Winter Transfer Window Intrigue and Excitement.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Seems like a harsh but ultimately fair time to start this.

With Welbeck's awful injury, is there a chance we'd look to sign a backup striker?

Normally I wouldn't advocate buying a player because another has become injured but in this case Welbeck will not probably be still in contract by the time he has recovered from his injury.

[Globalgunner]

New full backs needed. Wan-bissaka from Palace and Sessegnon from Fulham

[I am invisible]

Seems like a harsh but ultimately fair time to start this.

With Welbeck's awful injury, is there a chance we'd look to sign a backup striker?

Normally I wouldn't advocate buying a player because another has become injured but in this case Welbeck will not probably be still in contract by the time he has recovered from his injury.
If we go for a direct replacement I think it will be a reliable older player or another one of Mislintat’s finds? We’re only talking about a 3rd choice striker here, so it won’t be anyone mega.

If we throw any serious money at the attack, I think we’ll go for a winger. That would indirectly ease the striker problem anyway, as it would mean that we can desist with playing Aubameyang on the left, which would then allow us to rotate him with a Lacazette more regularly at CF, and keep both players fresher and sharper throughout the season. In that scenario, we may need little more than to promote someone from the yoots as 3rd choice?

[Gooner23]

Yeah I'd be going big on a wide forward. Mhiki just isn't cutting it for me, and Iwobi is still young. Nketiah should hopefully get some game time up front in the remaining Europa group games.

[I am invisible]

Mkhi and Özil should be considered as two options for one role, same as Auba and Laca - I’m hoping that will be another knock-on effect of investing in a proper winger.

Pretty happy with how Iwobi fits into this setup, and more than happy to see where he goes if we give him the other wide spot - I think if you balanced him out with a more direct winger on the other side then the front 4 would have a really nice feel to it. Needs to calm his shooting down a bit, but I get the feeling there’s goals in him too - just waiting for it to ‘click’ with him.

[Penguin]

If we start both Laca and Auba in the first XI we don't have a striker to bring off the bench anymore (apart from a rookie like Nketiah). It's probably a good idea to only play one at a time if only to protect them. We'll be in trouble if even one of them gets injured.


Mkhi and Özil should be considered as two options for one role, same as Auba and Laca - I’m hoping that will be another knock-on effect of investing in a proper winger.
I hope so, we needed a winger/wide forward anyway but Welbeck's injury might have forced our hands. It might also be a good opportunity for AMN?

[KSE Comedy Club]

There are rumours that Inter are interested in Ozil :popcorn:

I hope that is true :pray::pray::pray:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Inter have supposedly been buying our players for years. :lol:

[GP]

I don't want no scrubs.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Inter have supposedly been buying our players for years. :lol:

Really???

Where did they get that idea from :lol:

[fakeyank]

Hearing absolutely nothing about the upcoming window. We do need to get a winger in at least, and hopefully offload Ozil.

[I am invisible]

I’m loving the transfer silence, and genuinely not knowing who our targets might be. Hopefully it means that Sven has the media stumped, and we can get any deals done quickly and cleanly before anyone knows they're happening. More Torreiras and Guendouzis please!

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Wouldn't be surprised if we didn't sign anybody.

[Özim]

Wouldn't surprise me if Emery isn't given any money to spend, we didn't really give him much in the summer, on top of that we're hamstrung by our wage bill and the fact our revenue is not that high due to no CL so we don't have much room to bring anyone in.

Makes it more urgent to get rid of the likes of Ramsey, Xhaka, Mustafi and a few others as we need to free up wages for some decent players.

[Marc Overmars]

I'm not overly bothered if we don't sign anyone, I think we have enough to give ourselves a good shot at 4th. Though some new options would obviously be welcomed though.

I'd rather the likes of AMN, ESR and other youngsters were given opportunities for now, then in the summer we can take stock and hopefully Emery will have more to work with in the market.

[Özim]

I'm not overly bothered if we don't sign anyone, I think we have enough to give ourselves a good shot at 4th. Though some new options would obviously be welcomed though.

I'd rather the likes of AMN, ESR and other youngsters were given opportunities for now, then in the summer we can take stock and hopefully Emery will have more to work with in the market.

Our defence is awful to be fair and we've lost holding, when injuries kick in and later in the season when the forwards maybe aren't as sharp we may suffer.

To be honest I'm more worried about us playing the likes of Xhaka and Mustafi who seem to be regulars despite their obvious faults. AMN I'd like to see get a game, hard to tell whether he will though, ideally I'd like him to replace Xhaka, but Emery seems to like him.

ESM I'm not sure he'll get a game with Iwobi/Mhiki and co ahead of him in Emerys' eyes (Iwobi is very hit and miss however and Mhiki for me is a fairweather performer who just doesn't seem suited to the PL, he's not performed at all in the all the time he's been in England).

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I would say...hard luck as Emery seems to very much like Mustafi and Xhaka...but things can change quickly as they have with 2 of his 5 'captains' Ramsey and Ozil....

I think it's going to be too difficult to bring in affordable quality of actual significance in this window. But hey...all power to them in trying.

Unless Emery is best mates with Mourinho and they give us Bailly. Actually on that Emery seems to be one of those rare managers that no other manager overtly dislikes....

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Been hearing good reports about this Nicholas Pepe kid in France I've never seen play. Seems like it might be a Zaha style signing without the exorbitant fee....

[KSE Comedy Club]

We need to offload Ozil tbh, that would be a good January window :good:

[selassie]

Been hearing good reports about this Nicholas Pepe kid in France I've never seen play. Seems like it might be a Zaha style signing without the exorbitant fee....

We have been strongly linked with him and that Under kid at Roma, very surprising considering both of these guys will go for circa 45-50million. Do we even have that much to spend?

We definitely need a Winger and I'm all for Pepe coming here given what I have seen, albeit highlights on YouTube!

Priority should be Central Defence though, it's a real mess back there and needs rebuilding ASAP.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Yes I'm hearing this Pepe kid is already in that 50 million + bracket out of nowhere as is the trend these days.

Seriously though if we are skint, then we better all hope for a Torreira type signing which seldom actually happens in a winter window.

[hobson's choice]

Wouldn't surprise me if Emery isn't given any money to spend, we didn't really give him much in the summer, on top of that we're hamstrung by our wage bill and the fact our revenue is not that high due to no CL so we don't have much room to bring anyone in.

Makes it more urgent to get rid of the likes of Ramsey, Xhaka, Mustafi and a few others as we need to free up wages for some decent players.

I don't want Emery to have anything to do with who they bring in. Just coach, there's levels and no just coach.

[Chippy]

Yes I'm hearing this Pepe kid is already in that 50 million + bracket out of nowhere as is the trend these days.

Seriously though if we are skint, then we better all hope for a Torreira type signing which seldom actually happens in a winter window.

Why should we be skint? There is so much revenue from TV etc. Isn't the stadium paid for now?
In addition, our tickets sales are still very good. 60,000 every home game! isn't that why we move stadiums?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I don't think we are.... I think we have an ambitionless owner who doesn't really give a monkeys how competitive we are so long as we are profitable.

There has to be some reason we went into this season with insufficient recruits (imho) and now we've played half a season many more are saying exactly what I did in the summer....That we need to spend on better players.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

IMO defending and defenders should be the only thing on our mind for the next 2 transfer windows.

We don't need to waste money on a Striker, AW actually solved that before he left. I also think Welbeck has done more than enough to be awarded a new contract.

We have a lot of good young attacking midfield talent coming through so I wouldn't waste money on that either.

I would however consider another good defensive midfielder if available, but honestly our priority needs to be sorting out this thing we call a defence with some serious classy buys. To

[GP]

Go all-in on a TOP TOP TOP SUPER QUALITY CB or two.

[Mac76]

I also think Welbeck has done more than enough to NOT be awarded a new contract.


corrected for you :haha: :haha:

[SMatthews]

Ornstein has said there is next to no budget this January but there will be ‘significant’ funds during the summer. Loan deals only apparently.

Cahill it is then.

[Chippy]

Ornstein has said there is next to no budget this January but there will be ‘significant’ funds during the summer. Loan deals only apparently.

Cahill it is then.
Better than the shite we have now.

[SMatthews]

Better than the shite we have now.

If he’s not good enough for Chelsea - who aren’t much better than us - then he shouldn’t be for us. Even short term. He’d be no good with our high line. Hopefully it’s a bollocks rumour.

[Bumble]

If he’s not good enough for Chelsea - who aren’t much better than us - then he shouldn’t be for us. Even short term. He’d be no good with our high line. Hopefully it’s a bollocks rumour.

4 years ago that would be a good signing but now a centre back who cant get into the Chelsea side is not the answer. But getting a top CB on loan seems very unlikely. It still seems insane that we aren't going to give Ramsey a contract regardless of money as he surely deserves the same as Mikhi or 66% of Ozil's salary as he has done more for Arsenal than those really.

Sell Ozil even if its a nominal fee to get the salary off the payroll. Sell Mustafi.

[SMatthews]

4 years ago that would be a good signing but now a centre back who cant get into the Chelsea side is not the answer. But getting a top CB on loan seems very unlikely. It still seems insane that we aren't going to give Ramsey a contract regardless of money as he surely deserves the same as Mikhi or 66% of Ozil's salary as he has done more for Arsenal than those really.

Sell Ozil even if its a nominal fee to get the salary off the payroll. Sell Mustafi.

Not a word from Ozil’s agent during all of this, which probably means he’s staying to the summer at least. Ramsey I can live with going. He’s never become the player we’d hoped and he represents the downside of Wenger’s tenure. We won’t get much for him in Jan (unless the buying club is desperate) so we can use him until the summer. Mikhi can piss off too, but I think he’ll still be around next season.

I would be behind selling Laca. He works hard but his scoring rate is at Giroud’s level. He wasn’t bought as a second striker but to bang them in. Play Auba out of position and he’ll score. The same can’t be said for Laca. We need more balance upfront and Auba has rightfully claimed the main striking spot. Laca won’t want to hang around as back up. Plus we could get really good money that could be reinvested across the team.

[Mac76]

If Cahill's a stopgap just for this season we should go for it IMO, unless the club has a bargain lined from somewhere - he's got to be better than Mustafi

[Chippy]

If Cahill's a stopgap just for this season we should go for it IMO, unless the club has a bargain lined from somewhere - he's got to be better than Mustafi
This.

[Marc Overmars]

Chelsea have signed Pulisic from Dortmund.

Probably preparing for Hazard's departure.

[Ralpheroo72]

We won’t sign anyone

[SMatthews]

Chelsea have signed Pulisic from Dortmund.

Probably preparing for Hazard's departure.

Is he any good?

[GP]

Is he any good?

No he's American.

