Summer Preview: Ten Questions, Part II: Who’s Coming in?

By: Martin | June 1st, 2009

Part 2 of the Summer Preview, this time looking at who may be coming in this summer. For all the disappointment this season, the two highest profile signings for the club, Nasri and Arshavin, both look like they’re going to be very good players for years to come. Yesterday I talked about who I thought might be leaving the club, but will we find suitable replacements and improve the squad? Scoll down, dear readers, for the answers to that question and more.

6. Will Wenger have money to spend?

YES. Kind of. From what’s being reported, it sounds like Arsenal will have roughly £10-£15 million to spend in surplus this summer. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if we do sell Gallas and Adebayor, those two will probably bring in another £30 million, which puts us in the £40-£45 million range. And for that, we can actually get a couple of top-class, established players, hopefully to shore up our backline and midfield. We still won’t be able to compete with the mega-clubs of the world, but unlike in past years when we’ve basically had to spend what we raised through sales, this extra money could really help us out a lot.

7. Will Wenger buy a center back?

YES. Absolutely. The only question is how good and established the center back will be. But I firmly believe that all the shuffling with Djourou, Silvestre, and Song, and seeing how exposed we were at the back, has made Wenger realize we’ve simply got to improve. So I think he’s going to go out and get someone, and get someone who can play now. For one thing, Senderos’ loan spell at Milan is up at the end of the year—we’ll either have money coming in for him, or him coming back. Say what you will about him, but he’s played well paired with Toure in the past, he gives us a much-needed physical presence, and is a hell of a lot better than Silvestre.

But I think Wenger will go out and buy someone else capable of playing right away. Knowing full well that this probably won’t happen, my choice would be Valencia’s Raul Albiol. He’s young (just 23), and already has international experience (played regularly in Euro 2008 for Spain) and Champions League experience. And while he’s not a bruiser, he’s 6 foot, 2 inches, much taller than Toure, which will give us a bit more physicality and aerial presence in the back. And, as you’ve probably heard, Valencia is on the verge of bankruptcy, and will probably be selling most of their top players this summer—while most of the media attention has been on David Villa and David Silva, Albiol may be the real jewel. And he’s said he likes the Premier League and would be willing to move to one of the big clubs. Maybe best of all, Manchester United and Chelsea are both set at the back, so we wouldn’t be bidding against them, although I’m sure Liverpool, some of the other big Spanish clubs, and possibly a club or two from Italy, Germany, and/or France will be sniffing around.

Other possibilities include Roma’s Phillipe Mexes, West Ham United’s Matthew Upson, Fulham’s Brede Hangeland, and Manchester City’s Micah Richards. Of course, knowing Wenger, the likely answer is someone we’ve never heard of, but here’s hoping it’s at least someone with a little bit of grit and experience.

8. Will Wenger go buy a bunch of kids you’ve never heard of?

Is the sky blue? YES. Of course he will. He spends more time looking for 16 year-olds than R. Kelly. He can’t help it. But his track record on that front is second to none—look at all the young talent we have in the organization. There are so many young players playing regularly, and playing well, for the first-team, the reserves team is stacked with talent, and the youngsters won their Premier Academy League Group and the FA Youth Cup. This isn’t going to change any time soon, and he’ll be out there looking for the next Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, or Aaron Ramsey. (NOTE: I wrote this, and then a day later this happened—so it’s already begun).

9. Will Arsenal sign Xabi Alonso?

NO. Nope. Not going to happen. This deal was rumored last summer, when Gareth Barry was supposed to be going to Liverpool and they were going to turn around and sell Alonso to us. And Cesc recently came out and said he thought Xabi would be a perfect signing for us. I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to have him, because I think he’d bring some skill and experience into our midfield. But for one thing, he is in many ways similar to Cesc, and if last season taught us anything, it’s that Cesc needs a midfield partner who can win the ball and cover the backline to play at his best. I don’t think Xabi is that player. More importantly, though, is that there is no reason at all for Liverpool to sell him–he fits in well with that team, plays great with Gerrard and Torres, and seems to get on pretty well with his manager. We could definitely use someone of his caliber, but I just don’t see it happening.

10. Will We Make it to the Champions League Group Stages?

YES. But it may be tougher than it has in past years. Making at least the group stages is instrumental to the club, both because of the massive Champions League media revenue, and for the prestige it brings to the club. As you probably know, this year the qualifying stage will be completely unseeded, which means that we could draw any of the other teams in the qualifying stage. Clubs in the qualifying stage?: Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina, Stuttgart, Lyon, Celtic, FC Twente, and Benfica. Yikes. Do I think we’re better than any of those teams? Yes. Do I think we can beat any of them over two legs? Yes. Would I just as soon not have to find out? Hell yes. Having to worry about shutting down Sergio Aguero or Karim Benzema over two legs right as the season gets underway just to get into the group stages would be a nerve-wracking way to begin the season. The draw will take place towards the end of the summer. Here’s hoping we draw a minnow that came up through the qualifiers instead of any of those direct qualifiers.

I couldn’t resist coming up with a bonus eleventh question for tomorrow, which is in most ways the only question that really matters. Stay tuned.

