No chance I would think. I thought him and Fred were bound for Manchester (one each to ether of the Manchester clubs). Rather get Tielemans or either of the Lyon pairing.

Chelsea - Kante
Liverpool - Keita
Arsenal - Seri

He was useless around this time last year when we were first linked to him. I have no idea if he's improved since then, but based on what he used to look like I would be furious if we blew our transfer money on him.

Certainly was all the rage last year for a few months. Not sure if that was based on his agent doing a killer job (links to us and Barca) or because he’s legitimate.

Anyone know how season went?

Ramsey replacement. Had a meh season by most accounts

He has some interesting santi like traits, but i had hoped we'd be targeting someone with a bit more defensive presence

Ray wrote:

Chelsea - Kante
Liverpool - Keita
Arsenal - Seri

That's just sad.

It would make more sense for us to bin xhaka for seri, keep Ramsey, and add an explosive midfielder that can tavkle to make up the midfield 3

He is so bad the past season for Nice. When United is linked with Fred and Milinko-Savic, City linked with Fabinho and Jorginho, Liverpool signed Keita... this transfer rumour is a joke.

In fairness to the lad Nice fucked him over badly last summer so it's no real surprise he may have under performed for them.

goon wrote:

In fairness to the lad Nice fucked him over badly last summer so it's no real surprise he may have under performed for them.

And what's his excuse for being a Porto B team reject?

That's a bit like asking why Ronaldo is a United reject.

Anyway, didn't realise he's 27. The players we're linked with so far, Seri, the greek guy from Dortmund, doesn't really fit the profile I thought we'd be looking at this summer, i.e. young, high potential. Just seems like more old squad filler we'll be wanting to offload in a year.

goon wrote:

That's a bit like asking why Ronaldo is a United reject.

Huh? Seri went from Porto to Pacos de Ferreira. Ronaldo went from Man United to Real Madrid. Not sure what your point is. My point is this guy has an underwhelming pedigree and isn't very good and isn't very young. If there's really truth to all of these links that have popped up, then I'd honestly rather have Wenger back making recruitment decisions. These names are fucking shocking.

Yeah he's a Porto reject just like Thiago Silva was, just like Henry was a Juve reject, Vieira Milan, Bergkamp one for Inter and fucking Yaya Toure was an Arsenal reserves reject.

jones wrote:

Yeah he's a Porto reject just like Thiago Silva was, just like Henry was a Juve reject, Vieira Milan, Bergkamp one for Inter and fucking Yaya Toure was an Arsenal reserves reject.

Again, I don't know what your actual point is. My point is about pedigree. Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp were all known to be massive prospects when they were teenagers. Thiago Silva had his career derailed by tuberculosis. Only Yaya Toure had an unforeseeable turnaround in his career in his mid-20s. Do you think Jean-Michael Seri is the next Yaya Toure? I happen to think he's shit.

It was more a passing observation because I thought the idea to dismiss a player because he failed somewhere early in his career is silly.

He had a great season in 16/17, didn't watch much Nice this season but the whole team hasn't done as well also he's been fucked over by the Barca board who had already agreed a fee this time last year. He's far from my first choice but he's not a bad player, I'd say he's what Wilshere would've been if it wasn't for all the injuries. Loves to burst past a player in midfield, smooth first touch and very good long and short passing, loves a through ball. Set pieces are top drawer but not enough defensive presence. As Wilshere or possibly Xhaka replacement maybe, not the guy I'd build my team around though.

8 days later

I thought it was an ingrown toenail. Anyway, a midfield with him, Xhaka and Ramsey will be non-existent defensively. He sounds quite similar in profile to Xhaka - not sure we need two of those in midfield. I'd rather get a more all-action type midfielder with mobility and who can play through a press - think Xhaka did his best work with Dahoud in Monchengladbach.

Apparently Emery is a big fan of this guy and wanted to sign him for PSG but couldn’t due to FFP.

More Wilshere than Xhaka if you may

goon wrote:

Apparently Emery is a big fan of this guy and wanted to sign him for PSG but couldn’t due to FFP.

did he really have any say in PSG signings?

Who knows, maybe the fact that they couldn’t do it due to FFP is an sign that they didn’t take his views very seriously.

Thought he was their choice if Veratti agitated for a move - in the end, nothing happened there so Serious fell off the radar.

MistaT wrote:

More Wilshere than Xhaka if you may

Got it. I somehow got the impression he was a deep lying passing MF with not much of a defensive game. By more Wilshere you mean he's a good dribbler in the middle with the ability to evade a press? That sounds good but then we need to bin Xhaka and move Ramsey into the front 4.

12 days later

[Twitter][/Twitter]

Wouldn't be against Seri. Would give us something we'll be missing with Cazorla gone and Wilshere almost certainly gone.

Would Seri + N'Zonzi while getting Ramsey to sign be acceptable to you guys in terms of dealing with the midfield this window? How would it compare to United getting Fred and Liverpool getting Fabinho and Keita? For myself I think Pool will still have done the best business.

I doubt we have any intention to sign both of them unless Ramsey leaves. And in that case I hope that we are looking at better and younger players to be brought in.

Seri plays with a fair amount of intensity. He’s a bit raw for a creative player. We have more pressing needs

If Ramsey leaves we need to go big. If he stays, we can't just sign Seri. We need to revamp the midfield and I think Emery knows it.

I think you’re projecting there.

We can't really sign this guy and nobody else can we? At least N'Zonzi makes sense from a player profile perspective. If Ramsey and Wilshere leave we definitely need two. Just losing Caz and Jack should be enough reason to sign two players.

I’m mainly referring to the idea that we need two centre mods even if Aaron stays. It’s not going to happen unless we sell someone else. We’d have Aaron, Xhaka, AMN, Elneny, and new guy #1. Ignoring others who can also play there, we are not going to spend another 35m getting a 6th centre mid when we are on such a limited budget. I don’t think we need to either, I’d rather spend more on a single, better centre mid or a better keeper.

I agree through, if Aaron stays Seri doesn’t make any sense unless the plan is to play 3 in the middle. Even the it would definitely feel like the wrong type of centre mid.

I've been assuming that we're going to play with 3 midfielders. AMN and Elneny should be squad players. That leaves Aaron, Xhaka, and new guy number 1 starting. One injury and we're down to Elneny. One injury and we can't rotate properly. I don't know that you can have only 5 legit players for 3 spots. You need at least 4 starting quality players. We honestly don't have a backup to Xhaka right now, Elneny just doesn't have the passing range.

We need a lot of work in midfield. Since the new team has come to town, we've lost Coq, Caz, Chambo (to an extent) and will probably lose Wilshere too. One new signing is not enough in this part of the pitch. Two should be the absolute minimum, one starter and one up and comer.

If Emery wants to play 3 in MF, we should get Torreira and convert Iwobi into Ramsey’s back up. If 2 in MF then just Torreira and replace Ramsey if he doesn’t sign.