Samba closing in on £9m move to Arsenal
|Blackburn defender Chris Samba is reportedly on the verge of signing for Arsenal in a deal which is expected to be worth just over £9 million.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has been searching for a commanding centre-half to bolster his defensive options after another trophyless season.
The Goon Blog confirmed on Twitter earlier this evening that Samba is ‘very close’ to securing a move to North London, while the player himself recently admitted that a move almost materialised during the January transfer window.
“Everybody knows that I am an ambitious player. I think a move to Arsenal was very close in January but that is life,” Samba told The Lancashire Telegraph.
Samba’s future at Ewood Park has been under intense speculation since the 27-year-old handed in a transfer request following the Venky’s group takeover of the club.
Although Samba retracted the transfer request, the Congolese international has been continually linked with a switch to Arsenal and is highly unlikely to turn down the chance to play for a top four side.
It seems that this news has a good source. Personally, it’s a surprise that Blackburn let both of their key defenders go…
He will be a great addition to the squad
he would be a great addition to our squad, very strong experienced center back, and his 27 as well got a good 5 years in him still.him and vermaelen would be a great partnership all we need to do now is sell squillaci,almunia,denilson,bendtner and buy 1 winger,striker, holding mid, and keep hold on to cesc and nasri, another defensive signing wouldnt be bad either.
If its true…He’s better value than that overpriced Phil Jones. We need experience, we need now.
Samba will offer something we dont have: strength, muscle, height and leadership.
He is also better on the ball than people give him credit for. He’ll score buckets of goals too…Very useful player.
Now for midfield and upfront boss…And bloody sort out Nasri and Clichy!
good signing, would love it if cahill came too. transfer news surrounding the club’s been hectic the last day or two.
@Volks
Vermaalen and Samba a great partnership? Djourou was phenomenal last year…did you watch games or are you just a “signings for signings” sake kind of a guy?
wow wat a great news he is better than that overhype player called jones let get nasri to stay and add willian and we are on fire….
It will be a signing for us and after we will get benzema and Cahill gervinho
here’s hoping this rumour hotting up becomes true…a good solid defender we’ll get in him!
so my final words…roll on christopher samba as a Gunner… 🙂
Samba vs Cahill
Goals 3-4
Shots 41-32
Pass% 64%-72%
Tackles/90 1.56-1.92
Interceptions/90 2.1-1.8
Clearances/90 11.2-10.8
Aerial Duels 68%-63%
I say get both of them
the stats are from @Orbinho
I’d take solely for the what he’s doing in the pic above … showing a bit of passion, which at times was clearly lacking from the team.
fans epecially those in England should do what they can for wenger 2 buy samba or cahill.
he is agood player ,so what we need now is to keep nasri and sell sqillaci bentner and allumunia in order to get amid fielder. wenger should also increase on salaries of players in order to motivate them
He has been a man mountain against us several of times and at 27 he is exactly the right age for a defender.
yes i tink samba will add character and strenght to arsenal as a team but we still need to sell charmarkh bendthner and denilson get govinhho and osaze and willian
I wanted him to come in Jan , so why will he come now ?
Let it be confirmed before we get excited.
Could this be true,lets fold our arms and wait for this old stingy man….
Arseblog news says we’re in contact with Lille for Hazard, not quite sure what to make of that, great player questionable attitude. this may also be an indication that Nasri may leave? Anyway interesting times ahead.
Too many centrals. Why won’t Wenger just find a replacement for clichy and train sagna so that he can actually cross a ball into the box?
not sure i want to lose both koscielny and djourou from the starting XI
Djouru, was, like all guys of his age good in places, if we have experienced defenders come in then he can improve at a better pace. Hate to say it but Fergie looks to be getting it right you not only need great players you need great players behind those at least two for every position. Five center backs Vermaelen, Cahill, Samba, Koscielny and Djouru, might seem a lot but with injuries and the amount of games we play we would have depth and quality, Baines to come in for Clichy and we would for once have a defence to reckon with.
Actually the latest news is that Hazard is very close to signing and not Gervinho as a lot of people thought. Gervinho might also still sign though. What a great addition Hazard will be.
