Winter Transfer Speculation

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

We won't sign either of them, we won't even be in the mix for them.

Reality go home!

Whatever Aubameyang has must be in serious short supply as there are few who have scored at his rate and lets not forget he's outscored Lewandowski himself. The only players left that have already proven to be worth more than 50 million are at Real, Barca or Bayern......and even then Real is debatable.

We need the StatDNA machine to pull a few forward names up because we've been without a truly top forward for far too long now(just as we were without a world class keeper too damn long)....and the rest of the team is far from making up for that.

[I am invisible]

They might not be in that bracket as we understand it, but understanding and sanity fell into the PL black hole a while back. We're seeing £50mill average Joes who can do the basics because a lot of the dross in football today can't even do that. Lukaku can run, fight, jump, shoot, take on a defender, bog standard stuff from just a few years back. If Heskey was playing today he'd be a £50mill playa.

The Gotze thing is interesting too. He's one of the superstars (slightly better than average) players who has lost out in the game of musical money chairs. He could well join Liverpool just to get his seat back. We're heading fast for the £1mill per week contract. It has almost happened in China and when the new Euro League kicks off and the the PL starts sucking all the new TV cash down to the agent/ player singularity insanity is going to be the norm.

I don't think we can even come close to competing for these big names. I think we've missed that boat. It'll cost maybe £60mill for that top striker we want to see. A top CB might cost £50mill, we've seen the devastatingly mediocre Luiz go for that twice already. If we go the big name route we may need to spend £200-300mill to put all the pieces together and there's no way Kroenke and crew will sanction that, let alone our "I'm staying" manager.

Whoever (or whatever) spotted Elneny is probably our best bet now. I'd settle for a whole team of Coquelin, Bellerin, Elneny type finds. Not the top level but then again I think the difference between the top level and the second tier (excluding your Messis and Ronaldos) is blurring. Leicester and West Ham and Southampton etc are demonstrating that.

Totally agree. Leicester are showing what you can do with good scouting, spufs are showing what can be done with good development, and any number of teams in the league are showing what you get when you properly define your players' roles and knit them together into a team with a clear vision. I'd like to think we'd still be in the mix if anyone genuinely world-class who comes along, but you've really got to sift any big money signings carefully these days - more and more I'm finding myself spectacularly underwhelmed by what you get for your money.

The only thing that blurs the issue for me is the fact that I know the saving won't be passed on to the fans - as much as I'm all for putting more focus on good scouting and coaching and development, and I know it makes sense on almost every level, it still pisses me off to think of Kroenke and chums just trousering the profit...

[Marc Overmars]

The players we already have should be able to arrive 2 yards out and take a swing at it!

None of them do though! If it was that easy we wouldn't be talking about needing a striker.

[I am invisible]

None of them do though! If it was that easy we wouldn't be talking about needing a striker.

That's the thing though - it should be that easy. If we can't coach our strikers to put the ball away from a couple of yards, then maybe that's a bigger problem than the personnel?

[Kano]

That's the thing though - it should be that easy. If we can't coach our strikers to put the ball away from a couple of yards, then maybe that's a bigger problem than the personnel?

If we are saying that nothing has changed on the pitch in terms of Wenger’s approach, then it makes sense to say that same about the training methods. We had the exact same team last season and this problem wasn’t there when it came to scoring so few, a similar amount of chances are being created, so it all comes down to nerve on the pitch. That is certainly an area the manager has to earn his keep but he isn't doing so. Alexis not scoring is a noticeable big miss for us, as is our general lack of goals from midfield.

[selassie]

Reality go home!

Whatever Aubameyang has must be in serious short supply as there are few who have scored at his rate and lets not forget he's outscored Lewandowski himself. The only players left that have already proven to be worth more than 50 million are at Real, Barca or Bayern......and even then Real is debatable.

We need the StatDNA machine to pull a few forward names up because we've been without a truly top forward for far too long now(just as we were without a world class keeper too damn long)....and the rest of the team is far from making up for that.

Yeah Aubameyang looks the real deal to me, he certainly knows where the goal is, has lightening pace, his hold up play looks pretty decent and he's fairly strong, he pretty much ticks all the boxes for what we need in a top class striker.

He'll go for major money, though it seems he has his heart set on La Liga, so Real I assume.

Lukaku is really the one we should be going for, I think he's obtainable but we'll have to break our transfer record to get him.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Well, Gotze is easily better than those two.

He's a great player so it would be surprising if he landed at Liverpool.

Signing a Mario for between £15-20m, what could go wrong?

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I just question whether the current African player of the year with a funny hair do and buck teeth is Hollywood enough for Real.....even if the kid has got his heart set on them.

For clubs like Real it is as much about the statement as it is the quality of player.

[mastermind84]

Yeah that was underhand from both Bayern & Gotze. I think Gotze is a good player that looked great in the system Klopp built at Dortmund. Gotze strikes me as one of those types who only thrives if the team is built for him, he's basically a bit of a luxury player, similar to Isco when he was at Malaga before he went to Real. Gotze isn't the kind of player you can stick on the wing and hope he performs, he's not that versatile.

I know we have been linked with him but don't want him, he'd be shoved out wide for us.

this is also why im not sure why Liverpool would want him unless they are dumping Firmino and Coutinho.

[mastermind84]

Yeah Aubameyang looks the real deal to me, he certainly knows where the goal is, has lightening pace, his hold up play looks pretty decent and he's fairly strong, he pretty much ticks all the boxes for what we need in a top class striker.

He'll go for major money, though it seems he has his heart set on La Liga, so Real I assume.

Lukaku is really the one we should be going for, I think he's obtainable but we'll have to break our transfer record to get him.

I think Morata is hte best option.


Lukaku got shaky tekkers and does not make smart runs off the ball.