Arsenal are in talks with Benfica over the sale of French defender Armand Traoré, according to reports in France and Portugal.
Portuguese outfit Benfica are thought to have been given permission to talk to the player, although a deal has not been agreed with Arsenal. The Gunners are keen to do business for a figure of around £2 million plus a large sell on fee. The Frenchman is surplus to requirements in North London and the club have turned down loan offers from French Ligue 2 teams earlier in the summer.
Armand has already been informed he would play in his preferred position of left wing if a deal could be done. The 20-year-old joined Arsenal from Monaco in 2005 and has 12 first-team appearances to his name.
More to follow.
Is it just me or does this guy look freakishly like Clichy?
It’s just you. Ralph
DId we invent the concept of the sell-on fee ?? Absolutely love it :)
This sell on fee is it something that allow us to get part of the money that will get eg. Benfica if they’ll sell him to another club, yes?
What about Traore, I really thought at some stage he was better than Clichy, and after spell at portsmouth in PL I was thinking he’ll be a big asset in the squad. Good luck to him.
we made 12 mill from sell on clauses from bentley alone.
Good luck to Armand Traore on his move to Benfica.
Right move right time. Has’nt realy worked out for him here, best move for both parties
Just had too many possible left-backs.
I still think at 20 and his height, Traore will be good use though.
A good attacking LB, but dire poor defense was, a worse version of Clichy but a lot younger too so it is not surprising. He is great on the left wing though, but we obviously don’t need any more left wing/ mid field players so I am happy he is going. Gibbs and Clichy are enough right now, and we will have Botelho soon…
is there a chance we might still be in for halliche as this would be very convenient for both parties
You just took this idea from my head,how about a trade Halliche for Traore.
hallliche is training with fulham with the view to a move
Hey I really did not know about this Bentley thing.. Was is it really upto 12m….
Thereabouts, the total fee was 17mil, we got somewhere between 7-12mil, hard to get precise figures though.
Who will be the 3rd left back though? Clichy and Gibbs. Who else can play at left back?
LOL. Are you serious?
Tom Cruise would start, but I doubt it’ll come to that. And honestly, defensively he’s a better player.
Cruise will move up the ladder to be 3rd choice
tom cruise is a left back and looks a good prospect. prolly best for traore to move at this stage of his career as he has never been convincing as a left back or as a wide midfielder and need to get regular games in order to develop…
Like we really need to be concerned we dont have THREE players for every position? A first choice keeper and centre back are slightly more pressing issues man!
Vermaelen, song and sagna all have experience at LB from the 1st team alone.
I don’t remember Sagna ever playing LB, but a couple of seasons ago when there were a rash of injuries, Sagna stayed at RB, Eboue played at LB
Cruise will step up to 3rd so we should be OK….but some people have very short memories. Last season we had to play Silvestre at LB for at least one game because Clichy, Gibbs & Traore were all injured at the same time.
in worst case scenerio, Vermaelen can play left back mate
Sagna played LB before at auxerre i believe, but you’re right, I forgot eboue. He did a good job there as well!
He has potential as a winger, but as a defender, he will struggle to make it at present (not sayin he wont make it as a defender).
£2m sounds cheap with all the time we invested in him, but the sell on clause sounds better.
Gutted he might be leaving. Real shame.
We made about £8m from bentley sell on fees FROM THE SPUDS! And about £3.5m from Blackburn.
thenry,
where did you read that? i thought it was more like 6m.
with tom cruise, vermaelen and next season botelho available i think we can spare armand. good luck to him. i have personally rated him highly, just think we could have done training him up as a right back
I think it will be a good move for traore if it happens.He is surely not in the same class as gibbs and clichy defensively.Hopefully it will pave way for another english left back to emerge from arsenal i.e.Tom Cruise
I know hes young but Gibbs has surpassed him and he deserves to play based on his potential alone – good luck to the lad if the deal goes through – i didnt think hed make it as a left back so maybe a winger is his best position
The sell-on fee is important because he will get playing time to develop and with his physical tools look really good. And then Benfica will sell him for 20m+ like they always do.
can anybody please explain what is sell on fee
traore goes to benfica for 2 million and 50% sell on fee, barcelona sign traore from benfica for 30 million, arsenal will receive 15 million from that transfer (just an example)
If next season Barca starting start Cesc saga, can we sell cesc to Madrid with sell on fee?
I always thought he looked a better player when he went on loan to Pompey. He played in midfield there and had some rocket shots. He’s just been played out of position at Arsenal. Traore is not a defender.
