A little less football news to chew through today, but look, I’ll put in a shift regardless because that’s the type of player I am.
Bukayo Saka scored an absolute screamer against Austria to take the game for the mighty England. The 90 was quite uninspired if I’m honest. Gareth Southgate giving minutes to everyone felt a bit weird, no one needed to see Pickford between the sticks. It was fun watching Grealish draw fouls, people just love to kick him, a bit reminiscent of our very own Jack back in the day. He’s an awesome player, it’ll be very sad when he moves to Manchester City this summer… and Arsenal fans, please stop pushing him as an option on the internet, it’s depressing. Not as depressing as reading fans thinking they are too good for Raheem Sterling. What the fuck is wrong with people?
There’s big talk that Spurs are trying to lure Mr Conte out of self-enforced retirement to have a crack at Daniel Levey’s ‘CAN YOU HELP ME WITH A TROPHY’ problem. This move isn’t as banterous as Roberto Martinez. Conte worked wonders at Chelsea in season one, before things went south. He turned Inter Milan around. His pattern tends to be, step into a mess, win something, complain about lack of signings, get fired or retire as a result of petulance.
I honestly don’t know why he’d go to Spurs. Levy isn’t exactly free with the cash and the Spurs rebuild job is a big one. We’ll see though, who thought he’d replace Poch with Mourinho? Maybe Levey will give him control over transfers? Always remember he oversaw Morata, Zappacosta, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, and Ross Barkley.
There is a tantalizing rumour in the French press via Loïc Tanzi that we’ve been talking to Luis Campos about moving to Arsenal. I think we could all agree that a move like that would be immense for the football leadership at Arsenal. No one moves a club quite like him. A hire like that seems almost a little too smart for Arsenal, so I’ll hold judgement on that. He fits the bill though. He knows how to identify value, he’s good at picking coaches, and he’s built transfer eco-systems on small budgets… and won titles.
Arsenal will head to Florida this preseason for a Florida Cup with Inter, Everton, and Millonarios. UK Arsenal fans complaining they can’t go. Can you believe that? THIS IS NOT FOR YOU, NOT EVERYTHING REVOLVES AROUND YOUR NEEDS. I’ll be jumping in a camper van and heading down. I might even do some LGTV interviews. Should be fun.
Martin Ødegaard does not know what to make of Carlo heading back to Madrid.
‘He is a coach I know and with whom I had a good relationship when he was last there.’
‘In that sense, it is positive. But beyond that, one day has passed, so I do not know too much about what he thinks about things.’
The hiring of Carlo is a control move by Perez, so you’d imagine if the President likes Martin, Martin is what he’ll see in the side next season. There is also talk that he’ll be sent back out on loan again, so we’ll see.
Kola is coming back. Schalke can’t afford. Hopefully we can bin him off like we did Mesut Ozil.
The club announced the players released.
Men’s and women’s first-team squads:
Dani Ceballos
David Luiz
Leonie Maier
Martin Odegaard
Mat Ryan
No shocks there.
Let’s finish out on a FRESH podcast. Get your ears on it. I talk with Johnny about transfers out of the club, Willy Saliba, and the moves we should be making this summer. It’s a good one. No Arteta talk.
@Peckobill
“That fucking idiot in charge HAS DRAGGED us to mediocrity”
fixed that for you.
“Tell me more about what makes a “big club”, you were champion of the talk that Chelsea were a bigger club than Arsenal just recently.”
They are… how is that even a debate?
Brownie
Nah , we’d lose out on his signing to Southampton or someone of more ambition while arteta is wasting everyone’s time chasing mbappe in a season long loan
MD
True a competent owner wouldn’t have employed a nobody and if so would’ve sacked him in December so not to have someone compound onto the mediocrity
Ishola actually thinking players would rather opt for Villa than Arsenal because of some ‘feel good factors’.. Lmao.
Bati The staple argument to defend Arteta was a lack of creativity from midfield. The post Christmas table is based on the fact that Odegaard arrived at that point to support Esr and thus it was only from that point that Arteta could/should be fairly judged. I don’t agree but I accept there is a logical point there. However the failure to sign Buendia has reignited the anger of many who felt all along that Arteta has no plan at all. He has to be given the window before that judgement can be fairly made but it’s an inauspicious start.… Read more »
@CC
“As if the status of a big club is as fleeting ffs. We’re the 3rd most decorated club in England with all the trimmings of a massive football club.”
