According to Tim Hager, the agent of 19 year old Paris St. Germain defender Mamadou Sakho, Arsenal and Bayern Munich are hot on his trail.
“He will be moving clubs this summer. Arsenal are interested, but the club are too cheap at the moment,” said Hager .
“Yes, I think a transfer will happen soon. He wants to play football in England and Arsenal are a good club but Manchester United is a better club.
“But the most interested club is Arsenal, they want him the most. Bayern Munich is a top European club, so I think it will be Bayern or Arsenal.”
From what I’ve been reading around the internet it seems a lot of people want this guy to join Arsenal – the same people who are vehemently in opposition to us signing Thomas Vermaelen. Many claim we’ve been lacking experience (which is true) yet they want us to sign Sakho, who’s only 19 but not Thomas Vermaelen, who’s 23. Many also say Vermaelen is too short to play for Arsenal but they’re fine with us signing Sakho when Vermaelen is 6’1″ and Sakho is 6’1 1/2″. How much of a difference is half an inch? Why is it that Vermaelen would be such a bad signing for us, according to many, while Sakho would be perfect? Is it the fact that he’s Black? I think that’s exactly it. The fact that he’s Black and African descent suggests to many that he just has to be a great defender, while Vermaelen, who’s White and European, just can’t be as good. Here’s a quote from the web blog “Oh To Be A Gooner” that sums up what I’m talking about:
“Now regardless of how much truth there is to those claims, Sakho is the type of player Arsene should buy. In fact, Sakho ticks all the boxes. He’s French, he’s athletic, he’s of African descent and he has an outlandish hairdo. Not to mention the fact that he’s still a teenager.”
The first fact pointed to there is that he’s French…well yeah, so’s Mikael Silvestre. What’s your point?
The fact that he’s still a teenager means he doesn’t have the experience we’re looking for. We need men in the team who have big game experience. Johan Djourou is 20 years old and has played important Champions League matches for us as well as World Cup matches. Sakho doesn’t have the same experience.
If Aidan (the writer of the article) is reading this then I’d like for him to give me an explanation of how him being an African makes him such a good candidate. Seems very racist to me.
Every thing positive mentioned about Mamadou Sakho can easily be attributed to Thomas Vermaelen. I’m not saying Aidan from Oh To Be A Gooner is discrediting Vermaelen but a lot of people are and are comparing him to Mamadou Sakho, saying Sakho is better for the reasons I mentioned above. If your belief is the same that we should sign Sakho but not Vermaelen, I’d love for you to leave a comment below explaining what makes Sakho so much better than Vermaelen.
You can also come by our forums and join the discussion about both players there at arsenalaction.com
Too many blogs. Very little to write about without everyone saying the same thing so I guess more bullshit is what’s likely to come out from a lot of these blogs. No surprises there
the truth is most people want us to sign sakho becos he exudes a certain strength that appears to be missing in the team….we are seen as a soft touch …and the team is crying for a no nonsense vidic type defender…
The problem with vermalaen is that even the Ajax supporters are wondering why we are going for him they think he is clearly not good enough for arsenal…
Verm is not an unknown quantity …he is not amongst the best 4 defenders in the dutch league …so why the fcuk do we want to sign him?..we need someone who is either clearly better than Toure or Gallas…and no one has convinced me yet that he is…
I would rather go for Hangeland and Sakho …experience and potential….I will keep Gallas and sell Toure with Djorou and Song as back up….
Totally ridicilous headline.
We are Arsenal race is not an issue. Who said we arent signing both. I know nothing about Vermeelen but was happy to hear the news mainly beacause he is a captain. Thats one important box ticked for me .. we need warriors and leaders .. we have talent we have class. If Sakho comes as well we have another fighter and a very skillfull defender. For many years weve hade more classplayers than the likes of United but they packed their side with greasy fighters. so they still competed.. we need to rstore balance and add that. That was Flaminis finest qulity he was a warrior and transferred that to others in the squad.
I am dutch and vermalean used to cut my grass last year to get himself some extra pocket money. I am 6ft2 and he is clearly taller than me by a clear foot.
what a load of Shit! idiots like you who call people racist when they quite clearly arn’t (he was talking, judging on Wengers previous buys)cause shit for the sake of it!
I think youae all missing what is happening here anyway. This fella has been signed to be our new petit because we simply canot afford proven defensive mids. He will also provide cover for Silvestre/Gibbs cos Clichy will be going to Madrid. He can also play centre half. Can Sakho play 3 positions? not yet anyway but Wenger will soon turn him into an above average all rounder. Also there are few players Wenger has signed that become 1st choice X1 on day one so do not expect this fella or any other new signing to be starting the season. My starting x1 for the opening match whether we sign someone or not will be
Almunia
Sagna Toure Djourou Silvestre
Nasri Fabregas Denilson Rosicky
RVP Arshavin
(Gallas/Adebayor and Clichy Sold with more lesser known players brought in) We all mneed to take a reality check Madrid are spending cos they are re-financing their current debt. We have recently done the same thing to pay for the stadium and 3 training centres.
