Well hello everyone! I’m back in the UK hood and what do we have on the agenda today? Bloody Mesut Ozil, AGAIN.
This time there are two conflicting stories. One is from John Cross who reckons the club are sick to the back teeth of the German superstar and want him gone if they can find an offer. The second is from Sami Mokbel who reckons he’ll be given a chance to work his way back into the team this Christmas, but he’s really in the last chance saloon (The Times also has a story). There are rumours of a loan move out in January.
One thing is clear, the club is briefing against the German. Quite astonishing really. Our highest paid player who isn’t even a year into his new deal, is being nudged out of the club. I think it’s pretty clear now that the mega deal was a typically self-serving action of our now departed exCEO.
Anyway, I find it quite unbelievable that criticism is going the way of Emery. The childlike response from Oziltoligists is a sight to behold.
‘YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT MESSI TO PRESS’
‘YOU PAY OZIL TO BE OZIL’
‘EMERY CAN’T DEAL WITH BIG NAMES’
… a few of the best.
Let’s get one thing straight, Mesut is a supremely gifted player. One of the greats. There’s no doubt that if he applied himself, he’d be very valuable to our current situation. But the reality is, he’s not pulling his weight. He hasn’t been pulling his weight for years. He is a masterful creator, but that’s all he’s good for. In a modern system, it’s very hard to accommodate that type of player, which is why so few clubs adopt a free-roaming #10 these days. It’s not even just the pressing that so many keep highlighting, it’s the fact that he can’t be trusted to show up in big games. He can’t be trusted not to shy away from the tough away days. He’s constantly phoning in sick like some school kid with a fragile immune system. His second half season statistics always tank. He’s not a reliable leader despite being one of the 5 captains.
Arsene Wenger coddled the German. Notable that since his mercurial talent graced the club we’re now a Europa League side. Obviously not all the fault of one player, but when your star man has commitment issues, it does kind of set the tone for the squad.
You can even use Europe as a barometer for how far his star has fallen. He was available for sale for 18 months before he signed a deal for us. Who tried to seduce him? How many clubs dropped a bid the summer before he went into the final year of his deal? How many tried to make a cheeky move in January? Not many, and remember, he was on b-list money for a world class player. Do you think if Ozil were the player so many fans think he was, he’d be in such low demand?
The game has passed him by. He has most of the tools he needs to succeed at Arsenal. A terrier DM, two of the most potent strikers in world football, a really nice pitch, and a fanbase that adores him. Yet he seems to get worse every season. Is it fair to say that Cesc Fabregas played in a far worse squad and delivered way more? I think it is.
Ozil doesn’t want to adapt to the new ways of Emery’s Arsenal and thankfully, he is happy to make the tough decisions Wenger hadn’t for the past ten years. He won’t be making these decisions on a whim either, he’ll be using sophisticated data models that will support whatever hunch he has about the player on the pitch. He’ll no doubt have worked this decision through with Raul and Sven.
This is what ruthless decision making looks like.
Finally, one for Joke Friday… Wenger had this to say for BEin.
“The team is in good hands and I always said that. A lot of people thought when I left the club that the team would need to completely rebuild – I never thought that.”
“I am very happy that these people have been proven wrong.”
THIS IS WHY YOU DIDN’T GET THE UNITED JOB.
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments.
Hello
MrT in the building!
Yo
Bangdadadang
Tr4phy
Congrats to Blackburn George @arseblagger for providing 2/3 of those golden quotes.
Bollox!
Sell him to China 🇨🇳!
I was surprised when the Ozil signing was announced. I wondered why he would want to come to Arsenal and why we weren’t outbid by a super-rich club at the last minute. Now, sadly, I know why. It’s his temperament. He has the talent but not the application. He is woefully inconsistent and lacks commitment. Such prima donnas are like a parasite on a team and we should remove him as soon as possible. I look back to when we had Alexis Sanchez, He was a machine for us. Hardly ever got injured and gave his all in every match.… Read more »
Any team news?
This new criteria for forwards to defend though. it’s laughable. I mean Eto is talking nonsense. When Neymar played for Barca, a pretty demanding team, he had no problems whatsoever. Psg can field their reserve team and still win ligue 1.
I wonder who Eto wants Neymar to defend against.
