There are a few ways Arsenal could take their transfer strategy this summer. They could go for a soft landing summer, where they pick-up players from the Premier League, or they could go for a harder landing, where they raid Europe for bargains.
Both of these offerings comes with pro and cons.
Soft Landing
The Premier League approach is basically a twist on what we’ve been doing for the last 5 years. The thinking would be centred on the exciting reality that we’re finally going to bin off some big senior names that don’t cut it over here. However you cut it, those players do an ok job and they’ll be difficult to replace for a number of reasons. The biggest thing they understand is how to operate in the league. They speak English, they have the stomach for the food, and they know how to manage their bodies.
Thomas Partey, one of the best in the business at his role, and one of the fittest came to the Premier League and spent more weeks out than at any time in his career. Why? Likely some bad luck, but also, we have the fastest and busiest elite league in the world. It took time for him to adapt. That cost Arsenal.
The thinking with a soft landing summer will be geared around having a fast start next season. This is a sort of short-termism that makes sense if you look at it from our football leadership’s perspective. Arteta gets pelters whatever he does, if he loses the opening three games because players haven’t adapted, he’s going to have Youtube channels calling for his head. Signing talent like Yves Bissouma or Reuben Neves reduces the chance of a hard landing. They know the league, they’re young, they’ll be additive from day one.
There are negatives with this approach. We’re not going to be picking off the best Premier League players. We’re not in the running for Jack Grealish. The players we’ll fancy will come with a fat price-tag and no guarantee of elite-level success. We’ll also not be top of the queue for talent outside the top 6 clubs.
It’s also clear we’ve been doing this sort of thing but in Europe for the last 4 years. Mustafi, Auba, Xhaka, Kola… it hasn’t worked. If you can’t take the cream from the Premier League, is it worth it?
Hard Landing
This approach is one that is dominating the links in the press at the moment. European football is in deep, deep shit at the minute. The pandemic wrecked the fragile finances of clubs that were badly run. These troubled clubs are successful on the pitch, look at Lille, they won the league and they’ve already lost their manager and they have clubs lining up to pick at the carcass.
This approach to transfers would be more focused on taking the very best young talents from around Europe at cut-prices while we can. If the transfer market was the housing market, this approach is going to distress buyer auctions with a bag of money and seeing if there’s a bargain to be had.
This is kind of what Arsene Wenger built his legacy on. Identifying value in markets that are weak, taking punts on low-risk, high-reward talent, whilst reducing the risk with elite coaching.
Onana, the 25-year-old keeper from Cameroon fits the bill here. He has 1 year left to go on his deal, he’s played in the Champions League, he’s an international, he’s cut-price because of the doping issue. There’s baggage there… a little bit like there was Nwankwo Kanu, but if it pays off, it’s a genius piece of business.
Same with the right-back situation. Do you spend £30m on Max Arons, who is a very good player, or do you take a chance on 24-year-old Zeki Çelik who just won Ligue 1 with Lille? One will likely be a lot cheaper. Both have about the same chance of succeeding.
We all know the objectives this summer.
- Reduce errors in the system
- Improve our work in the final third
There’s a financial issue at stake as well.
- Create a functioning transfer ecosystem
Why are we failing financially when it feels like we don’t spend money? Because we are absolutely terrible at selling players.
If KSE are putting that Barclays loan towards players this summer, it cannot be used simply to ‘get us higher in the table’… that money has to come with strings. My strings I’d be asking Edu for?
GIVE ME PLAYERS I CAN SELL
If you sign Jack Grealish, you land yourself a player who really does move you up a level, but you don’t solve a business problem. That’s why he’ll end up at a club like City or United who don’t worry about business problems.