I love some a bit of summer controversy.
One thing that occurs to me about Vermaelen and Sakho is that they are both captains. Regardless of playing strengths we need leaders and winners. These guys have that.
I think Wenger has finally got it. I’m optimistic for next season.
this is very sad to listen to. firstly if wenger wnted sahko that badly he would have already made an offer and secondly colour of skin doesn t make wenger sign a player but tallent does . varmalen is better i think and im black .
Good point Smudger. I’ve turned Arsenal into the best team in Europe with Sakho, Aguero and Veloso (on Football Manager). So he must be a good signing. Now he should look to Sporting CP and buy either Veloso or Moutinho. For those who can’t tell, this is tongue in cheek. I’ve seen neither play.
fuck me there is too many managers on here, let wenger get on with it he has a tough enough job on his hands already without ‘fans’ getting on his back before he even signs anybody, and there is nothing racist about stats or comparisons to other players. leave the squad as it is,i think all the current squad want to play for the club but motivatation may be the problem, all it needs is a signing here and a goal there and players confidence rockets,id get one maybe two players in, i like the look of eden hazard although not the finished article, and vermaelen has the quality we need i think, we are in desperate need of a michael essien type player in our engine room,maybe have a little look back at vieira??
This is a moronic article. For one, the ‘Oh to be a gooner’ comments were sarcastic more than anything else.
Also, no one seems to be sure how tall vermeelen (hope spelling is OK) but the general consensus is that he is like 5’11″.
Its true some fans/bloggers are short-sighted and il-informed when commenting on all these transfer rumours and talk, but I fail to see why you should link in racism into it. Perhaps you are the one that has issues with the race of players.
Colour has nothing to do with it .. quit writing tripe like this.
What on earth is Reverse Racism? Would some one please define it for me? Racism, beyound personal likes, dislikes and preferences- bias if you like, is very different from social constructs that advantage certain sectors of society as a group whether they choose this advantage or not: they are simply advantaged for having certain physical attributes. This is racism and goes hand in hand with the historic control of the natural assets of the country and the economy. It does not relate to the exceptions to the rule. Somehow black people that gain fortune in one way or another and arrive at a point of being able to excercise choice are reversed racist or benefit from reversed racism… Strange.
Hey just wanted to say i read the article and the comments and i can honestly say i see both sides of the arguement. If those leaving these comments cant open their eyes to see both pts of view they obviously need to readjust their prespectives. I thought it was well worded to get the pt across u were hoping to portray. As for the racist remarks from the comments left, people he has a right to his opionion if u dont like it for your own closed minded reasons then mabye u should b the one to reconcider what ur reading
I would just like to point out that Vermaelen is actually only 5’9 so that is a big mistake you made. I’m sorry if this has already been pointed out but I feel that even if it has it is needed to be said again because insulting wenger like that is just stupid.
Sakho is the youngest captain ever in French football history. The guy has a future, but may be too expensive..? If he could join Arsenal and be nurtured at the top level at a top club, he can be a massive player in the next 15 years for Arsenal in the premier league. He has a lot of potential
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Too many blogs. Very little to write about without everyone saying the same thing so I guess more bullshit is what’s likely to come out from a lot of these blogs. No surprises there
the truth is most people want us to sign sakho becos he exudes a certain strength that appears to be missing in the team….we are seen as a soft touch …and the team is crying for a no nonsense vidic type defender…
The problem with vermalaen is that even the Ajax supporters are wondering why we are going for him they think he is clearly not good enough for arsenal…
Verm is not an unknown quantity …he is not amongst the best 4 defenders in the dutch league …so why the fcuk do we want to sign him?..we need someone who is either clearly better than Toure or Gallas…and no one has convinced me yet that he is…
I would rather go for Hangeland and Sakho …experience and potential….I will keep Gallas and sell Toure with Djorou and Song as back up….
Summer boredom?
Totally ridicilous headline.
We are Arsenal race is not an issue. Who said we arent signing both. I know nothing about Vermeelen but was happy to hear the news mainly beacause he is a captain. Thats one important box ticked for me .. we need warriors and leaders .. we have talent we have class. If Sakho comes as well we have another fighter and a very skillfull defender. For many years weve hade more classplayers than the likes of United but they packed their side with greasy fighters. so they still competed.. we need to rstore balance and add that. That was Flaminis finest qulity he was a warrior and transferred that to others in the squad.
