Arsenal eye Sissoko and Acquah for defensive midfield role
It is no secret that Arsene Wenger intends to add to his Arsenal squad in January, and a combative midfielder is one of the most important roles for him to fill. Two new names seem to have found themselves on the list of possible signings according to newspaper reports.
20-year old Ghanaian Afriye Acquah is currently playing for the Serie A side Parma, and is being called the new Michael Essien. According to the Sun, Arsenal are preparing a bid of around £8 million for the player, but that seems a bit steep, especially considering that his owner club, Palermo, loaned him out to Italian league rivals this summer. I would expect Wenger to go for a player who has much more experience.
A player with a good deal more experience, while still being just 23-years old is the French international Mussa Sissoko who plays for Toulouse in Ligue 1. Sissoko has been playing regularly for the French club since 2007 and has started to feature more regularly for the France team. The Sunday People reports that he has refused to sign a new contract, which Arsenal are preparing to exploit with an offer of £8 million. Newcastle have been tracking him, but he is holding out for Champions league football apparently.
Sissoko has been compared to the former Arsenal player Patrick Viera, and if he could get anywhere near that he would be a fantastic signing for the Gunners.
please santa i’ve been a good boy can we please get some quality signings in for january i promise to be good
COYG….
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Buy strootman! He is named the new Van bommel! isnt he exactly what we need? What Else do we need? Winger? Dusan Tadic and arda turan has some great stats and i Think they look quite useable to arsenal
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Lol lets get a world class player first…
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I Think we should have kept vela!
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Marouane fellanni is the man to get. He would add box to box steel that we need. Wenger should push the boat out for him. The pressure we are under to finishnin the top 4 we most certainly need a proven premier league player.
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what happened to M Villa, he wanted to join so where is he
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Get your f**king money out and spend it on world class players, not players from the shite french league for one!
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Acquah??? first I’ve heard of him! And i think it would be futile to sign such a young player to fill such a vital role in our starting 11.
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How about we sign someone we actually know
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Wenger will buy some unknown, unproven, and unacceptable over priced and overpaid plank from some shitty club outside the premier league. Trying to unearth a “gem” . Lol. For every gem he “discovers” he digs up 3 turds!
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it’s either sissoko or capoue i think but i would prefer kevin strootman + stephan el Shaarawy & llorente/adrian lopez
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Luis Gustavo!
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acquah who? for a moment i thought it was alberto aquilani we need proven players don’t we have enough kids we are not an academy
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in last 4 yrs weve sold fabregas 35 mil nasri 22 mil rvp 24mil song 13mil kolo toure 16 mil adebayor 25 mil plus many more and lesser quality players fot 3 4 mil where as all that money gone we made profits on transfers this summer we shud have kept song 3 yrs on contract n we sell him for 13 mill joe allen went to lpool for 15 mil how the fuk does that work if we will sell our players for 20 mil plus we shud replace wiv the same valuation as a footballer is only valued on theyre abilitys
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luiz gustavo, zaha/sterling , get miyachi back, henry, use podlski as a cf, arteta as a cm, walcott and sagna new contracts and sell the deadwood
please santa?
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NO! Fellani/M’Vila/Capoue would do.
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y sign acquah wen we av FRIMPONG!
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Vin Diesel
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Ben Arfa, Fellaini, Luke Shaw, Henry loan, Andre Ayew.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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i rate sissokho
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Football aside. My computer security (McAfee) have blocked the Gooner News website as being risky and dangerous. I am logging into Just Arsenal.com direct. I`ve suspected this for some time, bloggers beware.
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‘It is no secret that Arsene Wenger intends to add to his Arsenal squad in January.’
The more and more I read statements like this the more I feel as though we’re going to spend nothing. You watch, wins against Reading, Wigan and West Ham and Wenger will go into January ranting and raving about how Gervinho is at the same standard as Messi, and how he expects Giroud to score as many as RVP by the end of the season.
