I trust the club won't do this. The last thing we need, in my opinion, is a player with his skillset. Özil will also very likely be here next season, and they play in the same area of the pitch.

If we have £30m to spend, go and get the best centre midfielder we can afford to push Xhaka out the door or down the pecking order.

Which is why I think this transfer will only happen if we can successfully shift Ozil out, which also mean it is unlikely because nobody in the right mind will want him.

Pity, Fekir stock is down currently and is on a cheap, ideal time to get him.

I'd rather we just stayed away from Fekir altogether. He's not very good.

Ricky1985 wrote:

I trust the club won't do this. The last thing we need, in my opinion, is a player with his skillset. Özil will also very likely be here next season, and they play in the same area of the pitch.

If we have £30m to spend, go and get the best centre midfielder we can afford to push Xhaka out the door or down the pecking order.

Its more important to replace Ozil than Xhaka. Xhaka for all his faults still offers more than Ozil.

Qwiss! wrote:
Ricky1985 wrote:

I trust the club won't do this. The last thing we need, in my opinion, is a player with his skillset. Özil will also very likely be here next season, and they play in the same area of the pitch.

If we have £30m to spend, go and get the best centre midfielder we can afford to push Xhaka out the door or down the pecking order.

Its more important to replace Ozil than Xhaka. Xhaka for all his faults still offers more than Ozil.

Exactly. Xhaka is massively flawed but brings stuff to the table. Özil might as well be a spectator at this point

Klaus wrote:

I'd rather we just stayed away from Fekir altogether. He's not very good.

I offered Özil as a practical reason why we won't sign Fekir, but the main reason I think we won't sign him is because I'm of the same opinion as you about his ability, and think/hope the club are too.

Clrnc wrote:

Which is why I think this transfer will only happen if we can successfully shift Ozil out, which also mean it is unlikely because nobody in the right mind will want him.

Pity, Fekir stock is down currently and is on a cheap, ideal time to get him.

They seem to be pushing it more than us and probably stems from Aulas being worried about getting nothing next year.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/former-liverpool-target-nabil-fekir-17325221
https://www.transfermarkt.com/nabil-fekir/profil/spieler/203496
Of course we know this but also realise that we would not be able to compete with the extra suitors when he is on a free.
They are reportedly interested in Koscielny so, maybe, we could offer a player-swap deal?
https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2019/laurent-koscielny-approached-by-lyon-several-weeks-ago/
We could use the opportunity to reduce our wage bill by off-loading players.
They are not stupid enough to take on ozil's wage but i'm sure we could interest them in Xhaka and/or Mustafi!

They will take £20 million. Aulas won't like him leaving on a free.

To be honest, Fekir would probably add a real goal threat behind the striker.

The problem is, I’m sceptical that he can adjust to the pace of the league.

Before that, we need to ship players out. The media are linking us with Fekir, when we have Mhkitaryan and Ozil performing poorly on the wages they are on, is frankly madness.

Gross, be a huge waste of our budget when we have so many other needs.

had his best days behind Lacazette. maybe you reunite them. he's a super versatile player. can play 10, 8 and the wings. very dynamic. demands the ball. impressive goal scoring and goal conversion record - so he could be a bargain right now based on an off-season and expiring contract. if you are worried about selling one of your strikers and losing goals, Fekir is one of the few midfielders who will go a long way towards replacing them himself and helping the rest of the team be more direct.

obviously the risk with him is that he demands the ball, the offence will revolve around him and he could risk some 'turnovers'. not as zippy as a Pepe or even Zaha on the counter as well. but if we wanted a straight swap for Ozil/Ramsey, would be great.

No thanks. Never rated him that high, even less so after a major injury

Fekir as a signing is only relevant if we intend to play with a CAM or 2 AND we intend to shift one or both of Ozil & Mkhi.

Yeah definitely feels like the sort of signing you make if you can move Ozil out.

I hope we are trying to move away from a player like Özil. At his best, fine, he should play as your Number 10 and you build your attack around him. He's that good. And even then his lack of goals go against him. Players like Fekir and Ceballos; no chance. Maybe at a lesser club, but at one aspiring to win the Premier League, which is what I expect all our recruitment to be geared toward, then I think a player that gets the attack built around him at Number 10 has to be extraordinary.

I'd much rather go with a flat 3, with porper wide players. Vary the threat, make us less predictable.

I've only seen him a handful of times but I have to say I've always liked the look of him. Busy, technically very good and lots of end product.

I don't think a 10 needs to have the team built around him at all, all depends on how you set out the team and who's playing in there.