Well, it’s less than a week ’til deadline day slams shut almost 20 days earlier than usual, and there are still a number of items to be resolved.
What the fu*k are we doing with the back 4 would be a pretty pressing one. We’re apparently shipping Calum Chambers out on loan to Fulham, which makes sense if he’s not getting games with us, but I did hope he’d done enough to stay with us this year. His form in the back half of the season was very positive, he’s excellent in a defence that needs confidence on the ball and I really do admire his new beard and hair combo.
Will Emery look to move on Mustafi? Or are we going to stick with Mavrapanos, Mustafi, Sokratis, Koscielny, and roll with 5 options this season? Or will we see movement for a more experienced name like Vida?
As it stands, our group of centre backs looks a little weak, but I guess for the first time in a while we’ll be at the mercy of a system versus the hope that individual talent can pull the players through. The sum of the parts is a theory many average clubs adopt and it works perfectly well. I have to say, I was slightly sad to see Yerry Mina go to Everton for £32m.
Our major headache comes in the shape of Aaron Ramsey. The club need to make moves to shift him, or we need to pray the exec team has a plan up their sleeves. City, Liverpool and Chelsea are all sniffing around, no doubt armed with a deadline day pity bid. I was particularly sad to here Pep G talk of the need for a midfielder. Arteta and Ramsey had a great time together when they were paired back in the day, and it wouldn’t be wild to imagine the two linking up again (in a big fuck you to Ivan for this summers shennanigans).
His agency has been quashing so-called insiders hot takes on the situation on Twitter. I’d imagine they’re keen to make sure the world doesn’t think Aaron is holding the club to ransom… when the reality is that’ll be exactly what they’re doing otherwise he’d have exited by now, or he’d have signed a new deal. I had heard much earlier in the summer from a very good place that his agent was very keen on using the Ozil deal as leverage, the fact anyone at their agency would deny that was top of mind is quite frankly ludicrous.
Sure, there might be a strategy to get Aaron to the last year of his deal, but no one makes money that way, and in the world of football, the only Christmas bonus that matters is this years. Why would you push your injury prone client into seeing out the final year of his deal? It’s hugely risky, especially as the stand out years aren’t exactly plentiful with Aaron. Strike while the iron is hot and build would be my view. They also don’t know Emery, they have no idea how he’d treat a snub because let’s be real, the new Arsenal guys could just sit him on the bench for a year to make a point.
We’ll see though.
I find it amusing that the fans are already in, ‘never liked that slag anyway’ mode. Outside Nacho, he was a star in a shower of shite last season. I don’t quite abide by the weird internet cult he has behind him. When I read people talk about Ramsey’s achievements in the game, it makes me weep a little inside. He’s a solid player who has survived 10 years in an unstructured mess. I think he could be exceptional in a great system, but I don’t think he’s irreplaceable. He’d unlikely be allowed the freedom to be the all-action hero under Emery, so it’ll be interesting to see where he chooses head if he does go.
I kind of hoped he’d stay to be the captain at a club built around his talents… but hey, who can deny a man a change of scenery.
Let’s just hope the club has a decent backup plan. I’d be surprised if his energy and drive could be found with internal promotions.
Finally, a bit of a gripe about TV rights. What the fuck is football doing with all these fragmented TV deals? Community Shield is on ESPN+ (an app), EL is on TNT, NBC has the Prem rights except sometimes you need their shitty Prem pass offering, I don’t even think we get League Cup. I know it’s the same issue in the UK. BT are pulling back, Sky has some games, there’s that new disruptor channel Eleven Sports who have some action. It’s a fucking joke. Even if you’re a cable buyer, you still need to buy bolt-ons. Is it cheaper for anyone?
This fragmentation of TV just pushes people to do things illegally. At times last year, I had to stream illegally for things I’d paid for because the services were shite. It’s unreal.
Just give me a season ticket for the TV. That is all that is needed. Or someone get Reed Hastings on the blower and tell him Netflix should buy the rights and make it real easy. Or Apple now they’re a trillion dollar company.
Anyway, moan over.
