Arsenal fans are triggered fam.
We’re chasing some tinpot Dortmund centre-back while Liverpool out there dropping £50m on Fabinho. I can’t lie, that does stick in the throat a little. The Monaco player is a classy talent at the base of midfield, one that we’ve been crying out for for a while.
I think this rumour was given more power by a Sky pundit who said we inquired, just a bit late to make the deal happen. We all know Sky has had a crisis of credibility this summer, no doubt because there’s big business is muddy waters when you run a betting company.
Are we passing on Fabinho because we have more expensive fish to fry? Who knows. But a 25-year-old DM with world class in his tank feels like exactly what we need. I’m kind of getting the feeling we’re not going to play in those markets this summer. They’re chasing Allison as their new number 1, we’re hunting down Bernd Leno. I know which I’d prefer.
But then again, maybe we’re stuck in a rut when it comes to self-awareness.
Arsenal are not a Champions League side, and we’re heading into season two with that shame around our neck. There’s no guarantee the new man is going to restore us to glory because regardless of what the fans think, players won’t see Emery in the same league as the managers of the other top 6 sides… yet.
We have to earn our stripes back, so does he. We have to prove that this season is more than a giant recovery plan. Until then, we’re going to have to sift around in the bargain basement, and hope we strike Salah like gold.
But look, that doesn’t mean we can’t find gems. It’s not like Spurs are raiding Monaco for their best players, is it? They’ve done pretty well scouting players over the past few seasons. We just have to hope the board have the guts to take risks and strike when players are on the rise, not after every team in the world wants them (Liverpool > Naby Keita).
Maybe Arsenal fans would feel a little more assured about the path the club were heading down if we dropped an exciting name. But then again, the football club isn’t run for our feelings is it? It’s run within the parameters set out by a frugal Stan Kroenke, and the budget is spent by two guys who know what they’re doing.
I hate to be the one dishing this out, but it’s really early in the window for tears, it looks like we’ve already made 2 signings, and I’d imagine there’s a lot more to come.
> We are not a 2-3 signings kind of club anymore, move away from that Wenger PTSD.
Maybe we have to wait it out before getting triggered that the Champions League finalists are dropping big money on elite players who probably want in on a project that has a high chance of, you know, getting them to the Champions League final.
My god, I want to be sick in my mouth. I’m standing up for the regime. I’m not longer counterculture. I’m part of the NEW problem that is yet to happen.
This is the path I chose… but seriously, let’s not vent too many spleens. The club did some great work in the January transfer window, and I reckon we’ll do some exciting stuff in the coming two months.
We have to exit the dross.
We have to bring in some experience that’ll root out the weakness in our old culture that was built around nice boys and year-round pleasantries.
We’ll have to start lowering the age of the squad. Mikki, Auba, Lichensteiner and Sokratis will boast an average age of 30.5 come the start of next season. It’s quite apparent the strategy is to buy in players who can give us some ‘NOW’ impetus, which is no bad thing considering the importance of the CL money.
However, Ivan said he wanted a manager who could bring through young talent, I am kind of hoping that we can do a Dortmund MKII. Young exciting players, technically gifted, loaded with power and pace, delivering a brand of football you want to pur over.
So the moral of this post is if our work so far looks a bit boring, that’s because it is. That’s because it has to be. We have to rework the fabric of a damaged culture, as well as upgrade the starting 11.
But don’t panic just yet, there’s plenty more to come from this summer, and I can only hope we’re keeping that powder dry for a great keeper, and someone a bit OH MY to replace Sanchez.
POWDER DRY, listen to me. What a boring joke this site is.
Right, see you in the comments, where I expect you to celebrate the balanced tone of this post.
DM
Road dogg is back
Tro4phy
Tr4phy
Trofee
Good one DM
Fabinho is mustard. 50m seems about right.
Feels like the late enquiry about Fabinho is probably made up, who are Sky’s “sources”.
Liverpool and City are showing their intent, one being dubbed as the centurions and the other making the top 4 and being champions league finalists.
I have no doubt they’res more money than being let on, and would rather we went big in the midfield area and goalkeeping area with a bit of stardust sprinkled into the attack (see Dembele, Malcom etc)
Also hoping we start to target players between 23-27 as we will have to rebuild in a couple of years . Someone also tell Sven the world is his oyster, broaden our horizons from looking at 29 year olds who have Dortmund connections.
