Ok, so this is where we are.
Willian has expressly leaked that he wants to stay in London with his family. He has the choice of Spurs or Arsenal (Not sure Miami or Barca is real). His agent, Kia, is Arsenal’s Shadow Technical Director, so it looks very likely the Chelsea man is going to join us.
As I told you before the break, he was basically a done deal. The world went to shit, finances followed, and we weren’t sure if we’d be making Europe. Now we are, the deal is back on the table.
I have gone back and forth on whether I like it because it is a very, very complicated one when you compare it to signing David Luiz last season.
Let’s start on the positives because it’s Tuesday and everyone needs some light in their lives.
Willian is a very good player, that isn’t in doubt. He’s not moving to Arsenal under a cloud. He’s coming to us as one of Chelsea’s form players this season. When you compare him to Nicolas Pepe, who is in his first season with us, the numbers look quite similar, Pepe had 18 goal contributions this season and Willian 20… lift the hood and you start to see what might be appealing to Mikel.
Willian made 75 passes that led to shots this season, compared with 38 for Pepe. Across the season in all comps, I’ve seen 145 to 66. Tough to compare because the two clubs had very different seasons with very different squads, but the numbers don’t lie.
I think some other attributes that work in our favour is the Brazilian looks in very good shape. There’s a new generation of players that are looking good well into their thirties. This is very hopeful though because Mikhi had lost all his physical capabilities by the time he arrived with us and he failed because of it. Still, Willian was explosive over short distances this season. Additionally, he can move with the ball like a demon. He has very tight control, he moves through gaps like Santi, and he’s a professionals pro for sure.
One of the criticisms I’ve had of Pepe this year is that he gives the ball away cheaply. It doesn’t stick to him when we’re moving forward. I think Willian is very reliable on the ball in comparison. We also have a lot of young wide players at the club, so much in the same way Luiz has been a good influence on the kids, maybe Willian can bring that our way as well.
On the experience thing… we’ve been here before.
Yes we have lots of young players, but we also have a lot of older players. So, do we need a different profile of attacker? Yes. But I’m not sure they need to be 32 years old.
Here’s the main crux of the issue for me: We keep making the same mistakes over and over.
We have tried to sign experienced players with ‘winning’ mentality, where did it get us? We finished 8th last season and had to back door the Europa League. Most fans seem to be overjoyed we’re signing in Willian because it feels big and exciting to land a ‘name’ like that on a free transfer. I get that, these sorts of harmless deals always look good on paper, my worry is that we’re not building the club out properly and every time we move on an expensive older name, we bring a new one right in behind them that fails. Gallas, Cech, Lichtsteiner, Mikhi, Sokratis, Silvestre…
Do we really think Willian, a player reliant on pace and power, is going to be tearing up the Premier League in year 3 of that deal? I’m not so sure. There is no long-term value in signing older players that have a max shelf life of 2 years if you are incredibly lucky to have someone with genes like Jamie Vardy or Cristiano. Getting to the Champions League is no good if you don’t have squad ready to compete for it. If we’re giving players 3 year deals, I kind of expect they’ll be at the top of their game in year three.
It’s also disgraceful that the most creative option Edu has managed to find in a year is someone that is on Kia’s books again. Amazing how lucky it is that every time we have a need, one of the 3 or 4 contacts Raul and Edu have are ready with a very good solution. The conflict of interest is so clear and it’s a shame because it sullies the deal from the off.
However, what would make this all a little more palatable is if the deal was one that was right for the club. I said that I’d heard the deal was being held up because the numbers changed from where they were pre-covid. My hunch is that Tim Lewis is now scrutinizing where the Kroenke’s money is going, in fact, that’s not a hunch, he said as much on the .com. That story was still semi in play today when David Ornstein said the deal is not that lucrative. Remember, Willian is staying in London for family reasons, that gives Arsenal leverage. If we landed a lower number at the cost of an extra year (like we did with Mikel when he was a player), it makes it feel a little more normal… versus what happened last year with David Luiz where we were completely shafted.
It still doesn’t change the fact that he has no long-term value, but it makes it an easier pill to swallow.
Other things that could make the deal more palatable is if the rest of our summer business counters the factors going against him. Younger players, higher ceilings, better profiles that feel coherent.
When the summer ends, it’ll be interesting to see where we land. Did we go back into Lille with mega money? Did we sign more Kia players like Coutinho and Joelson? Did we inject agents into deals? Or did we start to behave a bit more like a club that has ideas outside the WhatsApp group? Did the scouts and analysts have a say? Did we learn any lessons from the last 3 years? Did we progress?
We’ll see… but whatever happens this summer, there has to be a squad that makes sense by the end of it. My main hope is that Arteta has a bit of cash in the bank and proper voice at the table. He seems very passionate about bringing Arsenal back to the top. Fingers crossed he can get that done with Raul and Edu.
Right, that’s me done, what do YOU think?
But agree it is good that Cagigao is still around at the club and it’s seems he has the ear of the manager and management as well which is very promising. Could be that it was his relationship with Sven that actually lead to what happened. Seems like they value Cagigao more than Sven
sal
“Whats weak is when Sven is weaponized to prop Raul up”
Utter tripe – it’s the exact opposite that happens.
“when neither have really set the field a fire with glory.”
Martinelli, Saliba, Ceballos, Pepe?
