Say what? NO TRANSFER RUMOURS?
Completely disagreeable I’m afraid.
The big story from an Arsenal perspective is that Kieran Tierney is out of the team for Scotland. I really wish he hadn’t made the Euros, I do worry about him for next season. So important, yet so prone to 6 weeks out. That’s why Arsenal needs to really think about who they sign as his understudy. I remember we wasted literally years in the hope Abou Diaby would be able to manage a whole season in the first team, we never signed a good backup, and we paid for it. The back-up position for left back needs to be well thought out. If you sign someone young and Tierney stays fit, you’ve ruined their career. If you sign someone too old and Tierney gets injured, you might be in trouble. If you keep Kola, it’s trouble.
Overall, it’s going to be interesting to see how the pacing of the summer goes. How many years did we spend cursing the Euros for fucking up our transfer business? This season, we have the double whammy with the Copa America in the mixer as well. The problem for Arsenal is that the slower the business, the more painful it’ll be integrating 5+ new players to the complex ideas on offer under Arteta. I will not lie, I’m a little worried that our business doesn’t feel warm and it’s mid-June.
Part of the pacing could be solved by signing players who already understand these systems. Ben White would make sense because Potter’s approach is very similar to the one Arteta is implementing. Signing players goes beyond just an athletic profile / how tight their control is, you also need to find players that are tactically intelligent so they can absorb information fast. I was in Austin a few months ago talking to a drummer at one of their famous studios (Arlyn), he said to make it there, you need to be able to lay down a perfect beat from sheet music instantly, or you don’t get work again (turns out, I will not be working in music). You need similar mind sponges in football. The fixtures come at you so fast, if you’re not a fast learner, you are in trouble especially where the game is heading.
There continues to be a pattern emerging with the sort of attacking player we’re looking at. Nabil Fekir is the latest bang-bang creative midfielder being linked. I’m not sure if the story is true, but Charles Watts reckons he’s been on the list in the past. I kind of hope he’s not on the list, 27 years old, with an underlying injury that would most certainly come out of hibernation if he played for us. That said, I like how he plays. Arsenal has been a lethargic team for a long while. We need some of that Bielsa/murderball in the starting 11.
There are still quite a few nothing rumours in the air. Locatelli for £40m is one of them. The craziest thing that happened today was Granit Xhaka dying his hair bleach blonde. I quite like it. New hair who dis type of moment. Whatever floats your boat.
ONE SURPRISE YOU MIGHT like is this delightful podcast I recorded with the very impressive Mike McDonald. I basically listen to him talk about midfielders for an hour. Tune in, it is WORTH it.
Tomorrow, Johnny and I will have a crack at a Livestream. Will let you know how it works out. I had a go today and couldn’t do the technology part.
ENJOY THE PODCAST!
First!
2nd
3rd
Tr4phy!
First?
Not even close
It’s Groundhog Day……yet again!
Same old with Arsenal. Now they are offering a newcontract to Nketia while a bunch of clubs are interested in signing him. This is AMN situation all over again.
ARSENAL NEVER LEARN
“Tomorrow, Johnny and I will have a crack at a Livestream. Will let you know how it works out.”
Will there be a LeGrove summer call-in feature where irate Grovellers give you a piece of their mind re Tets, or are you keeping it high-brow?
“ I will not lie, I’m a little worried that our business doesn’t feel warm and it’s mid-June.”
How many days, Pedro, since you were saying “transfer window isn’t even open yet…trust the process and believe in the club”. 3? 4 max…
This is a tournament window. We know how those go. Get in early before prices become inflated or else prepare for disappointment. We a a few weeks behind already it would seem. I reckon Edu waits for the window to open before he gets on his WhatsApp.
Any release clauses kicking around for Edu to activate?
Isak was good last night , very limited possession but good.
I’d sell Tierney in a heartbeat. I love him as a player, exactly the profile of player we need but he’s just another Diaby. He’ll never stay fit. What’s the point? Cash in and buy someone who’s whole body isn’t broken
Yea im a bit worried bout KT as well.
His injury record is not good whatsoever.
If he is out for periods of time we are screwed. Pedro is right, we need to really nail down a quality LB… someone not too young or old who will be playing plenty of mins this coming season.
