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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Wenger traveled to Geneva to watch Swiss midfielder from close up


By 1970’s Gooner

Arsene Wenger’s interest in signing another midfielder has been well documented and so has his desire to sign Turkish origin Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler.

His agent Dino Lambertini had already said only three weeks ago that he was travelling to London to begin talks with Arsene Wenger on Inler’s possible transfer to Arsenal.

"I’m due to go to London and take a look over everything, but no deal has been done yet with Arsenal.”

“It is difficult for us to take a decision, but Arsenal is certainly something that Gokhan needs to look at. Wenger is someone who helps young players go forward.”

With reports that Inter Milan and Everton were joining the race along with Newcastle to sign the £7m rated player Wenger had to move fast.

And this was before Arsenal’s woeful performance at Craven Cottage last Saturday. A performance that desperately cried out for midfield inspiration.

It seems that maybe the deal for Inler’s signature has already been done as we can reveal that Arsene Wenger was at the Stade de Geneva last Wednesday (20th July) to watch Inler from close up as he played for Switzerland in an international friendly against Cyprus.

His performance, which has been described by the Swiss newspaper “Le Matin” as “impressive", may have confirmed Wenger’s already held view of the player and this would probably have forced his hand in moving to close the deal.

The Swiss youngster looks like another Flamini type of player. He is a very good reader of the game, snuffs out danger, is positionally aware and tackles tenaciously rather than forcefully. So it is obvious that Wenger may be seriously interested.

Inler was substituted in the 64th minute so Arsene had a chance to also watch Cypriot wonder kid Demitri Christofi.

He is the 18 year old that has attracted Arsenal’s and Manchester United’s interest earlier this summer with one English newspaper predicting another tussle between Wenger and Ferguson similar to that which preceded Aaron Ramsey’s eventual transfer to Arsenal.

Christofi also put in a good performance setting up Cyprus’s only goal in a game that ended up with a 4-1 win by Switzerland.

So it seems that Wenger looks poised to make a move as the transfer window is coming to a close.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

mate, how do you actually know he was there?

Anonymous said...

Wenger's presence was mentioned on Swiss TV during the match.

Inler had an awful game, though. The Swiss only really started playing once he had been subbed.

Anonymous said...

I also heard from ma family that live in Switzerland that he was at the game. I was also reading forums from a website and some Swiss people also said that they saw him there. We need somebody like him in the squad. Imagine if we had a midfield like Nasri Inler Fabregas Rosicky. If they can play most of the season we'd have a very very good chance. Yesterday proved we need another quality CM. An awful game? From what I understand he performed very well.

Anonymous said...

Inler is a poor mans Robbie Savage technically very poor but he can tackle admittedly.Xabi Alonso or BLaise Matudi of st.etienne would be prefered

Anonymous said...

inler is so poor man...is so average...noways the type of player we need !!!

Anonymous said...

does anybody have a link that proves that the qoutes are real. It does not have to be in English, I can problably make out what it they say as long as it is not in chinese or something like that.....

Anonymous said...

Wat the hell is going on!
Im so frustrated with the same problems every season and then hoping for wenger to just once come out of his stubborn ways and buy 2 or 3 world class players! who can actually perform consistantly and dig in!
Gallas needs to get lost & be replaced by a good solid centre back whos not constantly dragging the team down with his rubbish leadership qualities!
Djourou or Silvestre alongside toure!! i would like him to sign someone like Mertsacker or kompany, but that aint gonna happen!

Nasri can be such a big player for us, he really has the right mentality and directness! But wont be able to show them qualities unless the players around him are on the same level!
Nasri and Fabregas will gel perfectly one they start playing together!

Carlos Vela should be played because hes a goal scorer! and actually has a lot of talent. He needs to get games!

Walcott is wasteful! hes not a right winger! he cant keep the ball! everytime he tries a turn or trick he loses the ball! he has so much pace to burn, but doesnt know how! playing him upfront is the only option!

Yaya would have been perfect in the middle! But if Diaby actually stays fit and gets played in that position consistantly instead of being played on the left all the time, can be just as good as yaya toure is! hes got more strength than all the arsenal players! hes good at holding players of , and gets out of nibbly situations so well! could well be the answer to our problems!
NEEds to stay fit first!

