BEN WHITE DEAL AGREED – PANIC SETS IN OVER XHAKA/ODEGAARD REPLACEMENTS

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I mean, every single time I complain about slow biz, Arsenal deal that day. No sooner had I let rip that our summer was going down the pan because Captain Edu was busy sailing on the Don Shouldwebedoingthis… we signed a player. Well, kind of.

David Ornstein revealed that the Ben White deal has clocked in at £50m, making the right-sided centre back our 3rd most expensive signing in history. For a club that took made players bring packed lunches last season to save money, this is quite the statement.

As fans, we’re in ‘if Edu is involved, there’s no doubt it’s bad’ mode at the moment… but no doubt if Liverpool or Chelsea did this we’d be praising their shrewd scouting. A bit like Ryan Bertrand causing an #ArtetaOut trending topic, until Leicester went there, and it was fine.

Whatever you think about the deal, this much is true.

He’s a truly unique talent in the way that he plays. He’s been coached by Bielsa, who plays murderball at training, he’s been developed further by the excellent Graham Potter at Brighton. He carries the ball like a midfielder, he can confidently move passes between the lines like David Luiz, and he’s now capped.

Then factor in the next most important thing: he’s robust. He dropped 46 appearances at Leeds during his single season there. He played 36 of Brighton’s 38 games last season. The guy has a body that is ready for the challenge. So, so important for Arsenal this season after watching what Thomas Partey’s unusual run last season did to our campaign. Derisk is my fave new term… and this signing has it all in my opinion.

The big question marks are the same for any young centre back with a newly minted profile: Can they do it at a big club?

Harry McG was mercilessly mocked when he went to United, he’s just made the finals of the Euros conceding two goals. Same for John Stones over at Manchester City. Whenever there is a young British centre back that lands a big move, everyone doubts them, it is absolutely standard. I can even remember West Ham fans telling me Rio was great but would struggle at a big club. I think most of that comes down to branding… when you have a boring name and you look like an 18-30s Ibiza club rep, people doubt your talent.

Changing that view is down to the player. Most Arsenal fans don’t know what to make of it, so let’s hope the plan in place is one that is sharp, because boy do we need him to level us up next season. Still, at 23, if he can do it, it’ll look a bargain in a few years time.

For me, this is a massive piece of the Arteta jigsaw. There can’t be reasons this season as to why the system didn’t work. There can’t be rogue ‘but that player wasn’t quite right’ this season. We need to see the finished product. That finished product needs ball playing centrebacks. Fullbacks that can move and deliver final balls. Creative players that can move the ball at speed and be decisive. Strikers that are finishing their chances.

Even if you don’t understand Ben White, know that he’s important, otherwise they’d have put that money elsewhere. Also, Sky reporting that medical is set for when he’s back from holiday is like, exactly what Le-Grove told you.

Apparently, the club wants to reveal the Kido Hart deal as well as the Sambi Lokonga signing. Honestly, I am really quite thrilled about Lokonga. Even if it doesn’t quite work out, the idea is right. It shows that we’re leaning into the analysts behind the scenes, it shows that we have the smarts at Arsenal to fish out value, and it once again reinforces that the powers that be took note of what old players bring to the dressing room.

The Kido Hart deal is also a superb piece of news. You can keep reading all these weirdos saying the club is crashing and Emery was a better idea than Arteta… but the kids who used to leave under Wenger are now signing deals. You do not entrust your future to a coach you don’t believe in. Kido Hart could have his pick of clubs on the continent, he chose to stay at Arsenal because he sees a future here. I think that’s fucking great news.

I still think the biggest worry for Arsenal fans is where we’re putting the money for the Xhaka replacement and who we’re going to bring in to cover for the loss of Martin Odegaard. We’re not moving things forward without those two positions being filled. Our midfield is not going to be a 21 year old in his first Premier League year.

The big rumblings are that Locatelli is the player they want. Again, he’s a bit slow, but he has so much power and craft to his game. The goss from Italy appears to be that Juventus tapping Sassuolo for a 2-year loan deal with an obligation to buy. Arsenal are sitting outside the office with two suitcases full of cash worth £40m. If you run Sassuolo, who are probably bleeding hard at the moment, are you really going to let Juve pull your pants down like that? Cash is king, particularly this season. You cannot be doing mega clubs favours like that. The club might not survive. It always feels like a longshot move… but if Juve don’t have money, that is a very difficult obstacle to manoeuvre. Can you imagine the fireworks if we managed to pull that deal off?

This is another red flag issue… if you wait 4 weeks and Juve miraculously find the cash, you are fucked, because no one else will deal.

How long do you wait for your primary targets?

What does it cost you?

Can you afford to go into a season with either of those two positions vacant?

Transfer windows for clubs like Arsenal are a moving target. There are so many variables. The job of Edu is to manage them to perfection. So far, he hasn’t always delivered, so this summer is huge.

… one thing we can say about Edu though, he doesn’t sit on money, and he will find players. Not always the players you want, but he finds them.