What is the deal with our RB? Seems like all the click bait is mostly CM
Divine
Not so sure about him. He was the best on his team but is he really what we need? There are better out there I think….
AMN guen Eddi, etc, sell and take what we can get. we are so shit in transfers why play games with other teams. I swear dealing with doing business with us, is like a nightmare. Pulling teeth feeling. as we nickle and dime every transaction…
Where is the ruthelss KSE this summer? Where is uncle stan and his wallet?
Sell CT to City for 50 M and get it over with. He’d never play more than 25 league games a season. Not as crocked as Diaby, more like Ramsey.
We MUST sell one of Auba or Laca. Not healthy keeping both.
Our squad needs rebuilding……
Eddie
Willock
Guen
LT
Chambers
AMN
Bell
That’s about 90/100 mill. Add one of Laca or Auba and we’re looking for 120 mil plus our transfer budget, that’s like 200 million to buy 5 first teamers
White RB
Bissouma MD
De Pule AM
Sterling
Young back up LB
Back up keeper
This team would JUST get you top 4.
Guns of SF
Not advocating him , I saw him for the first time live yesterday. But still Pace and Power , good link up , can create space for himself in tight spots. All good attributes.
My worry is that as soon as any player does well in Euros, we get shunted… we cannot afford them.
Its why I wanted our deals done ( most) before the tournament.
Isak is good, and he is tall with a nibmble touch. If he does well in more games, we are priced out!lol
Guns of SF
There arent many top clubs in PL that need a striker though , Chelsea after Haaland or Kane , same for City. Utd are sorted with Sancho most likely . Liverpool have Salah Mane Firmino . Maybe Leicester go for him , but I feel like we can get him if we wanted to.
Would be very happy with Fekir. Wanted him the summer before he almost went to Liverpool, and we really should have bought him when he went to Betis for 17m. That injury worry is exaggerated me thinks, been what, 3-4 years and he’s holding up fine, no signs of slowing down. Exactly the type of player we should be looking at in Cam imo, ESR needs plenty of minutes too so it doesn’t make sense to blow all our money on another young, hot Cam. With them rotating Fekir will get plenty of time to recover, we don’t have to… Read more »
KT when he isn’t injured is a very decent player but it’ seems that his body is already broken.
That’s truly sad but he is a player that you would pick every game as a starter but like so many ex Arsenal players before you can’t depend on them to start enough games.
He’s played a grand total of 42 league games out of a possible 76 and based on what we know there isn’t any suggestion that an operation or rest is going to sort the problem out.
15m Euro offer for Lokonga turned down. Apparently Anderlecht are holding out for 20m euros.
Looks a goer this one.
Our play is reliant on an injury prone LB, our midfield is held together by an injury prone DM, our creativity is reliant on injury prone players.
Meanwhile Leicester realize the impact of Maddison has on the team, its addressed by buying Soumare, the Edouard rumours means they are preparing for Vardys decline.
Whatever is going on at Arsenal is beyond amatuer, its gross incompetence.
Sid
Gross incompetence aided by incompetent owners . When you dont know what youre doing , you cant hire the right people .
Time Up I think it’s far too early to be even thinking about getting top 4 . I know it was six points but there were other teams far closer to 4th and there isn’t any reason to suppose that the top 4 of last season won’t all improve indeed I think that’s almost a guarantee and with CL money they will be shopping at the top table add to it those 4 won’t be making the wholesale changes that some are suggesting will be seen at Arsenal. I don’t think any will disagree that Ceballos returning to RM really… Read more »
Leicester do seem to go about their business in a quiet but highly effective way. Never mind Dortmund, Leicester’s hound be our model to emulate now.
We could easily be top of the second tree if we had someone competent running the show and enforcing a transfer strategy
No idea what should be in place of hound lol
And if we had a competent DoF then a competent manager could then build and compete. I suspect that won’t be Arteta but who knows
North banker….should?
I like the 18 years old Pedri. He glides on the pitch effortless. He is the opposite to Xhaka who seems to have very heavy legs.
Nelson Pedri is going to be a superstar played almost 40 games for Barca as a 17 year old
He could be the new xavi
Shit! I didn’t know he plays for Barca. Anyway, Arteta would never starts a 18 years old player. SMH!