Van Persie doesnt really look like hes played upfront before! i think he should be played on the left to be honest! and let vela go upfront!

if wenger gets his tactical form back and the playes back from injury then without any new signings we can still grind our team out from this miserable lil spell! he should play this team and we can def have a shout at an honour this season!


Almunia
Sagna Toure Silvestre Clicy
Nasri Fabregas Diaby Rosicky Persie
Adebayor
Subs.

Fabianski,Gallas,Djourou,Song,Vela,Walcott,Bendtner

Anonymous said...

Crap. Never play RvP+Adebayor or Bendtner+Adebayor- it NEVER worked

You cannot play Van Persie/Bendtner as second striker, it didn't work in Twente, WBA and Fulham.

Arsenal wins the games from midfield, we need an attacking MIDFIELDER (like hleb/nasri) to play behind striker, to build up attacks and defend high up the pitch and hold the ball long enough to let others position themselves.

Now that hleb is gone prepare to suffer, incl Wenger

Anonymous said...

I wonder whether AW reads this? I think he has succumbed to vanity. He wants to be known as the genius who buys gems no-one has heard of. He needs to do that as well as buying the odd known quantity. His refusal to do so is letting the team down. Or does Arsenal have no money?

Anonymous said...

BUDGUV MOVE TO ARSENAL HELD UP BY RED TAPE

PARIS (AP) Top-rated Moldovan teenager Masal Bugduv has said that diplomatic issues are holding up his drawn out transfer to Arsenal as the clock ticks down to the end of the transfer window.
THE player described as the finest young player to come out of Eastern European football since Gheorge Hagi has given his first full interview which will appear in this week's Stars of Tomorrow feature in L'Equipe.
Speaking through an interpreter, the 16-year-old said that his move has been held up by the Foreign Office and concerns regarding his international clearance.
"For many month I have dreamt of coming to play for an English football club and the interest has been shown from Arsenal.
"I was hoping that everything would be completed by now and I would be joining my new teammates, but there are issues surrounding my work permits and international clearance.
"Because I have played in several internationals at different levels this year, the club need to clarify if I qualify for immediate clearance or whether I have to wait until January.
The well-built teenager said that he feels he is good enough to play for Arsenal and that the loss at Fulham on Saturday is just a temporary blip.
"I am confident that Arsenal will recover from their loss at Fulham. It may be better to lose a game now than in March or April when it hots up.
"The team is still trying to gel itself together but it is a good team.
Bugduv, the 16-year-old hotshot of Moldovan football has been linked with a host of top clubs around Europe for most of the summer.
Bugduv was left out of his country’s friendly with Lithuania last week because of his complicated transfer negotiations that have seen him based in London.
"I missed out on the game because the coach Mr Sagaev felt it would be better if I got my club sorted and that he will be playing me in the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn. While I am sad to lose an opportunity to play for Moldova, he told me that I will have plenty of time and plenty of more games for my country. Especially if my move to Arsenal is completed.
"My mother and father are very proud of what I have done and my father has been a fan of Arsenal for many years. He has a big photograph of Smith scoring a goal against Parma in the Cup Winners final.
"For me to play for Arsenal would make him cry, I think, he would be so happy."
Born on April 14, 1992, he shot to fame playing for his native FC Olimpia B?l?i for whom he scored a hattrick on his competitive debut in an Adzi Cup match in December 2007.
Bagduv became the youngest player capped at that level by his country and he went on to make his senior international debut aged just 16 years and 44 days when he came on for the national team in their 2-2 draw with Armenia in a friendly international in Tiraspol on May 28.
Trailing 2-1 with just ten minutes left, Moldova seemed set to lose until Bagduv lost his marker on the left wing, shimmied inside two defenders and fired in a shot that could only be parried by Armenian keeper Racif into the path of onrushing Igor Bugaev who equalised. (AP)

Anonymous said...

To anon 2.22

Can you please leave for me the link where you got that info about Bugduv?

Thanks

70's Gooner