Well, well, well…
Wenger always manages to spring a surprise on us doesn’t he? Who could have predicted this one eh?!
Seriously though, it is fantastic that he is signed. Gooners being gooners, we’re mostly absorbed in criticising the fact he is 21, his (poor) scoring record at Marseille, that it is too much money, that he won’t help our defensive issues….. Lighten up!
In Samir Nasri Arsenal have got a fantastic young player who can easily become a world beater. He is pretty fast, very composed and does everything you expect an Arsenal player under Wenger to be able to do. It’s all about short, crisp passing into feet, movement off the ball and clever pieces of skill. For £12-15m I think he is a very good signing as well - if you consider the prices Nani and Anderson went for last summer, and even if you perhaps take a look at transfers that have gone through so far this summer, such as Elmander (£10m), Nasri is an excellent aquisition.
For those complaining that if he replaces Hleb, there will be a backward step - I am not so sure. In terms of goalscoring people are claiming he doesn’t score enough, an accusation Hleb will be too familiar with. But I reckon he is set to surprise a few people once he is adjusted to the Premiership. With young players you have to go by their last season I think, as there is usually a steady improvement to be seen, and it is the same with Nasri. last season with Marseille he scored 6 goals in 30 games - an average of 1 in 5. 2 goals in 31 games was Hleb’s total - 1 in 15. Now bearing in mind the adaptation may take a little while, I think it’s not unreasonable to expecta total of 5+ this season from Nasri, a decent improvement over Hleb.
He’ll fit right in amongst the other players, I reckon, and will join up with his new team mates on the 21st July for pre-season training.
So good luck Samir Nasri, and welcome to the Emirates, I have every faith he will be a star.