I personally think if Sven suggests one more player from Dortmund he should be sacked on the spot
“Liverpool out there dropping £50m on Fabinho. I can’t lie, that does stick in the throat a little.”
Why exactly ?? Liverpool will play (and contend for) the CL, we don’t.
Same picture than yesterday’s post, I first thought that it was the same post, just saying…
Sorry my mistake, it was 2 days ago…
This plays in the champions league thing is not a valid argument as to why players join clubs. Please give it a rest. They played their first champions league finally in like how many years? It’s not like they regularly play champions league finals and semi finals …it’s all getting very tiring this bigging up Liverpool thing for a few days now.
They finished fourth in the league for crying out loud. And no they are not the second best team in the country…they finished fourth.
@Hairdry : yep, better suggest players from Bayern.
lol
Obviously I do want to see lots of signings and the bigger the better. But realistically, if we drop a ton of money on somebody on a 3 year contract, 1/3rd of it is wasted in the Europa League for a year anyway.
It’s why I’d be semi tempted to just go sign Jonny Evans and save £15m or so instead of Sokratis.
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11388664/arsenal-made-late-move-for-fabinho-before-liverpool-deal
Is wenger is still in charge “incognito” ?? FFS…
Arsenal are notorious for procrastinating and dragging their feet in the transfer market. The powers that be think that all of us are assholes and don’t recognize the game they play in the market to get out of spending big money on GOOD players. They continue to shop in the scrap yards of the game and buying the likes of the Jenkinsons and Gabriels etc., foolishly thinking that they can pull the wool over the eyes of the fans.
It’s why I’d be semi tempted to just go sign Jonny Evans and save £15m or so instead of Sokratis.
Jaysus.
People are pissed because Liverpool are addressing their weaknesses quickly and with top quality players. Keita and Fabinho are among the best in their position. We haven’t done any business at all yet and are being linked with another 29 year old from Dortmund (30 in 2 weeks) and a 34 year old RB. They are taking advantage of their CL status in a way that we never did, just shows the differing ambitions of the clubs, and it’s a bit depressing. Even with just EL we could still sign top players if we could convince them of our project… Read more »
“They are taking advantage of their CL status”
Receiving Hairline strongly disagree with you.
@Marko I was thinking the same, Evans –>> lolz
They are taking advantage of the obscene cash they got from selling Coutinho .
CL status my backside.
This Highbury dude pls lay off me. I have no desire to interact with someone like you. Do your thing i do mine.
Apparently we’re interested in Benatia. Him Sokratis and Lichtsteiner would be something alright
Wouldn’t be surprised if the club have told emery that he has to try and make this squad compete this season with some minor additions and then if it goes tits up they will try and throw some money at it next season – otherwise , what’s taking so long to get in the top class gk-cb-Dm ? And what’s with handing Cech the no. 1 ? Remember, Emery did say he is happy with his players already here ( sound familiar) and they are all important – one of his selling points to the board must have been how… Read more »
Let’s get one thing straight: the BoD is a decrepit collection of Kroenke yes-men who don’t own a single Arsenal share between them. Stan is the man, forget the rest. It’s pretty clear that Stan operates a bottom-of-the-line financial policy. The Club can spend what it earns, nothing more. That does not mean every penny in the current account. The rest is simply creative accounting. Many Arsenal supporters (myself included) like self-sustainability. It’s a part of the Arsenal tradition of custodianship. We don’t like the idea of an all-powerful owner like Roman or the sheikh. Sadly we have the worst… Read more »
No issue with the club operating under a sustainable model, unless we get a change of owner, anything else will be very difficult anyway.
But at least now there appears to be some scouting and planning going into these buys. Unlike the days of wenger where he would wait until the last minute, probably to save on wages, or maybe because he didnt want to buy at all, usually fail with his target, then either get nobody, or initiate a scattergun knee jerk panic approach on deadline day. That, and his aversion in buying defensive minded players.
