Arsenal open talks with Montpellier over Spahić
|Montpellier defender Emir Spahić has revealed that talks with Arsenal have “gone as planned” and admitted that a move could be “completed soon”.
The Bosnia centre back captained his national team during an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign, which saw them narrowly miss out on an appearance in South Africa.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is a known admirer of Spahic, who enjoyed three seasons at Lokomotiv Moscow before moving to Montpellier last summer. He was a rock-solid presence as the Ligue 1 side qualified for the Europa League and also scored two goals during the campaign.
Speaking to Bosnian sports portal SC Sport, he said:
“The most important thing is that so far the negotiations go as planned and that the transfer could be completed soon. Arsenal is a great club, I’m an admirer of Arsene Wenger and I hope that Montpellier will cooperate,” said Spahic.
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old said that Christian Leutrum is not his agent, insisting that Sport.co.uk’s interview with him from yesterday is false.
“I do not know the guy [Leutrum]. I do not know where he is,” he confirmed.
Many thanks to ‘Me’ from the comments section for posting the link.
lol…Pascal Cygan part deux here we come.
Psssht. Won’t believe it till he actually signs for us. Is way too average for Arsenal.
I mean he could be just stirring things up and trying to raise interest in him and his profile; I mean Hugo Rodellega said we were interested in him and had bid and we can all see how false that was.
hope Mertesacker will come in, too!!!! This Spahic guy cant start with Verminator together.
Without knowing how good he is how can any of you start crying about pascal cygan?
do I need to write the players we have signed in the past couple of years to prove we are heading in the right direction
I’ve never heard of him before. Whats he like gooner chris? do you think he’s good enough for us? i also remember you saying that he can play centre back and left back, that would be quite useful to us. One other question which is important does he have pace? thanks
Spahic is not avergae!! montpellier finished 5th last year, and spahic played a major part in this. He was in a lot of peoples team of the year, and was one of the best CB’s last year in ligue 1.
I kinda hope you’re right josh but he is captain of is national team so he must have some pedigree.
If Wenger really has pushed for him this quickly rather than waiting for deals i.e kompany, cahill or jags I suppose he must’ve seen some quality from the lad. He’d bring experience if anything and left back cover to boot.
Still hope it’s not true as there are surely quicker, stronger defenders with proven premiership experience out there who could be bought.
Ha, the Igor and Oleg of 2010.
great,another nobody,wenger out.where’s the goalkeeper
I do wonder how many clubs would be willing to release top centrebacks at this stage? Especially at a realistic price.
If this rumour is true, I’d imagine that Wenger is looking for some experience to back up his three young prospects (TV, Djou and Kos).
am not happy reading this at all. unless arsene want to bring in two cb. him and mertesarker will be good and i will be satisfied. but just him alone will not be cool at all and he wont win us nothing come the end of the season..
Andrew, do one will ya I was only playing, only one crying is you. Uptight Git.
Ofcourse Arsenal are heading in the right direction, but you can’t blame fans for being a bit skeptical over this guy.
Oh and I suppose you’re referring to the super signing that was Silvestre.
He’s left footed so chances are he will be Tommy V’s backup. He’s captain of his country so he must have some decent leadership skills and experience and certainly doesnt look as though he lacks physical presence.
I think he’d be a welcome addition.
I love the ‘have not heard of player = not good enough’ mentality which appears on these blogs.
This guy is an experienced player who captains his National side. I’d say he’s exactly the type of player Arsenal need to stengthen the squad.
Or would we all rather Sylvestre re-signs?
@Rock:
no i was referring to vermaelen, sagna, kos, arshavin, nasri, chamak and even SOL
the only one crying about is you
agree with eoin gunner,he is better player than kos and jd so he will be good signing
I am just happy that we are signing someone.
Smart choice for Arsenal … I see the most of you guys have no idea how good Spahic is. You gonna get some speed,authority and jump in your defense. The only thing that bothers me about Spahic is short temper. But at the end he is not the type of the guy that’s gonna let you dawn in important games.
let’s trust wenger and his deals but per will be a good person for us because of his height.
@TopGunPires: He can play with both feet actually.
Apparently this guy beat Vidic in a fight but lost to Skrtel, no-one beats Skrtel..
WHO!?
Chris or someone please give me some honest info on this guy… Is he what we need to win something this season?
