Should Arsenals next signing be English?

If Ashley Cole signs for Chelsea this week should Wenger then try and sign an English player?

Do English players make any difference in terms of team spirit?

Because SAF is British he seems to like to sign British players, is this a disadvantage because British players cost alot? Spurs would disagree. Dofoe, Carrick, Lennon and Robinson didn't cost that much.

Man Utd have 12 British players in the first team squad. More then Liverpool and Chelsea i think.

Foster
Bardsley
Neville
Ferdinand
Brown
Carrick
Giggs
Scholes
Richardson
Fletcher
Rooney
Smith

bash arsenal at any opportunity, wengers primary responsibility is to arsenal so he´ll buy the best player for the position he wants based on age ability etc not just cos they are english

No reason (other than UEFA regulations) for Arsenal to sign an English player.

If you look at the expensive English signings Man U have made (Rio £29m, Rooney £29m, Carrick £18m, Smith £7m), Chelsea are the only other English club who could afford these signings.

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:bash arsenal at any opportunity, wengers primary responsibility is to arsenal so he´ll buy the best player for the position he wants based on age ability etc not just cos they are english

Your not the most unbiased fan here Frank, considering your love for Arsenal, loathe for Man United and hate for Liverpool.

I'd like to know your opinion if this was Liverpool or Man United.

With Cole and Campbell leaving, they should make it a priority to sign at least 2 British players.

Arsenal fans will say "no, it doesnt matter".

English fans will say "preferably yes".

Neutral fans will say "who cares".

Personally, for a club to maintain its identity, it would help if some of the players were born within at least 200 miles from the ground.

I think Wenger has missed a trick or two in the past- he had the option of signing Defoe from West Ham, but chose to sign Reyes instead- the player now ready to leave for Madrid after hardly and inspiring career at arsenal.

A player like Henry is rare- a foreign player who dedicated his career to a club like Arsenal despite not being from London, or indeed being English.

Arsenal have not won back to back titles for a reason- I think the major one is that having so many foreign players, the club has struggled to hold onto its Championship winning teams because there is a lack of TRUE connection for many of these players. Look at United or Chelsea for instance: the likes of Scholes, Giggs, Lampard, Terry, Joe Cole, Keane, Irwin, etc. : players who dedicate most of their careers to their club.

Arsenal used to have that in Adams, Keown, Winterburn, etc., but now less and less continuity in the players who are staying for long periods, which links to the insurge of foreign Arsenal players.

A coincidence? I dont think so...

Agreed with Parky.

He clearly has the money there at the moment aswell. It's a small price to pay for a sense of identity.

As a Liverpool fan I'm not going to get up on my high horse and preach about them needing to have 6-7 English players. We only had 2 key English players when we won the Champions league - like they did with Cole and Campbell.

2 is a perfectly acceptable number, but 0 is not. He should make it a priority to bring in a couple of talented English youngsters, even if he doesn't want to spend 10-15 million on the established players.

If he swallowed his pride and paid the money needed for curtis davis, I would have no problem with it. Davis and Walcot coming through would represent atleast a small British contingient.

Even Inter Milan had 3 Italian's who played last year...

Name an English player that is actually good enough to part of the Arsenal sqaud. You will find that they are either at Man U of Chelsea of Liverpool and cost a fortune. If Wenger can pick up a bargin abroad why not.

Roger_Hunt wrote:No reason (other than UEFA regulations) for Arsenal to sign an English player.

Arsenal wont suffer under the new rules - most of their youngsters have been at the club long enough to qualify as home grown.

What may suffer is the clubs local identity - most top clubs have a local lad in the first team squad - Terry, Scholes, Gerrard etc.

Arsenal fans wont care for now, they love Wenger more than I love Minstrels.

