A representative from Spanish club Atlético Madrid is currently in Ghana trying to tie up a deal for Torric Jibril. The Hearts Of Oak youngster recently accepted the offer of a trial from Arsenal, but Atlético are trying to jump the Que and snap up the exciting prospect.
Madrid scouting director Rafa Juanes is keen to complete the transfer quickly, however initial reports suggest that Arsenal already have a deal in place to sign the player, subject to his completion of the aforementioned trial. It is not the first time Madrid have snapped up a young Ghanaian, as they signed Jibril’s International team mate Sadick Adams last summer, who is progressing well in their B team.
The player himself favours a move to Arsenal, and believes that the style of the club suits his own.
“I am ready to play under coach Wenger and I will be happy to show the world what I can do.I like the style of play of Arsenal because of the silky skills and that is what I can add to the team.”
“If I am given the chance I know I can play in the first team – I am not afraid. We play before big crowds and even though they call me a small boy I am not afraid of them.”
His agent also had his bit to say, and hyped up his client saying he has “unbelievable qualities”, no doubt to try and inflate the overall transfer fee. It is widely expected the player will leave for $2 million US Dollars, which i am informed is just over £1.5 million pounds.
In other news, Arsene Wenger speaking with French TV hinted that he could be interested in bringing veteran defender Lilian Thuram to the club. It has been mooted the French International, who’s contract with Barcelona recently expired, could join Arsenal in a player-coach role, which would see him working as assistant to Neil Banfield in the Reserves. Wenger recently admitted his side were in need of defensive reinforcements and said:
“Yes, he is a player i know very well. He can add experience and quality”
With Thanks To Vince For Uploading The Interview From Telefoot, You Can View It Here
Meanwhile it is being reported that former Arsenal player turned scout, Gilles Grimandi has been snapped up by Paris Saint German. The French side have had a difficult season despite reaching the French League Cup final, however are set to recruited Grimandi as their head of scouting for next season.
The news will come as a blow to Arsene Wenger and Steve Rowley, who have both trusted Gilles to find talented young prospects from his homeland, which include Gilles Sunu and more recently Francis Coquelin. It is thought that Wenger could not fit him in his long term scouting network, but used his contacts to get him the job at PSG.
I for one would like to thank Gilles for his services both as a player, and more recently as a scout and wish him all the best for the future.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Sad to see Gilles go, I remember the Bergkamp testimonial game where he hacked down a through on goal Edgar Davids – classic Gilles!
So do you think Thuram will come to us JS? and do you know anything about this EDU coming back to us rumour?
Thuraaaaaaaaaaam???
Thuram as a defensive coach? Sounds very interesting.
Sad news about the Grimster tho
I doubt Grimandi leaving comes as a blow or a surprise to Wenger as he was most likely recommended by Wenger to PSG’s new president. Wenger is VERY close to PSG. He has close ties to the manager Paul Le Guen (a protege of sorts) and now the president Charles Villeneuve who was backed by Wenger. And if Grimandi gets the Football Director or Director of Scouting job then that too is another Wenger man in a position of power at PSG. The top 3 guys would all be Wenger’s choices. Wenger could very well end up as the president of PSG when he retires from management.
Just want to say big thanks to Vince, for translating the interview.
Secondly, maybe i mean Thuram is really old now, and i dont know what he can offer us as a player. But as a coach, working with some of our young players, could be fantastic.
I have always admired Thuram as a player but at 36 i suspect if he would do any good! We should bring in a long term prospect!
girmandi is the best scouy in the world and eh mut staying in arsenal and wenger
btw xllent blog here mate!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuVT6-iRR2U&feature=related
thats the link for davids tackle.
legend!
Intresting about Thuram. Could help few of youth players.
Glad to see Jibril fancies us instead of Atletico.
gilles was responsible for tracking down and bringing in sagna was he not? it’s a shame he’s going, but it’ll be good for psg, who need someone like gilles!!
thuram? hmmm… strange but interesting, i think i’d prefer keown or adams as defensive coach to be honest!
Legendary tackle !! one of those videos you NEVER get tired of watching.
I think its fair to say most young players favour us over everybody else, his agent said that having people like Adebayor and Toure helps
grimandi – fk
I personally think that Thuram would be just perfect recruit. I mean there’s plenty of potential at our club allready and to have such an experienced player to help them to get to the next level would be great. I for example believe that Big Phil still has great potential to become a very good central defender. And with the help of Lilian, that would be more than possible. And what could Nordtveit learn from this worldcup winner? Bring him in!