[Bumble]

If Cahill's a stopgap just for this season we should go for it IMO, unless the club has a bargain lined from somewhere - he's got to be better than Mustafi

Why not recall Chambers - he is used to playing in a porous backline at Fulham so will slot in easily back at Arsenal. And he must be better than Mustafi.

[hobson's choice]

Is he any good?

Good young wide player

[Mac76]

Why not recall Chambers - he is used to playing in a porous backline at Fulham so will slot in easily back at Arsenal. And he must be better than Mustafi.

knowing us we sent him on loan without a recall clause - we're always doing stupid things like that... :rolleyes:

[SMatthews]

Tbh, we hardly notice he left, so I’m not sure what vaiue he’d add coming back.

There’s also apparently a fee for recalling him, which just wouldn’t be worth it as he has been trash at Fulham and wasn’t that much better here.

[Marc Overmars]

Chambers is pretty average really.

Manolas apparently has a 35m release clause. Could be worth a punt.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Ozil agent has said he is going nowhere, contracted til 2021 & would like to extend beyond that.

Well he’s right about the first bit, Ozil a career anyway.

But yeh, of course he’s happy here, earning a fuck ton of money for a part time role at best, who wouldn’t want to carry on doing that!

We need to offload him ASAP tbh

[Marc Overmars]

Can’t see anyone taking him off our hands anyway, unless we take a hit on his transfer fee and massive wages.

He doesn’t even assist anymore either. A player well on the decline and we are stuck with him.

[SMatthews]

He’ll go in the summer. When a manager shows a player he isn’t wanted, they never stick around. Especially one of this level.

It’s funny though, as there were legions of fans telling the club just to pay him the money to avoid him leaving.

Quite he downfall in less than a year - he’s become enemy number one for the national team and now a running joke in the most watched league in the world.

[AFC Leveller]

Ozil is a better footballer than 95 percent of the Arsenal squad. His problem is laziness, nothing to do with footballing ability.

[SMatthews]

Ozil is a better footballer than 95 percent of the Arsenal squad. His problem is laziness, nothing to do with footballing ability.

Brings into question whether talent or application is more important for a footballer. I’d go for the latter every time.

[Marc Overmars]

Agreed. Nothing more frustrating than watching a player with obvious ability but not mentally strong enough to produce consistently.

[SMatthews]

Dafoe to Rangers on loan apparently. Could be a title winning move by Gerrard. A very smart move.

[LDG]

We are the only Premier League club that has had zero owner funding in the last ten years (100% self funded).

The fucking Krankies are raping us

[SMatthews]

Not sure the Glaziers have either. They’ve piled about half a billion of debt onto the club and since they took over about one billion has gone out the door in dividends and fees etc.

[LDG]

Not sure the Glaziers have either. They’ve piled about half a billion of debt onto the club and since they took over about one billion has gone out the door in dividends and fees etc.

318m according to Swiss Ramble.

He’s usually on the money

[SMatthews]

Good blog that. Fingers crossed now that Kroenke has full control he doesn’t do the same to us.

[SMatthews]

Bayern have bid £30m for 18-year-old Hudson-Odoi who has barely played a game for the first team. The PL money fever has finally spread overseas.

A day after Bild laughed at the PL for spending crazy on Pulisic.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Brings into question whether talent or application is more important for a footballer. I’d go for the latter every time.

This is exactly what I was getting at the other day when I said we should get rid. It’s better to have ‘a playmaker’ who is committed and can play every game than a ‘superstar’ who hardly ever plays.

It just makes no sense.

[SMatthews]

This is exactly what I was getting at the other day when I said we should get rid. It’s better to have ‘a playmaker’ who is committed and can play every game than a ‘superstar’ who hardly ever plays.

It just makes no sense.

And bar his second season when he got an amazing 19 assists, he hasn’t hit double figures.

I agree, but it looks like the summer is the time it will happen. The agent has come out to say his player is ‘committed’ and will then say in the summer Ozil has ‘no choice’ but to leave because he isn’t wanted. Team Ozil are protecting the brand after a disastrous six months (World Cup included). He’ll probably take a pay cut to go elsewhere. Maybe Real Madrid will take him back as they are rebuilding. His contract ends up in 2021 and I doubt Raul and Vinai will let any player stay on without signing an extension. They were pretty ruthless in tearing up Ramsey’s offer once Gazidis was out the door.

[Marc Overmars]

And bar his second season when he got an amazing 19 assists, he hasn’t hit double figures.



Most of those assists came in a freak spell before Christmas as well. He only managed a few in the second half of the season when there was a possibility of us winning the league.

He’s flattered to deceive for most of his 5 years with us.

[Marc Overmars]

Ramsey is close to signing for Juve.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

If he is he will have to learn about tactically honing his skills. Probably the man thing his games has lacked in his career so I'll be interested to see how he gets on there.

[LDG]

Ramsey is close to signing for Juve.

Is that a pre-contract for the summer, or meaning we actually get a couple of pennies?

[Letters]

Ramsey is close to signing for Juve.

At the time I wasn't too bothered about him going. Now I'm thinking we should have kept him.
Although defence is a bigger concern than midfield overall.

[Marc Overmars]

Is that a pre-contract for the summer, or meaning we actually get a couple of pennies?

Pre-contract apparently.

Us getting some pennies. :lol:
We hardly ever get value for our players sold and for a self-sustaining club that is pretty terrible.

[hobson's choice]

Agreed. Nothing more frustrating than watching a player with obvious ability but not mentally strong enough to produce consistently.

Samir Nasri

[LDG]

Pre-contract apparently.

Us getting some pennies. :lol:
We hardly ever get value for our players sold and for a self-sustaining club that is pretty terrible.

:(

Rumour is that he's leaving this month? So we must be getting something out of it? He's contracted until the summer, he can't just walk out the door.....

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah we'd get some peanuts if he goes this month but I'd rather he stayed, as we're unlikely to find a replacement for him right now and our squad is light anyway.

[SMatthews]

At the time I wasn't too bothered about him going. Now I'm thinking we should have kept him.

I don’t see why. He doesn’t score enough, doesn’t assist enough and is out injured for a period every season. He can’t be trusted in deep midfield, and gets in the way of strikers upfront. I still don’t know what Ramsey does after all these years. He’s highly replaceable and symbolic of the old mess we had under Wenger for the past 5 years. He’s also worked hard, scored some important goals in finals and is a good professional but I won’t miss home one bit.

Our midfield needs just as much work as defence. If you can’t control a game in midfield, the best defenders in the world will end up looking like clowns when exposed too often. We need a couple of really good buys in there too.

[Globalgunner]

Not fussed on Ramsey either. We need a playmaker

[I am invisible]

Has to be done - we desperately need to slash that wage bill before we have any room to rebuild and Ramsey represents that sweet spot that we’re looking for where he’s a) on high wages, b) prefers to play a role that the coach has little use for, and c) his contract is nearly up so he’ll be easy to move on.

In an ideal world Özil and Mkhi would follow him out the door, but unfortunately they only signed (BIG) contracts with us recently, so they’re going to be much, much harder to shift.

[GP]

Close to signing Suarez, apparently.

[I am invisible]

I think we could be in for quite a brutal culling over the next couple of windows?

There’s older players there like Kos, Nacho and Cech who must all be on pretty big wages by now, and they’ve got to be approaching the end of their time with us. And Lichtsteiner was only signed on a one year deal - I’d be surprised if that gets extended.

Chambers and Elneny both look like they’re done at this club, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we gave Welbeck the option of a free transfer or a reduced contract.

(I’d love to think that Mustafi was on the way out too, but for some reason the world of top flight coaches seem to have this collective illness where they can’t see that he’s crap?!)

Xhaka will probably stay - he has his limitations, but he is at least occasionally useful, and turns in a decent number of good performances. Plus he actually plays a role that Emery wants. Don’t know if he’ll be here until the end of his contract, but I think we’ll be seeing him next season.

Lacazette could be a bit of a wild card? I’m a big fan, and I certainly wouldn’t push him out, but I do wonder what the club’s reaction would be if he asked to leave (or if we received a big offer)? Again, given the need to free up wages and reinvest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the club didn’t fight it too hard.

All in all I wouldn’t be shocked if we see this squad stripped right back to little more than academy graduates and Mislintat’s signings (plus two or three players who we just can’t shift) before we start the rebuild...

[Marc Overmars]

Cesc is off to Monaco.

Still one of the best passers this league has ever seen IMO.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Close to signing Suarez, apparently.

Best Suarez in Premier League history tbh.

Barca are our feeder club. :bow:

[SMatthews]

If it’s true, then Ramsey may be on his way out this month.

[Özim]

Best Suarez in Premier League history tbh.

Barca are our feeder club. :bow:

I'm not a big fan of Suarez, not sure he's that good to be honest, seems an odd signing to me, hasn't really pulled any trees out at Barca.

[Özim]

I think we could be in for quite a brutal culling over the next couple of windows?

There’s older players there like Kos, Nacho and Cech who must all be on pretty big wages by now, and they’ve got to be approaching the end of their time with us. And Lichtsteiner was only signed on a one year deal - I’d be surprised if that gets extended.

Chambers and Elneny both look like they’re done at this club, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we gave Welbeck the option of a free transfer or a reduced contract.

(I’d love to think that Mustafi was on the way out too, but for some reason the world of top flight coaches seem to have this collective illness where they can’t see that he’s crap?!)

Xhaka will probably stay - he has his limitations, but he is at least occasionally useful, and turns in a decent number of good performances. Plus he actually plays a role that Emery wants. Don’t know if he’ll be here until the end of his contract, but I think we’ll be seeing him next season.

Lacazette could be a bit of a wild card? I’m a big fan, and I certainly wouldn’t push him out, but I do wonder what the club’s reaction would be if he asked to leave (or if we received a big offer)? Again, given the need to free up wages and reinvest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the club didn’t fight it too hard.

All in all I wouldn’t be shocked if we see this squad stripped right back to little more than academy graduates and Mislintat’s signings (plus two or three players who we just can’t shift) before we start the rebuild...

I'd be happy for us to sell all those guys (including Xhaka please :pray:) but not Lacazette, he really makes things happen and is a danger I really rate the guy, moreover Auba is nearly 30 so he won't have years left at the top, so selling Laca would be foolish.

Let's face it though, this club reall messed up, we kept Wenger for far too long, allowed him to waste loads of money on substandard players and when we finally did get rid we did so at a time when we were out of the CL and thus hampered by the wage rule, we made it as difficult as possible for any manager to follow a guy who had been here for over a decade too long, pretty poor to be honest.

So far we've been hampered and our signings have been a bit hit and miss, Torreira the highlight with Guendouzi decent and Sokratis and Leno OK and Lichsteiner awful, if we don't get into the CL we're going to need to do better than we have so far with signings as it's certainly been a bit hit and miss.