Pedro, I’m not sure that i buy this oft trotted out mantra of “we’re not in the champions league so we can’t attract top talent”. If memory serves S***s were able to attract Lloris, Vertonghen and others without CL football and at the time of signing they would have been better than what we had at AFC imho. We haven’t got good marketers, a story, vision or anything else and haven’t had for over 10 years. We’re a high risk punt for ambitious footballer. We have a name , but so did Barings, and where did they end up? We… Read more »
Arsenal are STILL run according to Wengerian principles: We buy assets if they are 1) Value Plays: buy an asset that was once strong and traditionally out-performing, but for one reason or other, the market has now ‘fallen out of love’ with. Think Overmars 2) Growth Plays: buy an asset that is so new and so shiny that no-one has yet seen the true value of said asset. Think Anelka as a 17 y/o… or Vieira as a 19 y/o. And on the downside: Denilson or Abou Diaby. We do NOT do: Premium/Luxury buys: How much does a Ronaldo or… Read more »
It’s too early to moan guys. Arsenal will get down to business before, during and after the world cup. Don’t be too pressured by the Fabinho signing. I believe that Emery will fix the squad. Remember, we all agreed it was going to be a slow process.
People are living in La La land if they think Arsenal can attract top talent within 70 mil. We are not champions league team. we have to pay more than premium to attract the best players.
70 mil can only fetch you so much.
From Wenger’s ‘Project youth’ to Sven’s ‘project older gentleman’.
This ain’t Italy where players start hitting their stride into their 30’s…we need a bit of yoot. We’re going the way city and Chelsea did (but without the success) where they found themselves having to replace large chunks of their aging squad…which costs hundreds of millions.
Currently I am not blown away by what’s coming out of the club regarding recruitment.
Liverpool will be a weapon next season. Everyone who is above us is getting stronger.
Pathetic.
Fabinho to Liverpool is gut wrenching. What a bargain price too.
Why are we worrying about Fabinho.. He would have never joined Arsenal in his right mind. he went for CL finalists. Liverpool right now are a more attractive club than us. Its a fact. This is just the start. If you are getting depressed at Fabinho, you are going to have a long long summer when you will see top talents moving to other more attractive clubs. Having said that. Brand building takes its own time. Klopp didn;t bring liverpool here in his first year. same goes of Pep. Emery will also take time. but I am happy he is… Read more »
Pretty obvious we’re targeting prime players for the sole purpose of getting into top four next season and teaching our youngsters what it means to WIN at all cost,no messing about with so called potential ‘kids’when we are so far behind the top 4.. Lichtsteiner,Sokratis,Benatia,etc comes with bags of experience and leadership with also the mentality of being winners at the top level,along with being ready to deliver right now, really don’t give a f**k what our rivals do so long Umery get players that he trust who would fit into his system and deliver results ,we’d likely see younger… Read more »
Yeah, Fabinho to Liverpool hurts a little — he is fantastic & just what we have needed for some time — but there are other good midfielders out there, so I’m not going to get too upset. As for why he would have preferred Liverpool, I think this has everything to do with their being better positioned at the moment — in the CL, better squad — and nothing to do with our manager (as was implied by Pedro). I think Emery is highly respected and no less respected than Klopp. Liverpool are in a better spot at the moment,… Read more »
This is not top four recruitment.
This is what happens when you give a maniac like Wenger carte Blanche to do what he wanted.
Arsenal will not pay the price for that for the foreseeable future.
Ozil = £1,000,000 a month.
And what is this obsession about buying young players.
Had Juventus thought the same way, the world would never have seen the best of Pirlo.
Let me quantify the whole Evans thing. We could spend £16m on Sokratis (thought it was £18m, but doesn’t matter) who is a decent defender, but not world class and won’t win us a CL. Also, he’s nearer the end of his career than the start. And he’s playing in a foreign league. He’ll improve us, but probably isn’t what we really need. And next year, assuming we’re back in the CL, he’ll probably be one of the weak links. We could spend £3m on Jonny Evans who is a decent defender, but not world class and won’t win us… Read more »
It seems quite clear the GK and the defence is the first priority at the club, strong links to Leno, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Soyuncu and now Benatia. Likely means Mustafi is gone, probably Chambers as well, people paying for their performances and a total defensive overhaul. Quite clearly we want a CDM as well. I would not be too down guys this noises sound right, especially if Gambon is right and Holding is going out on loan to grow physically. Basically would mean our entire CB options change aside from Mavropanos. From Kozz, Mustafi, Chambers and Holding to Sokratis, Benatia, Soyuncu… Read more »
Yeah as much as we do need balance and some 24-26 year old talents, they desperately need some experience on the pitch too It’s all very well that we have kos, ozil and co in their early 30s or late 20s, but these guys are soft as hell. Kos is my favourite player in this squad but he was one of the criers when we were getting pistol whipped by city. We need some experienced players who aren’t wenger babies to come in a keep a straight face. To set professional standards and instill a sense of seriousness. Our squad… Read more »
“This is what happens when you give a maniac like Wenger carte Blanche to do what he wanted.”