Time up
I’m not for sale mate.
Locatelli would be a good signing. Lokonga to replace Ceballos.
Underrated Neuhaus who even slipped through Mike McDonald’s super scouting radar is linked with Pool.
I’m telling you, this guy is an underrated gem. We can offer him guaranteed first team place, Pool cannot. We have to be looking at this guy.
Have read people’s analysis saying White isn’t good in the air. Looks like a younger Luiz but weak physically and in the air.
Maybe better than Luiz in terms of playing out from the back and pace.
Definitely not worth 50 million.
If we get to replace Luiz and Neves to replace Xhaka the only good aerial player in the team will be our LCB i e Gabriel or Mari.
Would become so easy to score against us.
Captain Tierney
Neves wins about 50% of arial duels, as does Xhaka.
But true that Luiz’s heading stats are a lot better.
Reports saying we’ve had a 12-15m bid for lokonga rejected Look I don’t know the player well and can’t say for sure he’s the player for us. But I absolutely like the thinking behind it A young player with a high ceiling at a low price point. None of this 40-50m for known decent will do. We need to get the hell out of that kind of market and stick to high upside bargains with bigger money only being spent where we are extremely confident that such a player will be a game changer for us (akin to the thinking… Read more »
CT, Did Pedro not justify Saliba exclusion on the basis that he was not good enough in the air? yet White is a great acquisition when he has been shown to be poor in the air and easily pushed by burly attackers. I expect White to become the next season Willian. The player whom people initially celebrates as the missing piece of the juggle, but who by the end of the season embodies the incompetence of our recruitment policy. If he was that brilliant, Brighton would fight to keep him. The fact that they don’t is a clear indication that… Read more »
Valentin,
Not sure that you’re going to find many people who support throwing 50m on an unproven young CB, who isn’t even Brighton’s best CB (Lewis Dunk is).
A big no no to Locatelli.Bissouma any day of the week.But if we are after Lakonga is Bissouma also viable? Are they similar? Anyone.Also are we still after Ruby?
Raptora,
There is a lot of people who support Arteta who think that this is a good idea. Look at Pedro’s post.
He should be incandescent about the concept of spending £50 millions on a player not deemed enough by Brighton and Leeds. Especially when we are skint and our squad is in dire need of a midfield overhaul. But because he drank the KoolAid, that idea is now deemed the way forward.
Why make filler bids that you know will get rejected? Surely clubs offer their valuation of prices and if you really want to get business done then you will meet it or come to an agreement on a fee that all parties are happy with. It’s only at Arsenal and Man Utd where there is coverage of multiple bids being rejected, how often do we hear it for the likes of Leicester, Chelsea, City?
Things are so shit if we actually get only Lokonga (whom I’ve never watched but I’ve only heard good things about) and Fekir, then it would have been an amazing summer.
Anything less than a young midfielder with legs and a goal scoring CAM and it would have been another failed summer.
And a capital NO to Odegard aka the fat Ozil.
Valentin
As a player and to provide competition for our CBs , Ben White is a good acquisition. Not for that price, its like Pepe all over again.
This is the same club that rejected a £10m fee for Kieran Gibbs from West Brom in July 2017 to then sell him for £7m to the same side a month later.
It’s like the club has a fetish for embarrassing, silly decisions.
Good post Pedro. Do keep us informed about the planned livestream session.
CT
“”Maybe better than Luiz in terms of playing out from the back and pace.Definitely not worth 50 million.””””
You only pay that sort of money for central defenders if they are as good as Jaap Stam or VVD.
(ie. they can defend basically on their own in a back 4)
Anyway we have £30 million William
We dont need a £40 million Benjamin too.
#Lost the plot completely#
#Lunatics running the asylum#
Lunatics running the asylum
Yes, in a nutshell CG. Arteta and Edu will run this place into the ground before ending up at obscure clubs in the future.
