Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit.

[Grebbo]

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.

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.

[The Emirates Gallactico]

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 ) 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:

[Power n Glory]

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.

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

"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."

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.

[I am invisible]

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.

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?

[I am invisible]

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

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?

[Power n Glory]

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?

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.

[Power n Glory]

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?

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.

[I am invisible]

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?

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...

[Power n Glory]

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

[I am invisible]

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.

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)...