Would rather have seen players like Xhaka not being given new contracts however, even if it meant letting him walk away on a free, as quite frankly we'd struggle to shift him for any significant wage anyway, the damage with players walking away for free was done many years ago, losing Sanchez who was great for us meant being lumbered with Mikhi who hasn't been much good, Ozil we had to give mega wages to to keep and now wouldn't be able to sell, Wilshere walked away for nothing when we could have got 30 odd million a year before and Ramsey who also had market value walking away. Just wish we could let a few of the duds walk away like Mustafi and Xhaka because they only hamper us and have no market value now.

[Penguin]

A culling might be just what we need. Too many players in this squad still have the Wenger mentality.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

If we've don't have much money... I don't think any of us should expect a culling anytime soon.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Any culling will be in the summer I’m sure. We do need to start changing things around though, and any new players coming in under the new regime should add something different at least.

[Marc Overmars]

Apparently Bayern have bid 35m for Hudson-Odoi. :blink:

[Özim]

If we've don't have much money... I don't think any of us should expect a culling anytime soon.

I would have thought it's the opposite, we need to sell the duds to raise money and also lower the wage bill by getting rid of the rubbish.

If Emery doesn't get rid of Mustafi and Xhaka (both on a decent sum I bet) then we have a problem and I'm not convinced we'll achieve anything, first thing for a manager is to be able to spot rubbish when he sees it.

We really need a major cull to get rid of all the substandard players we've horded over the years, it's clear we have quite a few who just aren't up to it (almost the entire defence and a lot of the midfield), no point working with players of this quality, it's just a waste of time.

[Özim]

Apparently Bayern have bid 35m for Hudson-Odoi. :blink:

Looks a massive talent to be fair, he gave us the runaround in pre-season, though granted 35 million is a lot, but they don't often get it wrong and are quite wise with their money.

[Bumble]

I would have thought it's the opposite, we need to sell the duds to raise money and also lower the wage bill by getting rid of the rubbish.

If Emery doesn't get rid of Mustafi and Xhaka (both on a decent sum I bet) then we have a problem and I'm not convinced we'll achieve anything, first thing for a manager is to be able to spot rubbish when he sees it.

We really need a major cull to get rid of all the substandard players we've horded over the years, it's clear we have quite a few who just aren't up to it (almost the entire defence and a lot of the midfield), no point working with players of this quality, it's just a waste of time.

problem is selling duds on large wages is quite difficult I imagine. either we will have to take a hit on price and possibly cover part of the wages on the initial contract. we do need to cut the squad and we do have a fair few kids coming through who could give us options.

I do think Xhaka could be worth something, good age, can still develop and he isn't Mustafi. But Xhaka seems quite a key player for Emery like he was for Wenger. Otherwise if we want to raise big money we need to look at Bellerin and Lacazette both are good players and offer something but also could generate funds to reinvest in the bigger picture. Mukhi would be another but his wages £220k/week means only a few clubs could buy.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I would have thought it's the opposite, we need to sell the duds to raise money and also lower the wage bill by getting rid of the rubbish.

If Emery doesn't get rid of Mustafi and Xhaka (both on a decent sum I bet) then we have a problem and I'm not convinced we'll achieve anything, first thing for a manager is to be able to spot rubbish when he sees it.

We really need a major cull to get rid of all the substandard players we've horded over the years, it's clear we have quite a few who just aren't up to it (almost the entire defence and a lot of the midfield), no point working with players of this quality, it's just a waste of time.

Because rubbish players are famously easy to sell?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Anyone thinking he's desperate to sell Xhaka or Mustafi is having a giraffe too.

[I am invisible]

I would have thought it's the opposite, we need to sell the duds to raise money and also lower the wage bill by getting rid of the rubbish.

If Emery doesn't get rid of Mustafi and Xhaka (both on a decent sum I bet) then we have a problem and I'm not convinced we'll achieve anything, first thing for a manager is to be able to spot rubbish when he sees it.

We really need a major cull to get rid of all the substandard players we've horded over the years, it's clear we have quite a few who just aren't up to it (almost the entire defence and a lot of the midfield), no point working with players of this quality, it's just a waste of time.
Yeah, it’s the current operating costs and wage bill that are going to hamstring us. I’m not worried about transfer fees - I think we have enough money sat there if we need it, and I think we have people in recruitment now who can find us cost-effective options. Plus we can spread any repayments out over a lot of years. But none of it means a thing unless we can actually add any new recruit’s wages to our wage bill, and at the moment our allowance is just about maxed out under the new rules (we may even be in breach?!).

This is why I think this summer could be quite brutal. There are clearly some obvious cases there who should be binned off without a second thought, because they offer nothing close to value for money, but they may not be the easiest to move on. That means we may have to look at players who are easy to move on, even if they don’t necessarily deserve it.

Guys like Koscielny and Monreal have been fsntastic servants to the club, but they must also be on pretty big, accumulated contracts by now, and are playing less and less through age and injury.

Cech must be on well over 100k/wk, he makes as many errors as anyone, and Emery doesn’t seem to rate him.

Welbeck must be on well over 100k/wk - feels harsh to suggest letting his contract expire after such a horrible injury, but if we can’t shift guys like Özil and Mkhi, then these players are going to be obvious, and perhaps necessary, targets.

This is likely what has happened with Ramsey - you have Özil and Mkhi sat there on relatively safe, new contracts, and all three play more or less the same role (or at least occupy the same place on the field). Emery doesn’t really seem to rate any of them, so something’s got to give there.

Then there’s Elneny - he’s done nothing wrong, per se, and has performed his role as but-part utility player well enough, and without complaint, but if we’re not going to use him then he’s just a drain on resources.

I think Xhaka will probably survive because he seems to have a trait or two the Emery wants in the side, but if Mustafi is still here next season I think I might burst with frustration! Give me Holding or Mavs any day on a fraction of the money...

[SMatthews]

Anyone thinking he's desperate to sell Xhaka or Mustafi is having a giraffe too.

And neither should he sell Xhaka. A good squad player.

[Özim]

And neither should he sell Xhaka. A good squad player.

Personally I think he's a waste of space, I wish we'd just get rid of the guy, a good squad player he isn't.

[Özim]

Because rubbish players are famously easy to sell?

Tell them they have no future and sell them for a knockdown price or just release them on a free and take the hit to save the wages.

[Özim]

Anyone thinking he's desperate to sell Xhaka or Mustafi is having a giraffe too.

I don't think he's desperate, but if he isn't you do have to question his judgement, neither of these two would last 6 months at any other big club (never mind being given a new contract).

[Mac76]

I don't think he's desperate, but if he isn't you do have to question his judgement, neither of these two would last 6 months at any other big club (never mind being given a new contract).

it's the biggest question mark on Emery's performance so far IMO, why he favours these two players who concede goals and goal opportunites on far too regular a basis

[Marc Overmars]

I think Xhaka was worse under Wenger and has actually show a reasonable level of consistency this season, granted he still has his moments.

Mustafi is awful though. 35m? We got bumped good and proper there.

[SMatthews]

I think Xhaka was worse under Wenger and has actually show a reasonable level of consistency this season, granted he still has his moments.

Mustafi is awful though. 35m? We got bumped good and proper there.

Agree with that. Has his moments but every central midfielder gives the ball away - Torreira has done it a number of times recently. The big difference is Xhaka’s mistakes are magnified by the shite defence who, unlike other defences, struggle to bail their team mates out. Would definitely keep Xhaka as a squad player in the short term.

[Bumble]

Tell them they have no future and sell them for a knockdown price or just release them on a free and take the hit to save the wages.

you cant just a release a player without paying up his contract - its not like the real world.

the problem seems to be that the new stadium was meant to herald this new club where we could compete with the big boys with transfers and salaries. yet we have spunked all the money on salaries on players who don't play and any worth while asset that we could sell the contract runs down.

also surely we can be self sufficient over a 5 year cycle as opposed to being yearly so if we need to push a player to push us to top 4 or Europa league glory then we need to push the boat out.

Mustafi is rubbish.

[SMatthews]

Ramsey confirmed to leave at the end of the season.

At least Juve have plenty of time to start building his very own treatment table.

[Marc Overmars]

He’s been very professional throughout this process to be fair to him.

Great move for him, good luck I say.

[SMatthews]

I’m struggling to remember if we’ve had this situation before, with a player agreed to go elsewhere still at the club for 5 months?

He’s been professional as you’d expect - although that should be a given really. Not sure how much we can rely on him in the final couple of months as he won’t want to risk anything that might affect his move or start to life at Juve.

[Marc Overmars]

The annoying thing is that we will probably need him because of how thin our squad is.

Hopefully the Suarez move happens to boost the options.

[I am invisible]

I’m struggling to remember if we’ve had this situation before, with a player agreed to go elsewhere still at the club for 5 months?

He’s been professional as you’d expect - although that should be a given really. Not sure how much we can rely on him in the final couple of months as he won’t want to risk anything that might affect his move or start to life at Juve.
It’s nothing new for us. Even if we haven’t had a previous scenario where a player has signed a pre-contract in January, we’ve still had years of man-managing wantaway players. We pretty much all knew that guys like Henry, Cesc, Nasri, van Persie, Adabayeeyore, etc were leaving half way through their final seasons (no one will convince me that they didn’t know exactly where they’d be going and how much they’d earn - the agreements were all just done under the table back then). How many years of ‘Vieira to Madrid’ did we have to put up with? Some carried on playing with pride and professionalism right to the end, whereas others just... stopped. Guess it just comes down to personality?

If anything marks the Ramsey situation as unique then it’s that the player didn’t particularly want to leave this time, and it’s the club that have called time on it.

[SMatthews]

It’s nothing new for us. Even if we haven’t had a previous scenario where a player has signed a pre-contract in January, we’ve still had years of man-managing wantaway players. We pretty much all knew that guys like Henry, Cesc, Nasri, van Persie, Adabayeeyore, etc were leaving half way through their final seasons (no one will convince me that they didn’t know exactly where they’d be going and how much they’d earn - the agreements were all just done under the table back then). How many years of ‘Vieira to Madrid’ did we have to put up with? Some carried on playing with pride and professionalism right to the end, whereas others just... stopped. Guess it just comes down to personality?

If anything marks the Ramsey situation as unique then it’s that the player didn’t particularly want to leave this time, and it’s the club that have called time on it.

All of that is very true.

[Özim]

We probably could have sold him last summer (should have sold him 2 summers ago to be honest) but for some reason didn't, we've missed out on money we can't afford to miss out on, clearly with the clubs that were after him selling him wouldn't have been too hard.

Again terrible planning by this club.

[Marc Overmars]

I’m not sure this comes down to planning because Ramsey by all accounts was ready to sign.

Then Gazidis left and new regime didn’t want to entertain him so you have to hope their decision proves to be right.

[Mac76]

I’m not sure this comes down to planning because Ramsey by all accounts was ready to sign.