We must not make a (possible) minor hiccup into a major disaster. This is about KT. Nobody denies he is a major force in an attacking sense. But if alas! injury sidelines him, we have several adequate replacements in a defensive role. And if Arteta wishes to go the whole hog, well, play Saka there.. In other words, I do not see the need to buy an LB My belief is that Arteta/Edu have already pencilled in the players they need – notably an exceptional midfielder and a safe pair of hands. The rest will depend on who they manage… Read more »
Saliba might not be very good in the air but not sure attackers can easily bully him the few times I have watch him but paying premium for White might be the answer what do I know
The people running the club always think of the club first and not themselves because it all seems like it’s about them
Left
“””Arteta and Edu will run this place into the ground before ending up at obscure clubs in the future””‘
What KSE are basically doing are allowing ‘wanna- be’ doctors ( Edu & Arteta) perform vital operations whilst they have not been properly trained themselves or done their qualifications at medical school.
Keeping them will just store up future problems for the next manager and the one after.
The Xhaka saga is just another “non story”. Roma seem to believe that Arsenal are going to capitulate and allow the player to leave for peanuts. In the past that might be the case, but despite all the negatives expressed on Le Grove about Xhaka he is still a decent player and certainly worth around £20 million in today’s market. When I see the prices quoted for some of his replacements I see no point in selling him unless we get a realistic price. Roma are as we know a “bargain basement” club when it comes to buying players. For… Read more »
Xhakalson a decent player that Nobody is interested in
Xhaka will end up staying you just know it
Would have been better if Xhaka got new legs instead of new hair. Maybe we would get a decent price for him then.
Arsenal every Tranfer windows are like market traders at a Bazaar.Endless haggling & low balling.With selling clubs treating us with contempt & little if any respect.Sad situation.why is it the likes of Leicester can get reasonable tranfer valuations yet with us the price doubles/ trebles even.Don’t they know we haven’t got a pot to piss in!
Xhaka is not moving the team forward and a bid of 23m came in last year but was rejected,now Roma wants to buy with 18m and some are saying we should not sell,later we will sell him for 9m if not free and later complain we don’t have money
SMH
Positive pete Wenger set a trend in the philosophy that Arsenal should pay “market rates” for wages at the expense of transfer fees. Sadly we have paid inflated wages to average players who are then difficult to offload. We have experienced that situation with far too many players we chose to offload and the consequence is a colossal loss in finances. Xhaka is at the stage in his career where he is still worth a decent transfer fee and frankly is not in my book the first in the queue for departure considering that we are short of midfield resources… Read more »
ES: “Roma are as we know a “bargain basement” club when it comes to buying players.”
Roma have a total of £485m transfer sums paid in the last 5 years. That’s roughly £100m per season. Your theory is wrong.
Left Testy
Hahaha yes I was so confused, I was at my father in laws and had just started drinking whilst watching the football so I was doubting myself for a second
Roma are offering around £13 million for Xhaka and not as being suggested £18 million.
Roma already got is to drop our fee demand for Mkhitaryan. Mino Raiola pocketed the £10 millions signing on fee while the Armenian captain agreed on a salary decrease. I still don’t know how he convinced him to let him take all the cash on offer.
They know that Arsenal wants an upgrade on Xhaka and needs to sell to raise funds. But they also know that they are unlikely to get competition for the player. Arsenal is not going to have a bidding war for Xhaka services.
Raptora
Roma have bought only one player in last decade costing £20 million+.
Most of their so-called purchases are well under £15 million and include a lot of swaps.
Roma don’t have a pot to piss in when it comes to spending money in transfer market.
The market value of AS Roma before Covid was calculated at Euros 330 million.
Today it is probably worth a lot less especially since they don’t own even the stadium where they play.
I think Lokonga is more than a rumour. We should just pay the extra £3m and be done.
He’s 21, captain of his club, very dynamic and on the fringes of the Belgium squad. Also can play as a 6 or 8 in a midfield 2 or 3.
I’d still buy a more established CM to replace Blondie locks but Lokonga seems to be the perfect backup player to Party as their skill set looks quite similar.
£60m for Party and his potential regen is good business.
