Daily Bits and Bobs

Bentaleb good enough for Arsenal? Monreal after bumper deal?

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

Well, that’s that then until early July and the pre-season tour/games. What on earth are we going to chat about during the next 8 weeks?

Wimbledon?
The Ashes?
Athletics?
Holidays?
(Not Sepp Blatter and FIFA I hope.)

The actual answer to that question is probably what we chat about for the other 44 weeks – transfers! Talking of which, the hot story this morning relates to Nabil Bentaleb. Apparently he’s cross because he’s not been offered a new contract, despite having three years left on his current one, and Arsenal are interested in signing him. Yeah, right!

Victor Wanyama is back in the Arsenal news too, apparently he’s told Kenyan TV that ‘it would be nice to move to Arsenal’.

His midfield mate Morgan Schneiderlin has today posted a message on Instagram saying:

‘Thinking about what the future holds…’

Sticking with the ‘making it up’ theme……..

Nacho Monreal has been strongly linked with a move back to Spain, despite the player himself claiming that he is happy at Arsenal and wants to stay. And of course the usual rumour sites have been full of reported interest in our stylish Spanish left-back by La Liga outfits Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid. An €8 million fee has even been suggested although I haven’t a clue who dreams this stuff up?

Monreal is 29, at the peak of his powers and quite easily one of the best left-backs in England and probably Europe or anywhere. How on earth do you replace that amount of talent, technique and class for £5.7million?

The whole fee thing is a joke and is a non-starter in my view and if he is happy to stay, then it’s a simple, he has to stay.

Adam was the first person to really bring my attention how good a player Nacho was. Before then, I had felt that he was a little lightweight for the English game, but a spell at centre-half earlier in the season seemed to toughen him up and give him a new perspective on the job in England. Since he returned to his normal position he has held off the challenge of Kieran Gibbs and become a major component of the defensive improvement we’ve all witnessed since the turn of the year.

When I first heard the news that Nacho has turned down Arsenals offer of a new contract, I thought that there must be personal reasons, family and that kind of thing that had forced him into considering leaving us and returning to his native Spain. But those recent comments in the Middle East seemed to point towards him wanting a nice pay rise at a stage of his career where his next deal will be his last really good one.

Understandable really. So Nacho is staying.

Tomas Rosicky seems to be set to stay for at least another year, as Arsenal have activated the clause in his contract which means he’ll be staying for at least 2015/16. Tomas was probably the most unlucky senior player to emerge from the victory at Wembley. He was the one who missed out altogether from the squad and could have quite easily been on the bench instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had the latter not recovered enough fitness. He looked a bit left out of things, which isn’t surprising because at his age, FA Cup final opportunities are fast running out.

I’m a bit mystified by his lack of game time over the last few weeks, but I’m delighted that he it set to stay.
Rosicky staying gives Wenger another year to replace him and his eventual successor may already be at the club?
Young Dan Crowley has the same silky skills as our Czech master and also shares with Rosicky, his eye for a goal. Hopefully Crowley will get some 1st team exposure in 2015/16, in the League Cup and possibly alongside TR07..?

Wenger has carefully overhauled his squad over the last 4 years, weeding out the underachievers and since the defection of Robin Van Persie he’s put together a really impressive squad. Yes, there are some areas of the team that need strengthening but all teams have that, even Barcelona…

Wenger has a unified group of players who have learnt how to win big games and compete with the wealthy, subsidised, rich-men’s toys that infect the EPL…

This coming season will be the next stage. When this group of players not only compete for 75% of the season, but for the entire 100% of it…

Written by Kev.

rico

105 thoughts on “Bentaleb good enough for Arsenal? Monreal after bumper deal?”

  2. andrewh1313 says:

    Would agree Kev, good post, be silly to lose Monreal. If I was Rosicky I would want out, shame as I love the guy, but he should be playing somewhere. Unless we could offer him a lead into coaching.

    rico, just a suggestion, but would it be a good idea to have who the main part of the post is written by, upfront, at start of their blog? I’m often thinking, oh rico thinks so and so, just to find at end its by another member!