I hope this is not true, I really think this kid has enourmous potential. He’s the third fastest in our squad, our best crosser, and he can dribble and shoot pretty well. He has a bit to learn (mostly tactically) but frankly he has as much going for him as a winger as theo walcott, and he had shown big improvements defensively. He looks mentally strong as well, which is probably the most important thing, especially for a defender.
I really dont think he’s THAT far behind clichy or gibbs defensively, and imo he’s the best attacker of the three, although gibbs is not THAT far behind in that regard. Imo it would be a big mistake to let him go unless that’s what he really wants.
I agree, I would be disappointed to lose Traore now. He has shown a lot of promise as a left-winger. He has blistering pace, he has height and good strength, and he delivers some great crosses. He’s only 20, surely we could send him on a season-long loan somewhere rather than sell him.
good news for all parties concerned. really didnt think he would make it at arsenal. just not good enough. best of luck to him tho
I think the squad needs to be trimmed and 2mil is not bad for someone only likely to play in the carling cup. Gibbs is far superior to him and the young cruise is also coming through. I think the club pays too much wages on players with potental. we need to play the wilshirs who are exceptional talent and get rid of the dead wood. Question is will he start in manure , the chavs or the spuds. not likely.
like someone mentioned we should get a sloid keeper and centreback. if all this money was reinvested in the squad it would be nice. mayhe Given if not at least schwartzer.
Good luck to him if he does go.
Any news on Barazite? Is he still on trial with them?
Traore is undoubtedly a big talent, he has bags of pace and his crossing is probably better than Clichy’s and Gibbs’, if not on par, but he is certainly not a left back. Won’t be sorely missed in my opinion as we’ve still got Tom Cruise, Cedric Evina and Pedro Botelho, left back isn’t exactly our biggest starved position. Good move for everyone.
Another headless sprinter. I’m surprised we can offload him to Benfica, I thought they are a serious club.
Usual stupid comment from the resident retard.
He had some very good games at left back in the PL last year. He played about 8 matches, in a couple he was quite poor (one being chelsea, and everyone was poor in that game!) but in several of those games he was excellent! I dont see why people dont believe he could make it at LB…?
People have goldfish bowl memories mate. They get their opinions from tabloids, sky sports and clueless bloggers.
He was excellent in quite a few games, had 2 poor games (the chavs and Bolton, I think) and got the usual slating most Arsenal scapegoats get.
The lad is still young enough to come good and I for one hope he does.
Lets also remember his knuckle dusters at the shite hart lane shenanigans too!
Traore HAD enourmous talent, but like many before him – has been surpassed by others who has had better timing, more luck, less bad luck.
PS: I guess Wenger is looking to balance his books on transfers, as he allways likes to add some cash to the bank. :D
He’s only 20. His talent is still there. He needs to improve a bit, but hes already proven he can handle PL games for a short period. He probably needs to get past his injury prone-ness, that often comes with youth, and improve his consistency, but I see no reason to sell him at 20 just because we have two players who are *currently better. Clichy has been linked with a move away for a couple of years now. Say gibbs overtakes him this year, will gael be happy to be the 2nd choice? Maybe Cruise will be a more viable option than traore at that point, and keep armand at 3rd choice, maybe not. Who knows? By then traore may have improved so much there’s little difference between him and gibbs. Or maybe (god forbid) gibbs will suffer a horrible injury. Imo gibbs would be great for a CM spot as well so he *could start there for the first team, leaving traore as 2nd choice LB – theres so many options. It makes no sense to me to let traore go at this point.
I am not even sure he has found his best position yet?
Why? I dont think hes ever played well as a winger, but did a good job for us last year as a fullback. In my mind he is very specialised to be a wide player, has the skills to be a winger, but not the attacking instincts (a bit like eboue, but manu has learnt recently to be effective).
He seems to have the stomach for a fight now, which was probably missing when he first started playing (I believe at about 17)
Hes only 20 and has tonnes of talent. It would be crazy to sell him, unless he actually wants to go…
I’m happy for him as it’s best that he moves on. Didn’t fit here for whatever reason. Many wingers can be successfully converted to full-back, while his progress at LB has been mixed at best. He has a younger LB in front of him and several players preferred on LW over him. Hopefully he’ll get games at Benfica and their style will fit his.
Tom who? If it was d one i saw in d cl against olympiacos nd u-19 tournament den is shit(an overhyped british kid) i’ll take evina over him anyday
thomas cruise only problem he dont that much pace, he is excellent at defending,a natural DL but he is not an attacking full back like clichy,giibbs,traore and evina. I prefer Cruise over Evina and wenger look like he prefer him too
i wonder what he thinks of being pawned off to benfica?
no tragedy for the club, but good luck to him. sell on fee please arsenal.
spuds are losing 3-0 after 27 mins .LOL
Hahaha! Go on Young Boys!
