Morning all.
No doubt, in the last few days, you’ve most probably been bombarded with so many stories about this player and that player that either you’re in a complete frenzy about who is going to join – or you’re ignoring all the speculation and waiting for the real stuff – or if you’re like me, you’re somewhere in between.
So, let’s have a look at the truth is behind the rumours.
We know that Arsene believes he has enough attacking talent – he has stressed many times that he’s happy with the strikers and also that he’s not in the market for a striker. In the attacking positions, we do have a plethora of players in Van Persie, Eduardo, Adebayor, Bendtner, Arshavin, Walcott, Vela, Nasri and Cesc as well as the long forgotten Rosicky and talents such as Simpson and Wilshere.
Looking at the squad and Arsene’s comments, it’s clear to everyone that he’s going to buy a defender or defensive midfielder or both. Or maybe just one.
So, it’s time to take a look at the rumours and rate them in terms of really whether there is any substance in them.
Lorik Cana, 25Cana is an experienced defensive midfielder – likened to Essien and many years of top flight football and Champions League experience with Marseille. |
Marseille, £12m, 8 out of 10 |
Brede Hangeland, 27An ideal candidate to join the Arsenal, has height and strength. Has been talking about signing a new contract with Fulam and if you consider they’ve made Europe, he may not want to move. |
Fulham, £8m – £10m, 6 out of 10 |
Miguel Veloso, 23Highly rated Portuguse International and has only one year left on his contract – but at 23 he is quite young and maybe not what Arsene is looking for, especially at £15m – a price which Bolton offered last summer. |
Sporting, £15m, 6 out of 10 |
Thomas Vermaelen, 23Ajax’s main centre back, highly rated but inexperienced. Arsene may be tempted as he is believed to be available for about £5m – £6m, but does he have the experience we need in central defence |
Ajax, £5m – £6m, 5 out of 10 |
Marouane Chamakh, 25We’ve been heavily linked with the striker as a replacement for Adebayor – but Chamakh says he’s not leaving Bordeaux and Arsene say he’s not signing a striker. |
Bordeaux, £9m, 5 out of 10 |
Sebastien Bassong, 22We’ve been linked with Newcastle’s central defender quite a lot so far – but why would Arsene go for Bassong, who got relegated when Djourou is a better and more experienced defender. |
Newcastle, £8m, 4 out of 10 |
Xabi Alonso, 27A player who Arsene has been interested in before – apparently we were close to signing him last season – he’s one of Cesc’s best mates – but Rafa Benetiz has recently said he’s not for sale. |
Liverpool, £20m, 3 out of 10 |
Ricardo Oliveira, 29Again, another Adebayor replacement – but flopped at Milan and been relegated twice with Betis – although a decent player at a low price, I can’t see Arsene going in for him. |
Real Betis, £5m, 1 out of 10 |
I’m sure there will be more rumours by the time you read this, but this is kind of a summation of what I’m hearing. There is a lot of hype around Lorik Cana, mostly based on his You Tube videos, and I thought I’d kindly bring one to you:
In the first half of this video, he looks like he will be sent off in every game – but if you wait until the second half, then his tackling become immense.
Who do you think Arsene will sign?