—
I saw some quotes attributed to Lacazettte on twitter, questioning the decision by Emery to bench Ozil. Was I alone in seeing it?
I think Unai should do well to go back to 4231 and play Ozil with Xhaka/Torr behind him. Ozil might not fit his plans and then should be sold but as for now, that’s the best we have got.
“THIS IS WHY YOU DIDN’T GET THE UNITED JOB.”
looooooooooooooool
Mesut Ozil… probably the most gifted Fortnite player in history.
For a moment there I thought the headline said –
“Arsenal aggressively DRINKING against Mesut Ozil”
Far more appropriate.
Yup, Alexis with all of his shortcomings, would have been miles better than playing Iwobi and Mikki. There are a lot of better talents than him out there, but he was already in our team. In form Alexis was the difference more often than not in our FAC runs especially the one when we beat Man City and Chelsea. He will be remembered much more fondly in our history than Ozil, the parasite. We don’t know though, if Alexis’ unpleasant behavior was pointed towards Wenger or the club as a whole, in which case he could have still kept his… Read more »
raptora
In days gone by, both Wenger and Gazidis would have been sent to the tower for such atrocities.
Infact, I think all Arsenal fans deserve an explanation from them both with regards to this.
You are right. For me, the single biggest cock up by AFC in their illustrious history.
We are going to keep sucking for a good amount of time because we didn’t sell Alexis and Ozil in the previous Summer. We would have received 100m probably in total that we could have used for getting more useful players than Ozil and Mkhitaryan.
It all goes back to the point that Wenger overstayed his welcome…
Pierre
I criticized Emery yesterday.
Where were you between 2008-2018?
Oh that’s right, “cheering the lads”.
Please don’t come back to ne with your “Wenger obsessive” remarks.
me
Graham
you said in the last post “I don’t feel that Lacazette is 100% fit” implying that is the reason why he has only started 2 of the last 6 league games.
This being the case ,why did the manager start / risk him in a meaningless game v quarabag ..
Sanchez left because of Wenger and his inabilities to act.
Simple.
In his shoes, I’d have done the same.
Imagine having Torreira and Sanchez in the same team.
and who is the creative midfielder in emery’s plan? Ramsay going, ozil loan move. who is meant to make the goals or do something?
This was from 2 months ago. In this match Ozil was at his best, maybe his best ever, so what the fuck went wrong?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvcbhdsp4U
Mysticleaves
“I think Unai should do well to go back to 4231 and play Ozil with Xhaka/Torr behind him”
Yep. ..Aubamayang on the left , Lacazette up top and Mhkitaryan on the right ..
The same formation and personnel as our home game v Liverpool which worked very well but for some reason Emery has declined to use since.
Maybe it was a chance to test him out against weaker opponents.
Remember, only Emery knows.
If it was up to me, I would also consider putting Lacazette and Auba together.
Sanchez left because of Wenger and his inabilities to act.
Simple.
————————————–
So it had nothing to do with Man U offering him half a million a week……..
Danny…since then 3 league games played .
He played well v Liverpool, was substituted v wolves and palace ( both games our performances dropped when he went off)and hasn’t played a league game since .
Pierre
So is/was he really injured or simply had a falling out with Emery because in that Leicester match Ozil was so bloody good.
In that same match, we’re 3-1 up and cruising, when Lacazette fucked up but look at how angry Ozil is, total motivation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSM5Jg6pDUs
let’s be real beside the 4-2 win against spurs and the win against Fulham, arsenal
have been average to watch at best.
Ozil can’t function in Emery’s high press and high defensive line system. It is very aggressive and very demanding. Look at the two goals we gave up in the Spuds game. One through ball and their player has an one on one against our goalie. However, only a few teams in the PL adopts this high defensive line system. Most of the team outside the top 6 play a kind of packing the bus and fast countering system. Ozil can still function under a different system. But most of the team can’t afford his wages or the location is not… Read more »
ozil over emery all day long. why the fuck play 3 holding midfielders against huddersfield at home?
