Arsenal have stepped up their search for a teenage left back and have identified several potential targets. Reports emanating from Africa suggest the Gunners are trialing Emmanuel Mbola, but Young Guns can confirm the club are watching Anderlecht’s Jordan Lukaku in a tournament in Switzerland.
Zambian media outlets reported last week that TP Mazembe’s 17-year-old full back Mbola was in North London and was training with Arsenal, but neither party refused to confirm the reports and Gilles Grimandi told one African paper the trial was not happening. The Daily Mirror says today that Arsène Wenger will run the rule over Emmanuel in the future.
Mbola has offers from club’s based all over Europe but he’s currently under investigation over his transfer to Mazembe from Pyunik Yerevan in 2009. The player has over 20 caps for Zambia despite being only 17.
However, whilst there is an interest in Mbola, Arsenal are exploring other options. Scouts will be watching Jordan Lukaku, brother of Romelu, in action for Belgium’s Under 17’s this week. Lukaku is a strong and powerful left back but he can also play in midfield and without the work permit complications, Jordan would be the preferred option.
Arsenal currently have James Campbell, George Brislen-Hall, Cedric Evina and Thomas Cruise as Under 18 and Reserve left back options.
prefer jordan, maybe we could get romelu aswell if jordan came.
i dont get it. why are we looking specifically for a left back then? i would love the young lukaku, ive seen him and he is huge. plus if it leads romelu here then all the better
Jordan Lukaku doesn’t seem like a possibility. When Lukaku’s father doesn’t want Romelu to be transferred before he finishes school, why would it be any different for his younger brother?
I think Romelu situation is different
he’s already getting regular games for Anderlecth whereas Jordan is still in reserves or in their youth team if I am not wrong
Young Guns once again you are the most reliable and truthful blogs on the net in regards to Arsenal.
I myself am Zambian and would love to see Mbola at Arsena. I live in London, but I am currently on a months holiday in Zambia so I will be looking out for any news on this. I follow my national team and this guy is something very special and only 17. Did you get a chance to watch him in the last ANC ?
Aren’t we trying to get rid of a left back in traore? why do we need a new LB when we have gibbs coming through?
A proper run club focused on developing players into first team regulars will always look for new talents. Clichy (25), Gibbs (21) and …
It would make sense to have someone young who can develop into a top player while learning from established PL players. If Clichy goes to Spain within 2-3 years, we have Gibbs as a natural replacement but who is behind him?
thomas cruise is behind him
Africans are no good due to the ACON in my opinion as it is right at the pressure point of the English season. I think they are the most athletic and powerful players on the planet, who give everything for 90 mins. If English players had half their commitment we’d be nigh on unbeatable
monty shut up
ACON is like Euros
except for the euros dosnt happen halfway through the seaon. Which i think is his point. no?
Emmanuel Mbola. Just looked at his pics on google. There is no way this guy is 17. I smell a fake passport.
yeah, it’s normal for African players to reduce their ages. Look at players like Adebayor, Toure, Essien; They look way above their ages. it is apparent they are not using their real ages.
Arsene Wenger should be careful with these african players!
Hope the fellow is really 17. Its unfortunate but in Africa players tend to lie about their age. Heard the one in Nigeria where it’s claimed that Nwankwo Kanu is 42 and Obafemi Martins is 32? In Kenya our biggest sensation nicknamed “Blackberry” has had an age range of 17 to 23 within one year!
hey man stop divulging the secrets of african footballers.
LOL!
My understanding is that Clichy has 2 yrs left on his contract and for whatever reason he is the only one of our current young first teamers not on a long term deal. As he is actually around 25-26yrs old and considering the last 2 season he has not push on. Personally I think he is available for transfer if the right offer comes in.
Clichy is a quality leftback and we would be stupid to get rid of him.
Why do we want a left back? We have Clichy and Gibbs.
Frankie pics dnt realy tel the true pic! Africans tend to lk much older thn their ages.
@Kenyan gooner i undrstnd your concrns. Bt do u remember oliech whn he bust into the scene¿ He ws only 17 bt lookd 35!!
i know. i am half nigerian.
Yeah nigerians hv hd their share critcms over age! I hear Taribo west played until hs 50s! any truth in tht?
