Summer Transfers 2025 Missed Opportunities and Regrets

[Marc Overmars]

On the matter of players being pimped out by their agents, Rodrygo

I’m sure he’s a decent enough player. But Arsenal fans salivating over tenuous links with him….is a direct consequence of the PR job done through social media rather than any particular regard for the player who certainly barely warranted a mention in the preview of our champions league tie against Madrid

He’s a bit of an unsung hero that gets forgotten about because of the sheer amount of Galactico’s they’ve got but he is a very good player. Trossard and Martinelli are not better than him IMO, he definitely improves us.

[KSE Comedy Club]

That’s a bit of a false binary in my view

I think there’s a lot of both promising and finished article strikers out there that garner more consideration.

I think when a players name gets put about so much, it’s largely the act of an agent salivating over a pay day

Sesko, Martinez, Ekitike, David….these are more the players I’d be looking at (and in one of the few occasions where I’m in alignment with Mac76 we should be looking to bring in two rather than one)


Frankly I think the summer should be purely about signing players in attack, only sign Zubimendi if Partey goes


Two strikers, a winger and an CAM.


Don’t need more defenders, any old cunt can be a backup keeper. Need to stop that shit

Gyokores is ranked higher than all those strikers you have mentioned.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Gyokores is ranked higher than all those strikers you have mentioned.

Ranked higher by who?

That’s an arbitrary classification

Look we are at an impasse here, there is nothing that’s going to convince me that signing a 27 year old playing in Portuguese football is a good idea. If it comes off, it comes off ill accept that my hesitancy was misplaced, but actually I think it’s a far bigger risk than any of the options I’ve mentioned.

We as a club aren’t in a hurry, if Arteta fucks it again next season it doesn’t materially change things for us as a club.

If we end up losing Rice or Saliba to other clubs, it would be a disappointment but hardly the end of the world

And frankly I’d rather take that risk than on a 27 year old who as I say has played no higher level of football than Portugal. For someone of his build the other troubling aspect is for someone of his height and build, less than 5% of his goals are headers.

And a lot of his goals prima facie look good but they are often a result of transition play against static, immobile defences

[KSE Comedy Club]

Ranked higher in most top striker polls, etc, across various websites.

Just because you don't agree, it doesn't mean they are all wrong.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ranked higher in most top striker polls, etc, across various websites.

Just because you don't agree, it doesn't mean they are all wrong.

I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it’s not exactly substantive evidence…especially as these website polls tend to be user generated polls. Which is you saying, other football fans rate him higher than the other strikers. Great but not exactly relevant

Again, I think where I’m confused is why people are so certain it’s a slam dunk. I’ll be honest I think at best he’s Giroud or Lacazette which really is less prolific than what we need, and at worst he’s Nicolas Pepe (which a lot of fans were also salivating over, at the time)

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

The Spuds will likely be in the market for a marquee striker now that they are in the CL. Gyokeres won't go there as he's gotten use to winning. Obviously he's not going to Man U either, unless they make him a ridiculous offer and offload at least 2 of their misfiring forwards.

Spurs could go for Ekitike and Sesko, seeing as both are pretty young. Ekitike didn't play well in their EL tie, so he might have been crossed off the list.Which leaves Sesko as their standout foreign pursuit. Also, if Villa don't make the CL, Watkins would probably be available again, he could end up their (though with Solanke's poor form they might not want to risk trying this formula again so soon).

As for us, I really hope we wrap up the Gyokeres signing ASAP, and if we're really serious, we add any of the above two I have already mentioned so their will be no excuses next season.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

That’s like watching a non league game where a striker scores after running past defenders like they aren’t there because the defenders in question are incapable and saying that’s proper football.

I think there’s an argument that can be made that there’s too much emphasis on being spoilers because the amount of money in the game means losing is less acceptable. I also am genuinely concerned at the stratification effect. Before last season it was 25 years since all three clubs promoted to the league got relegated, it’s now happened twice in a row and there’s little evidence to me that we aren’t on for a hat trick.

But at the same time there’s clear undeniable talent in the game, I’ve expressed concern that there’s more reliance on speed and athleticism over technical ability. But equally you blast someone who has been one of the best technical players in the game, because of some arbitrary belief that football was better before Pep Guardiola (who didn’t even invent the form of football you detest) ruined it all.

Mateja Kezman was meant to be the next big thing, he’d been tearing things up for PSV and was considered to be a great signing for Chelsea? He was fucking awful in the premier league. Similar story with Vincent Jansen when he went to Spurs

I’d love to be wrong but I think signing any players from the Portuguese league is a big big risk

BTW you'd struggle to make an evidenced based argument that in recent times their is a better European league to buy attacking talent from, especially as an EPL club.

[HCZ_Reborn]

BTW you'd struggle to make an evidenced based argument that in recent times their is a better European league to buy attacking talent from, especially as an EPL club.

Really??

Marmoush and Haaland were bought from Germany

Isaak from Spain

Plus let’s have a look at the current top scorers list in the premier league this season, no one who is in the top ten in the scoring charts is a purchase from the Portuguese league (Luiz Diaz who Liverpool bought from Porto is in 12th)

And Luiz Diaz I grant you is an excellent player, but I’m old enough to remember how it was bemoaned that Liverpool had signed Darwin Nunez instead of us (from Benfica) and three years on?….i can guarantee you they’ll be trying to offload him in order to bring in another attacking player

It’s a mixed bag league for signing players from, for every Bruno Fernandes there’s a Fabio Vieira

Fabio Vieira was a gamble on a player that looked decent for Porto, but even then it was a relatively low risk gamble he wasn’t going to be the centre piece signing of the summer.

I don’t think he’s terrible, he could do a job in the squad next season…but I think more than likely we will sell him back to Porto for less than what we paid for him

[KSE Comedy Club]

Also Gyokores is Swedish

We all know Swedish strikers are great.

Isaak, Ibrahimovic, Larsson, Nordahl....

[HCZ_Reborn]

Also Gyokores is Swedish

We all know Swedish strikers are great.

Isaak, Ibrahimovic, Larsson, Nordahl....

Gunner Nordahl was a bit before my time