Do we sign Song or not. After watching him I like it all action style, good skill and tough tackling. He needs to mature and reduce his mistakes. Yes for me

No doubts from me, i say we sign him.

He covers the ground so well and can play a pass under pressure, very hard to believe he is just 17 years old. Looks like a potential Vieira replacement to me.

My bet is that we sign Song and Christanval gets cut after today (although he no worse than Cygan).

Yes we sign Song, hes been great.

definately yes for song but not sure abt christanaval yet

I would take Christnval as well, he was once a potential world class defender and would provide some cover in central defence, especially with Sol out.

he 26 or summin and i think too injury prone, he already got a knock during our pre-season against barnet. can u imagine him against the rough players of epl like rooney? hes better than cygan probably but at least cygan is normally fit when we need him

im not sure
about them but
song is young so he can improve
but what ever wenger does i willl be happy

well from wat ive seen, Song looks alrite, dunno bout Christianval, but as mmm... said, i will happy wif any decision Wenger makes

From what I've seen:

Song, probably not, especially for 4 million euros. Maybe the gaffer sees something in him that I don't, in which case I advise you trust his judgment not mine, but he doesn't look that special to me.

Christanval, again no. Who's ever heard of this guy - potentially world class? I think you need a new dictionary. He hasn't really looked that good and has more injuries than Darren Anderton. I think people like him becasue they compare him to Cygan.

Top and bottom of it is these two are shit, and they aren't gonna take this club forward. Come on Arsene, you owe us 2, yes 2, world class signings. I class Hleb as one but we also lost Vieira, so we need 2 more. Gk and a new striker, or midifelder who can play up front and score goals i.e. Baptista.

Wenger has announced that the reports that we already signed Song were premature.

cool hes all action!

forget the pair of them we need a world class midfielder to replace paddy, if we cant find one, then stick with fabregas and flamini, they'll do a good enough job. hleb will be good next season. hes got height and power, should be good in centre.

Songs good for a 18 year old think we should keep him. Hlebs is looking the part hes going to be one of the best players in the world.

in which case song isnt an immediate replacement for vieira, so why the hell does everyone keep saying that???

Long term yes short term need a new player.

baptista would be sooooooooooo good but as wenger says the deals in no mans land.

The guy wants to stay at spain Reyes should give him a call tell him to come they are like best friends.

yes, reyes call then he'll definitley come

we more than doubled the offer for him, more than we paid for reyes and he still wont come. we tripled his wages and he wont come. what do we gotta do????

He wants a Spanish passport thats the only thing holding him back.

he also does not want to risk not settling in in england, syas it'll affect his world-cup chances

Song has been great for us, I say we go ahead and sign him. Very impressed by him in the two preseason games that I saw

We'll sign Song. No worries. he looks promising!

Kinda looks like Kiki Musampa does Song, same kind of stature

I see Wenger delaying statement (arsenal web site) as a positive sign for Song. I suspect that he is now agreeing a deal with Bastia. My reading of the Christanval situation is that because of his injuries the last couple of years, he wants to tailor his contact to be based on him being health. If he was going to send them back, I think he would have said something today on the web site(instead of delaying the decision)

Why do we need another young replacement for Vieira - I thought the idea was to sign somebody who could do something now. We already have Flamini and Fabregas for the future - as well as David Bentley who plays CM, and Hleb who prefers CM. I don't see why we need Song, despite how promising he may or may not look.

We do need a replacement for Vieira this season and Song is not that replacement this season. I can see him as a long term replacement for Vieira. What he will bring us long term is a defensive midfield (holding) with a physical presences. None of the players you mentions are that type of player.

Fabregas is a attacking midfielder (but still young)
Flamini is a box to box (not holding)
Bentley & Hleb - for me neither is a CM unless you play 3 in the middle - both are players who fit best sitting in the hole (between midfield and front line). Both lack the physical presence and tackling ability to man CM in the Premiership.

The signing of Song shouldn't impact us going after a partner for Gilberto. The perfect partner would have a physical presences but with an attacking side to his game (like a young Ballack or Van Bommel).

WE NEED MORE POWER IN CM

well yeh Song definetly cant fill that role but u never know, by the time he reaches 22-23 he may be good enough to really contest for that spot

We have Gilberto for Defensive midfielder.

You can only have 2 central midfielders - and I don't see how buying yet another young CM is going to help, especially for £2 million. Is he really that good? I can't say I've seen every single minute of him playing, but he doesn't seem outstanding. He's young and plays in the French league, so everyone assumes he's gonna be another of Wenger's gems, maybe!! But has anyone ever heard of this guy before we took him on trial? Me neither. We need quality, not quantity.