Arsenal needs to be sharper than that. If we’re signing creators, we really need to think about the potential value as well as what they can offer the team in the ‘now.’ It’s a fine balance to strike, but where are you getting more value from? Ruben Neves for £35m or Albert Sambi Lokonga for £12m? I can’t answer the scouting question, but the potential of Lokonga is that he could be a £40m player, and that for me is where the smart money is. Arsenal have not operated with much intelligence over the past 10 year, but maybe, just maybe, the clubs sees the way Liverpool operates and takes a touch of inspiration.
Clubs like Arsenal move back to the big time by taking lots of low-risk / high-reward signings. The benefits are obvious. But when you sign sharply like this, at worse, you break even when you come to sell. At best, you create a star that funds the next batch of uncut gems.
So how will the summer shape up? I have no idea. I suspect there might be a blend of both approaches, but the good news is the players we’re being linked with so far seem very, very smart.
Let’s see if Arsenal can finally deliver. It’s about time.
Buendia pleeeease
Then Bissouma would be nice
And a RB
tr4phy
Tr4phy
who is this zimmie dude who beats me at my own game? 😉
long time reader, minimal poster but happened to catch it at the right time this morning.
i kinda just float around like Jenks did for a decade
Arteta out yet???
^ LOL
We can talk all day about transfers but reality is Arsenal havent done anything yet and the Euro starts in 9 days.
Then we will have the excuse of “This summer was difficult because international football, it was hard to.make things happen, but we are looking to have all our signings before the end of the transfer window”
So again, no good preseason terrible planning, horrible last minute deals and unbalanced squad. Same mistakes over and over again.
Wont be surprised if they sack Edu in the middle.of the window just to makes things harder.
“Cc is it really that offensive to point out that those final 3 games carry 9 points which form part of the after christmas table that you take so much pride in?“
No, because the progress was demonstrated in the previous 21 games too.
But prior to the final 3 games of the season Pepe had 5 league goals which kind of goes hand in hand with the assessment that he was bang average and part of the problem in attack vs the solution.
Not hard to grasp.
Conte a truly great manager but not sure whether he will get along with Levy who is as obstinate and hotheaded as him.
Meant to LOL zimmie’s post.
Arteta out yet??? x2
Especially hearing Spuds are trying to land Conte who is a proven winner and everywhere he’s been at he’s impoved the teams he’s managed.
I don’t believe Conte would want to manage a perennial loser club like spuds, but if it really happens and Conte is actually that attainable, it will be another landmark as missing out on Suarez and Klopp.
Conte to Spurs would be so disheartening while we dick around with Tets for another season.
@raptora, what’s our chances next season? Conte in spurs, klopp, pep, tuchel, ole. We can’t even dream of top 4 in peace again.
Vestergaard composed as VVD.
Quick.
Reads the game well.
Great header of the ball .
Aged 28.
We will see how he performs for his country shortly.
Honestly we should have been in for Conte. If he can join Spuds he surely would not have said no to Arsenal. Great opportunity missed. Even those who back Arteta should realise that when someone like Conte is available you take the decision to get him in.
Just like Jose can’t see Conte to Spuds working out. He just left Inter because they’re not willing to splash the cash only to end up at the Spuds? Head scratcher
Pedro
“GIVE ME PLAYERS I CAN SELL”
Like Gundouzi being signed by Sven
You still have to manage them smartly to get a good outcome
Just buying them is not enough, you need a good manager that can work with young players, an attribute that Arteta may be lacking.
CC Sometimes players have moments where things just start to click I think we can get more out of Pepe next season, and should be challenging him for a 100% increase in his PL goals tally, and for double figures assists as well He’s got real ability, the question is can we iron out the rough edges, and then turbo charge the good parts Aubameyang wasn’t a consistent scorer until he was 24/25, he’s never that involved in games, he averages 15-20 passes, and games often just pass him by, but that’s only an issue when he’s not scoring and… Read more »
If a problem remains unsolved after a considerable period of time, it’s either you ain’t ready to solve the problem or you have misdiagnosed the problem. Why does every little thing at arsenal takes time to be accomplished? To sell players is like waiting for the second coming, to buy players is another time consuming venture. Wretched arsenal
Zimmie 2652, a complete rookie, coming in and winning the all prestigious Legrove trophy at first time of trying against the perennial top four financial ( time is money) doper DM.