Yawns,There you go again with your obsession shining through,so it’s back to Wenger when I thought you’ve moved past him to Arteta.hmmm
I think that Sokratis and Benatia for relatively low fees, two 30 year old CB’s with experience, then Soyuncu an elite young talent and Mavropanos potentially the same is the right balance.
Pedro
Good post
It’s just that it’s msguded. We aren’t learn g from the trends of the last summer window. Man city got thei signings (except for Sanchez, if you believe the tabloids) in early and saved some money.
This season’s window is not that long to start with, the World Cup intersects nand will make it dysfluent.
Secondly, the market is going to heat up and get more expensive.
Waiting and mucking around isn’t good policy.
Buckhurst I hope you’re not right, because Cech definitely needs replacing. They definitely see that we need to improve at CB, however, and I hope they see that we really need to improve in central midfield. Yes, Emery should be able to improve the play of our existing players — and the team as a whole — but we need quality additions in central midfield. Receding Being in the CL matters to players; Liverpool are in the CL, and we are not. Pretty simple. At a glance they also have a better side. It’s not surprising that Fabinho would prefer… Read more »
Cesc I would be very surprised to see arsenal sign 3 CBs + a RB. I won’t be complaining if they do but it just doesn’t seem likely to me. I believe at least one, if not two of chambers holding and Mustafi will remain next season
Victorious
We have a poor squad at the moment because of Arsene Wenger. This isn’t returning to some unrelated subject; it is a fact. If you don’t like reading criticism of Arsene Wenger, there are other blogs.
Cesc those 3 CBS alone are going to eat our entire *reported* 50m. We can bring in some from sales ofc, but we still need a quality keeper and a classy dm. I don’t see our funds stretching for all of those additions that easily unless we buy extremely smart
Liverpool have a rec not history with Brazilians. Fabhino can call several,country men to seek assurances about Liverpool.
Who will be call at Arsenal, especially since the last prominent Brazilian we had was a decade ago. Remember I said “prominent”.
Liverpool were always going to beat us to Brazilians.
We really have to start tapping the South American Market. Sven just seems to be trying to replay his greatest hits of the past decade.
People need to forget about the reported 50m budget. Not that we’re not on a budget — we definitely are — but if we were in for Fabinho at all, then clearly we can spend more than 50m. And remember that transfer fees are paid out over 2-3 years, so they might be able to cover current spending with future revenues / profits.
Players Wenger has left behind…Auba,Lacazette,Ozil,Ramsey,Monreal,Mikki,Kos,Bellerin,Xhaka..etc
only someone as thick as Binford will regret the above named players as ‘poor’ set of players
Victorious
See Bamfords comment.
It’s going to take some time to clean up the mess Wenger left behind. Wash the stain of him from the club. He really did an awful job the last few years.
*Liverpool have a record
*regard
It seems quite clear the GK and the defence is the first priority at the club, strong links to Leno, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Soyuncu and now Benatia.
If all that were the case then I’d hope it meant we went big on the midfield. I’d prefer a marquee type signing in the defensive area but I’ll take it in the midfield.
Emery won’t have the time Klopp was given if he doesn’t deliver CL qualification.
Victorious you are obsessed with Arsene. Leave it out
Dissenter
Good point re Brazilian players. Liverpool having Firmino — and our not having a single Brazilian or Portuguese player — might have been a marginal plus to Fabinho.
Bamford
United signed pogba and ibrahimovic without champions league…
Chelsea signed kante, David Luiz and alonso without champions league.
And there are many more examples of players joining non champions league clubs…
Money is their prime motivation to join a club and always will be.
Why did players like aguero, toure, silva, company join city all those years ago … Because they paid them a shit load of cash…
To the defenders of Wenger’s atrocious transfer and wage policy, especially at the last decade;
Cry your eyes out.
We are weighted down by all the misdeeds of your Lord. He’s encumbered the club with a garden filled with thorny dandelions and putrefying crops.