PREMIER LEAGUE STARTS THIS WEEK x
England’s best most fans on here will not know who you mean when you say Liam ray and Frank most people are not in their 50’s here
With I of course do know because I am almost there 😉
So why the fuck did Chambers play against Lazio plus the other matches when another player could’ve played in his position?
I hoped with Wenger gone the club would start to wake the fuck up.
Oh well……
Lol insideright whining to his politician about television. A true footy fan
“Ramsey is not a top player
Repeat it again….Ramsey is not a top player.”
Tell that to the poster who believes Mkhi, Auba, Ozil and Lacazette need Ramsey on the field to hold their hands.
Shambolic performances after shambolic performances..that was the prediction of what will happen once we let Ramsey leave.
Good shout for kimpembe if PSG bring in another CB. Won’t come cheap but at least he hardly played in the WC so his value didn’t go up this summer.
I think we’re buying a CB. This team isn’t silly enough to enter a season with what we’ve got, and the attack appears to tick with what we’ve got. A fast dribbler would be great but I think it’ll have to wait until next year.
There is nothing about Vida’s top flight football history that makes him an ideal target for us let alone at 25m pounds. He signed for Beskitas on a free in January.
I am starting to seriously question our scouting. Even if Sven has a blind spot for defenders, surely Emery and his crew can come up with some names.
Marko
I think most broadcasting deals are now locked in for this season, at least.
Sky have Coppa Italia, from like the quarter final stages, onwards.
Pure football, that leaves us with Championship, Eredivise, MLS (and I think Chinese Super League).
BT have Ligue 1 and Bundesliga and Serie A, EPL. As it stands, BT seems better OVERALL value.
It’s a fucking shambles.
“I missed Dortmund buying Witsel. Good for his career and for football in Europe ”
Witsel has made enough money during his China stint to retire comfy.
In fact I’m quite sure one of his reasons was to secure his financial future. can’t knock that.
Would’nt mind seeing Oscar back in Europe.
I’m a little perplexed about why we are three days from the close of the window and we still haven’t resolved Ramsey’s contract situation. While I’m not opposed to selling him, he has attributes (engine, athleticism, ability to get forward) our other CMs do not have, attributes that are especially important if we’re going to play 4-3-3. Thus if we do sell him, we need to replace him with someone who has similar attributes and is good enough to start. Whether we can get that done in three days is an open question, but I imagine (hopefully) they’ve been working… Read more »
Vezo of Valencia could be a decent shout. Could stump for De Ligt before one of the big clubs snatch him up.
Also worth noting that we can only sign players up to Thursday 5 pm but players can still leave after that so don’t worry if Ospina or whoever is still here come Friday morning because they can still possibly leave only not domestically
Well if there were wanted domestically they won’t still be here by Thursday anyway.
If Jenkinson is here come Thursday 5pm then the lad is quite shameless, cos he won’t be wanted abroad that’s for sure
Mr Serge
Even so, I am hopeful the message got through to the youngsters.
I think these tv companies are in for a shock in the not to distant future.
I’m an avid fan of both in stadium and on the box,and for me to say enough is enough this season is something I thought would neverhappen.
When you chuck in Amazon to the party you have subscriptions all over the place.
I don’t think these tv companies realise that the teenagers of today don’t watch the footie like us older generations. Disconnect them from watching on the tv,as they have done in the grounds is a big mistake.
coach
speak for yourselves. Apart from the first world, the rest of the world has a very shit internet network or no access to it at all. I can watch 1080p netflix in Europe but outside Europe, im struggling to get out of 380 p. Everyone in Asia owns a tele, very few people watch games online. And I know no one who has a Netflix account. so broadcasting games on the Tele is very important to advertise the PL outside Europe…
Just my opinion my friend,I don’t live in the rest of the world,so couldn’t comment.
All I know is the more companies there are asking for a subscription to watch what was costing me less from one provider in the country I live in,you are going to drive it underground through sheer corporate greed.
the lad is quite shameless
———————————
Because of Wenger, he’s on 45 thousand a week till next May.
You would also be “shameless” for that salary.
