is Seri the CM we need? I have looked at him since the reports, he does look a talent but is he going to put pressure on people and win the ball back often enough? We have Xhaka who is more of the playmaker.
Hard to tell unless watching live matches regularly.
I have been a fan of Carvalho and I still hold hope we get him, I know he is seen more as a CDM but he has all the attributes to be a tough box to box CM and we all know Wenger is happy slightly adjusting a players role.
Seri is a mix of Santi Cazorla and N’golo kante. Although most fans will not have heard much about him, those who watch Ligue 1 will know he was probably the best midfield player in the French League last season. At about 30mill he will be a bargain. He has about 5 years of top football left at the age of 26. He is a very mobile player who can play at high intensity. If Wenger lets either Liverpool or Tottenham sign Jean Seri he would be a complete Dodo and Groundhog day loser.
If this guy can give us what Santi gave us, then yes, he is what we need.
For me, however, I think the biggest thing we need to go is go back to our 4231. Everyone was so excited by what Ramsey and Giroud did on the field, but i’m not seeing anyone acknowledge the BALANCE in our play/shape that came back when they came on the field when we went back to a 4231. Folks talk about Mesut’s limited contribution to the game, but not acknowledging that we ask our creative number 10 to play out wide an only influence the game on one side of the field. However when we went back to a formation with a natural 10 in the middle of the field, then he was able to drift across the field, pick up the ball on both sides of the field, and even make penetrating runs in-behind. We said for years that Mesut needed a mobile 9 that he could feed balls in-behind to, then we confine him to one side of the field to link up with the guy? Doesn’t seem smart to me.
What it also did was put an actual CM in the middle that is mildly creative in the middle – Ramsey – versus the xhaka/ el-neny partnership that prefers to go sideways or backwards.
4231, with this Seri guy as the CM with no Santi, and that puts in a much better spot to get something this year.
Dope post thankz for sharing
Evening Standard reporting that Chelsea are closing in on Ox. Apparently, they have offered £35m and both clubs are in talks.
Would be gutted to see him go as we are starting to see flashes of brilliance…..and he’s homegrown, rather sell Ozil and keep Ox!
no more exceptional talents available,Arsene is done wit buying.I hv always told u guys not to get ur hopes high bcos Arsene is still charge. same..old…same…old
Tut tut tut. So you guys have watched 3 lemar.play 3 games and decided he is not worth it. Actually lemar has been doing very for Monaco since 2015 with a number of goals and assists he is a cross between Sanchez and ozil. A quality player. I would love to have him replace ozil as he would get a good amount of assists as well as score goals Mr ozil. Lemar so one for the future Mark my words.
As for Seri. We have Wilshire Ramsey carzola elnany. We need to get rid of elnany and bring him in. Make Wilshire our worst player. That would be amazing. That’s what man city Barcelona and Madrid have. A bench full.of class. Let’s think back to when Chelsea and city brought the league. They would have players from top teams. Sean Wright Philip’s adeybayor tevez. All starting or during on the bench and that is how they won I. Taking the opposition’s players as well as having quality as back up l. I am happy to have players like walcott. Who could walk into Everton or west ham squad but are arguably not good enough for arsenal. But on their day are world beaters. Why because when Their moment comes I think they will deliver. Yes so keep going on about walcots 19 goals but he knew he had to perform so did. I think we will see the same again in cup matches. With Wilshire Walcott giroud and other squad players who were once first choice. We will see them step up. COYGAA