Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

I agree with having him on the best contract, but paying him that much is dangerous for non-silly money clubs, what about new signings if or when Suarez leaves? They want big contracts aswell, Sturridge probably wants to be paid up there aswell seeing as his striker partner is getting more than double and so on, if u understand what i mean?

At the risk of turning this into RAWK () by all accounts we're re-jigging our wage bill. Our best players get paid at the top of the pay scale, the players who do consistently well get raises and the ones not up to scratch get told to sod off. Seems logical, but sadly for us in recent years hasn't been followed.
Couple that with us being tighter than a badger's arse since the Kenny/Comolli debacle and making an effort to get the big wages off the bill and it's hardly reckless. Not least our preference for youth and reticence to buy older players... yes Kolo but he's working for food.
If Sturridge keeps on banging in the goals consistently then his pay will reflect that and if that were the case he'd probably be worth it. If/when Suarez leaves we'll be in the same situation whatever we pay him. If players aren't worth the pay rise then they can kick and scream all they like in the knowledge any move they make will be at best sideways.

We have good revenues; decent matchday income, very good commercial income and the behemoth that is PL TV money. We're not going to do a Leeds because of it, hence why 'reckless' etc is too strong a description. Employing Mark Hughes and signing 15 pub teamers is reckless. Having one of the best players in the world play for you when you aren't currently one of the biggest clubs is a coup. Having him do so [for however long] after last summer is a miracle.

[Heisenberg]

Arsenal shopping list for the summer

I was thinking today a bit about what we need to do in the summer to strengthen and press on. Even if we end the season with a trophy, we can and ought to improve in certain areas. Looking at the squad, there are areas where we're stronger than others and areas where we can reasonably anticipate players moving on.

For example:

Goalkeeper
Fabianski isn't a bad back up but he may be off in the summer. In fact he might have said he would be. I can't really blame him, we signed him fairly young and he will want to be playing regularly. Viviano is only on a loan. So we will need some new back up goalkeepers. I'm not sure there's anyone we're likely to be in for who would be better than Szczesny, so this is an area we may need to sign in because of departures.

Defence
Vermaelen will probably leave in the summer. This means we will need a new back up centre back. We will probably need another back up centre half, unless a returning loanee is good enough for that role, as we have gone the season basically with only Vermaelen to rely on, and he has been injured himself of late.

We may also want a right back depending on how Sagna's contract negotiations pan out. He has had a good season and may have a couple more left in him, so ideally he'll sign a new deal. But if he doesn't, I don't think Jenkinson is ready, he'd be too much of a step back even if he does develop later. So we'd need a replacement for Sagna.

Midfield
We're pretty much alright here. We have a lot of options.

Forward
So, the players we have that the Arsenal site considers forwards are:

• Podolski
• Giroud
• Walcott
• Oxlade-Chamberlain
• Sanogo
• Bendtner
• Miyaichi
• Gnabry

Now, to thin the list out: my first observation is that Park is not even on the list anymore, so there we go. Second, I think Miyaichi's days may be numbered since he has barely featured. Furthermore I think Bendtner will be off, having only remained here as we could not get Ba in. I would not really consider Gnabry or Oxlade-Chamberlain outright forwards because, while they have played a lot on the wings, they have not featured strictly upfront. I don't know where Gnabry will develop but Ox seems destined to move in the centre and has played there.

So that leaves us with Podolski, Giroud, Walcott and Sanogo. Podolski is good and I hope we keep him but he hasn't performed that well when given the sole striker role. Walcott has played through the middle competently but is probably best deployed on the right making runs in and behind. Sanogo remains raw and unproven with uncertainty over his long term fitness. Which leaves us with Giroud, who tries hard, does okay and is generally loveable ("heart attack!"). However, unfortunately for dear Olivier, we probably want someone better and more rounded to be our target man. So that means we will want to get in a top quality striker and hopefully retain Giroud as a back up.

[IBK]

Arsenal shopping list for the summer

I was thinking today a bit about what we need to do in the summer to strengthen and press on. Even if we end the season with a trophy, we can and ought to improve in certain areas. Looking at the squad, there are areas where we're stronger than others and areas where we can reasonably anticipate players moving on.