..and it can be also good news for William Gallas.
For people like Nordtviet to learn from Thuram would be amazing
Thuram as part of the coaching staff? Hmmm doesn’t sound bad at all! All the best to the “Grim Reaper” I used to call him that when he played…lame I know lol.
Can Thuram speak English?
Could be a Language Barrier with likes of Hoyte and Nordtveit.
Personally i believe the time has come for Senderos to move on. I firmly believe that Song is a better prospect at centre back and also with Djouro and Nordveit covering Song.
Yes i think he can Jonty, i know he speaks Italian but he is a very intelligent man, something Wenger likes in his players
Btw, would us letting Grimandi move to PSG allow Chantome to move the other way. Apparently he is a like for like replacement for £lamini
JS, i know Wenger mentioned that he needed to recruit defensively in order to cope with the direct long ball game that a lot of teams play against us. Surely Thuram can’t be who he was talking about, as he is the same height and build as Gallas and Toure…. Do you have any idea who that could possibly be? Because i watch a lot of european football and really there are not a lot of quality centre backs in that mold out there. The only one i could think of was Alex (which obviously isn’t going to happen). Or do you think that comment was just a bluff and that in fact he will go with the same defence next year?
thuram has been poor this season, he’s too old now to actually play effectively.
Is this grimandi thing very bad or what?
It’s terrific news that Thuram could become a defensive coach – over on gunnerblog where I mostly chat shit with other (usually intelligent) Arsenal fans, most of the season (and not just post-Brum) we have said that a defensive coach would be more important than a new CB. Look at the wonders Keown did working with Senderos and Djorou for the CL final run. Someone working exclusively with them just on how to defend could be most important. And remember Gallas and Toure are both excellent defenders who were in control most of the season; with someone like Thuram to keep a level head on our defenders shoulders they could work at their best all season. Also, he offers a great deal of experience at full back that possibly signing Adam’s wouldn’t.
he’d also help ingnasi miquel who will be playing for us and apparently plays alot like thuram.
Thuram has won the world cup……..with all due respect, what has Keown and Adams won? Still I love then both.
I think bringing Thuram in in any capacity couldn’t hurt.
Thuram speaks at least 3 languages, of which two are French and Spanish. He should fit in fine and learn the language in OK time (and remember a LOT of English comes from French).
He’d offer great enthusiasm to both Sagna and Gallas, who both supposedly idolise him, and I’m guessing being the best French defender of the past ten years wouldn’t hurt in the eyes of Clichy either.
I can’t see anyway this hurts us. I know he’d be bought on as a Player/Coach but other than back-up to Clichy I can’t see him playing. And even though he is much slower than in his hey-day, his experience would really help in the back 4, especially as Clichy can’t have another season like this, playing so much. Look at Maldini and Makelele, age may slow players down to snails pace, but they are so effective in terms of positioning and such that they are still worth playing (well at least against lesser teams).
Pimpim: I believe we only have 1 person at the club who has that honour. Actually, I think he is the only person in the premiership with it. And he is seen as second choice and might leave! To me Adams is in the top 10 defenders of all time. Even if he didn’t win a lot, he sure knew how to kill attacks. If we hired both Adams and Thuram, I would be over the bloody moon.
definatly be a super asset to the club plus adams and we will be banging
The Grimandi leaving thing is just a rumour at the moment..
can anyone tell me about the EDU rumour please!
Whoever said Thuram has done more because he won the WC, what?
Thuram was only a single player in a whole team which won it. He didn’t win it single handedly. If Adams had been in the French national team then instead he would have won it too, that’s a ridiculous point. Teams win trophies, not players. If you think Thuram is/was better than Adams and Keown fine, but the argument about trophies is really ridiculous and unfair.
thuram would be good as a coach but i think people are right to question his usefulness as a player. however wenger has never been one to hang onto old players if he didnt feel they can do a job so he wouldnt be interested in thuram unless he felt he was still up to it. in regards to grimandi i do not see this as a major blow. he has obviously done a good job for arsenal but was not viewed as indispensable to wenger. i have no doubts either that wenger will maintain a good relationship with grimandi and be able to speak with him about his views on players. because it is unlikely arsenal and psg will be competing for the same players. except maybe french youth players, but i imagine arsenal will hold a bigger draw in this situation or wenger may be interested to see how they develop at psg. as people have pointed out he has strong links with all the key players there. this is something that wenger may have well considered
Actually theres talk in the French press about Thuram going to PSG with an actual quote from him. Thuram as player manager would be good but to think he would solve our long ball vulnerability would be madness
can anyone tell me about the EDU rumour please!