He must be a generational talent.
Don’t think he’d have come our way but Wijnaldum is the midfielder we should have gone for to improve on Xhaka and Partey.
For those celebrating Xhaka potentially leaving you’d regret it soon enough.
As for Raheem Sterling, he has poor the times I’ve watched him this season. Nevertheless, he’d be a better signing than yet another holding midfielder. I don’t get the obsession with holding midfielders. Our problems have been going forward. Arteta hasn’t a clue to construct or facilitate good attacking play so best to get the players to take the planning out of his hands.
No, no.no to Raheem Sterling. We have enough flaky demure, non productive players on high wages. He will not improve us one bit. Let the Spuds take him in part exchange for Kane. However with the dumkopf Aryeta in charge. I know he will have the hots for him. Ignoring completely our unfit for purpose midfield.
Rich Agree and disagree. I’d keep Pepe as high as possible to play into his end product and not his build up ability, we’ve talked why there. But Auba was prolific for St.Etienne in 2011 and 2012 before he got his move to Dortmund (16 and 19 league goals), he was 21 then. I think you’re romanticising Pepe a great deal, he’s 26 years old and getting a lot of plaudits for dropping incredibly average performances when considering the season as a whole. I don’t want to hear about EL exploits, I dont rate the competition and the league is… Read more »
RR, Conte is probably a very emotional person. They told him they are going to sell his team away so he packed his things up and left. Leaving them with players that have just won Inter their first Serie A in 12 years. Maybe he just wants to be left alone and have power over the team’s transfers in the financial reality the certain club is. It’s what the problem was at Chelsea as well. Something that Arteta has at Arsenal so it would be a no-brainer to give the same freedom to a far more accoladed manager. Conte to… Read more »
Except of course Spuds have promised Conte all the proceeds from Kane’s and other players’ sales this summer. He’ll be there for two years and leave with a fat payout.
“I think you’re romanticising Pepe a great deal””
And you aren’t antagonizing him at all putting him in the same sentence with Willian.
I really don’t want Conte at spurs he knows what he is doing
Looks like Spuds will get Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici and we got stuck with Edu and Arteta. That’s what we got with KSE as owner. Their priority is keeping the club running with minimum expenditure.
Pedro
Comparing Onana and Kano is a little crass.
One had serious heart problems which were no fault of his own and who nevertheless made the absolute most of his brilliant technique. The other had his head in his wife’s medicine cabinet and got found out.
A much closer Arsenal comparitor, we’re one needed, is Kolo Toure surely?
CC Pepe at Lille 13 goals + 4 assists at 22 22 goals + 11 assists at 23 Pepe Arsenal 7 goals + 8 assists at 24 16 goals + 5 assists at 25 Pepe had a better season in Ligue 1 at 23 than Aubameyang, who also took some time to settle at Dortmund before finding his stride This isn’t me romanticising Pepe, who was a poor signing who we massively overpaid for, I’m just making the point that sometimes players mature a bit later Pepe does have ability, does bring goals, and since we’re likely stuck with him,… Read more »
Good post Pedro
Team Arsenal is a low risk team- which is why we have gone to contacts based and loans from the big teams.
We have idiot trying to find talent- he is useless.
It would not surprise me that they constantly are telling KSE that this player came from xyz, or used to play for blah blah… its like we go for the big brands only
There is merit though with the right EPL players… ex. Anguissa, Buendia, Aarons might come with a higher tag, but you know what you are getting
Too much snobbery when it comes to transfers. Buy a £10m player from Ligue 1 and you’ll have people falling over themselves to declare what a great prospect. Sign a similar player from the Championship you’ll have the same people telling everyone how crap he is because a it’s not as exotic. Plenty of decent players in theh lower leagues (do we have scouts?) and clubs desperate to sell too. In a similar way people were virtually holding celebration parties when we signed Pepe but snarking about a joke league when we signed Tierney (not Championship but a similar level… Read more »
Andy
I thought we sacked our scouts last summer, and now we’ve decided that wasn’t actually a great idea, so we’re now using recruitment specialists to get some more….