We have Clichy, Gibbs, Traore, 1st team
I think Cruise will be a good player,, why is Wenger looking to buy in a new kid LB for the reserves when we seem to produce good ones our selves (although Gibbs started at Wimbledon).
This just seems a move to make cheap money, ie buy a player cheap and sell for a couple of million, whrn the reach an average standard, thus stifeling talent which the club already has.
Who is incharge of buying youth players? is it Wenger? What idiot spends good money which could be used to partly finance deals for our first team to collect of bunch of talented 15, 16 and 17 year olds. We buy soo many of them that talented kids the were already at our club never make it.
Also it does not make sense to keep inporting African players into our squad (yes i know there are some realy good players like Essien, Drogba and Yaya Toure) but because we have too many of them every 2 years we will loose four or five players for a whole month. Im realy pissed off with the news that we keep signing or being linked to 15 year old wonderkids from across the world. When we dont spend any money on our first team.
Its not far on the players aswell, just look at Nacer Barazite, he came to a new country, left all he knew to come here on the pretence that we would slowly integrate him into our first team
Cruise will not make it as a leftback at arsenal. He isn’t the type of attacking up and down left back we like.
First off guys, this signing is for the youth and not the first team so it doesn’t affect Gibbs, Traore or Clichy.
J, are we interested in Romeleu at all or is the attention he’s getting from big clubs priced us out and will signing his brother help, if we are interested?
what about botelho? mind you anything that will help us land romelu lukaku should be encouraged!
By the time pedro comes to arsenal, if he does at all, he will be far too old for the youth and reserves.
TRAORE HAS GONE TO BENFICA. sort it out goonerz.. i agree that we shudnt keep spending 1/2 million on 14 year olds 5 times a year when that money should go into supporting our very frail defense between the sticks… However seeing as this will continue as long as Sire Arsene is around then why are we keepin these no-hopers like Randall and Cruise… ye they’re english.. but yeah they’re definatly not good enough.. No use Buying up the most taalented youths in the world to just delay/hamper/destroy their potenital to TRY to blled blood out of an english stone!
I thought Traore didn’t go to Benfica???
The budget for spending on youth is separate from the money spent on first-team players.
Wenger has the money, he’s looking for the right buys at first-team level.
Cruise isn’t a “no-hoper”, although he isn’t the typical Arsenal full-back, he’s young and could develop, don’t forget that many young players change positions.
“Bleed blood out of an English stone”? What about the likes of Gibbs, Wilshere or JET? Don’t be so imbecilic.
Lansbury is going on loan at Swansea
If he really sets the Championship alight this season then wenger will have to consider him for next year first team squad but I guess we will see what happens he certainly has the talent
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6333024,00.html
The position we’re strongest at…why go after LBs?!
I don’t think there is any point in loaning lansbury to a championship club. IMO he should be around the first team squad. I think he is ready to contribute this year.
Ramsey will be back in Novemeber
WIlshere has become a part of the first team
if he can get a year on loan and have that experience behind them maybe next year he can break into the first team player
but keeping him around just for the sake of it isn’t good for anybody
A loan to a championship club is not the experience he needs. Some players need to practice with the first team and get completely use to our system and play in carling cup and some fa cup games. In a year, he will be more ready than another stint in a division that plays football nothing like us. If it was to a prem club then ok but i don’t get this loan. I think he is ready to compete for a spot but that is just me. Wenger knows best though so I am sure he will do right.
This is just my opinion, but a loan seems like the right move.
I just feel that with Wilshere, Ramsey and Eastmond all in the first-team, Lansbury would struggle to get the oppurtunities to play, even in cup competeitions. Fair enough, he might get a chance in the Carling Cup, but I think spending a season with a decent championship side will be a better experience in the long-run than waiting around at Arsenal to play a handful of games.
That’s only my opinion though, and I’m not Arsene Wenger. :)
Will….did you name Eastmond over Lansbury?
As a footballer i would say that Lansbury is better, but given Eastmond’s unexpected development last season while Lansbury was unavailable, i see Eastmond as being slightly closer to a first-team spot.
dont get the logic there but ok
lol, dont worry not many people do.
What is the point with bringing an african? I would have drogba than have bendtner who is always injured.ANC is like any other cup respect.
bendtner is always injured.thats a news lol.Poeple always come with marvelous imaginary fact.And no, even so like watching the ANC, its not like other cup as it happen in the middle of the season and take player away for a 3-4 week.