“He played well v Liverpool, was substituted v wolves and palace ( both games our performances dropped when he went off)and hasn’t played a league game since .” I’m pretty sure we scored after Ozil left against Wolves. Also Ozil played against Southampton and lost the ball leading to their 3rd goal. PS: We beat Spurs 4-2 without Ozil and we played very well. We out played United at the old toilet without Ozil. We are a far better team without Ozil and I’ll go ahead to say we missed Kolasinac in the last two games and at this stage… Read more »
The Germans were right about Ozil afterall
Danny
The bloke is a wanker. That’s his problem. Germany have found that out. Now we have finally admitted what we knew all along. The sad thing is we let so many better players leave and kept him.
Would love santi jack and Sanchez still kicking around
Also Ozil played against Southampton
—————————
How long did he actually play against Southampton?
Ozil is an analogue player in a digital world. He’s Betamax when when need 4K.
Someone might say that the situation has repeated this time with Ramsey and Welbeck but: 1. We are talking about around half a smaller scale because the money that we would have received this Summer would have been twice as less as the ones we would have received for Alexis and Ozil in Summer 2017; 2. Wenger was absolutely well aware of the skills of Alexis and Ozil, he knew if he wanted to keep them or not, while Emery, as a new manager, needed time for valuation and to see if Ramsey and Welbeck could do the job for… Read more »
Would love santi jack and Sanchez still kicking around
———————————————-
We all would but sadly all of them are finished.
”The same formation and personnel as our home game v Liverpool which worked very well but for some reason Emery has declined to use since.”
Same personnel?
Holding is out for the season
Mustafi is out for now
Sokratis was suspended for the last league game.
Danny
Money aside, Sanchez had no intention of going to MU. MC was his preferred destination. The money became an issue because of our mismanagement. Kudos to Sanchez and his agent for milking MU for so much.
Sanchez was a warrior for us but became pissed off(quite rightly) with Wenger and what was going on around him.
I’m convinced if Wenger had left before Sanchez, which he should have done, Sanchez would probably still be at the club working under Emery.
The reason he became so petulant was because of Wenger.
Just an opinion.
Pedro It is clear that Ozil does not fit into Emery’s requirement of “high octane” footballers who will work hard for the team. Yet watching recent games in his absence there is an acute shortage of creative quality in the team and noticeably our strikers have struggled to score goals. What Ozil for all his shortcomings offered the team was “creativity” and “intelligent” passing. That is now missing. Players like Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Ramsey and Guendouzi whilst offering more energy lack that talent. My viewpoint is that the club should have built a team around Ozil to cover for his shortcomings.… Read more »
Danny Who knows, looks like the falling out is the favourite though I don’t know why the club would make themselves so ridiculous by using the pretence of a back injury as to why he isn’t playing. Some are saying he’s not starting because ozil threw his gloves off in a huff when he was substituted v wolves …if true then that is a pretty pathetic reason to freeze him out of the side ..ozil is not the first and won’t be the last To get the hump when being taken off.. The other scenario is he may have had… Read more »
oh yes and how is Jack getting on at West ham?
As long as the people arguing for Ozil shut the fuck up when we have no system in place, no pressing whatsoever and play like the shittest Wenger sides passing from side to side and being overrun in the middle that’s fine. City wouldn’t have him, Liverpool wouldn’t have him, Chelsea wouldn’t have him, fucking Spurs wouldn’t have him. But to some he’s worth every penny of that £350 000 a week and should be the first name on the team sheet. Inter are the only club with any real interest in him and yet these dicks think we should… Read more »
”How long did he actually play against Southampton”
About 20mins and did nothing of note aside loose the ball.
As poor as Iwobi has been, he came in against Liverpool and supplied the assist.
Interesting that sanchez has cropped up in the discussion.
When he left I predicted he’d be a massive loss- especially as we got mhikitaryan in exchange instead of the £60 million man city offered us originally.
Since he left arsenal do not have a single player capable of producing a bit of magic – something unexpected if you like.
Going back to that Leicester game, Wenger was at the match, I wonder if that is the reason why Ozil played so well!
Is it asking too much for Mesut Ozil to work a wee bit harder for his £350k a week?
I don’t think so.
As for Jack , he was finished long before he left Arsenal.
Alex, Lacazette creates quite a bit of magic. Not as exciting as Sanchez, but he was another that was only as good as he was because Wenger let him do whatever he liked.
“My viewpoint is that the club should have built a team around Ozil to cover
for his shortcomings.”
Jesus fk, Stroller. Are you for fkin real?! Bloody hell…
ES, lacking creativity… but that doesn’t mean we should accommodate a flawed player.
