For your consideration: Thoughts on Cazorla, RVP, & Song
39 comments August 11th, 2012
Hello all. I write this from the Edinburgh festival, where I am making my way through a mostly fun but occasionally torturous month of work. I have been meaning to sit down and write this blog for some time. Finally, having pretended to be meeting a fictional family member by the name of ‘Gavin’, I have found the peace and quiet required to do so.
Let’s begin with the most exciting news of the past couple of weeks: the signing of Santi Cazorla. I was rather deliberate about not talking too much about the Spaniard’s potential signing. This was in part because I had no substantial information to add, but also because it all sounded a bit too good to be true. A Spanish international midfielder for just £12.6m? Surely not. Even now that the deal has gone through, I won’t really believe it until I see him run out in red and white.
It’s clear that Arsene has been a long-time admirer of the player, and now he’s got his man, twelve months later than originally intended. I’ve bored you before with my observation that Arsenal never signed a replacement for Cesc Fabregas last summer – the deeper deployment of Mikel Arteta made him more of a stand-in for the injured Wilshere. Now, in Cazorla, we have one: a playmaker with experience, class, and match-winning ability.
Most independent observers of last year’s La Liga will tell you that Cazorla was the best Spanish midfielder outside the top two. When I’ve watched him, the thing I’ve most been struck by is how genuinely two-footed he is: at first glance, it is almost impossible to tell whether he is right or left-footed. Inevitably, this makes him a dangerous prospect in the wide positions, as he can go both inside and out. However, I expect he will start his Arsenal career in a less familiar central role. Not only are we already well stocked in wide areas, but Tomas Rosicky is injured and will not be fit for the start of the season. Cazorla should be able to slot in beside Arteta and Song to form an impressive midfield triumvirate.
Whilst Malaga’s financial plight made the fee far from extortionate, it’s still a massive signing for Arsenal. When you add his arrival to that of Podolski and Giroud, it’s even bigger. So much so that fans seem far more relaxed than previously about the future of Robin van Persie.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Dutchman intends to leave Arsenal this summer. The recent comments of Alex Ferguson convince me that he has probably arrived at some sort of provisional agreement with Manchester United too – they wouldn’t risk the embarrassment of going public with the bid if they thought there was a chance RVP would reject them.
From the outside it looks as if Arsenal are waiting for a bidding club to hit a trigger point – probably somewhere around the £20m mark. If that happens, Van Persie will go. If it doesn’t, he’ll stay and see out his contract. The latter option is feasible: I don’t think he’s the type to kick up and fuss and refuse to play if he doesn’t get what he wants. However, my gut instinct is still that he will be gone by August 31st. It might go all the way to the wire.
I made my peace with Van Persie’s probable exit a while ago, but I am a little worried about the reports of Barcelona’s interest in Alex Song. Whilst I admit he has flaws, I’m a big fan of the Cameroon midfielder, and unlike with Van Persie I cannot see an obvious replacement within the squad. Ironically, if Barca do get Song, they are likely to field him as a centre-back rather than a midfielder. Arsenal remain in a strong position: Song has three years remaining on his deal. However, We know that Barcelona like to do their business in the newspapers, and this one could get quite ugly.
For now, though, I’m not going to dwell on the negatives. We face FC Koln tomorrow afternoon, and it’ll be a first chance to see Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla in an Arsenal shirt. The new season is just around the corner, and there’s cause for optimism. I’ll have a report on the friendly for you on Monday.
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