Summer Transfer Temps and Journeymen

[Master Splinter]

Liverpool or Chelsea would get £40m for AMN, but we'd probably let him go for a fiver. It would be a shame to lose him.

Of all our young players, Nelson has so far been the least impressive. Especially as he was supposedly one of the most talented.

They're all getting a new start with a new coaching team now, though. Apart from the obviously outstanding Saka and Martinelli, we should wait and see until at least halfway through next season to make proper judgements. Most young players will always be up and down in terms of performance when they have no structure and consistency around them.

[Mac76]

Yeah, agree, and if you saw any of Nelson's performamces at u23 level you'll know he's worth hanging onto even if he's not always been great in the first team so far

[I am invisible]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bellerin weren’t in the same boat as AMN - might have floated both on the market with a view to selling one and keeping the other? See who we get the best offer for?

[I am invisible]

Definitely Willock, also Nketiah

Not as certain as i used to be that Nelson's going to be a really great player, but i'd want to keep him round for another season or two, he's still learning.

Either way i think we'd be really silly to sell AMN right now unless it really is a high offer, though not sure even then - in termsof his attitude and application he's really come good,probably the best example of Arteta bringing someone into the fold

I’d keep all of them here - don’t think we have the depth to be sending anyone out on loan right now, esp. if we’re going to be losing players to fund buys.

Willock was doing well the season before this one, but he’s gone off the boil this year. I think he was probably over-exposed to Emery’s shit-show in the first half of this season, and I think he’s generally been played out of position as a 10. Think he needs to play deeper in midfielder 3.

And at this point I think the biggest benefit to Eddie’s development will be working with Auba on a daily basis - he’s at his best when he gets in the box, and there’s no one better to teach him how to arrive in the right place at the right time.

I’ve gotta say, I’ve been a little disappointed with Nelson this year - I honestly thought we’d have the opposite problem with him where he’d be a bit of an infuriating show-off, but if anything he’s looked a little conservative and... safe, if you know what I mean? But maybe he’s just playing it smart and doing exactly what he’s been told to do? I think Nagelsmann had to rein him in a bit after his flying start to his loan, so maybe he’s just taken that on board?

We’ve got to be able to find a use for AMN! He’s got so much athletic potential and I think he’s been consistently good for Arteta, whenever (and wherever) he’s been played. I really thought that inverted fullback thing would be the clincher for him - looked absolutely tailor-made for his skill set and background.

[Marc Overmars]

Eddie and Nelson are the ones who I don’t have much hope for.

I would consider selling Nketiah if the right offer came in. I don’t think he’s shown anything to suggest he will score much at this level and we’ve got Martinelli anyway who is streets ahead. Kane was scoring plenty at his age and you have to look at the impact the likes of Rashford and now Greenwood are having.

Nelson has just seemed like a bit of a nothing player. Not shown any of the skill set he was touted to have from the youth team. I get the need to be a bit conservative at times but you want to see a bit of freedom and expression especially from a young player. He looks quite blunt to me as an attacking threat.

AMN has grown on me I must admit, so it would be a shame to see him sold considering he can cover a few positions.

These all have time on their side though to develop into more polished and well rounded players, but as a club if we need to raise money then selling young, English and probably overrated talent is an easy way to do so.

[I am invisible]

Before I looked at selling anyone else, I’d be looking to raise funds from any area where we have a clear excess of players (CB, RB), any players who are clearly unhappy and don’t want to be here (Guendouzi, Torreira), and any players who aren’t giving us value for the money they’re taking out of the club (Özil, Lacazette, and anyone else on north of £90k/wk).

But I appreciate it’s not that simple - if we don’t get any bites for the players we want to shift then we might have to start looking at some of the young English guys. I suspect the truth is there’s only 6 or 7 players in the whole squad who are genuinely off the table.

Hope it doesn’t come to that though - last season was a mess for so many reasons, and I’d like to have a proper look at some of these kids in a season where they’re playing under a competent coach from the start, and in a balanced side that isn’t on the verge of complete meltdown. And if we need to keep costs down then we’re not going to be able to recruit anyone cheaper than academy grads!

[Mac76]

Leaving the young players aside, the two players i want out above all are Mustafi and Xhaka - they point back to what i hope would be a previous era of overpaying for bad players and then not being able to get rid of them.

I don't buy into this supposed renaissance of either player, Arteta's done his best but neither are remotely good enough IMO and we should be working to use their recent relative upturn in form ( i.e they've actually been coming close to doing what they're paid to do) and get rid for whatever we can get, but on a free if necessary

We can't truly move on until they're gone, I for one hate seeing them in starting lineups or even on the bench

[Penguin]

I wonder if AMN is pushing for a move, or asking for one unless he gets more game time. If he is I would let him go as long as we get a decent fee for him. He's been on the fringes of the first team for a long time and hardly ever gets to play in his preferred position.

If he's not, I'd keep him here. Good utility player and usually puts in 7/10 performances wherever he plays.

[I am invisible]

Leaving the young players aside, the two players i want out above all are Mustafi and Xhaka - they point back to what i hope would be a previous era of overpaying for bad players and then not being able to get rid of them.

I don't buy into this supposed renaissance of either player, Arteta's done his best but neither are remotely good enough IMO and we should be working to use their recent relative upturn in form ( i.e they've actually been coming close to doing what they're paid to do) and get rid for whatever we can get, but on a free if necessary

We can't truly move on until they're gone, I for one hate seeing them in starting lineups or even on the bench

close the gap on the teams above us.

Renaissance is probably stretching it - basically, they've moved from 'calamity' status to 'not a critical problem', but that's about it. They're steady now, in the right set up, but even so we've been relying on them most weeks since the start of the year, and you can see that they're clearly not going to be enough to close the gap on the teams above us.

At the very least, I think Arteta will want some better options to choose from in those positions, even if he's not desperate to get rid of the two of them, but that in itself could force him into making a decision on them? If the new recruits end up relegating those two the bench, then he's probably going to really struggle to justify their wages.

And you never know - the players themselves might be thinking it's a good time to move on, while their stock is relatively high? It's probably not going to get much better than this for them if they fancy a move, and their Arsenal careers are only going to head one way now. Food for thought.

[I am invisible]

I wonder if AMN is pushing for a move, or asking for one unless he gets more game time. If he is I would let him go as long as we get a decent fee for him. He's been on the fringes of the first team for a long time and hardly ever gets to play in his preferred position.

If he's not, I'd keep him here. Good utility player and usually puts in 7/10 performances wherever he plays.

It's probably as simple as we've got 3 RBs and we only need 2, so they've been put on notice that one of them might be sold. Soares probably isn't going anywhere as he's just signed (and I reckon he's the most likely of the three to be content as the backup option), so it might come down to whoever we receive the best offer for: AMN or Hector?