There is a simple solution to our full back problem. Buy someone who can play right or left back equally well(almost) , sell Bellerin, keep Chambers as he can play right back or centre back and keep Tierney. AMN has never let the club down at right or left back but obviously he can’t stay as he praised Ozil ….a non negotiable. Cedric has also never let the club down at right or left back but it looks like he has succumbed to the non negotiables.(did he praise ozil?). Kolasinac (Ozil’s friend) ..a non negotiable. So to me , the… Read more »
Danny Xhaka attempts much more Ariel duels iirc and has better win %, I’m not sure here. But Xhaka has the height physicality to deal with big attackers during set pieces. Neves does not. Val Brighton of course want to keep him. Thats why such a high price tag. Pedro is known to flip flop. Arteta doesn’t like Saliba so Pedro came up with a whole bunch of non sense to justify that decision ( Mustafi and injured Mari over Saliba). Even though Saliba does need to improve aerially, he is much better in the air than most people make… Read more »
Is Ben White suspect in the air ? What I do know is that this Arsenal team need 2 centre backs who are strong/dominant in the air. The fact is, other than Xhaka , we have no one who will attack the ball in the air other than the 2 centre backs. Full backs Bellerin and Tierney are average in the air None of our forwards or midfielders will defend corners with any conviction and Leno doesn’t dominate the box. So for me, it is essential that both centre backs are brave , aggressive and can judge the flight of… Read more »
Pierre
The Cedric case is a tricky one for Arteta – there is a third party involved – not the players agent.
Unfortunately AM want to hold on to Trippier – the player wants to return to the UK.
Pedro
It’s no surprise transfer business is on a go slow – the Euro’s were always going to interfere and COVID makes it even more difficult so I can’t find too much criticism of the club at the moment.
I do however think it’s beyond stupid for Edu to be swanning around in Portugal at this time of year – Arteta needs to have a break with his family and he’s limited to when he can do this. I can’t see why Edu can’t take a summer holiday on the 1st September once the transfer window is closed.
“Roma are offering around £13 million for Xhaka and not as being suggested £18 million.”
So that’s between £10 and £15 million less than we were offered 18 months ago after Xhaka’s been coated in sauce and been better as well as costing us £7.8 million in salary.
I can’t be bothered to try and calculate what he’s cost us by being a really poor player.
ES: “Roma have bought only one player in last decade costing £20 million+. Most of their so-called purchases are well under £15 million and include a lot of swaps.” Patrik Schick UC Sampdoria Sampdoria £37.80m Leonardo Spinazzola Juventus FC Juventus £26.55m Steven Nzonzi Sevilla FC Sevilla FC £23.99m Javier Pastore Paris Saint-Germain Paris SG £22.23m Pau López Real Betis Balompié Real Betis £21.15m Bryan Cristante Atalanta BC Atalanta BC £19.80m Amadou Diawara SSC Napoli SSC Napoli £18.90m Gianluca Mancini Atalanta BC Atalanta BC £17.10m Justin Kluivert Ajax Amsterdam Ajax £15.53m Jordan Veretout ACF Fiorentina Fiorentina £14.40m Chris Smalling Manchester United… Read more »
Pierre
Your point about defending set pieces is 100% valid.
White is just 6 feet tall and at Brighton he has three giant defenders who are more than competent but White will be badly exposed if he were playing alongside in experienced defenders who for me lack leadership
The following transfers are in the last 5 years mind you.
Haha will be like a new signing when he doesn’t leave
Xhaka*
The headline from a piece on the DT website
“Glazers promise ‘meaningful’ Manchester United transfer spending but no ‘outlandish’ fees”
People need to realise that even PL clubs are going to be a lot more cautious with spending this summer – people talking about us spending over £100 million net – no chance.
China
He’ll get a new contract – you watch and see he’s Arteta’s first name on the team sheet.
Can’t wait for Pedro’s excuses as to why it’s a great move for the club rapidly followed by me getting binned again!
Ben White goes to ground too easily. That video where Rashford used him to mop the floor before scoring is making the rounds.
Pedro thinks a defender with one excellent season for Leeds in the championship and an average season for Brighton is going to mentor Saliba.
Truth is that Ben White shouldn’t be at the Euros, Tomori who plays for Milan is a better and more accomplished defender. Two England caps shouldn’t make anyone a £40 million defender.
Dissenter
I can’t say I’ve watched enough of White or paid that much attention to what he’s done when I have watched Brighton but I have am uneasy feeling about spending so much on a CB when we have glaring holes in other areas in the squad.
