Re: The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

People like Mole here trying to convince you Vidal would be an unnecessary signing

Dat jelly.
Go watch Sissoko running like a madman

Tbf i'm jelly of Bournemouth

[Peccadillo]

Yeah not sure I buy this Vidal stuff yet. Would of course love to have him and if true it would be an unbelievable deal.

But I just cant believe Juve would ever let him go for £21m. He's certainly in fashion atm and is surely worth a lot more? I haven't heard of him being disgruntled or anything and he's under contract til 2017. They could still get 21m+ for him next summer.

If we didn't have Sanchez I doubt this link would ever have been made.. Having said that I am not denying the power of a fellow countrymen twisting your arm.

[urbaNRoots]

----------------Cech-------------
Bellerin---Kos-----Mert-----Monreal
-------Vidal---------Wilshere-----
Ramsey-------Ozil------------Sanchez
-------------Benzema----------------

lmfao!

Atleast put 3 midfielders in there to have some kind of protection

Cech
Bellerin Mertesacker Koscielny Monreal
Wilshere
Vidal - Cazorla
Ramsey Alexis Özil

Still a complete mess

What a waste of money this would be, sign a world class player only to change formation and play half the squad out of position

[Peccadillo]

On no planet is 21m for Vidal a waste of money.

Vidal/Wilshere could work in a double pivot imo. Wilshere might want to be Messi, but I still think he can play deep - I also think if we sign someone like Vidal it would fast become his only option for game time.

I would say bringing him, it would make more sense to see the exit of one of Cazorla or Wilshere though - either of which would sell for between 15-30m. This would facilitate a move for another signing in the form of DM or striker and address our more "obvious" issues.

Living in Arsene-world though it will never go as what appears to be logical, supposing Vidal happens (which I still doubt) - I imagine that will be the last business we will see incoming and our strategy would look more like this:-

----------Cech--------------
Bell - Kos - Mert - Monreal
----- Vidal - Wilshere -----
-Ramsey - Ozil - Sanchez-
------Walcott/Giroud ------

OR

----------Cech--------------
Bell - Kos - Mert - Monreal
----------Coq---------------
----- Vidal - Ramsey ------
Ozil----------------Sanchez-
------Walcott/Giroud ------

[Sri]

[RealGunner]

chill sri

[Sri]

Vidal due respect, I think you all need to keep your enthusiasm in Cech.

[Kick]

Vidal due respect, I think you all need to keep your enthusiasm in Cech.

Stop Messi-ing around, he is being Sarrious.

[VendettaRed07]

I think we'd have to be crazy to not sign Vidal if we can get him

Sign him and worry about how he fits in later.

[Highburied]

I think we'd have to be crazy to not sign Vidal if we can get him

Sign him and worry about how he fits in later.

This.

[El Gunner]

I think we'd have to be crazy to not sign Vidal if we can get him

Sign him and worry about how he fits in later.

This.

Exactly. Plus if Wenger really wants him, the man himself will of course have an idea of what formation he wants to play.
Wenger ain't no buy-to-brag boy

[MJ]

Telegraph say Lyon have offered us Alexandre Lacazette for £21m.

[Sri]

Telegraph say Lyon have offered us Alexandre Lacazette for £21m.

Why is every player being linked at 21m quid? Surely we ought to throw that 1 pound in there somewhere as well?

[Jay29]

It's in the Telegraphs gossip column. They say "according to reports". A quick look suggest those reports don't actually exist.

If anyone's on Twitter, I really recommend following Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness). They do a great job at sorting through these rumours and determining which are complete nonsense and which might have some substance.

They looked at all the Vidal stuff earlier. Really useful:

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/arturo-vidal-arsenal-claims-la-stampa-cope-marca-feler

[Jay29]

@bbcsport_david: Cech joins #AFC from #CFC on 4yr contract for fee in region of £10m. Meanwhile, Arsenal not interesting in signing Juve mdf Arturo Vidal

Move on lads

[urbaNRoots]

Two awesome news in quick succession

[Eman]

Vidal has become an offensive-minded player but he used to sit deeper on a regular basis and earned himself a high reputation playing in that role prior to joining Juve. The guy is so talented that if he is told to defend, surely he isn't going to be anywhere as terrible at it as some people seem to be expecting. The Cazorla reference by MJ was perfect - if he can do it, why would we think Vidal can't?

Sign Vidal and our midfield will become frightening. With Cech here as well and a striker likely on the way, things are looking incredibly bright for next season.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Vidal has become an offensive-minded player but he used to sit deeper on a regular basis and earned himself a high reputation playing in that role prior to joining Juve.