  3. tsgh says:

    Morning Bentaleb is a top player…; He was one of the revelation 3 summers ago for the u-20 world cup with the likes of Thiago, Asier etc.

    Joe- apparently the Pogba deal will be announced but he won’t join until next year; Juve are happy with that arrangement.

    Maybe all conjecture…

    Recall how Barca signed Suarez, TV and Rakitic last summer by pushing for another appeal?

  9. scottfromoz says:

    Morning guys.
    Nacho was good from the start for us every time he had a run of games.
    He’s not a guy who can come in and hit the ground running, and when he did replace Gibbs for a game every now again, he was rusty, and subsequently criticised as a poor player.
    Gibbs is exactly the same for mine, so I say we are blessed with two top notch LB’s.
    The rumours are flying around, as usual 🙂

  11. Joe says:

    If Juventus are actually looking for the amount of money the are surposed to for Pogba we would never sign him.

  17. Canadian Gooner says:

    Good Morning to The Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.eat article

    Kev – Another great article. As for “What on earth are we going to chat about during the next 8 weeks?” Other than the proverbial transfer market reporting’s lies, damn lies, pipe dreams, rumours and lunatic ravings; we could have sex, drugs and rock & roll for the younger set or faster horses, younger women and older whisky for the older set like me. Please note, as with mathematics, there is a proper order of operations that each of those sets of topics should be consumed, ridden &/or indulged. Otherwise there may result permanent injury, embarassment &/or hearing loss.

    AGAG could give us a course in shoe selection and shopping. Rico could write about animal husbandry and vegetarian cooking. Adam could write about many subjects including, but not limited to, gourmet cooking and classic cars. Kev, you could write about the little known sights of London. Scott could write about dog racing and the upside down wildlife of Down Under.

    However, under NO circumstances are we to suffer talk of Spandex, red or otherwise.

  18. tsgh says:

    Rico- I have been saying for 2 years now he is the best Chilean midfielder but you keep telling me Charles is too short. 🙂
    Drake- we were after him last summer with Kramer; I think AW read Rico’s comments on his height and dropped the interest. 🙂
    Hunter is quoted as saying Pogba won’t be joining us.

    On a serious note Fernando Felicevich was asked and he said parapharaing ” there are some clubs who don’t like to discuss their business in public; so no comment”

    Brady also said he didn’t think Vidal was the Chilean we were after… 😉

  21. rico says:

    Morning Cg..

    Ts – now I have been labelled as a ‘sizeist’ Arsene Wenger can sign who he likes no matter how short they are. Then I can chuckle when the ball is played over the top of our midfield and keeper… lol

  24. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Afternoon Lovelies and Hunkies.

    Good post mate. I enjoyed all the cup final win bar TR07 not taking part of it. Lead him into coaching??? Him and Arteta should be kept there and channeled into that direction imo.

    bentaleb??? yeah right. imo a big fat NO. I dont like him and never will.

    Like many on here i would not like to see Monreal/Gibbs leave. Both are good full backs whom AW can rotate without hearing complaints. Humility is an asset as well.

  25. Wavy says:

    Morning.

    I’m here but I’m busy preparing for a hair cut! It takes courage you know? A visit to the tonsure maestro is not a thing to savour!

    New players……pah!

    I have the patience of a saint. I can wait for arsenal.com to make an announcement or two. Speculation I’ve had a few, too few to mention ……da di da di dah, di dah di dah dah, and repeat to the old Sinatra tune.

    That’s me, for now….I mean how hard is it to say, “short back and sides please, maestro”?

  28. Wavy says:

    Not gone yet, quite. Forgot to say good column Kev, but you won’t get me to commit to any wild ramblings! Until I do…………!

  29. Canadian Gooner says:

    Rico – The BPL season is finished, the FA Cup has been won and safely installed in an Emirates Stadium display case and we’re not in the UCL final. All the football we have left to talk about is the transfer window as the Women’s World Cup and the Copa America? haven`t started yet.

    We are pacing ourselves to avoid the bullshit overload of transfer rumours. It`s a shame isn`t it!

  31. Canadian Gooner says:

    Rico – A post from Canada you say. That is possible, perhaps.