Marko
You come into the club and look at things with a clean slate. The Head of Recruitment then goes and buy’s Torreira, Guendozi, Lich and Sok.
It wouldn’t exactly make you give him a blank cheque book would it?
Marc I wouldn’t say Sven is a fraud no. I was very happy when he was coming in honestly very excited that we were getting in someone with a good eye for talent and signings after all those years of Wenger in the transfer market. But it didn’t work out at all in fact his time was a complete failure and when you get people trying to argue otherwise it’s an absolute joke in all honesty and shifting the blame elsewhere is just as worse and attributing signings to him after he’s gone is just mind boggling.
“Three year contract offered to Willian?
Are yer kiddin me?”
Nope.
Arsenal is the new retirement home for ex-chelsea players.
Marko
I was exactly the same – at long last we were going to stop faffing about in the market and having someone who could spot talent with that reputation was fantastic news.
Think about it this way – you recruit a salesman who has a reputation for being the best in the industry – 6 months later he hasn’t sold a bean when all the other sales guys are all over target.
You’d ask some serious question on the guy’s reputation.
https://www.skysports.com/football/story-telling/11095/12041665/redknapp-a-better-tactician-than-wenger
lol
I’m sure Raul is taking home the money vacated by the 55 redundancies.
Reports that we might be thinking of loaning Guendouzi to Villarreal are I hope false. Has to be a sale or a swap. Honestly I’d have hoped that they maybe tried to swap him for Guimaraes at Lyon. No European football for them next season so Lyon will be selling some players
“I mainly work off memory
I’m not sad enough to recall every fucking age of every player at every team during every season
And don’t have the time to constantly refer to google for the odd comment on a blog”
Your memory constantly lets you down. Rely less on it and you won’t get upset when if fails you.
Marko
Guendouzi is one of our very few valuable bargaining chips this summer.
Dont think the club will just let him leave on a loan.
A sale or a swap is most likely.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/club-update-2020
Arsenal to sack 55 staff due to financial stress.
Arsenal is proposing 55 redundancies and SPUDS just signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Kyle Walker-Peters. Looks like the Arsenal Exec’s are doing a very bad job. Some of them should be the first to let go.
Arsenal is proposing 55 redundancies and SPUDS just signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Kyle Walker-Peters.
The connection between the two is incredible. But yeah it’s a swap with Southampton making 3 million so yeah
Sad that our owner does not invest in the lifeblood of the club.
the pay cuts by players
Then this…. how bad are we financially? an 8Billion dollar owner cannot even cover these much?
https://arseblog.news/2020/08/arsenal-seek-redundancies-as-billionaire-owners-show-their-true-colours/
I dunno man that arseblog article is all well and good but they’re just as likely to criticize the club for overspending on areas. Players taking pay cuts has happened throughout European football and people are going to lose their jobs as a result of the current climate in football it is just the way it is right now. Until it passes and until people are allowed back into the stadiums that is. I’m sure these jobs will open back up once things are better.
Kroenke out. These wankers are just a joke.
Had Ozil taken the pay cut, Im sure some of these jobs could have been saved.
not sure who the other 2 players were that did not take the cut.
I wonder if the club mentioned to the players that the pay cuts would offset the costs for keeping these 55 employees?
I get the need to cut where needed, but 55 employees is a lot…
Maybe Ozil can be redundant. How can we make that happen? Im sure he is working extra hard for that 350K per week
Kroenke could have easily covered these salaries.
Its not a hardship for him…
Its a moral question overall…
An unattached business man owner who runs the club like a business only is why we are where we are.
He has no love for Arsenal FC. Its another investment for him, and like stocks and bonds, is waiting for the conditions to turn to make a profit.
I hate the guy
SF
Do we know the roles that have been cut?
We don’t know the specifics of the 55 people going. Bye bye Gunnersaurus and the awful online arsenal TV team.
i dont know… but 55 employees cannot be too high paid is my guess.
Hence, my irritation at Stan not being able to cover this…
Its the little guys who get the shaft.
We have a big fat rat eating up 350K per week that refused a pay cut. Who is working doubly hard for that salary right?.
He probably could have covered them sure but people like him don’t. Believe me he going to be last owner to trim the fat during this difficult period. The wording of the statement I thought was quite telling basically in advance justifying investment in the team with the redundancies. Which imo is very fair. Whether or not these jobs stayed or not doesn’t change the fact that the team needs addressing and investment. I don’t wanna hear about 55 people losing their jobs everytime we sign someone this summer. They shouldn’t be connected
Its the little guys who get the shaft.
Yeah welcome to planet earth. You’d think as an American you’d know that by now
New post.
New post.
“Hence, my irritation at Stan not being able to cover this…”
He’s perfectly able.
But he just don’t care.
Leave it to Le grovers to divert the redundancies to Ozil ( who was(is?) reportedly ready to take a larger pay cut granted the club details his team how the financials are affected) , while the billionaire owner increases his net worth by hundreds of millions in a depressed financial environment.
Yeah welcome to planet earth. You’d think as an American you’d know that by now
Typical Brit answer.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/aug/05/arsenal-plan-55-redundancies-to-enable-us-to-continue-to-invest-in-the-team-impact-covid-19-revenue
OMG
https://youtu.be/IKOzqfGf7cc
Great tv show