The Sun yesterday linked us with AJ Auxerre Right Back, Bakari Sagna, in a £6m deal. The “article” notes that he was recently voted ‘Best In Position‘ (which makes it sound like some sort of Crufts award) by his fellow players. Not particularly aware of him myself although apparently he was called up for the France squad at the weekend. But it does raise an interesting question, namely why are we trying to sign him? Having two ‘young’ RB’s at the club already, with Djourou also able to cover there, it seems that AW wants to shake them up. Personally, it would be unlikely that Sagna would sign knowing, or believing, that the is third in line nor do I think AW would sign someone for that much to be a reserve, even if two of his ‘first choice’ defenders are moving onto the ACN in the early part of 2008 as Ivory Coast are within a point of securing their berth.

The career info I can glean indicates he has made 87 appearances since the start of 2004 for Auxerre as well as around 15 or so in the UEFA Cup. To me, that is not indicative of the experience that the players and Wenger have both made a point of telling us that we should be signing. What it does show however is that he has doubts about the long term future of Hoyte or Eboue which is odd given that this year has seen both sign new contracts. So, is he genuinely considering pushing Eboue forward into midfield or is the Frenchman, who was a centre forward to begin with (apparently), being thought of as a midfielder? Not having seen him in action, I cannot say but I have said before that I think Eboue would be better utilised in midfield with his ability to deliver a decent cross. He has been defensively suspect, positionally speaking and maybe this is AW’s ‘get out clause’ in that Eboue can fight with Hleb for the wide position and provide cover if injuries strike. Indeed, Eboue would provide the ‘natural’ width on the right, allowing Henry and RvP to drift to the left hand side of the attack.

Possibly, AW is preparing for not being able to sign the Left Sided player he wants (especially with Bayern having ‘advanced negotiations’ with Marseilles to the point where Ribery is nearly ready to take a medical ahead of a £17m move) and is thinking of moving Hleb across to fight with Tomas Rosicky for that berth. That part of the summer should not really surprise anyone as Wenger has a history of moving players out of their natural positions – Petit and Lauren spring immediately to mind at this Godforsaken hour. Whilst Arsene has said he wants more width, I do not believe that to mean that he wants two wingers, merely to spread play a little more than we did last time round. The midfielders on the both sides have the habit of cutting inside rather than taking the defender on and putting in a cross. The only one who gave width last season was Eboue, so a move upfield has a certain logic to it.

Fran Merida is being linked with a loan move to Atletico Madrid for the next season, according to Sky Sports. It is not hard to see this one happening but as is the case with Carlos Vela (linked with Levante a few weeks ago), it can only be of benefit if they are to play a substantial number of games for the first team, otherwise is it not better to keep them at The Emirates or in a Championship team here. Vela is a bit different in that his stay in Spain enables him to bypass the need for a work permit having been in the EU for a couple of years. However, in Merida’s case, if he can get some UEFA Cup football under his belt as well, it would be beneficial for him to go to Madrid for a year rather than say, Wolves, who have made it clear that they will be looking to utilise the loan system in order to get promotion next year. Whilst the Primera Division and Premiership are essentially different styles of football, Wenger prefers his players to be technically adept, particularly in midfield, something that is not going to be learnt in the frenetic pace of the Championship.

’til Tomorrow.