Similar to the saying Britain is “The empire where the sun never sets” we are no longer in the 18 or 19th century where this empire is non existing, likewise the Arsenal you refer to is non existing. Furthermore younger generations have no clue of Arsenals glory days it is only the over the hill gang that has those wet dreams.
Avi No laughing arses off. Arsenal have seen to be failing in their aim now for too many seasons while Aston Villa are seen as being progressive from where they were. It’s all about the indication from the club whether they are seen to be progressing, stagnating or regressing. And what you also have to take into consideratioon as well is that the EPL is not so much of a closed shop like it was before. There are more clubs then ever now that can flex in the transfer market and show more ambition for themselves then they did before.… Read more »
Ishola
Buendia signing for Villa isn’t remotely an indication of arsenal missing on a signing because of some feel good nonsense… I repeat no player is choosing Villa over arsenal if the club is really offering a deal unless said player is as feeble mentally as fck
We didn’t bid for him.simple as
We might be interested but not strong enough to move this early in the window. Like Ornstein has said, Ødegaard is the main target. I imagine if they don’t land him moving back to someone like Auoar is an option. Buendia at €40m isn’t really good value
The hysteria on here is bonkers If we’d just signed a 21yr old English midfielder from Newcastle called Joe Willock for £30 – £35 million, beating Aston Villa to his signature, people would be bouncing with joy Buendia is the more experienced option, but there’s nothing to say Willock can’t come in, and make a big impact next season Throwing in another Hale Ender might not be as fashionable as spending £35 million on Buendia, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be even more effective We spent £72 million on Pepe which had fans bouncing, and yet in his first… Read more »
How many seasons have we been out of the CL now?
Flies by doesn’t it.
Too fast for some. They don’t seem to be able to count the seasons out of it.
Time waits for no-one.
There are a litany of clubs around the football world that once declared themselves among the grandest and the best but eventually actual lack of true success on the actual football pitch over time caught up with them.
Put to rest the argument about not biding Arsenal DID bid just were outdone by Villa, big club eh!
“The Gunners saw a £30million bid knocked back by Norwich, who are holding out for £40m. Arsenal aren’t yet ready to meet their demands but have tested their resolve with a £35m offer, according to Sky Sports.”
Everything is shit. We are shit. We will always be shit. Arteta? He’s shit. Nothing good will ever happen again. The window is almost closed and what have we done ? Nothing. Sack the lot. I watched a 5 minute compilation of this bondida fella in the championship And he looked world class. How on earth could we let him sign for villa? Remember the last guy we let villa sign ? The other Emi ? He ended up being their no 1 keeper and he lead them to … 3 places below us …. okay, but that means nothing.… Read more »
We are a shambles
Chelsea Vs Arsenal over the past 10 years;
Chelsea
Premier League – 14/15, 16/17
FA Cup – 11/12, 17.18
Europa League – 12/13, 18/19
Champions League – 11/12, 20/21
Arsenal
FA Cup – 13/14, 14/15, 16/17, 19/20
Sky sport? Lol
Oh fuck off arteta. Now watch Buendia tear up the league for villa instead of us. We are a very poor club when it comes to scouting and signing good players. We made an offer according to Fabrizio and now villa are beating us. It is insane.
@Avi “Sky sport? Lol” That’s all you can come up you are more credulous than I could ever imagine. From the Athletic: Norwich’s Buendia nears Aston Villa move for club-record deal worth up to £38 million. Norwich City are expected to confirm Emi Buendia will join Premier League rivals Aston Villa on Sunday for a club-record sale. Villa have struck a deal with Norwich, believed to be worth about £38 million for the recent Argentina call-up with his medical already completed and personal terms agreed. You don’t think that after having this guy on the radar for some time Arsenal… Read more »
Trying to convince that Willock is an alternative to Bwendia is mediocrity, the team needs both, different type of players
Im telling you for free!
MD
Wipe your tears ffs!
40m for a player who has only had real success in the Championship. There’s literally no chance our transfer team would’ve made that signing. Let’s not forget people wanking themselves into a frenzy for Benrahma and he has done **** all.
