As squad depth, Diame is good. If we want to change the starting line-up, we go for Gustavo.

I can't see Bayern letting Gustavo go in January/.

From what I've seen of him he's more Diaby than Song.

Think he could pair Arteta or play as the AM, but he isn't going to be competing for the holding position.

All for it because I think we'll see more out of Arteta and our midfield if we can get some athleticism in it.

definitely more diaby than song, but not really impressed that much by him. good player, but won't push us up in the top four this year. need better players.

Song was more Diaby than Song by the way.

I think signing Diame and Ba is the best we can hope for in January. And that should be enough to win us 'the prize'.

Diame's torn his hamstring, out for 12 weeks.

Link

Great news, means we can get him cheap now.

Who said he was just like Diaby? May have been on to something.

Fin.

Unfin apparently!

Release clause at £3.5 million according to the Mail. Hard to get a player of his quality who's proven in Premier League any cheaper. Just pay it already. I'm going to get pissed at the club if we don't sign him now.

Diame and Ba for 11-12m seems unreal. Not world beaters but that is insane.

Did Ba have this clause (or was it active) in the summer? seems weird that no one bid for him then..

I was under the impression that Premier league clubs don't (or aren't allowed to) have release clauses?

Why wouldn't they?

Dunno, I just read something along those lines on here. It's certainly not very common anway. And what's the point of even having a release clause of 3.5m?

Diame himself probably wanted one. He went to West Ham on a free transfer this summer and probably felt he belonged in a bigger club.

You can't even get business as good as this in FM, ffs. Just GOT to be signing these guys. World beaters or not, we would actually have real, honest-to-goodness squad depth.

Klaus wrote:

Diame himself probably wanted one. He went to West Ham on a free transfer this summer and probably felt he belonged in a bigger club.

Makes sense. Incidentally, were people impressed by his performances for Wigan or has he only been decent since he moved to West Ham?

He would allow rotation based on opposition, which Wenger will never do anyway. It's all pretty much pointless without a manager change, but I'd see him as a power option in that B2B position we seem to have open. Especially against other 3 man midfields, when we don't technically outnumber them in the middle.

I think he'd also allow us to rest Arteta if necessary against some of the more brutish PL sides, and when Santi is getting double-teamed in the center he can allow him to play wide and create from there. Let Diame demolish people and Jack can pick up the scraps to feed our attackers. He can hold the ball in the middle, make the simple passes to the creative players, and put himself about when we're not in possession. You don't need someone who can do absolutely everything in a 3 man midfield, you need synergy. Thing about Diame, though, is that when he does get forward, he does it with purpose. He'd give us that 'secret weapon' option when the game is winding down and your DM suddenly starts making surging forward runs after playing a mostly reserved, defensive game. City won lots of games that way last season with Yaya (not that Diame is anything in comparison).

Like I said in the other thread, he might not be exactly the player we'd want, but he's the right type of player, and that's better than having nobody to do the job.

Coombs wrote:

He would allow rotation based on opposition, which Wenger will never do anyway.

He does do it - incredibly badly by putting Ramsey/Benayoun/Bendtner on the wings in interest of 'balance' but he does try.

But is that balance ever actually based on the opposition? Or is it more based on availability/fitness of personnel? I think he'd play the same 11 players in every game if it were humanly possible.

Ho hum. I'm not sure he would give us much extra going forward relative to the alternatives.

Second most tackles per match in the league this season - that's a worthy stat.

I wouldn't underrate his attacking ability, Burnsy. He can dribble, carry the ball well, ride challenges, and has good shot power. Definitely can contribute if necessary. Would have to be used tactically, though.

Coombs wrote:

But is that balance ever actually based on the opposition? Or is it more based on availability/fitness of personnel? I think he'd play the same 11 players in every game if it were humanly possible.

Well, against Man City this season Ramsey played on the right with AOC and Walcott on the bench

Last season: Against Everton (a) Ramsey played on the left while Gervinho, Benayoun and AOC were benched. It was the same vs QPR (a)

In both cases, Ramsey didn't play that role either before or after the fixture so it's safe to conclude that it was a tactical decision.

General Mirth wrote:

Well, against Man City this season Ramsey played on the right with AOC and Walcott on the bench

Last season: Against Everton (a) Ramsey played on the left while Gervinho, Benayoun and AOC were benched. It was the same vs QPR (a)

In both cases, Ramsey didn't play that role either before or after the fixture so it's safe to conclude that it was a tactical decision.

Well, now you've got me clutching at straws. How about these excuses:

he was only doing it as part of Ramsey's "development."
OR
the benched players mentioned were not fully match fit therefore he had no choice.

Fine. It was tactical.

Burnwinter wrote:

For those that have seen more than a few highlights and his match against us in October, would he be a sure starter? Are we talking Arteta, Diame, Wilshere with Cazorla wide?

What about if (cough) Diaby and Rosicky are fit?

I watch West Ham quite a bit (it's an east london thing) and in simple terms he is a bit like Ramires at Chelsea.

Right, thanks Flat Capi.

I didn't want to commit either way but if you feel we could do with a player like Ramires, then yeah, Diame would be a sure starter. I've expressed my desire for a player like Ramires before, so for me it would be a good signing.

It's a shame that he is registered for Senegal rather than France.

Why is it a pity that he is with Senegal?

Because ACN.

Travel time plus non unified international calender.

Senegal was disqualified from AFCON because of a riot 2 months ago. He's going nowhere.

Or what Burnwinter said.

Whuh? Didn't know that, ta.

Claudius wrote:

Senegal was disqualified from AFCON because of a riot 2 months ago. He's going nowhere.

he's 25, he'll play plenty of internationals.

African international matches are on the Saturdays when Europe plays its games. Apart from 4 weeks every two Januarys, he'll be gone just as much or less than our European players. If Ramsey, Wilshere, Coq, Arteta and Rosicky can't cover him in those 4 weeks, we have problems.

erm...yeah.

But if he played for France it wouldn't even be a consideration.