But maybe not the one that you think of. The Boss has seemed to cool to the idea of signing M’Vila as talk of his discipline problems on and off the pitch have painted him in an ever so un-flattering light. Likewise talks of a move for Toulouse Captain Etienne Capoue seem to have eased off as it seems that a price talk of roughly £10 million pounds has put us off, not because we are unwilling to spend the money but the simple fact that there is still some questions on the ability and potential of the player for that kind of outlay.
So now we will turn our attention to a player who broke through at the club last season to such a degree that the club saw fit to sign him to a new contract rumoured to keep him at the club until the summer of 2016, Ladies & Gentle Gooners Francis Coquelin. Originally signed by the club in 2008 after impressing while on trial the Frenchman made his breakthrough last season first coming to the attention of many Gooners in the crushing early season defeat at the hands of Manure, one of the few players to emerge from the game with any credit. He went on to make 17 appearances for the first team last season impressing many Gooners including myself, I was present at the Blackburn game and was impressed by his skill on the ball and surprising turn of pace.
One of the main reasons he is viewed as the man to rival Song in midfield is due to his performances for Lorient while on loan at the club in 2010. Signed by Christian Gourcoff (speaking of which, could you have a quiet word in the ear of your immensely talented creative midfielder sons ear about how great a club The Arse is) due to his knowledge of the French game and Coquelin’s impressive form for the French under-age international team, Le Coq impressed all and sundry at the club. So much so that Monsiuer Gourcoff looked to loan Le Coq for the entirety of last season, a request that was thankfully turned down. It was his impressive displays for Lorient that convinced Le Boss that he was ready for first team action last season.
I’m sure watching Alex Song last season we were all aware of two things
(1) he has become quite adept at pushing forward, his assist stats show us as much
(2) he isn’t always as defensively disciplined as he perhaps ought to be
This is where the idea that a defensive minded signing is a necessity seems to have some from, the constant press links with M’Vila seems to have distracted people that we already had a player capable of providing competition for Alex. Perhaps in a similar fashion to Flamini where he filled in at various positions people have forgotten that Francis is in fact a defensive midfielder. Hopefully he will have a season similar to Flamini’s last at the club, minus the overall twatishness of course. If he comes close to that kind of form than I feel we will be more than covered in that position.
While Frimmy also impressed last season prior to his loan and subsequent injury I think we will see him go out on loan to gain experience again, perhaps returning to Wolves. Eastmond has been also known to play in the midfield and despite featuring in the pre season tour to Asia I don’t expect Eastmond to feature for the first bar maybe a League Cup game. He is still to slight in frame and lacking in ability to really make an impact at the highest level.
While people may question my championing of Le Coq for this season bare one thing in mind, the £10 -£15 million saved on M’Vila or Capoue can be put towards a move for Cazorla or further reinforcing in other areas.
That’s enough of thoughts spilling forward from my head
Have a good weekend everyone
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