Winter Transfer Speculation and Shit.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

hindsight

noun
1.
understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or developed.
"with hindsight, I should never have gone"

No one was calling for us to sign Negredo before he went to city. We weren't even linked with him. For all we know he wouldn't have wanted to come here anyway. We certainly wouldn't have been able to win a bidding war for him.

All this 'if only' bollocks is nothing but frustration borne out of hindsight.

It's ok to want another striker without all the fawning as if he's the only player in the world who could have improved us.

And that one word was your contribution. A sterling effort Archer. Really.

I'm sorry?....so the recognition that good players have passed us by is only valid if fans clamour for that player to be signed a window in advance?

I'm sure people not calling for Negredo to come here in the summer, was nothing to do with the fact we were a) Chasing a superior player in Suarez....or b) The fact City signed him in no time at all of the summer window opening.

But even if nobody calls for Negredo to come in, I'm not sure why that is relevant when Wenger has probably known about him since he was about 12 and way before you proposed it necessary that a Spanish international who was one of the top scorers in Spain only come in on the proviso that fans campaign to get him here.

Yes you're quite right..... the 'if only' is purely as a result of hindsight. Absolutely nothing else. Nobody could ever have been clairvoyant enough to believe that Arsenal's squad needed a top class striker to aid a title challenge prior to the season starting. Nobody could have been at all worried with the failure to land our main targets in Suarez or Higuain or even our last ditch target Ba with hours of the window closing and without an Ozil confirmed.

[Niall_Quinn]

Agree with Blink - I really don't get what there is to argue about here? We all agree that one central striker isn't enough for a long season, and that any new signing should ideally be awesome, irrespective of who we already have, if we want to take this team to the next level. The funny thing is, it sounds like everyone is making the same point, but still somehow managing to disagree about it?

Just wondering where we'll find the player. I'm all for signing Draxler in the summer and if we can pull that off it will cost a pile of cash. I know the purse strings are a bit less tight but can we really spend big money in the interim? More to the point, will we? Doubtful. Would be great if a high quality option was available on our budget, get him in if it's possible. Is it possible? Wenger says not really. So we are probably on the verge of signing somebody.

[Özim]

And that one word was your contribution. A sterling effort Archer. Really.

I'm sorry?....so the recognition that good players have passed us by is only valid if fans clamour for that player to be signed a window in advance?

I'm sure people not calling for Negredo to come here in the summer, was nothing to do with the fact we were a) Chasing a superior player in Suarez....or b) The fact City signed him in no time at all of the summer window opening.

But even if nobody calls for Negredo to come in, I'm not sure why that is relevant when Wenger has probably known about him since he was about 12 and way before you proposed it necessary that a Spanish international who was one of the top scorers in Spain only come in on the proviso that fans campaign to get him here.

Yes you're quite right..... the 'if only' is purely as a result of hindsight. Absolutely nothing else. Nobody could ever have been clairvoyant enough to believe that Arsenal's squad needed a top class striker to aid a title challenge prior to the season starting. Nobody could have been at all worried with the failure to land our main targets in Suarez or Higuain or even our last ditch target Ba with hours of the window closing and without an Ozil confirmed.

Great post, as you said we're fans it's not our job to be scouting players, but seeing as he went for 14.6 million and we were desperate for a forward you'd have thought we should have considered him.

As for your 1st comment, that's what you get with some people on this forum, they act like complete planks just to wind people up.

[Niall_Quinn]

If only we'd have signed Negredo we'd be top of the league now.

[GP]

And that one word was your contribution. A sterling effort Archer. Really.

I'm sorry?....so the recognition that good players have passed us by is only valid if fans clamour for that player to be signed a window in advance?

I'm sure people not calling for Negredo to come here in the summer, was nothing to do with the fact we were a) Chasing a superior player in Suarez....or b) The fact City signed him in no time at all of the summer window opening.

But even if nobody calls for Negredo to come in, I'm not sure why that is relevant when Wenger has probably known about him since he was about 12 and way before you proposed it necessary that a Spanish international who was one of the top scorers in Spain only come in on the proviso that fans campaign to get him here.

Yes you're quite right..... the 'if only' is purely as a result of hindsight. Absolutely nothing else. Nobody could ever have been clairvoyant enough to believe that Arsenal's squad needed a top class striker to aid a title challenge prior to the season starting. Nobody could have been at all worried with the failure to land our main targets in Suarez or Higuain or even our last ditch target Ba with hours of the window closing and without an Ozil confirmed.

Good, now we're agreed, stfu about it.

[Özim]

Just wondering where we'll find the player. I'm all for signing Draxler in the summer and if we can pull that off it will cost a pile of cash. I know the purse strings are a bit less tight but can we really spend big money in the interim? More to the point, will we? Doubtful. Would be great if a high quality option was available on our budget, get him in if it's possible. Is it possible? Wenger says not really. So we are probably on the verge of signing somebody.

As fans we can point to certain players but in reality it's not our job, the club has a huge network of scouts who should be able to identify the right players but just to name a few names, there's Rossi, Balotelli (you may be against him but he's a quality player), Huntelaar (he's 30 but an option for a couple years), Hulk, El Sharaawi and Martinez.

[Özim]

If only we'd have signed Negredo we'd be top of the league now.

Yes and we might be 7 points clear.

[GP]

If only we'd have signed Negredo we'd be top of the league now.

If only :wetsbed:

[Niall_Quinn]

As fans we can point to certain players but in reality it's not our job, the club has a huge network of scouts who should be able to identify the right players but just to name a few names, there's Rossi, Balotelli (you may be against him but he's a quality player), Huntelaar (he's 30 but an option for a couple years), Hulk, El Sharaawi and Martinez.

And they'd all cost big money in terms of our budget, some of the huge money. Rossi already failed here, Balotelli is toxic and counter-productive, Huntelaar would be an expensive stop gap at best, Hulk would cost a bomb in terms of the fee and the wages, El Bloke we hear Wenger has already looked at so maybe, and wasn't that Martinez guy being quoted at £30mill or something ridiculous like that? I know why people are saying Berbatov and I agree in terms of getting a player in that price range and with the experience to hit the ground running and genuinely help us in the run-in, but not him in particular somebody like him who would be okay sitting on the bench. Maybe Huntelaar would do the bench thing, maybe not, but I'd be surprised if Wenger signs a 30 year old. Maybe put some pressure on Villa again for Benteke, somebody like that would help us a whole lot more than anyone on the list above in practical terms. But he'd still probably be too expensive.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Good, now we're agreed, stfu about it.

If only :wetsbed:

Sounds about right.