    Ah!, the controversy of the world`s women having to play on artificial turf. FIFA officials and lab technicians, with a myriad of equipment, tested the newly laid artificial turf in Vancouver`s BC Place Stadium to certify that it performed like real grass.

    My apologies Rico, I`m in one of my irreverent and whimsical moods today, as can be seen in my previous postings. So, don`t take anything I say too seriously. I`ll give an article some thought.

  32. Canadian Gooner says:

    Rico – Perhaps one day it will be a woman we sign for the first team. Now that would give us something to talk/write about, especially if Arsenal are the first team to do so.

  36. Canadian Gooner says:

    Sterling will WALK OUT on Liverpool to force move to Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United or City;

    http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/582159/Raheem-Sterling-transfer-news-Liverpool-Rick-Parry

    This young man has shown great promise, but so have many others and many of those have failed to deliver. He could be setting himself up for a very fall. The media love to build and hype someone up so that their fall from grace is all the more dramatic.

    I hope our club can convince Theo to sign a new contract and we don`t have to consider Raheem. I don`t think he would be good for our team`s cohesion and morale.

  37. Canadian Gooner says:

    Andrew – I believe ManUre paid about 30 million pounds for Shaw, almost twice the estimated 16 million Arsenal paid for Chambers. The wages they pay Shaw is probably more than twice what Arsenal pay Chambers. Interesting what they`re willing to shell out when they are desperate. It could be even more ludicrous this summer. ManUre may yet provide some entertainment for we Gooners. Hopefully it is some comedic farce.

  43. Canadian Gooner says:

    Kev – Just put another bottle of GG on ice for the poor lad. I`m sure he`ll soon get over his disappointment.

    Funny thing, when I first saw the GG reference, I thought they were talking about George Graham.

  45. Canadian Gooner says:

    Off for the night. I`ll have to tune in for the UCL final as I want to watch our transfer target Arturo Vidal. Have a great day everyone.

    Keep The Faith!

  47. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Barcelona have reached an agreement with Pedro Rodriguez over a new contract that will run until 2019 and includes a €150 million [£110m] release clause.

    The 27-year-old’s previous deal was due to expire in June 2016 and he recently admitted that he was considering his options due to his lack of regular playing time.

    However, Pedro has decided to commit his future to Barcelona after all and will ink a three-year extension in the coming days.

    The Spain international came through the ranks of the Barca youth academy and has made over 300 appearances for the Catalans since making his first-team debut in 2008-09.

    Pedro has won five Liga titles with Barcelona so far, while also lifting the Champions League and Club World Cup twice each, as well as emerging victorious in the Copa del Rey on three occasions.

    The winger has netted 11 goals in 49 appearances in all competitions so far in 2014-15, but made it into Luis Enrique’s starting XI only 22 games.

  49. allezkev says:

    No CG, it wasn’t me…

    Pedro stays at Barcelona and pockets a big pay increase!

    Who would have thought that? (Yawn)

    That’s one less pile of crap that NewsNow can go on and on and on and on about.

    Although i expect the Bleacher Report to link us with a move for Pedro some time between now and August…
    Always ahead of the game, those boys… 🙁

  50. allezkev says:

    Actually, the Bleacher Report are linking Arsenal with a move for Arturo Vidal today.

    It’s quite amazing how they keep on digging up these ‘exclusives’….

  51. Micko says:

    Can only think Rosicky must be retiring at the end of next season or he would have left for one final foray, I’m sure the 90 odd grand a week to warm the bench next season never came into the equation.
    He’ll probably play more games for his Country than us.

    Kev, there’s always the weather, we’ve all got that in common.

  53. Micko says:

    Scattered on the four winds and all between but apparently summer is on the way kev…….Hoooray !

  54. joe says:

    Maybe that’s the problem with TR07 to much international football in his later years
    When most players his age have retired but on the other hand Wenger still gave the contract for another year

  55. joe says:

    I see the FAI were given a pay off not to take legal action over Henry’s handball in world cup play off.