The transfer window is not even open yet and all your toys are literally flying over the place
Being ‘interested’ in a player and actually bidding for said player are completely 2 different things Jesus
We showed remarkable consistency with 20 consecutive top 4 finishes, we’ve only finished outside the top 10 once since 1975, and outside the top 8 on 3 occasions Right now we’re at a low ebb, and we need to build a new team and structure, I’m not convinced we’re wise to trust Edu + Arteta with that rebuild But equally there’s fu*k all any of us can really do about that right now Let’s see how things play out because in spite of the hysteria, we’ve got some good young players Saka, Smith-Rowe, Martinelli, Willock, Saliba I know that many… Read more »
The link never made sense as we’re more in need of someone who drifts more left because we’ve already got Pepe and Saka who are best at cutting in from the right onto their left foot. Whereas on the left we don’t have that sort, Martinelli and Auba are both strikers basically and ESR is far more useful centrally.
Avi Do your home work Arsenal did bid twice for Buendia and got rejected twice, that is reported by numerous jornos. Arsenal’s dealings with this player that was a prime target of theirs after they found out that Real Madrid valued Odegaard at 50 mil so please do keep up. Here is a big difference between Villa and AFC they have a plan for the club not some shitty project. Villa, braced for a bid from Manchester City for £100m rated Jack Grealish and are determined to build a squad that can still compete in the Premier League should their… Read more »
If we wanted buendia he’d be ours. This means we have someone better lined up.
‘ there’s nothing to say Willock can’t come in, and make a big impact next season’
You’re Having a fucking laugh! Have you ever watched Willock at Arsenal? Totally out of his depth. He’ll never make it at Arsenal. Newcastle this season are pretty much championship level and that’s Willocks level.
Burundi’s is 10 times the player Willock will ever be!
Lol. Burundi….. or Buendia…..
Oh my God. People trying to down play us being beaten on ambition by villa are ridiculous. I will say this though, if Buendia fails next season playing for villa next season I will hold my hands up. But I am co confident he will tear through this league. Championship is hard. Watkins had a better season than any of our forwards and he came from there. The obvious targets are getting picked up. Now it will be the likes of Aouar and Pereira left for that CAM position. It is just infuriating to lose out to villa on a… Read more »
Aston Villa are confident to complete Emi Buendia signing in the next hours, as
@charles_watts
reported earlier today. Arsenal opening bid was turned down days ago – #AVFC now in advanced talks with Norwich , last details to complete the agreement around €35m. 🇦🇷 #transfers
FABRIZIO ROMANO
And for those who don’t know who fabrizio is, he is the most credible journalist when it comes to transfers. We lost out to fucking Villa.
Avi
“If we wanted buendia he’d be ours. This means we have someone better lined up.”
Totally, and Santa Claus is real. So, please don’t be disappointing once you are confronted with the reality.
Rich It’s typical of you to avoid rushing to judgement or being emotionally driven shall we say. Nothing wrong with that,I actually find it admirable. But sometimes in playing devil’s advocate you make a point that simply provokes people,thus nullofying your original intention. I don’t ever like asking someone to give me a yes or no answer because most times the answers are far more complex than that. But could I ask you this once if you would tell me simply if you genuinely believe that Arsenal’s/ Arteta’s plan on entering this summer was to use willock in the first… Read more »
#nullifying
Villa now have two Argentine Emi’s that should be playing for us. Martinez and Buendia.
Joke of a club. Villa have more ambition.
I will be more pissed about this if we don’t move on and get obvious targets that would improve us. I mean we should never be beaten to a signing by villa. But it is crying over spilt milk now. The next best thing to Buendia is Matheus Pereira at westbrom. A very similar player we can get and would help us a lot creatively. But know what we know we will take ages and some other team will pick him up too.
Arteta out yet? I won’t mind if pedro joins him as well
Our perrenial problem since wenger days. Never offer more than 3/4 of what clubs rate their players. Joke of a club who want to play at ECL…
Simply embarrasing to claim Buendia was not our primary target now we lost him. Really poor Pedro.
Vickingz wtf has Pedro done ? We got out bid for Buendia let’s move on
Can’t but keep laughing at the scene here all because of buendia to villa?
Before it was Conte now it’s buendia.
