Transfer Target: Adrián López

As we approach one of, if not the most important January transfer windows of Arsenal’s recent history, expectedly there are a host of players that are rumoured to be of interest to the club. As we have found out in the past however, some transfer rumours, no matter how convincing they seem, actually turn out to be nothing but guess work by the media as a result of astoundingly shoddy and lazy investigative research by some journalists. Either that, or some rumours even turn out to be elaborate publicity stunts by football agents in order to attract more interest in their respective clients.

A prime example of one of a move who almost everyone was utterly persuaded by was that of M’Villa last summer. The deal was reported as “all but done” and “99% complete”, when in actual fact, Arsenal’s interest in the player seemed to be of a rather preliminary level. With this in mind, when I read papers and online articles linking us with certain players, I always do so, as we all should, with a pinch of salt. Of course there’s always some widely reported transfer rumours which are more believable than others (e.g. Henry on loan and Wilfried Zaha), but I find that a lot of the time that actual transfer targets are less reported or not reported at all until interest becomes an official approach.

This was true with Santi Cazorla, and I have a sneaking feeling that it may be the case with another Spanish player: Adrián López. Yes, this rumour has been reported a fair amount, but nowhere near as much as another striker in the shape of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, and yet I believe the Spaniard’s arrival is more likely, more fitting and more needed. Let me explain why…

The Player

Let me begin by introducing the player in question, as so many that I have spoken to via Twitter seem to be short on knowledge concerning the striker. Adrián López Álvarez or ‘Adrián’ as he is better known, is a 24 year old Spanish attacker who plays for Athletico Madrid. He actually started his career at the same club as Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata did, you know the one that thousands of Arsenal fans have shares in… That’s it, Real Oviedo. Despite now playing at the very top level of Spanish football for a club competing with the likes of their city rivals, Real Madrid and the untouchable Barcelona, Adrián lives in one of the biggest shadows of contemporary world football, that of Radamel Falcao. The Columbian’s emphatic form has mean’t that Adrián hasn’t started, or even played, many games at all this season. Thus his confidence has dropped, as have his goalscoring statistics. Last season (2011/12) he scored 19 goals in all competitions (55 apps). However, so far this time round he’s only managed to score 1 (13 apps).

Adrián is the perfect example of why stats shouldn’t be so heavily relied upon in order to pass judgement on a player, because he’s fantastic. He has pace, skill, excellent movement on and off the ball as well as being stronger than he looks, at the rather average height of 5 ft 11 in. His attributes make him a versatile attacker, capable of playing anywhere from CF, R/LW and even the No.10 role. It’s this adaptiveness which makes me want him more than any other striker we have been linked with pre-January. He can help create and further what would be an ideally interchangeable front 3/4, thus increasing the options that creative midfield technicians, such as Jack, Santi and Rosicky have to choose from. My only worry would be his lack of goalscoring form lately, combined with the pressures of playing for a club like Arsenal. Although, I think that he would find form easier by working along side Giroud, who beyond providing knock-downs for the Spaniard, could support him, having been in that difficult position earlier on this season. Ultimately Adrián is, in my eyes at least, the perfect tactical weapon to add to our attacking armoury.

Happy Hunting Grounds

I hate to bring your attention to the fact that Europe is going through one of the worst financial meltdowns in history, but it is. Alas! Don’t be glum, chum, as that’s good news for Arsenal in the transfer market. As a result of Spain being one of the nations that has been worst-hit by the recession, all it’s businesses, no matter how big, are struggling, which includes football clubs. Arsène Wenger is very interested in economics, in fact he is so interested that, when I visited the Directors Box vs West Brom, he was conversing with someone about the European financial crisis a mere fifteen minutes before kick-off! As we know, he also loves a bargain and getting the best value for money when it comes to purchasing players. With his economically tuned nose he sniffed out a possibility to do just that in Spain last summer. Santi Cazorla was bought for an estimated £12 million, which his ex-manager at Malaga, Manuel Pellegrini, described as “an unthinkable gift”. But it seems that it was a gift that Malaga just had to present, given their financial situation at the time of selling. Spain has now presented itself as an ideal market to spend in, as Wenger and Gazidis have identified and rightly pointed out this season.

