Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit.

Like Loltters says. We don't have an issue scoring goals.

We just lack another one of those mentally good players who make the difference when things aren't going your way, or in the big matches. Doesn't have to be a striker. Could be a powerhouse, a winger....another Alexis on the other side would be good.

The solution to hitting the top is consistency across the season (not just in 2/3 of the season), and Wenger working out where to play people to get the best out of them, without trying to lever Ramsey into the side by playing him as a sweeper or something stupid.

Another worldie is what we need.....

Sanchez as CF appeals to me far more than any of the big-name strikers that we've been linked with so far - guys like Higuain are OK, but I don't think they'd bring anywhere near the flair and excitement and relentless energy to the role that Alexis would.

The only thing that makes me think twice about it is that we already have something pretty special in Sanchez as we're currently using him: a player who, not only gets us 20+ goals a season from out wide, and works his tits off for the team defensively, but who also genuinely loves that wide-role, and doesn't pout about not being played through the middle. That's almost as rare as world-class CFs.

I guess it comes down to what is going to be easier for us to find: a world-class, 30-goal-a-season CF, to come straight into the side as it is, or another world-class, 20-goal-a-season winger, who will free up Sanchez?

I think there are times where we do lack goals at important times, both home games last season and the season before against Chelsea and United we created enough to win one of these games yet we had Giroud who fluffed his lines.
Simple fact is we need someone who doesn't need three chances before he takes one, is that Higuain? I'd honestly say I don't know.
Our goal scoring form like Giroud is inconsistent, you can't expect to win the title failing to score three home games in a row, and certainly not by only winning twelve games from nineteen. I contend that we weren't shipping a ridiculous amount of goals at home (kept nine clean sheets, and only conceded more than one goal on three occasions)
So it's not even about the amount of goals we score over a season, we aren't getting an even spread.

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

Sanchez as CF appeals to me far more than any of the big-name strikers that we've been linked with so far - guys like Higuain are OK, but I don't think they'd bring anywhere near the flair and excitement and relentless energy to the role that Alexis would.

The only thing that makes me think twice about it is that we already have something pretty special in Sanchez as we're currently using him: a player who, not only gets us 20+ goals a season from out wide, and works his tits off for the team defensively, but who also genuinely loves that wide-role, and doesn't pout about not being played through the middle. That's almost as rare as world-class CFs.

I guess it comes down to what is going to be easier for us to find: a world-class, 30-goal-a-season CF, to come straight into the side as it is, or another world-class, 20-goal-a-season winger, who will free up Sanchez?

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Another option is DIY. We've been linked with Draxler for an age. Buy him, convert him to the role, we have players who can do a decent enough job while we wait. Draxler has that flair and unpredictability common with the really top players and he has time on his side. If we can't punt £60mill on a world beater (or £50mill on Sterling :haha: ) then this might be the way to go. Only sign him on a 250 year contract with a Marketing style buyout clause x 4 so he doesn't get poached the minute we finish the polishing.

The only problem with Draxler is that we need someone who can do it now. Draxler has never even played as a striker, and has a goal record of 13 from 38 games, 6 from 38 and 2 from 10 in his last three seasons. Not sure how he can go from that to a top CF really. I'm not saying that he can't do it but it's a gamble that may or may not work, and even if it does it will take a lot of time and patience on and off the pitch. The likes of Sanchez, Ozil and Koscielny aren't gonna wait around for that.

Whatever happened to Reus? We were linked heavily with him last season.

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Originally Posted by Penguin

The only problem with Draxler is that we need someone who can do it now. Draxler has never even played as a striker, and has a goal record of 13 from 38 games, 6 from 38 and 2 from 10 in his last three seasons. Not sure how he can go from that to a top CF really. I'm not saying that he can't do it but it's a gamble that may or may not work, and even if it does it will take a lot of time and patience on and off the pitch. The likes of Sanchez, Ozil and Koscielny aren't gonna wait around for that.

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The idea is not without its problems, but the alternative - finding and then paying for a ready made, world class talent - has plenty of problems too. I can think of a list of strikers I'd like to see at the club but can't think of one that's available. It would also be a gamble to pay the crazy transfer fees and wages being demanded by strikers who aren't any better, or not significantly better, than Giroud.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Really? Understandable why he wanted out. But you don't think in retirement years he won't regret not having that icon status where he can return to a stadium like Henry and Wright to crowd showing complete gratitude? That little boy inside him knows what I'm talking about. When he moved to Utd, I don't think he pictured one medal and then out. He doesn't strike me as a player just about the money.

He finally got his medal but he must be wondering what if he stayed at Arsenal. We finally look like we're building something and he just missed out.