Then Gazidis left and new regime didn’t want to entertain him so you have to hope their decision proves to be right.

it's tricky isn't it - a real impact player who seemed content with not necessarily starting every game is a real asset, but i guess it's the scale of his wage demand that's the issue - all caused by the Ozil deal of course.

can't the club go to both him and Ozil (if they want) and say 'we'd like you to stay but things are different now and we need to renegotiate your money'?

after all they're both on - or asking for - such fantastic sums that surely if they like it at Arsenal taking a cut isn't such a big deal - is it? :shrug:

[Globalgunner]

Why oh why is anybody pining after Ramsey. I wish he could leave today. This a player who wont win you games talk less of titles. 60th percentile player asking for 90th percentile wages. Good riddance!

[SMatthews]

it's tricky isn't it - a real impact player who seemed content with not necessarily starting every game is a real asset, but i guess it's the scale of his wage demand that's the issue - all caused by the Ozil deal of course.

can't the club go to both him and Ozil (if they want) and say 'we'd like you to stay but things are different now and we need to renegotiate your money'?

after all they're both on - or asking for - such fantastic sums that surely if they like it at Arsenal taking a cut isn't such a big deal - is it? :shrug:

I’m not sure he is an impact player. 62 goals in 11 years is pretty poor for an attacking midfielder. He’s only scored 38 league goals in that time - that is shocking.

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah I had hoped he'd become a bit of a Lampard type player for us but he's never been consistent.

13/14 he was exceptional though and I think we may have had a shot at winning the league if he wasn't injured during the second half of the season.

[Marc Overmars]

There are reports that we're looking to take Suarez on loan because we can't actually afford his transfer fee in this window.

If that's true then I don't think we can be expecting to get back into the CL anytime soon, if that is an indicator of our financial clout.

[selassie]

Looks a massive talent to be fair, he gave us the runaround in pre-season, though granted 35 million is a lot, but they don't often get it wrong and are quite wise with their money.

Yep, looks like another Jadon Sancho, though to be fair to Hudson-Odoi he is further ahead in his development.

This is the kind of signing we should be going for TBH.

[selassie]

We probably could have sold him last summer (should have sold him 2 summers ago to be honest) but for some reason didn't, we've missed out on money we can't afford to miss out on, clearly with the clubs that were after him selling him wouldn't have been too hard.

Again terrible planning by this club.

Yeah our handling in the transfer market and of player contracts is arguably the worst of any club in World Football, I am not exaggerating here either. In the current market, the likes of Ramsey and Sanchez (We totally botched up his contract dealings too) could have fetched us around 120million combined...this is the kind of money we have passed up on due to diabolical planning.

What I find ironic is that we are now pleading poverty after throwing crazy wages at many players who aren't even good enough to be pushing us into the Top 4 place we crave.

We have so much work to do culling this squad, it's actually scary.

We don't even have many players who we could flog who would even fetch a decent fee.

[selassie]

Anyone thinking he's desperate to sell Xhaka or Mustafi is having a giraffe too.

Both seem to be nailed on first choice under Emery. Both have improved quite a bit...but I'm still not sold on either player.

We have bigger issues to deal with...to be honest...we only seem to have a couple of positions which are locked, the rest are a mixed bag with players coming in and out of the team.

I have no idea what the long term plan is, if we really are as skint as what is being reported...seems dubious to me....then we are going to need to blood Youth, we have no other option.

[SMatthews]

There are reports that we're looking to take Suarez on loan because we can't actually afford his transfer fee in this window.

If that's true then I don't think we can be expecting to get back into the CL anytime soon, if that is an indicator of our financial clout.

I doubt we're skint, I reckon it's more to do with how we're budgeting every season. Ornstein said a bigger budget would be available in the summer - whether true or not, who knows. We've spent quite a bit in recent seasons, but the problem is it hasn't been put to good use.

[SMatthews]

Emery’s confirmed what Ornstein said about loan players only in this window, so hopefully he’s right about the summer too.

[Özim]

Music to Stans' ears this, no money to spend, this is his perfect scenario, unbelievable how we're scraping around for pennies to be honest, we're like the paupers of the Premier League, a league literally rolling in money and yet we've can't afford anyone after a very moderate spend last summer (previous signings last season were covered by sales we'd made).

On top of that we're stuck with overpaid duds and losing the few players who worth anything and we could have sold for nothing, what a mess! Liverpool were where we are a few seasons ago, the only difference being they have some very valuable assets to sell, we've got literally noone of any real value, the last administration really have a lot to answer to after this mess they've left behind, one of them lost deservedly lost his job of course and the other decided it was time to move on and make money elsewhere.

[Özim]

I’m not sure this comes down to planning because Ramsey by all accounts was ready to sign.

Then Gazidis left and new regime didn’t want to entertain him so you have to hope their decision proves to be right.

It should have been signed last summer, if not he should have just been sold, to not do so is incompetent, letting another player run down his contract to nothing was incompetent to be honest.

[Özim]

There are reports that we're looking to take Suarez on loan because we can't actually afford his transfer fee in this window.

If that's true then I don't think we can be expecting to get back into the CL anytime soon, if that is an indicator of our financial clout.

Suarez is a bit of a nobody, he's 25 and hasn't really stood out, been moving around clubs for peanuts for years, don't get why we're even interested, I guess it highlights how far we've fallen that we're going after this guy.

CL seems a long way away right now, we lack quality and don't seem to have the money to change that it seems (or we just have an owner who doesn't want to spend any of the precious money he hasn't even spent on us).

[SMatthews]

I can see the logic it for this window at least. The summer is going to be the period that shows how serious the owner is about backing Emery. For now, we’re in the mix for the top four which is where we should be at the moment.

[Marc Overmars]

Being self-sufficient is admirable but we're up against teams and owners who all speculate to accumulate. I don't expect Kroenke to plough a billion into the club like Sheikh Mansour has done at City, but it is a bit galling knowing we could possibly be doing more but we're stuck with an owner who isn't really that bothered if the team is successful or not.

[Özim]

Being self-sufficient is admirable but we're up against teams and owners who all speculate to accumulate. I don't expect Kroenke to plough a billion into the club like Sheikh Mansour has done at City, but it is a bit galling knowing we could possibly be doing more but we're stuck with an owner who isn't really that bothered if the team is successful or not.

Thing about Kroenke is that he's doing the opposite, he's effectively taking money out of the club isn't he, as aren't the repayment for the loan he took to buy the club outright paid essentially paid by the club?

Somehow we've ended up with the someone who has no interest in investing in the club, out of all the billionaires we have the one that doesn't want to spend a penny.

[Özim]

I can see the logic it for this window at least. The summer is going to be the period that shows how serious the owner is about backing Emery. For now, we’re in the mix for the top four which is where we should be at the moment.

I don't think Kroenke cares that much to be honest, I don't expect much money for Emery, if we fail to get into the CL he'll get 50 million tops IMO, a bit like last summer which these days bus you very little, even the smaller clubs have spent more than that.

[SMatthews]

Thing about Kroenke is that he's doing the opposite, he's effectively taking money out of the club isn't he, as aren't the repayment for the loan he took to buy the club outright paid essentially paid by the club?

Somehow we've ended up with the someone who has no interest in investing in the club, out of all the billionaires we have the one that doesn't want to spend a penny.

Utd have a family who have piled hundreds of millions of debt into the club and taken almost a billion out of it. Even the commercial deals haven’t covered that.

[Özim]

Utd have a family who have piled hundreds of millions of debt into the club and taken almost a billion out of it. Even the commercial deals haven’t covered that.

True but in all fairness Man U have spent a fortune on players, they've brought top players in, the club has never held bank on transfer money, it's the opposite with us, a lot of the transfer money has been covered by player sales.

So it's been lose lose for the fans.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Both seem to be nailed on first choice under Emery. Both have improved quite a bit...but I'm still not sold on either player.

We have bigger issues to deal with...to be honest...we only seem to have a couple of positions which are locked, the rest are a mixed bag with players coming in and out of the team.

I have no idea what the long term plan is, if we really are as skint as what is being reported...seems dubious to me....then we are going to need to blood Youth, we have no other option.

Xhaka I can stomach though I think he makes far too many stupid mistakes to be a regular part of a title winning side.....but Mustafi can be fired out of a cannon. He's a bit better but still way below what is required for the fans' ambitions.

We are not showing signs of a club that HAVE to get into the CL next season we are showing signs of a club who would really like to. If Emery fails to get us back in and he is fired, he will have some legitimate grievances.

[Bumble]

Xhaka I can stomach though I think he makes far too many stupid mistakes to be a regular part of a title winning side.....but Mustafi can be fired out of a cannon. He's a bit better but still way below what is required for the fans' ambitions.

We are not showing signs of a club that HAVE to get into the CL next season we are showing signs of a club who would really like to. If Emery fails to get us back in and he is fired, he will have some legitimate grievances.

I agree on both Mustafi being shot out of a cannon... he is so bad not even a Chinese club offering silly money is interested.

Also I agree that the club doesn't seem to be pushing to get a top 4 spot. If we were you would think we would be looking to buy in January. But loan moves and rumours that we lack cash sound like we are preparing for more years out of the CL places then making a push to get back into the top 4.

[Marc Overmars]

I like the fact Emery was at least candid enough to explain what the situation was.

His employers probably won't like it but for the fans it's much better to have some clarity rather than the cloak and dagger nonsense Wenger used to put us through.

[Özim]

I like the fact Emery was at least candid enough to explain what the situation was.

His employers probably won't like it but for the fans it's much better to have some clarity rather than the cloak and dagger nonsense Wenger used to put us through.

Yeah agreed nice to have someone who is honest about the situation at last, there's a lot I like about Emery, my only real concerns are his seemingly favourable opinion of Xhaka and Mustafi that are substandard and that I want out of the club (to free up wages as well).

As far as the money is concerned, we spent in relative terms peanuts last summer and now we don't have any money, loan deals don't give you many options, I guess we'll stick with what we have and hope Emery pulls off a miracle or wins the Europa, although with Chelsea in there it isn't a gimme.

I honestly don't know how this club got itself in this mess, got to be down to pure incompetence.

[Marc Overmars]

I honestly don't know how this club got itself in this mess, got to be down to pure incompetence.

Think we've wasted a lot of money since the stadium was paid off and we don't get any value for our players that leave, Oxlade is perhaps the only exception to this in recent memory. I mean, Wilshere, Ramsey and probably Welbeck all leaving without a transfer fee, that's got to be around 80m in today's market? We also passed up on 60m for Alexis when it was clear he no longer wanted to be here but he was instead moved on 6 months later and we got an average player in return.

We also broke our wage structure for Ozil and I imagine Auba and Laca aren't too far behind. Mkhi too.

Seems like the club is trying to do a bit of housekeeping to me and we won't really know the state of play until the summer.