Next it would be loosing another target to Fulham.lol
Serge, you cant accept we lost our priority target of the summer, being after him since winter window only to lose him to mighty Villa! Have you lost it? And Pedro all of a sudden claims we were not after him.
We got outbid by villa so either we were not serious or we are a shambles i would not say he was our priority signing or we would have got him
It has to be off putting mind playing for arteta , you couldn’t possibly be a transfer target and do your research and watch arsenal of last season and think yeah that’s the place I want to be
Almunia It depends on which way our squad develops, and that will depend on outgoings, our squad is far too big Smith-Rowe, Willock Saka, Pepe, Willian, Nelson Aubameyang, Martinelli Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun That’s 11 players for 4 positions, which is unmanageable and kills internal competition for places, numerically we’d need to purge 4, just to bring in 1 Fabrizio Romano + The Athletic are both saying Odegaard is our top target, not Buendia I like Buendia, he’s exactly the profile of player I’d like us to target, within the 22- 25 age range, good level of experience, knows the league… Read more »
I’m confused.com…….Did or did we not make OFICIAL bids for Buendia.?So if we’re now considering someone else,who is good enough or better to be in the frame?
Really don’t care about missing out on Buendia once you start getting close to 40 million you’re vastly in overpriced territory and there’s better out there for that price
I think the plan is to play Kola as a false 10 next season.
If you can’t see that’s elite coaching, I can’t help you.
Odegaardand Arteta feels like the bland leading the bland. I appreciate that some think that control in the form of possession will improve us but for me he doesn’t generate enough of a threat offensively. Too much latter day Wenger toothless possession over more dynamic and incisive play of his earlier sides.
Rich Appreciate the reply and as usual there is a lot of logic there. I think I need to rephrase my question to you though. What you are focusing on rightly is our squad,what needsto be/can be done. But a lot of us (and I think you are in agreement here) fear that Arteta has not got the nous to successfully rebuild the squad/ club. So looking at today’s events would you not agree that people are right to be that little bit more doubtful about a plan/ process being in place? Or more specifically did today’s events cause you… Read more »
Just realised who their alternative is.It’s Julian Brandt of Dortmund.make of that what you will.The cheap as chips option,no?
Right now i can’t see where the kronkes are backing us !
Also like i said if we did want buendia why did we not match the bid ? Are we looking busy for busy sake and had no desire to get him in ?
Not confident our board can deliver the window we all need and i think we will spend even less than we normally do as we are out of Europe
Who’s left.Aouar will be 3 times cheaper.But prob 3 times the hassle.Doom n gloom.
The natives are getting restless.This is going to have to be one hell of a window.
I am not getting abused by my villa mate saying they have more pulling power than us lol
Positive Pete
Matheus Pereira would be a really good alternative. Julian Brandt is not a motivated player right now. He might come to the premier league and do well but we would sign him based on hope and not form. Pereira is really good though. Just like Buendia he has been under the radar because he plays for a lowe league team. He can be had for 20 to 25 mil. He is very good creatively. And he would help massively.
Almunia I think letting the architects of Soares, Willian, Runarsson, and the extensions for Aubameyang + Luiz Is absolute insanity, but since that’s not under my control, I don’t see the point in stressing about it I like Buendia, but if we get Odegaard who I like, and has qualities we lack, then renew Willock’s contract, and make some space for him Then I’m really not bothered that we missed out on Buendia, even though I like the look of him, and he’s certainly the profile of player I’d like us to target If we miss Odegaard and Buendia, then… Read more »
In 2019 Aston Villa were fighting off relegation, and saved themselves on the final day of the season.
Fast forward to 2021, AstonVilla are bidding for attracting players when in competition with Arsenal.
Trust the process? What process?
Lol Literally every Journo & news outlet worth their salt broke the news that we bid for Buendia days ago but some die hard fan who obviously is refusing to to see how average a club we’ve become, is doubting because he can’t in a million years believe we just lost out to Villa in a bidding war.
Let’s keep appointing rookies. It’s working out a treat so far.