Hardly world class, not really going to convince Nasri or Fabregas to stay
A great singing it would be, i say Djourou and Samba in defence Vermalen left back going forward and using his deadly shots. Secure Nasri’s contract and sell Clichy and Fabregas. Plus hopefully Gervihno left, Nasri center, hopefully William right and RVP up top. Plus a very strong bench with, Taraat (coming in for Ebue? aparently QPR are in for him) Odenwingie??? Walcot, Diaby, Ramsey, Kocielny, new singing Jenkinson, Arsavin and Chamak, who i would sell him, along with Bendtner, Denilson, Almunia and Squillachi. Plus Vela, Lansbury, Ryo Miyachi, Emmanuel Flimpong and other yonsters that could be usefull in the cups to give team a rest. Oh a experieced goal keeper and defensive mid (if Wilshere and Song are not fit Diaby and Fimpong would not be enough.
he is a good player but not great. he is prone to mistakes like our defenders and he hasnt got great speed, which we need for the high offside line we play. but i guess his size and commanding presence at set pieces is something we need, hopefully he can organise our defence. decent aquisition samba is, but i still think we need a real top notch quality defender.
I honestly think Samba will struggle with the high line Arsenal play, unless Wenger is thing of changing his whole defensive philosophy? Nevertheless he’d be a good squad player playing backup to JD and TV. I’d much prefer Gary Cahill.
wenger should sign cahill and not samba and hazard
Who cares if nasri and cesc leave. We are doing this for the team not for cesc and nasri.
Anyone who doesnt want to stay can leave and they will be replaced.
sell denilson,squillaci,bendtner,almunia and diaby.Then sign samba,melo and gervinho.hold on to cesc and samir but if one or both go get hazard.Mr wenger deserves more respect from his players each summer as to us gooners,its hurtful enough to suffer disapointments during the season only to put up with countless unrest and having to fight to keep are players.my advice to cesc and samir is come out now and say what you want to do and if it is that yous want to go then sod off.Lets not forget these 2 guys are very well paid and have been adored by the emirates faithful who constantly sing their names.the 2 players in question should be well aware of the affection the gooners have shown and we deserve better than this crap year in year out.im saddened by all this instability but im lifted by the fact ill always remain loyal to the arsenal.thanks.
discard aluminium,diaby,squilaci,clichy,diaby,rosicky,denilson,cesc, bendtner.imagine dis playas in a 4-3-3 formation: shay given,sagna,cahill,samba,vermaleen, melo,gourcourf,wilshere, gervinho,nasri, persie. With arshavin,walcot,song,djourou,odewingie,fabianski,willian on d bench. Don’t u tink we’l win d double?
@RC NAL 4 EVER: @<a
I'm with you RC!
We need players who want to win for themselves, Arsenal & the fans and give a fuck enough to take responsibility for their actions on the pitch, sell the deadwood, sell the want-away bitching moaning assholes, buy real quality and lets get on with the challenge next season.
IMHO, he be a very much needed n awaited signing….the lad has got loads of leadership stacked in, has a very commanding figure though cahill and hazard with benzema or gameiro wouldn’t be a bad signing at all. Anyone heard bout this Marvin Martin dude dubbed the French Xavi? We shouldn’t be having our hopes hyped up already, we gon improve better next season no doubt. Lets just hope Arsene makes the much needed correction to the team n also admit to studying his opponents’ strengths n weaknesses before every game.
Already a Madrid fan now though.
Imagine Samba v Messi – if u think he’ll cope, u can hope of winning the CL. Imagine him v Torres or Rooney – if u think he’ll cope, u can hope of winning BPL. If not, he’s not a man for Arsenal. I am in the camp of the latter, he’s good enough v mid-table opponents but not near world class.
d fact still ramains clear dt arsen isnt a gud coach,bt a gud manager. He donst always gt it right wen it coms signing of players. D players we had couple of season back is centily a prove of dt so let nt clamour dt w ar sighing dis we ar signing dt cos at d end we always arrive were we started.