Arsenal play Rangers today. I’m expecting a sexier performance than the one we saw in the week, but again, calm down, it’s just a friendly.

Before I go… no one told me the new home kit had hooped socks. I am absolutely going full kit on this. Imagine me rolling to a meeting near you soon, wearing these like Payne-Stewart-plus-fours.

OI OI, listen to the podcast.

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Elmo

I think that fee puts White in the top 10 most expensive defenders of all time.

If we have all that cash for Locatelli too, why didn’t we try and sign Saul Niguez earlier in the window, who Atletico want to get rid of? Sure, he may well not be interested in a non-CL team (same as Locatelli), but at least we’d be offering a key role to a player who is pissed about not being wanted.

Gunnershabz

Pedro

If we pull locatelli and aaour in midfield with Ben white and the youngsters

What do you think of the season ahead

Karsa

Two midfielders abd we’re looking good.

Karsa

and

Gunnershabz

It’s obvious we looking between locatelli and neves as that deep box to box midfielder

The biggest dream of a signing is Nicola barella that guy is the ultimate box to box in the Kante mould

Gunnershabz

It does seem arteta looking at athlete ball carriers speed and technique

Nuno taveres is quick and explosive

Watching him play I think he can play attacking positions as well

Locatelli is box to box and can drive with the ball

Tierney is ruthless on the left

It’s the right hand side that’s a worry though

Up 4 grabs now

8th the new fourth?

Up 4 grabs now

8th

Up 4 grabs now

nailed it, 4th is so 2017
its all about 8th now!

Up 4 grabs now

Morning, just posted this on the last post. Pedro the reason why most of us are on here are so pessimistic, is that we have been here before, so many times,.and so many transfer windows.We all have eyes, and witnessed how the last 18 months have gone with Arteta, The strange transfer decisions, the one rule for one player while others get away with murder. the weird tactics in crucial games. players being frozen out while favourites are selected regardless. If we have a 200 million transfer war chest (lol yeah right) order of transfers dont mean anything your right.… Read more »

Pierre

Said all along that if white comes we could see him at right full/wing back as his physique and game are more suited for a wide position. This would suit the defence more as although he isn’t dominant in the air (for a centre back), having White at full back would be a bonus as besides having the energy to support the attack, he should be good at defending the back post. His price has no relevance to me , it’s all bout quality and performance on the pitch. The Holding /Mari partnership was easily our best centre back pairing… Read more »

Rich

Arsenal gradually assembling an exciting young group of players Tierney 24 White 23 Saliba 20 Gabriel 23 Smith Rowe 20 Saka 19 Willock 21 Nelson 21 Martinelli 20 Balogun 20 Odegaard 22? Locatelli 23? Neves 24? There’s no shortcuts back to the very top, but developing a group of talented young players together, for the medium to longer term, is the way to do it We’ve lacked continuity and cohesion as a team for a long time, whatever happens to the manager, we need to keep this group together, then build around it Football squads are assembled through the youth… Read more »

Gunnershabz

The addition of Ben white means defensively we can play inverted full backs as tierney is similar player

Habesha Gooner

Well we can’t do anything about the whit deal now, Can we. The issues with this transfer is that we had a young CB that was at least ready to play as a bench CB. We let him leave on loan to spend 50 mil on white. The fee is also way overpriced. I think he is a 35 mil player. We are once again overpaying for players. He is not the finished article yet. Similar level talents like Konate are going for 30 mil +. And if we don’t sign a CM and a CAM after the lokonga deal,… Read more »

Up 4 grabs now

Pedro, “For me, this is a massive piece of the Arteta jigsaw. There can’t be reasons this season as to why the system didn’t work. There can’t be rogue ‘but that player wasn’t quite right’ this season. We need to see the finished product. That finished product needs ball playing centrebacks. Fullbacks that can move and deliver final balls. Creative players that can move the ball at speed and be decisive. Strikers that are finishing their chances. Pedro we were all waiting for the jigsaw quote! So Pedro if we dont make top four is it time for arteta to… Read more »

DivineSherlock

Pedro

The consensus among many is not that Ben White isnt good or we are overpaying for him. The problem is for 50million we can nab Laporte or Torres or Varane . World class defenders . The expectation will be too much on him. , just like Pepe.

Rich

Pierre All managers go into self preservation mode, one of the biggest problems in football is how reactionary and overemotional fans are What Arsenal need to get better at is using the loan market for young players, either pumping their value, or preparing them for our first team, very few youngsters come through like Saka, straight from the academy, to play in the first teams at big clubs Arsenal needed to renew the contracts of Saliba, Nelson, Willock, then send them out on loan to play consistently to develop, having other clubs develop our talent for our first team, will… Read more »

Valentin

Pierre, Ben White in a 1v1 situation against speedy, tricky wingers is a recipe for disaster. A back 3 formation hides his flaws and enhance his qualities. RB does exactly the opposite: exposes his lack of pace and his eagerness to tackle. If we play a back 4 and Ben White plays RB in the first four games of the season, he will be murdered there. He will concede a penalty and/or get sent off. Also everybody keep banging about the fact that Ben White had played in midfield. If they were to investigate those games, they would realise that… Read more »

China1

Locatelli looks a bit slow but if he reads the game well that could compensate somewhat. Obviously on the ball he’s really good and a big upgrade

Rich

Divine Sherlock

Varane would cost £400k p/w in wages, we’re not doing that

Torres + Laporte are left footed, we invested in 2 left footed centre backs last summer

DivineSherlock

Rich

My point being that for 50million we can do better than Ben White certainly.

raptora

Ornstein: “#BHAFC always wanted guaranteed £50m”

So Brighton declined a £48m + £6m in bonuses to now accept clean 50m?