Anybody consider a swop-Ozil for Sanchez?
Come back Alexis all is forgiven!
playing Ramsay is pointless now as he won’t want to get a injury like welbeck. to many holes in this team now.
Sanchez came to a standstill at MU for two reasons.
1. He really didn’t want to be there.
2. Mourinho.
It will be interesting to see if he resurfaces now that JM has left the building.
What is it with Arsenal fans, more so than any other fans. This sort of Eeyore like acceptance that whatever have/are doing is the best we can do? Always running the club down. Wenger is the best we can, what an insult. Now a player on £350 000 a week who can only occasionally be bothered to show up, has no fight in him at all, who even his supporters admit has to be played in certain kinds of games and rested every other game, who doesn’t fit into modern football and sulks when he doesn’t get his way should… Read more »
Lacazette has played very well this season. But Emery had to make a choice between him and Auba. Just remember how many people were fuming at the sight of Auba on the left flank. It wasn’t pretty in most of the games. He’s been changing his opinion on who’d make the starting lineup depending on their form, probably keeping both of them fresh. I’m pretty sure we’re going to see Laca start vs Burnley, or I hope we do. I’d leave Auba as a sub and give Laca the start surely. I know I don’t like Auba on the left… Read more »
Firstly I’m going to be busy over the holidays period so I want to wish all of you fine folk, a very merry Christmas. No matter our differences, please accept these best wishes from one Gooner to another. If you’re tempted to think all is lost, just think about where we were last year. Wenger was still here making his excuses. We had banners on planes telling us Wenger Out and to Respect Wenger all in the same match… pure banter. Now? Wenger is gone; along with Gazidas. That in itself is a Christmas present to Arsenal fans one and… Read more »
Bellerin out, Mustafi and Kolasinac doubtful. Really worried about tmrw at home to Burnley. Likely we go three at the back, with Xhaka at LCB. Guendouzi has struggled for a while, but he will be in CM again. Have to hope Lacazette and Auba score two or three with little service with Xhaka at the back. Need at least three tomorrow because we’re conceding two. Burnley have shithousers similar to Austin and Long upfront. Decent in the air and annoying bastards who will look to pressure and out muscle Monreal and Koscielny. It’s going to be a long 90 minutes… Read more »
Cesc
Beautifully put.
Some so called Arsenal fans never put the club first and there lies the problem.
It’s why we have regressed so much over the years.
Individuals ahead of club and progress.
Amazing really.
Pedro
Lacazette’s a good, intelligent striker. He’s not in the same league as sanchez though.
With a truly exceptional player-like sanchez – a manager should allow that player a certain amount of freedom otherwise they’re wasted. That’s what mourihno has done- essentially drilling a world class bunch of players into playing like stoke.
It’ll be interesting to see if sanchez’ form improves post mourihno.
Azed
You inadvertently missed the fact that I only mentioned the midfield and offensive players when I made my comment…
Of course the defence is different,I thought that was obvious but obviously not.
Graham62
To be fair some individuals working at the club in the past and their presently never put the club first.
I think we all know who I’m talking about.
“Ozil is an analogue player in a digital world. He’s Betamax when when need 4K.”
Just like the manager who signed him – on some “August panic buy”.
(Coincidence ??)
(lol)
*and there
“Yet watching recent games in his absence there is an acute shortage of creative quality in the team and noticeably our strikers have struggled to score goals.”
There is more often than not an acute lack of creativity when he is IN the team.
Ozil is good on the ball for about 10% of games a season, in the rest he actually hinders creativity because he takes up cowardly positions.
Leedsgunner
Have a great holidays. See you on here in the new year
Alexanderhenry
Alexis has physically peaked. He’s not the type who is capable adjusting his style of play as his speed/acceleration head south.
Wenger got the most out of him by allowing him to be free.
Emirates
“My viewpoint is that the club should have built a team around Ozil to cover
for his shortcomings. That has not happened under either Wenger or Emery.”
Respectfully, I don’t care if you’ve attended one million games. You’re as wrong as two left shoes.
If he’s not good enough, he’s moved on.
You waxed lyrical too when the Sanchez situation was going on and insisted that we keep him at all cost.
