No his contract and his patience will be running down. Plus his stock is still rising. He won't stay there past this summer.

I agree with your last sentence. I meant that they had little reason to sell him now in January. I didn't realize the rumour was that Wenger has made a deal to get him in the summer.

LeQuipe says we have agreed personal terms with him and will sign him in the summer.

Not gonna believe that. They have gotten alot of things wrong about us.

Would be a steal.

JazzG wrote:

Chili Palmer wrote:

If we want to mantain top 4 status, we get him. But, if he want to challenge for the title, and the CL, we go out there and find a player that fits our needs more, a player with much higher technical quality for a start. £25M is far too much for an imo good, but limited footballer.

Like who?  And be realistic as well, ie someone there is a realistic chance of us getting.  There are better players but none of them imo are realistic targets.  

As for what he brings, he breaks up play brilliant and is a very capable passer of the ball.  Just look at the starts of Chelsea with and without Matic and then you'll see how key that role has become in the modern game.  They are the ones who usually win the ball quickly and move the ball quickly as well.  Look at how much better we've looked with Coquelin in our team compared to Flamini, one of them in past it and the other is putting in very impressive performances and we look a lot better as a result.  Of course the team has to function properly as well which is something that hasn't happened enough recently.  A lot of that imo is down to how many games Arteta has missed, when he is on form it is no coincidence we look a far better team.  Thing is we need someone reliable who can stay fit and is better than him if we want to push on.

Gündogan, Illaramendi, and Cabaye at the top of my head. They're all better with the ball, and on top of that very disciplined players. If we defend as an unit, we don't need a physical presence there as we've seen with the ever so consistent Arteta.

I pretty much agree with everything of that, that's why I want a player with elite technique, passing and awareness, who makes dictating our play from the deep, his own. The same way Arteta does, but at a higher pace. I'm not sure Schneiderlin is the man for that, he'd be a good signing and a player I wanted in the summer, but after watching him closer, I've noticed he hides a bit in the build up play, and isn't comfortable everywhere on the pitch with the ball - he takes a far, far too deep position when building up.

Wouldn't be against it, but the 3 above are imo better players and better value for the money, albeit Cabaye has reached a certain age.

None of them are definitively better and only Illaremendi is really a defensive mid.

Illarramendi has never proven himself to be one of the best DMs in La Liga. Schneiderlin has done that in England.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Illarramendi has never proven himself to be one of the best DMs in La Liga. Schneiderlin has done that in England.

Hasn't had much of an opportunity to prove himself at Madrid to be fair to the lad, was hugely rated at Sociedad beforehand.

qs! wrote:

None of them are definitively better and only Illaremendi is really a defensive mid.

Gündogan is the best of the lot, and if he hits the levels he hit in Dortmund's CL-final run, he's probably the best midfielder in the world. Schneiderlin is nowhere near.

Cabaye starts in the DLP-position(or DM you could say) ahead of Schneiderlin for France, who play the same formation as us, 433/4141. He's a much more gifted footballer, and has always been able to put in a tackle.

Illarramendi is better in pretty much every aspect of the game. A very underrated footballer, has great technique, short passing and awareness, a typical Spanish player.

A for the defensive mid-thing - all of them have shown they're capable of putting in a shift defensively. Cabaye for France, and PSG. Illara is a pure DM as you say. Gündogan has Bender alongside him, who plays the Ramsey role, while Gündogan pulls the strings from the deep - see no reason, why it wouldn't work with Ramsey.

If we defend as a team, we're much better off having better footballers, than a limited DM(albeit Schneiderlin is a bit more than that).

@Quincy... he must have done something right, since Real forked 30M on him.. ;D

I disagree. I think its clear from the difference that Coquelin has made that a midfielder who stays deep and focuses on the defensive side of things more makes us a much more solid and better side. Even when Arteta was fully fit and a year younger we still looked porous through the middle. Having someone like Cabaye or Gundogan in there would only cause the same problems.

Illarramendi is the only one I'd be interested in and he's stalled a bit as a player. I'd still rather get Schneiderlin instead. He's proven, he pulls the strings at Southampton and he does the defensive work. I think having him and Coquelin next season would give us a much better balance to our squad.

That's like saying that me must have done something wrong, since they're looking to ship him out already.

Also,Cabaye plays with Matuidi. We have no one like that.

qs! wrote:

I disagree. I think its clear from the difference that Coquelin has made that a midfielder who stays deep and focuses on the defensive side of things more makes us a much more solid and better side. Even when Arteta was fully fit and a year younger we still looked porous through the middle. Having someone like Cabaye or Gundogan in there would only cause the same problems.

Illarramendi is the only one I'd be interested in and he's stalled a bit as a player. I'd still rather get Schneiderlin instead. He's proven, he pulls the strings at Southampton and he does the defensive work. I think having him and Coquelin next season would give us a much better balance to our squad.

Coquelin has been a bit lucky imo, now that we're playing 4141 and Santi is playing deeper, otherwise he'd have to do a lot more with the ball, and control the game like Arteta. But, yeah, atm it's looking very good - let's see how it will continue.

