Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit.

ive been impressed with Coquelin but I do wonder if its because of the dross we had there before. He lacks discipline at times ( close to giving away a silly penalty at wembley ), his passing is average at best & compared to the likes of Schneiderlin he offers very little in the way of final ball or goal threat. However, it may be that in certain games ala Chavski we should be playing with 2 DM's. May sound very defensive but if we can find an out an out striker to play with the likes of Sanchez, Ozil & Rambo then we know we have a massive goal threat on the counter.

I'm of the same opinion. A top tier striker is what will make the most difference. Top tier. Not potentially top tier. Not top tier in the second division in France. The real deal. £40mill, £50mill or don't bother. Very hard to get the quality though, somebody genuinely at the top of their game rather than living on past glory.

yeh - the striker debate is difficult. Ideally a toothless Suarez or an Aguero are ideal for the way we play but they are not coming & I don't know of another version. Out of all the names we get linked with I favour Higuain, something about him makes me think he would score lots of goals with the chances we create - not sure how old he is now though, again another player we should have paid that little bit extra for a few years ago rather than the likes of Giroud, Welbeck & Sonogo, none of which were or will ever be proven scorers.

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Originally Posted by Dein-machine

ive been impressed with Coquelin but I do wonder if its because of the dross we had there before. He lacks discipline at times ( close to giving away a silly penalty at wembley ), his passing is average at best & compared to the likes of Schneiderlin he offers very little in the way of final ball or goal threat. However, it may be that in certain games ala Chavski we should be playing with 2 DM's. May sound very defensive but if we can find an out an out striker to play with the likes of Sanchez, Ozil & Rambo then we know we have a massive goal threat on the counter.

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Sometimes the DM has to make that sort of tackle and pick up the foul to stop a threat. I think the challenge you were talking about was on the edge of the box and not a penalty. I've been impressed with his contribution this season and would like to see him continue on there. Whoever comes in will only offer a marginal improvement on our title chances. We really need a top 30+ goal striker. A striker that only gets 14 prem goals for us can't be a regular starter for us.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

There's a danger of falling for big name (re: big salary) hype this summer. I do agree with Wenger when he says quality is of paramount importance. Unless I missed somebody, nobody performed better than Coquelin in his role during the latter half of the season. So are we looking for a replacement or a back-up?

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None of the players we have been linked with are big names and I wouldn't think it's unreasonable for us to buy either Kondogbia or Schneiderlin, if either of them come then it's up to them to dislodge Coquelin from the team. I agree Coquelin has been superb in his role but it doesn't mean we should just sit on our hands and bring in an inferior player and expect them to do a job if Coquelin is out injured. We need real quality in that position, there is no harm in having 2 great options for each position.

Edited to add: I agree that a top tier striker would make the difference but someone at the Aguero/Suarez level isn't happening, the best we can hope for is a top class young talent with high potential.

I meant their name in the media is bigger than their talent on the pitch, while players like Coquelin don't have that publicity surrounding them yet so are often viewed as temporary or a level lower. I think we already have our starting DM. I agree though, no harm having two quality players for that positon and we should. But player power comes into it. We'll need to find somebody who understands they'll be fighting for a place rather than walking into one.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Just found out Liverpool are paying him £150k a week.

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£120k seems to be the prevailing figure. Much of a muchness, but I guess it's fairly standard for a freebie, England international coming from a better-placed club who could, and did, offer him even more.

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Originally Posted by Coutinho Is Boss, I guess

£120k seems to be the prevailing figure. Much of a muchness, but I guess it's fairly standard for a freebie, England international coming from a better-placed club who could, and did, offer him even more.

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Read a few places saying £150k a week. Apparently, he was on £120k at City.

I think Ozil and Sanchez earn £120k for us. Or maybe above.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Read a few places saying £150k a week. Apparently, he was on £120k at City.

I think Ozil and Sanchez earn £120k for us. Or maybe above.

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My understanding (and that's all it is) is that they are both on 160k

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

There's a danger of falling for big name (re: big salary) hype this summer. I do agree with Wenger when he says quality is of paramount importance. Unless I missed somebody, nobody performed better than Coquelin in his role during the latter half of the season. So are we looking for a replacement or a back-up?

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To be fair in certain games we could do with two DM's as long as at least one can contribute in an attacking sense which I think someone like Schneiderlin can