I think Ozil is paid too much for what he has done in an Arsenal shirt but I also think hes has not been used to his strengths and was molly coddled by Wenger. Aaron Ramsey has played over 240 matches for Arsenal and IMO has had around 40 really good games most of which were in one season. Again I think Wenger let him get away with trying to be Roy of the Rovers to the detriment of the team. He has the potential to be really good but on actual matches played is massively over rated. The club… Read more »
I’ve a feeling that the league managers will regret approving an early end to this transfer window. Good we’re shipping out some dross player (except Chambers)
Ramsey can go where ever he wishes to be.
I hope Vida’s link remains a rumour . Don’t feel comfortable with players making names in tournaments. .
As it stands now, I think a cb and a winger might be thru to the club.
@Dissenter I also thought Papa was a poor choice, especially since in January we and City were looking at Evans. As a short term choice, I would have preferred him at £3m than Papa at £16m since at least he’s a known quantity in the PL and probably just as good. Given that Chambers had his contract extended, he’s probably considered good enough in the long run but perhaps not quite experienced enough yet, hence the loan. Holding and Mavropanos seem even greener, so unless they’re really highly thought of and/or Koscielny’s recovery is going better than expected, I think… Read more »
Premier league stats in the last 4 years.
Ozil played 116 scored 22 with 41 assists.
Ramsey played 107 scored 19 and 22 assists.
I’m glad the window closes in the UK on Thursday.
Tired of refreshing newsnow and being gassed up by these ITKs who know as much as we do about transfers. It’s doing my head in – but I’ll still be doing this till the window closes.
It’s been well documented by many on here before.weref**kd because of wengers socialist pay system.absolute garbage are on such high salaries that a)we can’t shift em for a justifiable fee in today’s market & b) the f**kers don’t want to leave for less salary & why would you when you’ve been set up for life!
If Aubameyang is ‘world class’ then i expect a minimum of 35 league goals this season.
Goonertone,
So we just realized that the Ramsey Out Brigade’s main argument – him being injured a lot and missing 1/3 of every season, is bullshit, because 7 months ago, the club gave 350k per week to a player with the same amount of appearances/disappearances.
The differences in assists is mainly because Ozil is the taker of all set pieces, and because Ozil crosses the ball much more often than the Welsh.
Welbeck apparently has three days to find a club. We’ve got three days to find a defender and are still being linked with Nzonzi. Doesn’t seem like there’s any links to a wideman. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be left short in a important area
Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton all apparently interested in Welbeck which means we should at least get some decent bids.
Perez apparently now close to West Ham with the deal being £4-5 Million.
Are we going to be able to shift Ospina and Campbell?
I’ve no doubt Jenkinson will continue to hang around and claim his £35 000 a week, that has to go down as one of the stupidest deals in football.
“Because of Wenger, he’s on 45 thousand a week till next May.
You would also be “shameless” for that salary.”
As a matter of fact Danny i would. I wouldn’t even mind training with the under 12’s
Whilst I’d love our entire squad to be stars of the calibre that Real Madrid came knocking every transfer window for all of them, I accept that isn’t going to happen. One of the things that was reported at the time of Emery’s appointment was that he apparently had a plan for how he’d improve every player or something along those lines. As such, I would hope that if players like Jenkinson, Campbell and Perez end up staying with the club through this window, that Emery figures out how to utilise them and maximise their value. As gambon has pointed… Read more »
That kind of thinking is short sighted and a bit dumb. I mean if he actually went somewhere and actually played and potentially actually impressed he could make more money for longer. Now he’ll be lucky if a championship club gives him 10g’s
Raptora
My issues with Ramsey are not injuries. He’s had plenty of niggles but gets plenty of match time much more than his average performance has deserved. I actually think if he played with more discipline there’s a great player in there but he has had way too many poor games. He covers every blade of grass but is often not where he should be. As a Wenger Favourite he always played 100% fit or not! In form or not! Hopefully if he signs and stays Emery will demand more because I think there is more to come from him.
