It's more that he usually says straight out "no" if asked about a player he isn't interested in.

Qwiss! wrote:

Wengers grins reveal nothing any more.

they reveal a man who's lost it. he's cracking up before our eyes

  • [font='PT Sans', sans-serif]22:30, 10 APR 2016[/font]

  • [font='PT Sans', sans-serif]BY ADRIAN KAJUMBA[/font]

[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Arsenal have stepped up their attempts to land midfielder [font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Granit Xhaka[/font].[/font][/size]

[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]The Gunners have opened talks with the Swiss star’s club Borussia Monchengladbach and made an opening offer worth around £24m.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Monchengladbach are holding out for £32m but [font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Arsenal[/font] are understood to be confident of reaching an agreement with the Bundesliga side.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Arsenal’s early move is a sign of their determination to try to get a deal for Xhaka tied up as soon as possible.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]And the fee would also be a statement of intent.[/font][/size]

[size=x-small][font=Source Sans Pro][size=xx-small]Christian Verheyen[/size]http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6971689.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/VfL-Borussia-Monchengladbach-Training-Session-and-Press-Conference[/img][/font][/size]
[size=x-small][font='PT Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif][size=x-small]In demand: Gladbach are holding out for £32million[/size][/font][/size]

[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Wenger has [font='PT Sans', sans-serif]signed only two players for higher[/font] than his first bid for Xhaka – Mesut Ozil for £42.5m and Alexis Sanchez for £32m.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Xhaka has emerged as one of Wenger’s principle midfield targets with Mathieu Flamini, Tomas Rosicky and Mikel Arteta all set to leave this summer.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Xhaka is renowned in Germany for his leadership qualities and passing ability.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]Despite being just 23 he boasts plenty of experience having been capped 40 times already by his country and played over 200 club games for Swiss outfit Basel and Monchengladbach.[/font][/size]
[size=small][font='PT Sans', sans-serif]And Wenger has been convinced to move for Xhaka after having him watched more than 30 times this season.[/font][/size]

from the mirror

here's another one: if Xhaka goes - and I think he will - BMG will find it impossible to sell Dahoud, imo.

Above from honigstein.

If the fee is large enough both of em will go.

9 days later

Arsenal have made an improved bid for Granit Xhaka, which is closer to mönchengladbach's valuation of £32m. (Times)

He has apparently agreed terms too.

Have you seen him play?

Pay the bloody 32 million pounds. I do negotiations for a living so it sounds counterintuitive. However, I'm tired of Wenger underinvesting in the team. Send a signal out by bringing in a guy who will be at the hub of the team nice and early. And then go nail a top AM or striker. At a minimum, we need to bring in one of Higuain, Aubemayang, Reus, Griezmann to give Claudius that tingling feeling

Sad part, for me at least, is that I don't think Wenger is good enough anymore to win us the league even if we did make those transfers happen. 🙁

Is this guy intended as a first team or a squad signing?

For that amount being touted... I don't think he would be a squad signing.
I think either elneny or Coq is going to be on the sidelines if at all Xhaka signs.

Rex wrote:

Sad part, for me at least, is that I don't think Wenger is good enough anymore to win us the league even if we did make those transfers happen. 🙁

If players are good enough a team led by Mr Bean would be able to win the league. Better the players the less importance is placed on tactics and coaching.

Not necessarily, see City and Chelsea for example.

Of course. I'm not saying they would definitely win the league or would even be likely to win the league, I'm saying a good set of players, particularly if they mesh well together, can negate the need for a top manager on a tactical level or in terms of coaching.

You mention City as an example but they have won the league with Pellegrini despite him being deeply flawed. I don't rate Mancini as a manager at all either. I'm not too keen to touch the Barcelona example but arguably that's there too.

Yep, there are plenty of examples like that. It wasn't long ago that both Domenech and van Marwijk, two of the worst managers to be found anywhere, coached their respective national teams to World Cup finals.

There are no exact rules for this. Sometimes the manager is a small part of the success, sometimes he's chiefly responsible for it. In cases like Wenger and Mourinho this season I think it's fair to say that they have actively sabotaged their own teams (to varying degrees and for different reasons, one should add). I think Pellegrini's failures by contrast have more to do with things like rotten luck and internal politics at Manchester City. That, and a knock-on effect from the last few years where FFP managed to somewhat restrict City's spendings before the whole initiative dissolved into nothingness. It made it harder for them to start their big rebuilding project.

For non-English speakers, like Mirror journalists, it's "principal transfer target". not "principle". Although I guess with Wenger either word could make sense.

Would be great to get him in, but it's all for nothing without a striker.