He's a top player that needs a new challenge. I'd love to have him at Arsenal. This is the guy Chelsea should be getting instead of pissing about with Modric.

Here's another clip that shows a bit of his passing range:

Doesn't Montolivo play Wilshere's position?

Yeah. He can play pretty much everywhere though. Got the intelligence and raw skills to adapt. You have to think we'd use him as a central midfielder if he comes here though. Maybe with Jack in a slightly advanced role instead?

I don't know although I'm not so sure that Wenger sees Wilshere moving forward at this stage. Quality is always welcome but I can't figure out what our transfer strategy is supposed to be in this window.

You do think we HAVE a strategy?

Me neither. I suspect that we've been actively looking for a central mid for a while though. We've been linked to Montolivo a couple of times in the past too. If Wenger is a fan of the player this seems like too good an opportunity to ignore. Player refuses to sign a new deal, Fiorentina strip him of captaincy but are reluctant to sell him to Milan...

id keep jack deep though, he does more damage driving from deep with the element of surprise. we'll negate his best qualities by advancing him.

our engine room is cack atm. we need someone capable of good forward passing, and montolivo has that

how is he defensively? does he read the game well?

Definitely. He even played as a defensive midfielder for a while a season or two back but he's more comfortable as a deep-lying playmaker. He's a replica of Pirlo, more or less. Plays the same way.

Replaced Pirlo during the WC, didn't he?

I remember him being very highly rated a few years ago, haven't followed his career but he seems closer to the level we should be looking to sign.

Yeah, he's a regular for Italy nowadays. Man of the match when they beat Spain in that friendly two weeks ago. Prandelli seems to play Motta in an almost sweeper-like role that gives De Rossi, Pirlo and Montolivo room to do what they want in the creative end.

Sounds promising, then. How long has he been captain of Fiorentina?

it helps that Florentina don't want to sell him to a rival but it is unusual for an Italian to move outside their own league.

General Mirth wrote:

Sounds promising, then. How long has he been captain of Fiorentina?

I think he took over the armband when Danielli was sold last january.

Apparently his price tag is 10 million. We are in desperate need of some creativity and technical skill in the midfield. An alarming amount of our midfielders can barely control a football and pass it five yards without giving it away.

Wenger is mad so he'll probably not sign him.

Link

Reports from Italy are linking Spurs with a bid for Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo.

chelsea just got mata, so presumably they no longer have any need for modric, which means spurs would have no need for montolivo.

Wenger saying in his press conference we haven´t made a bid.

Did he say we weren't interested though?

The more I think about it, the more I like this move. A deeplying playmaker who can also put in a defensive shift. I was watching videos of Yann M'vila and thinking the Frenchman doesn't do a good job of releasing his attackers. He's a bit like Gattuso, and would benefit most from having an orchestrator (a la Pirlo) playing next to him. Given that we already have Song and Frimpong, I would prefer Montolivo over M'Vila. We can then push Jack up a little further. That would give us a 3 midfielders with the right overall combination of ruggedness and attacking ability.

We can do better than Song, and it's too early to think of Pong as a reliable back-up of any sort. M'Vila would do nicely, Song can rotate between the dm/cb positions as required, and Pong can chip in the cup games and the odd league game. This also eliminates the gaping hole when Song goes to the ANC.

Humble Rex wrote:

Wenger saying in his press conference we haven´t made a bid.

means nothing, since he obviously wouldnt admit to it if we did.

we've seen with cesc and nasri that we should totally ignore Wenger's public remarks regarding transfers

theres no point in ever quoting anything wenger says. we already know his position on everything, and he's stubborn, so his positions never change.

Iam not too bothered about anything he says regarding other teams players. The smart and sensible thing for him is to say we have not bid. He makes a big fuss about other teams tapping up our players, so the less he says the better. With him on this one

I can´t remember Wenger downright lying. He is often vague or chooses the "no comment" route. Is there a player though where he has publically ruled out as a player we are in for and then signed him though? I can´t think of one.

Anyway, it could be as easy as we hadn´t made contact at the time or something. We are probably not in for him though, which is a pity I think. He could offer a lot of what we are missing.

Humble Rex wrote:

I can´t remember Wenger downright lying. He is often vague or chooses the "no comment" route. Is there a player though where he has publically ruled out as a player we are in for and then signed him though? I can´t think of one.

Arshavin?

Reyes too.

Stop bumping this thread! I get excited for nothing every time I see it at the top of the page.

Klaus wrote:

Stop bumping this thread! I get excited for nothing every time I see it at the top of the page.

....

oops!

Honestly can't see us going for this guy. Which is weird. Maybe Wenger feels he would kill Ramsey and he'd rather have M'Vila?

Jack van Gercott wrote:

Guys just a quick reminder - you mustn't bump this thread mmmkay

thanks for the link.

Calcio_RH_UK Richard Hall
@MattLawExpress Im hearing news from Italy that Montolivo is on his way to London and is Arsenals midfield signing for today