“… It is maybe a good period to sign players because the clubs are in trouble financially and you can make bargains there.” – Arsène Wenger on the Spanish market.

This leads me to think that any interest in a player in the La Liga, will be one that Arsenal may wish to pursue with more vigour than possible targets in other leagues. Therefore, the Adrián López rumours seem not only more legitimate, but also more likely for Arsenal to follow through on. Adrián currently has an €18 million (£14.6 million) release clause, which by Arsenal standards is not that cheap. You may be thinking, ‘hang on a minute, I thought Spain was good for bargains?!’ Well, firstly, we will probably be able to cut that down by a couple of million in negotiations. Secondly, his price has the potential to be a lot higher very soon.

Contract Talk: Help? Or Hindrance?

That last point leads me smoothly on to the reason why it could be a not-so-smooth transfer process. It is reported in Spain that, due to their recent success, Athletico Madrid (Adrián’s club) have re-opened contract negotiations with the player and are trying to tie him down to a renewed deal, especially with their main striker, Falcao expected to be in high-demand come January. Adrián also recently changed agents, his new one being Jorge Mendes (clients include: Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria, and various other stars). I briefly spoke to Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed on twitter), who is a journalism student in Madrid writing for La Liga News and in her own twitter bio states she has “a non-secret love for Arsenal”. Her comments on the situation were as follows:

“[The move] looks unlikely if the rumours about him renewing his contract are true. [Although it] could be his people talking too, to make teams like Arsenal hurry up and make a move for him.” – Leyla Hamed

So it seems that if Adrián were to sign a new deal, it would become almost impossible to prize him away from Athletico, especially with the increased buy-out clause that would come hand-in-hand with a renewed contract. However, I believe that Adrián is Athletico’s Theo Walcott, so to speak, and his people may be angling for a more lucrative move away from the club. This is understandable given the poor amount of game-time that he has under his belt this season, and like Leyla says, it may be a tactical ploy (a classic one at that) by his agency to find him a new club sooner rather than later, in a “catch me while you can” sort of way.

To Conclude…

I very much hope that we manage to seal a deal for the Spaniard, as I feel he will offer us a lot more than a simple, one dimensional out-and-out striker ever could do, with regards to our style of play. It is also my belief that this transfer is more viable given the current economic situation in Spain and the subsequent attractiveness of the Spanish market to football managers all across Europe. Adrián is much more of a ‘Wenger signing’ in terms of his strongest attributes and intelligence on the pitch, compared to the likes of Huntelaar, who I personally don’t think we are really interested in at all. Despite Athletico’s threat of a new contract being thrashed out between the two parties in the coming month, I retain the view that Arsenal, if they want him enough, could snap Adrián up before he puts pen to paper over there. Come the 8th of January, Adrián will be turning 25. What better birthday present to give him than the chance to play for The Arsenal?

10 Comments

1. 

   stag133

   17 December, 12 at 21:18

   no post about tonights match? DAG, you OK over there?

   here’s the problem… we are spanking Reading, and we have 3 very winnable games following tonights…
   we could win 2 and draw one… or win all 3, and Wenger will point to the results leading into January’s window… we’d be close to, if not in the Top 4… and say, WE ARE FINE. We don’t need to bring anyone in!!

   and then we’d go to hell in a handbasket coming down the stretch yet again…
   its Groundhog day…
   we’ve seen this one before…

   Reply
   • 

     joshuad

     18 December, 12 at 06:08

     i fear you are 100% correct. i don’t want to see arsenal lose to force them to sign players but i’d hate to see arsenal not improve. three more new players for the first team in january is too much. demba ba would be nice. read an article on soccernet today where he hinted that he’d fancy the move down to north london. arsenal need a player like him.