JamJam said this on May 26, 2008 at 6:48 pm
AW doesn’t re-sign old players. End of.
Ash: No and yes. When we had Keown as a defensive coach, long balls weren’t a problem for the likes of Senderos, Djorou and Toure. None of these players are specialists for our problem, but we had someone specifically helping them with it so it wasn’t a problem. To have a coach focusing on helping our defense with its major issues will have a tremendous effect. However, yes, sticking Thuram at CB instead of Gallas or Toure will not help.
2 million USD is roughly worth 1 million sterling at the moment, not 1.5.
http://markets.ft.com/markets/currencies.asp
Edu rumour? wwww.goonertalk.wordpress.com
Sam I think its just plain lack of height. Toure and Gallas are too short. Senderos doesnt have a problem with the long balls but he’s just too slow on the ground just remember the way he was glued to the ground when Torres score that goal. Senderos will never be in the pitch for teams like UTD, Chelsea, Milan etc etc. Toure doesnt need a defensive coach at 27! Djourou needs some coaching he’s built like a giant but the guy is a wimp
SAMUEL
can i ask why we dont have keown as a defensive coach nowadays?
Hey JamJam, here is link about Edu rumour for ya – enjoy!
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/mostpopular.var.2297160.mostviewed.arsenal_could_bring_back_former_star_edu.php
what happened to arsenal signing mark milligan
SAMUEL, actually not a lot of English comes from French but they both originate from Latin and that’s why they’re similar.
Keown’s probably not defensive coach cos he didn’t want to take the job up full time or maybe it was just a desperate measure becos we had so many injuries at the time.
Grimandi is a legend, good player but a brilliant scout, done so much for the club in both roles aswell, we have him to thank for alot of the players we’ve got over the years and its sad hes gone (and slightly worrying) but im sure we’ll survive and i hope he goes on to do great things at PSG and helps them become the club they once were again.
As for Thuram, i dont think it’d b bad to get him in as a player for a season, aslong as he doesnt expect to start much and its just as a utility player. I think he can make a good coach, it’d be hard not to if your being guided by Wenger and the rest of our coaching staff.
Hope Edu DOESNT return because he was never great (we was good), but hes old and CM isnt a position we really need filling out, if he was a centre back or left back fine, but we’ve got enough quality in the CM department to fill 3 squads.
As For centre back, Song is a centreback now, thats how wenger see’s him (almost certain of that, you never can tell thou), then there Djourou and yea hes not brilliant but hes young and far from his finished product (same for song), Sendaros is pacey enough despite what people think, hes good on the ball, hes got a good pass, he can get goals from set pieces, on his day hes a rock, he just needs the confidance thats hes obviously lacking that leads to him making sloppy mistakes. Then theres a few CBs in the reserves aswell like G.Hoyte, Nordtviet and Rodgers (although i see him more as a fullback personally), but we need to give them a chance. I wouldent however be against one quality center back coming in.
However lets face it, no Gallas and Toure arent perfect, but their good, and how many sites would actually turn them down if they had the chance to sign them for free? Probably None.
I agree with Ash. Djourou quite plainly has all the attributes required to solve out defensive woes. But hasn’t got a defenders mentality. Goes into challenges without conviction and for a man of his height and build is far too often muscled out. It’s a shame because it’s only a mental issue that holds him back. It’s not something that can really be changed though.
Bring back Cygan!
I dont see why we wuld bring EDU back he left of his own free will and hasnt done anything of merit in the Spanish League he didnt even start games for Valencia very often even though they were in relegation.
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@ Jimbo
Don’t mean to get pedantic but English has Germanic roots not Latin technically speaking.
About Keown, IIRC he is getting his coaching badges. I have a sneaking feeling Keown may become a very good manager in the near future.
ok i hate to put a downer on the whole story but wenger is a pundit for Telefoot and was just offering a general opinion on the player – it could have been any manager they asked for an opinion…
for example Martin ONeil is working as a pundit for a TV station. Station announcer: so what do you think of Lionel Messi
Martin ONeil: Ah he’s a smashing lad and a great young player…he would add youthfulness and quality to any side.
