More like when, not if.

As in when we fail on all of our other low balled bids?

He would be really good for one of those 2 playmaking roles behind our striker. He dearly need someone of his trickery.

He'd be a decent signing but it'd be more of the same. We should have pushed much harder for him last season though.

Think he's a player that needs that right touchline close by to work his particular magic. He looks lost whenever I've seen him played centrally or when he finds himself on the left wing.

I wouldn't want him at this point in the summer, not even slightly, but give it another two and half months and I'll probably be begging for him!

Is Mahrez the new Salomon Kalou?

A fairweather player. We have enough of them already.

I'd take a summer with Mahrez, Lacazette, Kolasinac, one more player and Sanchez and Özil staying.

Way too flaky and disappears even more than Ozil. No way I want another of these players. Rather bring back Gnabry.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

I'd take a summer with Mahrez, Lacazette, Kolasinac, one more player and Sanchez and Özil staying.

I'd take it too because I don't expect better but it wouldn't be enough.

Depends what enough is. I don't think we'll win the league, but I want progress. If we mount a proper challenge and win the Europa League or the FA Cup, I'd consider it a good season.

Qwiss! wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

I'd take a summer with Mahrez, Lacazette, Kolasinac, one more player and Sanchez and Özil staying.

I'd take it too because I don't expect better but it wouldn't be enough.

We've had enough summers like this. I also don't expect better, but that's not the kind of summer that gives me any enthusiasm going into the new season.

Neither Mahrez or Lacazette are near the top of my list, especially the former, but they're e both very good players and, by most accounts, so is Kolasinac. If you're also talking about another player on top of that as well, that can't be called anything but a very good summer in my view. I reckon most of our rivals would bite your hands off for it.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Depends what enough is. I don't think we'll win the league, but I want progress. If we mount a proper challenge and win the Europa League or the FA Cup, I'd consider it a good season.

I don't think it's enough to mount a real challenge, not under Wenger anyway.

TBH I think we will have a worse summer than that though. I'd expect signings like that at best but as a replacement for Sanchez and possibly Ozil.

Really not keen on Lacazette

He'd be fine as a player to come in and boost our squad ala Wiltord's arrival all those years ago. Lacazette might even have more about him than that but that remains to be seen. The problem is he's going to cost the sort of money we can only afford to spend on someone that's going to be our best player or one of our best players.

Lacazette is no fool though. He scored 37 goals this season.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Neither Mahrez or Lacazette are near the top of my list, especially the former, but they're e both very good players and, by most accounts, so is Kolasinac. If you're also talking about another player on top of that as well, that can't be called anything but a very good summer in my view. I reckon most of our rivals would bite your hands off for it.

I agree that for our rivals that would be a decent summer, but they are already ahead of us.

We are way off the title, and I expect us to do what we can to break 80 points and challenge for top spot. Those players added to what we already have look like they'll help us hit the mid 70s again. 

Lacazette is not at the top top tier of strikers but he will score 20-30 here easily without a problem in this 343 formation. He plays like a clinical Welbeck. We get skeptical about him but he has done it for a couple of seasons now.

I don't think Wenger is looking at Mahrez personally. He doesn't usually come out and talk about a player if he's seriously interested in him. Maybe he'll get desperate toward the end of the window and move on him but I think right now talking about him is a smokescreen.

Ricky1985 wrote:

I don't think Wenger is looking at Mahrez personally. He doesn't usually come out and talk about a player if he's seriously interested in him. Maybe he'll get desperate toward the end of the window and move on him but I think right now talking about him is a smokescreen.

I think that the interest is genuine, but a bid would only eventuate IF we lose Sanchez or Ozil and the same applies to the likes of Turan & Forsberg etc (even if I'd prefer Fekir).
That said IMO the priority lays elsewhere - namely CF and CM, and that we need to sign top class in both areas so as to avoid losing Ozil or Sanchez. 

Buying Mahrez would only make sense if Ozil leaves.
Unfortunately for him, Sanchez is the player who is more likely to go.
http://www.bild.de/wa/ll/bild-de/unangemeldet-42925516.bild.html
We seem to be digging in but we all know how these "things" tend to end with our sub-standard negotiating team.
http://sportbild.bild.de/fussball/premier-league/premier-league/sanchez-bayern-korb-wenger-arsenal-oezil-52030770.sport.html
As an aside, i would swap him for Walcott in a heatbeat.

Bold Tone wrote:

Buying Mahrez would only make sense if Ozil leaves.
Unfortunately for him, Sanchez is the player who is more likely to go.
http://www.bild.de/wa/ll/bild-de/unangemeldet-42925516.bild.html
We seem to be digging in but we all know how these thing tend to end with our negotiating team.
http://sportbild.bild.de/fussball/premier-league/premier-league/sanchez-bayern-korb-wenger-arsenal-oezil-52030770.sport.html
As an aside, i would swap him for Walcott in a heatbeat.

