Arsenal clinch deal for Lyon dazzler Ben Arfa

BahamaRed

You can't beat the three goats we paid for Manucho.

JazzG

We are being linked with players left, right and centre at the moment so I ain't getting excited yet. I do think there will be some big news in the next few weeks as until the seasons are over in Europe I can't see us announcing any signings. I do know for a fact we are very close to signing someone but I don't know who!

peterstorey

That's not the Ken Friar windup is it? Some fantasists apparently 'worked out' it was a Man City player... which led others to run around screaming "Richards, Richards".

dev1l

He would have been the ideal replacement for Ronaldo....

JazzG

dev1l

If we re looking for a right back, it could be Sung Jihai - he said he s leaving City

Sam#1

I can't see your lot signing Richards, although, I think Ben Arfa will be yours very shortly.

Count Duckula

Ben Arfa is pure quality. Under Wenger he could genuinly become one of the best wingers in the world.

Apparently Arsenal are interested in Nasri, too, which doesn't surprise me. He's a creative central player, he's young and he's French, so he fits all of Wenger's criteria. Ben Arfa and Nasri would be two fantastic signings.

Also, if Ben Arfa signs for Arsenal then Benzema won't be going anywhere. Someone at Lyon (though I can't now remember who -- it might even have been Aulas) said that they would only sell one or the other. They're not willing to destroy their squad to the extent they would if they sold both.

peterstorey

We don't need a right back (so it's probably Richard Dunne for us) you, on the other hand do need cover at RB.

Sam#1

We don't just need cover, we need a right back that will be first choice...

Bape

Hmmm...Nasri is an interesting one, I can't see how he'd fit in Arsenal though with Fabregas, unless they are going to go with 3 in the middle, aparently they are rumoured for Yaya toure as well to replace Flamini. Perhaps they are looking at Nasri to provide cover for Fabregas seeing as they always seem to tire him out from playing him too much (albeit Nasri seems much more of an attacking midfielder than central one)..they also have Denlison coming in as well for them.

Not to mention that Carlos Vela fella, also seems like a genuine talent.

JazzG

What you also have to remember is Rosicky is very injury prone so if we sign Ben Arfa and Hleb leaves we are in the same position as now ie short in midfield on numbers. Saying that I'd be genuinely shocked if we signed both, the Ben Arfa story seems to be true as he has acknowledged it himself but not sure how valid the Nasri rumours are but there are a few stories going around in France that we are in for him. He could play on the wing for us, you have to remember players who play on the wing for us are rarely proper out and out wingers, Wenger likes his wing players to drift in and Rosicky and Hleb are not wingers at all but more central attacking players but have both done ok for us on the wing because they don't need to play like proper wingers and be and down the pitch and have chalk on their boots.

We could do with having someone who can come in for Fabregas as well because if he is injured or tired we don't have anyone to replace him and you could see towards the end of the season he very tired because the games were coming thick and fast and he had to play in nearly all of them. I'd be over the moon if we signed both and as far as attacking players go assuming Hleb leaves we only need to bring two more in and we are sorted. Then we need to look at replacing Flamini, a CB and hopefully a GK. Guess it depends on how much is available and how much we can get for Hleb if he leaves.

Phil

Not much to be done then..

JazzG

I can't see us bringing that many players but that is what I'd like to see. He might not bring in a CB and GK that is speculation from me. Five players in this summer and we will have a squad strong enough to cope with challenging on three fronts imo.

Spammy

'Dazzler'

Suedesi

Excellent news - that means they're not likely to sign Benzema anytime soon.

Cold_Boy

Or its means we are not likely to sign Benzema anytime soon.

REd FUn DevIl

The world, the grinch and his mother are linked to Arsenal.

Now is Diego from Werder Bremen. It's gonna be a long long summer for Arsenal.

Fergie's gum

Something to do with offshore bank accounts and such. Even the salaries they pay their players are paid partly under the table. And you thought it was Wenger's bargaining skills It's his accountants tax evasion techniques. But don't tell any one, it's between you and I

cesc's_mullet

green demon

I thought he might want to try out a non-French team for a change.

peterstorey

Ray Parlour's missus blew that tax avoidance scheme out of the water but I'm sure all the big players (yours as well) have tax schemes running - no way are they paying £40K a week tax

Lmarco

This is a waste of money. Ben Arfa is stille very immature and selfish - though less than before - in his game. Still very much the unfinished article, and a very difficult temper. At this price, you can have so much better players... Nasri for instance is a much better option, though he's not a winger.

JazzG

There are parts of his game which needed sorting out but the potential is huge, Nasri is more of a central player whereas Ben Arfa fits exactly what we need. Don't worry about him being selfish or attitude problems, I think Wenger can sort those out.

Tax avoidance actually, there is a big difference.

Especially if at the end of it all we do is sign two more Ivorian youngsters

Raven_Blade

Nasri and Ben Arfa to Arsenal. We will see if that happens.

Sam#1

What d'ya reckon Jazz, a case of Nasri and Veloso to Arsenal, or one or the other?

JazzG

The Nasri and Ben Arfa stories seem to have some kind of credibility but the Veloso and now Diego ones seem to be stories just made up. I know Wenger is a big fan of Nasri and Ben Arfa, he has, in France when he does commentary for international matches, spoken highly of them so I wouldn't be surprised if he is in for them, he has admitted 3 players from his own mouth so assuming if Hleb goes as well we could potentially/hopefully see 4 or hopefully 5 players in. Flamini is gone so he needs to be replaced, I haven't seen much of Veloso so can't comment on him but we do need a defensive midfielder bought in, I'm a big fan of Toulalan myself.

I'm not quite sure what to think about the possibility of Ben Arfa and Nasri coming, I wouldn't put money on it if I was a betting man! We need to add numbers and quality to our squad, signing Nasri would give us options on the wing and cover for Fabregas who is playing far too many games and Ben Arfa would be our solution to our left wing problem and he is a genuine wide player who can drift in.

It is great to see us being linked but I hope it doesn't all end in tears for us gooners!

Ruben

Toualalan would do wonders for you guys I reckon. Pure quality, was excellent in the two matches against us as well. Will be costly though, Lyon know how to sell their players.

peterstorey

Toulalan would be excellent but Aulas would probably want 20M euros for him so no deal.