Tmrw predicted XI
Leno
AMN Sokratis Koscielny Xhaka Monreal
Mkhitaryan Torreira Guendouzi Iwobi
Lacazette
Ye,
I repeat Dream’s sentiments re Alexis. He’s a one trick pony relying so much on his physicality, sharp reflexes and quick feet to gain that extra half a second. He is no longer the same, so his overall game took a huge hit for good. He will not improve post Mourinho and the biggest memory in the minds of Manure supporters will be the video of him playing the piano. Unfortunately, we didn’t cover ourselves with glory either, getting Mikki in return.
Leedsgunner
My point was fan related.
If supporters had shown more bottle sooner, things wouldn’t have nosedived so alarmingly.
Azed
“About 20mins and did nothing of note aside loose the ball.”
I think you will find that he created a couple of chances in his short time on the pitch ….Kosielny header from 5 yards that was blocked and Lacazette 5+ yards from goal just failed to control a cut back to him . ..maybe you inadvertently missed them
The only time I yearn for Sanchez is when Iwobi has the ball near the box on counters. Would be great if he could parachute in for those moments and then skedaddle.
Koscielny on the pitch = at least one goal conceded.
Thanks Dream10, the same to you! With regards to Özil, I reckon he’s bearing the brunt of lessons learnt by Emery at PSG. I suspect that Emery took a softly softly approach when he faced off with Neymar… and lost his job. So, perhaps the freezing out of Özil is probably a reaction not to allow that to happen again. If Özil is let go, I expect Ramsey to be kept on… which might not be bad on the point of squad unity. Aaron talent wise is not on the same level as Özil but at least Emery seems to… Read more »
CA No-one who posts on Le Grove even those like me who recognise his talent have ever suggested that he is worth £350K pw. What I do recognise is that Arsenal through contract mismanagement got themselves into a hole by allowing their two best and most expensive players to run down their contracts to last 6 months. Had we allowed both to leave last summer without contract renewal or transfer the outcome would have been that £100 million of talent would have left on bosmans. The club made a decision to transfer Sanchez to Man Utd and exchange him for… Read more »
Aside from Leicester, where he was admittedly genius, it has been a very long time since Ozil was all that productive or creative of a player. His weaknesses — on both sides of the ball, mind you — have been highlighted and catalogued here a thousand times a thousand times. I have no problem with him trying to work his way back into the team over the next two weeks, but his showing against Southampton should not fill anyone with confidence in Ozil. The opposite. He looked, as I said yesterday, like a guy who doesn’t really want to play… Read more »
Azed
“I’m pretty sure we scored after Ozil left against Wolves.”
We did ,but you inadvertently forgot to mention that the team was all over the place for the last 15 mins and we could /should have conceded 4/5 goals …our game plan was to give the ball to xhaka in the left wing back position and for him to pump it into the box.
If you don’t believe me ,watch the last 15 or so mins again …
Leeds
I think you are right about the PSG thing and Emery.
It’s the way it should be, particularly in our situation. If we cave now we will never get anywhere as a club.
You never build a team around a lazy, arrogant, sulking, inconsistent, unreliable, dysfunctional individual.
Only a clueless moron would do this.
To be wengerized has almost killed all his talent.
And Fortnite killed him for good. Sad ending to his career.
Bamford
What you also have to be wary of is a brief upturn in performances when the transfer window is lurking.
Then come February he’s back to himself again when he’s safe knowing he can make it at least until June.
We’ve seen it so many times before with contracts, once they’ve got them they revert to type.
I hope this decision has been made, we all know Ozil can never work in a high work rate, pressing, aggressive system.
That’s pretty much it.
Imagine building your corporate team around such a person.
Crash bang fudging wallop!
Maybe we can just change our crest to two large googly eyes or place a picture of Eeyore there.
We don’t have potent forwards. You could put the front two in a cathouse and the ladies would still have their dignity in tact.
Mesut Ozil isn’t worth our time. 30 years old and still playing video games. If he wasn’t a footballer, someone like this would probably still be living at home in mum and dads basement.
AMN needs a rocket up his arse as well.
Come on lad, this is your chance to impress. Pull your finger out. At least look interested.
That’s me for today.
Off to Brighton for some last minute Xmas shopping.
May see Chris Eubank senior posing along the seafront on his tricycle.
Prat!
