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Medhi Benatia

HBL

Established Member
Brilliant player when fit, however I don’t think the fee will be close to what we’re getting Sokratis for. Could be looking at £25-30m and at that point I don’t think he is worth it.
 

carlito'sway

Established Member
Brilliant player when fit, however I don’t think the fee will be close to what we’re getting Sokratis for. Could be looking at £25-30m and at that point I don’t think he is worth it.

I don't think he would cost more than 20 M and I would happily buy him at that fee.
 

Furious

Emery Gone, Telly Back On
Benatia isn't going anywhere. They lost Bonucci last year, Bazargli this year, and have only him, Chiellini, Howedes and Rugani left.
 

Batman

Head of the Wayne foundation for benching Nketiah

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
Brilliant player when fit, however I don’t think the fee will be close to what we’re getting Sokratis for. Could be looking at £25-30m and at that point I don’t think he is worth it.
If he helps get us in a CL place next season then the transfer fee has basically paid for itself.
 

bingobob

A-M’s Resident Hunskelper
Trusted ⭐

Country: Scotland
A player I have heard of and like. If we bring in two new centre backs at this age it is essentially good bye Mustafi.
 

GoonerBoy19

Well-Known Member
Could be a backup in case Sokratis deal doesn't go as planned. His injury record is not very good and arsenal have bad history with keeping such players fit.
 

Toby

No longer a Stuttgart Fan
Moderator
Him and Sokratis would be a big step up from a past it/injured Koscielny and Mustafi. With Chambers and Mavropanos behind them it's a solid group.

If we can't sign the 40/50m rated top young CBs like Pavard, de Ligt, etc. I'd much rather have Benatia for 20m for two/three years than splash 30 on Soyuncu, Diallo, Diop or someone like that.

I just don't see the elite talent with them that suggests they will definitely become top level CBs. I'm not saying they have no talent at all, and they all will end up at good clubs for their whole careers, but right now these guys could end up as midtable players very well. And I think 35m is a bit much for that.

Speaking of signing talents, Pavard was brought in from the fringes of Lille's first team to Stuttgart for 5m two seasons ago. I'd like Arsenal to get into those sort of transfers again, too, but the Mavropanos and Adli deals already suggest this is happening.
 
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DanDare

Emoji Merchant and Believer-In-Chief
Trusted ⭐

Player:Saliba
Can’t say I’ve watched Benatia

Some seem to rate him and saw some say he’s been Juves best CB this season

€40m to upgrade both our starting CB isn’t bad.
 

Yousif Arsenal

On Vinai's payroll & misses 4th place trophy 🏆
Trusted ⭐
I would like us signing a younger center back with Sokratis like Pavard Diallo or Calgar I wouldn't mind Benatia for 20M
 
Meh. He's good no doubt. But if we'd have to drop 20M, I'd much rather consolidate purchases and use those funds on someone else. It's one thing to invest in a player without resale value. It's another to invest in a player with no resale value who is also a perpetual risk of missing half the campaign. Would much rather step up and invest more and buy an actual asset. We don't have many of those at the moment.
 

Slartibartfast

CIES Loyalist
Meh. He's good no doubt. But if we'd have to drop 20M, I'd much rather consolidate purchases and use those funds on someone else. It's one thing to invest in a player without resale value. It's another to invest in a player with no resale value who is also a perpetual risk of missing half the campaign. Would much rather step up and invest more and buy an actual asset. We don't have many of those at the moment.

What makes you say Benatia is such an injury risk? The only season he's missed significant time was 2015-16 with Bayern. He only missed 21 days with an ankle problem this past season.

Arsenal needs defenders who can step in and do the job right now. I've been over this a million times. If they embark on a long-term program to develop youth, they waste all that attacking talent up front in the primes of their careers. They also risk screwing around in 6th place for the foreseeable future and that risks falling even further behind. They should not be worrying about resale value. That's a selling club mindset. Arsenal is still a big club and they need to act like it.
 
What makes you say Benatia is such an injury risk? The only season he's missed significant time was 2015-16 with Bayern. He only missed 21 days with an ankle problem this past season.

Arsenal needs defenders who can step in and do the job right now. I've been over this a million times. If they embark on a long-term program to develop youth, they waste all that attacking talent up front in the primes of their careers. They also risk screwing around in 6th place for the foreseeable future and that risks falling even further behind. They should not be worrying about resale value. That's a selling club mindset. Arsenal is still a big club and they need to act like it.

Perhaps I stated it a little hyperbolically, but he's hardly been a paragon of health.

Re: assets, I don't know what to tell you (except that as stated, it's a straw man. I'm not arguing that we should be buying players who can't start right away.) Big clubs buy players all the time who are just entering the prime of their careers. And they win things with those players. They have assets, whether they choose to monetize them or not. Look at what Liverpool has been able to accomplish because they've hit and sold on a few of them. If being a selling club allows me to turn one asset into Keita, VVD, and Fabinho, then sign me up.
 

Slartibartfast

CIES Loyalist
Perhaps I stated it a little hyperbolically, but he's hardly been a paragon of health.

Re: assets, I don't know what to tell you (except that as stated, it's a straw man. I'm not arguing that we should be buying players who can't start right away.) Big clubs buy players all the time who are just entering the prime of their careers. And they win things with those players. They have assets, whether they choose to monetize them or not. Look at what Liverpool has been able to accomplish because they've hit and sold on a few of them. If being a selling club allows me to turn one asset into Keita, VVD, and Fabinho, then sign me up.

I don't know about a "paragon of health," but he's hardly been injury prone. I sure wish Koscielny, Mustafi (who missed 15 games during two periods on the sidelines) and Chambers (who missed 11 with a hip injury) were able to remain as healthy.

Getting only players just entering the primes of their careers is a great strategy, but it's impractical when you have so much work to do in a particular area. Players at or near the primes of their career who can be acquired at bargain rates due to circumstances can be said to be opportunistic.

So what one player are you going to sell for £130 million to emulate Liverpool?
 
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