We haven’t got a clue what we’re doing, if we get it right this summer, it’ll certainly be more through luck, than any type of astute judgment
Arsenal are basket case
Rich they finally figured STat DNA video game was not working…
SMH, bunch of morons!
Fucking hell. Conte is going to spurs and we are stuck with Arteta. I am annoyed. If they sell kane and let conte invest the proceeds then spurs will be a very dangerous team. They have good bones in key positions. That is an ambitious move for spuds right there. The 10 mil and 12 mil signings from lower leagues should come as squad players. Then they can show whether they are good enough. I would want our central midfield improved by proven premier league players. Then 10 mil midfielders like lokonga are signed as squad players. That is how… Read more »
Want to hear a joke?
Arsenal 2020.
“And you aren’t antagonizing him at all putting him in the same sentence with Willian.“ They both fall under the same ‘underwhelming senior player’ category I stated at the time. Neither had a notable impact on matches throughout 90 mins this season, Pepe had 11 league contributions and Willian had 6. If you’re going to scrutinise the two then be sure to include that one was a 32 year old free transfer and the other is our record signing in his peak. So as I said, two underwhelming wide attackers that were shown up by our academy kids throughout the… Read more »
Gons
I prefer the old skool punchline. 2007 to infinity and beyond!
This club is an absolute joke. The procrastinating on a dud manager while fucking Spurs the serial losers are in talks with Conte a serial winner. It’s just so frustrating and so expected from Arsenal
“””The other had his head in his wife’s medicine cabinet and got found out”””
Well said Kronk.
I d have much more respect for the player if he held his hands up, stated he took something he shouldnt and his accepted his punishment with good grace.
Does anyone believe his story????
(And do we want these types of players mixing with the Hale Enders?)
Crikey, Lance Armstrong would not have even come out with ‘the wife and medication cabinet one.’
But then again he was innocent too.
Marko,
I’m fuming. The manager that tops my wishlist could be going to the spuds. They are going for an absolute top class manager when we the training ground for a could-be good manager.
Who just tanked our season.
CG
In the immortal words of Shaggy “It wasn’t me”
You’re innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent
He was bang to rights with the stuff in his system, but there’s no way it can be proven he willingly took it
If he can create reasonable doubt, he has a decent shot of getting his ban overturned or at least reduced
The Arsenal of present is unrecognizable from the Arsenal of Old.
Shitty management, no scouting department, signing surplus and over the hill players from other clubs and supporters are excited at the end of a shitty season and dream of 5th or 6th finish because top 4 is locked for the Arsenal at present clown show.oh how the mighty have fallen. GOOD THING the delusion fans have multiplied.
“”””If he can create reasonable doubt, he has a decent shot of getting his ban overturned or at least reduced””””
Sport is finished if the drug cheats , just say they accidentally took the wrong medication and get back on the field of play. (Rife over here with The Springboks)
KSE Arsenal probably do want him.
Old Arsenal wouldnt touch him with a barge pole.
It’s honestly braindead worst season in recent history and we do nothing while actual good managers are on the move. I avoid using the words our competition because we’re not in competition with these clubs anymore haven’t been for a long time
Springboks winger Dyantyi got a 4 year ban for doping. Authorities are determined to rid sports of doping scandals.
Someone mentioned you should never say something positive about the Sp*ds on this blog, but what if they are doing what every Arsenal fan is dreaming about?
Conte emerged as a frontrunner to succeed Jose Mourinho as the club’s permanent manager around a week ago but a move was delayed. Levy wanted to see how realistic it was for Pochettino to return.Intriguingly, he is set to bow to Conte’s demands by also hiring former Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici.
