Beep, beep, beep… what’s that you hear? It’s Arsenal doing a 3-point turn on Holloway Road to head the other way on the AMN and Martinez exit plans.
Beautiful prose, I know.
I’m not quite sure the u-turn came yesterday. Ex-Chelsea boss Sarri has said on numerous occasions (before he’s sacked) that professional execs never make decisions based on one game. Whatever the process is/was, I’m pleased that the club is planning to keep two players that have turned their careers at Arsenal around with great performances.
There’s an argument that we should be using their low sample rate of games-time to our advantage by capitalising on their newfound prominence… then there’s the flip side of that argument that would say that you need to reward improving players. If you set a player a challenge to be consistent and they deliver, probably doesn’t look good to the rest of the squad when you bin them off to Wolves.
Also…
If AMN fails this season, he’ll sell for the same or more next year.
If Martinez turns into a flap monster, he’ll still return a fee larger than £10m next season.
Both players are young, they are fairly cheap, and I think they are well-liked by the squad. If both maintain their form, they will be worth considerably more by the end of this season which gives Arsenal an entirely different problem to deal with.
Edu’s focus should be on the players we know aren’t going to cut it at Arsenal. Which, apparently, is exactly what’s going on.
Sokratis has apparently sealed a 4.5m euro move to Napoli. That’s a £90k a week player off the wage bill. I like the player’s attitude, but it’s clear he’s not part of the plans. On we go.
The Torreira rumours are spicing up, the story is Fiorentina are making him a priority. They’ll give us £8m now, with a promise of a further £18m next summer. Not bad for a talent ill-suited to the rigours of the Premier League.
Kolasinac is also reportedly getting closer to a deal to go back to Schalke. He’s dealing with the reality that he’ll never land a £120k a week deal in Germany, he’s asking for assurance on becoming their captain, and he’s apparently 3 meetings deep with their execs. It’ll happen because players need security and having one year on year deal right now is NOT cool.
Valencia, a team with 4 runner beans to spend this window, has expressed an interest in Matteo. I doubt that is going anywhere, but at least it has the Frenchman in the media. He really needs to be fetching Arsenal a decent swap deal or at least £30m. Where is PSG? Leonardo, this man can ‘Frenchify‘ the hell out of that FAILURE squad you have. Follow him right away on Instagram to confirm you have read this.
Diego Simeone is looking for GOALS this summer after his side scored less than Granada last season. Alex Lacazette is the dream ticket. The story in SPORT suggests the Argentine is keen to keep Partey, but maybe that part isd there to soften the blow for the fans when we do a swap deal with them? Wait and see… but from where I’m sitting, Atleti are fucked financially, they know they’ll have to swap players to have a summer (they can only spend 25% of what they take in transfer fees, which will be a pittance this year), so the goal might be to make it look like Partey was forced from them.
Rob Holding is interesting Newcastle. Cal Chambers is interesting Fulham. Balogun will likely still head out to Brentford for a decent fee. Sam Greenwood left, hopefully with a stonking sell-on clause.
Next, we need to crack into our own transfer plans. Auoar and Partey would be the dream ticket. I’m not sure we’d need to do much outside that to contend the top 4. I think that’s where the club will focus their energy, so let’s pray to the footballing gods we can ship out the players that need to leave and make some magic happen in a short space of time.
The international break will hopefully be transfer bedlam. Club managers will be idle, the owners will have a clearer picture of where the world is going, deals will have to start moving because settled squads are generally happier.
That’s all I have today… NO… untrue. I also have a very exciting podcast for you to listen to. We basically talk Community Shield, the state of the squad, then we go deep on transfers. ENJOY AND 5* rate it you FIENDS. Thank you. x
Find it on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Play
I am not so sure that Özil and his wife would really enjoy life in Saudi. There is devout Muslim and crazy absolutist Muslim. There is a massive difference between the majority of Sunni muslim and Wahhabi Muslims.