[Ralpheroo72]

KSE taking our club nowhere. We couldn’t run a bath, yet we are a self sustaining model? What kind of model let’s top players contracts run down, and then have zero transfer value? It’s laughable, we are being sold a lie. The Adidas money is going straight to LA, Arsenal will see fuck all.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

The strategy seemed iffy in the summer and the situation stinks right now. Of course the club can't come out and say, we'd really like to be in the CL....but we don't absolutely have to be (though it is pointed we have previously said words to that effect in the past) but all the signs show that that is the case.

No point in us all saying Emery needs a few windows if he doesn't actually get to spend anything in 1 or 2 of those windows. I initially thought the club might have set his minimum target as 4th/Europa league winners but I am increasingly doubtful of that giving our behaviour.

[SMatthews]

Think we've wasted a lot of money since the stadium was paid off and we don't get any value for our players that leave, Oxlade is perhaps the only exception to this in recent memory. I mean, Wilshere, Ramsey and probably Welbeck all leaving without a transfer fee, that's got to be around 80m in today's market? We also passed up on 60m for Alexis when it was clear he no longer wanted to be here but he was instead moved on 6 months later and we got an average player in return.

We also broke our wage structure for Ozil and I imagine Auba and Laca aren't too far behind. Mkhi too.

Seems like the club is trying to do a bit of housekeeping to me and we won't really know the state of play until the summer.

I’ll keep saying it, but Laca is one we could get rid of. I’ve nothing against him and like his physicality but he hasn’t been a roaring success at what he was bought to do - score goals. He’s at Giroud levels so far. We’d get £60-80m for him. Bellerin is another, although he’s key to how Emery wants to play. A young, fast, attacking right back with another 4 years on his contract would get us great money, especially as he’d fit right into the way a numebrkf teams want to play today.

Liverpool sold Sterling and Coutinho and spent well in return (alright, they bought Benteke) along with their planned transfer budgets. It’s what we have to do too.

[fakeyank]

How do we not have any money? It doesnt make sense to me. If somebody ran the numbers, I'd love to see how we have $0 for transfers and wages. Our wage bill barring Ozil cant be that high.

[Mac76]

I’ll keep saying it, but Laca is one we could get rid of. I’ve nothing against him and like his physicality but he hasn’t been a roaring success at what he was bought to do - score goals. He’s at Giroud levels so far. We’d get £60-80m for him. Bellerin is another, although he’s key to how Emery wants to play. A young, fast, attacking right back with another 4 years on his contract would get us great money, especially as he’d fit right into the way a numebrkf teams want to play today.

Liverpool sold Sterling and Coutinho and spent well in return (alright, they bought Benteke) along with their planned transfer budgets. It’s what we have to do too.

That's just completely wrong, Laca brings much more than Giroud to our game, and while he could do with scoring a bit more, he's only playing sporadically so it's been more difficult, also he brings the best out in Auba, so he's one of the few players we should definitely keep

[Özim]

That's just completely wrong, Laca brings much more than Giroud to our game, and while he could do with scoring a bit more, he's only playing sporadically so it's been more difficult, also he brings the best out in Auba, so he's one of the few players we should definitely keep

Got to agree, Lacazette brings a lot to our game and does make Auba much more effective, Giroud was rubbish to be honest, he's stunk up the place at Chelsea and was basically given a starting place despite not performing for months for us, he was 2nd rate, Laca isn't.

[Özim]

How do we not have any money? It doesnt make sense to me. If somebody ran the numbers, I'd love to see how we have $0 for transfers and wages. Our wage bill barring Ozil cant be that high.

Doesn't the owner take money to pay off the money he borrowed to buy the club outright now? I don't get it either to be honest, from a fan point of view we're not a good club to support these days, we're a big club only in name these days, there's zero investment into the team.

[SMatthews]

That's just completely wrong, Laca brings much more than Giroud to our game, and while he could do with scoring a bit more, he's only playing sporadically so it's been more difficult, also he brings the best out in Auba, so he's one of the few players we should definitely keep

Laca was bought in as a finisher, not a second striker to help someone else. He's played out wide and upfront and had the same results in front of goal. So has Auba, and he's consistently delivered. And he's not been short on chances to play. 52 starts and 13 from the bench. There's other ways to make Auba tick. If we are complaining we don't have assets we can use that are of value, then this is a prime one right here, along with Bellerin. Most people thought Liverpool would be a shambles without Coutinho, but they reinvented their frontline into one of the best in Europe.

[selassie]

Laca was bought in as a finisher, not a second striker to help someone else. He's played out wide and upfront and had the same results in front of goal. So has Auba, and he's consistently delivered. And he's not been short on chances to play. 52 starts and 13 from the bench. There's other ways to make Auba tick. If we are complaining we don't have assets we can use that are of value, then this is a prime one right here, along with Bellerin. Most people thought Liverpool would be a shambles without Coutinho, but they reinvented their frontline into one of the best in Europe.

We would probably break even with Laca, I can't see him going for more than we paid for him and I don't even know which club would buy him, it certainly wouldn't be an Elite club.

I personally just think we are going to need to be very shrewd and smart with our transfer business going forward, more "Torreira" type signings if you will.

We have Sven in charge of recruitment and his track record is arguably amongst the very best in the world when it comes to identifying "undiscovered gems", he is going to need to work flat out to find them, he gets paid well enough!

Emery has a part to play too, he needs to develop some of the talent from our Academy, we have seen it for our own eyes with the likes of Smith-Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Saka, they are there to be developed and integrated into the First team.

[selassie]

How do we not have any money? It doesnt make sense to me. If somebody ran the numbers, I'd love to see how we have $0 for transfers and wages. Our wage bill barring Ozil cant be that high.

We do have money, we are just choosing NOT to spend it. It's impossible for a club of our size given the gate receipts, sponsorship deals, Prem TV deal, global exposure and other global marketing deals that we have that we have nothing to invest.

I do kind of see where they are going with this spending freeze IF it means getting rid of a handful of fairly high earners off the wage bill to make space for new signings.

The cynic in me says we aren't planning to do that though...I dunno...this money no money lark is classic Arsenal smokescreens...has been for years. No plan, just opportunist nonsense.

This self sustainable nonsense being peddled out by the club worries me too given what many others have said. Self-sustainable yet we allow our best players contracts to run down and pay players 300k per week who can't make our bench? Laughable :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Morata in talks with Atleti. :lol:

What a waste of money.

Imagine being left with Giroud.

[Özim]

Morata in talks with Atleti. :lol:

What a waste of money.

Imagine being left with Giroud.

Morata is one of the most overrated overhyped forwards ever (along with the likes of Walcott), how he's managed to go from top club to top club is beyond me. To think we stuck with Giroud for so long when the guy can't buy a goal.

[Özim]

Talk that Emery wants Ozil sold (Ozil doesn't want to go, earns mega wages and no clubs seem interested), on top of that he supposedly is interested in Benega.

I find this odd, Benega is 31, seriously where is the sense in brining in a 31 year old, we seem to be far too focussed on signings players who won't have long at the top which is a waste of money and won't allow you to build a team.

[Letters]

How do we not have any money? It doesnt make sense to me. If somebody ran the numbers, I'd love to see how we have $0 for transfers and wages. Our wage bill barring Ozil cant be that high.

I posted some articles in the West Ham match reaction thread. Our wage bill is 5th highest in the PL and in terms of a percentage of turnover it's one of the lowest.
Wenger had become a problem but I always felt there were other problems at board level which meant that replacing him wasn't a silver bullet.
Kronke is one of only 2 owners to have not put a penny into the club and as Zim says he might even be taking money out to pay for the loan with which he bought the club.
Gary warned us about him, some of the clubs he owns in the US have gone down the toilet.
This used to be a well run club with owners who really cared about the club, now we're a business with owners who only care about profit :(

[selassie]

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/arsenal-news-sven-mislintat-latest-transfer-bayern-munich-epl-a8729001.html

I hope this isn't true :(


Bayern Munich want to take Arsenal head of recruitment Sven Mislintat back to Germany, and feel they can do a deal before the end of the season.

The 46-year-old is credited with having created one of the most sophisticated talent-spotting operations in world football at Borussia Dortmund, and was part of a grand plan to do similar at Arsenal on being appointed just a year ago, but Bayern believe that he would already be open to leaving.

Sources close to both the German champions and the Arsenal set-up say that the relationship between Mislintat and the new regime - headed by Director of Football Raul Sanllehi - has not gone as smoothly as anticipated.

Mislintat has put forward some strong recommendations for players that have not been followed up.

That comes at a time when Unai Emery is said to have taken a more active role regarding transfer targets than the German had anticipated, especially in a structure that was designed to dilute the influence of any head coach in that regard, after the all-encompassing power of Arsene Wenger.

Bayern hope to act on this as they begin a badly-needed overhaul of their own squad, and see Mislintat as the figure who can lead that.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I hope it is true.

I'm not impressed by any signings (especially the Bundesliga contingient) we have brought in recently. Obviously that excludes Torriera and Auba, who AW had always admired anyway.

I personally would give Emery a long enough rope to do with as he pleases- at least if he is in charge of transfers no more excuses about recruiting players who don't fit his "style of play".

[AFC Leveller]

We are a sinking ship. Ivan left (weird after he finally got rid of Wenger) and If head of scouting leaves, it will all but confirm tat working with Kroenke is just impossible.

[Letters]

We are a sinking ship. Ivan left (weird after he finally got rid of Wenger) and If head of scouting leaves, it will all but confirm tat working with Kroenke is just impossible.

So Wenger wasn't the problem after all! Wenger :bow:

:ninja:

More seriously, although I do think he was a problem, I did always say I felt there were other things going on and getting rid of him, while necessary, wasn't a silver bullet.
Things do seem to be quite a mess at the club right now :(

[Marc Overmars]

We were a mess with Wenger and have continued to be a mess after him. The succession plan went to pot because Gazids left, this whole set up was his idea and now it’s crumbled without him because Raul and Vinai have other ideas.

Just pathetic from the club.

[Letters]

We were a mess with Wenger and have continued to be a mess after him. The succession plan went to pot because Gazids left, this whole set up was his idea and now it’s crumbled without him because Raul and Vinai have other ideas.

Just pathetic from the club.

Although, as I may have said, I never bought into the idea that Wenger was a dribbling imbecile, he had become a problem.
I expected more from Emery. I wasn't expecting miracles but I thought a manager who was a better tactician and motivator would get more out of this lot.
After a somewhat promising start it's all going to shit now and we're looking and playing pretty much the same as last year :(

[GP]

Come back Arsene, all is forgiven.

[Özim]

We were a mess with Wenger and have continued to be a mess after him. The succession plan went to pot because Gazids left, this whole set up was his idea and now it’s crumbled without him because Raul and Vinai have other ideas.

Just pathetic from the club.