He is totally sh*t, I saw him in games for Lokomotiv Moscow and Shinnik Yaroslavl.
I am from Russia.
If true, it’s fascinating to see Wenger buy another captain. With all his talk about “fighting” and “fighters”, clearly Wenger wants players with backbone who can get stuck in. Obviously there isn’t a single Gooner who would disagree with that.
As ever, let’s see it confirmed first, but the quotes look realistic.
lol…You’re obviously not the sharpest tool in the box andrew, bless you.
Nobody is denying those signings were good, and if the rumour is true then this guy might not turn out to be a cygan or a silvestre, was said tongue in cheek.
I doubt it’s true personally because Kos will need time to adapt and can’t be thrown in right away, hence the need for a proven centre back, and we all know Weng doesn’t go for two left footed centre backs to start together.
Still think we’ll get Jagielka as long as he’s got over his injury setback.
@Cocumber: Oh wait, how many years ago was that? Right, atleat 2 years ago. Have you heard of a player that has developed his game, oh wait, i’m being over-ironic.
This guy is a fighter and leader. We need him more than he needs us.
If he does come he should be welcomed,international experience and experience in a good league should not be sniffed at, bound to be a better bench man than silvestre! However i am still waiting for a keeper!
I think its a good move by arsene considering his age.He has experience and also he wont stand in the way of Bartley or Nordtveit or even Djourou
Jagielka, hahahaha. There’s only the small matter of £15m.
Good one Rock.
Erichero is spot on, Wenger seems to be going for players who fight for the team this summer as he saw the lack of fight costing us last year. Great shout.
Btw anyone else heard the rumour that Barcelona have consulted quickquid.co.uk in a last ditch attempt to raise Fab cash?
@BosnianGooner: I repeat – he is totally shit. This is not a level Arsenal and PL
yeah vermaelen was a great signing,how many goals did we concede again.as for koscielny that is a joke of a signing.
He was in the Ligue 1 team of the year.
Hes fast and strong but hes only 6ft surely we need a taller defender. But at 30 and with nordvetie coming through it looks a good deal
@Rock: I heard they asked the players to bring in all their jewellery to the nou camp tomorrow to pitch in cos Dale Winton will be around to give them cash for their gold!
personally i’ve never heard of him, but that does’nt mean he’s not good. i’d never heard of thomas vermaelen before we signed him. both are, in some ways, similar, both are captain for there countrys and both narrowly missed out on the world cup. wenger said that he was looking for AT LEAST 1 more defender so mertesacker could still be on his way, hope so anyway.
Sagna was the last player we signed that was in the Ligue 1 team of the year. He hit the ground running, and apart from his crossing has been superb for Arsenal.
I know there are cynics about, but I have a hard time believing that Wenger would have lumped for someone useless when he had a whole continent to choose from.
What is also clear is that not many Gooners watch the French league 🙂 Hands up, I confess.
schlacker, true but Wenger did say he wont be afraid to spend the money for the right player this summer. We need a top centre back, they cost money.
You never know we might throw in a player in exchange as Everton enquired about Rosicky who is as indirect as you can get, can’t make a telling pass or unlock any defence, and with absolutely no threat to the opposing goal. He’s a liability and I’d take that deal any day.
why the hell have so many people got such a hard on for mertesacker?? the guys turns about as fast as the titanic. he’d be useless playing for arsenal with the high line we play, we need someone who has a good turn of foot, not just someone like mert/hangeland who are great at defending high balls. people just don’t seem to understand this – we don’t buy a player just because he’s supposed to be good, he has to fit in with the way we play too..
this guys a left footer, so he is going to be TV’s deputy, and having an international captain of a half decent team as a 3/4th choice is fine by me.
@John
He is not extraordinary tall but i can assure you he is gonna be your highest jumper. The guy is very athletic , he can score too. All these years i have been wandering when he is going to sign some big teams. Last year Montpeille signed him as a free player for cheap price without any big expectations but he turned out to be ,if not, best defense player in France this year. He is 30 but i don’t even remember last time when he was injured. But Wenger has to teach him to handle Spahic short temper , often gets cheap and unnecessary yellow cards.