Headline on Young Guns Villans Blog the next day: ONeil to sign Messi
I rest my case
what do you think of lionel messi
he is comming 2 add experience and help team get through rough patches in the season like the eduardo injury and we never really recovered after that birmingham match. Thuram could help the young players and give them tips and advice how 2 play in the circumstances or even jus little tips on how to improve game. we all know thuram is ageing a bit so he wont be expected 2 play as much, but he would be expected 2 lead side and make sure they do well and get 2 the final hurdle of premiership race and we should win it the
If that is this articles primary source (Wenger stating Thuram would add experience to the club), than this article, to be honest, is little more than a sky sports- like article, in which we are linked to a certain player, for a very obscure reason, or no reason at all.
Except this article though ;) A great blog. Really top notch reporting. Well done J. Sanderson.
V_F, We have been linked with Thuram before and its well documented that they have contact with each other.
You compairson was stupid, as it is out of context.
Anyone seen the Treehouse foundation advert on Arsenal TV. I am sure that Thuram is standing next to Wenger in one of the shots.
Also has anything been confirmed on the other French midfielder we are signing Coqulien.
Wenger do not “re-buy” players that he sold. No chance of Henry and Edu coming back.
Thuram will be a good experience for other players, i.e. teaching them techniques and positioning. However, i doubt he can cope with the EPL speed. I suppose everyone is thinking of Mr. Arsenal as Asst. Manager and defensive coach. Adams has been criticising Wenger since he left, don’t you all think so? Most recently, the Diarra thingy. And i doubt he can work with the man who has extended his career by 5 years. He’s a legend when he was playing for us, thats all. I don’t really see him as a great manager.
I think it’s a heavy blow if we loss Gilles.
As I remember,all France players are scouted by Gilles.
Also I doubt that Thuram can replace Gilles
Ps.If we need a defensive coach why not consider Tony Adams
hey Jay another good article I KNOW I AM BEING PEDANTIC but the title suggests Grimandi has already gone nad Thuram has signed , yes i know i am being pathetic but here a ? would have made the article more reliable.
sorry sogos
I clicked on this by accident, but have been reading through, and even as a Spurs fan, I must say, this is a superb blog indeed.
Some people jeese it says in the article that its only rumours what difference does it make theres no ? Didnt realise people could be so pinicaty.
Just briefly on the Nasri saga, do you think that they may wait to reveal newly signed players with the new kit? Maybe this would be June 1st?
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I am first visitor from Thailand.
i have just read a short article on La provence that was published today and it stated that nasri to arsenal is still not agreed completely due to something in his contract renewal and a swap deal between ben arfa and nasri was also mentioned.
This is the latest… sounds like it will still happen soon – just some regulations to iron out
Le départ de Samir Nasri pour Arsenal n’est pas encore bouclé. Hier après-midi, Jean-Pierre Bernès, son agent, a certifié que “rien n’était encore fait.” Une information confirmée par le président olympien : “Le départ de Samir n’est pas encore réglé, a confirmé Pape Diouf. Il reste encore à remplir certaines conditions relatives à son récent renouvellement de contrat (le mode de paiement de son probable transfert).” Ce ne serait toutefois qu’une question de jours…
barca jus signed that sevilla midfielder kieta or sumin like that and would that mean we could possibly sign yaya now
IF you read the article La Provence state that a meeting took place where Lyon and Marsaille discussed a swap of Nasri and Ben Arfa. But the article also says that “It seems, however unlikely now as Samir will go to Arsenal this summer”.
Another article on there states that nothing is yet done and that Arsenal still havent met the conditions of the contract renewal Nasri signed recently. Nasri’s agent however says this should only take a matter of days to sort out.
Barca will be rebuilding their side this summer, Eto out, Ronaldinho out, probably 2 or 3 more aswell, but i doubt Messi or Toure will be leaving so dont get your hopes up.
I saw Yaya’s trial game and he was poor. I think Wenger has shown his hand that Gallas & Toure are unlikely to be CB pairing next year as he is looking to recruit a CB and he rates song as a CB very highly. I think you may well see Yaya’s brother playing CM for Arsenal next year. Eboue will drop to sub RB as we seem to be focussinng on wide players at the mo (Vela, Ben Arfa & Nasri can play there) I don’t expect a CM signing this summer. One things for sure Kolo in midfield will not be bullied and Flamini’s work rate would not be missed, Kolo is also better with the ball at his feet and is a better long range passer than Flamini.
I agree with Rosey.
I think the best ‘in-house’ option to replace ol’ money-bags would be Kolo. He is a very good footballer, he certainly doesn’t lack desire or determination, and perhaps his moving into midfield would pave the way for Wnger to recruit a centre-back who is formidible in the air – height is about the only thing Kolo lacks.
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