Cheikhou Kouyaté

[stiiphunn]

We're apparently trying to sign this guy. He's a defender and plays for Anderlecht. I've never seen him play but from what I understand he's a pretty good player. Does anyone know more about him?

Sources are pretty reliable so there definitely is something going on.

Link below is in French.

http://www.lalibre.be/sports/football/article/753905/kouyate-vers-arsenal.html

 

[The Escaped Ape]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

I know nothing about this guy, but the (somewhat strangely written) Wiki page on him says we were interested in him before he went to Anderlecht.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheikhou_Kouyaté

Edit: I notice the same page says he has a French passport, though he plays for the Senegalese team.

 

[Buhry]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Apparently he's a centre back.

I feel like we should be looking at right and left backs. Unless wenger thinks this guy is someone who could also play right back, ala kolo toure.

We need better cover for Sagna.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

first time i hear about this guy. he 22 years old and and unknown typical Arsène signing. lol.

 

[HeinrichII]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Good to know we're in for a defender.

Any belgians around that could give feedback on him would be great. I just hope this guy can also play as a RB

 

[The Escaped Ape]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

I saw somewhere his alternate position was DM. I think we need a higher quality signing in that position, but it would be encouraging if he were versatile to some extent.

 

[Floating]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Could be a promising replacement for Djourou if he goes.

 

[evoh_1]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

6'4 looks like djourou thats about it.

 

[GDeep™]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Not read the links but I'm guessing he's the same guy who played CB for Senegal at the Olympics and was impressive. That Senegal lot are some tough bastards, I wouldnt mind picking up one or two of them.

 

[el57]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

He was good last year for Anderlecht. Hard to extrapolate to the PL, but I could see him being a decent 3rd of 4th option CB. And yeah, he was on the Senegal team in the Olympics.

 

[Glovegun]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Not read the links but I'm guessing he's the same guy who played CB for Senegal at the Olympics and was impressive. That Senegal lot are some tough bastards, I wouldnt mind picking up one or two of them.

I was at Wembley on Saturday and the Senegalese defence were absolutely atrocious. None of them were anywhere near good enough for Arsenal.

They did have a left-winger/ left wing-back with dyed blonde hair who was decent, think he plays for Lens or Lille.

 

[el57]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

I didn't watch Senegal, but that doesn't surprise me. African teams don't seem to emphasize defensive unity, even if some of the individual defenders are good.

 

[GDeep™]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Watched them against Uruguay, where I thought they played well, but Suarez and co were loss poor tbh

 

[jmsmtthw28]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Can't see this one happening, we still have 6 CBs on our books

 

[Airknight]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Cliche, but would kill Bartley's promise.

And at 22 he's a bit too old to settle being so down on the pecking order, but i agree it's good we're lookinbg at defenders, we lack the unit there.

 

[leo9903]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Call me silly but I'm a bit worried about the homegrown quota what with 6 cb on our books now. He's not under 21 so he has to be registered. Replacing him with Djourou may seem ideal, but Djourou is one of our hg registered player in the 25 man list. Plus, JD isn't as bad as people make him to be. He's more than capable as a 4th CB backup. Realistically, unless he's an extraordinary talent, I'd say we give this a pass.

 

[ferrarif50hunt]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Looks like a cross between Eboue and Djourou.

 

[RammiXP]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

We have a bucket load of homegrown players!

Check out the under 21 list: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-submit-their-premier-league-squad" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archiv ... ague-squad</a>

Ramsey
Wilshere
Ox
Frimpong
Coq

The list goes on and all will be homegrown if needed.

 

[VancouverCanuck]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

I think leo's point is we were already maxed out at 17 non-homegrowns players. So adding a new one means we will have to get rid of another non-homegrown in addition to Djourou.

So far this window,
IN: Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla
OUT: Almunia an Benayoun

POSSIBLY OUT: Squillaci, Park, Arshavin and Chamakh

As it is, we are one-over with the latest addition of Cazorla. If we bring in Sahin, we will be two-over. So this doesn't make sense unless the new player coming in can contribute significantly more than the existing ones, i.e. not a 4th/5th choice CB.

Note Vela doesn't count as he was not part of the 25-man squad last year. The same goes for Bendtner if we manage to sell him.

 

[jmsmtthw28]

Re: Kouyate - Anderlecht

Ins - Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud, Sahin (likely)
Outs - Almunia, Vela, Benanyoun, Arshavin, Park, Bendtner, Squillaci

plus any changes in defense that might happen