Dunno why this is the consensus, because it's not true. He never played DM for Leverkusen he played a lot of AM and CM but never DM.

If anything he plays deeper now than he did for Leverkusen

[Jay29]

If I remember my 2008-2010 Leverkusen correctly, Simon Rolfes played DM.

And while I agree that Cazorla is a good example of players adapting to new roles, he doesn't play DM for us.

It's irrelevant now, anyway, since we're clearly not signing him.

[urbaNRoots]

Cazorla doesn't play as a defensive midfielder so that argument doesn't work.

[Eman]

Vidal has become an offensive-minded player but he used to sit deeper on a regular basis and earned himself a high reputation playing in that role prior to joining Juve.

Dunno why this is the consensus, because it's not true. He never played DM for Leverkusen he played a lot of AM and CM but never DM.

If anything he plays deeper now than he did for Leverkusen

I cannot claim to be a Leverkusen fan but how much did you watch them? I clearly remember him being cited as a DM signing for Juve. If you Google 'Arturo Vidal 2011,' every article talks about how he will help provide defensive midfield cover while contributing with a few goals and assists.

Cazorla doesn't play as a defensive midfielder so that argument doesn't work.

No but he was an attacking midfielder who we stuck on the wing and who people criticized for not helping out defensively at all, then all of a sudden he put his head down and played far deeper this past year while consistently putting in great challenges next to Coquelin. He has been as good defensively as he is offensively since the turn of the year. The point is, we shouldn't pigeon-hole world class players into specific positions and argue that they can't play different roles if needed. Talent and understanding of the game are the main things.

I would never say that I expect us to sign a player like Vidal, but why scoff at the prospect of acquiring an incredible player? Should we instead hope to sign William Carvalho, a youngster none of us know a damn thing about other than the hype we have read in the media since we were linked to him last year?

[urbaNRoots]

There is a difference between playing CM and DM, Arsenal fans keep forgetting that (see Fellaini). Cazorla has played CM before we signed him, in fact he played most of his games as a CM for Malaga. Vidal on the other hand may have played some games as a DM but never consistently, because he's a box to box midfielder who happens to be a regular goalscorer, yes he's a machine defensively but if you deny his attacking instincts which would be required to play DM then you are not playing him in his full capacity.

I don't know about William Carvalho, I don't know if he's any good but with signing him or another defensive midfielder we're atleast trying to close gaps in our squad. Vidal doesn't achieve that, William Carvalho MAYBE does. We have enough quality to win with Cazorla/Wilshere/Ramsey/Rosicky but we don't with just Coquelin.

I really thought Arsenal fans would have learned a lesson after Coquelin emergence but no we still stick with our FIFA/Football Manager fantasies.

[Twoism]

We're not signing him anyways, hard to believe Wenger would splash money for DM/CM. I mean he's stubborn enough to stay dire til Le Coq revelation, that's like 3 years.

Saying that, I hope he's waiting for opportunity for that world class striker and if he doesn't come, at least bring that capable DM.

I predict two new signings, Cech was one and another one, either top class striker or that capable DM. But that deal might be very close to the end of transfer season.

[Jay29]

Before we start discussing Carvalho in earnest again, I'd like to point out that there's very little chance Wenger will sign a 21 year old to compete with his 23 year first/only choice, and that if he wasn't prepared to splash out on him before Coquelin's re-emergence, there's no way he'll do so after it.

I predict two new signings, Cech was one and another one, either top class striker or that capable DM. But that deal might be very close to the end of transfer season.

This is my feeling as well. Some dominoes have to fall before a really top quality striker becomes available, and if that's going to happen it'll be late July/August. It's clear we aren't interested in anyone that isn't going to significantly improve on Giroud, which is why we've passed up on the likes of Jackson and Bacca.

We don't want to invest in a DM for whatever reason. I wouldn't be surprised if Wenger didn't sign another holding player before he retired. At this point I'm not fussed if it's a top player or not. We just need to improve upon Arteta and Flamini, so we at least have proper depth for the position.

So I'm maintaining my stance that Cech will be our only first team signing this summer.

[urbaNRoots]

Jeremy Wilson

Arsenal no longer in for Vidal and MU favs for Schneiderlin. AFC wanted him in Jan but fee, plus Coq/Caz form, seems to have changed things

Kinda confirms we don't want to sign a defensive midfielder which is what I suspected anyway.

[El Gunner]

It's irrelevant now, anyway, since we're clearly not signing him.

Why completely rule it out just because The Telegraph says so?
There might be genuine interest which we do not know about.

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