Also it's very odd that Gazidis would leave 3 months after finally being in charge and putting things into place, pretty mercernary of him to be honest, he did a terrible job for 10 years appearing to achieve ver little and then as soon as he appears to be trying something he leave. Has to be said his player dealings were shocking, thanks to him we lost another player for nothing, this club has a very poor record when it comes to employing the right people.

[Özim]

Although, as I may have said, I never bought into the idea that Wenger was a dribbling imbecile, he had become a problem.
I expected more from Emery. I wasn't expecting miracles but I thought a manager who was a better tactician and motivator would get more out of this lot.
After a somewhat promising start it's all going to shit now and we're looking and playing pretty much the same as last year :(

Wenger is a big reason why we're a mess today though, looks at the team and squad, players who lack hunger, sub standard players all over the place, even the contract situations he has to take responsibility for, none of the big players should have ever reached the point where they had a year or less left on their contract, they should have been sold before that.

He also had players on too high wages and wasted a lot of money that could have gone to the new manager, all in all he was also a big part of this mess, he's not the only one I grant you that but he's certainly heavily involved, as is Gazidis and of course the owner, but few people didn't recognise they were as well, you just need to strt somewhere and the manager was the most logical. Ideally everyone would have moved on and we could have started with a clean slate but that was never realistic.

Incidentally we're crying out for a winger and IMO we had a very good one in Gnabry that we sold on, always thought he was pretty decent so for me it was an odd decision to sell him.

[Letters]

Come back Arsene, all is forgiven.

He's the Severus Snape of Arsenal, he was the good guy all along :cool:

[SMatthews]

Although, as I may have said, I never bought into the idea that Wenger was a dribbling imbecile, he had become a problem.
I expected more from Emery. I wasn't expecting miracles but I thought a manager who was a better tactician and motivator would get more out of this lot.
After a somewhat promising start it's all going to shit now and we're looking and playing pretty much the same as last year :(

I think you belief there is more in this squad is probably misplaced.

[Letters]

I think you belief there is more in this squad is probably misplaced.

Well, again, I wasn't expecting a title challenge. But Wenger was a poor tactician and a poor motivator.
It's not unreasonable to think that whatever the limitations of the squad are, another manager would get more out of them.

[SMatthews]

Well, again, I wasn't expecting a title challenge. But Wenger was a poor tactician and a poor motivator.
It's not unreasonable to think that whatever the limitations of the squad are, another manager would get more out of them.
He has to a degree. They've certainly worked a lot harder, which has been backed up by stats. But a first season isn't going to be a continual upward curve when trying to get rid of such an inrooted way of working. There are also limitations to how well this squad can perform. We aren't one of the best three in the league. Maybe fourth best, but that's something of a stretch too.

[selassie]

I hope it is true.

I'm not impressed by any signings (especially the Bundesliga contingient) we have brought in recently. Obviously that excludes Torriera and Auba, who AW had always admired anyway.

I personally would give Emery a long enough rope to do with as he pleases- at least if he is in charge of transfers no more excuses about recruiting players who don't fit his "style of play".

AW admired a lot of players, his problem was his rigid player valuations and procrastinations over making moves.

I agree that some of the Sven led signings such as Leno and Leichinstiner have been questionable...but Torreira and Auba have been superb signings, Guendozi & Sokratis not bad either.

Emery's favoured targets worry me TBH, Ever Banega? 31....Carrasco...not sold on him either.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

AW admired a lot of players, his problem was his rigid player valuations and procrastinations over making moves.

I agree that some of the Sven led signings such as Leno and Leichinstiner have been questionable...but Torreira and Auba have been superb signings, Guendozi & Sokratis not bad either.

Emery's favoured targets worry me TBH, Ever Banega? 31....Carrasco...not sold on him either.

When I made the comment I thought he was also behind the signing of Kolasinac, who I'm already sick of, but I can see he got to the club a few months before Sven.

Sokratis is an average defender IMO and I honestly don't think we had to go all the way to Germany to add another average CB to the fold, especially when there is an abundance of average and really good CBs already in the premiership and in the country as a whole.

In fact I've never understood why Arsenal FC has always overlooked quality CB signings already in the country- off my head their are about 10 names from other clubs I would rate over our international dross ( Cahill is included in that 10 BTW).

As for Guendozi, I think he is more of an Emery signing since he actually worked with him and he was totally unproven in any serious league before he came here. Either way, I've started seeing serious limitations with the way the boy plays and honestly don't think he should be holding a starting shirt in a serious top 4 club. Clearly I hope he gets better but I am not sold anymore.

I agree with you on all the targets the media says Emery wants- totally not impressed. However I would like him to be given the full opportunity to sink or swim with his "vision"- I really don't want any excuses of hands tied behind his back if he's still around this time next year.

[selassie]

When I made the comment I thought he was also behind the signing of Kolasinac, who I'm already sick of, but I can see he got to the club a few months before Sven.

Sokratis is an average defender IMO and I honestly don't think we had to go all the way to Germany to add another average CB to the fold, especially when there is an abundance of average and really good CBs already in the premiership and in the country as a whole.

In fact I've never understood why Arsenal FC has always overlooked quality CB signings already in the country- off my head their are about 10 names from other clubs I would rate over our international dross ( Cahill is included in that 10 BTW).

As for Guendozi, I think he is more of an Emery signing since he actually worked with him and he was totally unproven in any serious league before he came here. Either way, I've started seeing serious limitations with the way the boy plays and honestly don't think he should be holding a starting shirt in a serious top 4 club. Clearly I hope he gets better but I am not sold anymore.

I agree with you on all the targets the media says Emery wants- totally not impressed. However I would like him to be given the full opportunity to sink or swim with his "vision"- I really don't want any excuses of hands tied behind his back if he's still around this time next year.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I actually think Kola has really improved. He looks decent this season TBH.

He was a Wenger buy though IIRC.

I actually quite like Sokratis...mind you I'm comparing him to all the other Garbage CB's we have so that isn't really saying much.

I do agree with you on the homegrown CB thing...Holding started to look good prior to his injury...but I've never been sold on Chambers.

I don't think Guendozi ever worked with Emery, he came from Ligue Two, Emery was most likely aware of him though.

I hear you on Emery and his vision...I'm just not sure about his record in the market and his targets don't fill me with confidence.

[Globalgunner]

Kolasinac is okay, though Im rather disappointed with his lack of directness. A cut back is not what you do when you are 5m from the goal and ahead of the chasing defence. Our players lack in game intelligence and don't take opportunities, preferring to fall back on the safety net of training routines. Hes better than Monreal now who time has apparently caught up with.

Sokratis is the best of our defenders, his pairing with Holding was working well at the start of the season. Mustafi is garbage, his presence makes everyone else worse and nervous. He needs to be sold.

Xhaka is nothing but a nuisance. ABX.....anyone but Xhaka for our midfield

Laca is a good striker. He suffered initially last year because apparently Wenger didnt want him. He was bought apparently against his wishes and Wenger made a point of taking him off even when there was no tactical need. Auba is a conundrum to me. He is a different type of striker to Laca but not any more efficient. He seems to score only a particular type of goal and rarely creates his own chances. I am bemused how he is so high in he goals table as all I can recall are his glaring misses. His one outstanding goal was the classy strike against the Spuds. He would be much better if we had a playmaking AM supplying him chances, sadly we have Ozil instead. The solution is simple, play both together until we get a new playmaker. It could and should have been Mikhi, but something has gone amiss there, looks like the poor guy is broken...in his head.

in short, we need new playa

[Marc Overmars]

We just need better players in most areas of the pitch, we've got the weakest squad in the top 6 and it shows. Some players we have can be exceptional but the pieces around them need a lot of upgrading if we want to become a real top 4 team again and beyond.

What Arsenal players would fans of the teams above us include their starting 11? 1 or 2 at most then you're reaching.

If we somehow won the Europa League, I think we would get eaten alive in the CL if we didn't then invest heavily.

[Özim]

We just need better players in most areas of the pitch, we've got the weakest squad in the top 6 and it shows. Some players we have can be exceptional but the pieces around them need a lot of upgrading if we want to become a real top 4 team again and beyond.

What Arsenal players would fans of the teams above us include their starting 11? 1 or 2 at most then you're reaching.

Agreed it's a squad of very average players, there's a real lack of quality and unfortunately next to no assets of any value we can sell either.

Keeper (down to 1 now) hasn't convinced, the defence is shocking, there's very little quality, we've got 2 full backs who can't defend (first and foremost defenders should be able to defend, being able to attack is a bonus not a necessity) and quite a few CBs that just aren't any good on top of that.

Midfield isn't much better, we're losing Ramsey, then we have Xhaka, Mhiki, Iwobi, Elneny who I think aren't much kop, Ozil is out of favour and doesn't perform very often and then Guendouzi and AMN.

Up front we have two decent strikers but no real cover (Welbecks contract is up in the summer, he's had a long term injurt and I don't think he's good enough anyway).

The state of the squad is quite something, we realistically need a big clearout and some fresh blood and a bit of quality brought in, it's no real big surprise though, this is the consequence of year of neglect.

Smith Rowe and Nelson are two potential decent players (at the moment the later is closest to be a decent squad player), Calum Chambers is awful though, got his chance playing for Fulham and he's been terrible, can't believe we gave this guy a new contract, another shocker of a decision (as was giving Xhaka one). There's that Bielik guy who's on loan at Charlton but don't know if he's any.

[SMatthews]

If we sell Ozil in the summer (hopefully) I think we’ll have to take a hit on the fee as the buying club will want to balance it out given his high wages.

In terms of assets? Lacazette and Bellerin. Really good money in there.

[Marc Overmars]

Good fullbacks don’t grow on trees and given how Emery is trying to set us up, Bellerin is an essential member of the team moving forward.

[SMatthews]

Good fullbacks don’t grow on trees and given how Emery is trying to set us up, Bellerin is an essential member of the team moving forward.

He is, but if we don’t get a decent budget (likely) money has to be found somewhere. The Countinho sale was seen as disaster for Liverpool’s progress at the time - look what happened.

[SMatthews]

Higuain set for Chelsea on loan with an option of an extra year.

Not sure if this is really any better than what they have. He’s 31, not pacy, not scoring as much - might just be as mixed as Morata. Meanwhile, Giroud :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah I think Higuain is a complete sideways step but they seem desperate for options.

Giroud will be out the door in the summer as well.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I actually think Kola has really improved. He looks decent this season TBH.

He was a Wenger buy though IIRC.

I actually quite like Sokratis...mind you I'm comparing him to all the other Garbage CB's we have so that isn't really saying much.

I do agree with you on the homegrown CB thing...Holding started to look good prior to his injury...but I've never been sold on Chambers.

I don't think Guendozi ever worked with Emery, he came from Ligue Two, Emery was most likely aware of him though.

I hear you on Emery and his vision...I'm just not sure about his record in the market and his targets don't fill me with confidence.

