Re: The Official Summer Transfer Rumours Thread

[urbaNRoots]

SportBild claim to have an "exclusive" on this tomorrow aswell. (https://mobile.twitter.com/Ozzywessi/status/730120156094042113)

The price tag is interesting because from next summer Xhaka has a release clause of €25m.

Maybe this is really Wenger's last season.

[Sina]

Ninja'd by Urban

Wenger must rate the guy very highly if he's willing to spend that much on him. Either that or he's not going to mess around on fees this summer.

Admittedly I've not seen him much, but could we get away with a Xhaka-Cazorla midfield or would we need a DeeEM to partner him?

Dont think so
would lack mobility
Xhaka-Ramsey-Wilshere in 433 with Mesut from the Right would be ideal imo

Wengers tactics could really expose Xhaka if he has to cover a lot of lateral space
dynamics of the team has to change
or maybe he is intending to use him next to a holder which i wouldn't like

Xhaka as deepest midfielder in distributing role pls

[Twoism]

Dude is the exact kind that Wenger loves, technical, versatile & " dont know how to tackle", think he will be fine im BPL.

If the report is true ( big if still) Wenger seems to prepare for our stacked but not really stacked midfield.Mikel & Thomas are gone albeit didnt play much, Jack imiment injury, Ox & Ramsey inconsistency and shipping all over the place. And he didnt want to mess around Euro, he didnt like transfer market post international tourney, what with inflation and stuffs. I still have my doubt with that quoted number though.

[Twoism]

Ninja'd by Urban

Wenger must rate the guy very highly if he's willing to spend that much on him. Either that or he's not going to mess around on fees this summer.

Admittedly I've not seen him much, but could we get away with a Xhaka-Cazorla midfield or would we need a DeeEM to partner him?

Dont think so
would lack mobility
Xhaka-Ramsey-Wilshere in 433 with Mesut from the Right would be ideal imo

Wengers tactics could really expose Xhaka if he has to cover a lot of lateral space
dynamics of the team has to change
or maybe he is intending to use him next to a holder which i wouldn't like

Xhaka as deepest midfielder in distributing role pls

Nah this whole dynamic trio midfield bull hast worked since like forever for us, we still do need that DeeMee no mater who play 2nd role.

[Sina]

yeah Wenger gonna Wenger
no single player can solve our issues on his own
but its a step in the right direction

[urbaNRoots]

Honestly don't think he'll make it work. We are going back to Arteta-Song banter.

[Jay29]

I can see us cycling through several midfield partnerships next season if we end up signing Xhaka. Potentially he could have five different partners

[MJ]

You guys have already given up on Xhaka

[Sina]

Xhaka and Rob Holding to be announced early

[Jay29]

Xhaka-Ram
Xhaka-Jack
Xhaka-Caz
Xhaka-Neny
Xhaka-Coq

Which sounds the catchiest

[Sina]

---Xhaka---
Rambo----Jack
-----Öz----
Alexis---Morata

[EL Patron]

I can see us cycling through several midfield partnerships next season if we end up signing Xhaka. Potentially he could have five different partners

now that you have mentioned this, I am having vision of Arsene experimenting again. He will probably try 4-1-4-1 again

[El Gunner]

Oh god pls not the 4-1-4-1 again

[Sina]

Jeremy Wilson reporting it now as well  
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/10/arsenal-close-in-on-30m-midfielder-granit-xhaka/

[RedOranje]

We seen ample evidence to suggest that a less-mobile but intelligent midfielder can absolutely succeed in the PL, with Carrick probably the most recent, prominent example. Carrick also serves as the biggest warning though; such a midfield needs some type of shielding or assistance against aggressive midfields or he'll be completely overrun. I obviously haven't watched Arsenal as much as any of you, but speaking from an outsider's perspective I can say with certainty that the idea of Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere, or even Coquelin pairing with Xhaka does not appear a good combination in that aspect. Nor would the use of Xhaka as the deepest midfielder. I can't comment on Elneny though.

[RealGunner]

Holy shit if we full this off

[Jay29]

Raphael Honigstein saying the fee could be up to €50mil, which is about £40mil. Almost Ozil money.

But I suppose this isn't surprising when a 18 year old is going for €80mil potentially.

In other news, the Sydney Herald are claiming we're in for Celtic midfield Rogic, and El Confidencial has linked us and Man City with James Rodriguez.

Also kind of related to us: Balague is claiming Chelsea are in talks for Higuain for €48mil... which appears far too small a fee after the season he's just had.

[MJ]

I guess Elneny would make sense alongside Xhaka.

From what I've seen and read (not a great deal), Xhaka is slow, relatively strong and a good distributor of the ball who would have to sit deep.

Ramsey offers zero protection as he bombs forward nonstop, Coquelin is protection and not much else, Cazorla is a distributor and not too bad at the base of midfield but physically tiny, Wilshere is a walking injury so, not much use considering that.

Elneny, however, is mobile, defensively solid and a surprisingly efficient distributor. Unlike the rest of our midfield, I could see him working alongside pretty much anyone and while the partnership might not be perfect, it wouldn't be his fault, at least.

[Jay29]

I agree, Elneny sounds like the best partner on paper. In his short time with us he's shown he can perform a number of different roles in midfield. All he needs to do is bulk up a little so he's not so easily shrugged off when challenging for the ball.

I can see our ball retention in midfield becoming a lot better with Xhaka-Caz or Xhaka-Neny. On the flip side, our overall defensive structure might suffer a bit. It's not something solved by signing players either.

[Raptorgunner]

Feel gutted for Welbeck, poor guy just came back and now out for a year.

What does his injury mean for Theo and Giroud?

[VendettaRed07]

Rogic is amazing and easily Celtic's best player (griffiths is a fraud) but, man, INJURIES. He's another injury prone player.

[Jay29]

I don't think Arsenal were listening to offers for Giroud - I wouldn't, because he'd be a good backup player.

If the plan was to buy a wide player anyway Welbeck's injury won't have effected that; it just means they might reconsider selling one of Walcott or Campbell. And we needed a centre forward either way.

[RealGunner]

Giroud needs to accept the backup role though. If we go into next season with him as 1st choice while buy some scrub like Kevin Volland as 2nd then I'd be pissed.

[RealGunner]

Granit Xhaka from Sultan 10 on Vimeo.

Reminds me of prime Paulo Falcao but better

[RealGunner]

Vincent Janssen's Eredivisie season by numbers

34 games
56 chances created
27 goals
23.7% conversion rate
4 assists

[urbaNRoots]

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/sport/fc-bayern-neuer-bayern-trainer-ancelotti-raet-mario-goetze-zum-wechsel-1.2990054

According to SZ, Arsenal among other clubs have shown interest in Mario Götze's situation at Bayern. He's been told to leave if he wants more playing time. He'll be available for (+)€20m.

[Sponsored content]