ARSENE WENGER TARGETS TOON THREE
Gunners boss chasing Shay Given, Steven Taylor and Charles N'Zogbia
ARSENE WENGER will start his radical transfer-window surgery with a three-pronged raid on Newcastle.
The Arsenal boss has targeted Toon trio Shay Given, Steven Taylor and Charles N'Zogbia in an attempt to fix the Gunners' flagging season.
Wenger has been forced into the January sales after seeing his inept troops slide out of the Champions League positions.
And with skipper Cesc Fabregas crocked for virtually the rest of the season, he wants to move quickly and relatively cheaply to strengthen at The Emirates. His scouts have been scouring Europe for a keeper to rival Manuel Almunia but have come back with the news that there is nobody available better than Given for the price.
The Republic of Ireland stopper would set Arsenal back around £8million - which would appeal to the Frenchman's sense of value with his £60,000-a-week wages unlikely to threaten Arsenal's pay structure.
Radar
Sources close to Given have made it clear they believe he will be sold by the end of the transfer window with Arsenal his preferred destination.
Wenger was also lifted by the news Given travelled back to Germany three weeks ago and was given the all-clear by the surgeon who treated him following his collision with Marlon Harewood.
But it isn't just Given, 32, who is on Arsenal's radar.
Under-fire Wenger is desperate for cover at centre-half and wants Taylor (above left) to help provide an English-style spine to the team.
Taylor, 22, has been out of favour at St James' Park for much of the season but has forced his way back into the team recently and Wenger has long been an admirer.
The Geordie signed a £30,000-a-week deal last season but knows he could almost double his money with a move to The Emirates as well as the chance to play under Wenger.
The final part of the jigsaw is French midfielder N'Zogbia (above centre) who is out of contract at the end of the season and has made it perfectly clear he sees his career away from Tyneside.
Toon boss Joe Kinnear is resigned to losing N'Zogbia, 22, but would be anxious to keep both Given and Taylor, although a joint bid of around £15m for the pair would be tempting as he looks to rebuild and strengthen.
Toon owner Mike Ashley is unwilling to invest heavily and has told Kinnear he will have to sell before he starts wheeling and dealing in the transfer window.
Please note: All comments are moderated.
Tick this box to accept our
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This article has 31 comments
Well said Jkey. Posted December 28 2008 at 3:59 PM.
Couldn't have put it better myself!!!
By Mrs van Persie.. Posted January 3 2009 at 11:51 PM.
oi listen arsenal were a good team and they still are but bringing in players that cant even kick a ball propaly den we are gana go down hill we need players like avashin yaya toure arteta i hav been a fan of arsenal since i woz born nd we had great players we are just not title contenders no more for god sake aston villa are above us we need 2 get rid of gallas nd bentender nd bring in metzelder nd we need 2 bring henry bak we were stupid 2 let him go
By chris.. Posted January 3 2009 at 9:51 PM.
it's true that AW has completely diluted the team bylo sing players of class and not getting comparative replacements. just check - viera, edu, pires,henry,campbell,cole,flamini,hleb,reys, kanu, bergkamp, even lassana diarra
there are players in the team that cannot to sit on the bench at portmouth, west ham, or even sunderland.
however, AW should come off his high (or low) horse and stare reality in the face. Even he has to bring in youth, let them be classy ones, not like bendtner, song, diaby, denilson, etc. they are not not class.
now that the gunners are where they are ,AW needs at least 5 players to save the team. 2 centre backs - Mexes and Chellini or Distin and Diakite( Gallas shd go- he's too temperamental); 3 midfielders - Veloso and Ashavin( Arteta, if Asha is too costly) and Inler.
he can offload some like song, bendtner.
if he's objective he 'll see that none of his strikers can start for liverpool, man u, chelsea or even totenham. apart fron eduardo who has yet to show all he has, the others are second class. non is henry, or etoo, or drogba, bergkamp, torres. arsenal need to at least one in that calibre.
maybe AW has lost the plot, and he's right and the whole discerning football people wrong. well, FRank Rikard is still unattached.
By silas.. Posted January 2 2009 at 6:08 PM.
As a Newcastle fan Given would be a huge loss - the best keeper in the premiership for the past 10 years. He is very very consistently good. Taylor is average and can't even get into our first choice back four. He is too much of a liability and most Newcastle fans would not be too disappointed if we got a good price. Bassong is the much better player - which just shows how far English football is behinf France. Nzogbia is good on his day but very moody and another who is not a regular at Newcastle. Given is top drawer but the others would not save Arsenals season.