“Mustafi and Bellerin out against Burnley. Mkhitaryan and Kolasinac doubts.” – @jamesbenge
I’ll reserve my comment on Emery after this first season. The next two months will tell whether his system has been worked out by our opponents. I already saw some deficiencies in his system. It could be down to the quality of the players available to him. Hopefully, there will be no more injuries during this holiday period. I wish him good luck.
Two stories atop Arsenal Twitter: club looking into swap deal that would send Ozil to Madrid and “unsettled” Isco to Arsenal; club looking to loan Ozil out in January.
Anyone think either of these is even plausible?
Bamford
If Özil leaves, it will be in the summer
A young Isco fell out with Emery at Valencia. His transfer fee will be similar to our summer transfer budget. Not happening, especially under our current manager
Again though, transfer fees are rarely paid in one payment. If our summer budget was £100 Million and Aouar, for example, cost £60 Million he might cost us £20 Million out of that summer budget and then we would have to keep in mind we owed Lyon another £20 Million next year and then £20 Million the year after, or whatever. You could buy De Ligt, Aouar and Pepe, about £160 Million worth of players and actually as of the moment they arrive have given only £80 Million in real money and committed yourself to £80 Million more over an… Read more »
Cesc Appeal
That’s a great point. Hope the Kroenkes are up for it.
Know you’re a fan of Nicolas Pepe.
Apparently, Lille want 60m Euros for him and keep him for the rest of the season. So, a Naby Keita type deal. Bayern want him as the heir to Robben, Juventus and Utd with Mourinho we’re interested. Quite a battle for him.
Isco for Özil? Yes, please!!!
What’s Adrian Rabiot’s relationship with Emery like? I’ve read on here that some think he doesn’t want to play for him but why is that? Didn’t Emery break him into the first team and make him a first team regular? Anyone care to fill me in on the dynamics there?
With Ramsey possibly off on a free, I don’t know why we’re not all over this… or maybe we are behind the scenes.
Here’s to hoping.
Graham
“Sanchez came to a standstill at MU for two reasons.1. He really didn’t want to be there.
2. Mourinho.
It will be interesting to see if he resurfaces now that JM has left the building.”
Yes you’re correct…..A manager can have a really negative effect on a players performance and career.
News circulating around that Napoli will make Ospina’s transfer permanent. The buyout clause is €3.5m which would have been triggered anyway if the Colombian played in 30 games this season. He’s been used in 15 games so far.
Pretty bad business, no?! I mean it’s still money but he must be at least £6-8m worth no?!
raptora Arsenal’s transfer business under Wenger in recent years has been fairly disastrous for following reasons: 1. Few of the players who arrived showed any real improvement and uplift in their valuations. 2.Many were paid inflated wages, which impacted on transfer valuation. 3.Contracts were allowed to be run down which also impacted on valuation. 4.A lot of players were kept at club beyond 30th birthday including 1 year extensions when they were injury prone and provided little playing time eg Rosicky, Arteta, Cazorla and Mertesacker. 5.Too many substandard players who were worth significantly less than we paid for them. 6.Several… Read more »
Dream10 As much of a long shot as it is if they want around £60 Million for Pepe then it might be worth looking at Sancho who will likely be a £70-80 Million buy. Most of the top EPL clubs will be sniffing around. But Sancho is potentially a future superstar, huge commercial potential, huge on field potential and is still so young. We can offer him a starting and starring role, his best friend Nelson will be here, he will be in London as well. Might be fanciful, but we could have a go. The issue of course is… Read more »
“…he’s not pulling his weight. He hasn’t been pulling his weight for years.” Fact of a matter, Pedro, he has been pulling his weight. Most chances created, most assists, most ground covered, etc, in the last 5 years in ALL of Europe. He’d brake Henry’s assist record if it wasn’t for our strikers’ wastefulness in front of goal in his first season. “He is a masterful creator, but that’s all he’s good for. In a modern system, it’s very hard to accommodate that type of player, which is why so few clubs adopt a free-roaming #10 these days. ” Really?… Read more »
People are just dropping names of transfer targets like candy
Pepe!
Rabiot !
Isco!
De Ligt!
Aouar!
It’s not happening people cos we don’t have the money.
Those are players at the top of every big club’s list. We are seeking for the same transfer targets that Everton and Leicester are sniffing at.