Most Turkish muslims do not share the same fundamentalism. You just need to look at how Saudi Arabia treat their wives and daughters.
Talking about women, Before the unofficial ending of corporal punishment in Saudi Arabia a few months ago, A lot of things that Özil’s wife does and post would have her been flogged.
Do you guys think Arteta will shape up in a 4-3-3 if Partey and Aouar signs?
Ceballos close to returning on loan… apparently
Norwegian I predict if all reported targets are signed then yes a variation of 3 in midfield will happen because what would be the point in bringing in Partey, Aouar and Ceballos not to mention possibly Coutinho on loan.
You know writing that it seems impossible I knowI
Dani boy back at the Arsenal!
I guy called Fabrizio Romano has reported that Ceballos is close to come back to Arsenal. I don’t know how trust worthy is this.
I think the Coutinho loan has to be back up or just click bait with the number of players we’re being linked to.
The only alternative is too good to be true.
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling………
Batistuta
Do you have any idea what Conte is trying to do at Inter.
He looks like a bull in a china shop, just wrecking everything around him. Why didn’t the owners just let him leave.
I used to rate him but really seems like he’s fallen off a cliff.
I dunno I can see Partey and Ceballos working with Aouar in an advanced LF position and Willian and Pepe behind Auba
Marko
Yes but that’s the too good to be true part of it.
I can’t even say it in case it jinx’s the chance of it happening.
Ceballos is coming back to Arsenal on loan according to Fabrizio Romano. Now we need Partey and Aouar to complete our midfield. We can be Top 4 contenders fully by then.
I am a bit late to the party, Hahaha
Nelson
He is a 99.9 % reliable. What he says usually happens.
Pray to the Football God’s people.
It would be the single greatest thing that could happen to the club right now.
Dani boy has fallen in love with Arsenal. Do we still need both Auoar and Partey and if yes what happens to Xhaka and Willian ?
Wonder if this loan for Ceballos has an option to buy?
I think it will be one of Partey or Auoar TR7, although my preference is for both.
Imagine this
Bellerin Saliba Gabriel Tierney
Partey
Ceballos Aouar
Pepe. Auba. Willian
with this to back it up
Cedric/Niles. Luiz. Mari. Niles
Xhaka/ Elneny. Willock
Nelson. Martielli/ Eddie. Saka/ Martinelli
I am assuming Kolasinac, Holding, Torriera, Guendouzi, Lacazette, Sokratis, Mustafi and Chambers will leave. We would definitely be up there competing for 3 and 4
Hope the Ceballos deal is just a loan without an obligation to buy.
He is good but not THAT good. If only he was a bit more agile he would have been perfect in a 4-3-3 formation
Really don’t see him playing in anything other than a double pivot as it is. As long as he benches Xhaka tho (If Partey signs) that’s something in itself
Time will tell though
The club can maybe get a player more suited to the PL next year
I forgot ESR in the second line up
Actually maybe both can come in as I expect Guendouzi and Torreira to leave
I guess with Ceballos coming back and with the other names being bandied about, looks like Coutinho is no longer on our radar.
Habesha
That central defense is so untested I doubt we see it in a PL game till late in the season, if at all and that’s assuming everything goes well
Why would Madrid let Ceballos come back on loan with no obligation to buy?
“The only thing missing from this blog is the ability to see posters’ comment history.
Should be fairly easy to implement, assuming the back-end/database has been built properly.
Other than that, it’s top tier.”
Yes. It is certainly has all of the functionality of a 1998 AOL DIY homepage.
Who could possibly want:
The ability to quote/reply to someone in particular. Or have a discussion chain.
Upvote/downvote comments.
Create polls.
Post images.
The ability to PM someone.
This site has all of the functionality that Pedro can handle without having assistance in running it.
Trask
I am just speculating on the future
Luiz Gabriel will be the most likely combination in the premier league this season.
