That's two years in a row that Arsenal have benefited from Madrid & Barcelona's desire to recoup some money from their transfer dealings
I'm starting to like the way this is going, If we can get Khadiera then that would be another top player we snaffled. Let them continue to make transfer mistakes and we'll be there to catch another player
Suarez is a fine player no question, but he also comes with a lot of baggage. Sanchez has proved that he is a fine player also and being 25 years old, he has time to get better. We will see how Sanchez progresses with us and hopefully under Wenger's stewardship, he will eclipse Suarez and not bite anyone in the process. Remember, he will have Ozil, Ramsey, Cazorla, Walcott, Ramsey, OXO and Wilshere to play with, so he will get top notch service. Suarez is no longer the top man and the team no longer will revolve around him. He will have to compete with the likes of Messi and Neymar. It will be a big test for him.
Be interesting to see how Suarez does at Barca. Most tend to 'fall off' when they have to compete for attention with Messi. Consider most Barca fans say Messi had a poor Season - In reality he still scored 41 goals in 44 apps. Even Suarez can't compete with that kind of quality. In fact nobody can. Ibra, Henry, Bojan, Pedro have all struggled with the unrealistic expectations. In truth Alexis Sanchez did well at Barca.. he was played all over the place..left, right and upfront. Last Seasons tally of 21 goals and 15 assists is pretty damn good going all things considering.
That's it. When you're at clubs like Barca the expectations sky rocket, and it gets even worse when you have to play up front with Messi. Sanchez's stats are very good and he then had a very good WC, yet he's being off loaded. It will be interesting how Suarez does when he no longer is number 1.
I don't disagree with any of that. Just saying that if we're talking whether or not Suarez is an upgrade on Sanchez, in pure footballing terms ... he is.
I don't think you can prove that. Two years ago when Suarez was the same age as Sanchez he was doing worse than Sanchez is now. Next year who knows. If you ask me Sanchez is faster, has a better shot and is physically stronger. In pure footballing terms, I would say Sanchez is significantly better. Suarez has better statistics, but next year Sanchez could easily do better than Suarez.
Barcelona aren't buying Suarez when he was the same age as Sanchez. They're buying Suarez now. And he's a better footballer right now.
[video]https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/1C38D0F4801099106519737372672_1b747a4cdde.3.2.mp4? versionId=lu2f3zi0Yo0pAKYGhLhW5jVlMQnS.qxv[/video]
Good. Let's get the back up GK position sorted then we can spend the rest of the window concentrating on a Vidal/Khedira/Schneiderlin deal
According to Stan "Dogger" Collymore an agent has told him that Arsenal are in advanced talks with Sami Khedira.
I love the fact that Arsenal are super secretive about their transfers, and Wenger never lets anything out about any targets - yet suddenly we're telling Stan Collymore and Talksport every single transfer target. Or Stan is full of it... hmmm
Torygraph is reporting that we will definitely move for either Khedira or Bender and that along with Debuchy we will bring in Manquillo on loan from Atletico with Jenkinson going on loan
Is anyone else like me getting worried about all this talk about Khedira? We desperately, desperately need a midfield boss/destroyer/bully to protect the back 4 and provide leadership in the big games. It's the disgraceful pastings we took against some of our rivals that needs to be addressed. Khedira for me is a box to box player who loves to bomb forward all the time. Leaving back 4 exposed. I would much rather break the bank for Vidal, get a decent back up keeper, complete Debaucy and call it a day. Either that or get a world class forward to finish all the bucket loads of chances our insanely creative midfield is going to create...ie go for the "you can score but we'll always score more than you" approach. By that I mean a Balotelli not a Benzema who flatters to deceive.
I reckon he needs a season on loan to help him get game time. I still think Wenger has him in mind for the long term but he's not ready yet.
Khedira has Schweinstiger to do the defensive duties when he's playing for Germany, so he would have to play more defensively for Arsenal alongside Ramsey as they both like to get forward. The thing I like about Khedira though is his ball retention and ability to get it back when he doesn't have the ball. He's not an out and out DM but he certainly knows how to win the ball back.