a good signing if it happens,,,,some people need to get grip wit their negativity,,,pathetic people who just PRETEND to support the club,,,,but all they do is attack at every turn
@ertuk …we concede the most goals from set pieces,so i cant see why ur so worried about the high line,,,,,YOU CANT PLAY A HIGH LINE WHEN DEFENDING CORNERS AND CROSSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Definitely a gud signin 4us,lets op wenger brings in more xperience players
Think he will be fourth choice, behind Verm, Kos and JD. Worry that he might struggle with the high line but will add more stability in our backup. A good purchase, but not a first choice. Verminator and Koscielny will be a good partnership
I agree with u Irish Gooner. We need his fisical presence in coners and set peices. Even defenders like Vidic make mistakes in a high line, lets just see the fact that we have gain something we’ve lacked in defence. Such small steps will take as to glory soon. Now lets get Gervinho, change Willian for Denilson plus 4m and with money from Fabregas ether Benzema or Falcao would not be bad at all.
DANG!!!
Dis is what the arsenal need!! BIG SAMBA AT DA BACK!!
Hell yeah!!
We need players who are dying to wear the red & white stripes of our great club, not greedy moaners like bendtner, cesc & nasri who are unknown quantity before we turned them to superstars, we need fighters on the field of play so i’d go for samba/squilacci, cahill, izaguirre/clichy, felipe melo, hazard/nasri, gervinho/bendtner, willian/denilson, taarabat/eboue, given/almunia, falcao/benzema, wilshere/ramsey/song will make up for the loss of fabregas, forget it trophies will surely roll in & those greedy moaners will regret leaving us The Arsenal. Come on Arsene.
Finally a replacement for Sol Chambell. Samba will be an asset against the big teams. he would be agreat foil for Vermallen. Both of them loves to attack the ball which has been missing most of last season. Hopefully, this is done and we could move on to other targets.
Arsenal till I die!
This current crop, despite all the negative press were just a couple of players short of becoming a great team.
Though when you see L/pool putting in a £5m bid for clichy – what the hell?
Suddenly it looks like the vultures are circling – just waiting to strip the carcass clean after the predators have taken the meat (cesc/nasri).
If we let both Nasri & Cesc go this summer, it will be the end of an era.
We were badly wounded when we failed to win at least the league cup this season. We now can’t get the players we want – because we can’t out bid or offer the wages certain teams can. Worst than that the best players don’t see us as an option. That’s why we’re left with talk of two african players who will disappear to the ACN. As good as Samba and Gervinho are, what’s the point if they’re missing in Jan 12.
If these players leave – the best we will hope for is the odd domestic cup win over the next 10-15 years – as we would have pushed Wenger out the door by the end of next season – when we don’t qualify for the CL.
That’s not being pessimistic, it’s being realistic!
I’m Arsenal till I Die!
Not to put a dampener on things, but this is the likely scenario. We will not buy him, or anyone else significant for that matter. Players will leave – Clichy, Nasri, Cesc, Bendtner, Denilson. Young players will be promoted and new players will be given a second chance. The is is the Wenger way. If it works in the long-run, it will be a stroke of genius. And who are we to judge? Wenger knows far much more about the game and what the team needs than any of us. Why do you think he brought in Silvestre? Everyone thought it was a crazy move, but Wenger slyly replied “Ha, now you didn’t expect that did you?” to the press. It didn’t quite work out, but thinks he laterally. And this will always be his philosophy: doing what’s right for his players and the team. This is how it will go:
Out – Nasri. In – Ryo Miyaichi
Out – Bendtner. In – JET
Out – Clichy. In – Jenkinson
Out – Cesc. In – Ramsey
Out – Denilson. In – Lansbury
Result = healthy club, with good finances and loyal squad, and in CL qualifying every year.
@ozed: Replaced??? thats quite questionable..
For last so many days we have been reading that Samba inching closer, Arsenal wants Samba then what is the glitch. why the hell can a formal bid be made and matters close.
This is one of those news items which is on slow burner.
After reading it so many times – I have started doubting it
Arsenal concided 29 goal frm set pieces am sure with samba dat not going 2 happen again bt we still nid cahil, odemwingie,gervinho and willian with all this player u will see the real arsenal n get raid of pentiner,denilso,diaby squilach,Gibsey and eboue.n hop wenger wil harry thing b4 they dcide otherwis.
i wonder if wenger prepares to let go clichy and let vermaelen play left back. clichy has been suspect all season while vermaelen a proven left back during his time with ajax and he plays left back regularly for his country. koschielny will be better next season so i don’t think wenger will play him as a back up. with sagna, koscielny/djourou, samba and vermaelen at our back 4, as well as alex song, we certainly have height and aerial power to counter almost any aerial attack in EPL.