     also read another nasty rumor that arsenal were going to extend aaron ramsey’s contract. ugh. should have traded him to fulham in the summer for dembele. that would have been a good deal for everyone. notice that when dembele plays, spurs win but when he was injured, they were losing? the boy is special. oh to think what could have been.

     arsenal’s biggest problem has been that everyone holds the ball too long. moving the ball slowly is something the unbeaten team never did, except bergkamp but he was bergkamp. moving the ball slowly allows opponents to get their defensive shape making them hard to break down. the invincibles attacked before defenses got organized and always changed the point of attack. it’s what made them so scary to play against. the only time guys took more than two touches is when they were going by people.

     a residual of being a team that holds the ball is that’s what your team practices defending against. when suddenly faced with teams that move the ball quickly like swansea, norwich, and schalke did, arsenal have problems and look a half step behind. good players don’t need a lot of time on the ball. one touch is often adequate wenger could square that away easily in training but this isn’t a new problem so i wouldn’t hold my breath waiting on that change.

     Reply
     • 

       joshuad

       18 December, 12 at 06:12

       err, there’s supposed to be a period between adequate and wenger near the end of the last paragraph.

       Reply
     • 

       joshuad

       18 December, 12 at 06:18

       one other problem might be cazorla seems to have a libero-type role in the team. arsenal might do better with him a bit closer to the striker; either him or someone who’s not afraid to play with their back to goal.

       Reply
2. 

   highburyterracesteve

   17 December, 12 at 10:50

   Big match tonight so this comment, as per usual will get buried….

   Adrian came on in the 2nd half for Atletico (last night at Barca) and that didn’t go so well. I wasn’t able to see the match, curious if he played well or what….

   In the match I did see, Granada CF vs Atletico, he played in the first half but did very, very little and was subbed at the half for Diego Costa who is big but seemed very poor (and divey) as a CF. Nonetheless Atletico dominated and were able to create sustained pressure. Falcao missed a sitter on a low cross (not quite Gervinho-esque, but not that far off, either….) with Arda Turan finally scoring from a similar play to seal the points. Some University kids from Madrid who I talked with on the bus like Adrian quite a bit, but I got the impression that it was because they realize that Falcao cannot remain beyond the end of the season.

   Like josh, I’m not quite sure where he fits in. Given the limited minutes he’s getting at Atletico, I wonder about fitness issues and if such a buy would be a stop-gap replacement for Theo Walcott. Gervinho being gone in January (or forever) seems less of an issue the more we watch while OxCham is all potential but really needs a goal and surely cannot be counted on for many. I think the Spanish market IS a good one to try and plunder but I think Llorente is the man we should be after. Stag is correct. The chance of Falcao to Arsenal is less than zero….

   Does any of it really matter? Win tonight and Arsene buys himself (and us) the right to keep thinking about January. Lose or draw and it’s another round of trying to sack the unsackable one. In other words, every match a cup-final. It’s good theater (theatre) but a bit trying on those of us who wish to “support” the club. At least this time we’ll be spared the extra time and the penalties…..

   Reply
3. 

   joshuad

   17 December, 12 at 01:13

   clearly, you fancy this guy. problem is, while i can’t speak for everyone else, i don’t know anything about him. add to that, you haven’t told us how he can make a definitive contribution to arsenal. it’s why no one has replied to your thread.

   on to stuff we know about, no one has really talked about alex song’s departure. stag picked on me all of last season after i praised an “incredible” performance by song in a game last year. i liked alex in the team. i’m a sucker for player development and we all remember a certain away game against fulham during the ’06-’07 season where song was absolutely horrible. while arsenal was always going to struggle with van persie’s departure, the decision to sell song in the same transfer window was exceptionally foolish.

   first, song developed a strong partnership with arteta. collectively, they made the arsenal midfield solid, despite the presence of aaron ramsey. instead of one going forward and the other dropping, they often dropped together. this seemed to provide a solid platform to launch attacks from. i don’t recall too many games where the song/arteta team was overrun in midfield. many of the goals arsenal conceded were down to gaffs at the back. likewise, the tactic currently employed by many teams of simply crowding out arteta didn’t work because song made the proper corresponding movement to collapse these attempts to press arsenal.