For example:

Goalkeeper
Fabianski isn't a bad back up but he may be off in the summer. In fact he might have said he would be. I can't really blame him, we signed him fairly young and he will want to be playing regularly. Viviano is only on a loan. So we will need some new back up goalkeepers. I'm not sure there's anyone we're likely to be in for who would be better than Szczesny, so this is an area we may need to sign in because of departures.

Defence
Vermaelen will probably leave in the summer. This means we will need a new back up centre back. We will probably need another back up centre half, unless a returning loanee is good enough for that role, as we have gone the season basically with only Vermaelen to rely on, and he has been injured himself of late.

We may also want a right back depending on how Sagna's contract negotiations pan out. He has had a good season and may have a couple more left in him, so ideally he'll sign a new deal. But if he doesn't, I don't think Jenkinson is ready, he'd be too much of a step back even if he does develop later. So we'd need a replacement for Sagna.

Midfield
We're pretty much alright here. We have a lot of options.

Forward
So, the players we have that the Arsenal site considers forwards are:

• Podolski
• Giroud
• Walcott
• Oxlade-Chamberlain
• Sanogo
• Bendtner
• Miyaichi
• Gnabry

Now, to thin the list out: my first observation is that Park is not even on the list anymore, so there we go. Second, I think Miyaichi's days may be numbered since he has barely featured. Furthermore I think Bendtner will be off, having only remained here as we could not get Ba in. I would not really consider Gnabry or Oxlade-Chamberlain outright forwards because, while they have played a lot on the wings, they have not featured strictly upfront. I don't know where Gnabry will develop but Ox seems destined to move in the centre and has played there.

So that leaves us with Podolski, Giroud, Walcott and Sanogo. Podolski is good and I hope we keep him but he hasn't performed that well when given the sole striker role. Walcott has played through the middle competently but is probably best deployed on the right making runs in and behind. Sanogo remains raw and unproven with uncertainty over his long term fitness. Which leaves us with Giroud, who tries hard, does okay and is generally loveable ("heart attack!"). However, unfortunately for dear Olivier, we probably want someone better and more rounded to be our target man. So that means we will want to get in a top quality striker and hopefully retain Giroud as a back up.

We can't keep on winging it without proper defensive back up, and Wenger better have a plan to address Sagna and Vermaelen if he leaves - cos ain't nothing inside the squad to fill the gaps. I'd like to think that last Summers soap opera tells Wenger that he needs a striler too - but the fact he considers Sanogo to be ready to play CL leaves me nervous....

[Penguin]

Our second choice fullbacks are well under par too. Jenkinson is awful and Monreal is a disaster defensively. I'm more disappointed in Nacho bec`use I e|pected more considering he's a Spanish international. I know it%s hard to find players who can stay on the bench for a long time without kicking up a fuss but whats the point if they end up costing us goals and points when they do play?

[AFC Leveller]

Leverkusen a

[JonasTC]

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[selassie]

We can't keep on winging it without proper defensive back up, and Wenger better have a plan to address Sagna and Vermaelen if he leaves - cos ain't nothing inside the squad to fill the gaps. I'd like to think that last Summers soap opera tells Wenger that he needs a striler too - but the fact he considers Sanogo to be ready to play CL leaves me nervous....

I'll be honest, this summer really worries me. Whilst replacing Sagna and Vermaelen isn't an impossible task, Wenger really needs to do it properly and by that I mean spending money. We don't need to spend Chelsea/City type money on replacements but I would hope that Wenger replaces them accordingly/like for like with established international players.

Add to that, we definitely need a top class Striker. A Holding Midfielder would be nice too, but I think Wenger will stick with Arteta and Flamini.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

We bid for Bender so I would surmise that we will be looking for a DCM again. The problem is, Wenger will probably be willing to go into the next season without signing one, even though it is a target area.

I don't think we will lose both Vermaelen and Sagna. Perhaps one but probably not both. If we do sign a right back, I really hope we go for a marauding one that has the ability to be lethal going forward.

[AKBapologist]

We need a CDM, Striker and a Winger imo. Right Back if sagna goes and I'm not too confident in Nacho tbh.

[Özim]

Rosicky is staying it seems, I'm torn though because I like to see him in the team as he really adds pace to our attacks, but on the flip side he's injured a lot and thus we're carrying someone injury prone which does impact our chances with the way Wenger plays the squad game.

IMO we need a striker, CDM, right back if Sagna leaves and CB is Vermaelen leaves. A pacey winger would also be useful as we don't really have anyone to stick on the wing and help our counters.