Excellent news if true.

Plus he doesn't go to the World Cup.

#Freshness

I'd prefer Griezmann, but I'm still thrilled with Vela.

Add in a ST, CM, and a RB, and it'll be a brilliant summer.

Not sure he is what we need but I suppose you can't go wrong for that kind of money.

Hope he's got a bit of pace and strength these days and he's willing to fight it out on the pitch. His talent has never been in question. Capable of the sublime and lets hope he's ready to make an impact. #welcomenacho

Patters wrote:

Hope he's got a bit of pace and strength these days and he's willing to fight it out on the pitch. His talent has never been in question. Capable of the sublime and lets hope he's ready to make an impact. #welcomenacho

Think this is the main thing. PL defenders can really be hacks, especially if they smell any weakness. Pires had to go through an adaptation period, but he figured it out, same with Hleb really. Hope Vela can manage the way he plays to leave them on their arses rather than take a kicking.

He doesn't try to shy away from physical play anymore.

From someone who went to the AST thing a week ago:

Seems like the club is leaning more towards taking arbitrage than keeping the player but it's a no-brainer either way.

Irish gunner wrote:

I'd prefer Griezmann, but I'm still thrilled with Vela.

Add in a ST, CM, and a RB, and it'll be a brilliant summer.

Except in all likelihood this is the ST signing.

Not sure how I feel about it. Seems like he's had a season or two that are hard to ignore, especially at the price. But he's already had a go here and wasn't good enough and was too lightweight for English football. Plus there were various stories about his poor attitude and things like turning up to the airport for European away games without his passport etc. Seems like a typical Arsenal bargain bin maintaining 4th place signing instead of having a go for Cavani/Benzema/Balotelli/whoever.

Vela is the most fouled player in La Liga.

Jed wrote:

Vela is the most fouled player in La Liga.

Well, we're doomed.

for 3.5m, it's a no-brainer. either we get a player or we take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity.

This is a bargain signing for a player who is wildly undervalued due to Arsenal's brilliant forethought in inserting that clause. It's the kind of bargain signing that Wenger used to make. He's a gem of a player. With half of our wingforce having brittle knees we need a signing like this (if we are signing him and not just reselling him).

what did we sell him for? 9m? so sociedad paid us 5.5m to have him for 3 seasons while they paid his wages and developed him? have no idea why they agreed to such a low buyback clause, but whatever. chumps.

We practically gave him away IIRC.

We basically loan Vela to Sociedad for three season it's time he return home

On the other hand, even if that were true it means they paid £5.5m for 42 la liga goals, 28 assists over 3 seasons. That doesn't sound too bad.

Shinda wrote:

We basically loan Vela to Sociedad for three season it's time he return home

We've done a Barcelona / Chelsea LOL

Chelsea re-signed Matić for a decent sum. Luckily a clever mofo somewhere at our club had the foresight to insert that clause for Vela.

kamikaze wrote:

what did we sell him for? 9m? so sociedad paid us 5.5m to have him for 3 seasons while they paid his wages and developed him? have no idea why they agreed to such a low buyback clause, but whatever. chumps.

Naah something like €3m, first season was a loan and then transfer fee. The reason we sold him so cheap was because of those clauses, he scored 12 & set up 7 on loan there in his first season so they knew they were getting a good player on the cheap.

JazzG wrote:
kamikaze wrote:

what did we sell him for? 9m? so sociedad paid us 5.5m to have him for 3 seasons while they paid his wages and developed him? have no idea why they agreed to such a low buyback clause, but whatever. chumps.

Naah something like €3m, first season was a loan and then transfer fee. The reason we sold him so cheap was because of those clauses, he scored 12 & set up 7 on loan there in his first season so they knew they were getting a good player on the cheap.

from my notes back then: €3.34m. 50% sell-on and €4m buy back option at the end of the 2013-14 season.

2013-14 Goals and Assists

Goals -

Assists -

I really want this move to happen. Just get him in, see if he works out and sell him if he doesn't.

he will work out. i liked him the first time around and i can't wait to see the improved version.