I liked Kolasinac when he first came as I thought he would add a real physical presence on the left and displace Monreal who I never thought was strong enough for the position.

However, after his first few games and anytime I see him play now, I appreciate Nacho's subtility more and more- and IMO he is easily the best and most intelligent defender we have at this club. Only Holding comes somewhat close when it comes to discerning when to mix it up and what tackles to get involved in. Nacho also times his runs forward properly , has a great understanding with the attacking players and is a genuine goal threat (something I always held against him) . All the rest are Mustafi adherents- "Act before you think" fake machos with silly mistimed tackles and brainless lunges forward to set off non existent offside traps . To think we call all this crap they do "defending" makes me wonder if anyone remembers who we were.

Sokratis initially started of well but is firmly making more and more silly decisions- that penalty he gave away against Salah is easily one of the most brainless things I have ever seen a professional CB do in the top tier. Easily.


You are right about Guendozi- though he is a PSG youth product through and through he left before Emery came. Though I still think the signing was down to him.

[Mac76]

Article today in the Guardian on Arsenal's transfer situation - nothing we don't already know but some interesting figures

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/18/arsenal-era-austerity-emery-finance-stan-kroenke-champions-league

[GP]

Ornstein says we're going after Monchi for DoF.

[Marc Overmars]

We are turning into Sevilla MK II.

Barca have signed Kevin Prince Boateng (:blink:) so maybe that will give us the green light for Suarez.

[SMatthews]

Cardiff’s new record signing, Emiliano Sala, was on a plane that’s gone missing over France. Warnock going a bit far to prove his point about the EU. That’s £15m into the ocean.

[Letters]

Bit soon, dude!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That's grim. :(

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Couldn't Sven and Raul just thrown the everything at Dembele, signed him and just made peace. He's an accomplice of them both in different ways!

Anyway, this Monchi dude sounds alright but I remember absolutely nothing of seeing Suarez play.

[Marc Overmars]

Suarez has only ever been a fringe player at Barca. Sounds like he’s your typical ten-a-penny Spanish midfielder. Probably average but in this league he might be able to make some sort of impression.

[KSE Comedy Club]

We have also made contact with RM about signing James Rodriguez too :coffee:

[Özim]

I don't get the Suarez interest, doesn't seem to be anything special at all, he's moved around for peanuts all his career, was at City early on but never made the grade, can't say I'm particularly excited.

As for Rodriguez, hasn't performed for years, not sure if he would be on of those has beens who never rediscover their form.

[SMatthews]

We have also made contact with RM about signing James Rodriguez too :coffee:

He’s said he’s staying so that’s not happening.

[KSE Comedy Club]

He missed training with Bayern today though but no explanation as to why?

[SMatthews]

I can only hope he’s not coming. He had a blinding World Cup and has done nothing since.

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah he seems like one of those super talented players that Real Madrid chew up and spit out when they’re not flavour of the month anymore. Don’t know if he’d have the appetite to play and scrap for us.

That said, if he’s available on loan he could still be useful. Particularly in the Europa League, assuming he isn’t cup tied. We’re not exactly blessed with skilful and creative players.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Looks like the Suarez deal is off now according to Mundo Deportivo

[SMatthews]

If it hinged on a permanent move then it could be one of the smartest decisions made by the club in recent memory.

[I am invisible]

Going for Rodriguez would just be bizarre after cancelling Ramsey’s contract talks and freezing Özil out of the side!? Smells like bullshit to me...

[I am invisible]

Looks like the Suarez deal is off now according to Mundo Deportivo
I’d honestly rather give more game time to Smith Rowe, or one of the other yoots until the summer. Nothing against Suárez - I’m sure he’s a tidy enough player - I just don’t see him as special enough to warrant blocking somebody else’s path to the first team.

[Bumble]

I’d honestly rather give more game time to Smith Rowe, or one of the other yoots until the summer. Nothing against Suárez - I’m sure he’s a tidy enough player - I just don’t see him as special enough to warrant blocking somebody else’s path to the first team.

agree - we should look at internal solutions - it has worked for spuds after all. especially as most of our young players seem more forward thinking.

it still doesn't make sense to let Ramsey go when we stumbled on a formation last Saturday with 2 strikers and Ramsey behind the strikers which seemed to work.

[Özim]

I’d honestly rather give more game time to Smith Rowe, or one of the other yoots until the summer. Nothing against Suárez - I’m sure he’s a tidy enough player - I just don’t see him as special enough to warrant blocking somebody else’s path to the first team.

Me too, if you don't sign top class or potential to be top class, don't bother, not in the least bit bothered about Suarez not coming, he's nothing special and not needed. Might have been good enough for Sevilla, but with all due respect we're on a different level to them.

[selassie]

I’d honestly rather give more game time to Smith Rowe, or one of the other yoots until the summer. Nothing against Suárez - I’m sure he’s a tidy enough player - I just don’t see him as special enough to warrant blocking somebody else’s path to the first team.

Totally agree mate.

[KSE Comedy Club]

All these things maybe true, but we need some kind of injection into the squad if we are going to try and finish in the top 4.

I do think it’s about time smith rowe, etc deserve to start playing but we just need a bit extra :shrug:

[SMatthews]

If Suarez was loan only, then no problem. But if we were tied into a buy, then it’s not really much of a loan and would waste up valuable money (presuming there is a budget in the summer).

[SMatthews]

De Jong (no, not that one) going to Barca from Ajax for £65m.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

If Suarez is good enough for Barca’s squad is he not good enough for ours.... to play devils advocate...

Not overly bothered as I’ve barely seen him play but Emery seems to see something there.

[SMatthews]

On loan only. But there are other priority areas in the squad we need to buy ahead of his position. For once the club seem to have their head screwed on.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Who bloody knows anymore!! :shrug:

[Marc Overmars]

Higuain signs for Chelsea on loan.

[SMatthews]

Rumours that Dortmund want to use their Pulisic money to buy Zaha in the summer.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

He has 3 goals and 2 assists this season in the league I hear....

[GP]

Zaha is so overrated, honestly.

I'd be fuming mad if we broke the bank to sign him.

[GP]

Higuain signs for Chelsea on loan.

Decent backup to Giroud.

[Marc Overmars]

Giroud. :lol:

That oaf can’t even start games with them lacking options up front.

[Özim]

Giroud. :lol:

That oaf can’t even start games with them lacking options up front.

No he's hopeless, to think he was our number 1 striker for so many years, utter incompetence!

[SMatthews]

A good number one for a mid table team and a good back up for a top team but shouldn’t have been number one for us as long as he was.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Key part of our return to winning trophies.

:bow:

[KSE Comedy Club]

Higuain's stats aren't great this season though

8 goals in 22 appearances in all comps, 233 minutes per goal.
out of those games he has only been substituted on once.

Bang average tbh.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/gonzalo-higuain/leistungsdaten/spieler/39153

[Mac76]

No he's hopeless, to think he was our number 1 striker for so many years, utter incompetence!

All those arsenal fans cheering him last saturday - what would they have looked like if he'd scored?! Morons...

[SMatthews]

According to Ornstein and sources in France we are in talks to loan PSG’s Christopher Nkunku. We want loan and option to buy, they cover and a new contract before before agreeing to it.

[I am invisible]

Never heard of him! Where does he play?

[I am invisible]

If Suarez is good enough for Barca’s squad is he not good enough for ours.... to play devils advocate...

Not overly bothered as I’ve barely seen him play but Emery seems to see something there.
From what I’ve read, he sounds like another low-scoring, low-assisting, undefined attacking midfielder, who ocassionally plays as a winger, but who really prefers playing through the centre (and who doesn’t put much effort in defensively) - I’m sure he’s good enough on his day, and maybe Emery can get him playing with consistency, but it all sounds like something that we have in spades at the moment, even with all the injuries?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for adding to the squad for the run-in - I just want us to either add something different (like a genuine winger who actually loves playing there) or plug a glaring hole in the squad (defence looks thin everywhere at the moment)...

[Mac76]

Never heard of him! Where does he play?

Like matthews says, he plays at PSG... ;)

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

From what I’ve read, he sounds like another low-scoring, low-assisting, undefined attacking midfielder, who ocassionally plays as a winger, but who really prefers playing through the centre (and who doesn’t put much effort in defensively) - I’m sure he’s good enough on his day, and maybe Emery can get him playing with consistency, but it all sounds like something that we have in spades at the moment, even with all the injuries?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for adding to the squad for the run-in - I just want us to either add something different (like a genuine winger who actually loves playing there) or plug a glaring hole in the squad (defence looks thin everywhere at the moment)...

I hear you. It does beg the question why precisely Emery wants him. Talks have already been back and forth all month and maybe even before that. Seems a lot of energy to spend on a loan player that isn't really adding anything to the squad.

Stats can be misleading though sometimes. Zaha's stats are pretty poor, but I think he would undoubtedly add something to this squad.....though I wouldn't have him at the price he would cost and clearly neither would the club. Understatement of the year award....

[SMatthews]

Never heard of him! Where does he play?

I think an attacking midfielder of some kind. 21 years old and seen as a potential replacement for Ramsey. Maybe has potential that hasn’t been drawn out of him. A loan with an option to buy seems like a sensible deal.

[Özim]

I think an attacking midfielder of some kind. 21 years old and seen as a potential replacement for Ramsey. Maybe has potential that hasn’t been drawn out of him. A loan with an option to buy seems like a sensible deal.

Never heard of him but in many ways I prefer this to the Suarez deal, at least this guy is an unknown and young so there's a chance he might offer something, plus he comes from PSG and they seem to have a lot of talent coming through the ranks there.

Loan with option to buy is what you want, if he's good you buy him, if not you send him back.

[selassie]

Never heard of him but in many ways I prefer this to the Suarez deal, at least this guy is an unknown and young so there's a chance he might offer something, plus he comes from PSG and they seem to have a lot of talent coming through the ranks there.

Loan with option to buy is what you want, if he's good you buy him, if not you send him back.

My thoughts too, this Nkunku guy is supposed to be fairly highly rated too.

[selassie]

From what I’ve read, he sounds like another low-scoring, low-assisting, undefined attacking midfielder, who ocassionally plays as a winger, but who really prefers playing through the centre (and who doesn’t put much effort in defensively) - I’m sure he’s good enough on his day, and maybe Emery can get him playing with consistency, but it all sounds like something that we have in spades at the moment, even with all the injuries?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for adding to the squad for the run-in - I just want us to either add something different (like a genuine winger who actually loves playing there) or plug a glaring hole in the squad (defence looks thin everywhere at the moment)...

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/300945/Show/Christopher-Nkunku

His stats last season were not bad for a midfielder TBH. 4 goals and 1 assist in 19 appearances.

I'm all for this signing, would much prefer him to Suarez.

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah I'd rather take a punt on someone like Nkunku. France have a golden generation right now so maybe he could be another off that conveyor belt?

