Well, we took Miyaichi on trial and you just watch him turning into a star.

Think he'll be useful to us this season, Sexy?

I don't follow...

I'm surprised Caen have allowed him the opportunity for trials - given that he's played 30-odd games in Ligue 1 at 17. But that doesn't mean he's a poor player...

If anything the fact that Caen have let him go on trial before asking for a multi million £ transfer suggests that he is a genuine talent. They wouldn't want us to get a good look at him if he was shite.

Timbo wrote:

Think he'll be useful to us this season, Sexy?

I know I'd rather give him minutes than Arshavin. Not so sure Wenger feels that way though. Ideally he would get the sort of minutes AOC got last season. The rest is up to him to force himself into the team.

Why on earth are we signing foreign teenagers again, has wenger not learnt from fabregas, nasri, clichy we build them up in their teenage years allowing them to make their mistakes here and then when they finally are ready to perform to winning standards they leave for an "title challenging side".

This guy if signed will probably play a few games in the cc then move onto the first team and then get criticised like ramsey when he doesnt perform and then leave when he does if he is foreign.

Or he will end up like vela as i expect joel campbell and wellington silva to end up, being loaned to various clubs every season then whichever one he performs in he gets to stay there.

Would you say the same if the title of the thread was Lucas Moura?

SamDaGooner wrote:

Why on earth are we signing foreign teenagers again

Easy, cos the English ones are shit and expensive to boot.

If we stopped signing foreign youngsters we wouldn't have a team anymore. Or we'd have a team of average, work-a-day pro's, like Everton.

Thing is, the complain of signing foreign youngsters can't work on Niang, because he is a top talent.

asajoseph wrote:

Would you say the same if the title of the thread was Lucas Moura?

No, Firstly lucas is 19 going on 20 whilst this guy is 17 going on 18, also because he is a lot more proven than niang as his stats show, i meant why are we signing young players on trial yet to prove themselves so they can either make it here or not to eventually be sold when they are old enough to perform consistently walcott being the latest case. I have no problem if we were to sign neymar goetze etc as long as they are ready to perform from the off, otherwise we are just developing them with no intention to challenge.

2 years for a world class talent makes quite a difference in transfer money, don't you think?

Also, you're talking as if we'd sign this kid to put him straight into the first XI. He'd most likely go to the reserves like Eisfeld did.

well tbh I couldn't give a shit how much the transfer costs, as long as he performs on the pitch

Still don't get your point. Lucas Moura isn't the finished article by any means. Your point seems to take absolutely no consideration of how good Niang might actually be. The fact that he's getting regular football in Ligue 1 at 16-17, tells me he's probably got something about him, and the scouting reports I've read seem to suggest the same.

All this stuff about him wanting to leave after a couple of years could just as easily apply to anyone we sign.

Admittedly i havent watched either play to a huge extent but what i mean is looking at both players stats you can tell who is more reliable in front of goal at the moment, and just by looking at lucas's international record you can tell you are looking at a player far more developed then niang, who has played a couple of games for a relegated ligue 1 team and is still a 17 yr old in his first season of football. Niang could come in but would not be in contention to start pl games, lucas will.

Stats are meaningless, especially at youth level. Carlos Vela was top scorer at U-17 WC, but couldn't cut it here. I'm sure there were much more prolific goalscorers than Thierry Henry at the time we signed him as well.

It doesnt matter, who knows we could take a gamble and he could turn out to be the next henry or the next vela, point is someone like lucas, goetze, etc are more proven than him and could perform from the off, this guy requires developing and cutting out mistakes. I wouldnt mind signing him, but we have more pressing issues, and knowing how lazy wenger is, he will take a month off before his next signing.

If he were lazy we would have lost Niang to another big club.

So really, all this boils down to is that you don't think we should sign young players who aren't ready to play every week?

In a roundabout way it's all Niang's fault that we haven't signed Kagawa. Or something.