"British players" is the wrong term. It should be "ENGLISH players". I couldn't give a shit about ManU having Giggs and Fletcher. In terms of football, England, Wales, NI and Scotland are totally different. Arsenal are an English club.

re the original question:

I dont think Arsenal have to buy Englanders, but it would be nice. I prefer Chelsea to have English players and Im sure that really most Arsenal fans feel similarly. I can see Wenger's problem, because English players are very expensive (in general) [see A.Johnson/Carrick].

it's a tough question.... who does he buy to improve the team

walcott a 16 yr old kid cost 5 million rsing to 10
he wanted davies- he was quoted 10 million (what did cannavaro go for again)

if you want him to sign an english player give some suitable suggestions... wengers first priority is to arsenal

parky, i really don´t have a problem with buying foreign if its best for the team, fergie finds it easier to deal with british players, wenger with foreigners, rafa with foreigners although he is trying to buy british but is buying some v difficult players to deal with. ultimately the managers responsibility is to the club so he should buy the best person for that position in his opinion considering age, price, etc.. eg surely hargreaves would be a better option than Senna given age alone but he prob cannot afford him or possibly get him. An historically and it still is a huge problem the technical ability of british players is lacking (see brooking comments recently) so wenger likes technical players hence doesn´t generally like british. i really struggle to see what the problem with this is, and its nothing to do with club loyalty

Mulletmassive wrote:Name an English player that is actually good enough to part of the Arsenal sqaud. You will find that they are either at Man U of Chelsea of Liverpool and cost a fortune. If Wenger can pick up a bargin abroad why not.

Well this is why the old Wenger does it all on the cheap line doesn't sit well with me.

Why should he buy English players , specially looking at the prices they cost. AJ for 8.5 m , you must be joking.

Are English players expensive or Premiership players?

If Carrick was French or Spainish would his transfer fee from Spurs to Man Utd been the same or higher of lower?

Saha cost Man Utd £12m
Duff cost Chelsea £17m

It is rare to find a mid table Premiership side or even a Championshop side with a really good foreign player that the top 4 clubs want. if they had one then do you think they would sell the player on the cheap beacause he is foreign? But these clubs can have a good English player which has come through the youth system, e.g. Rooney, Bent, Davis.

The Real White Pele wrote:Look at United or Chelsea for instance: the likes of Scholes, Giggs, Lampard, Terry, Joe Cole, Keane, Irwin, etc. : players who dedicate most of their careers to their club.

is this the same lampard and joe cole who turned their backs on the club that gave them their chance for the big money at chelsea?, the same keane who turned his back on forest after cloughie had made him what he was?

Is Almunia better than Taylor.
Is Cygan better than Upson.
Is Hleb that much better than Pennant.
He turned down Carrick to buy Flamini for around the same price.
Where was he when Dawson signed for Spurs, he's a better player than Senderos.
He passed up on Robinson at £1.5 million.

parks lives wrote:

Mulletmassive wrote:Name an English player that is actually good enough to part of the Arsenal sqaud. You will find that they are either at Man U of Chelsea of Liverpool and cost a fortune. If Wenger can pick up a bargin abroad why not.

Well this is why the old Wenger does it all on the cheap line doesn't sit well with me.

It sits well with me. If you can pick up a player on the cheap and can develop him into great player it makes good business sense, and they are more than likey to be loyal to the club and fans.

I don't think Fergie is shrew enough in the transfer market or his purchases.

is anyone going to name an english player arsenal could sign that will be affordable and will improve them????

Batman wrote:Are English players expensive or Premiership players?

its prem players, hence wenger would prefer to buy 3/4 players from the continent rather than 1 from the prem, hence v few brits/english.

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:the same keane who turned his back on forest after cloughie had made him what he was?

What are you on about. He left the season they got relegated and Clough knew he was going.

If anything he turned down more money at Blackburn to go to Man United because it was his family's team.

Its worth remembering that whilst English players are expensive, once one of the big clubs gets hold of them, those same players are unlikely to want to move.

Look at Rooney- just recently issuing the statement he wast to be at United for the rest of his career- and who doesnt believe him? Cost more than C. Ronaldo, but Im betting my house on Rooney still being there in 5 years time and Ronaldo not. Which is more useful for United if they are trying to build and sustain a long term team?