“It has to be off putting mind playing for arteta , you couldn’t possibly be a transfer target and do your research and watch arsenal of last season and think yeah that’s the place I want to be”
Yeah, villa is where you want to be. Lol
Being out bid means they value him higher than we do we now move on to other targets
Rich You have a very different perspective to most people,able to distance yourself from anger at the club even when you can see mistakes being made. Some will construe that to be a lack in your judgement but it’s not. It’s simply a different reaction,your judgement on Arsenal is normally spot on. For me the anger/ frustration takes precedence, like I have to point out the mistakes even though I know I cant change what the club are doing. But for my own mental health I have to vent my anger somewhere because the frustration gnaws away at me. I’d… Read more »
“Fast forward to 2021, AstonVilla are bidding for attracting players when in competition with Arsenal.
Trust the process? What process?”
Yeah, while about to loose their best player since slice bread to the top dollar club..
Kroenke Out, bowled Aston Villa.
“Really don’t care about missing out on Buendia once you start getting close to 40 million you’re vastly in overpriced territory and there’s better out there for that price” Villa thought that he was worth £38 mil but then they may have £100 mil on hand if they sell Grealish. Point being a club with no ambition to make top 4 think its worth to spend that kind of money while Arsenal with top 4 ambition think its too expensive. WTF are the goals coming from midfield? WFT is the service for PEA, Pepe & Martinelly. I am sure there… Read more »
“I am not getting abused by my villa mate saying they have more pulling power than us lol”
I am
We’ll end up with another uninspiring loan or another ‘has-been’ on a free transfer.
Vintage i meant i am being abused by my villa fan mate actually getting abused by a lot of mates atm
“Yeah villa is where you want to be “
A more appealing destination to buendia obviously
“Being out bid means they value him higher than we do we now move on to other targets”
It means fucking Aston Villa is a better draw than Arsenal Football Club right now mate.
No player worth their salt would go to a small club when a big club with space in their squad make a bid for him. None. Tells you where we are as a club.
Arteta and Edu are probably on their holibobs.
According to the BBC Villa got him for a mere £33m.
A big club would go back in & get Grealish btw. A big club.
“According to the BBC Villa got him for a mere £33m.”
I’m actually hoping he flops. If he brings that championship form to the PL, that’s a steal right there.
Let’s hope we have a better player up our sleeves. Not holding my breath tho.
Frost it does not mean that at all it means they are willing to pay more than us
There are going to be good deals on the continent i don’t mind losing out of buendia
Charlie
“ Being badly run and being big are two very different things”
Maybe but after a long time of not being run properly in a cutting edge environment, the leverage of being big whittles away.
We have made too many mistakes and continue to make costly errors whilst “smaller” clubs are eating away at our supposed advantage.
We are resting on our laurels, at some point, they won’t be enough.
This has to be a warning sign for all.
Rich
You’re a strange one
You’ve been writing for the past month that Willocks should be solder (we agree).,and that he needs another loanYouve argued righty that we need another creative attacking mid
Now you’re suggesting that missing out on Buendia can be offset by having willock?
You’re representative of how gooners contribute to the malaise of the club. You’re unusually accommodating, don’t you think?
Since when did Willock become an alternative to a Buendia type player?
Edu and Arteta combing each others hair while Aston Villa do the business.
Disgraceful, no ambition club.
Same old. Pathetic that we cannot even compete with Villa now. Where is the ambition if we do not challenge and acquire players who definitely do have the quality of Buendia. Fucking disappointed. Again
The Buendia story is yet more evidence that we have morphed into an also ran outfit. All this bs about CL qualification next season is total rubbish. Which ever way you spin it we are into a period of fighting our way out of massive hole and we won’t do it with a bunch of kids.
Rich’
** You’ve been writing for the past month that Willocks should NOT BE SOLD (we agree).,and that he needs another loan.
If this is true. FUCK KSE, EDU and ARTETA Fucking jokes. We have been talking this kid up for about 2 years on this very blog. The team is a joke. Now, we go heavy and overpay for Aouar, who will be a big question mark. or we pay that weak ass Ode to join us. Fucking losers. Stupid. All the way. Those talking about 40M or ODE will be sorry this did not pan out. It was there for the taking. But I guess nickle and diming teams is just how we do things and we suffer all the… Read more »
The process is very vague and intangible, I’d be amazed like Arteta, Edu and the rest of them knew what it was. A club that speaks of wanting to compete at the top of the game whilst never doing anything to make any strides.
Ode for me isn’t worth us waiting for as our number one attacking position but he’s probably another subservient bootlicker which Arteta loves.
