Turin based sports newspaper ‘Tuttosport’ claim Juventus have sent scouts to the Czech Republic to monitor Spanish Under 19 International Fran Mérida Perez.
Fran missed Monday evenings 2-1 defeat to Germany, with some reports suggesting he was suspended, and others claiming he was injured. He is expected to start tomorrow’s must win fixture against Hungary, and according to the Italian daily, Juventus will be watching on.
Mérida penned a new long-term contract (thought to be 4-5 years) three months ago, but has been linked with loan spells to both Salamanca and Real Sociedad (again) this summer. However, it seems Arsène Wenger would like to promote the prospect to the first team, and described him as an “absolutely amazing player”.
‘The Old Lady’ are believed to value the player at £3 million pounds, a similar fee Arsenal could be forced to pay former employers Barcelona in compensation if they lose the appeal.
The Gunners coaching staff rate Fran as one of the best prospects around, and are unlikely to see the highly rated Spaniard.
Tomorrow’s clash against Hungary will be a vital one for Mérida and his colleagues, with a defeat seeing the favourites eliminated. Fran should start the game as Ginés Meléndez rotates the side after the surprise defeat to the Germans.
Kick-off is at 5pm (UK Time) and although there was some stream problems on Monday, the game will be streamed live on Eurosport.
Check out all the latest news over at the Fran Mérida Blog.
Article By – J.Sanderson
tell them they can keep their hands to themselves. The media say we want giovinco off them, juve could look for a swap deal. I wouldn’t like to see him leave.
J, Maybe he can borrow Nacers Bat! :)
Seedorf – hahahahahhahahahahaha
The article i read about it, stated Juve were going to offer Giovinco a new contract, but they still wanted Fran.
would fran have any reason to leave arsenal? I can’t imagine his first team chances would be better at juve than us!
He has no real reason for him to leave, i cant see him going.
I haven’t seen him in a full match. I’ll tune in for the match against Hungary, hope he shines. :)
“The Gunners coaching staff rate Fran as one of the best prospects around, and are unlikley to see the highly rated Spaniard.”
That doesn’t make too much sense J and you spelled unlikely wrong but still, a great article.
we have fran merida, henri lansbury, mark randall, kieran gibbs, alex song, denilson, diaby, jay thomas, there are too many midfielders we need to sell sum i would sell denlison and diaby because they are injury prone
But then every midfielder you have listed has little or no experience of playing at the highest level.
f**king wordpress spellchecker!! Sorry about that mate.
Seedorf – of course, should be an excellent game with Liverpool’s Nemeth in action as well
Don’t worry, I’ve dealt with the spellchecker before. I think it tries to make mistakes intentionally.
It works once, and then finds more words when you do it the second time, its crazy.
Personally, i do not see Fran leaving, and if he does i think it would be a really bad mistake. I believe he can develop into something very special.
I was just watching a video of Fran right, and man is he good. Yes, i know. Youtube makes you want to vote for O’shea as World Player Of The Year. But this kid has talent and a great foot on him.
merida isn’t the only one juve are after they are reportedly after van persie aswell
Alright J, decision time: who’s got the brighter future long term? Nacer or Fran? Or is it Jacky Wilshere?
I think im right in saying that after the Poulson signing Juventus said that there would be no more incomings apart from maybe a back-up keeper. I think Fran will certinally stay as i believe this could be his breakhrough year espically with Gil and Flamini leaving.
Pictures of Hleb at Barca… what a scrote!
http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/catala/noticies/futbol/temporada08-09/07/n080716104941.html
J are you believing in this Arsenal/Alonso link? or is it just another agent drawing more attention to his client?
Is it just me or does Hleb resemble a bellend to anyone else?? Especially with his new hair cut, at least before it looked like he had hit puberty!
Anyway haha, i don’t think that Fran will leave, with all the midfielders that are leaving at the mo i think he could see this as his chance to try and stake a claim for a place in the first team!
Also on Arsenal.com the squad has been announced suprisingly Vela is in the squad. I cant see him being in the squad and not featuring. Also would love to see Jack Wilshire linking up with other first team players. Hopefully he gets a good run out.
Sorry, i was talking about the Barnet game.
I would love to see Vela get on the scoresheet! I really think that he could be very good for us this season, along with Eduardo when he is back, i am actually really excited about this season even with everyone deciding to piss off haha!
Think we have a very good chance of winning the CC this year too! Unlucky Spurs cos you won’t be able to get into Europe through the back door again haha! And we will still be in the champs league the season after next too!
why no fabianski in bernet game?
Giovinco class player thou love to see him at arsenal but i doubt merdia would go
DL because he wa involved with the euros so he got an extended break
what do you think the starting XI from that squad would be?
almunia
sagna hoyte nordveit clichy
walcott denilson ramsey traore
vela bendtner
i’d say thats possibly the strongest line-up
Just to clarify the idiot who keeps leaving comments, FACUNDO SAVA has joined Arsenal de Sandi, not Arsenal London.
i was jus goin by what was posted on skysports m8, so easy with the idiot!
whats happened to diaby? is he injured?
I put Sava into google and within 2 seconds i found out the answer, why didnt you do the same mate?
sorry btw
I can’t see why he could leave, other than to play for a big club like Juve. Which is just dumb, because whatever Wenger’s faults are, he’s fair about giving game time to youngsters. No one else in England, for that matter, plays an entire reserve side for a cup match.
Plus, Merida’s a left-footed attacking midfielder, something that could prove useful to us when he matures, providing some width. And I’ve always been a big fan of Merida since I found out about him. Still remember his goal against West Ham Reserves; massive scorcher from some way out.
Furthermore, does anyone else find it weird that Merida is listed under defenders on the Arsenal soccernet page?
Hi Jamie,
do you know how tall Barazite is? He looks like a giant compared to other guys – if I’m wrong, I’ll go down to specsaver to have glasses:)
Many thanks always for this amazing blog!!
24-man squad for the Barnet match on Saturday announced.
Pretty interesting…
Manuel ALMUNIA (GK)
Nacer BARAZITE
Nicklas BENDTNER
Gael CLICHY
DENILSON
James DUNNE
Rui FONTE
Gavin HOYTE
Justin HOYTE
Henri LANSBURY
Vito MANNONE (GK)
Havard NORDTVEIT
Abu OGOGO
Aaron RAMSEY
Mark RANDALL
Paul RODGERS
Bacary SAGNA
Jay SIMPSON
Rene STEER
Wojciech SZCZESNY (GK)
Armand TRAORE
Carlos VELA
Theo WALCOTT
Jack WILSHERE
dont let fran go
Where are Diaby and Fabianski?
Barca’s lawsuit is against Merida, not Arsenal. Arsenal will pay on his behalf whatever the appeals judge says he needs to pay, but if he’s a Juve player when the ruling comes down then more than likely they will have to pay it for him instead.
C’monDenilson 0 He is 186cm :)