@ Zfree
“Lol insideright whining to his politician about television. A true footy fan”
Damn right. Now the useless tub of lard is about to lose his cushy job and free allowances in Brussels I’ll write to him again and tell him his complacency over the cost of people watching footy contributed to Brexit and it’s all his fault. lol
as one of the stupidest deals in football.
——————————————–
Squillaci and Almunia both wouldn’t leave because of their huge salaries and both ran their contracts down.
The only way I see Jenkinson leaving is if he’s payed off by the club, in another words he joins for example Coventry City at 10 grand a week and we give him a million pay off.
InsideRight
He should’ve listened to you!
if we don’t end this Ramsey circus immediately we won’t even have time to reinvest the sale money. This has been a shambles to be honest. Imagine if back in the day, Edu managed to bring this media circus to arsenal about ‘will he or won’t he sign???’ Etc. He’d be laughed out the club. And I say that as someone who liked edu and thought he was absolutely a good player. But like Ramsey, he was not elite and his absence will be moved on from immediately. Honestly it’s embarrassing that a player of this level is strutting around… Read more »
On Ramsay, stats do not include such things as mien, persona, leadership, spirit, commitment,etc.
On Ozil they don’t include lethargy, lack of interest. indifference, colds and sneezes. etc
On blame , it lies with a neglectful inept Club staff, not Ramsay.
On over-exposure and over-pricing,, the cause is a short-sighted greedy Premier League and a pompous self-indulgent BT that ought to be doing what it’s meant to be doing, telecommunication.
Dissenter et al
Ramsey is more of a AM than DM. Pep with his abundance of talent might want to buy more for strategic reasons such as keeping Ramsey out of hands of Managers such as Sarri or even Emery who are capable of moulding this loose cannon into a dangerous player.
Ramsey is safe to be sent to other places including City where he might be a rarely used cog.
Vida’s performance in the WC is slightly overrated in my opinion. He played well in the final, but he was woeful earlier on (notably that first half against England). He is slow and has limited technique. £25m for him? Besiktas had him on a free. Thanks but no thanks.
If Ramsey isn’t sold by tomorrow afternoon I’ll be pretty upset. New CB signing (or maybe CM, no chance we bring in a good winger) announced Wednesday or deadline day. C’mon Sven and Raul! You didn’t come to the arsenal for summers like this where the biggest incoming signing is a £25M Sampdoria player and Aaron fuckn Ramsey is holding your feet to the flames.
We should sell Ramsey at all costs. The guy doesn’t want to be here any more. We’ve got another Sanchez in the making.
Sterling and the slim Brock Lesnar aka Kevin De Bruyne are back in training ahead of the weekends match too
If Danny Ings is worth £20m, Welbeck must be worth £30m and Ramsey £50m.
Zfree
That’s what I said! You know it makes sense.
It’s obvious that we can only sell our players for peanuts because of their undeserved high wages ..another damning evidence of how the club was dysfunctionally ran under wenger!
It’s gonna take years to sort out this mess.
Hopefully we have the right professionals to do just that..
So at the moment we could only sit back and watch how it all unfold!
Here comes Luis Suarez again…
Good one pitbull? With humor like that I’m sure you’re a hit with the ladies
Pitbull
Your joke could’ve landed decently well. Then you made it really creepy and awful bearing to incest. Take a break for a bit, bud.
As a matter of principle, I don’t pay a penny directly to BT. Unfortunately, you can’t get away from them entirely because they own the goddam phone lines! Which means I don’t get to watch any CL games, whereas before I could see them all with Sky. If BT had taken the money they have thrown away trying to be a big deal in showbiz and spent it wisely, this country would have the best telecom and the finest broadband in Europe. It’s a giant ego trip for the people who run the company. As for Sky, you have to… Read more »
Not happy about chambers out on loan I gotta say.
I’m indifferent on Rambo tho…
Don’t think he’s ever hit peak
People calling for Guendouzi to start already.
People unhappy with soft Calum Chambers being loaned out.
This all points to some of the already established first team players being seen as not really up to task.
Emery really needs to be this top manager it seems.