From what I’ve seen of him, he seems to have solid technique, strength, while being calm in possession. Never watched him in a proper game, so this is just from first impressions. He could be crap, or he could be great. Let’s wait and see. Chamakh is a great player, when I bet many of you thought otherwise, though he may still end up doing poorly for us. You never know till they start playing.
saphic is a reliable defender who has CL experience with spartak moscow.
as a back up he is an excellent choice, if you watch any of bosnias WC games you will see he is very composed and very hard in the tackle. he is also very good at reading the game.
its nice to know that the so called fans at Arsenal know more about football and players then Wenger and the coaching and scouting staff at Arsenal. LOL!
if this roumer comes true i will be very happy as friends of mine in France say he is a very good player and was one of the best defenders in France last year.
ARSENE KNOWS!
se all his touches in a friendly vs ghana this april.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSlmyfyokXo
I just did a check … he wasn’t in the Ligue 1 team of the year.
09/10 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_Ligue_1
08/09 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008%E2%80%9309_Ligue_1
Age is rather high to be interesting Wenger – although he has signed a few back up centre backs in this age bracket in the past. Sounds like an experienced backup who will not be expected to feature in too many games if the rumour has any substance.
All arsene has to do is get micahh richards frm city he wld be the beta vertisile playa because he is young,english and an arsenal fan, some dat can partner vermeline wen we need strength,power and speed 2 deal with the like of drogba away from home, he can also play full back and even midfrield.. I also think we need 2 pay big money 4 joe heart as it wld be worth it a playa who loves the big occation!
if we get this guy, i believe we should sign an experienced player as well who can cover at the right side of the central defence and right back just to balanced the defence out. then finally we can get a goalie..
Edmorris its arsenal average height.
we have alot of short players so every time there is a set piece we rely on our centre backs heavily.
Teams like man utd, chelsea have got the likes of ballack, lampard, mikel and fletcher, carrick, to defend as well.
I just feel arsenal could do with some extra help and help our defence out.
I dnt just understand wenger. Arsenal need a English in dat defence. Even italian or German man will be o.k. I dnt knw why wenger like buyin player from france. Jst take a look at arsenal team, almost all is from france or france ligue. Mark my words today, wenger will not sign a goalkeeper.
@Rock , Rosicky can’t make a pass?! What are you on?! He’s one of the most creative and talented players on the team and can take shots from range.
Actually he was NOT in the ligue 1 team of the yr..
Goalkeeper France Hugo Lloris Lyon
Defender France Rod Fanni Rennes
Defender Senegal Souleymane Diawara Marseille
Defender France Michaël Ciani Bordeaux
Defender France Benoît Trémoulinas Bordeaux
Midfielder France Benoît Cheyrou Marseille
Midfielder France Yoann Gourcuff Bordeaux
Midfielder Belgium Eden Hazard Lille
Forward Senegal Mamadou Niang Marseille
Forward Argentina Lisandro López Lyon
Forward Morocco Marouane Chamakh Bordeaux
Interesting to note diawara was in the team of the yr 2 yrs running – with 2 different teams who both won the title!! maybe worth a punt on him??!! and he’s played in the prem before, although it was a disaster, then again he was playing for charlton, under ian dowie!! that was a few yrs back, and he seems to have come on in leaps and bounds since then..
Emir spahic was in the goal ligue 1 team of the year lol not the official one
My favourite Arsenal team of the past few years
Fabianski
luzny cygan senderos Stepanovs
Walcott Pennant Vivas Boamorte
Jeffers Kiwomya
Amazing how many people won’t be happy unless we spend 25 million on Lucio because he’s the only CB outside the Premier League they’ve heard of. Luckily Wenger knows a few more players than most of the muppets on this board
Fair enough John – have you got a link for that? I can’t find it.
@ Simms 21, that’s all on paper and he hasnt proved it in the time he’s been at the club, regardless of his injuries he’s done squat for Arsenal and like I say, is a liability. He scores the 1 or 2 goals from range in like 100 games, and regardless of his injuries he goes missing in almost all the games he plays, playing tippy tappy football with no incisiveness. How many assists and how many goals compared to the amount of games he’s played? I rest my case.
People are always on Theo’s back but Theo is way more direct and actually causes defences problems whereas the manga character Rosicky is always bundled off the ball with ease. He’s a weak link and had a prolongued run in the side towards the end of last season, he did f all against teams like wolves at home, birmginham and spurs away, games we had to win. With Rosicky out of the squad we always look dangerous going forward like we did at the start of the season when rosicky couldn’t get a look in, with him in the team we look like we can’t score for toffee.
he is 30 .6ft 2in tall looks like he takes no prisoners from a vid just watched on utube captain of bosnia,,,looks to be a good signing really,,,why dont people who think they are experts shut the fuck up and let the signing of players up to the real experts ie arsene wenger!!!!!