Lansbury is not ready to the EPL that s why he go on loan to the championship.Tru he is talented but I prefer he get a lot of game in there than warm the bench in the EPL.
As for a new LB, i thought a RB would be wiser because except Eboue and Sagna do we have an up and coming talent
why would tyhe zambian kid have work permit issues when he has played 20 caps for his country already??
because Zambia is a small football country (( i think they use FIFA ranking) and that a selection in the national team is not a warrant for Work permit like Galiano who even he is the CPT of the youth Bolivian team its no getting the permit but Denilson who was the same getting it because it s Brazill.
Who say euro players doesn’t lie? Rooney at 16 lukd 35,robben terry,bale,macheda & a host of others,roger milla retired at almost 45, very few european players retires at dat age
Dave, do u have any proof? In africa record keeping is very poor, so it’s easy to fake some of these things. But i doubt they have the same issues in Europe.
when was the last time arsenal found a good young right back because that is what we need.the last right back we had that made the first team was gilbert and he is gone now.
Everyone opposing this move on the grounds we already have a plethora of left backs is, for all intents and purposes, spouting nonsense. It’s always good to have quality and quantity in depth. Football clubs (well, most of them at least) are meritocracy’s, where players compete with each other, and the best rise to the top. Arsenal is no exception. The more LB’s the merrier lol (at youth level, obviously)…
Incidentally JS, this does seem slightly ironic given the perceived dearth of right backs at reserve and academy level. Nobody considers Hoyte a serious chance to make it anymore; I wonder whether we’re planning to mould one of Eastmond, Coquelin or Yennaris in to a long term right back? Or possibly (and hopefully) there’s some younger talent coming through in the position we haven’t heard of yet. Otherwise I’d think we should be looking for someone…
Can you enlighten us JS?
Hey, Wellington Silva is doing a blog on Brazil’s answer to the BBC- Globo. This is what he had to write about today:
Hi, my name is Wellington Silva, Fluminense footballer. Starting from next year I will play for Arsenal in England. I am in the UK going through a period of acclimitization to adapt to the area and better get to know my future teammates. This blog will allow you to know how my day to day life is going in England. I will stay in Europe until 5th September. You can be sure that I will have many things to talk about.
I know that it will be really difficult to get used to life in England, above all the weather, the language and food. Therefore I am taking English lessons and am going in search of new experiences. During this period I have already played in four friendlies for Arsenal’s B team. We won three and lost one. I managed to score a goal in our match with
Manchester United last week.
All the best. I will let you know more tomorrow.
http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/brasilmundialfc/2010/08/24/wellington-silva-os-primeiros-passos-no-arsenal/
I really wanted to see Cezar Azpilicueta in the club, but he went to Marseille. As for the left back position, I’m sure Wenger would sell Clichy for 15 mil pounds, cause he dropped form for the last 2 seasons and is by far our weakest link in the defence.
me too Cezar Azpilicueta was brilliant
That wouldn’t make a whole lot of sence considering he is a first team player and we have 2 first team right backs.
The thing I saw happening but didn’t was Maicon going to Madrid, Sagna to Inter and us going for van der Wiel (his price tho went up way to high anyways). Maicon stayed so that domino effect never happened.
People…please stop saying sell Clichy.
http://globoesporte.globo.com/platb/brasilmundialfc/2010/08/24/wellington-silva-os-primeiros-passos-no-arsenal/
Wellington Silva starting a blog about his life in Arsenal =)
brilliant although I am guessing wenger will make it shut it down
as it might reveal some “Secrets”
arshavin got one too .As long he is not going stupid on his blog i doubt wenger will ask to shut it down.He look like down to earth unlike lot of his countryman footballer.
I just hope Arsenal go for Romulu Lukaku in time, imagine him and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in the attacking line in the future. I think he is worth the pricetag on his head, and under Wenger, he will be twice the player of Drogba (if that’s possible). Any news on a potential transfer in the future for him? I’d love to see him at the club. And heck, get his brother too, they will be better for us than if we had gotten both the Toure brothers!
I disagree with all the Lukaku hype right now. Now I am not saying he won’t become great but he reminds me a lot of Jozy Altidore who was scoring at 16 for the new york red bulls. Lukaku is simply more physically developed then his peers so he can play at senior level. When you watch him the, he doesn’t really have much technical skill.