Your Comment Here
Was Sven brought in to scout from just the Beundeliga? with our need for a defender y don’t we go for Burnley’s Tarkowski. He’s been a good player for some time now and quite young but with better level of PL experience.
I have a sick feeling we will end up with this Vida character. Besiktas are even lowering the price just to be on the safe side.
Buying a player off a tournament where he was not even that good …i just can’t flow with that
Kike Marin says we’re looking to sign up an inexpensive CB. Not very ambitious if we’re being honest with ourselves
That was not what he tweeted Marko
He said we are looking to bring in a center back and an inexpensive interesting signing.
Marko It’s money though, we just don’t have it. Two years out of the UCL, we cannot move on our players to bring in any money because of how ruined they are and their ridiculous wages and we’ve been hit in terms of our stature. If Emery does well likely next summer we will see one or two big purchases, and then if things continue to progress the summer after we will be doing what Liverpool are now. We are in a far worse place than a lot of people think, Emery, Mislintat, Sanellhi etc have a real job on… Read more »
If Rambo goes I think amn will take his place in the middle.
Bearing in mind we got stuffed twice by MC back at end of February/ beginning of March, I would be more than happy with a point this weekend.
How does everyone else feel?
Three days till deadline, #AFC priority at the moment is to sell players who don’t feature in Emery’s plans. Then, from there, the club will focus on signing a centre back or some inexpensive interesting player.”
Inexpensive interesting player? What does that mean. Even the non interesting players are expensive these days
Michael 24
I would be happy with a point but reckon we can take 3 if we play well
My bad I originally perused the tweet. Still though Vida would be inexpensive and questionable in the ambitions department
Graham,
Happy with a draw, a win is possible but we really need to be tight at the back.
With Pérez and Welbeck looking like their off .?
Leaves us extremely light upfront when the inevitable
knocks come to Auba and Lacazette.
Campbell.?
Marko
I would take ” an inexpensive interesting player” ahead of an expensive boring manager.
It’s money though, we just don’t have it
Amazing looking at us compared to what West Ham and Fulham are doing. But yeah I’ll hold off until Thursday before making a final judgment but it’s been pretty obvious that the defence has been a serious problem for years and Sven and co have had months to look around and see what they can do to address this problem area and I’ll be honest if the best they can do is Sokratis and possibly Vida I’d be a little disappointed
How about we go full greek and snag Manolas after we trim some fat, then inexpensive our way onto a Bernard signing as a wide option?
With Pérez and Welbeck looking like their off .?Leaves us extremely light upfront
Yep and an inexpensive interesting player isn’t likely to be enough
“Amazing looking at us compared to what West Ham and Fulham are doing”
Wenger out?
Charlie Stan and stagnation out.
How can we be in such dire financial straits
Don’t say champs league money, ,that’s like overtime you can’t expect it every month.
Wenger was pladuit for his control of the club with money.
But now clubdebt nearly payed for.
More revenue than when at Highbury
More TV money
So why we skint
I reckon chambers was loaned for the fee we will get
Cc where have you been – is Bernard good enough
The new regime isn’t quite firing on all cylinders, is it? A lot of shoddy decisions and instances of poor management in a very short span of time.
How about we go full greek and snag Manolas after we trim some fat, then inexpensive our way onto a Bernard signing as a wide option?
Can’t tell if you’re taking the piss. Thought you hate Manolas. How about Caglar for a reasonable price
Maybe Welbeck will stay- he is a type of player UE likes hardworking, pressing but his not turning up till now gives contrary signs
I reckon chambers was loaned for the fee we will get
Heard the fee is one million
So another new contract for a guy who got a new contract just months ago, and then you ship him out on loan? Still looking for the creativity inside that.
Chambers new contract was a shocker, but sending him out on loan after that? Well, i don’t know the word for that.