I am dutch and vermalean used to cut my grass last year to get himself some extra pocket money. I am 6ft2 and he is clearly taller than me by a clear foot.
p.s. i like corn.
what a load of Shit! idiots like you who call people racist when they quite clearly arn’t (he was talking, judging on Wengers previous buys)cause shit for the sake of it!
NOB!
im pretty sure all black players are better than white players.
I think youae all missing what is happening here anyway. This fella has been signed to be our new petit because we simply canot afford proven defensive mids. He will also provide cover for Silvestre/Gibbs cos Clichy will be going to Madrid. He can also play centre half. Can Sakho play 3 positions? not yet anyway but Wenger will soon turn him into an above average all rounder. Also there are few players Wenger has signed that become 1st choice X1 on day one so do not expect this fella or any other new signing to be starting the season. My starting x1 for the opening match whether we sign someone or not will be
Almunia
Sagna Toure Djourou Silvestre
Nasri Fabregas Denilson Rosicky
RVP Arshavin
(Gallas/Adebayor and Clichy Sold with more lesser known players brought in) We all mneed to take a reality check Madrid are spending cos they are re-financing their current debt. We have recently done the same thing to pay for the stadium and 3 training centres.
What?
Reverse racism?
Don’t you mean just ‘racism’?
Just because the player who is being prejudiced against is white, that doesn’t make the racism ‘reverse’…
Racism is racism, regardless which direction!
I love some a bit of summer controversy.
One thing that occurs to me about Vermaelen and Sakho is that they are both captains. Regardless of playing strengths we need leaders and winners. These guys have that.
I think Wenger has finally got it. I’m optimistic for next season.
this is very sad to listen to. firstly if wenger wnted sahko that badly he would have already made an offer and secondly colour of skin doesn t make wenger sign a player but tallent does . varmalen is better i think and im black .
Good point Smudger. I’ve turned Arsenal into the best team in Europe with Sakho, Aguero and Veloso (on Football Manager). So he must be a good signing. Now he should look to Sporting CP and buy either Veloso or Moutinho. For those who can’t tell, this is tongue in cheek. I’ve seen neither play.
fuck me there is too many managers on here, let wenger get on with it he has a tough enough job on his hands already without ‘fans’ getting on his back before he even signs anybody, and there is nothing racist about stats or comparisons to other players. leave the squad as it is,i think all the current squad want to play for the club but motivatation may be the problem, all it needs is a signing here and a goal there and players confidence rockets,id get one maybe two players in, i like the look of eden hazard although not the finished article, and vermaelen has the quality we need i think, we are in desperate need of a michael essien type player in our engine room,maybe have a little look back at vieira??
It’s “reverse” because there’s a stereotype on the Black player that’s to suggest that he’s better simply because he’s Black.
This is a moronic article. For one, the ‘Oh to be a gooner’ comments were sarcastic more than anything else.
Also, no one seems to be sure how tall vermeelen (hope spelling is OK) but the general consensus is that he is like 5’11″.
Its true some fans/bloggers are short-sighted and il-informed when commenting on all these transfer rumours and talk, but I fail to see why you should link in racism into it. Perhaps you are the one that has issues with the race of players.
Colour has nothing to do with it .. quit writing tripe like this.
What on earth is Reverse Racism? Would some one please define it for me? Racism, beyound personal likes, dislikes and preferences- bias if you like, is very different from social constructs that advantage certain sectors of society as a group whether they choose this advantage or not: they are simply advantaged for having certain physical attributes. This is racism and goes hand in hand with the historic control of the natural assets of the country and the economy. It does not relate to the exceptions to the rule. Somehow black people that gain fortune in one way or another and arrive at a point of being able to excercise choice are reversed racist or benefit from reversed racism… Strange.
Hey just wanted to say i read the article and the comments and i can honestly say i see both sides of the arguement. If those leaving these comments cant open their eyes to see both pts of view they obviously need to readjust their prespectives. I thought it was well worded to get the pt across u were hoping to portray. As for the racist remarks from the comments left, people he has a right to his opionion if u dont like it for your own closed minded reasons then mabye u should b the one to reconcider what ur reading
I would just like to point out that Vermaelen is actually only 5’9 so that is a big mistake you made. I’m sorry if this has already been pointed out but I feel that even if it has it is needed to be said again because insulting wenger like that is just stupid.
Sakho is the youngest captain ever in French football history. The guy has a future, but may be too expensive..? If he could join Arsenal and be nurtured at the top level at a top club, he can be a massive player in the next 15 years for Arsenal in the premier league. He has a lot of potential