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Of course we would have, despite that would either of them have reach their current level in our chaotic system?Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
Wenger needs to be shopping for close to the finished product in order for us to win the major prizes.
Why do you think they need to placate their fans? They've just had their best season in years, have a great manager, decent squad and heading off into a free, larger stadium. Not a bad time to be a Spammers fan really. Sullivan just likes to throw money around. Carroll is a prime example of that. They've thrown loads of wilds bids around since their consortium took over.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
Leaving aside the fact that those two unfinished product players have just won a major prize, the problem is that by demanding only "close to the finished product" reduces the options and raises the costs. How many players are there that (1) could a similar job as Mahrez; (2) is available; (3) will fit into the Arsenal squad?Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
I understand and share the frustration. However, we do not know what goes on behind the scenes. I am always wondering who releases the rumours and stories about different players: is it a player's agent trying to re-negotiate a better contract; a selling club trying to see if there is any interest; a buying club trying to see who is available; a genuine story; or a journalist's flight of fantasy to fill the white space.
I raised the issue of placating the fans precisely because they have just had their best season and are heading off to a new stadium with a much larger capacity. It is possible that the enquiry/bid was genuine but I am just being cynical.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
A bit from column A, column B....there are so many conflicting agendas going on the industry, so many sources working out ways to make money from the game, that the truth is never black and white.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
Cynical is healthy in my book.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
I dont think the fans will be up in arms about a shitty transfer window. We all know what to expect from Wenger, so when the inevitable happens, it'll just be 'meh' rather than 'WTF'.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
I think the simple prediction is, is that it will be more productive than last summer but ultimately we will end up not buying in a position we need to buy in.
The nearest thing for me that we had to a satisfactory summer under Wenger was when we brought in Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla......and then i thought fantastic don't get anyone else in, just don't lose anyone else.
But then we sold Van Prematuregrey and Song.
We should sign Dybala.
Won't take much to be more productive than last summer!Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie
I think we'll do what we normally do, secure the one name that has been touted for months (Xhaka) then root around the dumpsters of the top clubs waiting for someone to become available. Might find someone decent, might not find anyone, either way, I think the manager is pretty chilled with the squad he has. Injuries may force his hand but otherwise he won't do enough, he never does.
Well i look at it this way, failure to significantly strengthen the side means no progression in the league means miserable stayaway fans means Wenger will walk.
He committed to a figure of three players the other day but as to the quality of those players, that's an entirely different thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
It's not even that I'm demanding, like most of us I'll be surprised if we sign more than 1 player. I'm not suggesting we go out and buy a team full of Messi's, but I do think we need a few high quality players to upgrade areas of the team, not squad. I also think it will be a waste of a window if we pursue "project" players, we have enough of them as it is and if Wenger is going to stick around for a few more years, which is highly likely, then he can develop them. The Xhaka rumours are very promising, a striker of that calibre would be a big step in the right direction.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
Wenger needs to have a really solid window this summer, competition is going to be very fierce given that the likes of West Ham are putting out bids of 30mill for strikers.
Possibly. I think he says these things fully expecting that every player other than those out of contract will be staying - we'll have to see how that target of 3 players pans out if any of the contracted players start agitating for moves (or if we receive silly money for anyone he feels he can live without)?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Who bloody well knows.Quote:
"We will have to try [to sign a striker], he said. It will not, ideally, be someone just to make up the numbers.
When you buy you want to buy top strikers. There is an international shortage. We need to find the right person but we have targets and hopefully we can do that.
Well, as things stand, we are starting the season down on squad numbers overall and quality in at least 3 positions;
Rosicky - squad filler gone
Arteta - squad filler gone
Flamini - squad filler gone
Oxlade - squad filler long term injury
Welbz - first team player long term injury
Walnut - squad filler touted to leave and shit if he stays
Striker - need quality, been a long term problem position
Right Winger/Forward - need quality, many players tried there and still no top quality
Central Midfield - need quality reinforcement, given all the departures
Central Defence - need quality reinforcement, given Per's arthritis and Gabriel's greenness ...no real competition there
Right Back - reinforcement may be required due to likely departure of Debuchy and Jenko's wilderness
Wenger relies on having a quality squad to achieve anything due to his tactical and motivational limitations. We have a decent team but gosh there is work to do and the injuries, departures and forever unaddressed key positions will see us struggle next season if we dither, deliberate and hang in limbo.
What Wenger do ....let me guess, dither, deliberate and hang in limbo. Well he's here for the long haul and he's buckled in tight, so let's sit back relax and watch what will unfold.
And possibly a keeper if Ospina clears off, although we may promote from within or use Ches if he wants to stick it out as back-up.
True. I think we'll need to hold on to one of Ospina or Ches and one of Jenko or Debuchy, otherwise we'll end doing a rebuilding job rather than topping up and addressing the key weakness areas we already have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
apparently we are playing hardball and haggling over a £2m difference in valuation with Borussia Monchengladbach over this car jacker guy
I think a few things have worked in his favour....Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
1 - Scoring a number of high profile / important goals
2 - The affiliation with Real and the fact they have a buy back clause
3- The dearth of world class Spanish forwards
I really don't care what our outlay is......what I want to see is the club identify genuine targets they feel can take us to the next level.....and actually show some conviction in the player identify and pay whatever it is to get him.........whether it costs 50 million or 50p.