It’s going to take a talented team 2-4 transfer windows (summer and winter) to extricate the club from Wengerism.
With fans like Binford and his over-inflated ego and faux intelligence on football we ain’t getting a United fan-base soon
Even the best of managers leaves behind turds when they move on to greener pastures,why him and his ilk continues to bleat about Wenger when there are more speculative topics to dwell on shows them up for how myopic and shallow their footy knowledge is.
Why did players like aguero, toure, silva, company join city all those years ago … Because they paid them a shit load of cash
Don’t forget an ambitious project and potential
Pierre
United can pay the Europa league premium that we cannot dream of.
They can pay out Ozil type wages to 5-7 players and still be okay.
Victorious
Really dumb. One, I didn’t say those particular players are poor — although not all of them are ideal — I said the squad is poor. Two, Koscielny is no longer what he once was, so I’m not sure why you listed him there. Three, nearly everyone here believes the squad is poor; you’re in a tiny, tiny minority here in thinking otherwise.
@Vicuntious
Lol at Bellerin and Xhaka in that list.
“Victorious you are obsessed with Arsene. Leave it out”
Erhmmm Marko I know keeping up is not your strongest suit,but you’d find is Guns and Binford who has dragged Wenger into a topic today that has absolutely nothing to do with the man.
United are also one of the biggest clubs in the world who aren’t afraid to compete in the transfer market and have a history. We’ve kind of been sleep walking for a number of years now. In saying that I believe that we can be an attractive proposition to players we just have to actually try for them. Liverpool for Fabinho were just very quick and decisive but take Fekir for example I’d be inclined to think that we’d have a good shot at signing him but we won’t if we just stand by and let Liverpool have him
All hail Victorius the one true fan
This humorless child with nothing original between his ears is happy with whatever he’s fed by the club.
When the prevailing order seemed to be Arteta for manager , Victorius was here calling out those who though appointing a novice was too big a risk to take, fake fans and doubting their fan-hood.
Victorius,
Why don’t you let adults talk this out.
You can come back and just cheer whatever is lumped on your dog bowl. I’m the season opening day
lol Vicuntious is still hurt by his master’s departure, hilarious really.
Victorious you’re always the one bringing up Wenger obsessives you know it’s okay if someone mentions his name you know he’s not beetlejuice even though he kind of looks like a zombie. It’s always very much okay to criticize the man he done a bad job the last few years there. Quit being so defensive
Victorious
You really should go to a different blog, mate. Le Grove is not going to stop being Le Grove because some anti-Le-Grove type (you) shows up and complains that there is too much criticism or negativity here. Indeed, Le Grove isn’t going to change, even if a hundred of your ilk show up here.
You’d be wise either to accept the basic tone of commentary here or move on to another blog. Otherwise you are simply going to be a troll here, though that may be precisely what you aim to be.
“you’d find is Guns and Binford who has dragged Wenger into a topic today that has absolutely nothing to do with the man.”
I suppose we just woke up from a nightmarish coma and found ourselves in 2018 with an expensively compensated squad lacking in balance or character.
How about we do it this way.
Anytime someone mentions Wenger’s failings, why don’t you rebut it with wha you perceive to be Wenger’s success. That way you create your own perception of balance.
China
I agree it is unlikely, but to be honest we are losing nothing by taking the whole back line out, they are crap, provide no stability and there is no danger from removing them all.
On the £50 Million, I think that is rubbish, secondly you don’t pay full transfer fees in one hit, thirdly, you would offset the spending by selling, Mustafi and Chambers I am sure could get £40 Million still in this market.
Then you think with Leno, £20 Million but offset by selling Ospina for £10 Million.
That is what we have to do.
Vic, We aren’t getting a united fan-base because of fans like you and the super aggressive Aubergine fella. You take any criticism that anybody has of Arsenal and in particular Wenger (who has finally left the building) so personally. There’s no need to, we all want what’s best for Arsenal and have differing opinions. You then create this divide that its you v the rest of us and in your mind your a super fan because your never critical of our wonderful Arsenal or our “master” who has finally fallen on his sword. Why verbally attack a poster because they… Read more »
Victorious You’re also just not very good at making arguments. Do we need to improve the XI and improve the squad? Yes. A great deal. Why? It’s poor. Who built the squad? Arsene Wenger. Thus Arsene Wenger is relevant here. That you are losing your shit because someone here had the temerity to bring Wenger up — and to criticize him — reveals your very weak and very lame and very transparent agenda. You are a “positive” who is here to do battle with “negativity” and “criticism” — be it aimed at the former (woeful) manager or any current players.… Read more »
Wenger left the club in a very healthy position, Long live Wenger, Arsenal’s greatest manager of all time.