Dissenter
Who cares as long as we get him in favorable terms for us.
Habesha
That line up once all the players are settled (we might see Bellerin go to help finance other players) would be such as improvement on what I thought we’d be going into the season with it’s bonkers.
After I broke the news yesterday that paps was off to Napoli a good 5 hours before news now I now tell you Ceballos is coming back for another season
You heard it here first
How the hell did that post now when I posted it two hours ago lol I am more like the Sun than news now today lol
Most pathetic case of trying to take credit for something I’ve ever seen on here.
Suppose it was pure luck that you were scrolling through the comment section when it just randomly appeared.
Marc
Getting Ceballos back is a huge win for me. I think one of partey or Aouar is bound to happen too. If we get both our starting XI is almost complete without a lot of weaknesses. It certainly gives us more creativity and drive from the middle of the park too. I still feel arteta will use Xhaka a lot more than we would like though. At least we would have options then.
Great news about Ceballos, means the likelihood of seeing Xhaka starting next season is greatly reduced. Sign a defensive CM like Partey/Soumare and I’d be fine rocking Willian as a Cam for a season if we couldn’t get our preferred target this summer. Would still be a massive improvement on what we have. Combine that with our new look defense and we’re starting to look pretty strong again. Don’t think it will take as long as some here think before Saliba and Gabriel is the starting CB pair. They might be young but they still have decent top level experience,… Read more »
I am beginning to wonder whether Arsenal’s PR and/or Senior Management were on holiday and starting with Mkhitaryan we are going to receive daily
announcements about contract signing [Aubameyang], inward transfer
{Gabriel] and then followed by departures.
What we need to keep track on is the number of players in the squad. At the moment we have got over 30 on books.
So we need currently to reduce it by at least 5 without further arrivals. The
first three departures are likely to be Sokratis, Holding [on loan] and Kolasinac.
Ornstein saying that Gabriel is a done deal and he is in quarantine for another 7 days
If so why have they not announced it ?
Marc I am joking can’t you see that I did it like a report you plum some people have a personality by pass ffs
Mr Serge
He’s in quarantine at Kia’s house, they don’t want to face another backlash from the fans by announcing it now.
Yes. It is certainly has all of the functionality of a 1998 AOL DIY homepage.
__________
Hey Man… I still have an AOL homepage.. somewhere.. I think.. maybe. Although it’s probably in the same spot my.. My Space homepage is.. with pictures of my fishing boat on it, and pleas for Arsenal to sign Thomas Rosicky. and whatever else I was doing in 2004.
Anyhow.. Ceballos reboot is good news. Less midfielders needed and he knows what is expected and the system.
I read that Barca fined Messi €1 m for missing 2 training seesion and Ozil is allowed to train with Mathieu Flamini. Does it mean that Ozil is not part of the team permanently?
Freddie good news the kids a talent
So gabs mags got gammy knees
Transfer won’t happen unless we get a big price reduction.
But with cash tight we will look elsewhere for our second left foot CB.
Shame .
But to big a risk to take.
Think will need at least 2 out of Torr, Guen and Ozil to be leaving for us to get both Partey and Auoar.
Dissenter
Mate i have no freaking clue and not sure Inter fans do either but we on the red side of Milan are gonna be doubly happy if they implode this season. Think it’s all about him demanding total control in terms of transfers and all like he did second season with Chelsea or something along those lines is the gist. You’re right though that they should have let him walk
Who said he had gammy knees ? Like crock Thierny? Who is no longer a crock ?
Dani boy has fallen in love with Arsenal. Do we still need both Auoar and Partey and if yes what happens to Xhaka and Willian ?
No no just Dani and we’ll be fine. Of course we need Partey and Aouar
Mr Serge
I just made that bit up about Kia, would be fun to see the outrage from some on here if it was true though.
Seems like it’s a done deal anyway so hopefully they’ll announce it soon.