Last season, bar the big away games, we were great defensively, and that's because we defended as a team in most games. We got those spankings, but they weren't Arteta's fault imo - we were hiding, when building our play up, and gave the ball away - seconds later, we were a few goals down. That's why it's imo important to have technically gifted players of the highest level in every position, the DM too.

We'll see. As I've said, I wouldn't mind it, but imo those are better players if we want to be an elite club, and compete with the best. Gündogan made a fool of just about every top midfielder that season, he'd be a dream-signing for just 16M, and I'm sure Wenger wouldn't hesitate one second as he's a huge fan. While he's skipped Schneiderlin since he moved to Saints.

@Quincy

They're Real Madrid, they ship top class players all the time. Robben, Sneijder, Özil, Di Maria, etc. Still, I don't see how Schneiderlin has done more than Illara.

Also Matuidi is a B2B player for both France and PSG.. We have Ramsey, he's like him.

Chili Palmer wrote:

qs! wrote:

I disagree. I think its clear from the difference that Coquelin has made that a midfielder who stays deep and focuses on the defensive side of things more makes us a much more solid and better side. Even when Arteta was fully fit and a year younger we still looked porous through the middle. Having someone like Cabaye or Gundogan in there would only cause the same problems.

Illarramendi is the only one I'd be interested in and he's stalled a bit as a player. I'd still rather get Schneiderlin instead. He's proven, he pulls the strings at Southampton and he does the defensive work. I think having him and Coquelin next season would give us a much better balance to our squad.

@Quincy

They're Real Madrid, they ship top class players all the time. Robben, Sneijder, Özil, Di Maria, etc. Still, I don't see how Schneiderlin has done more than Illara.

Also Matuidi is a B2B player for both France and PSG.. We have Ramsey, he's like him.

 So Real Madrid make bad sales, but only clever signings? That's convenient for this discussion. Di Maria was sold because he wanted a better contract and Perez wanted a new galactico who could sell a trillion shirts. Özil didn't fit Ancelotti's formation. Illarramendi? He is sold because he is now their third best DM after Kroos and Silva. Most of us seemed pretty ambivalent to Silva, but want the guy Real Madrid ship out to make room for him.

I personally think Matuidi is much better defensively than Ramsey.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

So Real Madrid make bad sales, but only clever signings? That's convenient for this discussion. Di Maria was sold because he wanted a better contract and Perez wanted a new galactico who could sell a trillion shirts. Özil didn't fit Ancelotti's formation. Illarramendi? He is sold because he is now their third best DM after Kroos and Silva. Most of us seemed pretty ambivalent to Silva, but want the guy Real Madrid ship out to make room for him.

I personally think Matuidi is much better defensively than Ramsey.

Not sure, I can follow you on the bad sales, clever signings things.. I guess it's an entirely different debate.

But, because you're not good enough for Real, doesn't mean you can't play for any other club, as they're the standard to go by. Also Silva hasn't played a single game for them yet, we'll see if he's any better than Illara at all.

Still, Real forked huge money for him, and they're the best in La Liga, so, as I started to say; he must've done something right, and probably proved that he's indeed one of the best DM's in La Liga to go for such a huge transfer. I don't see how Schneiderlin has proven more at Saints, than Illara at Socieded, a team, he finished in the top 4 with.

[size=x-small][font='Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Arsenal have made their first moves towards signing Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, sources have told ESPN FC.

Arsenal had been strongly linked with a move for Schneiderlin last summer but Southampton refused to allow him to leave after seeing Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren exit St Mary's.

The France international had made public his frustration that he was denied the chance to move on, but ESPN FC has been told that Saints officials have reassured him that he will be allowed to leave at the right price this summer.

Although Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino remains an admirer of the 25-year-old after having worked with him at Southampton, the player has made clear his desire to play Champions League football next season and Arsenal appear to be the frontrunners.

The Gunners have now made contact with Southampton, although they have yet to register an offer.[/font][/size]

Such a tedious transfer saga over such a nothing player.

Ancelotti preferred Sergio Ramos at DM the other night over playing Illarramendi or Silva. at least Silva has the excuse of new league to adapt to.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Chili Palmer wrote:

@Quincy

They're Real Madrid, they ship top class players all the time. Robben, Sneijder, Özil, Di Maria, etc. Still, I don't see how Schneiderlin has done more than Illara.

Also Matuidi is a B2B player for both France and PSG.. We have Ramsey, he's like him.

 So Real Madrid make bad sales, but only clever signings? That's convenient for this discussion. Di Maria was sold because he wanted a better contract and Perez wanted a new galactico who could sell a trillion shirts. Özil didn't fit Ancelotti's formation. Illarramendi? He is sold because he is now their third best DM after Kroos and Silva. Most of us seemed pretty ambivalent to Silva, but want the guy Real Madrid ship out to make room for him.

I personally think Matuidi is much better defensively than Ramsey.

Off topic slightly but IMO Cabaye = DLP,
Matuidi = ball winner,
Pogba = CMA.