Yann M'Vila - how will he fit at Arsenal?

Yann M'Vila: a hot prospect in today's market.

One of the hottest prospects in Europe today, 21 year old, Yann M’Vila has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal in the past year. A modern deep lying defensive midfielder, with power, tenacity and drive, the young Frenchman is also elegant, starting up attacks with his knack of finding a pass as well as space in tight areas while protecting his back four, remaining his prime priority. Arsenal have made their admiration for the already established France international no secret, holding initial talks for him last season as well as scouting him regularly, having recently watched him play in Rennes’ 1-1 draw against Lyon. Wenger is on the look out for a natural defensive midfielder and with recent comments from M’Vila stating that he’d love a move to Arsenal, the transfer seems all the more likely – but if Arsenal were to meet Rennes’ £20 million valuation, especially before EURO 2012 and M’Vila were to come, how would he fit in at Arsenal? Is he needed at all?

“Yann M’Vila won’t be a Stade Rennais player next season.” – Rennes manager, Frederic Antonetti.

“Inter, Arsenal, Real. I will take the fun everywhere! These are great clubs. The important thing for me is getting playing time for the France national team. If a manager like Arsène Wenger phoned me and said ‘I want you’, this would change everything.” – Yann M’Vila

Now you might be wondering what is the need for M’Vila? Arsenal already have Alexandre Song, Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin – is there a need for another defensive midfielder? Logically, not really, unless one of those three would leave Arsenal which seems unlikely. But the only way you can improve is to have good, solid competition. Look at Barcelona, they had Pedro and Afellay, yet Pep Guardiola bought Alexis Sanchez. Manchester United had Nani and Valencia, yet Sir Alex Ferguson bought Ashley Young.

Transition from a DM to a CM? Alex Song.

With regard to Arsenal, Song, the current defensive midfielder, has evolved into a playmaker this season following the departure of Cesc Fabregas with his lofted through balls and assists leading to many match winners. However, while he plays in a double pivot role with Arteta, Song goes forward much more than a normal defensive midfielder would, leading to gaps in the midfield. While his evolution into a central midfield playmaker is welcomed by fans, Arsenal still need protection for the back four. M’Vila would provide this with ease.

Coquelin, while immensely talented is still not accustomed completely to the Premier League and is young, being 20 years old. Frimpong, being the same age, needs more first team experience at the highest level, after having his loan at Wolves cut short due to injury. So the transfer of M’Vila isn’t exactly illogical either.

One more point that should be noted is the African Cup of Nations. Now that it’s being held on ‘odd number years’, it will take place again next season from January to February. This causes a problem for Wenger as if their respective countries qualified, Frimpong and Song could be absent for Arsenal during a crucial period in the season, leading to Arsenal having only one defensive midfielder at their disposal.

So now that the transfer of M’Vila can be seen as a need for Arsenal, where would he fit in? Would Arsenal change their formation? I believe it will remain how it is but with a few tweaks:

A possible formation with M'Vila in the team.

With the current formation, Song drives forward, while Arteta remains in his position but one possibility with M’Vila would be him moving back, providing a shield for the back four while someone, say Wilshere who plays in a central attacking midfield position drifts back to play side by side with Song. Another possibility would be to deploy both Song and M’Vila as defensive midfielders in front of the back four – it might not be the most attacking of formations but it would provide much needed stability and many top teams have succeeded in recent times with two defensive midfielders; the Arsenal Invincibles of 2004 (Gilberto and Vieira) and the Champions League winning Inter Milan team of 2010 (Cambiasso and Motta) to name a few. Another possibility could be constant rotation between M’Vila and Song to relieve the pressure off the latter, who currently this season has already played 37 games at the time of writing.

As for next season, I believe Frimpong will be sent out on loan once again to gain invaluable first team experience while Coquelin would be played occasionally with rotation as well as a utility player, seeing how well he did at right-back as well as left-back this season. This would be beneficial if Song has to depart for Africa midway into the season, Arsenal would still have both Coquelin and M’Vila at their disposal as both play for France.

A fixture in the France team: M'Vila on international duty.

For some, M’Vila might be overvalued. That’s acceptable seeing the way bucket loads of money has been thrown around for average players in modern times, but M’Vila would definitely be worth every penny – 21 years old, already a fixture in the France team, reportedly courted by top clubs including Inter Milan and Real Madrid, captained his club in recent games and potential to be the best defensive midfielder in the world.

With three years left on his contract, M’Vila is rated very highly and if Wenger isn’t able to meet Rennes’ valuation of him at £20 million, it is likely that Wenger will try again next season as the priority of a defensive midfielder isn’t high with Frimpong and Coquelin in the ranks. But, if Wenger was to go for him, as the famous motto goes, “Arsene knows,” – he knows what he’s doing and planned out for. We as Arsenal fans need to remember that when we had an established right back in Emmanuel Eboue, Wenger bought an unknown Frenchman from France and we questioned his decision at the time – that Frenchman, Bacary Sagna, is now one of the top right backs in the world. Hence, it is ultimately up to Wenger and we must respect his decision.

“Didn’t have great 2010-11 but still nominated for Ligue 1 Young Player of the Season. France’s answer to Javier Mascherano! A real gem” – Tom Williams (Journalist.)

“Defensive midfield anchor, controls most games he plays in. Exquisite passer of the ball, uses positioning and intelligence instead of rash challenges, plays beyond his years“ – Andrew Gibney (French Football Weekly.)

“He will go very high in the game because there are very few players like him. If he continues the way he is going, he could end up playing in front of the Barca defence.” – Rennes manager, Frederic Antonetti.