We need all 3 to play with creativity Aour Partey and Dani
Remember well the days that Holding was heralded as a top notch CB option on here, oh how the mighty have fallen now close to sealing a loan to Chief Wiggum’s Newcastle side.
Never rated him or Chambers really, still couldn’t believe my eyes seeing 6 foot 4 Edin Dzeko ripping Chambers a new one in a foot race in the Community Shield a few years ago when he was a new signing.
So gabs mags got gammy knees
Transfer won’t happen unless we get a big price reduction.
But with cash tight we will look elsewhere for our second left foot CB.
Shame .
But to big a risk to take.
We have got rid of better players with better knees .
Won’t happen jack 😅
WE I agree Holding and Chsmbers are not all that
Habesha
He who’s name must not be spoken will get edged out of the team very quickly when we have other genuine quality / suited to the PL midfielders in the squad.
You put an average looking girl in a lineup of fat northern slags and she looks quite pretty – put her in a lineup of models and she looks very plain.
Isn’t it possible that the PR department was heavily affected by the layoffs?
In retrospect, it may be that was why Willian’s unveiling was done at his agents London home.
Eagle
Holding was developing nicely until that cunt rashford shoved him into the hoardings.
Meomentum gone then.
WE
That’s been a problem with all our CB since Sol basically, all lacking in some physical attributes, either height or pace or both. A lot of them has been poor on the ball too. Seems like we’re finally addressing that now.
Serge
He has grade 4 quality knees .
Premier is at least 3.
Possibly won’t get insurance or pay higher premium.
Gospel.
Lol he needs them titanium upgrades RSPCA
I have just checked Arsenal’s website. We have listed 30 players.
Let’s assume that Gabriel is signed and we recruit another 2 Midfield players
we will then need to either offload or not register 8 players.
I think that I am right in believing that the club do not need to register players
who are U21. So Martinelli, Smith-Rowe and Saka do not need to be registered.
Martinelli is in any event out injured.
So the club needs based on incoming transfers to offload at least 5 players.
I mean Conte finished in 2nd place on 82 points with a +45 GD with a bang average Inter Milan side that finished in 4th place on 69 points the season previous with a +24 GD.
He’s the best thing to happen to Inter Milan for a long time.
FL
Agreed, only one we’ve ad since Sol that was the full physical package for me was William Gallas and he was certifiable and a toxic dressing room presence.
As a defender though he was brilliant, a much stronger and more composed Koscielny.
RSPC
Eh, Holding never did it for me personally. Physically ordinary and didn’t have a particularly great read on CF movements as a way of compensating for that.
Never Arsenal level or the level we ought to aspire to at least. He’ll be decent for Newcastle.
Freddie 20.24
Kos / Verm paired up quite nicely.?
Injuries took there toil.
“we will then need to either offload or not register 8 players.”
Can I make a suggestion on who get’s left out?
Verm and Kos were just too similar, as a pairing they never worked to any great degree.
Mert and Kos was easily our best CB partnership in recent ish history. Complemented each other very well, was just a shame that Mert was SO slow because he was a very intelligent and composed CB.
Wenge Eagle
“I mean Conte finished in 2nd place on 82 points with a +45 GD with a bang average Inter Milan side that finished in 4th place on 69 points the season previous with a +24 GD.He’s the best thing to happen to Inter Milan for a long time.”
They did open the bank vault for him though.
“In retrospect, it may be that was why Willian’s unveiling was done at his agents London home.“
It was literally printed by the Athletic and other verifiable sauces that covid was the reason Willian was done there.
None of you were having it at the time though because Kia..
Dissenter
Lukaku in for Icardi. Like for like.
What other hardcore investment was he afforded?
Absolute mentalist Gallas.
Nobody else has played for Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, an insane character whose international. career ended in chaos as well.
Guess we could blame Domenech for that last bit though.
It’s not surprising that La liga backed Barca’s interpretation of the June 12th deadline on his contract.
