We paid 6m for the real Squillaci.

I agree though, we should be looking to bring in quality not just make up the numbers with some dross. It's very hard to get quality players for a reasonable price in the middle of a season, mind.

Don Pacifico wrote:

kamikaze wrote:

i'm shocked to agree with that post.

Have people watched Samba? As Klaus said, he's really not as clumsy as he may look and predictably has a good touch for a big lad; it's not like he's a Congolese Richard Dunne.

Ha! Irony.

Samba doesn't have any better a touch that Dunne. And Dunnes touch is fine, he not Samir Nasri but for a centre half his touch is plenty good. Unless Dunnes recent form is down to physical decline and I doubt it is he's also faster than Samba, he certainly was last season.

My only worry with Dunne ahead of Samba is Dunnes been in a slump this season, I'd be afraid that'd take time to turn around. On the last 3 seasons Dunne has proven to be significantly better than Samba.

I'd probably still go with Samba over Dunne due to age and current form but Dunne is a much better player than you give him credit for.

Have you even watched Dunne!

est wrote:

I agree though, we should be looking to bring in quality not just make up the numbers with some dross. It's very hard to get quality players for a reasonable price in the middle of a season, mind.

We all agree on that Est.
There are good players available but of course Wenger is unwilling to pay for them even at a reasonable price.

Aston Villa made a power move out of fear this week. It was the right one. We also need to make a power move, but not out of fear as we did when we brought in Arshavin, but out of desire and ambition to win.

Need to aim high. Bolton are in financial hurt. They just brought in Wheater. Now is the timeme to make a reasonable offer, eg £12m, and move up to £15 if need be. When the season is done, we can look at our centrebacks again, and considering each of their skills, size, robustness, we can then decide what we want for the future.

You know what, after watching Wenger in his press conference today, I actually think we're in for Cahill. Somebody slap me.

What did Wenger say, Rick?

He was asked outright if he had bid for Cahill, and he said;

“At the moment, I cannot come out with any name,” he said. “I think Gary Cahill is a very good player but I cannot tell you more.

“We like to keep our transfer negotiations very secret. It puts more pressure on when you go public so you understand we don't want to speak publicly about that.”

Why didn't he just say "no", or "we're not close to signing anybody right now", as he has said dozens of times before in the last 21 days?

Thanks, Ricky. You realize you're reading too much into what he said? It's just Wenger's entertaining way of saying "I have nothing to say on that matter".

To be fair, Arsene does usually just say we're not in for player x if we're not in for player x.

But in general you can't read too much into anything Arsene says, just yesterday I could have sworn he was pretty much ruling out buying a centre back.

Regarding Cahill, I think it's a case of if we can get him at the right price maybe we'll go for him, otherwise no.

He said "very good" which means he is genuinely interested.

Captain wrote:

He said "very good" which means he is genuinely interested.

Yes but as I said in the 'January signings' thread, that is a long way away from actually bidding on a player (or at least placing a respectable bid).

Its a change in reaction from "we aren't close to anything, if we sign someone I'll let you know" which is his usual reply.

It is a legitimate question to ask if we really need a player.

If Djourou or Koscielny get injured in practice on Monday, then we go into the Ipswich game needing someone like Miguel or Song Billong to step in. The former is raw and the latter would be too big a loss in midfield.

But if they survive a week, then we should be back up to 3 options next week at which point we can give each of Djourou and Koscielny a break and rotatte in Squillaci.

I suspect Wenger will play the odds, and will probably only make a decision in the very last couple of days of the month

Ricky1985 wrote:

You know what, after watching Wenger in his press conference today, I actually think we're in for Cahill. Somebody slap me.

That's brilliant.

I could watch that all day long.

Every time you watch you notice something else that's hilarious.

we tried to sign chris samba and were close, says the man himself.

i think this is the type of defender we need alongside a physicaly fit vermaelen if we want to be genuinely good at defending next season.

here are the quotes;

Everybody knows that I am an ambitious player.

"I am at an age now where I want to try to do something. You only have one career and it would be a shame to not make the best of it.

"I am happy at Blackburn but I will study any opportunities that come my way this year.

"I'm not trying to move away but of course I would look if it is the right thing for me.

"I think a move to Arsenal was very close in January but that is life. You have to continue.

"If it happens, it happens, but it wasn't meant to be and football is like that. I committed myself to Blackburn and will always do my best."

here's the link;

http://www.teamtalk.com/news/2483/6922472/Samba-ponders-Rovers-exit-again

Add him to the list of players we could've/should've/nearly bought, if only Wenger or somebody at the club had a clue of how to get things done in the transfer market. We probably offered Blackburn a packet of tea bags and a rusty tea spoon.

However, whether he'd have made the slightest bit of difference is debatable.