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Yes really. RvP may look back on not being seen as a legend at a club AND winning the premier league, but he can't be sure that would have happened with us, nor will he be in 20 years time..... which is half the reason he left. We all play the 'what if EVERYTHING in my life fell into place as it unfolded' game. In short, he may look back and ask what if?...but he won't look back and regret his decision IMHO and he won't regret the fact that his premier league medal is now a certainty or the matter of a factual historical event.

How many medals could he expect in the short career he had left from the summer he left anyway? I think he will be relieved he won the big one he did, though it was only the one. His career passing him by having won nothing major was a distinct and very real possibility once upon a time.

I may be completely wrong and he might regret it, I don't know the bloke personally, but he doesn't strike me as the regretful type......even privately.

To be frank.....unless it happens the way NQ is suggesting......and I don't mean specifically or exclusively buying Draxler and converting him, but getting the next best thing or the unfinished article......where on earth is this devastating / world class forward going to come from?

It just isn't going to happen.

Walcott is our exciting CF. I think people have forgotten how good he was before his injury.

What happened with Draxler? I haven't seen anything of him for ages, has he been shit or injured?

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Really? Understandable why he wanted out. But you don't think in retirement years he won't regret not having that icon status where he can return to a stadium like Henry and Wright to crowd showing complete gratitude? That little boy inside him knows what I'm talking about. When he moved to Utd, I don't think he pictured one medal and then out. He doesn't strike me as a player just about the money.

He finally got his medal but he must be wondering what if he stayed at Arsenal. We finally look like we're building something and he just missed out.

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Well I'm sure he'll get a great reception at OT. Their fans know that he got an average Man U team their 20th PL title.

I'm surprised they're selling him, they must have something big lined up.

I think I speak for many when I say I'd much rather take a punt on Lacazzette than go in for Higuain who's overpriced and overrated. He's a tad more clinical than Giroud but apart from that, Giroud bests him in all other departments. Heck, I'd much rather take Draxler and attempt to convert him than spunk all our load on Higuain.

Agree with PnG on this, unless an obvious worldie becomes available (Aguero decides he hates Manchester and has to come to London :pray:) I don't think Wenger will go in for someone this summer and instead make do with our current options, which compared to our rivals aren't that bad to be fair. I'd only really say that City have us definitively beat when it comes to forwards.

By the way anyone else slightly concerned about the recent news about Welbz? He's been pulled out of the Singapore tour because he's "allegedly" still recovering from the same injury that he had when the season ended. Seems like an awfully long time to recover from something Wenger claimed to be minor right before the FA cup match. :huh:

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Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice

Yes really. RvP may look back on not being seen as a legend at a club AND winning the premier league, but he can't be sure that would have happened with us, nor will he be in 20 years time..... which is half the reason he left. We all play the 'what if EVERYTHING in my life fell into place as it unfolded' game. In short, he may look back and ask what if?...but he won't look back and regret his decision IMHO and he won't regret the fact that his premier league medal is now a certainty or the matter of a factual historical event.

How many medals could he expect in the short career he had left from the summer he left anyway? I think he will be relieved he won the big one he did, though it was only the one. His career passing him by having won nothing major was a distinct and very real possibility once upon a time.

I may be completely wrong and he might regret it, I don't know the bloke personally, but he doesn't strike me as the regretful type......even privately.

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I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see what he says later on in retirement years because he did once say this.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/englan...s-with-arsenal

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"The bottom line is that I want to win trophies with Arsenal, not with anybody else. I know you can win trophies in many countries and in many ways, but I want to do that in our way and in an Arsenal shirt.

I'm sure I could win things at another team in another country, but would it feel like our trophy, my trophy? I'm not sure it would. Anything we win here will come from the heart and that's what I want.

"It's my dream and I see no point in speaking about other teams when I have these dreams. I think other people know that about me; I'm just hungry to win with Arsenal and that's it."

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It's something he can only answer. Circumstances change and a year ago, I'd agree with you about him having no regrets. But his Utd career has really been railroaded. Fergie retiring hit him the hardest according to Rio and it's been a downward spiral since. I don't know if that one season will be enough for him to go down as a Utd fan favorite. And what if we actually win the league in the coming season? A big if, but I can't imagine that not having an effect on how he reflects on things.

I can totally understand why he wanted to go and I blame the club for not standing strong and I can't understand why they didn't say we'd had new funds coming in. But watching RVP celebrate after scoring against us really turned the tide for me. It's like he's forgotten what we've done for him and how we stood by him. Utd were quick to get rid of him in comparison. Call me bitter, but I hope he feels regret. Those comments about the 'little boy' and the bravado displayed on the pitch....pissed me off more than any other former player that has left us.

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Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice

To be frank.....unless it happens the way NQ is suggesting......and I don't mean specifically or exclusively buying Draxler and converting him, but getting the next best thing or the unfinished article......where on earth is this devastating / world class forward going to come from?