Bollocks! The spuds have scored.
IM SORRY But we will regret the sale of troare. He has massive potential more than Gibbs. But has not been given the chance, wenger pressured into using Gibbs. I’m not saying Gibbs shouldn’t be our no2 LB but troare needed to be given a chance. PS ….. Troare was arrested with a KNIFE out side the scums (White hart lane). He deserves to stay!!!!!
It was knuckle dusters, not a knife mate.
I disagree he has more potential than gibbs. I was tempted to write that earlier, but thinking about it, Id say not. Possibly traore could be a better fullback than gibbs as he is naturally stronger and quicker, but kieran has something extra mentally. He can pick a pass like a playmaker and is a more intelligent footballer. That is why my hope was that traore would develop more as clichy’s understudy, and eventually take over, while gibbs got pushed into midfield, because I think he has the playmaking skills for the role, but also has real tenacity which is missing from our play at times.
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With all our talent across age ranges it has to be accepted that most will not make it and move on. I hope Traore developes well as he gets more first team action in Portugal and maybe one day we wil get another couple of million when he is sold on!
Who else can we expect to see leave for a fee and maybe a sell on….Barazite? Simpson? Gilbert? Randall? Should be enough cash from those to add to the Eduardo sale to balance the books for the summer…lets hope not and see Wenger buy that elusive Keeper and another centre back before the month ends.
ps. Anyone know what the fee set from Merida ended up being?
merida feel will be around 3 million
fees*
wow if cruise really is the guy who will be in 3rd choice maybe wenger really wants our fa youth cup team to play together one day. He is a really good player.
just 2 million pounds?
I’d of liked if PSG came in for him as well. It would be nice to see him get a chance at his dream club if we no longer need him.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to rid of defenders it’s what Wenger has said team bit short defensively? I like Traore also like a longshot of Gilles Sunu given a chance in first team to play on left side?
traore isnt a LB and he never was
and losing Traore isn’t a major blow we have bothelo and cruise waiting in the wings
I am willing to bet this guy will become top class. When you look at a prospect you say to your self, “what is he already good at?”….answer is he has unbelievable pace, good crosser, good dribbler, endurance, and can tackle ok. Then you say “what is he poor at?” If the things he is poor at are things you generally get better at with age, then he is still a top prospect. His defensive positioning is his worst attribute so that can come with age. I do feel for him because there just happened to be a great young English left back the same age as him in the team. Best move for all.
And he’s tall as well, which is a bonus.
I completely agree with your comment. I think you’ve put better what Ive been trying to say, but I disagree with your conclusion. Traore is a player with seriously massive potential. He can be as good as evra or cole. I agree gibbs could be as well, but that doesnt mean you just throw one of them away because one is a little better at this point in time. What if gibbs suffers an injury that ruins his development? We could end up with something like the diarra situation, where we lose one promising player having just sold one of similar promise for no good reason. What’s more gibbs could be just as good in a number of positions, in fact I think that playing at LB limits him. In midfield we could really make the most of all his talents. So it would be possible to make room for traore if he did start to realise that potential..
Davi- You also have to realise that there are other parts to a situation that we can not possibly know. As outsiders looking in, we can only judge the football aspects. Wenger is a great person just as he is a great manager. He will not hold a player back just for the sake of it like it seems teams like Chelsea do. A 21 year old player should not be a back up to another 21 year old and a 24 year old. It just isn’t right to do to him. Also whether Gibbs can play other positions is irrelevant because Wenger has clearly decided that he will be a leftback. So in this case, it is best that Traore be allowed to fulfill his potential and for Arsenal, we will get a good fee in the future. You also have to consider the squad regulations. Is there really enough space for 3 leftbacks. Probally not.
I just worship Arsenal Football Club! And that’s what this blog is about dee thanks. Let focus on the many squads of AFC! Peace
just sharing a few wise words mate :)
I like Clichy defensively, but I think Gibbs, in the long run can offer something different offensively to Clichy. He is a much better passer of the ball, he makes better and more aggressive runs, and his crossing is just as good if not better. And it looks like he can shoot too!!:) Clichy is fine for the really big matches but I’d really like to see Gibbs given more time this year to prove himself. Spuds lost 3-2 to Young Boys!!:D That means they HAVE TO WIN to qualify. At least they are being made to work for it, the fuckers.
I’d like to see Gibbs, Wilshire & Theo start on Saturday. I think Gibbs and Clichy could well share the LB responsibilities this season.
@ mug – how many more chances does theo need!? he should give vela a start instead, he looked in great shape in preseason. At least hes done something to deserve a start!
