I believe his Dad said something along the lines that he should go to a club like PSV before making a bigger move. Looks like it’s panned out nicely for him so far. I really liked him and Leicester’s Soumare.
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What is his technical profile like? Is he press resistant? Is he good at moving the ball and recycling possession? Can he dribble?
Based on what i’ve read, he’s above average as a passer but I’d say he’s not a player who meets the top level technical threshold of this current Arsenal side but his skillset is to a level where we can ignore that. He keeps it pretty simple and can recycle pretty well imo
I’d say he can bring the ball out but he’s not going to be a high level playing in bringing the ball forward at his feet like Partey. There’s scope to improve
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Doesn’t sound like what we need then.
The issue for me is I don’t want to be City lite on the pitch, the system doesn’t work without Pep or an 11 full of elite players.
I think if you have a midfield full of highly technical players who are shallow on the backend it’s a tactical flaw and an issue with squad composition.
It’s absolutely true someone like Ndidi would improve our 11 with his skillset despite not being a highly technical player
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Tbf, having progressive midfielders isn’t a Pep exclusive anymore.
And with Arteta here, I don’t see why we would sign a player that won’t fit the way he wants to play.
The defensive players in the best teams are all extremely highly technical though. Maybe casemeiro is an exception?
Yep, even Casemiro is fairly progressive himself though. Not your traditional destroyer.
I think with Tchouameni and Camavinga coming in though, they’re also moving towards highly technical midfielders in deep positions.
Casemiro is totally a destroyer, ball handling duties are only for Kroos and Modric
He’s weak sauce with the ball
I don’t agree with this at all. He’s not an outrageously elegant midfielder but he’s absolutely good on the ball with a solid range of passing.
I’ve seen him make plenty of passes between the lines to break teams and has a very high attempted pass and pass completion rate. I don’t have the statistics at hand but Casemiro is a solid passer of the ball
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He’s a butcher IMO who at Real walks around with a license to kill, falls very short of other top class defensive midfielders who are genuine hybrids.
I don’t rate his ability on the ball, Modric and Kroos are tasked with handling the ball to the degree they have been for a reason
He could never perform the Partey role for us and would be exposed
Part of it is he is an absolute freak defensively and modric and Kroos are all time great technicians.
I think it more a case of elite clubs having the means and status to afford the very best technicians at every position.
A player like Neves who I’d love here and would be perfect for the 6 role, is he financially within our reach? Maybe we have to wait to poach the next highly technical destroyer from France cause they get snapped quick
I’m not going to comment on current speculation, but in terms of our midfield, anyone else wondering whether we should try to gatecrash Utd’s move for Frenkie de Jong? Fee being suggested was around £65m which is affordable for us. Rumour is that he isn’t keen on Utd move, and is an Arsenal fan. Chelsea also rumoured today to be interested.
My understanding is that he prefers to play at the base of a midfield in that holding DM role, so could be a perfect acquisition for us. I’d still love Declan Rice at Arsenal, but this would be a much cheaper option.
Really? Where have you seen that suggested?
Stated himself he prefers the 8 spot where he can touch the ball and influence often
I remember reading an article at the time…it has been picked up in multiple places, but here is a reference in The Mirror
Key extract from articl and quote from de Jong himself was as follows:
De Jong has often been used on the right of a midfield three with [Barcelona, and admitted following the Netherland’s Nations League emphatic win over Belgium that he prefers a deeper role.
He told reporters: "I play a lot differently here than I do at Barça. I think this suits me much better. I like to be the first player to receive the ball from the defenders.”
Basically confirms he prefers a No.6 role…can play more advanced though as well.
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FDJ is on 400k a week, 200k paid by Barca and 200k paid by Nike apparently. Essentially what I’ve read - take this with a grain of salt, is that he still has an amazing amount of unpaid wages owed to him from Barca and he’s not going to walk away from that- as you fucking wouldn’t.
It also sounds like he’s not going to move club to forfeit his wages at Barca to come somewhere else to earn less. The entire thing is like our Auba/Ozil situation except a million times worse because we actually had the funds to pay them to fuck off.
There’s unlikely transfers then there’s this one. It’s not even like Sterling/Gnabry where we could maybe fudge the books a little with a massive sign on fee. There’s no economy in the world where this would be a healthy move for us. Might not even be viable period depending on what he wants per week at his next club.
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Supposedly £17m in deferred wages
Yep no wonder Laporta said he’s not for sale the other day lmao
He’s probably like “show me the money!”
Fair - I not sure he could cut it as 6 in the PL. I think it’s a waste of his attacking skillset in the final third. You can’t argue with the player though
I’m not sure why we aren’t chasing Neves tbh. I think he’s be perfect for Arteta’s system, 2 years left on his deal.
Would pay £50m for his talent
