Caligula wrote:

I actually want Kagawa less now than I did before. I was watching Dortmund with all their technically sound little players zipping around, passing to each other in little triangles and having nightmares about our Fabregas/Hleb days. Again, all technically superior to Walcott & Gervinho, but the latter combination just seems to have a bit more cut and thrust about it

kagawa has a bit of ljungberg about him, too, though. he likes to zip towards goal and he likes to score. i personally wouldnt mind being able to play 442 sometimes, and kagawa would let us do that.

y va marquer wrote:

Tim's assessment of Gotze from the Tezza thread.

Tim wrote:

I've said before that in Gotze I see a really nice technical footballer who will be a great asset in the right team. He'll rack up a lot of assists because he has fantastic vision and is incredibly sharp in and around the box. He also plays on the last shoulder more naturally than Nasri. But I dont see a player that is going to rip teams to shreds in the same way that I see Hazard or Eriksen doing.

Maybe that 'unplayable' factor for Gotze will come as and when he moves inside to play centrally.

I find myself agreeing with both tim and Ron burgundy often when it comes to player evaluation

Probably out wide. I can't see Wenger putting him in the middle ahead of Wilshere or Ramsey. I wonder, what do people who have seen a lot of him think of his goalscoring potential from the flank?

Hmmm, I'd rather have him play ahead of two from song, jack or arteta. Keep tht bastard pace out wide and feed it

That's probably what i'd prefer too, but i don't see Wenger doing that. Well i don't know actually. I like our approach of pacy goal-scorers outside, and it's what i've wanted for quite a while (07/08 onwards). Gotze's no slouch though and he can play off the shoulder fairly well so i get the feeling that Wenger would try and turn him into was Nasri was for 3 months last season.

I've been wondering for a while if Jack and Arteta behind a playmaker would work, so that we could get someone with gotze quality in but still maintain our directness down the flanks.

We will not get this player.

Wenger has confirmed to German TV that we're interested in Goetze:

"For me, Mario Gotze is a player for the future," Wenger told German TV station SAT1 TV after the match.

"He is very talented, has a great attitude. It's no surprise to me that all big European clubs show interest in him, also we do."

From German TV - Arsène Wenger: Many European clubs are after Götze. Reporter: You too? Wenger (smiles): Yes.

Klopp did say beforehand there was no chance of him leaving in january. even if they go out of the cl, they are still in the hunt for the bundesliga. and then there's euro 2012, where he will almost certainly star, making a summer transfer tough also. the odds are stacked against us getting this kid.

He was definitely not leaving in Janurary. To us or anyone else.

The good news is that City, Madrid and Barcelona have enough play makers and probably won't be interested. I'm surprised Chelsea and United aren't in for him because they need an injection of creativity more than we do!

I didn't think Chelsea were in for Mata either - until the ended up signing him.
Gotze could end up at any of the top clubs, it won't be easy to land him here.

I wouldn't even think about Goetze if I were you guys. If you want a Dortmund player, focus your energies on Kagawa or even someone less well known like Perisic. Goetze is going to break y'alls' hearts like Robinho, Ibra or others we've been linked with before.

Carl Jenkinson wrote:

He's signing for us.

Borussia's director of sport - Herr Zorc - is telling us to back-off

"It surprises me how much ignorance big parts of the media show in the way they handle this subject,"
"All the relevant people on this topic - the player, his family, the player's agent and not least us as a club have all said clearly: There will be no transfer for Mario Gotze.
"Now you can throw the topic in a heavy chest and let cobwebs grow on it"

😆

Gotze is too high profile and sought after for us to have any chance of signing. He's an utter pipe dream at the moment.

“#Gotze likes the way #Arsenal play the game and for him there are only two clubs where he’d play once he moves - #AFC or #FCB." #BVB Source

from the ever-reliable twitter source, found here

i just want the next attacker we sign to be a bit special, or at least potentially. no more merely functional footballers please, we have a glut of them already.

Mario Götze? Based on recent summers we're more likely to sign Mario Goatse.