I imagine we’ll buy nothing for the first 3 weeks and then maybe 1 or 2 panic buys who are players we’ve never heard of.
Sorry to be negative, but you know it is as likely to happen.
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i dont understand why all of you want andrian… he is not that good… CERTAINLY NOT WORLD CLASS
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danielle de rossi he could leave roma in jan after bust up with manager or julian draxler
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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@gooner ok if not adrian lopez then ben arfa
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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adrian lopez had a terrible game against barca next target please
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Wenger should strengthen with players that have EPL experience. That’s exactly what Ferguson does. Diame and Demba Ba should be okay for January. We want players who will hit the ground running!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Funny how we call £8 million for a replacement(Song) def Midfielder too steep ha. How about we use the money from Alex Song deal to get a proper replacement. That will mean we are not selling for profit but just replacing with someone who plays the position better. Trying to make a 50% profit every time we a replacing a player is why we are where we are. Also going into a season with 1 known good striker, no Def Mid etc is just a sign of not buying till there is a cheap option. Same as happened after Fabregas left. No replacement for a whole season just to protect profit. Pathetic and change needed
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We need real quality not somebody that will just add depth. The real key is to get a real leader too. Areas of need are LB, DM and striker. Wenger won’t address all of them so in my opinion he needs to get a quality physical defensive midfielder and a striker. I just hope he won’t go for cheaper options as he usually does.
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Haba! Mr Wanger which one u de? So so low price and so so low quality. Ps spend money and get us top proven quality players and not mediocres?
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a defensive midfielder for cheap like diame for west ham, or splash out on Bastian Schweinsteiger maybe Sami Khedira
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@ Jon
cheaper options doesnt guarantee they will perform…same for expensive options too…
but hope Wenger sign the right players …..
Arsenal do need a physical and very experience DM
together with a pacey Striker….
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Wenger stated that when:
- Fabregas
- Eboue
- Walcott
return from the world cup, it will be like signing three new players again.
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Wenger!!! U Need Help!!! how Come Its Always Kids and D Bad Players Dat Get Linked 2 Arsenal????
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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I’ve realized that a lot of players hold out contract talks with clubs because they would rather play Champions League Football. If Arsenal continues on this path, we won’t be able to look so attractive. We won’t be able to offer Champions League football. Then what… We need to make an extreme change to the team immediately.
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@ Paul
Players are human in reality…they do get injured and have emotions…
There will be lots of factors affecting their performances…
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This is ridiculous…
Fifa 2013 fans comparing players to their Fifa 2013 bots….
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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I’ve just noticed, there’s 18 points difference between us and Man U who are on top. We are officially a mediocre club. Only 8 years ago we were Invincibles, the Best. There’s another thing that I’ve realized – ARSENAL FC FANS (including me) – are the most naive people on the Earth, we’ve been fooled by them foxes, now we are HISTORY… How about we stop lying to ourselves first and admit – things gone terribly bad. Then we boycott the matches and cut them f*ckers of their money-oxygen !!!
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How about we get Chuck Norris to be our new strong-physical Defensive Midfielder ???
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i’d like diame but i guess his injured so that’s no good but sissoko looks like a very good option-his experienced and quite able to develop to be even better AND WE’VE BEEN LINKED WITH HIM BEFORE!, BUT can he fit in STRAIGHT AWAY or is he gonna take a while? I think maroune fellaini//chieke tiote/Mohamed diame should be our only options bt then again PL experience doesn’t guarantee success i mean look at torres, charlie adam and co.
so i’ll let arsene judge this one, if he flops then it’s arsene’s nail to the coffin not mine
anyway demba ba has just declared he “dreams of arsenal” at 7.5m u should sign him! a real goal poacher and clinical finisher reminds of adebayor in his prime.
8m-sissoko, 17m-isco, 7.5m Demba Ba
keep walcott, loan ramsey and let’s get our spot from spuds!