It’d a good moove, the right thing to do for traoré and arsenal…….at 20 almost 21 he need to play first team football and it will never happen at arsenal with clichy and gibbs…with cruise pushing on his back…..good luck armand ;-)
Why can’t we just send him out on loan? I don’t get it- I really rate the lad!
£2 million plus a large sell on fee.
is perfect for Traore
he wont be playing for us this season so its better to sell him
I think in the end it will be something like 6-8 million which is great return for a player like Traore
Traore is the best crosser of the ball in this arsenal team. clichys run in this team is over if he gets injured coz i cant imagine him coming back and playing better then gibbs. traore should not be sold and be played as a winger coz the way arshavin has been playing end of last season(the games he played in) and from the first game of this season, he should be dropped coz in my eyes traore is faster, stronger, taller, better crosser, tracks back, not lazy and dosnt act like a princess if some dosnt pass the ball straight to his feet. arshavin is a special player but it isnt worth it when hes not on top of his game or the way i see it he dosn twant to be on top of his game. Traore hopefully stays and plays in his preferred position.
I would prefer us selling Clichy and promote Gibbs and Traore…
We will get more money and better potential in Gibbs..
Gibbs is better than Clichy i think..
have all you guys lost it
Clichy is an awesome defender who had one bad season which could be associated to the change in formation and how much it takes out of a player
Traore was awful in his defending last year he has the speed and technical ability to go forward but he’s a LB if he can defend then he’s no use to us
Gibbs is an awesome talent but talent isnt everything. Experience counts for a lot in this game talent alone wont win you the title and that has been shown with our 5 year trophy drought
And why do people forget rotation every top club does it every single season. The competition with clichy and gibbs will make them perform better in training and during matches and they will know that if they don’t perform during the match then the other player will replace them
It will also help in shortening our injury list which has been exploding in recent years
I can’t understand the beef with clichy that everyone seems to have. He is the perfect mold for a fullback. The problem is that everyone expects players to be perfect all the time or they complain.
You’re kidding me. Traore can’t defend for shit and you want to sell Clichy?! Gibbs certainly have the potential to overtake Clichy but for now Clichy is the first choice LB. Anyway it’s great that we have 2 good LBs and the competition between them will drive them to better themselves.
having a large sell on fee is awesome but do you not htink 2 mill is a wee bit too low, i mean, apart from cashley, evra and kolarov, i don’t think there are any better left backs in the other premiership teams.
Lansbury To Go on loan to either nottingham forest or leeds… nottingham forest is the more likely.
One thing that no one here seems to have covered is that Arsenal often use the low selling fee (£2m in this case) + 50% sell-on in order to ensure that we have first refusal on rebuying the player if they develop quickly (indeed a first refusal clause is often explicitly inserted in the transfer contract). In practice this means that if Traore turns into a world-beater and Barcelona come in with a £20m offer, we can either take our £10m as 50% of the deal, or we can choose to buy him back for £10m. Covers us every which way….
In my honest opinion I think it’s right to get rid of Traore,Clichy is by far a much better player than him and Gibbs at the same age as Traore but better defensively,positionally and more intelligent.
Traores big problem is that he loses concentration too often,decent player and good luck to him but he is never gonna make it as our first choice.
Wenger frankly has screwed up Traore’s career. I understand why he tried to convert the guy to a full back – Wenger likes guys like Cole, Clichy, Lauren who were attacking players converted to become raiders from deep. Problem is htough that it was clear right from the reserves that Traore didnt have the defensive instincts and never would.
If Wenger has persisted with Walcott for 3-4-5 years as an out and out attacker on the right side of the field, I cant for the life of me see why he didnt see fit to try Traore for even one single season.
And then to peddle him off having never had a chance? What a waste! Traore has fantastic speed and he is gaining physical strength as he matures at still only 20. Plus he has a hell of a left peg, potentially a really deadly crosser if given more time and training at that. Would love to see him serving up some of those inswingers for Chamackh!
As for Clichy he isnt much better a defender. And wont ever be. Plus he has mental breakdowns when the pressure is on. See how he let Rooney create a breakaway goal for Man U last season without even thinking about a tactical foul that the likes of Cole or Lauren would have instantly done.
If I were Wenger I’d have already shipped Clichy off to anybody who will pay this summer and brought in an older defender to back up Gibbs. In just 1.5 season of premier expereince Gibbs is defensively where Clichy too about four hears of 1st team experience to get. The difference is clear.
But Gibbs progress should not be standing in the way of Traore. That kid is potentially a lethal offensive weapon being wasted Wenger’s through rigid mentality. Arsenal bette not sell him – he will go to Benfica and be sold back to the premiership in less than 3 seasons to one of our top opponents – he is gonna be that good as a left winger.