We disused this a little on another thread but I personally think that this is going to be a massive issue and it needs to be sorted. Rosicky is going to miss the start of the season and Wilshere will only start training around September time. Aaron Ramsey is with team GB and when he came on the other day he was still giving the ball away with simple passes and we can't rely on him anyway. Diaby is fit and is travelling to Asia for the tour but we know all about him and his injury record. All the talk has been about getting M'Villa, a DM or a CM at best, but if we are going to stay with the same system then we need an attacking midfielder to play at the point of the midfield three. 1. Mario Gotze Age: 20 Club: Borussia Dortmund Estimated price: £30-50 Mil. 2. Christian Eriksen Age: 20 Club: Ajax Estimated Price: £20-25 Mil. 3. Paulo Henrique Ganso Age: 22 Club: Santos Estimated Price £15-20 Mil. 4. Alan Dzagoev Age: 22 Club: CSKA Moscow Estimated Price: £10-20 Mil. 5. Younes Belhanda Age:22 Club: Montpellier Estimated Price: £20-30 Mil. The above five have been linked to us this summer or the previous one. They are all young and we could build our midfield around them. All very creative and players that can deliver the final pass. Hence the estimated price for all of them. Belhanda seems like a typical Wenger player, in that he comes from Ligue 1 and Wenger has spoken about him in the past. But the price could be a stumbling block there. But for me getting an attacking midfielder has become very important and I would be happy with any of the five at Arsenal. Do people on here even think we need an AM and if yes, who?
We badly need a CAM, and any of those you've listed would be good. Trouble is, we won't sign any of those. Gotze is too expensive, Eriksen is too expensive, Ganso wouldn't get a permit, I'm not sure Dzagoev is for sale, and according to Louis Nicollin (montpellier owner), Belhanda is definitely not for sale.
Thinking about it, did we also miss the boat on Gylfi Sigurdsson? Within our price range and a player that we might have got if we showed serious interest.
A midfield of song, arteta and diaby is probably what we will start with, as long as diaby doesn't get injured, thats a decent midfield, diaby played an attacking role on the 09/10 season and was pretty good.
There is also Ibrahim Afellay who can play through the midfield as well as on the wings. He would not cost that much either.
I would go with one of.. (in order of preference) 1. Mario Goetze. Pretty obvious really but the guy is phenomenal. Dortmund will be extremely reluctant to let him go now that they've sold Kagawa. Would take at least £25 Million to prize him away. 2. 'Ganzo'. The Santos playmaker is powerful aggressive and technically superb. Could be work permit issues. 3. Erickson. Great talent but seems a little inconsistant. Very attack minded and can also play as a striker. Would contribute goals. 4. Afellay. Can play outwide or down the middle. Would be relatively cheap and is still potentially 'World Class'.
But he is technically a winger, we have plenty anyway, there is no way wenger would play him through the middle as a CAM.
If Van Persie is sold. then we may go back to a 4-4-1-1 and Afellay would fit that system very well. ---------------------Sczezney----------------------- Sagna------Mert/Kos------Vermaelen------Santos OXO-------Wilshere-------Song/Arteta-----Afellay ---------------------Podolski------------------------ ----------------------Giroud-------------------------
I honestly have a feeling we will get ganso but would have preferred the realistic option of eriksen....gotze is not realistic IMO.
Santos are looking to sell Ganso after a fallout between the two, so we could get him if we really wanted him. But as mentioned before, the work permit could be an issue.
Actually I should have rephrased that. I don't think we will get a am but if we do I think it will be ganso.