Not particularly bothered about Suarez though, I'm over these kind of players now. Spain aren't producing them like they once were and I'd rather we didn't waste our limited time and resources chasing someone we're not even convinced about and are probably only interested in because of the Emery connection.

[Mac76]

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/300945/Show/Christopher-Nkunku

His stats last season were not bad for a midfielder TBH. 4 goals and 1 assist in 19 appearances.

I'm all for this signing, would much prefer him to Suarez.

yeah agree - here's a youtube of some of things he can do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvi_5LB2pCM

[SMatthews]

I think Emery used him a fair deal at PSG and saw him as one of the best young talents at the club but he’s fallen out with Tuchel. Apparently PSG want him to sign up to a new contract before going out on loan, so we’ll see if we pull this one off or not.

[Ralpheroo72]

:gp:
Yeah I'd rather take a punt on someone like Nkunku. France have a golden generation right now so maybe he could be another off that conveyor belt?

Not particularly bothered about Suarez though, I'm over these kind of players now. Spain aren't producing them like they once were and I'd rather we didn't waste our limited time and resources chasing someone we're not even convinced about and are probably only interested in because of the Emery connection.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

He actually played against us in pre season with PSG when he put them aside with ease and his name was barely mentioned before or after the game.

I'm kind of unmoved either way. If he is such a big talent and he's coming from a club that doesn't need any amount of money we could eventually pay for him....how much would be actually cost I wonder?

Don't really see how it is going to spur us on to top 4 for the rest of the season, but that doesn't mean it isn't a worth while signing.

[SMatthews]

Ornstein now saying we are linked to Inter’s Perisic for a loan, with an option to buy.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We're checking in at the panic stations. :bow:

[Mac76]

Surely Emery's got a stronger case than ever to get some cover in the CB and RB positions, even Kroenke can't ignore our first three CB choices being out of action, two of them for a long time, plus we've noone really competent at RB

[SMatthews]

If Sokratis is ok, which seems to be the case, then probably not.

[Özim]

Ornstein now saying we are linked to Inter’s Perisic for a loan, with an option to buy.

Good player but we'd be wasting money we can not afford to, he's 29 and his value is only going to plummit, on top of that how many years has he got left before we need to replace him? We need to bring players in the mid 20s not late 20s.

[GP]

Surely Emery's got a stronger case than ever to get some cover in the CB and RB positions, even Kroenke can't ignore our first three CB choices being out of action, two of them for a long time, plus we've noone really competent at RB

Kroenke doesn't even know what a CB is.

He won't be putting his hand in his pocket. Ever.

[SMatthews]

Good player but we'd be wasting money we can not afford to, he's 29 and his value is only going to plummit, on top of that how many years has he got left before we need to replace him? We need to bring players in the mid 20s not late 20s.

Not if it’s a loan first.

[Marc Overmars]

Kroenke doesn't even know what a CB is.

He won't be putting his hand in his pocket. Ever.

Pretty much.

Kroenke has no sporting interest in the club. Never has, never will.

[Marc Overmars]

Wouldn’t mind Perisic if he’s available, some new wide options would be welcome. Would prefer some more long term options but I think this month it’s a case of beggars can’t be choosers...

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Surely Emery's got a stronger case than ever to get some cover in the CB and RB positions, even Kroenke can't ignore our first three CB choices being out of action, two of them for a long time, plus we've noone really competent at RB

Are you certain Kroenke even knows what a CB is?

[Özim]

Not if it’s a loan first.

It's a loan with an option to buy for 35 million apparently, fine with the loan but then paying 35 million for someone of his age would be foolish IMO given our resources.

[KSE Comedy Club]

We’ve been linked with loads of players this window, but yet still no one actually signed.

I thought we had seen the end of fucking about all window until the last day or two???
Even with only having loan deals as options, why the fuck are we waiting so long!

And what’s with all the players in their late twenties/early thirties?!?
Ffs, what is going on at this club?

We needed to strengthen this window to help secure top four and possibly win the europa league, but we have so far come up with nothing.

[GP]

Wenger had money and chose not to spend it

[SMatthews]

It's a loan with an option to buy for 35 million apparently, fine with the loan but then paying 35 million for someone of his age would be foolish IMO given our resources.

That’s the point - you loan with an option. No commitment there at all.

[Özim]

That’s the point - you loan with an option. No commitment there at all.

True but I can't help but worry that if he plays well we won't think twice about signing him, we seem to like players in their late 20s these days.

[Özim]

We’ve been linked with loads of players this window, but yet still no one actually signed.

I thought we had seen the end of fucking about all window until the last day or two???
Even with only having loan deals as options, why the fuck are we waiting so long!

And what’s with all the players in their late twenties/early thirties?!?
Ffs, what is going on at this club?

We needed to strengthen this window to help secure top four and possibly win the europa league, but we have so far come up with nothing.

Look on the bright side at least we haven't signed a guy with a broken back.

[Mac76]

Look on the bright side at least we haven't signed a guy with a broken back.


There's still time - what's Kim Kallstrom up to these days...? ;)

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I wanted this window to be irrelevant from us sufficiently recruiting and selling last summer but just like most windows there's an element of desperation owing to our need to recruit that other clubs can smell.

What on earth do Inter benefit from giving Him to us on loan anyway? I thought his performances were overrated in th World Cup too.

[SMatthews]

Inter have turned down the loan request, which make sense, and he’s now put in a transfer request.

Would still be surprised if this goes through.

[Özim]

Gelson Martins has signed for Monaco on loan, considering we're looking for loan option somewhat surprised we didn't go for him, hopefully we have better options lined up.

We've been linked with Malcolm which would make more sense than Perisic for me (Inter seem to want the cash for him so that sounds unlikely anyway).

[KSE Comedy Club]

Gelson Martins has signed for Monaco on loan, considering we're looking for loan option somewhat surprised we didn't go for him, hopefully we have better options lined up.

We've been linked with Malcolm which would make more sense than Perisic for me (Inter seem to want the cash for him so that sounds unlikely anyway).
We were linked with Martins, a three way battle with Monaco and Newcastle apparently.

Looks like he chose Monaco

[SMatthews]

Not sure why we’d want a guy who’s being shipped out halfway through his first season at a new club. Hardly sounds promising. He also signed a 6 year contract - God knows how much he’d cost to buy with five of those left.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Can we get drogba?

What about Zidane on loan, that might help


:rolleyes:

[selassie]

We’ve been linked with loads of players this window, but yet still no one actually signed.

I thought we had seen the end of fucking about all window until the last day or two???
Even with only having loan deals as options, why the fuck are we waiting so long!

And what’s with all the players in their late twenties/early thirties?!?
Ffs, what is going on at this club?

We needed to strengthen this window to help secure top four and possibly win the europa league, but we have so far come up with nothing.

Our transfer policy is totally scatter gun IMO. We don't seem to have any real long-term plan in regards to squad building.

We actually seem to be avoiding young players....or at least are linked to a lot 20's / early 30's players which is madness considering we are pleading poverty.

[Özim]

Not sure why we’d want a guy who’s being shipped out halfway through his first season at a new club. Hardly sounds promising. He also signed a 6 year contract - God knows how much he’d cost to buy with five of those left.

Not sure if you're talking about Martins or Malcolm but both have talent and could be something special, unlike the likes of Suarez. Perisic is fine but at 29 it makes no sense whatsoever, for me we should be looking for players who we can build a team with, not short term stop gaps that will need replacing before long.

[Özim]

Our transfer policy is totally scatter gun IMO. We don't seem to have any real long-term plan in regards to squad building.

We actually seem to be avoiding young players....or at least are linked to a lot 20's / early 30's players which is madness considering we are pleading poverty.

Totally agree, if we have no money why spend it on players who will need replacing in a few years, hardly common sense, this clubs finances and transfer dealings are such a mess.

[Bumble]

Totally agree, if we have no money why spend it on players who will need replacing in a few years, hardly common sense, this clubs finances and transfer dealings are such a mess.

maybe the plan is to buy more senior guys to buy time for the youngsters to mature and slowly get into the first team squad.

if we have good youngsters in the reverses then give them a game. Spurs fluked upon Harry Kane as I think he only played due to an injury crisis as he was about to go on loan again. Why not us?

[Özim]

maybe the plan is to buy more senior guys to buy time for the youngsters to mature and slowly get into the first team squad.

if we have good youngsters in the reverses then give them a game. Spurs fluked upon Harry Kane as I think he only played due to an injury crisis as he was about to go on loan again. Why not us?

We don't have that many particularly good youngsters. To me we need quality to build a team, we've waited for years now and we don't want to wait for another decade in the hope the youth scheme part 2 comes off.

Spurs seem to have an eye for spotting talent for cheap, we don't that much is clear.

[SMatthews]

If we don’t have many good youngsters, and are unable to to spot new ones, and we don’t want another youth project anyway, and selling valuable assets is a bad idea and buying estlabished older players is a no-no, any alternatives?

[Özim]

If we don’t have many good youngsters, and are unable to to spot new ones, and we don’t want another youth project anyway, and selling valuable assets is a bad idea and buying estlabished older players is a no-no, any alternatives?

Buy established players in their mids 20s or players who have shown they have real talent.

Buying players in their late 20s makes zero sense though, it's just money down the drain, money we cannot afford, Liverpool sold Coutinho for loads because he was young enough to have a huge market value, that's what we need to do.

Alongside that we can try and spot some young talents in the way that Chelsea, Spurs, Man City seem to and hope they make it.

[Letters]

Buy established players in their mids 20s or players who have shown they have real talent.

Apparently we don't have the money to :shrug:
I have no idea why but our owners are not willing to invest any of their own money, they're only interested in the business side of things.
This is why getting rid of Wenger, while necessary, was never going to be a silver bullet. We have other problems as a club.

[SMatthews]

Buy established players in their mids 20s or players who have shown they have real talent.

Buying players in their late 20s makes zero sense though, it's just money down the drain, money we cannot afford, Liverpool sold Coutinho for loads because he was young enough to have a huge market value, that's what we need to do.

Alongside that we can try and spot some young talents in the way that Chelsea, Spurs, Man City seem to and hope they make it.

Sounds pretty expensive.

Emery: "At the moment the club is telling me this is not a good moment to buy new players. But the club say to me in the summer it is going to be different, & we are going to have chances to take and spend money to buy players."

That Adidas money needs to be life changing to make any sort of real difference.

[Özim]

Apparently we don't have the money to :shrug:
I have no idea why but our owners are not willing to invest any of their own money, they're only interested in the business side of things.
This is why getting rid of Wenger, while necessary, was never going to be a silver bullet. We have other problems as a club.

We're willing to pay 35-40 million for someone who is 29 we musrt be able to find players in their mid 20s for that surely?

I agree about the investment though, pretty pathetic.