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Get Paul Pogba, he’s been playing really good for Juve this year and with Vidal, Marchisio,Asamoah there he he will be looking for more playing time but we need to make him a good offer considering how well Juve are doing
Pogba-Wilshere
Cazorla
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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The terrible purchases never seem to end. I’m not surprised though, and i expected this. Wenger is no doubt the most stubborn manager in world football. We’ll keep going for cheap/on sale, average players until Wenger’s contract runs out. I’m not saying we should spend, spend spend, but when we spend it should be on players we know will make an impact. Ba, Huntelaar, Strootman, Zaha, are all reasonable possibilities for us, no surprise we won’t take them. If these nobody’s are coming in at least ship out the nobodys and deadweight we still have (Squillaci, Djourou, Chamakh, Gervinho)
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Chicarato Hernandez however his name is spelt (manchester utd striker) is not happy at man utd because of the amount of games he plays, if wenger is not going to buy falcoa, which i think he wont, then he should buy hernandez from man utd, this would be great, excellent striker. and a couple of more players obviously..
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@ Hafiz Rahman
Did you even read my comment? lol Your comment on the other hand, doesn’t really make sense.
Nothing in life is guaranteed, so of course when you buy an expensive player you can’t be 100% sure he will perform as expected.
When you buy cheaper options though, most of the time they will not perform as stars, that’s why they are cheap
to begin with.
Hence the saying: you get what you pay for.
There are exceptions of course. Vieira, Fabregas just to name couple but that is extremely rare.
Wenger used to be a master in that back in the day. He implemented scouting strategy that was much more sophisticated than most other teams. The problem is that now a days, everybody has a huge scouting team. It has been quite a few years, since he has bought somebody for cheap and that player turned into a world class player.
Maybe in his mind he still believes that he can keep buying cheap players and they will eventually become top quality players. That has not worked as we see the evidence of his failed project struggle week after week.
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we need a top draw winger as for defensive mid aquah is a really good player better than anyone ive seen in the premiership he wood be a great signing just like how use fan call diame good if u talk to seria a suporters you would know aquah is one of the best dm in there leauge
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@jon I think he is Gazidis’s counter-propaganda agent. Before you take his words seriously just check what kind of a ratings his comments normally get.
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I just watched some Arteta highlights from last year, and we definitely need a DM. Arteta is much better at offense than defense…
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Demba Ba just stated:
“The media know Arsenal need another striker and they know about my release clause (7.5 mil). They need to make their own mind up about it. Arsenal are one of those teams who makes you dream.”
He would be perfect choice for us and cheap as well. He is tall, physical, quick and technical. He would obviously be interested so now it’s up to you mr. Wenger.
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My wish list is Ba up front, Fellani to add some steel (and height) to the team, and a defender. I also like Diame but his heart problem is probably too bigger risk for Arsene. A winger that can cross cross the ball would be useful too!
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for me defensive mid would be strootman .. he’s too good .. falcao or cavani ou schurrle for striker
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WHY THE HELL ARE WE EVEN LOOKING AT THESE GUYS, WE NEED CLASS PLAYS, WHY IS IT THAT THE PREREQUIST FOR A PLAYER JOINING ARSENAL IS EITHER SPEAKING FRENCH, PLAYS IN FRENCH LIGUE 1, OR YOU’RE JUST UNKNOWN.
THIS IS BULL, ITS PLAYERS LIKE THIS THAT TURN OUT TO BE GERVINHO’S AND SQUIDS
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As long as AW is the manager,our new signings would be from french ligue 1.sagna,chamakh,squillaci,kosci,…..french time had doomed…..they had already passed their glory years…should focus on players from la liga instead.
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Wenger just frastuate himself after Song sale. Diaby is still kept in the house (Big brother)
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yeah heard demba ba’s interview with canal+ but he want’s 90 a week + 2m from his buyout clause secondly he is injury prone he failed a medical at stoke & at newcastle he survived that’s why he a 7.5m buyoutclause but i wouldn’t want to take a risk get llorente/huntelaar
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Some people start shouting get this player,get that player without even watching them play.