Just shows how cash straped with are, if we are looking at him! We are tight arse’s! Transfers this summer, Chamakh = Free, Koscienly = £8m, Schwarzer(Maybe) = £2-3m and this guy cant be more than £2-3m! Total spend £14M!! We are broke people, the quicker you get that into your brains the better!
Thats just not good enough for a team hoping to win the league and champions league!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSlmyfyokXo
this tube should give you a good idea of what he is like.
I do not think though he will join arsenal; do not bellive he is willing to be a backup.
Spahic is not so bad. I’m from Bosnia too and I watched him a lot in the national team, but also in Montpellier. First of all he’s a fantastic person and a phenomenal captain. He’s like Tony Adams off booze. I can guarantee he’ll give a 100% every training (if you rate Vermaelen as a fighter just wait to see Emir), and knowing him I’m more than prepared to see how he’ll gel into the top-level. I would’ve chosen Jagielka or Mertesacker, but we can’t write Spahic off, that’s for sure. I opened for any questions about his game, because I do know him for a long, long time.
@ Me
Adams on Booze is what we need me ol’ sonny jimnastics.
@alf15: Yeah man, that’s why we are one of the four richest clubs in the world by any trustworthy list (like Forbes). If anything, this club has top-class economists (beginning with the gaffer) and a top-class CEO in Ivan Gazidis. We’re the only club top ten club on that list that hasn’t won anything for years, and have built a new stadium just five years ago so think about it.
this is the best video of his skills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avEFodUp9so
A nice youtube compilation of his international highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avEFodUp9so
@GoonerGaz: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!! the good old days ;p
GIVE WALCOTT TIME
OMG….just Relax people. Emir is one of the best centre backs in the world. He just never cared much for playing at a super level club but knowing English Football and toughness of it’s players Emir will fit in just fine. He’s got a big heart, not affreaid of tackling anyone and most importantly just like all ex yugo players he is tecnically very skilled with the ball. Arsenal would be a better team with Emir. And the enitre Bosnia would be your fan too:)!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2010/05/17/1928069/goalcom-special-ligue-1-team-of-the-season-2009-10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxFlZo0A5Ss
Don’t mess with Emir 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIOtv4iw7AM
I promise, no more…..
Some rumours going around about a possible return to Arsenal for Silvestre, most probably total bollox and would prefer Spinach to him anyday.
My gut feeling on the keeper situ is that Weng will wait till deadline day for the City bang bang fire sale and nab Given as Joe Hart might have started all of City’s three games by then.
Prob totally wrong but heres hoping eh.
“Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is a known admirer of…..” I believe this is a standard statement made by most blogs even when Arsene has never heard of the player not to mention making contact. Let’s be sure of these stories before we start raising our hopes.
@Me: I know what you mean, we are very well run machine and dont get me wrong, that is the all teams should be run!! But sometimes spending an extra £5-10m on a big name player/proven player has other benifits, such as boosting moral with the fans (we are all crying out for a big name to get us excited)! It also shows the rest of the premierleague teams that we mean business and will stike fear into other teams!
All the small teams come to Arsenal not afraid to play against us!! They dont fear our defenders/keepers! Every other top 4/5 team strikes fear into the lower teams! And thats is where we fall down! And signing players like Spahic, doesnt strike fear into me, so im sure the other teams in the premierleague wont be too worries either!
@Chukwudi: Wenger watches a lot of Bosnian football and Boro Primorac has recommended Spahic to him before.
@Me: I heard that hes right footed but can also play with his left foot. He can play anywhere in the back four and in the right left back postion. is this truee??
I’m a PSG fan and I follow the Ligue 1 a lot.
Montpellier were an average team last year and were relegation contenders until they bought Spahic. Their defense became one of the better in the league.
They missed out on the Champions League by just a few points.
So to those who wonder if he can make a difference, well he did with Montpellier. I don’t know how much of a difference he can make with a huge club like yours, but he definitely made a crap team one of the best in France.