Marc
I read some weeks ago that Roma would struggle to fund €17 million or just over £10 million for Xhaka yet some on here were talking double that sum.
Roma know .Xhaka wants out, that Arsenal need cash and apparently no one else is in for him. To be honest if I were Roma I would go far lower.
I laughed when I read the veritable Emirates Stroller just write copiously that Arsenal should say NO to Roma. Granite Xhaka is leaving, for whatever fee we agreed with Roma There is a gentleman’s agreement with Xhaka that he’ll leave after Arteta settles in. He’s gone. £15-18 million is a good deal for Xhaka. You all can’t argue for years that he’s shot and still want big money for him. Good thing is that Mourhino truly wants him while we want to get rid off, so the two clubs will be honest at the table. The players has also agreed… Read more »
Dissenter agree about Tomori who Milan are just about to pay £24 million for. That’s more th3 going rate in today’s market.
raptora
I suggest that you review prices on Transfermarkt. Only one player cost over £20 million in
recent years.
I suspect that your calculations are based on valuation not actual transfer fees.
For the record Spurs are paying approximately 60% of wage bill of Mourinho for first 2 years
of his employment at Roma.
The club has I suggest not a pot to piss in unless of course the Italian Mafia are running the club today.
ES,
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/as-rom/alletransfers/verein/12
Nothing to review. It says Transfer sum.
Ben White won’t be a significant enough upgrade on holding to warrant 40-50m.
Dissenter
For someone who posts 100x per day talk about calling the kettle black.
You are someone who likes to post regularly negatives. Personally I want to see Arsenal do well.
We gave away last season Mkhitaryan on a freebie. Xhaka has two years left on his contract
and as far as I am concerned Roma should pay a market price for the player or we should walk away.
Unlike you I would be perfectly happy to see Xhaka stay at club. We should be improving our
midfield resources and not depleting them.
Terraloon
I’m still skeptical about just how much Xhaka want’s to move. He’s down to 2 years on his contract and knows it’s sell or resign time.
Either way he’s on a win win – moves to Rome nice City, food climate etc or gets a big rise at Arsenal.
Raptora
Apologies I was replying to Dissenter.
Not that it matters as I don’t give an eff about Roma.
All I care is that Xhaka is moved for some money (decent money if it’s in the region of 18m even if it’s euro) and we get to see Arteta handpicking the CM he wants. On who he picks lies a good portion of our progress as a club. If keep playing with Xhaka starter, then we’d always be handicapped.
“For the record Spurs are paying approximately 60% of wage bill of Mourinho for first 2 years
of his employment at Roma.”
What the hell is Levy doing signing that deal?
Just for some perspective AsRomas last accounts show a loss of €204 million loss their income was circa €150 million.
I have no idea why JM is at Roma unless he has been promised funds but to be honest I cant see how they can spend big
I think we should take 15m pounds or w/e and just go and get the CM we want. Partey + another quality midfielder will guarantee you competitiveness versus every team in the most important area. Stick to starter Xhaka and we’ll not move forward.
ES the market rate is whatever most clubs after a player would think a reasonable price
Nobody but Roma is interested because no one values him highly
When clubs start competing to outbid Roma you can say he’s worth more. Until then the market rate is low. Much in line with his actual level
ES
you have your 60% the wrong way round – Roma are paying Maureen the equivalent of £6.4 million per season. Maureen’s contract with Spurs had another two years to run and he has done Spurs a big favour by taking the position at Roma.
If Maureen has success at Roma – the amount Spurs pay could be reduced.
Xhaka will never agree on being a reserve, so the only way to give Partey a good partner is to sell Xhaka.
This is quite an apt example of how arsenal fans got so used to average and poor that they started grossly overrating the average Xhaka is an international. A player at the start of his peak with many years of top flight experience. He’s known as a leader and a top professional. He’s also well known as an automatic starter at a major European club for the last 5 years. He’s just had the season of his career. Lastly he’s made it known he wants to leave and arsenal are willing to sell. And for all that we’ve got one… Read more »
raptora
Arsenal need at least three defensive/central midfielders to rotate next season if we are going
to be competitive in EPL and also to take into account potential injuries.
No-one suggests that Xhaka is a “world beater”, but what he does offer is fitness reliability. He
is seldom injured.