It just isn't going to happen.

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What about that Barca lad we were being linked with - Munir, was it? Seems to be in the same boat as Pedro over there - can't get near the starting XI if the usual front 3 are fit, and is chaffing for game time. I keep hearing about how highly they rate him over there, and don't want to let him go, etc, but I seem to remember them going through the same song and dance Alcantara a couple of summers back, and he ended up going to Bryan?

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Whatever happened to Reus? We were linked heavily with him last season.

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Reus would be pretty close to my ideal signing - it'd be like having a second Sanchez in the side! Different playing styles, but their work-rate, end-product, and positional flexibility are almost identical.

If we're talking about chucking silly money at Napoli for Higuain, then why not chuck a similar amount at Dortmund, and see what they say?

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Originally Posted by Grebbo

Walcott is our exciting CF. I think people have forgotten how good he was before his injury.

What happened with Draxler? I haven't seen anything of him for ages, has he been shit or injured?

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I haven't. It's just a waiting game and seeing if Wenger gives him that role in pre season. That's the indicator. These are the combos I'd like to see Wenger try in preseason.

Sanchez...Walcott...Ox

Walcott...Sanchez...Ox

Welbeck is injured and I think I've seen enough of Giroud.

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

Reus would be pretty close to my ideal signing - it'd be like having a second Sanchez in the side! Different playing styles, but their work-rate, end-product, and positional flexibility are almost identical.

If we're talking about chucking silly money at Napoli for Higuain, then why not chuck a similar amount at Dortmund, and see what they say?

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Let's hope that's a possibility. If we are thinking about playing Walcott or Sanchez through the middle, we'll be very light on the wings.

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Originally Posted by Grebbo

Walcott is our exciting CF. I think people have forgotten how good he was before his injury.

What happened with Draxler? I haven't seen anything of him for ages, has he been shit or injured?

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Injured for a while, I think (6 games last season, according to wiki), and then I don't know what happened with him after that? I don't think Shalke had a great season in general last year.

I get the feeling he's a bit like the Ox, in that he's got the talent, but maybe isn't quite getting the headline-grabbing stats to really make anyone other than Shalke fans take notice.

Or maybe he's just been having some of the same problems that Sterling has? Not in terms of making himself look like an ungrateful, badly-advised, spoiled little prick, but he's a young man who's had a lot of speculation following him around for a couple of years now, and it could have affected his form? Or maybe Shalke have lost a couple of key players or something that has destabilized their whole attack (like Liverpool with Suarez), and everyone in the side has suffered for it? I haven't really paid attention to them since the Draxler links cooled, so I'm just speculating here...

I forgot about Sterling. Ignoring bad press, he'd be a good addition. Talented player.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Let's hope that's a possibility. If we are thinking about playing Walcott or Sanchez through the middle, we'll be very light on the wings.

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I suppose there is another, less direct solution there for us... Ozil and Cazorla can both play either wing, as can Sanchez, Walcott, Welbeck, etc, so if whoever we're picking as our no.10 and CF can drift wide when needed, then we might be able to get away with fielding a couple of more centrally-minded attacking midfielders (e.g. Ramsey, Wilshere, Ox) in those wide attack areas? I'd imagine it working a little something like the way Henry used to drift out to the flanks, and Pires and Ljungberg would cut into the middle.

Of course, we'd also need a couple of attack-minded fullbacks to get up and down the lines, providing support and add extra width, but we alredy have Bellerin doing a cracking job of that down the right, and (in spite of Nacho's excellent form) I've seen us linked with 2 or 3 left-backs so far this summer (Faouzi Ghoulam at Napoli, Baba Rahman at Augsburg, and I'm sure there was someone else), so it might be something we're looking at?

Whatever we end up doing though, we're going to need a quality addition somewhere across the attacking third - either an out-and-out CF, a replacement winger (to free up our current wide forwards to play as the striker), or another goal-scoring attacking midfielder (to beef up our numbers, if we go with the above workaround)...

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w...psgtzwzcxe.jpg

Has Theo even signed an extension? He could piss off this transfer window in a heartbeat!

Delph to Man City. :lol:

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Delph to Man City. :lol:

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:haha:

The next Rodwell.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Delph to Man City. :lol:

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his career wasnt going anywhere fast at Villa, he gets the opportunity to double his wages and travel to big european stadiums while warming the bench/stands and on two years time, when he is 27, sunderland will buy him for 10m.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Delph to Man City. :lol:

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What a twat. Surely he can figure out they have signed him to fill the homegrown quota?

pound shop Paul Pogba

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see what he says later on in retirement years because he did once say this.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/englan...s-with-arsenal



It's something he can only answer. Circumstances change and a year ago, I'd agree with you about him having no regrets. But his Utd career has really been railroaded. Fergie retiring hit him the hardest according to Rio and it's been a downward spiral since. I don't know if that one season will be enough for him to go down as a Utd fan favorite. And what if we actually win the league in the coming season? A big if, but I can't imagine that not having an effect on how he reflects on things.

