Summer transfer joy and happiness

[GP]

Wenger in!

[Cripps]

No experienced solid players would be in the 25-26 age bracket. We're signing old players in the last throngs of their careers who are looking for one last payday. They have zero resale value and so will be difficult to replace in a few years when they fall off a cliff or in the case of Fellaini that point is already here.


And because Wenger failed with some young players we shouldn't sign young players is a dumb argument. We actually have a coach now who can improve players and make them better by giving them guidance. We should be signing the best 22 - 24 years around and giving Emery the tools to work with them to make them into world superstars.

We're signing men. Lichtsteiner has won 7 league titles and 9 cups. We're adding a solid, title winning pro to a mentally weak defence that was crap last season. And it'll give Bellerin some competition and it's something he needs because he went from being the best right back in the league to one of the worst. It ticks so many boxes and is a very shrewd signing. If Man City made this signing Pep would be hailed a genius for adding a mentally tough, solid pro to his ranks.

As for 'and because Wenger failed with some young players we shouldn't sign young players is a dumb argument', where did I say we shouldn't sign young players? I'm saying I can see why they're going with it. It's clear shift in transfer strategy from one that hasn't worked to one where we rely on those that have experience and can deliver. Wenger was hell bent on destroying our mental fortitude in the space of 24 months by selling all of the invincibles, it seems the new regime are hell bent on restoring it.

[Ralpheroo72]

Doesn’t matter who the head coach is, Kroenke is giving the head coach fuck all money. They’ve hired Sven, and he has used all of his experience to ‘find’ Fellaini. Other top clubs will blow us out of the water in the transfer market.

[selassie]

Honestly don't understand the transfer strategy at this club.

Liverpool show us how to get back into the top four and to even get to a CL final on low wages ...... identify & invest in a lot of talented 20 - 22 years old, a few 25 year olds in key positions and perhaps the odd 28 year old +. Huge upside and if a player comes good then you can if necessary sell him for mega bucks and reinvest that money to improve the squad (Coutinho).

We've seemed to have gone for the complete opposite approach and so if we don't get top four next season we're going to be lumbered with a lot of old players on big contracts and with no CL football. Dumb strategy from Sven/Unai/Ivan.

I am happy enough with us signing Sokratis who I believe is still a very good CB, I am satisfied with us signing the Swiss Full Back as a rotation option...but I am not happy about us being strongly linked to Fellaini or even Nzonzi for that matter.

I totally agree with your post too, if we do make all these signings and are lumbered with old players on big contracts without CL then we are in serious trouble.

Fellaini wasn't good enough for our wretched team last season, why are we even entertaining this now?

[Cripps]

N'zonzi is one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe

He completely ran the show against Liverpool and Man Utd

[selassie]

N'zonzi is one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe

He completely ran the show against Liverpool and Man Utd

He isn't really a Defensive Midfielder, more of a box to box type.

He is a very good player, I like him and understand why folks hype him....but I don't think he is what the team needs...the balance is wrong as it is in Midfield, we need more of a Defensive minded player if we are going to persist with Ramsey.

Nzonzi is getting on a bit too, he is 29...it's a risky signing...because if it doesn't work out then we will have a lot of rebuilding to do...we already have the likes of Ozil, Mkhi, Auba, Sokratis and Kos in there late 20's / early 30's....

I want us to sign a player in there mid 20's who is good enough now but has plenty of upside.

We missed the boat with Fabinho IMO, he would have been a perfect fit for us.

[Özim]

I think the issue is more to do with his age, we've been waiting to sign a decent DM for years, now at last we seem to be interested in getting one in, but Nzonzi is 30 in 6 months so not too sure how long he'll have left at the top, we should have signed him a few years ago logically.

Problem with bringing in pretty much all older players is that in a couple years time we'll have to find lots of money for replacements again and realistically won't be building towards success, realistically a team takes a year or two to gel and by that time a few of them will be all but finished at the top level.

I can see the logic in signing a couple older players as they come cheap and have experience, but it's also possible to find quality DM who are ready now but will also be around in 5 years, given our budget constraints it kinda mkes even more sense to not need to replace them in a couple years.

[selassie]

I think the issue is more to do with his age, we've been waiting to sign a decent DM for years, now at last we seem to be interested in getting one in, but Nzonzi is 30 in 6 months so not too sure how long he'll have left at the top, we should have signed him a few years ago logically.

Problem with bringing in pretty much all older players is that in a couple years time we'll have to find lots of money for replacements again and realistically won't be building towards success, realistically a team takes a year or two to gel and by that time a few of them will be all but finished at the top level.

I can see the logic in signing a couple older players as they come cheap and have experience, but it's also possible to find quality DM who are ready now but will also be around in 5 years, given our budget constraints it kinda mkes even more sense to not need to replace them in a couple years.

Yep

[Goonermerree]

Most of us seem to agree that buying lots of older players is a bit suspect. All of us think Fellani, what the hell. I hope this guy does know what he's doing, I'm fully behind him, but keeping my fingers crossed too.

[Cripps]

He isn't really a Defensive Midfielder, more of a box to box type.

He is a very good player, I like him and understand why folks hype him....but I don't think he is what the team needs...the balance is wrong as it is in Midfield, we need more of a Defensive minded player if we are going to persist with Ramsey.

Nzonzi is getting on a bit too, he is 29...it's a risky signing...because if it doesn't work out then we will have a lot of rebuilding to do...we already have the likes of Ozil, Mkhi, Auba, Sokratis and Kos in there late 20's / early 30's....

I want us to sign a player in there mid 20's who is good enough now but has plenty of upside.

We missed the boat with Fabinho IMO, he would have been a perfect fit for us.

He's a defensive midfielder. A 6 ft 4 man mountain that's tough and sticks his foot in. He's exactly what we need.