Arsenal will complete the signing of Bolivan winger Samuel Galindo next week, Young Guns can confirm. The player is in London and the club are in the process of applying for a ‘special talent’ work permit. If granted, it would allow Galindo to go straight into the squad, instead of facing a lengthy loan spell.
Samuel, the current captain of Boliva’s Under 21 national team despite being only 17, will be a surprise signing after it appeared he would seal a switch to Everton earlier this week. Following a week-long trial, David Moyes sat down with the prospect to discuss terms, but an agreement couldn’t be reached. Instead Arsène Wenger asked for a quick look at the left winger and was instantly impressed. A quick deal has been done with Real America which will see a figure of around £500,000 change hands, although that will rise once he makes 50 appearances for the club.
The skilful and energetic attacking talent has been preffered to Juventude’s Brazilian starlet Zezinho, who Arsenal have been in constant contact with. Samuel has been training with Wenger’s first-team charges over the last two days and it appears that he will bypass the youth setup and go straight into contention for a starting place in the closing months of the season. This would be of course if the permit is granted, and he passes a medical. The club famously exploited the ‘special talent’ option to bring Alexandre Song to North London in 2005.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Fantastic.
Never heard of this kid, but Captaining his nation’s U-21 side at only 17 years old is impressive. I’m also impressed that AW would offer a 5 year deal to a 17 year old. The size of the contract is the best indication that the boss sees him as Arsenal quality without question.
He is apparently a CM or Am, a more central player than a left winger. He is also 6ft 3, and I hear differing things about his ability to play for us straight away. Gunnerblog, who has a correct and accurate description of events, says he will not be able and you say he will. We will see.
But great player, a powerful and rangy passer with Samba flair. We are going down the right road with these SA talents.
Do you think he will play first team football or reserve and youth football?
He’s a South American who’s not 18 til April so I dont think he can join until the summer…
Oh yes the same Gunnerblog that had an EXCLUSIVE about the signing, ahem nothing to do with it being reported in The Sun lol.
Think I will take my info from this site thanks
haha,
How does he have “Samba” flair if he’s Bolivian?
If you mean he has good technique and is South American, then yes, you have a point.
Zezinho will still be signed.
he can get a work permit if it can be proven that he has special talent. the last player that we got like that was denilson who had captained his coountry at all levels upto u21. song had a french passport so not needed.
adam: I follow your thinking, but Gunnerblog’s story is very precise, and he is always a good source of info. Do not be a hater.
What makes you think he will go straight into the first team squad?
Gunnerblog doesn’t say that he will not get work a permit nor does Young Guns say he will. Both report that they will apply and both have new and interesting facts to offer on this story. I think we should just be grateful somebody is updating us, it is more than the club do!
Wouldn’t the problem be a FIFA one- no U18’s from another federation, rather than a UK immigration one. Is that right? The ‘special talent’ work permit is for the Home Office, not FIFA. Also, Galindo ain’t a winger…
J – how does he compare with Zezinho? Who is regarded the better prospect and does this deal defintely mean that the zezinho one is finished?
What position does Zezinho play?
great, another AM that will be converted into a winger! we got no natural wingers comin thru our system??
Um these articles are getting alittle bit relaxed. Bolivia doesnt have a u21 team. They play u20s. Also I dont see how this would be a signing that has anything to do with Zezinho seeing as they are completly different types of players and play differet positions. Plus articles of this signing are already out so its like you are coping other articles. Normally I am impressed but lately it seems like instead of breaking news, you should just be like other sites and just show other people articles.
I think wenger will turn him into a dm.
Just to touch on what Sean has already mentioned about Zezinho. J says in the article that Galindo is preferred to Zezinho?!
Zezinho is still coming right? I hope Sean is correct!
And the skillfull and energetic comment is more like skillfull and calm.
I really cant see this kid playing on the wings. I said it before in a previous post but i can see wenger moulding him into a defensive midfielder, if not central.
I find it strange that we keep signing all these central players, thats why i’ve got a feeling he could be a dm. From the video you can see why i say this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHLiJEbX_gw
Zezinho is a winger/forward attacking dribbler type player not a centermid passing style playmeker like Galindo is…so I dont see how they affect eachothers possibilities of signing for Arsenal.
I think this good eventually have an affect on Merida tho.
I’m still appalled that Arsenal TV could do that do the subscribers when they advertise all reserve games live? I’m really upset it’s going to be my question to who? maybe the live radio on Sunday game I will ask Dan and Perto?