The club will not change – the club had a net gain in transfers last year- what happened to last year’s budget? West Ham Fulham and even the lower teams will ultimately spend more than us
NW9 Racking up the theatre time my friend and taking a customary hiatus from the inter webs. No idea if Bernard is good enough tbh, one of these ‘talented at 19’ types that’s been about doing alright without living up to his early promise – but is still only 25. He’s out of contract and a tricky wide player, it would very much be an interesting and inexpensive one for us you’d fancy. Idk what else qualifies under that guise unfairness, maybe another raw young baller? I quite like some of these ‘yet to fulfil types’, romantic and shit I… Read more »
How come Westham and Fulham are able to out spend us in the TW. I’m tempted to believe that the lack ambition to carry us from obscurity we find ourselves in.
Getting exasperated!!!
“Can’t tell if you’re taking the piss. Thought you hate Manolas. ”
Don’t hate him, just don’t share your very high opinion of him. He’s 27 and speaks the lingo so could be a good profile provided he’s good enough in the eyes of those making the decisions. I’m not a fan of another young defender, would prefer someone more in the ‘here and now’. Holding, Dino, and Chambers are all young defenders.
if we buy Vida for 25m and Mina goes to Everton for 30m I’ll be pretty unhappy.
the thing with this new system in place is you’re never quite sure who to blame when things go tits up.
eerrrm are we still pinching?
*penny pinching
Marko
1 m plus the 4 for Perez
35 Rambo
2 ospina
42 m budget
Racking up the theatre time my friend
I asked you this before is it just going or do you do something in the theater? Between that and the golf I bet you’re a stuffy old git type
RSPCA Revenues FELL at the club in the half-yearly accounts to the end of November (£23.4m down compared to previous year) reflecting our fall out of the CL. The full-year accounts (released end of September to reflect year to end of May) may well show an even bigger slide. I don’t think any other PL sides are currently seeing falling revenues. Combine falling revenues with rising costs (wage bill increased by £13.2m in 6 months to end of November; costs of settling with Wenger and his lieutenants etc) and an owner who requires the club to break even every year,… Read more »
“I asked you this before is it just going or do you do something in the theater? Between that and the golf I bet you’re a stuffy old git type”
Told you I’m a performer of sorts. Stuffy old git? I’m younger than you ya melt. Nice antiquated view on golf there, it’s not the 70’s behave.
“the thing with this new system in place is you’re never quite sure who to blame when things go tits up”
Cmon Wallace, Wenger is the safe bet 🙂
Charlie you’re a fucking actor no way.
Actually Charlie Wenger will get the blame and rightly so too.
He was an all powerful manager who left a mess behind. We have a squad of players who we cannot sell…i mean come on.
I dream we sign a guy with a white/golden hair, I dream we drew manc, and we beat Chelsea.
Marko
Sure lets go with that
City’s high press in the first 20 minutes could give us serious problems if we start the game trying to play out from the back. Our keeper needs to bypass the high press early on and try and pick out our midfield. Would also like to see our keeper dominate his area as we look vulnerable whenever the ball comes in the box. He needs to be brave and strong… As yet I haven’t really seen him show that he wants to attack the ball when the crosses come in. If we manage to sign Nzonzi that will make a… Read more »
Looks like Vida in and Chambers out.
I don’t understand the decision to offload both Welbeck and Perez when we don’t have any genuine wide player in our squad. Apart from Torreira signing, the new regime has been making wrong decisions one after another.
Receding
Who are we desperate to get rid of that we can’t? Nobody that will affect our incomings to any great amount and it’s the incomings people are lamenting here by comparing them to WH and Fulham.
champagne charlie
“the thing with this new system in place is you’re never quite sure who to blame when things go tits up”
Cmon Wallace, Wenger is the safe bet :)”
I know!
how you feeling about things? I was thinking we were going along alright until yesterday. baffled by the Chambers loan, especially if we bring Vida in. I’d rather go with youth than these ageing CBs from middling leagues.
Charlie
The squad is kinda high on numbers yet we can’t get much back if we decide to sell which is why most of them are still here.
Pierre
I agree 100%, we’re likely to find ourselves down early if we try to get cute and pass it out of the back from the off against city. Really hope the game plan is to make it to 20 minutes or really halftime with a solid defensive performance, no leakiness, and build from there.
Realistic hopes, and this is being a bit optimistic, is 1-1 or 2-2.