If I post at night, no one will read… but… no one will disagree.
Denilson was underrated.
Alex Song should have been a #10.
Peak Andre Arshavin was a top 5 EVER Arsenal player.
Steve Bould would have made a better interim manager than Unai Emery.
Xabi Alonso signing for Arsenal would have given Arsene Wenger one more title.
Wenger signing Thomas Tuchel as his assistant coach when he was in the Mainz backroom would have given him a Champions League.
Damn, so controversial.
Let’s start the day off with a flier. It appears that African parents can be embarrassing. Last week Thomas Partey’s dad trapped off the radio about an imminent Arsenal deal. The big man, Kike Marin, has scotched those rumours saying it’s agent talk to pump his Atleti deal.
This weekend, Auba’s dad basically said ‘SIGN DA TING’ on the social internet. Yep, he wants his boy to put pen to paper. WE LOVE AUBA’S PAPI.
Now, this could mean nothing. Parents drink, they say silly things OR, it could be a pretty obvious tell at the poker table of global transfers. Auba giving us his final years as an elite player would be quite staggering. He’s one of the best sharpshooters on planet earth. He would make Chelsea, City, United, Barca, and Madrid better. But he’s pining for Arsenal? What does that tell you?
Arteta is elite.
Ok, not that. It tells you that the world of football has shelved its plans (if true). It makes more sense for Auba to sign a hot deal now than wait for a Bosman in a years time. Why? Football is fucked.
When the most reckless CEO in world football says this:
“We have always believed that our commercial model gives us greater resilience than most clubs and we are grateful for the enduring support of our commercial partners in helping us achieve that,” he said.
“However, nobody should be under any illusions about the scale of challenge facing everyone in football and it may not be ‘business as usual’ for any clubs, including ourselves, in the transfer market this summer.”
Woodward added: “On this basis, I cannot help feeling that speculation around transfers of individual players for hundreds of millions of pounds this summer seems to ignore the realities that face the sport.”
You know it’s game over for the rest of us. United were linked with Jadon Sancho and Harry Kane. £300m worth of talent. Now those rumours have gone cold. If you are a club with cash, your obligation as a CEO is to protect and build it. If you have been flying by the skin of your teeth and you have no cash, you’d better be slashing costs and summer transfer ambitions.
Think about how complicated it’s going to be.
Most clubs have asked players to take a wage cut or a deferral. That pissed the players off. Do you really think any club in their right mind would have the gall to go out and start splashing cash in the summer knowing they might have to cut salaries if the virus comes back hard in the winter?
Even swaps and free transfers are problematic and political. Arsenal are being heavily linked with Willian. I was told that deal was 98% certain before the pandemic, I’m not so sure now, but how is that going to go down with the players at Arsenal? He’s not coming for a pay decrease, so if we offer him a signing-on fee and a raise, what do you think the Arsenal players will say?
‘Fuck your pay cut.’
The summer is going to be tough. Clubs will have to work out a new market. It’ll have to be low on transfer outlay and it’ll most certainly see a huge reduction in the wages and agents fees on offer. This is a good thing, but where do you start here? You are obliterating free-market economics for a landscape covered in fog. How do you reduce transfers? Who sets the benchmark? How do you make it fair?
‘Spurs, Harry Kane can’t cost more than £25m’
How would that go down?
Which clubs are going to agree to cap wages? Arsenal would jump at the chance. Would Dirty Newcastle United and their new unsavoury owners? Doubtful. Maybe FIFA could implement draconian caps. Like a more aggressive FFP. But again, where do you start here? Could players sue? Would clubs like City find workarounds like colleges did in the US did for top basketball talent?
Who knows, but something will have to happen. Clubs are going to have to unite and behave more like they do in the NFL. Wage caps. Trades. Free agency. Obliterate the transfer fee.
