Ridiculously, we kinda need a striker if Campbell goes to Villareal on loan as a make weight for the Paulista deal - we'd then be reliant on Walcott or Sanchez to play upfront (a position their wasted in IMO) if Welbeck and Giroud aren't available.
Campbell barely plays. Hell nowadays he's even lucky to be bench fodder. With Gnabry getting back to full fitness if Joel leaves we don't need ta replacement for him.
True but a front 3 of him Walcott and Sanchez interchanging can work, Im not sure a front 3 of Sanchez Walcott and Ozil/Rosicky/cazorla will work
Michael Gooner@MickTheGooner 6m6 minutes ago Gabriel Paulista left out of Villarreal squad for Levante game, will sign a 5-year-deal with Arsenal, trebling his current salary. (Various)
So Villareal according to their Twitter Page have confirmed that we've made a deal for Paulista and they get Joel Campbell on loan for the rest of the season https://twitter.com/VillarrealCF
Agreed on not being sold playing Ozil/Rosicky/Cazorla as left wingers. I bet Wenger will put Ozil in as our left winger to accommodate him sooner or later should Cazorla continue his good form. As for Campbell, not sure why he hasn't been given a proper run. He could at least challenge OXO for a spot as LW. It would have been nice to see him in the FA cup at least but it's obvious that Wenger doesn't see him as a first teamer and his services would be best used on loan. It's a shame as he's shown plenty of promise internationally.
He had 1 good game that I saw, and his role was to counter-attack with pace. On top of that his fitness levels were terrible. I never really saw the hype tbh. And if he isn't good enough in training, then you simply can't play him in matches.
thats not actually his name His name is Gabriel Armando de Abreu... Not Paulista that's just where he comes from! Which is São Paulo #gabriel
I guess Akpom is now our 3rd choice striker. Anyone think he'll get a start today? Maybe for 45 mins or so, then if we need to bring on Giroud?
I think giroud will start, he has looked very good since comming back from injury and could probably still use the minutes on the pitch. Plenty of rest before the next game so I think he will get the nod. If we are winning I think we will see Akpom from the bench though.
Anyway, back on topic with Paulista looking like a done deal that's the CB issue sorted. We now have 3 pure CB's plus Chambers for cover. That should be enough depth across the back line. Does anyone think we will do any other business in the window? A DM or striker are the only players I could see us being in for though I haven't seen any rumours that are gathering momentum. If we signed a DM we'd be looking very strong throughout the squad. But I don't think we will buy one unless it's a long term option, a target we really want as ultimately it'll be the player to replace flamini/Arteta. So we may well wait for the summer to land one of the targets we want if we can't get something done during January.
We did sign a DM, Bielik. I know he's not the finished article, but wenger said he'd challenge for a first team spot immediately. Can't see us getting a world class DM this window, who is available and would be sold in the middle of the season ? I think we'll do it in the summer. Hopefully either schneiderlin, bender or carvalho
I thought Belik wouldn't play for us this season - that Wenger would integrate/develop him slowly. Apparently we're in the market for someone else as well but what position, who it is or if it happens then I don't know...
a striker maybe? who can also play on the wing? Welbeck is out atm, and you just know someone else will get injured just before we resume our CL campaign.
Le Prof Aido@Corkgooner33 27m27 minutes ago Arsenal scout Giles Grimandi was spotted at Lyon game last night. Speculation it's attacking midfielder Fekir but Lacazette also played.#afc