The answer to have I heard of him before he came on trial - yes as he was quite highly rated and it was rumoured that a number of prem clubs where in for him. I don't see him partnering Gilberto this season (too similar & too young). But I could see him improving and in a couple of years replacing him (he's almost 29). He's not ready to start for Arsenal yet but with improvement I think he could in a couple of years from now. And at a £2.5m it not a big gamble.

If everyone rates him so highly then maybe he will be OK - but I'm thinking that 2.5 million could be put towards a new goalie Sebastian Viera costs about 4 million and he is a great player who could have a big impact upon the team this season

I really rate Sebastian Viera highly. I've seen him against Brasil and how he frustrated them.

uhhmmmm i never watch Alexandre Song play before. but im going to watch him play against Ajax in Amsterdam Tournament.

wats happened to that deal with Viera, i remember weeks ago it said the deal would be done, but since then, there has been noting

Wenger weighs up Song bid

Arsenal could offer Sebastian Larsson as bait, if the club pursue their interest in Bastia defender Alexandre Song.

Cameroon international Song has been training with The Gunners during pre-season and has played on the club's trip to Austria.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is assessing the teenage stopper, along with Philippe Christanval, with a view to bringing Song to Highbury.

Song has impressed the Arsenal coaching staff but talk of a deal already being agreed with Bastia is premature, according to Wenger.

The Frenchman is mulling over an offer for Song but will leave a decision on the player until the end of the week.

"He has made a good impression but I have not made up my mind," said Wenger.

"I have no deal with Bastia."

Reports in France suggest that Wenger will offer young midfielder Larsson in part-exchange if he makes a bid for Song.

Bastia want up to €4 million (£2.75 million) for Song but that fee could be reduced if Larsson, who has made three appearances for Arsenal in the Carling Cup, is included in the deal.

Sourse: Sky Sports

Arsenal could offer Sebastian Larsson as bait, if the club pursue their interest in Bastia defender Alexandre Song.

Cameroon international Song has been training with The Gunners during pre-season and has played on the club's trip to Austria.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is assessing the teenage stopper, along with Philippe Christanval, with a view to bringing Song to Highbury.

Song has impressed the Arsenal coaching staff but talk of a deal already being agreed with Bastia is premature, according to Wenger.

The Frenchman is mulling over an offer for Song but will leave a decision on the player until the end of the week.

"He has made a good impression but I have not made up my mind," said Wenger.

"I have no deal with Bastia."

Reports in France suggest that Wenger will offer young midfielder Larsson in part-exchange if he makes a bid for Song.

Bastia want up to €4 million (£2.75 million) for Song but that fee could be reduced if Larsson, who has made three appearances for Arsenal in the Carling Cup, is included in the deal.

Merged.

I believe we'll get song and think we should. when hes 22 he will walk into gilbertos postion while flamini would struggle to take it even if gilberto was 40!(35)

What exactly are you suggesting about Flamini?

Because right now he is better than Fabregas and has been our player of pre-season.

Agreed, which is why I don't think we need song. We already have that position covered. Just because an opportunity comes along doesn't mean you have to take it if it isn't necessarily going to benefit you, like taking another slice of cake at a wedding because it's offered to you. Song is OK - nothing more and we don't need him considering we've got Flamini and Fabregas. Flamini does exactly the same job as Song and is a better player.

No way Fabregas is better then Flamini much better. The teams we played in pre- season are poor teams so dont get carried away.

i personally wouldnt want to see us sell Seb Larsson, i think the kid looks liek a real talent and should be given a few more chances

song is only 17 and is already looking good so maybe we should get him but no way sell larsson...maybe on, loan to get some experience but not sell because that guy is a talent

good suggestion.

according to the gossip column on BBC (reliable source i no), we will sign Song for 2m pounds

It looks as though we've definitely got him. It's concrete that he will sign and is another of Wenger's unknowns. Lets hope he has the same impact that Anelka and Fabregas and Vieira had. Come on Arsene, spend some big money It's all good and well buying and developing talent, but the new challenge of Chelsea demands that we buy someone capable of playing at the highest level now, like Carles Puyol for example.

if it is true that we are signing him for 2m pounds, hes only 17 isnt he? thats a fair price for someone relatively unknown

hopefully we can rip another team off instead of the other way around I'm gonna pray that he becomes a revelation for us this season and he'll make as big an impact as our past signings have made.

as said in another arsenal topic,

2003/04- emergence of Toure
2004/05- emergence of Fabregas
2005/06- emergence of Song possibly?!?!

i think it would be great if we signed him, hes very young and still a good player, could end up being a world class player.