I remember that he scored a goal against us in the last minute…
His pros:
-One of the best leaders I’ve seen. I was in the Parc des Princes in the first rows and with all the noise, you could hear him yell at his wingers who weren’t tracking back. He has a lot of authority and knows how to help others.
-Is one of the most physical players I’ve seen. The guy will break your legs if it can get him the ball or stop you score. He sacrifices his body for the good of the team. I heard that he played a game for Bosnia in the WC qualifiers injured and scored the first goal. Apparently it inspired his teammates who won 7-0.
-Has some pace left, even if he’s 30. He’s physical enough for the English league since he’s decent in the air and is fearless. Sometimes too much.
-Apparently he’s a great guy and plays with heart.
His Cons:
-Has a short temper… He explodes a lot. He recieved a few red cards in the season. He can be dangerous. Then again, this is not good in France, but apparently it’s important in England… I don’t think that he’s the kind of player to get a red when it’s not important, but he doesn’t care about the health of opponents.
-Never played at a big stage. Lokomotiv Moscow, Montpellier…Then again, Lokomotiv Moscow payed huge wages to their players, so I guess that’s why he didn’t leave. I don’t think that he’s the kind of guy to who it’s really important to play in a huge club, I just think that he wants to play…
-He’s 29. Even if it’s a good age for a defender, I don’t think that he’ll stay in Arsenal for a long time. He can provide experience and push those 19 year old ladies who don’t know how to play with heart for their club.
All in all, I think that he was one of the most underrated players I’ve seen in a while. It will be a good signing.
@Gooner: Yes, that’s all correct. He’s a center-back, but he’s pretty comfortable playing near the corners as well. He started out with the national team at right-back. Comfortable with both feet.
hi guys and girls
Just want to get your opinion on this
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-we-have-money-to-overtake-chelsea
Wenger said that back end of last season.So where is this money?
I think he is quite good.. just like vermaelen and Koscielny, he is fast, excellent in the air, good defense, and he can score…
if he comes … will he be a back up or starter next to vermaelen???
I personally think (if he fits well with the team) he should start!
emir sphaic is fantanstic he uses both legs. i just watched his clips,he’s a short but big lad wen it come 2 lifting and contesting 4 d ball. he’s like canavaro. we shud go 4 him i tink he’s better dan som of our Cb. krespo 4rm Nigeria
I’m ukrainian and admitedly know nothing about this fellow. But reading through these comments I would deffinitely go with the guy whose name is BosnianGunner since obviously he follows this player, also all these people saying he’s the next sylvestre are obviously talking out of their assholes, especcialy the idiot calling himself boy better know, he’s deffinitely not a man or an Arsenal fan. Point is; stop making ignorant comments it reflects badly on Arsenal fans in general, research the topic or shut ur mouth, trust me its in ur best interest
Thanks Unnamed – some fascinating insight. Another player like Kos who has suddenly had a big league season in France. No surprise that Wenger is following the French league closely.
I think most of us would like to see a player who can throw himself around a bit, and it’s that quality that endeared us to TV so quickly. Scoring goals helps too 🙂
Now let’s see if Montpellier do what Lorient did and scale up the price several times. I’m not sure we have enough time to negotiate like that?
@Unnamed: Brilliant comment Unamed, much appreciated. I’ve posted a link to it on my Twitter as well.
also conceding goals doesn’t help either,and we all know how many goals we let in with vern at the back.
I’m sorry, but who ever wrote that post on the Le Grove blog is an utter imbecile.
I live in France and I watch Ligue 1 every week. I can tell you that Spahic would be a first class signing.
In fact he was one of the first players I thought about when we were looking Gallas’ replacement.
Alongside Vermaelen he’d be excellent. Agressive, commanding, strong in the air and in the tackle, I reckon he’d push Koscielny on the bench.
I’d be very surprised if Montpellier let him go though.
Couldn’t agree more Nurah. That blog is poison.
the guy will be in arsenal.so no waisting of time.
Definitely better than Terry and Carragher or both combined..
He knows how to tap the ball and do that under pressure too…
@Jake: He also knows how to shut down Klose, so maybe he can give all those incredible English center-backs some advice.
all ladies and gentle men I want u to khow that wenger will not buy ungood player
We should not make judgment on this guy yet. I like his attitude, in your face kind a guy which will come in handy, when he is going to break Shawcross legs in five pices next season. If this guy played in that game last season, Shawcross would not have left the pitch crying or what he was, he would have left bleading heavily. This is just what we need, hard core crazy guy from Bosnia!! Just what we need;)Remeber keown against V.Nistelroy, I have missed that…
Gooner chris,how accurate is this rumour?