Conte to Spurs and we’re stuck with that boring uninspiring fraud of a manager Arteta.
Chew on that for awhile you Arteta In fans, Conte to Sp*ds with a sporting director and a wad of cash to spend after selling Kane. AFC get fucked by Levy and there will be a North London crowd gleefully looking down at their rivals who can’t get their shit together, Fans in the stadium can’t come soon enough.
In three months there will be a large group here uttering the epic phrase “I told you so”.
I’ve said on here a number of times over the past few years that Conte would be my number 1 choice to Arsenal forward. Was saying it even before Wenger left.
Now it looks like he may join those lot down the road, while we still persevere with rookie Arteta. What a massive smack in the face.
Already we missed out on Pep (twice), Klopp and now Conte!
We never learn.
If you would be in Conte’s shoes what would your decision be if you had to choose between Arsenal and Sp*ds? With the only thing AFC has to offer is history, no scouts, disinterested owners and no money vs. owner who wants to make history and has money. This is doesn’t even need a second thought. AFC is in so much deep shit that 5 years of no ST. Tottering’s day is nowhere near in sight of ending.
* to move Arsenal forward
Pedro
Here is your 1st excuse for AFC’s shitty start of the new season. Saka, the only AFC player in England’s Euro 2020 squad, returns from the tournament exhausted and carries a knock on, or worst is out until Christmas.
“I am telling you for free” 😆
What if Conte fails…
It’s Spurs and Levy we are talking about. It will be a comedy show down the lane.
Wherever he goes Conte upsets the owner…
Levy acting desparate now … He gone through so many stages … All youth all British… Diff types of managers … He really needs to let someone manage for a long length of time.
Arsenal truly is a hopeless football club.
It will cost spurs a lot of money to get Conte and he will loose his shit with levy within a year
Holding hands and singing kumbaya has taken Arsenal nowhere
Now the players too have to sing baah baah black sheep
Diet pep fan boys want all the fans to hold hands, sing kumbaya and be positive. Its a pandemic
Now Conte off to Spurs, his right hand man is being named as the Spuds DoF
It will be interesting to see how the fanbase will react when another London club inches past us while we allow a manager to cut his teeth at Arsenal.
Sid you are full of shite with your one paragraph quotes that mean fuck all
You have never been to a game in your life i can tell you that for free
Serge
I really think levy is related to gamble high stakes.
It may well be that they have to wait till later in the year to get porch …
But if they get Conte… Could be successful could be distarous … I’m hoping the latter..
Serge – Sid is our resident lunatic – he makes no sense, period. But still he seems happy to come on here with his meandering world of random thoughts
Post agreed Pedro – but then we appear to be signing Sterling which blows up any hope that we’re going to adopt a structured and sustainable transfer policy.
Northbanker i don’t mind the craziness i mind that he calls anyone who does not see his crazy way as a diet pep fanboy
Given our rather known and sustained weakness, go grab buendia and bissouma to kick start the TW and club and fans would get along just fine
Also, isn’t Donnarumma going to be a free agent?
Calm down, no reason to get them knickers in a knot
Mr Serge, people who don’t support Arteta get called all sorts of nasty things (not Arsenal fans for one) so it works both ways. Personally Sid seems quite mild compared to a few others.
Genius is never understood in its own time.
Im telling you for free¡
“Wherever he goes Conte upsets the owner…”
… after he wins them the title.*
Fixed that for you.
Conte to Arsenal would never have happened
How do I know?
Edu would have to fall on his sword, seppukku mode to hire Conte
Conte insisted on his own man being in charge to go to Spuds.