Messi can just show up for training like everyone else and put up minimal efforts.
He can just claim to have a back injury all season and rest up till his contract is up next season. He can easily wipe off the 2020-2021 season for Barcelona.
Marc
Potential Departures/Not Registered
DF 3-4 from Sokratis Holding Kolasinac Chambers
MF 3-4 from Guendouzi Torreira Elneny Ozil
Dissenter Laliga are scared no one will be watching the league after messi leaves. He is a huge attraction after all. Barcelona are hoping they can stay firm till the transfer window shuts and messi changes his mind by then. It’s stupid to hold any player against their will let alone Lionel Messi though If it were me I would ask city to give me B.Silva, E. Garcia and some money and get on with it. Barcelona has still some world class talent underneath, Just needs to supplement it. Terstegen, Alba, Lenglet, Semedo, Dejong, Coutinho, Fati and dembele all still… Read more »
Sauce
https://twitter.com/mikelaafc/status/1300524944397393921?s=20
Wenger Eagle
They got Conte a lot of tested loanee veterans who command big wages [by Serie A standards]
The revolving doors with loaned layers at Inter has been crazy. Conte threw a fit and the owners buckled every time.
I mistakenly tipped Inter to win the tile by the way because how many good-to-go loanees they brought it.
Dissenter, there is absolutely no reason a club under pressure about super-agents should be holding a signing event at an agents house. They could have wiped out the entire comms department and figured out a better venue. Do it in a Holloway Road greasy spoon. Do it in a bin. Do it anywhere bar Kia’s.
It was a stupid idea on every level.
Dissenter
Their wage bill is less than half of Juventus’ and is comparable to Roma’s and AC Milan’s, both sides finished outside of the CL spots.
Atalanta and Lazio are kicking everyone’s asses in terms of over-achievement, especially Atalanta and Gasperini is doing God’s work over in Bergamo.
Conte did a decent job in his first season at Inter, he gave them a shape and identity, has Lukaku looking like a world class CF again and he had them competitive on multiple fronts.
Habesha “If it were me I would ask city to give me B.Silva, E. Garcia and some money and get on with it.” City will be spineless to offer a single penny for a player that will cost them monster wages and arguably is able to leave for free. That will be like falling for the greatest head fakes in history. I believe that that Messi’s interpretation of the June 12th deadline will come out tops in a court of law. The date was selected because that’s the typical cut-off for the CL final -END OF SEASON. He could only… Read more »
Pedro
The PR people at Arsenal have been unusually quiet – they used to be a busy lot tweeting like Trump at 3am. Now it’s like the quiet of a graveyard.
I suspect their numbers have been severely thinned by the lay-offs which happened just about when we were signing Willian.
I’m just trying to connect the dots.
Gabriel signed, sealed but not delivered as yet
“Gabriel Magalhaes has signed for Arsenal and is currently in quarantine, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.”
Habesha Yeah Barcelona even without Messi are still easily a top 2-3 La Liga club and they can salvage this summer with the right investment [lol] strategy. I think they ought to cut their losses with Messi, it’s clear his heart and mind are out of the club and rather than lose him for nothing next summer [guaranteed] or potentially even this summer, why not reach an amicable decision with him to let him go for the potential to reinvest and rebuild with a decent fee, 100-120m ish. This was going to happen in a couple of years anyway given… Read more »
Dissenter
It’s a legal contract if it doesn’t contain force majeure clauses Messi’s onto to a loser.
Precisely what have the Arsenal PR team had to do for the last couple of weeks other than announce Willian?
They could pin out an email and it’d do the job.
Emirates
I think you missed my point.
Dissenter
This isnt any player though. He is still Lionel Messi. If they can’t get him for free they will try to do it with money and those players I mentioned. Getting him will Instantly make them favorites for every competition. I don’t want to imagine what a debruyne and messi attack would be like. It would be like he has a new Iniesta and Xavi rolled in to one.
