Following the impressive victory against Fulham, Arsenal has been on the spotlight yet again, as the fans still expect the club to delve into the transfer market to sign quality players that will improve the team. This has been a very painful summer to say the least, as the Gunners have missed out on a lot of transfer targets that would have contributed to the team’s cause this season.
The aftermath of the Aston Villa debacle was very unbearable as the fans voiced their frustrations on the club’s inactivity to spend money despite the fact that the club’s resources makes them capable enough to get the very best talent in the business. Many have expected Arsene Wenger to go on a trolley dash to sign some players and the latest transfer target is Newcastle’s midfield maestro, Yohan Cabaye.
Some fans believe that Arsenal can do a whole lot better than swooping for the French midfielder, as his style of play has some similarities to the injured Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey, a player in a very rich vein of form. Lukasz Fabianski has lauded the midfielder’s vast improvement in recent weeks and Wenger has followed suit as well.
The Gunners had an initial £10m bid that was swiftly rejected (via BBC Sport) by the Newcastle hierarchy, and it has been expected that the Gunners were going to at least, make an improved bid for the midfielder. The Frenchman has also decided to make things untenable at St. Jame’s Park as he has refused for play for the Magpies in their opening games in the Premier League. Cabaye is hell-bent on playing Champions League football this season in his bid to be a vital part of France’s World Cup squad this summer.
His manager, Alan Pardew, is clearly not happy with the situation, but he wants it to be resolved as quickly as possible,
“The situation’s quite simple, really. We need to resolve this and get ourselves in a position where if he stays – great – and if he doesn’t, then we get someone equally as good.
“That is probably where we’re at, and I don’t really want to say any more than that.”
It’s glaring that Cabaye is probably causing some disruptions in the dressing room, so the sooner they get him off their books and find an ideal replacement, the better for everyone at Newcastle. The million dollar question would be – if Arsenal breaks bank for a player like Cabaye, a player would have to go to the bench for the big-money signing, and who will it be? Will Arteta fail to get back into the team on his return to full fitness or would Ramsey be sacrificed to allow Cabaye play alongside Arteta?
Then of course, there were reports from the Guardian about a potential move for free agent, Mathieu Flamini.
This statistical analysis from Think Football juxtaposed between Cabaye and Arsenal’s current options in central midfield, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta. The Frenchman’s passing accuracy was lower than that of his counterparts but his tackles and interceptions per game were at par with Mikel Arteta.
With the Spaniard out for a while, Cabaye would be a perfect fit to play alongside Ramsey in midfield as he’s more or less an Arteta-esque prototype and he would offer the Gunners a good outlet with set pieces, thereby relieving the likes of Theo Walcott from taking dead balls.
However, there could be a cause for concern as the Metro reports that Paris St. Germain plans to hijack the deal with a £17m offer for the Frenchman. This summer, Arsenal has lost out of many transfer targets after other European clubs showed keen interest on those players and of course, offered higher bids than the Gunners.
The Mirror reports that Arsenal is planning to make a fresh bid of £20m for Cabaye but I believe that it’s highly unlikely. Arsenal can certainly afford to splash such a huge wad of cash on the midfielder but many fans have been casting their doubts on whether the player is worth that kind of money. The transfer market has been very inflated in recent times and the Premier League has seen some astronomical transfer fees splurged in recent times so a £20m move for a Newcastle midfielder won’t raise any eyebrows.
I’ll keep you updated as the situation develops and hopefully, we hope to see a new recruit before the transfer deadline day reaches, because Arsenal is running out of time.
Sayonara.
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