banduan wrote:
Far better off going for Schneiderlin I'd say
Agree with this. Martinez has European pedigree (it's tempting to buy a player who won a treble and destroyed Barca in the process) but I'm not sure that he has more to his game than Schneiderlin. Martinez is taller, has more physical strength, breaks up play a bit more effectively, and is a better dribbler going up the field, but Schneiderlin is faster and a better passer while still being really good in the tackle and able to create space for himself on the ball.
If you all hate Arteta because he's slow you won't like Martinez. We also need to be able to build from the back and I'm not sure Martinez can do that at a top level.
Not to mention Schneiderlin will be about £10-12m cheaper and on £40-50k less a week. Given our need to buy a top striker and a replacement right back, MS makes more sense.