I have to agree shane. Most of the articles in the past two weeks have been sourced from articles or videos linked by readers in the previous article’s comment section. Nothing wrong with that, but then J doesn’t credit the original article, but rather states that ‘I can confirm’, or a variation. He writes so that it seems that the information has come from a personal source, rather than copied from a Brazilian artile found through google.
I still like this site and I dont mind if you confirm article and post them on here so we can discuss them but just dont rite them like you broke the news.
Watched a video on him on youtube and he misplaces alot of passes, ala diaby. but you can see what he was going for, and a little brushing up in his passing would see him doing well. got size, enthusiasm, good workrate and not selfish. but all this is based on a 12 min video of exclusively salindo in a single match.
Galindo is an attacking central mid, not a left winger?
Heffy….I watched that brazil game. You have to understand that he was 17 playing 20 year olds. Plus he was playing for Bolivia who are a much weaker side overal then Brazil plus Bolivia had the youngest team at the tournement. So alot of his passes were forced, because you dont have the same passing options that you would have playing for a better team.
Saw some video of him today. Looks like a bargain to me. I was immediately impressed with his physical presence and quick first bal contact.
But a surprise signing nevertheless.
Galindo previously played as an attacking midfielder, or as you will have seen on YouTube videos. But like Samir Nasri, Alex Hleb and many before him, he will be groomed into a winger here. He played as a left winger in the training games and will continue to do so.
Sometimes I don’t get much time to update, so I post something as people complain if I don’t update everyday. However, this is from a personal source.
sounds unlike Wenger to sign him, if the theory is right that he asked to have a look at him after Everton. He usually use a long time to evaluate, like with Wellington
J- You dont need a personal source if it is already out in the open. Thanks for keeping with the updates tho. He isnt at all like those other players tho. He is a passer first. Much like Italians typical deep lying playmaker.
looks like a rangy central midfielder with a nice left peg,
agree with the points made about sources, generally it would be nice if people quoted their sources
Well it wasn’t already in the open. There was a kind of sketchy Daily Mirror article about it and then I looked into it a bit more. The Mirror always says he’s signed, but that’s not true. The deal isn’t done yet.
Ok J thanks for the clarification
Interesting that he’s going to be a winger, he does have a lovely left foot i must add
Pingback: Galindo Trains With Arsenal Before Completing Move « [» Young Guns «] | Soccer Yahoo !
We’ve only got some YouTube clips to judge this guy on, so it’s best we wait and see what happens. But he was used as a winger in training and with our lack of holding midfielders at the moment, if he had a future playing there he would have be tested there, but he hasn’t. It’s been going forward.
Pingback: Wenger makes second signing of the transfer window … « The Goon Blog
A lot of people like to criticise the blog, but no one else on the net comes close to this site for its info. Certainly don’t see any of teh people here putting in the graft or having the knowledge to produce an alternative.
What happened with Zezinho? We can’t have been too hot on this kid if he was with everton for a week first?
Even though you state he will be a winger, I think his giant frame, strength and crisp passing would make him a good DM/deep lying playmaker. Plus he doesn’t seem to have enough pace/trickery to play as a left winger (again, based on a couple of Youtube videos)
ps: The Zezinho deal isn’t off. Talks are still ongoing, but it looks like he will be ours come next summer.
This will be our own Ryan Giggs.
This is the best news i have heard since a few season back…At last, comes a new player from different country…arsene wenger should continue to take talented players from different countries like he did now…not france all the time….
He reminds me a bit of Redondo or as someone said Carrick. I don’t see how he can be a winger either, but playing in the position he was with Bolivia, he didn’t have much of an opportunity to display his pace or dribbling maybe.
J does a fantastic job on this site. so stop being critical of him, do you have inside info?
What?? Straight into the first team by passing the youth setup? If this is true, then this guy must be a gem!!!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/craig-eastmond-signs-new-long-term-contract
Eastmond signed a new long term contract
I was hoping he was a tall pacy/skillfull winger in the Ronaldo mould.
He’s tall…but a central midfielder…we have a lot of talent in the center of midfield already.
Anyways, hopefully he succeeds with us, but I do hope we sign a tall, fast wide player.
I agree arsenehollis. youngguns is a fantastic site, I appreciate the time that J puts into it, and I want him to succeed. The nature of jouranalism though is that it takes a long time to build up your reputation as a reliable and trustworthy source, and much less time to damage it, so my adice to him, if it’s worth anything, is to be cautious. My comments are meant to be constructive- it’s a bad idea for a blogger not to credit another piece of commercial journalism if this is his sole source for an article. It’s poor jouranalistic practice. Similarly, making bold predictions “preffered to Juventude’s Brazilian starlet Zezinho” can backfire and undo J’s good work if things doesn’t turn out that way (sincere apologies if J actually has reliable info on that). Overplaying your cards has come back to haunt many a blogger.
but will he play in the first team
No one is saying that J is bad, just that some of the articles are getting alittle sloppy, thats all. I no one ever point out mistakes then no one would ver improve. The best site by far tho for this kind of thing.