I think he's more a replacement for Sanchez as he's a capable goal scorer as well as providing assists, as well as being a good dribbler to take defenders on with ball at feet.
I'd think Turan as more of an Ozil replacement, but if we lose Ozil I don't want a passing playmaker at AM & would rather prefer another attacking AM type who can score and provide assists like Fekir / Mahrez / Lemar.

i.e. Mahrez?
Your post is contradictory.

He'll go to Barca and be the Turan replacement

Mahrez won't go to Barca. Not a chance. He's not even good enough for their bench.

He's good enough for their bench, because their bench isn't good at all. The reason Barcelona have been as great as they have is because they have an excellent XI that's rarely injured.

Their bench is so awful Enrique seldom use it at all.

Most great teams don't use their bench much. I used to think that you need a big squad to compete, but it's really all about having a starting eleven where your 5-6 best players can start 50+ games each season. It's how we've won in the past too. The simple truth is that the invincibles would never have picked up a single trophy if Henry had missed half as many games as van Persie did for us. You look at Ibrahimovic who, up until his recent knee injury at the age of 35, had spent 40 days injured in total in his entire career. That's one of the big reasons he has won so much: all of his teams always had their best player available. That's the kind of consistency you need to win.

Our biggest failure in the last decade or so is to not fully realise this. We've invested incredible amounts of time in players whose only consistency was that they were bound to miss 2-3 months of each season. We've backed the wrong players and used the wrong approach towards teambuilding. At one point we had Cesc, van Persie, Nasri and Arshavin on our books in their prime, and I think they started less than 10 games together.

Pretty much. The few times they started together we could see things such as this:

But that didn't help when we inevitably had to field half a team of amateurs in other fixtures.

Klaus wrote:

Our biggest failure in the last decade or so is to not fully realise this. We've invested incredible amounts of time in players whose only consistency was that they were bound to miss 2-3 months of each season. We've backed the wrong players and used the wrong approach towards teambuilding. At one point we had Cesc, van Persie, Nasri and Arshavin on our books in their prime, and I think they started less than 10 games together.

--------RVP------
Arshavin--Nasri--
--------Cesc------
--Wilshere--Song--

What could have been?

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Pretty much. The few times they started together we could see things such as this:

But that didn't help when we inevitably had to field half a team of amateurs in other fixtures.

I love the look on Pep's face after the goal

Bold Tone wrote:

i.e. Mahrez?
Your post is contradictory.

Not really - I don't see Mahrez as being a direct replacement for Ozil as being an advanced playmaker role, as I see him as being more like Sanchez in style.  If we lose Ozil I don't want a like for like replacement as we have too many players who look to make a pass before anything else.

MistaT wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Our biggest failure in the last decade or so is to not fully realise this. We've invested incredible amounts of time in players whose only consistency was that they were bound to miss 2-3 months of each season. We've backed the wrong players and used the wrong approach towards teambuilding. At one point we had Cesc, van Persie, Nasri and Arshavin on our books in their prime, and I think they started less than 10 games together.

--------RVP------
Arshavin--Nasri--
--------Cesc------
--Wilshere--Song--

What could have been?

Probably the last time we played really good football with any regularity and for most of a match.
Since then IMO we've been a youtube highlights team at best with moments of brilliance more from individuals as opposed to the team.

That side generally played awful football. It was peak side to side.

Fabregas had lost some of his spark by then and had contant injury issues, Nasri only had around 4 months where he was truely effective in his time here and van Persie was still a perma crock who had yet to explode.

Completely agree with Klaus' original point though, a world class player who can play every game at a good level will give you more than 3 very good players who simply have their moments.

goon wrote:

That side generally played awful football. It was peak side to side.

Fabregas had lost some of his spark by then and had contant injury issues, Nasri only had around 4 months where he was truely effective in his time here and van Persie was still a perma crock who had yet to explode.

Completely agree with Klaus' original point though, a world class player who can play every game at a good level will give you more than 3 very good players who simply have their moments.

The squad was poor but IMO that starting line-up wasn't.  It's like too many of the squads post The Invincibles in that the best didn't play together often enough to overcome the short comings of the internal player development policy.
We are a mile away from being able to put together moves like that involving more than 2-3 players, and I still rate Nasri's 2nd goal H v ManU as being the ideal Wengerball goal in terms of retaining possession and working the ball.

If we were really after Mahrez we would have tied this up in a jiffy.