By Joe.. Posted December 31 2008 at 12:28 AM.
if wenger leaves arsenal may be,one of your fathers will take over.
By harry.. Posted December 30 2008 at 11:26 AM.
I am actually excited about all the talent AW could be bringing in. Happy that AW has been on the record as saying he wants people with proven experience and talent and not just more young inexperienced kids. I am just tired of Arsenal's squad being so thin, as soon as any 1st player gets injured I cringe as there is no one to replace them.
By Brian.. Posted December 29 2008 at 5:25 PM.
Arsene wenger, is just a stubborn old man!. He sold thierry, viera, flamini,pires,hleb,edu,Gilberto silva etc and look what he got us betner,eboue,adebayor.AW has lost touch with realities, we are sick and tired of this stupid youth policy of his!!!!. we have won nothing after the big GUNS left because of his shrewd stingy policy.These player only leave arsenal when wenger will not offer them improved and better deal. look @ liverpool, they r doing well now, the bought big, MAN U will remain top in d world cos they spend big!!!!.MR AW you should resign you have failed us!!. listen to him in press conf. after we loose 2 matches, draw possibly 4 games and manage to win 1,"the team showed character" what a charater!!.
By paul.. Posted December 29 2008 at 4:19 PM.
I think Arsene is doing the right thing,we need guys that have premiership experience, its a added advantage.I hope all goes well, and i pray he doesnt give up on Obagoal.
By Victor Owo.. Posted December 29 2008 at 2:18 PM.
I think Wenger is leading us up the garden path. he will get now one we have heard of. My choice would be very simple and from a team thats in need of cash.....Pompey. Distan & Kranjcar. Plus i would add Defour from Standard Leige. In the summer try hard for Yaya, Aquilani, Inler or Alonso to help Cesc. Denilson & Ramsey are at the moment squad players and our 3 main midfielders should be Cesc, New Signing and Diaby, with Denilson & Ramsey backing up. RVP & Eduardo 1st choice strikers with Adeyabor & Walcott 2nd choice and Vela backing up.
By Newmy.. Posted December 28 2008 at 8:32 PM.
I agree 100% with Jkey what we need is real supporters who r with the team thru thick n thin. Lets face it we r the worst football fans ever.
There is no passion. Even when we were battering team at highbury there was none hence the highbury library tag.
I'm sick n tired of it. I'm not pro wenger or anything. Life will go on without him. But b careful wat u wish for the anti AW squad.
All my friend who supports other teams (even spurs) think we r fickle.
Get REAL cus it kud b worst.
By mikeygooner.. Posted December 28 2008 at 6:28 PM.
i agree
By mikeygooner.. Posted December 28 2008 at 6:31 PM.
20 years ago i was standing in the Northbank.
Where were you lot?
What Arsenal really need right now
(apart from defenders, midfielders AND strikers),
is real supporters.
Get behind your team and the players we have now.
Not the players you wish we had.
Who-to-who-to-be-
who-to-be-a
GOONER
By Jkey.. Posted December 28 2008 at 3:59 PM.
Haha, fair enough Shay given because he is one of the best keepers around but the other two wow! I have had a season ticket at newcastle for 9 years and i think steven taylor is shocking, he is the most overated idiot in our team. And as for Charlie he is also overated he just puts his head down and runs with the ball into trouble, he is not a very good footballer and wouldnt suit arsenals style of play.
By Blenchy.. Posted December 28 2008 at 3:28 PM.
I think they are all good targets. Of course there are better players than them out there, but they could be very helpfull for us now, in term of experience. People are jumping at Toure, Gattuso, veloso etc... are you crazy! Taking someone without experience in the premiership now! how long will you give to this person to understand the pace of our game...I would like to see a good defender as well, I mean someone capable of the premiership's challenge. If all this is true I am with Wenger, sure!
By John.. Posted December 28 2008 at 2:20 PM.
To be challenging for the top four, we need a strong squad. I feel we need 3-4 players to be strong again.
A centre back: Upson would be a good option. Goalkeeper: we could do a lot worse than Given, I think he's very good. Defensive midfielder: Yaya Toure would be great. Senna is also class, although he's quite old - he could make an instant impact. Attacking midfielder: NZogbia, Valencia or Young. Striker: ? (Bendner is not good enough for Arsenal)
By Rich.. Posted December 28 2008 at 2:14 PM.
joe nzogbia is 22 with a huge pace and an explosive left foot,taylor is 22 with promising future,so when u said old u were refering to?