  59. Lee says:

    Maybe Rosicky has been signed to help tempt Cech as they are best mates…apparently?!?!
    Rosicky really looks like Bruce Jenner…just saying!
    Cech, King Kong and Lacazette that’d be a good summer, imho!

  67. Micko says:

    It’s hard to dislike Poldi, think a lot of Gooners have a soft spot of him, only 12 months ago he was hugging Arsene on the pitch at Wembley, scored a few crackers for us along the way, good luck to him.

  68. Drake says:

    Rico only daiby,flamini and ryo would go free, podolski and campbell are those who would creat income like vela before buying new players

  69. Drake says:

    I think arteta is on his way out too,im just waiting for 30 june for confirmation about those who are on their way out and i have a feeling that jack is on his way out city are after him

  70. Micko says:

    Looking back now, Poldi and Merts, think most of us thought Poldi was gonna set the premiership on fire but it’s Merts who’s quietly gone about his business and brought a calmness to our defense, watch him and he always looks for the simple pass, never over complicates things, is never afraid to bark out instructions and once in a blue moon even goes up for a corner and scores the odd goal, long live the BFG !

  72. rico says:

    Drake, any club can let any player go for free if they both agree.nOod is rumoured to be off but he is still under contract…

  73. Drake says:

    Micko i think podolski did show his talent during half of the season on his first season and fallout with wenger,that when i last seen the real poldi…wonder what really happened

  75. rico says:

    Don’t think there’s been a fall out Drake, it’s possibly more to do with his lack of work rate, similar with Walcott….

  76. Micko says:

    That’s taking nothing away from Kosser either, been immense for us this season, couldn’t have been very far behind Alexis in the voting.

  77. Drake says:

    Rico i know that a club can let go a player free,we did the same with santos.it just that i wanted us to increase our transfer spendings like last season when we sold thomas and vela

  78. Micko says:

    rico, you only get out out what you put in, especially in an Arsene 11, work rate is everything, unless your name is Ozil….only jesting lol.

  80. rico says:

    Ha ha Micko. arsene Wenger has changed in that department hugely imo, we used to have many, too many players who didn’t work hard for the team, now he drops them…

  85. allezkev says:

    Lee, I really hope that Rosicky doesn’t go the way of Bruce Jenner…

    TR07 in a Versace dress really isn’t an image that I enjoy…

  89. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Good Morning Lovelies and Hunkies.

    Ginge…..a question for you seeing that you follow German footy.

    How much do you rate Timo Horn of FC Koln?? I saw a clip of him and was impressed. 6ft 4′. 22 years old. Is he any good?? better than what we have??

    I saw this and cracked up……what a deluded bunch of lads……..

    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/liverpools-signing-james-milner-after-beating-arsenal-massive-reds-says-phil-thompson-1504579

    beating Arsenal??? Is that a transfer trophy???

  91. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Morning Lady.

    They surely know how to crack people up.

    tbh I wanted Milner as he would have been a good player for us and English. But if he was afraid of not playing all the time then something is wrong with his head. But I also understand that at 29 his time is running out. hence him choosing the dippers. But at 165kpw he would have been a very expensive squad member and not play much as Alexis or Ozil.

    but what is pathetic is the fact that dippers seem to think that they had beaten Arsenal. lol

  93. Joe says:

    It’s part of Liverpool’s problem because a player who was a squad play at man city and would have been the same at Arsenal. Decides to play for them In their eyes it’s proof they are still a very important football club.

  96. Adam says:

    Morning Rico and all. A team that is looking to push on into the super elite needs better players than Milner. Four top players, obtained at considerable cost, would make a huge difference.

  99. Adam says:

    Hi Dev. I guess so but the overall strategy is what I am talking about. I don’t much like the way that top Euro football is heading but Arsenal are in the middle of it all and moving downwards is not an option. Buying Sanchez and Ozil showed the way I think. They can’t stick now, they have to twist.

  103. rico says:

    Morning Bondex..

    Adam, no-one in particular, but I’m not one who looks at a price to determine whether a player is good or not as sometimes there’s a bargain out there when a contract is due to expire etc…

    Cech would be a great addition imo, although I can’t see it happening because of Jose!

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