Would love it if this were true. Reports emanating from holland state we have jumped the queue to open talks over £7mil deal for vertonghen. http://www.dexysden.co.uk/2012/05/a...les (Dexy's Den - The UK's #1 Football Blog) http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/footba...-talks-with-ajax-over-7m-jan-vertonghen-deal?
Tall, powerful and at home in central defence or midfield, Vertonghen is seen as an ideal utility man for Arsenal, and comes with strong recommendations from former team-mate and compatriot Thomas Vermaelen, as well as Gunners legend Dennis Bergkamp - now part of the Ajax coaching staff. - Metro I'll take his word for it
I still think Djourou makes a decent back up CB. I'd definitely want to see Squillaci sold though, we'd probably take a hit on the fee, but basically he is deadwood in our squad. If we did sign Vertonghen I'd see him covering the CBs, LB position as possibly as a DM in some games too - a good solid signing. Let's hope we wrap this one up as quickly as we did the Podolski deal - then we can concentrate on getting a top quality Attcking midfield player
Just speculation really at the end of the Metro article. Said a few clubs were interested in him on loan. None for Squirrel though .
If this is true then these two signings would significantly strengthen our squad. Poldi is a sort of attacking utility player (LF and CF) and Vert is a defensive utility player so a spell of injuries would have a far less damaging effect on our team. Encouraging news!
If we get Vert and D-man gets loaned out, it would be a perfect bit of business. I still think that D-man is good, he's just going through confidence problems at playing right back.
Would be amazing. He's much better than most Arsenal fans seem to realise. The guy has the speed and technical ability of Kos/Vermaelen but is also tall and powerful.
Great ideas all round. Lose Squillaci, loan Djourou while Merts has another season to truly prove himself, give Djourou more experience, and bring in a quality CB who is versatile Wouldn't mind seeing Djourou go to Southampton as as a bit of a thank-you for Oxo & Theo, to strengthen that relationship. His wages have just gone up to 50k/wk though, so they would have to be subsidised for that to happen. Arsenal wins all over!!
don't see the point in bringing in vertonghen tbh. vermaelen, koscielny, vertonghen and mertesacker; surely that position is too crowded with top players? don't think any of them will fancy being on the bench all the time until injuries hit in.
Fans dont like to asses their own players objectively. Our defence has leaked 44 league goals (with 2 games remaining) this term. (and 44 last term) I dont think any of our defenders other than Sagna truely derserves to be called 'TOP class'. Just my opinion though. I'm betting Vertonghen walks straight into our starting line up.(if we buy him that is)
If we did sign Vertonghen then I would consider loaning Djoure out, as there' no use in just leaving him on the bench, he can improve with more playing time, but having said that, with the luck Arsenal usually have with injuries, a part of me thinks we should keep him just incase!
With Squillaci leaving, Djourou going on loan, and Vertonghen coming in, Arsenal will still have LOADS of CB's available: Vermaelen Koscielny Vertonghen Mertesacker Miguel Bartley Bartley has lots of experience with Rangers now, and if he's not moved on, he'll be more than capable of stepping up and playing a few games if required. Wouldn't mind seeing him as 5th choice with Miguel going out on loan.
I'm sorry guys, I don't want Djourou loaned out, certainly not in the epl. I would accept it if some people think he is erratic, but he is still capable of turning in a five-star performance at least 50% of the time. I don't want anyone else to get their hands on him. Senderos is apparently useless and he seems to be doing OK at Fulham these days. I don't like all these people playing Vertonghen as anything other than a CB in their heads. This guy was not even on the radar when he was playing DM or LB. He was not considered a star at all. He has only come good at Ajax since he moved to CB. It is extremely rare these days to find a player who can play at the top level in 2 positions, if Vertonghen is one of them then great, but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that right now. In fact there is a doubt he can step up to playing for Arsenal in one position, until he actually does it.
Who knows, we may have tried. I think the Metersaker signing has been good for us just in the context of this year. He was available and we got him for a fairly reasonable price. I still see Per as a useful anti-Stoke/Bolton defender. If we can upgrade his position this summer then so much the better.
