Mario Balotelli

[Niall_Quinn]

We're looking for a quality striker that's going to stick around and help move the club up. Apart from Bendtner and Tevez who are on par, there can't be a more unsuitable striker out there than Balotelli. A guy with bags of talent who has done nothing with it, why do we need that and how does it help us? Why would we even take the risk of signing a player that we had to change or have to help along with maturity issues? This is a professional sport drenched in cash, we expect players to bring solutions not problems surely?

If we're splashing the cash then there are a few other possibilities. Mandzukic, though I hope we don't go that route. Benzema, if he can be prised away from Madrid in their usual summer circus routine, Remy would do as a reserve, not top drawer yet but who knows? Campbell, same thing, certainly more potential than Sanogo. I think Wenger sees Giroud as #1 anyway, so maybe Remy and Campbell are all we can expect. Which would leave the money for Pogba. That's who we should be chasing, the player we've been missing for 10 years. Pogba, Remy, Campbell, real damn shame Fabregas is not on that list. I wonder if that scrote Muller could be tempted? Cheap and cheerful replacements for Sagna, Tommy and Flappy, which is likely all we'll get. We really do need about six players, so only one of them will be big ticket at best. Be a damn shame if that turns out to be Balotelli, a player who is hot and cold and probably won't be here beyond a season.

[Grebbo]

Tbh I really can't get excited about signing Balotelli. I really don't see what the fuss is about with him.

I'd rather stick with Giroud and bring back Campbell and spend our money on someone like Alexis Sanchez and an Arteta replacement.

[Grebbo]

Was chatting to a City fan yesterday. He describes Balotelli as "a bit of a cancer".
He also was pretty unequivocal in asserting Wenger would not be able to change him.

Maybe he has matured, but remember this is the guy who set fire to his own home through lighting fireworks in his bathroom.
That's not just immaturity, that's borderline retarded - the kind of world class stupidity that deserves to get you killed.

Wanting this guy is understandable, we're starved of grade A talent and beggars can't be choosers.
The question you have to ask yourself is: how much cancer is ok?

I'm not sure I'm too interested in Man City fans opinions of Balotelli. He had Aguero and Tezez in front of him, who'd just stuck two fingers up to Man U so was a real hero for City fans. Off field problems just seem like a young twat with money tbh. I don't see a big deal in setting off a firework out of the window of your rented home tbh.

More of a concern would be why City sold him. Surely they'd have just left him in the reserves if they thought he had the potential to become world class one day? Why sell him? Sure, Mancini had a problem with him but the hierarchy must have known that Mancini wasn't going to be their long term manager.

[I am invisible]

There can be no more a damning statement of our transfer policy than the desire of some of our fans actually anticipating and wishing for a signing of the likes of Balotelli. It is simply desperation for something - anything even though if it happens, it is odds on to end in complete disaster and acrimony.

There's probably some truth to that, but I wouldn't describe it as desperation - more a case of recognising that none of the CFs that we've been linked with so far have been ideal, so we might have to make our peace with one of them? With Balotelli, he has the talent, but it means accepting that he's unstable and that we'd have work to do in getting his head right? With Mandzukic, he has the right attitude on the pitch, but he's not a huge upgrade on Giroud, and may not be the player to win us the big games. With Remy, he's cheap and had PL experience, but I'm not convinced he's a CF, or good enough to really take us to the next level - in fact I'm not even sure he'd make the team ahead of Walcott? Other than that, pickings have been pretty slim.

Anyway, just because we're seriously talking about Balotelli here, doesn't mean we can't seriously discuss other options too. I'm more than happy to shelve talk of Balotelli if/when we're seriously linked with someone better...

[Power n Glory]

What's the possibility of us getting Benzema with Falcao on the move to Madrid?

He's another player with potential but still a bit hit and miss with the fans. I wouldn't mind seeing him here.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Fans moan about Giroud being inconsistent then want Balotelli here who is just as bad

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Who would you like us to sign?

Err there's this little thing called bidding and negotiating.

And for £35m or whatever ridiculous price we're apparently willing to pay for him, there's a hell a lot of clubs that would be willing to sell.

[Niall_Quinn]

What's the possibility of us getting Benzema with Falcao on the move to Madrid?

He's another player with potential but still a bit hit and miss with the fans. I wouldn't mind seeing him here.

Slim. Other clubs with money will want him which means we'd have to play the bidding game and when was the last time we won or even competed in that? Two things in our favour though, Wenger and Ozil, maybe Benzema would like the idea of working with Wenger and hooking up with Ozil again. Maybe another plus is getting shot of Ronaldo, nobody else can realise their full potential when they are on the pitch with that bloke, it's all about him and how others can serve him. But still, it would be the money.

Slowly I'm coming around to the idea that Giroud plus Remy and Campbell might not be a disaster. I really like the look of Remy, there's something about the way he plays. I think there's huge potential to be unlocked and Arsenal might be the ideal place to do it. Campbell as well, he's raw but he frightens defenders and is up for a fight. He could hit the ground running in the PL. You then have three decent enough strikers and the hope that at least one of them would be on form at any given time, provided all three aren't injured for the entire season of course. Which could happen with any big name player we bring in, splash all the cash on one player then after two weeks watch him sit it out on the sidelines long term. It would be us to a tee. Spreading the risk and getting more bodies in might be the more sensible way to go.

That would leave money in the kitty for Pogba. Really, if we don't at least try for him then we are wasting our time. He's a monster and a talented one at that. I think we need a player like that more than we need a top striker, in fact we've needed a player like that for years. Never replaced Vieria and we changed our whole game based on that loss. If we put power and talent back into the centre and unleash the likes of Walcott, Ox, Remy and Campbell up top with Ozil and Cazorla providing the art work I think that's pretty potent.

Then get some cover in for Ches and the two lads in the middle, get the business done with a replacement for that traitorous cunt Sagna and we have a solid defence too.

Point is, there might be another way to go than signing the £50mill category striker.

[I am invisible]

What's the possibility of us getting Benzema with Falcao on the move to Madrid?

He's another player with potential but still a bit hit and miss with the fans. I wouldn't mind seeing him here.

Benzema would be a great signing for us, but at the moment all this talk of Falcao joining Madrid just seems like a very, very new idea that someone has tossed out there? Then again, it sounds like contract negotiations are going nowhere between Benzema and Madrid, and he'll be able to walk on a free next summer if it doesn't get sorted? Then there were those comments that Wenger made about Benzema maybe having played his last game for Madrid after the CL final, so maybe he's heard something (or maybe even been told something)? Who knows.

My only fear would be another potential Higuaín-Suarez disaster in the making, if we abandon other targets because we think there's a chance of getting Benzema, and then end up with no one when he decides to stay put or move somewhere else? I guess that's just transfer business for you though...

[Fist of Lehmann]

I don't see a big deal in setting off a firework out of the window of your rented home tbh

So the danger posed to you, your possessions ("The striker is said to have been reluctant to leave his belongings and, at one point, to have run back inside to recover a quantity of money and a suitcase") and not to mention the fire service is actually negates the stupidity if the property is rented?

People sometimes ask me why I don't rent out property, fucks like this is why.