http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/05/ashley-williams-arsenal-transfer-swansea-city

Arsenal plan £8m summer move for Swansea captain Ashley Williams
• Arsène Wenger wants Wales skipper to shore up defence
• Competition for 28-year-old likely to come from Liverpool 178

Daniel Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 March 2013 11.29 GMT

Ashley Williams lifts the Capital One Cup after leading Swansea City to victory at Wembley last month. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
Arsène Wenger wants to sign Ashley Williams from Swansea City at the end of the season having lost faith in his central defensive partnership of Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker.

Wenger has identified the Wales captain as someone with the leadership qualities to control and organise Arsenal's defence in a way more reminiscent of when the club built a large part of their success on having a dominant figure such as Tony Adams, Martin Keown or Steve Bould in the heart of their back four.

Arsenal face competition for the 28-year-old Williams from Liverpool, with Brendan Rodgers also prioritising the signing of at least one established centre-half in the summer and keen to recruit a player he previously managed at Swansea. Williams, contracted to 2015, would cost in the region of £8m.

Williams has been an integral part of Swansea's success since joining the club from Stockport County, in the Roberto Martínez era, establishing himself over the last five years as a key figure in defence with his reading of the game and ability to organise and take responsibility.

The absence of such a player has been repeatedly exposed during some of Arsenal's key matches this season, not least the 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur that leaves Wenger's team seven points behind their rivals with 10 games remaining, facing the distinct possibility of finishing behind them for the first time since Gerry Francis was the manager at White Hart Lane in 1995.

Wenger had already made up his mind that he needed a new centre-half well before the north London derby and, ideally, wanted to bring in someone in the January transfer window. What happened at the weekend is hardly likely to have persuaded him to rethink bearing in mind the soft nature of Tottenham's goals and the way neither Vermaelen nor Mertesacker, experienced internationals with Belgium and Germany respectively, seem capable of taking charge of the team's defence.

Wenger, whose appointment of Bould as assistant manager this season has failed to find a solution, had hoped Vermaelen could be that controlling, organisational player but there are few signs of it happening. The Belgian was particularly culpable on Sunday when Arsenal's poor defensive line let in Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon to score in quick succession.

In Liverpool's case, Rodgers is preparing for Jamie Carragher's retirement and is not convinced by Martin Skrtel's performances. Rodgers has already spoken of wanting to "bring in some men" after a period of recruitment that has seen the club concentrate mostly on signing players of 23 or under. Sebastián Coates, the 22-year-old Uruguayan, could also be on his way out of Anfield and that means Rodgers might need as many as three new centre-backs to go alongside Daniel Agger.

Williams, who has played in all four professional divisions and began his career with Hednesford Town, fits the bill as someone who is not just one of the leading lights in Michael Laudrup's team but also a strong figure in the dressing room who will lead by example.

Beeb>Guardian>Sky>Fanatix>soccernet yada yada

Need to attract viewers in this thread

Is he really good enough for Arsenal?

Gunner89 wrote:

Beeb>Guardian>Sky>Fanatix>soccernet yada yada

Need to attract viewers in this thread

Fair enough.

I don't recognise the journalist, so I thought there may have been a bit more to it.

I think hes a really good player and good character. For 8 schmillions i say definitely.

Plus another, or is he the one to unite them all?

Still think we should spunk what we have on a top class CF. If there is money left after that I'd look for a really good central midfielder. Oh, and sign up Sagna ffs!

We basically need to replace RVP and Song properly as a priority IMO.

Wouldn't mind Williams, good player.

And then there's this of course:

Dan Taylor is actually a pretty good journo but primarily covers man utd

I love an old fashion english centreback.

But I would rather Steven Taylor if we are looking at these kind. 😉

If we are genuinely interested in Ashley Williams that means that there might be some substance to the Vermaelen to Barcelona rumours.

8 million is a good price, and he wouldn't require any adaptation period, my only concern is that he isn't particularly tall.

Clrnc wrote:

I love an old fashion english centreback.

But I would rather Steven Taylor if we are looking at these kind. 😉

Williams is welsh

And he can pass well.

Would give us a decent option.

i'm all for recruiting established defenders from our own division, rather than the fancier names on the continent. can't say i'm an expert on ashley williams' game though.

is he arsenal standard? like tony adams, sol campbell calibre? i honestly just dont care about anyone who's not unbelievably good. we have so many role players, we need to blow our wads on 1-2 guys, not pennypinch our way to more 8m signings of limited players. this guy isn't going to enter our dressing room on his first day and command respect.

This is the type of signing we're going to attract outside the CL. The only signings from a defensive point of view that would command instant respect from day 1 are players that wenger is not going to sign or are out of our reach.