There are a few clubs hunting for managers and in Serie A there is a round robin for managers, now it is also starting in the EPL. Everton will go for a decent manager and there are a few on the horizon plus if they get Ajax’s Erik ten Hag.then that could mean another drop for AFC and as far as replacing Tets, Arsenal will do what Arsenal does best with players, hire managers who are surplus or under-performed at other clubs or are over the hill. The hunt for an excellent manager starts with the footballing hierarchy as pointed… Read more »
Ps: I think you meant one sentence quotes, a paragraph is a minimum of 3-5 sentences.
Arsenal could not handle a Conte or Mourinho, We like passive, yes men who dont demand anything. KSE loves it.
Did you Google that Sid ?
A paragraph can be one sentence or even one word.
Im telling you for free
Raporta you think spuds can win the league just because Conte goes there ? No chance lol they can spend ,500m and be nowhere near
Sid i meant a paragraph that’s why i said it
Emerson Royal signed by Barca.
Darn
We better get our deals done fast. I worry Bissouma, etc will be snapped up before we can figure out how to use the fax machine
It takes 15-25 days to conclude a transfer these days Emerson was a buy back clause that was exercised guns
ahhh gracias…
who cares what spuds do? two words and an acronym for u phony phanz
Anorthosis Famagusta FC
What’s a Cyprus team got to do with anything ?
Sid
From Wikipedia ( but you
Can find numerous other
Examples
A paragraph (from the Ancient Greek παράγραφος, parágraphos, “to write beside”) is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. A paragraph consists of one or more sentences.[1] Though not required by the syntax of any language, paragraphs are usually an expected part of formal writing, used to organize longer prose
Hopefully we can get Bellerin, Niles + Soares out the door quickly
If we can get £30 million for that lot, it’ll get us Max Aarons to come in and compete with Chambers, who can also cover right centre back and central midfield in an emergency
Then get Kolasinac out, and sign genuine competition for Tierney, there’s no value in getting rid of one subpar left back, and replacing him with another subpar left back
Direct competition is healthy
We need to start clearing the decks quickly
One sentence one paragraph your shit quotes still mean fuck all you dalek
Rich Aaron’s would be a starter over chambers
Aaron’s can also play left back — two solutions in one ?
Hate the NORA BATTY England socks.
The way they are playing suggests they
are affecting their circulation.?😏😏😏
Rich
Good luck getting Soares of the door.
He just signed his contract, I doubt that anyone can match the long term contract we just game him last summer.
Very thoughtful and provocative article Pedro. It’s hard to write fir an Arsenal fan site where so many of the people on it don’t actually support Arsenal but exist inntge hope they can moan about the club. Last time I looked Conte was holding exploratory talks with Levy. This is a club that has had to extend their huge Covid loan, who has a huge debt hanging over the club because of a new stadium that nobody has visited for a year . They have two excellent players , one of which is certain to leave . Arsenal have a… Read more »
Bertie mee i agree with you the moaning on here does not by any means transfer to the main fanbase a lot of fans are happy with the direction of the club
@Bertie No brigade here that want Arsenal to fail, just supporters that have suffered immensely and have an idea of how to solve the problem but only see clueless individuals in the decision making jobs, a novice manager learning on the job that can’t form a team from a decent squad plus on top of it a totally disinterested owner whose heart is with the LA Rams of NFL football. The many fans here who have supported the club for decades raised their kids to love Arsenal and are now presented with a shit show of football and decision making… Read more »
I agree MD – Arsenal have gone from one of the best run clubs to one of the worst Yet I don’t see things in the black and white of others on here- thee are still pockets of brilliance and hope We actually have half a great first team and despite the pooor performance of the Academy in terms of results still some very promising high quality youngsters emerging A focus on nurturing these players together with a proper transfer policy could make a dramatic difference It’s such a fine line between building a team for the future and just… Read more »
Lol @ posters moaning about everything. Now it’s about Conte going to spurs.
One is even insinuating that Conte would win the league for Spurs.
Hope your Carlo ancelloti did pretty well before bombing to Madrid? Could still remember a lot of them here moaning about Carlo going to Everton and praising him but to what end?
Bukayoooooooooo!