Arsenal Make Fresh Move for £6m Matuidi
by Alan Smith's Forehead on August 25th, 2009 248 words | 5 commentsWenger makes another move for impressive French youngster.
Arsene Wenger has made a fresh move for St Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi after fearing Cesc Fabregas is facing an injury lay-off.
Arsenal captain Fabregas, 22, faces a race to be fit for Saturday’s trip to Manchester United and could be out for up to three weeks with a hamstring injury.
That has brought it home to Wenger that he needs to strengthen his squad and has gone back for long-term target Matuidi.
Gunners boss Wenger is keen to strengthen his central midfield and defence and still expects to offload Philippe Senderos before the window shuts with Everton still interested.
Wenger has already had lengthy discussions with St Etienne and 22-year-old Matuidi over a move to Arsenal.
St Etienne are demanding £6m while Arsenal want to pay half that figure and are prepared to take the deal right to the wire in the transfer window to drive a hard bargain. (Daily Mirror)
Much like Arsene’s attempts to secure the signing of Marouane Chamakh, the pursuit of Blaise Matuidi has been a long and ardous one. The St Etienne midfielder will be a useful addition but I can see why Wenger is not to keen to increase his bid for the French Under 21 star, after all we have a fair few players who can play in his position and the vast improvement shown by the likes of Denilson and Alex Song may negate the need for such a move altogether.
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anonymous - August 25th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Our squad is too small and we are not blessed with talent throughout its ranks. As we are already finding this season injuries do not stop happening. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United can replace injured players with strong alternatives – we struggle. Our alternatives in central defense are a case in point. Note that if we carry on shipping goals at this seasons current rate then we will end up exactly where we were last year – and Wenger has said that this will make teh difference between winning and losing. So the bottom line is, if we want to get through 38 games and be in contention we need to strangthen our defensive line-up. We should buy Matuidi and another class central defender.
anonymous - August 25th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
‘Note that if we carry on shipping goals at this seasons current rate then we will end up exactly where we were last year’. We’ve let in 2 goals in 3 games, one against Portsmouth, one against Everton and 0 against Celtic. I’d say that was a pretty good current rate, justified by the amount of goals we’re scoring at the other end. And I also think we have much more depth attacking wise, than Liverool, with Arshavin, Walcott, Van Persie, Eduardo, Vela, and Bendtner etc able to play in those positions, whereas Liverpool’s backup strikers are… Voronin?
anonymous - August 25th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Wenger’s principle concern is to avoid disrupting the flow and harmony of his current squad and unlike Spurs and City, he is unwilling to spend rashly to take chances on bringing in new players. A new signing means someone, usually a loyal,hardworking but less talented regular squad member having to warm the bench. Wenger sees AC Milan,Real,Barcelona etc… who have very talented players warming their benches…and he knows the effect this has on their entire team, so he will avoid that at all cost. As he has often reiterated, there is depth in the midfield and in the attack, even if it isn’ t internationally known. Who cares, if they get the job done, they are just fine.
anonymous - August 25th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I think Mr Wengers priorities should be another centre half and also a centre forward.I know we have a number of options up front but I honestly do not think any of the current players can give us the 20 odd goals a season that any team needs to win the league.
anonymous - August 25th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
i thing AW should buy taylor as he is tall strong and young,he wil come in handy.