I can totally understand why he wanted to go and I blame the club for not standing strong and I can't understand why they didn't say we'd had new funds coming in. But watching RVP celebrate after scoring against us really turned the tide for me. It's like he's forgotten what we've done for him and how we stood by him. Utd were quick to get rid of him in comparison. Call me bitter, but I hope he feels regret. Those comments about the 'little boy' and the bravado displayed on the pitch....pissed me off more than any other former player that has left us.

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I think that if the words about his affection for us hold weight, he would regret his decision in any case...even if he had won 2/3 league titles with them....but as we know, footballers can be just as fickle as glory hunting fans can.

You're right, only he will really know but I think that something changed in him ever since he issued that infamous statement. I think at a human level he will feel somewhat conflicted in time, but I wouldn't go as far as regret. He is far too head strong and stubborn a character from what I perceive and will see even the solitary PL title as vindication.

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

What about that Barca lad we were being linked with - Munir, was it? Seems to be in the same boat as Pedro over there - can't get near the starting XI if the usual front 3 are fit, and is chaffing for game time. I keep hearing about how highly they rate him over there, and don't want to let him go, etc, but I seem to remember them going through the same song and dance Alcantara a couple of summers back, and he ended up going to Bryan?

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:d

Alright mate, long time no see!

I don't know much about this Munir.....but what we do know is that Barca are always interested in the top world talent. Their ego as a club and desire for the Hollywood razmataz will mean even some of their more talented academy players will slip the net. Deep down they probably know that and that is why Cesc ended up with us in part.

If this Muniz is the next best thing....then hey....test the water I say....

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Originally Posted by AFC Leveller

his career wasnt going anywhere fast at Villa, he gets the opportunity to double his wages and travel to big european stadiums while warming the bench/stands and on two years time, when he is 27, sunderland will buy him for 10m.

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Burn this Soothsayer!

I know you rated Cabaye highly mate, reckon we should have made a move?

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Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice

I think that if the words about his affection for us hold weight, he would regret his decision in any case...even if he had won 2/3 league titles with them....but as we know, footballers can be just as fickle as glory hunting fans can.

You're right, only he will really know but I think that something changed in him ever since he issued that infamous statement. I think at a human level he will feel somewhat conflicted in time, but I wouldn't go as far as regret. He is far too head strong and stubborn a character from what I perceive and will see even the solitary PL title as vindication.


:d

Alright mate, long time no see!

I don't know much about this Munir.....but what we do know is that Barca are always interested in the top world talent. Their ego as a club and desire for the Hollywood razmataz will mean even some of their more talented academy players will slip the net. Deep down they probably know that and that is why Cesc ended up with us in part.

If this Muniz is the next best thing....then hey....test the water I say....

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Munir = RVP with Theo's rapid pace. Maybe not as fast as Theo but still very fast. Would take him in heart beat :coffee:

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Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice

Burn this Soothsayer!

I know you rated Cabaye highly mate, reckon we should have made a move?

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I think Cabaye is a top CM, one of the few who gets goals from CM at a regular rate. When he was at Newcastle, i would have taken him ahead of Ramsay but not too sure right now, he is 30 (or soon to be) and has wasted too much time on the bench to get that sharpness back quickly.

Good signing for Palace though, suprised noone else was on for him.

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Originally Posted by milla

Munir = RVP with Theo's rapid pace. Maybe not as fast as Theo but still very fast. Would take him in heart beat :coffee:

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Munir is a replica of Podolski, lethal left foot and a good finisher but does nothing else. He doesnt get involved as much as he should, relies too much on his left peg and not what we need IMO.

Munir looks like a d-bag..

Schweinsteiger to United. :o

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33491718

Great signing. Does that mean they no longer want Schneiderlin?

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Schweinsteiger to United. :o

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33491718

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:doh: Another one of our players going to Utd.

Wijnaldum signs for Newcastle, ver good player too bad about the club he's going to

I hope we're going to continue the Ozil, Alexis trend this summer. Cech is a good goalkeeper and all but he's not the huge sign of intent and ambition we need to see. Couple more pieces needed, what we don't need is to end up short, 2% away. Been there, done that.

Sky Sports News HQ ‏@SkySportsNewsHQ · 4m4 minutes ago
BREAKING: Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirms agreement in place with Man Utd for transfer of Bastian Schweinsteiger

Hope the genius LVG re-converts him into a winger.