The summer transfers: Jan Vertonghen « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
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By Tony Attwood
One of the vast array of stars we are supposed to be signing this summer, is Ajax central defender Jan Vertonghen. The Daily Mirror seem particularly keen on him, although it is hard to see why with the array of talent we have in central defence, plus the up and coming youngsters that we have.
Perhaps the key to it all is that Tottenham are supposedly wanting to buy him. If so maybe Tottenham are about to secure the deal, but are throwing out the Arsenal interest so that they can claim that they “snatched him from under Arsenal’s noses”. That would be very much in line with last summer’s transfers where we were always apparently “losing out” to other clubs because we wouldn’t pay proper salaries etc. It was obvious then that some of the deals were not deals at all – just stories set up by rival clubs and agents to try to whip up a market.
So, should we just turn away from this as a typical media page filler? We have Vermaelen and Koscielny who I think are a brilliant partnership (despite the endless stuff about Kos being “clearly not good enough at this level”) and Per Mertesacker assuming he has his injury sorted by next season. Djourou is there as a sub, and then there’s the up and comings…
But Vertonghen is Belgian, which is good because that means he doesn’t get to play in too many summer tournaments, and he can play defensive midfielder or full-back. This is handy given that the injuries we get tend to be all focussed on one area, so we do need a lot of flexible cover.
And the story comes with some extras – notably that Ajax (his current club) is in a muddle, after a series of court cases arguing over who is actually in control of the club, and Marco Van Basten saying that the player is indeed on the way.
So, what else do we know?
He is left-footed player who likes to come forward and join attacks, and he is captain of Ajax, which says quite a bit.
He joined the youth academy of Ajax as a midfielder, and since his first game in the first team in 2006 he has done his time out on loan and then returned to his main club.
The current contract he has runs until June 2013 so he is either going now, or he needs to sign a new contract. Johan Cruyff, who came out as the winner in the round of court battles for control of Ajax is an admirer, which suggests that maybe Vertonghen will be encouraged to stay.
He became the first choice centre back at Ajax with the departure of Vermaelen, and is a favourite of the fans, so departure to us would be a difficulty for the club, and for Cruyff. But he has often said that he might leave for a new challenge. Man City are said to have been watching him too.
He has played at under 21 level and from 2007 with the Belgian national team. And inevitably he has been in such games. Normally now he plays in midfield for Beligum with Vermaelen and Daniel Van Buyten in defence.
So in summary…
WE WILL BUY HIM BECAUSE he can play in several positions, and so is cover for all the injuries we are bound to get. He knows Vermaelen well, is a proven player, and doesn’t have to play too many summer international games. His contract ends in a year, and he has spoken of wanting to move on.
WE WILL NOT BUY HIM BECAUSE we don’t need another centre half, Cruyff admires him, and Cruyff has just won his long battle to regain control of Ajax.
Other players who might, or might not, come
Olivier Giroud’s transfer could come down to how well his club cope with being top of the league.
Do we really need to buy any more players this summer?
Who will come back from loan and play for us?
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