Amen to that.
lol
“According to the Standard, Arsenal are in the market for another central defender & central midfielder, while negotiations continue over a deal to sign Stephan Lichsteiner.”
– @GurjitAFC
Fabinho is wildly overrated.
I saw the same overexited, circlejerking on here last year around Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva.
Yawn
“really don’t give a f**k what our rivals do so long Umery get players that he trust who would fit into his system and deliver results ,we’d likely see younger players come in next summer.“
100% correct. Arsenal need what Emery wants for his desired approach, that simple.
Banford
I see you’re out policing who should/shouldn’t be posting on here again. Fuck off with that you self-important twat
Why is nobody offering a job to Arsene?
Nobody is buying Ospina for £10 million
Stop it already
A keeper has to be in there surely.
You doing offer messiahs jobs. They choose you.
UTarse
May 29, 2018 11:39:35
Wenger left the club in a very healthy position, Long live Wenger,
————————————————————————————————–
He certainly did leave the club in a healthy position, he’s been paid something like £80m in wages over the last 21 years.
Oh wait, you mean the club is in a healthy position?!
It finished worse that when he found it!
CC
I was waiting for you to jump in to back-up Victorious.
Oh dearie, like clockwork yore always just on time.
@ bamford. totally agree…..mr magoo-wenger has done a great job sabotaging our footballing status in the past few years. Fans will refer to the fa.cup wins…and the Chelsea win was a fine performance, but the league table is the real standard…finishing 37 points adrift of citeh and almost the worst away record in history of the prem really puts the magoo-factor in the spotlight.
One thinks CC is obsessed with Bam the way Victorious and Legrove’s answer to Danny Dyer Aubergine are with Wenger.
Charlie
Nah, mate, you can fuck off. It’s Victorious who is telling others what they can and can’t say — and he is here because he is opposed to the general tenor of discussion on Le Grove. This has nothing to do with me allegedly thinking of myself as “important” — I don’t — that’s just another bogus red herring of yours.
I like the Mission:Old men Arsenal have got going in defense.
Time to bring back the Tony Adams lite culture.
CL factors in when we buy players. remember when pool weren’t in the CL and we were ? they couldn’t pull players at all.. getting the likes of lallana from Southampton. that’s why the CL is important…
even sanchez chose us over pool cause we constantly got CL footie…
Lichsteiner and Benatia-straight from Allegri’s Juve. I like that.
Papawhatsit from Dortmund, that I don’t like one bit.
Biggles,
You must be new mate. I was being facetious.
If we are buying just one CM we need to pick very carefully because that is crucial to get right, it would mean that Emery thinks he can get more out of Xhaka and likely that we are holding onto Ramsey.
Xhaka, Seri and Ramsey. Not sure on that.
Cesc Appeal
Leno seems to have been struggling the last couple of years. If he is not much of an upgrade on Cech + Ospina,. Would rather we not buy him. He’ll be another Kolasinac; a mid 20s first XI signing on big wages who ends up being inferior to an aging incumbent (Monreal). Likely means he’ll be an Arsenal player for at least two years. Ends up difficult to shift because said player is CL wages while not being a CL player
Fabinho is wildly overrated. I saw the same overexited, circlejerking on here last year around Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva.
No Ramsey or Xhaka that’s for sure
Banford
I don’t care what Victorious has to say, because he’s not telling people to go to another blog regularly – he’s offering up opinions on the content discussed.
Dissenter
How am I backing anyone? There’s a reason I call that muppet Banford, and I’m raising exactly that point. I’m not interested in your squabbles.
Cesc Appeal
That’s the sense I’m getting too. He may in fact see Ramsey as being fit to play in front of the two holding mids (one of whom is Xhaka). That means he’s looking for someone to pair with Xhaka, which is why we would’ve been in for Fabinho.
So Xhaka it may be.
Ultimately I don’t think Xhaka will be good enough — though Emery will make him better, will make the central midfield work better — and I think Emery will see this after a bit of time. But we will see.