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Category: Arsenal News

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Andrew

"He spends more time looking at 16 year-olds than R Kelly"

HAHAHAA Love it.

the one thing I admire about Wenger is he has no problem spending money on someone that is young and unheard of, and then has the patience to wait for them to become a star. Few managers can do that, or get held onto long enough to try
Michael

That link you put on the blog about him looking into some 15 year old better not be true. Didn't he say in an interview after the Man U trouncing we took that we need an established center back? He simply cannot wait for more developmental players. I think Wenger is awesome and I hope he stays until he is old and grey. However there isn't much patience right now in North London. I think it could get ugly if he doesn't come with silverware in the next few years.
travis

Gourcuff signed with Bordeaux I believe.

Miguel Veloso should be a definite.

Benzema would be too expensive.
Fanatic-France-Freak

hmmm,

I think Ribery would be a excellent midfielder - he's quick, he's talented, he's young and he's funny and will built up some team chemistry. unfortunately he's also very expensive and he likes bayern. But with Ribery Arsenal can win prizes, he is consistent and a team with ribz is a team with prizes

Or what about Gourcuff? He's less expensive and a young, great midfielder, talented and very good. He would be a great purchase and will fit in Arsenal very well

Or maybe maybe nasri's bff, benzema??

I think arsene should buy Toulalan - he is a very consistent player and not so expensive. He works veeeeeeeeery hard and is a defensive midfielder who also attacks and you can certainly trust on him.
Peter

The signings,

Albiol - like that alot! I think it will be around 7 million pounds. I m curious about your point third eye, because he is homegrown, why would he not want to move to arsenal? I dont think liverpool is in the market for a center back, so would he pass up the opportunity to go to england especially if the rest of his notable team mates are doing the same?

Dzeko would be a great player to buy, he would def be a improvement on adebayor. The way adebayor has been playing recently has been frustrating. His chemistry with the rest of the team has been only getting worse! We need to swap one great targetman for another, and I think dzeko is the healthy, strong, and quick striker we need. However, he might be expensive after this season.

Also if we ever lose cesc (knock on wood) we should seriously look at misimovic (dzeko's team mate at wolfsburg) he had 20 assists last season.
Jorge

I agree with Riot D, we need to have a midfield "de contención", a guy like Makelele in the Real Madrid days would be fantastic.
Our front guyd are top class, but I think they just need a little bit more confidence, maybe by playing big games (Eduardo), even though we have to admit that the goal from Ade at Villarreal was exactly that; and maybe by having an iron defence, because I think Almunia has what it takes, he even feels it and you can see that in his mind he is convinced he is great.
Homey

Riot,
I guess we'll still have to disagree about a striker. But teams that win big trophies have big time strikers. The last time Arsenal won anything, we had a guy named Henry. Before that, Bergkamp. If Ade is gone and RVP gets his usual injuries, then who is proven behind them? A lot of young guys with potential. And I prefer Arshavin as a winger, to add a greater scoring threat.
Just sit and think about the teams who won big titles this year and consider their strikers. Consider the impact of Torres for Liverpool, Zlatan for Inter, Rooney for Man Utd, Eto and Messi for Barca, Drogba for Chelsea. And we're going to counter with Eduardo and Bendtner? It's not close.
third eye

Although I'm a Valencia fan, I strongly believe that Raul Albiol won't come to Arsenal solely due to the fact that he's a homegrown talent and will do anything do stay to his rightful club.

Plus, if he has to move to EPl, he would probably choose Liverpool. He could join Arsenal because of Cesc, but then again, Liverpool is filled with Spaniard.

I say: The perfect player would have been Vincent Kompany. (or Kompagny). He's an holding defensive midfielder, can play central defender and already talks French (which seems to be a plus at Arsenal!) His versatility could have been fundamental and pivotal for the team's success. We can probably lure him out of Manchester City by appealing his sense of success and limelight. If we offer him less money but a chance to win the Champions league, he might accept. However, it could be hard. Then again, Manchester City would like to have one of our players, we could offer them Adebayor and here it goes!

Teams in the Champions league group stage are quite average to trickery. Lyon are not a threat to Barcelona. But, they could be troublesome for us. Athletico de Madrid have a poor defense but their counter-attacks are dangerous. Then, the rest can only manage to draw agaisnt us, nothing else.( Unless we play very badly...)

What about Miguel Veloso? I know that many people are crying out-loud for him, but I would like him to join Arsenal for his tackling ability but also for his long range shots. Since he has not proven himself yet, he can be bought for an affordable price and with the "surplus" of funds that we'll get, this might become true.
Riot D

We don't need another striker Homey. We have enough forwards already even without Adepaymemore. I hope we could buy a strong, tough center back that could compliment Toure speed and positioning ability. And an aggressive holding midfielder to guard the back line. We could play like Barca with our current players,n i wish Arsene will look into that. Henry -> RVP, Messi -> Arshavin, Etoo -> Eduardo, Iniesta -> Nasri, Xavi -> Fabregas. Our attacking fullbacks are also among the best in europe. If we manage to capture a 'Yaya Toure' and a 'Puyol', i think we could be the best.
Homey

You didn't mention buying any strikers. But if Ade leaves, then I think we need another. And not a no-name 17 year old either. The guy I was thinking about in my other post is Mounir El Hamdaoui from Alkmaar. I heard him rumored to Arsenal. I know, I know, those rumors are a dime a dozen. But he'd make sense and be available at a more reasonable price, I think. Ditto for Edin Džeko from Wolfsburg, who I also read to be rumored to Arsenal. If we get one of those after losing Ade, I'll be comfortable with our rotation up front.