Unless Luis Campos has something better up his sleeve and pushing us that direction, this was utter incompetency.
Oh wait, Edu is much loved and respected at the club so I guess we dont need Luis Campos ….
jokes
Sell Willock, we apparently need every penny we can get.
Guns we are a shambles
Jonathan Ikone would be nice better than Buendia imo
A quotation from Petit an Arsenal legend: “What are Arsenal doing in the transfer market? I don’t understand it. They spend money – a lot of money sometimes – but on the wrong player. “This is the turning point for Arsenal, they are at the end of the world. They need to take the right direction or else they’ll drop, drop and drop again and it’ll be more difficult for them to attract players.” So not only those of us here that want a change at the top of Arsenal, but also those that were legends for the club want… Read more »
A interested fc
A f Cuck
This team is a joke. Forever a voyeur club.
Buendia to Aston Villa, after Arsenal’s bid for him is rejected.
It’s shaping up to becoming a pretty ruthless summer transfer window.
Dissenter My argument regarding Willock is we need to make a decision 1. Renew his contract and make space for him 2. Renew his contract, then send him out to pick up experience somewhere, goal scoring attacking midfielders will always hold value, particularly English ones, we can then make a decision in 2022 3. Cash in, and put that money into a player with different skill sets, and a bit more experience, for example Buendia I’m really not that fussed what we do, even though I’m positive that Willock will develop into a really top player over the next couple… Read more »
Wait till we pay more than 40m for someone like Ode to only see Buendia shining for Villa coming season.
Good ebening,
To be honest I’m not that fussed about losing out on Buendia, that’s if we even bid for him. As far as I’m concerned people are losing their shit purely because we’ve appeared to have been outbid by Villa. I don’t remember him being that good.
Anyway, I’d sooner give Willock a go than spend £40m that could be better spent elsewhere.
If Aouar is available for the reported £25m (not sure I believe this when dealing with Aulas, who takes pleasure in leading wild goose chases and publicly mugging others off), then that’s a big cut compared to the EUR 60m we failed to match last summer (meaning we switched to Partey on deadline day). Haven’t seen a second of him playing in the last year, but in an injury affected season he made 30 appearances, averaging 60 minutes. 2 years left on contract and still valued on Transfermarkt at £38m, so at £25m and aged 22 there’s plenty of upside.… Read more »
33m is a very good value deal for Villa, surprised that Norwich are letting by far their best player go for a relatively cheap price in this day and age.
There’s plenty more fish in the sea though, so long as we actually intend on bringing in a player as good or better than Buendia I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
LOL Where is Charlie to say how the stories are fake and Villa can never land a player we are bidding for and laughing condescendingly at people talking about it?! Joke’s on you Charlie boy. You think you are intelligent but you just have a higher opinion of yourself than you should. Wrong in 90% of the time. Like backing a past it Wenger and this abomination of a manager we have at the moment. No one wants to play for Arteta. Even players like Willian who could sit on their contract want out. Aubameyang wants out. We can’t win… Read more »
Leno, who Arteta put his trust in, wants out. No one wants to play for Arteta. Just the players who are young and don’t have any ego cause they are green.
“When transfers like that happen it’s 99% the player decision where they want to go. They cannot be transferred unless they specifically say the want to. Buendia picked Aston Villa. He picked to play for Dean Smith instead of Arteta.’ Absolutely spot on , Norwich can’t make buendia go to villa if he wanted us . The player has all the power , that’s all he got to say is I’m not going to villa I want arsenal . If anyone thinks different and it’s just down to what bid Norwich accept are deluded and have short memories. It’s why… Read more »
I wouldn’t bank on Villa selling Grealish following this, their owners are minted and have spent a lot of money in recent seasons. They seem to be for real.
Typical sleeper cell move. Buendia is good. However, if Grealish is certain to Man United for 100 million, then a certain player’s price drops. That player is Sancho. Manu will probably not want to spend on two blockbuster players in one window given extensions to Cavani and Mata.
Arsenal are masters at playing transfer merry go rounds. They managed to beat better performing teams to several players in the past. Waiting to see how this one plays out.
https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/aston-villa-beat-arsenal-in-race-for-35m-buendia-with/aaocwibidrea1q84hxx6jud31
Buendia is a villa player.