They’re also going to have to do it fast. Nothing sharpens the mind like the threat of death, the challenge is whether clubs that have billionaire backers really see death as an outcome. Businesses have been able to adapt to do things no one thought possible in rapid time. Dyson made ventilators and Panera turned into a grocer in 14 days. Football reshaping the transfer market is a bit like asking the world to address climate change. Everyone has their own agenda and finding a true agreement is near impossible. What the world doesn’t have though is a governing body that could make the tough decisions for them. Will FIFA step up and sort this mess out? Will anyone listen?
We’ll see.
Those are my thoughts. I dare you to attack them sleepy heads. x
Partey for laca straight swap is far too good to be true I’m not sure what value Atletico would get out of that. They’d be trading a key player for an inferior player in a position they already have some cover in, they’d be trading a player at the start of their prime for one at the end, they’d be trading a player in good form for one in piss poor form, they’d be trading a player with huge future sale value for one with minimal resale value. By all means arsenal should be trying to do this deal and… Read more »
Really if we managed to somehow get partey for Laca plus cash then the only other major bit of business I’d hope this summer would be auba on a new contract. ———-——Leno Bellerin-Saliba-luiz-tierney ———torreira-partey Pepe———ozil———-Saka —————-Auba Squad/rotation/bench Martinez Sokratis Holding Chambers Guendouzi Willock ESR Martinelli Reiss Nelson Nketiah The squad clearly isn’t perfect. It’s young and rough around the edges but I think there’s quite a lot of talent and potential in there. There’s also a bit of versatility with a handful of players more than capable in multiple positions (chambers,saka,martinelli for example). This squad also assumes we sell xhaka… Read more »
Fabrizio Romano and Gianluca dimarzio oth reporting our interest is very real in partey. That would mean the end of torriera. I don’t mind it if we can get back what we paid for him. I wouldn’t sell him if it were up to me. Xhaka is the one I would move on. Anyway fabrizio is also reporting we are in for a CB. honestly if we are signing Mari permanently we don’t need another one. We are just stock piling CBs. It’s either Mari is good enough or send him back and find another who is. About Aubameyang I… Read more »
*both reporting
Martinelli is to Auba* Cesc was to Viera*
Habesha – I agree. Hanging on to Auba at any cost is the road to financial ruin. I’d sell him and avoid all the final year contract bonanza he’d otherwise get and give Martinelli and Eddie more game time
Gabby can also rotate with Saka on LW
The one we really need to resign is Saka not Auba
Morning G8 Two thousand people die each week from Flu and pneumonia each week in the UK and that’s with vaccines available.The majority of the deaths are people over 65 with other conditions . My point is that until this virus came along numbers of people dying from flu each year was not published in the press so for many it’s the first time people have known how many people die each day. We cannot stop the world and get off, people need money to survive and millions of people’s lives are being sacrificed for this flu. Cancer patients have… Read more »
It’s a bit of a conundrum for Arteta. He has Aubameyang, Lacazette, Ozil and Pepe who are all quality players in their own right. However I don’t think they suit the style of football that Arteta wants to play. Arteta wants to play a high energy game, with players who are intelligent in their pressing and are positionally aware, especially from his offensive and midfield players…..his experienced players do not give him the energy and pressing for his philosophy to succeed. However, if he plays an offensive line up with a choice of 4 out of Martinelli, Nketiah, Saka, Smith… Read more »
Good post Pierre, Agree with your summary. With the potential of our young attacking players and the need for serious talent in midfield, I would be surprised if Lacazette or PEA are not sold to raise funds. Martinelli and Saka, in particular, need games to flourish and feel that Lacazette in particular could be sold. As has been said by many, loads of times, some of the best TW work would be to offload players who are not contributing sufficiently. We can all make a list of 6-8 players who fall into this category. I wouldn’t expect much money for… Read more »
Pierre, I am in complete agreement with what you wrote. The first big question is will he be able to execute his revolution. Circumstances and management may dictate that his preferred approach is executed in multiple phases. For example Özil is not leaving without a final year paid in full, so in that case we may be forced to keep him for an extra year. Also I doubt that management will authorise him to let Aubameyang, Lacazette, Xhaka, Mustafi leave on the cheap even he deemed them surplus to requirements. The second big question is will he show enough flexibility,… Read more »