Yes we love to have Lukaku (the striker one) with i ll bet most of the big club in europe.He say he is a Chelsea fan but i think only because Drogba play for them rather than anything else
his father look like he control his transfer and he s told him he s got to stay few more years at anderleckt.So if we get his brother (daddy approval of course :D ) and treat him very well the table could turn in our favour
I think Cruise will eventually turn into a holding midfield player in the same mould as gareth barry. England under 19s have played him there a few times and he looks comfortable there.
The age thing. It’s good that Dennis Oliech was mentioned. There is a term that was developed in kenya for people like Oliech,Mariga and some others you may not know.They were said to be parsuing their doctorate degrees while in high school.They spent years in High school football and their ages were only “determined” when they broke into the senior team. It was very funny to here that “a 22 year old kenyan” had signed for Inter.I know these guys are atleast 5 years older. Example.There’s a guy who was in 2nd year when i joined high school.By the time i was leaving the school 4 years later, he was still in the third year class.These guys existed only to play football and no classwork.Imagine my suprise when 4 years later when in my 2nd year of undergraduate studies, i see that this same guy is in the Kenya under 17 national team.The same team that was later disbanded due to age cheating-though this former school mate was never caught.
The ages of Kenyan players are an big joke. I would not trust them at all.
i am against lukaku
trust me when he turns 18 you don`t want to read tranfer news..
he is going to turn into a transfer slut where the biggest bidder gets him
does anyone know how to translate what wellington has been saying please
With yet more rumours today of defensive signings, perhaps AW is looking to move TV5 to the left back position (a position he occupied for Ajax for most of his final season) whilst leaving the potential 3 new CBs to fight over the remaining 2 central defensive positions. This would certainly give the defence a more robust appearance. All we need now is a GK we can have confidence in if AW isn’t going to give either Manonne or Chesney their chance!
Yah vermaelen the best centerback in the prem last year is getting moved to left back where we have 2 good players there……….makes sence
Why LB?, we have many of them, we need RB. Such as Blind from Ajax.
From Anderlecht we need Kouyate, Diaby DM version.
Does when our defence as a unit is weak. Clichy has no shape when defending which leaves the whole defence to move accross to accommodate this; therefore leaving gaps for opposing midfielders to exploit. A stronger defensive shape would provide a more solid platform, and less pressure, being placed on the forward line. At the moment, we have an ill-disciplined defence in front of a keeper who they obviously have no confidence in. It needs to strengthen somewhere. So yes, it does make sense.
You guys often blame our full backs for mistakes that were actually made by our midfield. Our full backs are told to bomb forward and when this happens, we can give away the ball or we will be counter attacked. (pretty simple) Dani Alves looks amazing because Barcelona rarely give up the ball but if they did, he would be way out of position as well.
and no that does not make sence
Romelu Lukaku is alot better than Nikki B and propably will be better then Drogba, so we should by him and his brother .
Have you ever actually watched a whole game of his?
As I am from Belgium I can give you some more information about Jordan Lukaku, the one year younger brother from Romelu LUkaku.
They are sons of a former first division player born in Congo but who played mostly in the Belgium league.
Jordan Lukaku is technical more gifted compared to Romelu. But he isn’t as strong as his older brother. But he has already an impressive height of 1,80 m at the age of 15.
Heplayes in the Anderlecht Youth teams (U17 – above age) and he normally is playing on the left side of the atack. But inthe Belgium national youth team is mostly played as a left back and also Anderlecht coaches put him there to keep him sharp as he has it far to easy when playing upfront.
The best thing about Jordan Lukaku is the fact that he is an Arsenal fan, as he is a technical player one could say. Romely is more the Drogba type an supports Chelsea. (because Drogba?)
But father Lukaku is a man of principles who first want his kids to finish school (until 18 years in Belgium) and then they can think about going abroad. So it would suprise me if Jordan would leave Belgium before he has finished his school.
Well walter is there any videos of lukaku playing
I just pray that Belgium get a good coach so that this generation is not wasted.
Why do I never hear about a right-back? Infact if Sagna gets injured, who plays at right-back?
LOL…you have never heard of Eboue?
Agree with you man
@will… JET wilshere an gibbz need no bleedin m8.. i said RANDALL AN CRUISE. do u genuinly believe they’ll make it?