Any way this will brighten up your evening guys.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wos-r4cDUnk
@Marko 4-2-3-1 then? Looks like we’ve got Ceballos back as well now. Lots of ifs and buts at the moment, but I actually think this market suits Arsenal nicely and could be the best window for quite some time. Willian, Ceballos and Gabriel looks sealed already with potentially more to come!
I’d love for us to go with a 4-3-3 with Auba as the striker.
Marc
You can’t submit a transfer request until the season is over and the transfer window opens- that’s why June 12th came into the picture. The season was supposed to end earlier due to the Euro nations competition [now postponed]
Every other contract in European football was subject to renegotiation and extensions in the summer to get players till the end of the season.
Why is the Messi June 12th date any different?
Messi has the law on his side, Like Habesha stated the La liga ruling is a league that;s fighting to keep a golden goose.
Dissenter
Not sure that’s right – where did you get that a player can’t request to leave?
“If you turn vegan your going to lose pace and power.’
And the most rediculous comment of the month goes to the gentleman on the right.
“Every other contract in European football was subject to renegotiation and extensions in the summer to get players till the end of the season.”
The key word is renegotiation.
Simply fact is if a players contract had of been up in June 2020 and he didn’t want to play any more he could of told his previous employers to go fuck themselves.
Bojangles
“And the most rediculous comment of the month goes to the gentleman on the right.”
You’ve been skipping CGs, Dons and Pierres comment for a whole month? That’s impressive discipline.
Diss, they thinned numbers in partnerships and sales. Not sure they’ve taken out the PR department. We’re quite busy on that front.
Pedro
Obviously not because it seems we’ve signed a player and forget to tell anyone!
Marc “Not sure that’s right – where did you get that a player can’t request to leave?” Have you ever heard or read of a player submitting a formal transfer request in writing, during an active season when the window is open”. A transfer request is a is a legal move to activate contractual trip wires. He couldn’t have triggered it during an active season. Messi couldn’t have formally informed Barca he was leaving on before June 12th because the league didn’t restart until June 11th and the window was closed, The CAS judge is going to ask why June… Read more »
Marc
***Have you ever heard or read of a player submitting a formal transfer request in writing, during an active season when the window is NOT OPEN?
corrected.
Taking notice of some of the idiots on Twitter is a very serious waste of time.
Arsenal don’t want to announce Gabriel until his quarantine is over. The rumour about his knees is the work of stupid trolls . Arsenal aren’t going to take any chances with their limited budget .
Dissenter “Have you ever heard or read of a player submitting a formal transfer request in writing, during an active season when the window is open”.” I assume you mean when the window isn’t open? Doesn’t mean it’s illegal and I’m trying to remember a massive argument between a player and club years ago might have been Forest. “The CAS judge is going to ask why June 12th… Why not June 30th or Halloween day? the INTENT will be made very clear.” The judge will not ask why June the 12th – it’s because the legal agreement fucking says so.… Read more »
Marc
“I assume you mean when the window isn’t open?”
It was corrected at 2;02.44
Dissenter
Yeah I saw and answered.
Dissenter, A player can submit a transfer request outside the TW, but then he forfeits any loyalty bonus due to him between the transfer request and the opening of the TW assuming that the club even grants the transfer request. From memory, the only players who posted a transfer request in such condition were Pascal Chiponda at Wigan and Pierre Van Hoojdonk at Forrest. Unless there is special clause in the contract that says that the date is contingent to the end of the season like 12th June or 1 week after the season is over, Messi is going to… Read more »
Freddy
”You’ve been skipping CGs, Dons and Pierres comment for a whole month? That’s impressive discipline.”
Thank you. If the posts from those mentioned have been more rediculous than the one I highlighted then I’ve missed nothing by scrolling past them.
Dani is back yesss
PSG are apparently still interested in Bellerin with €30 mil being touted.