By Nick Lander
This is my first post in nigh on a year, I have had far too much on to update this regularly. In this column, I want to just pass comment on a few of the rumours floating around, along with the business Arsenal have already done.
For me Alexis Sanchez is a good piece of business. He is versatile, technically adept, has pace and a good goalscoring record. It will be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to the Premier League, last season was his most prolific in a Barcelona shirt, at a rate of roughly two goals for every three La Liga starts, having been closer to 1 in 2 prior to that, still a reasonable return however, especially when you factor in how many assists he has also made.
Matieu Debuchy is a transfer I am slightly less convinced about. When I have seen him play for Newcastle in the past, I had not been entirely convinced. Talking to a few Newcastle supporters whose opinions I respect however, I have heard fairly good things. When it is taken into account that he managed to keep Bacary Sagna out of the French team in Brazil he should hopefully be a useful replacement! There had been some speculation that Carl Jenkinson would be sent in the opposite direction on loan, which has not transpired, but a loan move does still seem possible in an attempt to give the young Englishman some more Premier League experience.
Following the 2-0 friendly victory over Boreham Wood this afternoon, Arsene Wenger has confirmed that he is looking to bring in a new goalkeeper. Many sources have reported that Nice's David Ospina. The 'keeper had a strong World Cup for Columbia and would reportedly command a fee of around £3.5m. He would be a decent enough back up to Wojciech Szczesny and represents a pretty cheap option.
Another potential goalkeeping target is Iker Casillas. The Spaniard has truly fallen out of favour at Real Madrid and endured a difficult World Cup campaign. Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is said to be moving for Costa Rica goalie Keylor Navas, which would likely relegate veteran Casillas to third choice, a position the Spanish press have reported he is extremely uphappy with, to the point of having asked the club for a free transfer away, ending his contract a year early. This has apparently piqued Arsenal's interest. He was a player that the club have been previously interested in, so it could be a move that makes sense for both parties.
Elsewhere, it seems that Arsenal will sign one of Sami Khedira, Lars Bender and Morgan Schneiderlin to strengthen the holding area of the midfield. All are good players in their own right, but whilst he would likely command the highest fee and wages, Khedira could help to bring the best from Mesut Özil, having played alongside him both for Madrid and Germany.
Rumours are still floating around about the arrival of a striker, but the links to Loïc Rémy seem to have cooled, which, whilst I agree he has quality, I am fairly happy about. I think he is too different in style to Olivier Giroud to easily slot into the side were the current Arsenal man to get injured. My preferred choice at the moment would be Manchester United's Javier Hernandez, who incoming boss Louis van Gaal is said to want rid of, potentially making a deal possible.
If Thomas Vermaelen also departs, something Arsene Wenger did not discount this afternoon, Arsenal would naturally be looking to replace him. For me, I think that Nacho Monreal should also be moved on if a replacement of suitable quality is available. I do not believe the Arsenal looks anything like as stable when Kieran Gibbs is unavailable.
Whoever comes in, and there will be further arrivals, it promises to be an interesting rest of the summer.
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Rumours are still floating around about the arrival of a striker, but the links to Loïc Rémy seem to have cooled, which, whilst I agree he has quality, I am fairly happy about. I think he is too different in style to Olivier Giroud to easily slot into the side were the current Arsenal man to get injured. My preferred choice at the moment would be Manchester United's Javier Hernandez, who incoming boss Louis van Gaal is said to want rid of, potentially making a deal possible.
If Thomas Vermaelen also departs, something Arsene Wenger did not discount this afternoon, Arsenal would naturally be looking to replace him. For me, I think that Nacho Monreal should also be moved on if a replacement of suitable quality is available. I do not believe the Arsenal looks anything like as stable when Kieran Gibbs is unavailable.
Whoever comes in, and there will be further arrivals, it promises to be an interesting rest of the summer.
You can like The N5 Blog on Facebook here