Burnwinter™ wrote:

I really want this move to happen. Just get him in, see if he works out and sell him if he doesn't.

.

I'm actually quite excited for him to come back. He's become an outstanding player.

still waiting on some power and the arteta replacement

Burnwinter™ wrote:

I really want this move to happen. Just get him in, see if he works out and sell him if he doesn't.

As long as he isn't THE signing without anyone else coming in while we continue to boast about how much we "could" spend on a player. Otherwise we're just throwing away another season gambling on a bargain bin signing.

No he can't be THE signing. But get him in and I'll forgive them for signing Lukaku instead of Cavani 😉

Yeah that's fair enough. If it's instead of signing anyone else then we can probably look forward to another scrap for 4th.

I don't understand the obsession people have with it being a "bargain", or good business. Seems to me as fans we pretty much need know nothing about the money part. who gives a shit? what we need to know is if the player is good for us: is he good in general, and does he fit our needs.
later we can tap on the shoulder of the shrewd army of lawyers/accountants we have. "Gazidis thinks we deserve credit for the buy back clause". Yeah, get that credit from you boss, I'll give you credit for getting player that improve us. For building a better team.

On Carlito, I feel like most of you: yeah, he's obviously improved, and I agree the talent was never in doubt. But that last bit actually makes me less optimistic than most: we failed to explain how come he's not breaking through in that time he was here. And he did get chances. It just seemed like he either doesn't fit in England, or still needs to mature a hell of a lot.

And between the two - I guess both are partly true - I fear the England fit is more crucial than imagined. Can Carlito really shake off that buttery feel about him? it's not impossible - 3 years in this age are significant, no doubt, and the confidence gained through experience and achievement is not to be ignored. But I still doubt he can bring all of that here. La Liga is not the PL.

Would love to be wrong about it.

BTW, don't see why people think he'll be playing on the right. Again, la Liga is not enough of an indication - AW's ideas are independent. And yes, probably a good deal him for Pod (though maybe keep both is a possibility as well).

It's ok if this is just a bonus signing on top of our needs up-front, DM and RB. If not however I wonder how long before the likes of Ozil and Ramsey get tired of the top 4 fight once again. Koscielny too has been vocal about the need to strengthen for the last 2 seasons.

yuv wrote:

I don't understand the obsession people have with it being a "bargain", or good business.

The club has finite resources, good players cost money, and more good players means better football.

pretty much what bw said. this would be a tidy signing that would allow the club to push the boat out for a top striker. i'd rather have vela + elite striker than pedro/griezmann + underwhelming striker

Apparently the Sociedad president is only Jokin...

A player of that profile for £4m (or whatever) is ridiculous. May as well be free; that's what you pay for U18s these days.

Share Capi's sentiments exactly.
You have to look at this deal and wonder if it can be applied more broadly. The Joel Campbells of the world for example, could be sold to poorer countries like Spain and Italy with similar buyback clauses. It's attractive for everyone involved. Our players get to play in very good leagues; the foreign club gets a cheap asset; and we have a cheap buy-back option we can exercise

Wonder if Wenger's contemplating bringing Joel Campbell back this summer.
Vela + Campbell to replace Bendtner + Park.
Giroud remains as number one, Wenger moves on to address other areas in the team.

Address other areas? The biggest is our striker. By signing wingers he's not NOT signing forwards. Campbell hasn't played up-front for 3-4 years and neither has Vela.

I somehow don't think so - Vela and Campbell (if either or both return) would likely have been brought in as wide players (if both return, that likely signals the end of Podolski's time here). Just going by the comments from the club and market chatter, I think we are looking for a forward signing. Also, given Wenger's preference for playing with a target man upfront (although that would of course have changed with Suarez, had that been successful), don't think Vela can slot in as a backup striker. Of course, interest is no guarantee of success, but I still think we would be looking for a striker.

Gunner89 wrote:

Address other areas? The biggest is our striker. By signing wingers he's not NOT signing forwards. Campbell hasn't played up-front for 3-4 years and neither has Vela.

That's a clear no then from you 89.
Hmm. I wouldn't rule it out myself.