Houssem Aouar is a 22 years old French player that can be deployed as central midfielder or left attacking midfielder. He plays for Lyon and is touted for his ability to keep the ball, drive the ball forward and to find the right pass. His breakthrough season came in 2018-2019 and he started the 2019-2020 season well. He is player in the mould of Iniesta (not as good as the Spanish legend but similar type of player), he definitely has talent and apparently he is not a trouble maker and is well appreciated by his coaches and partners. He has got also a decent eye for goals and his delivery on set pieces is very good. He

He is 175cm and he is not really heavy either and plays for the French U-21. Guardiola and Arteta really like him and Edu contacted Lyon to discuss a swap deal that would see Aouar join us for Guendouzi + cash. Lyon is not against a swap deal but they do not want Guendouzi and they are also not ruling out a sale of Aouar.

I like Aouar and think he will go on to become a very good player. I am just not sure if he is ready to battle it day in and day out in the EPL yet. I had similar doubt about Ceballos and we all know what happened so…let us see.

Physically, he would need to develop fast and also the pace of the game is different than the French league. If we could buy him this year at a good price and then loan him out to a team in the EPL like West Ham maybe as they will see Grealish go, it may be the best option as we will give him the chance to play a lot in the EPL.

Another information is that the club is definitely looking to offload Guendouzi. I wish him good luck, and I think we are making a mistake as he is a very good player. We would need to sell him with a percentage of the future sales and a good buy-back clause too. I think he would do really well in the Italian league and I am sure that AC Milan is monitoring his situation closely.

So what do you think of Aouar?

Today, the draw for the Carabao Cup took place and we are playing Leicester away in the third round.

The competition has been under scrutiny as players have a gruelling schedule packed with league games, European and sometimes national team games.

So many clubs play their young players in the Carabao Cup and if they get closer to the final, they tend to play more players from their usual starting XI.

How do you feel about this Cup and about the draw to Leicester?

Our Brazilian players’ contingency is growing since Edu has arrived, no?

1. David Luiz, Martinelli last year
2. Willian, Gabriel this year

Two older players in Luiz and Willian and two young promising players in Gabriel and Martinelli. Two defenders and two forward players.

Below two major hypothetical questions:

1. We are just missing a player like Gilberto Silva and/or Edu to have a Brazilian player in each line. So, here is a list of Brazilian DM/CMs players that could be looked at if we were to, hypothetically, engage a player purely based on nationality and position and known by the many not the few:

DM: Fabinho, Casemiro, Fernandinho, Luiz Gustavo, Ramires, Lucas Leiva, Mattheus Henrique

CM: Allan, Guimares, Paqueta, Coutinho

2. Shall the fanbase come up with a song with a Brazilian air for Willian and Martinelli when they score and Luiz and Gabriel when they put in a great tackle or a goal? If so, which Brazilian air/song should it be? There are well known pop song classics like La Lambada, Samba de Janeiro, Ai Se Eu Te Pego for example…

Anyways, the point of this post is to know how you feel about the growing Brazilian contingency in our ranks. At PSG, we have a history with Brazilian players and one thing is for sure is that even if they are not the best players, they always play with heart – which is already a big plus 🙂

There is mounting noise about the possibility that Arsenal would be willing to listen to offers for Bellerin. The club is supposedly OK to let Bellerin go for 35 Mln EUR.

At one point in his young and rich career, Bellerin was seen as the best young full back in the world and teams like Barcelona, Real, City and Juve were monitoring him but then Bellerin got injured and since then, he has been chasing his shadow to rediscover the form that made him one of the most potent RB in the EPL and in Europe.

Bellerin really struggled under Emery but seems to have found some form back under Arteta and he put in some good displays after the lockdown. He seems to have found better balance in terms of his defensive and attacking contributions since Arteta has come in. At 25, he is entering the most exciting part of his career where he is supposed to have reached his optimal form and level. The kid has been with us for nearly ten years and he is very attached to the club and he has been key to welcoming new players and supporting our young players when they join the first team. He is very well liked by the players and coaching staff and he is also a player that is engaged for important socio-economic causes such as environmental protection.

So should the club keep Bellerin knowing that AMN is looking to be extended and Soares has joined us? Or shall the club cash in on one of the longest serving player in our club? It is a tough choice to be honest.

How do you feel about it?

As the transfer season is on-going and as we see movements at Chelsea and Man Utd in terms of midfield acquisitions, we also know that we are in the market to strengthen our midfield. It seems that Xhaka will be a starter again next year and we need to complement his skills and mitigate his weaknesses so we are looking for two types of players (assuming that Arteta will try to set us up as a 433 at some point)

1. A more defensive minded player that has good discipline to protect the back four and good passing skills to initiate movements rapidly and effectively;
2. A more attacking central midfielder that can carry the ball forward, dribble, pass and score a few goals – a more box-to-box player in a way.

Based on the above, shouldn’t securing Ceballos be our utmost priority? He managed to develop a good partnership with Xhaka, demonstrated defensive resolve and has also shown that he can drive and pass the ball forward. Securing Ceballos first would give us the chance to take full advantage of the players available on the market:

1. If a wonderful box-to-box player is available, then we can play Ceba like he did towards the end of the season – which is more of a defensive role;
2. If a wonderful defensive midfielder is available, then we can play Ceba further up as our box-to-box midfielder.

So the latest news is that the Club is really trying to get Ceba back as Arteta is keen to have him back in the squad and Ceba said that he would enjoy another spell at AFC so let us hope we can secure him quickly 🙂 Also, Lampard may make…Kante available on the market! If this is the case, I suggest we do whatever we can to land him 🙂

So what are your thoughts? Should Ceballos be our priority midfield signing?

PS: The Club is working hard to also secure long term future for Martinez and AMN

PPS: Auba will announce his signature once the club has announced the recruitment of more players but in essence he has agreed to the deal. He will only pen the contract once the other players have joined the club.