By midou.. Posted December 28 2008 at 1:51 PM.
If this story is true, then it is time for Wenger to bow out of Arsenal.
By Chike Unaegbunam.. Posted December 28 2008 at 1:25 PM.
Why would we want ANY of these, or anyone from Newcastle for that matter. They are near the bottom for a very good reason. We should be looking at Veloso/Toure/De Rossi/Joaquin/Bojan/Metzelder etc not this rubbish.
By Leon.. Posted December 28 2008 at 11:37 AM.
This is not good news as far as i'm concerned. We need to get younger players from around the world. We need to get real BIG names in our team. We need to save our shocking season. I WANT to WIN more games!!! We can't keep buying these older players and expecting them to run around like 20 year olds, also on the other foot, we can't expect these teenagers to be as experienced as the likes of toure or Gallas. We need to fine the medium, we need to get Fabs spot sorted thats is for sure. As for defense Gallas needs a kick up the arse big time, its always him that lets us down, as for Almunia, i like him allot, are we really that desperate for a goalkeeper??? No, we need to build a stronger defense and offense. We need a Thierry Henry we need a strong captain..we need someone to ground us and help us become the great ARSENAL once again.
By Joe.. Posted December 28 2008 at 11:35 AM.
what arsenal need is a defensive midfielder and a terry/vidic type centre back ASAP,losing flamini in the summer meant fabregas had no protection in midfield,if wenger signed an experienced midfielder like torsten frings arsenal would be in a much higher league position. Shay given would be a very good signing,he would give almunia competition for his place in the 1st team. Basically the WHOLE arsenal squad needs depth..
By WAM.. Posted December 28 2008 at 11:31 AM.
Raid west ham for green & Upson & Noble get a decent English spine back in the team. who ever mr wenger goes after we need a great defensive midfielder and centre back.
By shakey.. Posted December 28 2008 at 11:20 AM.
It has come to a point when Mr wenger has to listen to other opinions. Arsenal lacks players with the technical ability to dig deep when the going gets tough. There is very little discipline in the team. Imagine players casually strolling back to their own side in extra time when their team is under attack. They do not show enough enthusiasm or motivation in the way they play. At times they seem completely lost against zealous teams. Also there are no replacements when first team players get injured. I think we need more depth as well. We are well out of the season anyway and may not even qualify inside the top four this year. Suprised? No, it has been three to four years in the making.
By sholistics.. Posted December 28 2008 at 10:27 AM.
what arsenal need is an experienced midfielder, some one in between gattuso and vieira
By khobaib.. Posted December 28 2008 at 10:08 AM.
Obviously, this guy has no clue about mr wenger!
By damion.. Posted December 28 2008 at 9:34 AM.
DJ what Arsenal NEED most of all is a goalkeeper. Almunia cannot govern his six yard area. So many high balls are not collected by him and when he does come for them he often misses them. A NEW KEEPER IS WHAT ARSENAL NEED. ASAP. A defensive midfielder would also help.
By Skinner.. Posted December 28 2008 at 9:04 AM.
all the news are good but mr. sir consider the position of faby he is injured no one to replace him and defense not goolys and such sort of thing our midfield is messy defense is wreck.
to me iwould like to see likes of Inler/Yaya/Ribery
By franky.. Posted December 28 2008 at 8:48 AM.
Crazy story, N'zogbia would be a good squad player for us, but the other 2 would be a waste of money. We need players like Inler/Yaya/Ribery/Kranjcar! Defenders like Upson/Hangeland who are not cup tied in the champions league!
By Nemwy.. Posted December 28 2008 at 3:49 AM.
wenger digging in the scraps of the bargain bucket again
who is wenger saving all this money for
By jay-Arsenal fan.. Posted December 28 2008 at 2:22 AM.
Why would we want Given? Might be a good keeper, but as far as I am concerned Almunia hasn't made many mistakes this season, in fact i would go as far as to say he is one of our most consistent performers...
We need someone to cover for Cesc and someone to finally replace Flamini... not a goalkeeper...
By Ethan.. Posted December 28 2008 at 1:57 AM.
very high unlikely that all 3 will be sold in january, given has committed himself to the toon and so has taylor, as for n'zogbia if he leaves he'll be heading back to france.
By DJ.. Posted December 28 2008 at 1:35 AM.
Nzogbia signed a new contract last year till 2012. Might go but not on a free.
By Rob.. Posted December 28 2008 at 12:01 AM.