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We don’t need anyone.. We got Ramsey.. He can play everywhere
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I dnt know why some fans still think Wenger is d right man for arsenal. He is too stubborn. We have always been so close to winning titles from 2006 to 2010. But where Wenger needed to strengthen he did not, especially defense. He will never do. We should part ways with him if he doesn’t buy quality in January.
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Sissoko isn’t bad but should be a back-up. First choice midfielder should be either Fellaini (highly unlikely that we’ll get him in January or even the summer) or Kevin Strootman. As for a striker, I would love to see Stephen El Shaarawy, but with him we should go for one more striker (Dzeko, Chicharito, Ba, Illorente) and a versatile defender M’biwa would be pretty good.
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i feel our scout steve rowley watching psv vs ajax was watching erikson rather than strootmen.
erikson contract ends this summer and he has said he will leave in jan.
i feel he is worth buying. he is tricky, pacy, has good passing range, shoots long and also defends. he also participates in play and is always available. he ruled over man city def and is chance creator.
if he comes we can move cazorla to wing and may be podolski to rotate with giroud.
just get a dm, erikson, may be one of ba or huntleer or lorente.
we are gone offload squillaci, chamakh, djohorou, arshavin, fabianski, mannone and may be santos. walcott will go for sure. many fring players are having their contract ending now.
spend 30 to 40 millon and save your job wenger.
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Sissoko is not a defensive midfielder. Anyone who actually bothered looking one of Toulouses games up would know this. He’s a Box-to-box player in the style of Diaby and Vidal of Juve. Only not yet as good at holding on to the ball as either. Could be a good fit. Though i maintain we should get more CB and do 3-5-2 everything speaks for it. 3 man midfield would fit perfectly with this idea, our wingbacks use 80 percent of their time charging forward, leaving the back two exposed; players like Theo, Ox, Rambo and Lukas (shit, those sound like cartoon characters) wouldn’t be played out of position; Arteta would be able to operate a little freer and thus shoot more.
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M’Vila – problem F*CKING solved.
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i wont mind jet li for the strike position. i think he plays shaolin soccer very well. he will perfectly replace chamahk. lols.
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Wenger should’ve demanded £10m + Hernandez for RVP but as always, Kroenke would rather take the cash than a good player.
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Guys talking bout M’vila… We didn’t buy him because he’s got conduct issues. He isn’t the easiest going person as he’s been in fights before the world cup. He also wasn’t performing as well in the national team as he was in club.
unless u still think we should get anyone regardless of team atmosphere, but Strootman/Fellaini/Diame all looks like a better option. Especially Fellaini and Diame who’s got EPL experience. Fellaini has already stated he’s sticking with Everton, so that leaves either Strootman or Diame.
sissoko is also a good choice, but I don’t think trying to find the next Vieira down to the level of ethnicity and nationality is a great idea to begin with.
At this point, unless Wenger can convince that with the added player that they will get champions league football, only players from weaker teams will join.
this is ultimately why sagna and Walcott is holding out. They’re seeing a potential danger of losing champions league football, which will effect they’re growth and their value as well. I wouldn’t blame walcott and sagna at this point. Too much has been done wrong to get to this state of things, and it has more to do with Wenger than anyone else.
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I know we of course need to buy some players, but in the short term it would probably help just as much if we played the players we do have in their ACTUAL positions, and played the best players we actually have.
I am sick of seeing Podolski on the left. He is a deadly finisher, but we hardly ever see that with him stuck out on the wing where he doesn’t offer a lot. Just put the guy in the middle and see what we can do from there. Give him a chance up top, then we can see in January if we do really need a striker.
As for other players, Ramsey and Gervinho shouldn’t be starting at all unless injury situations with other players force this.
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We need three proven players one at DM one at CF and maybe a winger. If we want to buy a few less unknown after that ok.
But we need 2 possibly 3 guys to hit the ground running in Jan.
Also concerned these three players not caught up in African Nations No offence but we need players available from start. But if we get someone after those who take a while but got potential we can take that too.
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