I always like these kind of signings and root for players from small countries or bad areas of poverty to make it big. Like Maynor Figuroa..I saw a video about where he came from and his parents still live. I will say that the whole scouting part of football is getting a lot easier but the judging of a player is the same. A guy said ” Our scouting is amazing, we have unearthed snother gem” or something like that. I turned on my tv and found this guy lol. The internet and tv makes it pretty easy to find these guys.
wow, i have to say this is a very unusual wenger purchase. usually wenger needs a long hard looks to convince he should sign that player. but this boy impress wenger in 2 days, he must be something special. and he even train with 1st team? must be like ramsey, he’ll go straight to 1st team if he can get work permit.
For those that want a tall, fast winger type, isn’t that Pedro Botelho is?
Galindo looked a bit like a young fabregas to me. He seemed to spot passes early, but didnt quite get the weight of the pass right, probably because he was playing with players a few years older! Zezinho appeared to have more to his game from the few clips Iv seen. Mainly because he looked a bit quicker though. Both seem to have very good vision and close contrl. Have seen very little of either tho in truth. Im sure if we’ve gone through the trouble to get ahold of them they have massive potential. Arsenal very rarely gets it wrong when it comes to judging players.
Whatever position he played in training he really looks like a CM to me. Excellent vision and close control but not a lot of pace. He’d have to play a bit like rosicky or nasri if out wide from the looks of it – Wenger clearly likes these sorts of player though. If it were up to him every player in the side would be converted from a CM playmaker, lol
Shane, I would agree some source checking have been sloppy of late, never got a reply on several questions about Luis Conte either which brings a question mark why, and I think it has become more of a transfer site than the reflected site about youngsters it used to be. I would however not follow the site for so long if it was not for liking the content or style
With a name like that, you know he’ll be a star ;)
galindo will fit in very well with the cornetto song if he ever makes big time.
Unfortunately Young Guns or even journalism is not my full time job. Due to the huge amount of questions I get asked, it’s impossible for me to answer them all.
This is why I invite people to e-mail me if you have a specific question that gets missed. I have actually answered the Conte question a while ago.
“The word from Brazil is that a development contract was signed, so that we are monitoring him and have first option to sign him in the future. This was mentioned in the actual article”.
Sorry for missing your question sebjob, feel free to e-mail me if you have anymore issues.
we shud get zezingo and galindo i think
This site is a very good one, keep up the good work J
thanks for the reply J. I will do that in the future. It is interesting with the transfers, though I feel sometimes the focus on transfers get too much and takes focus from the analysis side of things which I think you are excellent on. It is however transfers that often takes focus from things in the comment part, and as such maybe takes up time from the other parts of journalism you do.
what is a development contract by the way?
No problem mate. It’s just because the transfer window is open at the moment and the players have just started to return to training following the winter break. We also do our youth business at the start of the window, so in the next week or so you’ll notice a change back to the normal style of updates you expect.
Pingback: Arsenal to sign Bolivian winger Samuel Galindo next week | Arsenal Blog & Arsenal News
got any info regarding sterling j
thanks for the clarification, great site by the way, too many (including my own) end up recycling so much tired rubbish, it’s so refreshing to read so much interesting and novel stuff on young guns,
thanks
J hats off to you mate, I really enjoy reading from this site. I don’t think I’ve commented before, as I usually am too lazy and never bother reading what other people comment on. This is mostly because comments are usually left by nit-picking know-it-alls who fail to notice the effort, time and commitment people put in. I suppose, everyone thinks they could do a better job.
I on the other hand, believe you to be doing a fine job, informing me of developments and also the odd promising transfer story, such as this one and the Wellington Silva one.
I think what you are doing is great, and basically am writing this because I have enjoyed consuming the Youngguns product. I can only think of one other Arsenal youth & reserves blog, and when compared to the standard football or Arsenal blog, its far more worthwhile reading.
Younguns, Arseblog and A Cultured Left Foot are my favourite Arsenal related sites, and pretty much everything else I would say isn’t worthy of a mention.
Thank you J, and anyone associated with Youngguns, keep up the good work!