What’s with the aversion to centre backs over 6 feet tall? Toure, Gallas, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Silvestre. The only big lads we’ve had have been Senderos & Campbell in the last few years (Djourou as well). Not saying that good defenders have to be big, but given that the rest of our team are quite short i think it’s something that the opposition can use against us.
@Nurah: Agreed
I’d be happy if we signed this fella, we’re prob not going to buy Mertesacker, so he’ll be more than capable of doing a job.
He’s got to be better than the likes of Silvestre, Senderos (Djourou upto now).
Le Groan is a depressed, depressing blog, meant only for those who can see absolutely nothing good in anything Wenger does. I can only imagine what they would have said about us selling Anelka and signing Henry.
le grove is run by a spurs fan the enemy from within.
they are all plastic jonnycumlatlies.
Cons of Mertesacker would from Wenger’s point of view seem to be 1) he’s costly relatively speaking, 2) some concerns he’s too slow for the premier league 3) his age (25, I believe) would leave no room for Nordvielt or Bartley to come through as Djourou, Verminator and Kos all being in their earlier 20s and with their prime years ahead of them.
I’m suprised with all d good talk about spahic….i dont remember it being lyk dis 4 koscienly…seems he must be really gud…I have a question my fellow arsenal fans..did anybody notice dat it was wen kossy came on against celtic in d emirates cup dat dey put 2 past us (3-2)??…He came rushin out nd could’nt win d ball nd left Djourou exposed at d back….wat u guys think?
skysports have also picked up on this
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6293488,00.html
how many red cards does spahic get on average?
I donot follow french league so know nothing about this guy. My question is if he is that good, Why wasnt he linked with better European clubs considering he must have been around for quiet some time? He is 32 years old so must have been around for 8-10 years atleast.
The article above says he’s 29 years old.
@Andy Mack: i read somewhere that hes 32 :S
His team finished 5th last year which is higher than Bordeaux or Laurent and wev signed players from there so hopefully he isnt bad at all!!
“Montpellier boss Rene Girard has suggested he is reluctant to allow Spahic to leave the club. Asked about the Arsenal rumours, he told Le Midi Libre: “I’m flabbergasted. There has never been any question of Emir’s departure.”
He added, jokingly, that he would sell “if the English are willing to give us €25 million”.
@Abdus Samad: He is 29!
@Abdus Samad: He was set to sign for PSG, but opted for Montpellier because the Parisians didn’t meet his wage demands. Similarly, Lokomotiv isn’t a particularly glamorous club, but they paid very well. That was actually the problem later… he was linked with a lot of different clubs (PSG, Marseille, Wolfsburg, HSV off the top of my head), but he didn’t want to settle for a lower salary.
Beyond that, it’s a much more difficult road to the top from Bosnia than it is from, say, Belgium or France. There’s not really much of a market out there for inexperienced defenders without EU passports, and by the time our young defenders work their way up to a decent enough stage (and no one will buy them based on their performances in Bosnia’s circus league), they’re usually around 27. Then it’s a question on whether Western clubs would rather spend money on them or on some promising 23-year-old.
G Money, they already put 2 past us before Kos came on to steady things.
is he going to start or provide backup?
Here is some facts from a true Bosnian fan, and Emir(King) Spahic.
For all those that have no clue about Spahic, you should not say a word. The guy is born to play in EPL. He has heart, passion, agression, skill, and talent. He is one of the best CB’s in the French leauge. Last year he came into French leauge and nobody would think of him much, he goes to a club that just came to Ligue 1 and everyone expected them to be relagated, but they finished at the top of the leauge, at one point fighting for the spot in the champions leauge. In the games Spahic did not play, his team has consided more goals than half a season, and that tells you about value of Spahic.