For example if we spot an obscure player who is slightly on the young side but we have a strong feeling he will be Suarez level..... sign him, even if it is more than the going rate for an unknown young player.
ANyway from what I hear we are looking at something like....
Raphaël Guerreiro (LB)
Rob Holding (CB)
Granit Xhaka(DCM)
Mystery striker?
But I'd like us to add someone of Reus's quality like Nabil Fekir or at least with that potential.....
:good:Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro
Definitely going:
Arteta (CM)
Rosicky (CM)
Flamini (CM)
Almost certainly going:
Debuchy (RB)
Quite possibly going:
Ospina (GK)
On loan, and might not come back if we get a suitable offer:
Szczesny (GK)
Jenkinson (RB)
Meh:
Walcott (CF/RW)
Gibbs (LB)
No defined role / not really sure what they do for us:
Ramsey (CM)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (RW/CM)
Long-term injury:
Welbeck (CF)
Not getting any younger:
Mertesacker (CB)
Koscielny (CB)
Monreal (LB)
Cazorla (CM)
Wilshere:
Wilshere (CM)
As you say, it's the depth that looks like it needs the real work here. The starting XI could certainly benefit form a little bit of extra world-class in a couple of areas, but in general, with all of our best players fit, I think we have a solid 13 or 14 players who contribute well. Unfortunately that's about half of what we need for a long season, competing on 4 fronts (with internationals thrown in for good measure).
Not all of those players listed above necessarily need to be shipped out, and I'd be happy enough to see a few of the more promising younger players and loanees get a chance if they're looking ready, but I'd still be looking at a lot more than 3 additions, no matter how good those 3 players are...
A very interesting list. I think that Cazorla has one more year as a strong contender for the starting XI. However, I saw an article (rumour)(http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/foo...pp-Mario-Gotze) that said that Goetze was interested in Liverpool but only if they could provide European football. I would love to see Arsenal go for him.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Taking everything with a tonne or two of salt, it seems that Arsenal are definitely in for Morata and Xhaka. Add someone like Goetze and a young centre back, things would be looking really good.
Thing with Gotze is where he would fit. He was excellent for Dortmund behind Lewandowski but being played out wide at Bayern and Germany he's not been so hot. Same problem if he goes to Pool, as I can't see Klopp shifting Coutinho out of the picture.
Agreed that there is a problem of where he might fit. However, could he be a very good replacement for Sanchez if the rumours of discontent are true?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kano
If we lose Alexis we're done. A whole season on and I can't for the life of me understand why L'Crackhead didn't at least make a bid for Vidal, the perfect addition to a good start in signing Alexis. Now here we are, another also-ran, nothing season under our belts and we have to listen to talk about the players who are just in the door looking to head back out. Clouseau needs to get a fucking clue this summer and start showing some intent. It's not his fucking club to do with as he wishes.
Alright, apparently it IS his fucking club to do with as he wishes. Regardless, spend some fucking money.
I'm not convinced he works too well out wide, which has been a problem at Bayern/Germany. He would drift inside a lot as that's his natural inclination and that adds to the usual over crowding and focus on central play. We could do with at least one player that is comfortable playing out wide as we haven't had one in ages and it helps stretch play and not rely so much on Bellerin/Monreal then being caught out of position on the break. Given counter-attacking is heavily used in the league again, that's an important point I think, given our high line. Gotze playing centrally I can see but Ozil is there of course and Wilshere behind him. Play him on the wing and I don't think we'd see what he can really do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
That's not hardball, that's the entree. When we get down to haggling over 50 pence pieces, that's when we go hardball.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro
I do not believe that the team would be done if Sanchez leaves. Yes, there will be problems but the team will survive and thrive if he is replaced properly. As for Vidal, I recall talking to a friend at the time. My freind is an Inter Milan fan and keeps a close eye on the Italian scene. Most of the reports in Italy were saying Vidal wanted to go to Bayern, so there was little to no chance for Arsenal to get him.
When it comes to transfer reports and rumours, we have to be very sceptical about them. Until a player is presented by the club, we have to remember that many rumours are "leaked" in order to strengthen a party's hand in negotiations.
Frankly we can buy 5 world class players and it wont make a difference. I can see Wenger playing them out of position and employing tactics which increase tippy tappy efficiency and not goal efficiency. Add to that our defensive frailties to set pieces and we will fighting for 4th place trophy again.
Enthusiasm :rose:
Ben Arfa is a free agent, he has had a great season for Nice. He is the type of player to produce something out of nothing and can actually beat defenders, unlike many of our wingers/attackers.