   second, alex song had 16 assists in the bpl last season (4th in the league). these don’t include the famous “songaldinho” moment against dortmund or the fabulous through-ball on henry’s return against leeds. what’s more important is, while i haven’t checked, i can guarantee that about 90% of his assists came late in the game when arsenal needed a goal. these assists are what allowed arsenal to recover from 17th place in the league. arsenal’s inability to break down defenses last year was often masked by song’s ability to not only find a goal scorer but to play them a ball that beat the defense. arsenal don’t have song this year and are finding it hard to break down the likes of bradford city. damn shame. sure, wilshere is great on the ball, but he’s never proven capable of providing game-winning service as frequently as song did. he’s still very young and is only just returned from a long injury. arsenal certainly miss song’s sword in battle this season. we’ll see how it all works out.

   Reply
   • 

     Educated Gooner

     17 December, 12 at 01:36

     Hi, thanks for the comment. I don’t really agree that I didn’t say how Adrián would fit in… This Song point is fair but a bit random, no?

     Reply
     • 

       joshuad

       18 December, 12 at 05:07

       you made some general descriptions of what adrian can do but where would he figure into the arsenal starting eleven? who would he come in for and what makes him clearly better than what we already have? your description makes him sound a lot like gervinho.

       the point about song was random. the intent was not to follow the thread but to prompt a discussion. i was sharing something with the boys that’s been on my mind.

       Reply
   • 

     stag133

     17 December, 12 at 02:32

     Well, I’m sorry Josh, but Alex song has never been incredible on a football pitch.
     It’s simply a description that very few can attain, and he certainly isn’t amongst the few.

     Having said that, he was a solid player… and we did absolutely nothing to replace him.
     That’s usually the case with Arsenal… or the replacement being an unproven prayer.

     I have no idea why Wenger sold Song. He wasn’t the crock Diaby and Rosicky are, and yes, he regularly contributed, and was versatile.

     We cashed him in.
     What else is new?
     We’ll be doing the same with Theo Walcott in about 2 weeks time…

     As for Adrian Lopez?
     whatever. Arsenal aren’t buying much in January. We rarely if ever make the significant move we desperately need. We’ll make a profit in January, like we do every window.
     The reality is, we need to 2 or 3 significant players coming in, and KEEPING Theo Walcott, and Sagna.
     I’d rather Theo walks away for nothing in the Summer, than have Arsenal sell him to another team in the League.
     How likely is it that we let him walk on a free?

     You can throw Lopez name out there, with the 10 others I’ve already read we are interested in … I can see us selling Theo and Sagna, bringing Henry in on loan…
     And maybe getting the kid from Crystal Palace (who is pretty good)…

     You want to make us better?
     Taarabt from QPR is a real player…
     Dyer on Swansea would be a direct replacement for Theo (with less goals, but better on the ball)…

     I expect very little from the club in January, except going out.
     Wenger has ALWAYS said it is a bad time to be buying players.
     Cue up … “If that special player is available”…
     Cue up … “there are funds available”…
     Cue up… “the players returning from injury are like new signings”…

     Reply
     • 

       stag133

       17 December, 12 at 02:57

       If you want to turn the whole f*cked up Arsenal FC situation on its ear, and completely change the negative direction everything is going?
       Sell Theo and Sagna, sure… get your 20 Million for the pair, then buy FALCAO for 50 Million!
       You’ll tell everyone out there that we ARE trying to WIN, and we just bought the best player in the world, that is likely available this window.

       Atletico might have lost to Barca today, but Falcao has the ability to absolutely TERROIZE teams with his skills and speed, and if we could get someone to get the ball to him a bit, we would have something to build on.

       Again. Chance that happens? is there a number BELOW ZERO?

       Reply