Wow that sound like good news for gunners fans if arsene wenger could sign samba for real .
wow, dat is good news, is what we have be waiting 4.
very happy with the news
Hope it happens soon!
I think the securing of the blackburn defender(samba) will improved arsenal squad.
WOW that is a good news for Gunners and we still need Cahil, Falcao and Gervinho players waiting for Arsen Wenger. I HOPE
jrock:
to u my boy on Djourou: Did u witness how manyb goals he cost us on the tailend of last season? He was dreadful against Aston Villa and he can only be good as a sub. Buy Cahill & Samba to add to yes; Djourou, TV, Kochienly and the young spanish lad! Ship ‘the Squiller'(Suillaci), Almunia, Denilson, Diaby, Ro-sick note,Vela, Eboue, Bendtner & Chamakh to pastures new!!
To come in: Samba, Cahill, Chamberlin, Benzema and a very good Song back-up!
@jrock:Did you watch Djourou against England last week? Terrible. He will be a quality player, but still needs time, this we don’t have.
@irish gooner: I think that what he means is, if we go for Samba, then we’re more likely to conceed goals from non-set play, ie inplay lol. Anyway I’d have Samba in the team no matter what. He’s exactly what we need.
i’d say get big chris & cahill,move verminator to left back or kozzer(not as mad as you think)then we’ll have a back four that will take no shit!get rid of the rats who want to jump ship & buy decent ball winner,winger & striker & we’re sorted!
Kool move for us Mr Wenger i beg bring him
£9m for the best CH in the Prem, you are clearly having a laugh, you’ve got bags of money, so stop messing about dripping stuff into the press and make an offer Arsene. I know transfers are a murky business, but you should be setting an example, seeing as how you stand at your pulpit so often yourselves?
If he does go, for the right fee, then good luck to him, he’s a fantastic player, he’s also good on the ball, and brings the ball out of defence if there are no options on, this side of him is under reported as obviously the media don’t like small town teams like Rovers, and would rather concentrate on throw away little cliche’s about how “Physical” we are.
wow this is good news to all arsenal fans world wide,he’s exactly what we need…
Samba’s better than Cahill. Let Joru, Kosh and Samba fight it out for to partner Verminator. Bring in Baines on the left we need top quality left-back to give us width and overlap our midfield for crosses and cut backs. I’d like to see a most top quality GK of the performance level of Lehman and Seaman.
Samba is worryingly uninspiring. Best Centre-half in the league? No way!
We shouldn’t sign Samba or Gervinho for two reasons. 1. We should be looking at better quality. 2. What happens when Van Persie is injured in January and Chamakh and Gervinho are at the ACN? Who plays up front the? Same applies to the back who’s to say Vermaelen won’t suffer a re-occurence of his injury in January while Samba is away at the ACN? Leaving us with two fit centre backs providing Djourou and Koscielny stay fit? Hazard, Cahill, a striker and possibly Ever Banega should come in. Banega has interest from English clubs and I have a feeling we’re one of them he could be a Denilson replacement.
This is not good news. Despite his physical ability he is going to play everyone onside when the other three defender are trying to play with a high line.
Expect to see more goals against Arsenal on the counter attack if Arsenal buy him.
Oh good – perhaps we will sign someone when Samba is away for two months after Christmas.
DANG!!
SAMBA said on his twitter today he arrived in london!!
He is ours!!!!!!!
Let us see wenger`s seriousness this time. Keep monitoring.
why are only poor players coming to arsenal in the last time?
ggooner chris wtf? keep us updated mate, every day i`m checking this site, the sun and goal.com and nothing about this samba transfer! then afro man comes with an information like this … please post more, i am really excited about the situation
i will be happy for arsenal fans to hear that arsnel wenger just complete the signing of samba and cahill b/4 this weekends. The signing, will boaster up arsenal squad this season also enable then qualify for the uefa championship and search for more mature players to build up the team, lets sincere to ourself please