English players dont get often sold between the big clubs, and most English players would prefer to carry on playing in the English league.

So although Fergie doshed out 18 mill for Carrick- he has a player now who he can guarantee will be there for a long while and allow him to build a long term plan, whereas if he had splashed out less on, say, a player like Mascherano, the guarantee of his commitment is going to be far less

COTR wrote:is anyone going to name an english player arsenal could sign that will be affordable and will improve them????

uummmm i´m trying, ok hargreaves (but hang on he isn´t playing in the prem.)

Mulletmassive wrote:

parks lives wrote:

Mulletmassive wrote:Name an English player that is actually good enough to part of the Arsenal sqaud. You will find that they are either at Man U of Chelsea of Liverpool and cost a fortune. If Wenger can pick up a bargin abroad why not.

Well this is why the old Wenger does it all on the cheap line doesn't sit well with me.

It sits well with me. If you can pick up a player on the cheap and can develop him into great player it makes good business sense, and they are more than likey to be loyal to the club and fans.

I don't think Fergie is shrew enough in the transfer market or his purchases.

& your saying it would be impossible to do that with an English player. Look at Spurs -

Dawson - £4 million
Carrick - £2.75 million
Lennon - £1 million
Defoe - £6.5 million

IMO it doesnt matter what the nationality if they love the club and give their all like Bergkamp did.

The only time City have fielded an all foreign 11 was vs U*d and we won 3-1.

The Real White Pele wrote:So although Fergie doshed out 18 mill for Carrick- he has a player now who he can guarantee will be there for a long while and allow him to build a long term plan, whereas if he had splashed out less on, say, a player like Mascherano, the guarantee of his commitment is going to be far less

the same carrick whose just shat on spurs?

COTR wrote:is anyone going to name an english player arsenal could sign that will be affordable and will improve them????

LB - Leighton Baines
CB - Richards
CB - Ferdinand
CM - Barton
CM - Hargreaves

If the club doesn't need to sell the player then his fee will always be high.

parks lives wrote:

Mulletmassive wrote:

parks lives wrote:

Mulletmassive wrote:Name an English player that is actually good enough to part of the Arsenal sqaud. You will find that they are either at Man U of Chelsea of Liverpool and cost a fortune. If Wenger can pick up a bargin abroad why not.

Well this is why the old Wenger does it all on the cheap line doesn't sit well with me.

It sits well with me. If you can pick up a player on the cheap and can develop him into great player it makes good business sense, and they are more than likey to be loyal to the club and fans.

I don't think Fergie is shrew enough in the transfer market or his purchases.

& your saying it would be impossible to do that with an English player. Look at Spurs -

Dawson - £4 million
Carrick - £2.75 million
Lennon - £1 million
Defoe - £6.5 million

thats great for Spurs, but it don't sit well with Man U

Batman wrote:

COTR wrote:is anyone going to name an english player arsenal could sign that will be affordable and will improve them????

LB - Leighton Baines
CB - Richards
CB - Ferdinand
CM - Barton
CM - Hargreaves

If the club doesn't need to sell the player then his fee will always be high.

baines- no... clichy much better
richards- unproven youngster.. already have one of those in walcott.. would also cost at least 7 million
ferdinand- again unproven and would cost at least 8-12 million
barton- no thanks
hargreaves- a good pick but your looking at 12 - 16 million

Batman wrote:
LB - Leighton Baines
CB - Richards
CB - Ferdinand
CM - Barton
CM - Hargreaves

If the club doesn't need to sell the player then his fee will always be high.

and how much would all they cost and i´d question whether Barton would improve them

edit just seen cotr´s post and i agree with him (again)

The-Frank-Tavern wrote:

The Real White Pele wrote:So although Fergie doshed out 18 mill for Carrick- he has a player now who he can guarantee will be there for a long while and allow him to build a long term plan, whereas if he had splashed out less on, say, a player like Mascherano, the guarantee of his commitment is going to be far less

the same carrick whose just shat on spurs?

You call leaving for a £16,000,000 profit "shitting on" a club? It was a deal that everyone was happy with.