With a name like that, you know he’ll be a star
Samuel said this on January 13, 2010 at 7:01 pm
———————————————————
:)
Definately not a deffensive midfilder or a deep lying playmaker-ala carrick,nor is he the tradional pacy english winger.He is more a winger playmaker.A clone of fabregas and Edu-former gooner.He can work very well with attacking fullbacks eg Eboue and central midfilders who run from deeep eg diaby,Fabre,ramsey.He holds the ball up comfortably drawing in deffenders and creating space centrally or arround him.If he works out,he could be great.He is similar to Jack w,but more a passer than a runner/dribbler of the ball.If he ha above average pace,then he will destroy teams but for me he is an attacking midfielder who will either be given the freedom beihind the attacking two or as a winger but he will be better suited to winger play then nasri n rosciky.
Ps.First post here but an avid fun.Keep it up J.
He was on trial at Everton and they didn’t push the boat out to sign him – let’s face it, if he were the next Messi, they’d have thrown the kitchen sink at him to snap him up. I wonder how Wenger got wind of him…maybe Moyes mentioned it to him after the match on Saturday?
Anyhow, the interest in South American players is not surprising and quite fascinating. David Dein has stated in the past the Arsene sees the future of football being in South American and African players. In the sense, he’s playing it beautifully. He’s snapping up Brazilians, Mexicans and Bolivians while bringing through English/French boys of African descent: Aneke, Frimpong, Afobe, JET, Sunu, etc (added to Song, Diaby, Traore…). While of course, he recognises the diverse qualities of your Wilsheres, Ramseys, Cescs, etc.
In terms of having a policy and seeing it through, Arsene is rather a rare commodity.
Eddie- That was some of the most ridiculous commenting I have ever seen. No one said Everton didnt want him. Arsenal stepped in. Then on to you next comment. Since when have south american not been at the for front of football especially at producing individuals. Football tho will never be dominated by one specific place because it is the world game. Also the fact is that more South Americans and Africans are ending up in youth systems in Uerope is simply down to technology. With the internet and so many games on tv, it isnt that hard to find these young players. As soon as a kid plays well for his club or u17 national team, a day later it is posted on 12 websites with a video clip. Last but not least Mexico is not in South America.
Shane…well, all the youth internationals from Cameroon and other countries being trafficked, and ending up walking the streets of Paris (and other cities) as lawless individuals, tells a story that it is not that easy to get discovered. Some of the biggest talents of Africa at youth level are now street kids. A lot of the biggest in Europe come from big acedemys like Asec, Dimbar similar to Arsenal finding talents from Clairefontaine.
on those trafficked;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jan/06/newsstory.sport4
…this is also one of the moral questions of allegedly Arsenal sending African kids to Thailand to go to Soccer Schools…have not checked these allegations
of course, your initial argument that one or two continents will not dominate…Africa for example is huge, it is not one country but over 1350 tribes, and Western Africa is the only one with professional football academies long term…maybe with exception in recent years with Ajax CT. Eastern Africa’s football academies are for rich kids paying, not for talents. I do not have the same knowledge about South America, but it seems there are certain countries that are better to keep their talents longer and have more professional support systems as academies
HOW CAN PPL BEING HAPPY WITH THIS SIGNING NOT ANOTHER BLOODY CENTRAL MIDFIELDER
CANT PPL SEE WE NEED WIDE PLAYERS AND FULL BACKS NOT MORE CENTRAL PLAYERS.
ARSENAL NEED DIFFERENT VARIETY WE CANT ALWAYS PASS PASS PASS WE NEED TO BE MORE DIRECT SOME TIMES
and Arsenal have one academy in Egypt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/3169965.stm
SebJob,
Good point, My parents work as missionaries and we are going to Uganda , Sudan and Cameroon , also S.A, to work with suck kids.
Its good to know somebody else knows about these subjects.
Interesting TheCritic, am sure we would have a lot to discuss about it
Obviously it is not easy to make it, but the point was, players that make it to the level of local pro clubs or youth national teams in africa have there names and talents spread much faster than they use too. Africas biggest issue is simply the lack of structure. Eto’o and Zidane are a couple of the biggest examples of that. If a young player comes up in a structured football environment his talents will definetly be nurtured better. The rich kids thing, that happens in America too. Just think about it. This country is huge and is made up of about every nationality in the world. How is it that we can not produce some world class talent. Of course there are a couple top talents like Gioseppi Rossi and Neven Subitoc (raised in america) but still. We have to pay to play for youth clubs and the best ones are really exspensive. As for south america, we know about every kid that plays for there youth national teams and youth club teams. For example I can already name the top kid for the new u17 brazil team, lucas piazon. If there was no internet or these games on tv, i could not tell you that. Back in the day, the players stayed in brazil until they we like 24..kaka,cafu,etc. Now days your lucky to make it to 19.
