Hatem Ben Arfa

[EskWeston 696]

Lyon president claiming that Ben Arfa has the option to sign a new contract or move, also publicly stating that it will take £11m to buy him from Lyon.

Roumers are that we are interested. Anything think he is worth a a punt?

[bombayblue™ 55]

haven't seen him play except the youtube videos which rarely count for anything, but the buzz around him sounds good, 11M still is high imo..

[EskWeston 696]

haven't seen him play except the youtube videos which rarely count for anything, but the buzz around him sounds good, 11M still is high imo..

£11m these days is bloody peanuts. £24m for SWP £15m for Malouda...... the price is an exceptionally good deal. At 21 he has a lot of years ahead of him and is pretty highly rated. But i don't know enough about him to know if he would be good enough.

[bombayblue™ 55]

hehe not those rates esk, compare the 11M tag to that of dos santos, similar age and similar if not more talent..

[riks12 3]

He is winger, right?

Well I've heard he is a great player, but I'm not sure if we need him, especially if we buy a new first team winger (I doubt he'd make first team if we buy him). Only is both Malouda and SWP leave he + Quaresma/Ribery/Robiho would be nice signings.

Price is fair enough for him I think.

[EskWeston 696]

hehe not those rates esk, compare the 11M tag to that of dos santos, similar age and similar if not more talent..

Ben Arfa is vastly more experienced that Dos Santos, i think the £11m price tage is a bit of a steal considering the price tags placed on some of the other wingers, Ribery, Quaresma ect...

[bombayblue™ 55]

Ben Arfa is vastly more experienced that Dos Santos, i think the £11m price tage is a bit of a steal considering the price tags placed on some of the other wingers, Ribery, Quaresma ect...

well he isn't a regular starter for lyon unlike ribery or quaresma cos i saw a couple CL matches of theirs for benzema and him and he was on the bench but as i said i dont know anything abt him..

come to think of it, the fact that barca were in a clearout phase might have helped reduce dos santos fee..

[BlueLion. 21,491]

He plays for Lyon, so que a little biography from me £11 million for Ben Arfa is a steal. He is fully experienced in the Champions League and can play in any of three positions - central attacking midfield, on the wings and as a second striker. He is an excellent dribbler of the ball and has a wicked delivery from set pieces, and to cap it all, he is only 21.

[EskWeston 696]

He plays for Lyon, so que a little biography from me £11 million for Ben Arfa is a steal. He is fully experienced in the Champions League and can play in any of three positions - central attacking midfield, on the wings and as a second striker. He is an excellent dribbler of the ball and has a wicked delivery from set pieces, and to cap it all, he is only 21.

Cheers for that. Good to get to know a bit about him. So he would definately be an option. Although there has not been much noise yet about us being interested, so time will tell if we do fancy a look.

[Stamford 3]

11m is nothing these days, I definately think its worth a punt. Sidwell goes for £5m which means in effect we have only stumped up 6m for a fella already highly rated and has still to reach his best. Go for it I say.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Completely agree with Stamford. The money from Sidwell's move would make this effectively peanuts.

[EskWeston 696]

It does look like a very very tempting move to make. However it seems that there is going to be no transfer activity until Scolari is formally in place, but hopefully negotiations are still taking place so that we do not miss out on any potential targets.

[riks12 3]

I hope Portugal will lose tonight, Ballack to score 2.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

It does look like a very very tempting move to make. However it seems that there is going to be no transfer activity until Scolari is formally in place, but hopefully negotiations are still taking place so that we do not miss out on any potential targets.

It would certainly be worth it, in my opinion. Although I may have Lyon tinted contact lenses on at the moment, I genuinely think his pace and dribbling ability would certainly give us another option.

[EskWeston 696]

It would certainly be worth it, in my opinion. Although I may have Lyon tinted contact lenses on at the moment, I genuinely think his pace and dribbling ability would certainly give us another option.

Well as far as wingers go being linked with Ben Arfa, Quaresma, Robinho and Ronaldinho isn't bad at all. Would take any of them, although Robinho would be my ideal signing.

I think wingers will be something of a priority for us, at least 1 and maybe 2 depending on who out of our current wingers Scolari fancies.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I have a feeling SWP will leave regardless. I thought this might be his season considering he broke into the team at the end of 06/07 and started the first few of 07/08, but he lost his chance as soon as Mourinho left.

[EskWeston 696]

I have a feeling SWP will leave regardless. I thought this might be his season considering he broke into the team at the end of 06/07 and started the first few of 07/08, but he lost his chance as soon as Mourinho left.

SWP should definately be one who leaves. Although any sort of transfer news for him has gone very quiet! Had plenty of time and just isn't going to be good enough for us, and we need to imorove our quality on the wings desperately.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Well, Villa are currently after Bentley, but if they fail to lure him to Villa Park then I imagine they will turn to Shauny.