For the money Arsenal will spend, they could not ask for a better signing. They will get an excilent defender for cheap. If this goes down, and they actually sign him, it will be signing of the year for Arsen. Spahic is a beast and fans will love him. Bosnias captain and we sure love him. My favorite player in the Bosnian national squad. Before signing for the French side, he had intrests from HSV, Wolfsburg, PSG, and some other clubs, he choos Monpelier for a simple reason, he wanted to prove he can play football, and was named in the top squad in Ligue 1. I can certanly say he is better than any CB’s Arsenal currently has and sure would be a starter, for all of those that are thinking that he would be a sub. Emir would never let that happen, he would never come to play as a sub. I know he is better than Vermalen, by a mile. Bosnia played Belgium in the group stage for WC and we destroyed them in both games. Also, Bosnia is not an avereage or decent side as some are saying. We are a very good side, a bit unlucky against Portugal in the playoffs, but with more luck and Spahic in the second leg, we would have been at the World Cup, thats for sure. Besides, we have Dzeko, Pjanic, Misimovic, Hasagic, Spahic, Nadarevic, Ibisevic, Salihovic. All top class players.
This truely would be a fantastic signing for Arsenal, as one of my favorite teams in the world. I would be overwhelmed to see Spahic there.
I really don’t care who Wenger buys, his crop of purchase has never won anything since his years of management. I am more interested in the character(fighter) and physicality of players than skills in order to compete in the premier league. Arsenal already have intelligent and skillful players, we need players who can break opponent’s legs not players who will get their legs broken.
ill guarantee that only a select few of you have actually seen this guy play, let-alone heard of him. idk how many times some of us gooners have freaked out over a signing/rumored signing and then later praised wenger for buying a gem of a player. smh…
I have seen him and he’s not Bobby Moore, but he has everything we need right now. He’ll roll up his sleeves and take responsibility. He is a leader all over, and will go in as committed as Vermaelen. Strangely enough he really isn’t a typical Wenger signing at all.
I’m just glad that we have targeted ‘fighters’ after 5 years of me saying it over and over again. We signed two of them already, and Frimpong and Wilshere look like their up for a battle too. Why can’t WE get in teams’ faces for once!
Could be pure bullshit, but I’d be happy to have him. The other options are no better – Jagielka for 18m what a joke. Cahill’s decent only. These players are all overrated. 30m for James workhorse Milner! The market is absurd.
This one has Silvestre and Cygan written all over it.
@Goomer: Those quotes are from a few days ago. Since then Spahic has spoken to the Bosnian press.
WENGER KNWS WHAT IS BEST 4 THE TEAM, WHEN HE SIGNED VERMAELEN NOBODY KNWS HOW GOOD VERMAELEN WAS, ARSENAL STILL NEED A GOALKEEPER, TO ME OZIL AND JOE HART WILL BE THE BEST FOR NOW…
kind of getting fed up.. just the thought of our centre halves beeing called vermaelen, djourou, koskienly, saphic. I cant see why we cant buy Cahill or Shawcross.
Shawcross is nothing special but if u typed him into youtube i bet the videos of him are better than the ones of saphic.
Plus they can handle the like of Drogba, Heskey, Rooney, A.Ramsey.
Also they train with sidibe, fuller and k.davies every day
my concern is “how good is he in the air”?against the usual aerial & set peice assaults we face? if is good-great! the fact he is a fighter-great!-however,knowing we need a BIG TOP CLASS CENTRE HALF-this is as arseblogger would put it”underwhelming”…
so what is the latest with these rumors gooner chris? surely if we had opened talks with the club we would have heard more by now.
i hope he is good/ strong enough to handle Dragba
left hand congrats on once again getting the “most retarded post award” on here. why would we want overpriced english trash especcialy after their epic failure at the world cup. If u don’t like foreign players then u probably shouldn’t be an arsenal fan, sounds more of a newcastle or stoke attitude. “kinda getting fed up….” can u try sounding like more of a spoiled bitch? i don’t think so. Its so frustrating seeing people having an interesting conversation on this topic, and then some asshole ruins it with some trite whining like- “wenger out he didn’t spend $18 on jagielka we’re doomed” or “whose this guy? I’ve never heard of him so he must suck”. I would rather hear what the bosnian fans have to say on this topic, since they have some credibility and insight, then what sounds like a bunch of little kids incessantly whining about our transfer targets that they now shit all about
ilya y dont u go f*ck ur self.
i have never said i wanted wenger out coz he doesnt spend money.
all i was saying is that english centre halves are the most consistant and b4 the world cup best in the world.
i hav nothing against forign players but u are making me out to be the bad one for wanting ENGLISH players at an ENGLISH club if they are as good as foreign.
if we cant get mertesaker we should get shawcross or cahill