I don't think we should be purely loaning him, we should be buying him. Either straight purchase or loan with option/obligation to buy.

He'd be a great player to fill in for Kai and eventually replace him if things went well. Very capable of doing the same work but has better off the ball positioning around the box.

Only worry is the inability to stay fit. I am guessing that is why they want to loan him so he can hopefully stay fit and get into a regular rhythm.

Don Pacifico who reads this smut?

lorddulaarsenal you thinking RVP V2 too?

Clrnc But he plays like a young Kolo Toure so no thanks

Ah, so he's a CB/LW/CF?

Clrnc Commentator on the Dutch channel called him Sporting's Saka

Clrnc Diomande seemed unstable for a modern CB. Very rash, even if he's good on the ball.

Clrnc But he plays like a young Kolo Toure so no thanks

If he actually did then I'd be all for it if we didn't have so many defenders. Kolo was quality. As it stands I don't see it with guy much as there was someone on here 1 or 2 years ago who was saying he's going to be one of the best CB in the world in a few years.

Big Willie Kolo was also very rash and had brain dead moments especially when he just broke through.

Diomande is a physical specimen but we have enough of those. I like modern intelligent classy defenders these days in the mould of Calafiori. Or Bastoni

Big Willie Ah I see.

For some reason I keep thinking his first season was the 02/03 season

Clrnc no it was supposed to say "only his second season" and not "only his season" which doesn't make sense. It was his second season when we went invincible. He joined in 02/03.

Big Willie

Nah, I know what Clrnc means. Kolo was a decent defender and perfect for our high line, but he had plenty of faults, become especially evident after Sol went downhill.

goon Nah, I know what Clrnc means. Kolo was a decent defender and perfect for our high line, but he had plenty of faults, become especially evident after Sol went downhill.

No, not really. I don’t quite agree with that at all. Calling him brain dead is not only off the mark, but it's also insulting to Kolo. While Sol may have been the more polished defender, a partnership that earned 15 clean sheets and conceded more than 1 goal in a game just three times the whole season doesn’t work with one player carrying another at CB.

The idea that Kolo's faults were exposed after Sol left ignores the fact that the team’s shape and structure and makeup changed a lot after 2006. Remember, this was the time AW moved us towards the more possession based yputh project and many players were sold or left on frees. In my opinion, saying Kolo was just a decent defender and usimg the team's defensive decline after 2006 as proof of these faults does him a huge disservice. A similar argument could be made that Sol's flaws were exposed after he left us, if we ignored the fact he was playing for Portsmoth and their weak defence.

I’m not claiming Kolo was the world’s best defender at the time, but he was certainly much more than just decent. He was a hugely important part of that Invincible's season, just as much as any other player at the back. He played every game I think. Diomonde would love to be compared to him.

That said, I would take Gabriel and Saliba over him today. They’re better defenders, stronger on the ball, and more tactically astute, all while being just as fast and strong. In fact, I’d most likeky pick them over Sol as well, but that's less to do with how good they wete at the time relative to their peers, and more to do with how much more advanced the game has become, tactically and technically. Both Sol and Kolo would look lost now if you dropped them right in to today's game with it's tactical and technical demands.

Given the same training and youth development though would Sol and Kolo be able to match up? That's a hard one for me to say with any certainty.

Btw, didn't expect to go on a Kolo defence rant when I started writing this, fuck me that's a lot of shit.

Kolo was great and after Sol went he was much better than Gallas, who went hunting goals constantly and left Kolo to defend on his own.

Big Willie should be a "sticky this post" thread/ feature.

Big Willie its just like saying Rice, Partey and Merino and Co are shielding / surrounding Saliba and Gabriel. Of course they are. And of course they're excellent players too, aren't they? But Saliba and Gabriel are world class in their own right. I daresay outside of the insane number of corner goals, Gabriel and Toure would compare quite similarly as players. Will's point which I clearly see is that you don't play on a team like the invincibles as mere a "decent" player. All those players were some of the very best of their generation. In every single position. I find it interesting that Kolo is seemingly so underrated.

This is Kolo Touré we're discussing, who was an actual mainstay of an unbeaten Premier League defence. Think he might have been a decent player myself.

Gazza M

He had quite a few CL failings before that.

Kolo was / is a fucking Arsenal legend.

Nothing more to say.

Kolo Toure reading this thread.

Tam this photo represents one of the funnier stories in recent Arsenal history

That would be so depressing.

DCL? Is it 2019? I rather sign Chris Wood.

I would actually try and sign Mbeumbo from Brentford as a priority. That’s our wing sorted at least. He can be our Mane.