My concern with Cazorla is that he's 31 (32 in December) and has just done his cruciate, so I'm not sure to what extent we can really count on him as a member of the starting XI throughout a long season from now on? No question about his ability at this level - just his durability. If we add another sentral midfielder this summer, which looks pretty nailed on at this point, then I'd be tempted to use him as a top-quality utility man, providing cover in centre mid when needed, but also competition and cover for Özil behind the striker - I think he's good enough to seamlessly switch between the two roles without breaking stride. However, it then becomes a question of whether Cazorla will be happy with that kind of sparing, utility role, or whether he might think he still has a few years at the top level left in him back in Spain? I wouldn't be at all surprised if he fancied one last move back home.Quote:
Originally Posted by Toronto Gooner
And I can see that same sort of thing happening throughout the squad...
If we sign a proper striker this summer, then what will Giroud or Walcott make of it? Unless the new player turns out to be a complete dud, it would surely spell the end of their hopes of being guaranteed first-choice CF. Will they then start considering a move while they still have some good years left?
With another decent CM probably coming in, on top of Elneny in January, Wilshere returning to fitness (hahalol), Coquelin and Cazorla (if he stays) then maybe Ramsey might start looking at and decide that it's not going to happen for him in centre mid at Arsenal? Again, I could actually see a role for him as an alternative to Özil behind the striker, and I'm not as against him playing on the right as some, but would Ramsey be happy with that? I'm not convinced.
There's been talk about Ox maybe going back to Southampton, if the stories are to be believed? I know Wenger would be against it, but, again, you've got to think about what the player might do. He's always seen himself as more of a central midfielder than a winger, and with competition starting to look pretty strong in both areas, he may decide that he needs a move to stop his career sliding into obscurity?
Ospina sounds like he's unhappy on the bench, Wenger doesn't seem to really fancy Campbell for some reason (should have added him to the list above), Özil and Sanchez are both stalling on their contract talks...
All of which brings me back to what I was saying earlier about Wenger and his target of 3 players - I'm sure he's come up with that thinking that the only losses that he'll be looking at from the current squad will be Welbeck, Arteta, Rosicky, Flamini and probably Debuchy, but I can see our needs and vacancies being a lot more fluid than that as the summer rolls on.
I think a CF, a CM and a RB are pretty much nailed on, whatever happens with everyone else - those are gaping holes in the squad that need to be filled.
I'd like to see a new CB come in regardless, if someone good enough is there for the taking, although I think we might have another year's grace to sort that one out? (Kos, Merts, Gabriel, Chambers, occasionally Monreal, and maybe even one of the younger players like Bielik(?) will probably be enough to see us through another season, if it comes to it.)
LB is also a slight concern, but, again, I don't think it's critical just yet. Monreal still has another good couple of years in him, and Gibbs seems happy enough as his understudy. The problem comes when Monreal needs replacing as first choice, because I'm not convinced Gibbs is up to it.
Beyond that, I think Walcott is probably done at Arsenal now - he'll be well aware of what the fans think of him after this year, and losing his spot in the England squad will have stung him. He doesn't strike me as the sort of player that will look at himself and think that he has to do better - I think he'll ultimately blame the fact that he hasn't been given enough chances as a CF and decide that it's everybody else's fault. Chuck in the likely arrival of a new striker, who will hopefully walk straight into the starting XI, and I just don't see him sticking around, whatever Wenger might say about wanting to keep him. His wages might be a stumbling block, but with this new TV money that's flooded into the Prem, I'm not even sure that's quite the issue that it was?
Would he need to be replaced with a big signing? I think it depends on the signing. If someone like a Mhiktaryan or a Mahrez were genuinely be available, then I think that's the kind of player that you make room for, but then I also think that our wide options are already looking a lot healthier than they were at the start of the season, with the emergence of Iwobi and Campbell? Toral sounds like he's done about as much as he can to impress on his loan spells, so he could be an option, and I'm also hearing a lot of big talk about Chris Willock being on the cusp of the senior squad? I'm not quite as worried about this area as others.
Ramsey and Ox I'm not too fussed about either way at the moment - happy to keep them around, as long as they're nowhere near CM, but I honestly wouldn't care much if they wanted out either. I'd also be happy to promote a youth player or loanee to replace them, providing we're talking about someone of at least a similar(ish) level to Iwobi (who already looks more useful than both of them).
Sanchez and Özil are the big ones - chuck whatever money it takes at them to keep them happy, because I have almost no faith in our scouts and negotiating team being able to arrange top-quality replacements for them on top of everything else! Just bringing in Wenger's original 3 players will probably push them to their very limits!
I am wayyyy too hungover to read all that
Get in Gotze/Isco for Cazorla
@honigstein
bit of a twist in the Xhaka story. official bid has now come in much lower than Gladbach expected after negotiations with 3rd parties.
https://twitter.com/honigstein/statu...rc=twsrc%5Etfw
:haha: :haha: :haha:
Arsenal bid of €25m revealed for Granit Xhaka; Gladbach want €40m [BILD]
:haha:
Max Eberl "There is an offer. With an offer in this range we cant talk seriously"
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Loblaw
:haha:
It's a fair bid, if true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Munchies