Liverpool are gonna go out of the FA cup RIGHT NOW HA HA!! I know this is totally random, but hey, they’re losing to Reading… And I hate Liverpool
Sebjob….The topic of scouting is very ineresting tho. I am reading that article you linked. You dont think it is messed up that these kids live in the conditions the article describes. The world is not perfect and to be honest, these kids probaly would not have a chance to get out of those situations if it wasnt for a shot at football. Is so much worse for them to be on the streets of france rather than in poor and a lot of times, very dangerous parts of Africa. Kids from africa, similar to the path of kids to france, end up in America playing for colleges all the time. Now the people trying to take advantage of the situation are very bad people. These agents and such are a disgrace but these kids do need a dream because with out it they are still just stuck in a “kicking tightly wound balls of rags and elastic bands among piles of shattered bricks, shards of asbestos and broken glass.” and living in “corrugated tin shacks.”
You have MSN, or Facebook?
Shane, it is a major issue. There are millions of street kids in the World.
Rio Mavuba of lille, was born on a boat while his mother was fleeing Angola to france. Is it really that bad that young footballers do the same in search of footballing dreams and a better life. And if they dont make it in football atleast they are in a better place to succeed through a different avenue. It is kinda the American motto here. We call it “living the American Dream”.
I know. But it is a problem that is caused by a problem. The first problem is, that it is so bad in a lot of these parts in Africa, that this is a venture taking by “millions of street kids” just to escape their previous lives.
I know shane, I actually live in the U.S , though i am british. I know what the American dreamis, and when I look out a nights or my parents drive me back form footy or tennis, i see many people whos ‘ american dream’ has just not paid off. The dream in itself is a brilliant idea. And im pleased it gives people hope. They will have a better life possibly wether in France, England or the USA.
Yah but to be honest, even the people whos ” american dream” didnt pay off, they are still probally living a better life than the ones they escaped from in certain parts of Africa.
And the same thing when I was in India, Jamaica, Canada, England and Scotland, sometimes the world sucks.
I agree, but lets leave it at this. Its much better to have a dream, while living in a world that sucks rather then just living in a world that sucks.
What happened to Luc Castaignos proposed move to Arsenal?
Kurdt, we got Wellington Silva instead.
Milo – Yeah i laughed at Liverpool too. It was made even sweeter that a former Arsenal man oversaw it (caretaker manager, Brian Mdermott). However, i just found out that Liverpool u18’s eliminated one of the hot faves Leicester City from the FA Youth Cup, 5-1. That’s quite shocking.
Well we have a solid fa youth cup team!! Even if a lot of the players from last year moved on. We still have some quality players. I gotta admit seeing Liverpool in the state it is in right now is a well… pleasant surprise!! lol Na it is shocking actually. I didn’t think they would be that bad. I thought they wouldn’t finish first or second this year, but still. And Maxi won’t help them a whole lot I don’t think. His best years were 3-5 years ago. I’m really excited about this Galindo signing!! I don’t know, as people have been saying, it’s kinda unusual for Wenger to just jump at a young player like this without us being linked previously to him. Wenger must see something that makes him special. More than we saw in the videos obviously. Him or someone else must have seen something!! He has the size, the awarness and vision and the technique is really close as well!! So yeah with this and Sol coming back, and Wellington on the way next year maybe, this has been a damn good month!!! lol. Not to mention our league position and European prospects as well. Although on that front it will be extremely difficult but still. The club is getting so much young talent and hopefully it’ll just keep growing!!! unlike Liverpool LOL
Milo, Maxi was worth it on a Free, tho i do not think he will help them greatly;)
Pingback: Galindo Trains With Arsenal Before Completing Move « [» Young Guns «]
Like Milo just said, Maxi’s best years are behind him.
I would be very surprised if we retained the youth cup this year. I reckon either West Ham or Man Utd will win it.
Regarding Galindo – I think we’ve been watching him for some time.
Luc Castaignos has suffered a long term injury and has nothing to do with signing Wellington.
The reason we are trying to sign all of these good young players is that due to Platini’s new law after this transfer window you can’t sign a player from another country under the age of 18.
This is why we have signed Wellington Silva and are looking to complete the signings of Samuel Galindo and Zezinho.
is this luc castaignos that dutch kid??????
J- I agree with Dan h, dont let “know it alls” like shane try and stop you from the outstanding work you do. This site is by far the best on the net and as far as Im concerned your word is gospel, keep up the good work dude.