I wonder if it’s £50m and there is a bonus number that’s going to be revealed when the deal is closed.

Leftside

After Ben White comes in we will probably get another GK, CM and CAM and thats that. Cannot see a right back coming and theres no need for another striker.

raptora

Pedro: “I can even remember West Ham fans telling me Rio was great but would struggle at a big club.”

Rio moved to Leeds in 2000 and to Manure in 2002 when you were around 10 yo. Nice memory!

kjelli

Willock is ready and waiting to be trusted by MA .

Rich

Divine Sherlock It’s a lot of money, particularly in this market The hope is we’ve identified a player who’s right on the verge of crossing over into a top class defender Maguire at 24 signed for Leicester for £12 million, then 2 years later went to United for £80 million Van Dijk was still playing for Celtic until he was 25 Mings was a bit part player until he was 26 White certainly fits the age and experience profile I’d hoped we’d target It’s premature to write him off, but for £50 million he needs to significantly improve us in… Read more »

CG

A reminder.

B. White re- joined BHA from Leeds Utd.
Played 36 games.
Brighton HA went from 15th to 16th.

Leeds United now in the prem without White (who played for them in the championship) finished 2 points behind Arsenal in 9th.

Sunmary.

Brighton HA got worse with White
Leeds United improved markedly without White

Conclusion.

White will not make a scintilla of difference to Arsenal’ s fortunes this season, except to say he is obviously a better but horrendously more expensive version of the appalling David Luiz.

The needle aint moving with White.

China1

Re white at the end of the day none of my misgivings about the price and priority of his signing are his fault

Now that it’s almost official, I back home as an arsenal player 100%. If the transfer doesn’t work out or we fail to fix the CM then my main blame would lie with artedu, it ain’t whites fault (provided he gives 100% on the pitch which I assume he will)

Let’s hope he proves all my misgivings wrong. All the best to him

Emiratesstroller

Pedro There is always a lot of negativity amongst posters regarding the club’s gameplan. Clearly the club were ill prepared and under resourced last summer. When Stan Kroenke took control of the club Arsenal were operating a “self financing” model with a sizeable bank balance. What was seldom understood by most fans was why Silent Stan was unwilling to invest in the team. The fact is that “control” is not the same as “ownership”. Kroenke had always to look over his shoulder at the agendas of the other shareholders and in particular Usmanov. When he became finally the owner of… Read more »

Chris

There’s a good read about David Platt’s managerial stint at Forest on The Athletic this morning, he left the club 20 years ago today but was using methods that are commonplace today, somewhat ahead of the times.

His man management was a bit off at times, one story was David Johnson selling his Mercedes on the spot to Platt at he training ground. Platt didn’t even offer him a lift home, Johnson had to walk home!

DivineSherlock

Rich

Saliba was bought for the same precise reason but thats a whole othe conversation I dont wish to get back to. 50 milliion is a lot of money for a 23yr old who has played just one season of top flight

Chris

I welcome the White signing (I mean it appears to be happening so not much one can do anyway) but not at the expense of investment in the midfield, central and attacking.

I do not know too much about Lokonga, is he the type of precocious player who could play beyond his mere years and be a big factor for us, without breaking him ala Wilshere?

Chika

The signs may not be very convincing yet, but Arteta is clearly a coach who wants to be innovative. I reckon he sees Ben White as an important piece in how he plans to set up the team , and I’m keen to see how it pans out. For the better hopefully.

Rich

Divine Sherlock There’s a big difference between a centre back who’s just turned twenty, and has only played 2 half seasons And a centre back who’s almost 24, has played whole seasons in the PL, Championship, League 2, and half a season in league 1 If I had to take a punt, I’d say Saliba will develop into the superior player, but he’s 2.5 seasons behind in his development, shame he decided to go to Marseille, instead of taking a loan domestically As we’ve seen with Saka + Smith-Rowe over the last 12 months, young players can develop a lot… Read more »

Savage

“The needle aint moving with White.”

It’s like store rebrands – if you don’t stay active, you actually move backwards.

CG

Emirates Stroller

One Question , please?

Why the pay cuts last year? And the redundancies? And now this sudden splurge?

Despite Covid, and no Europe?

THEY ARE NOT TO FIT TO RUN A KNOCKING SHOP, LET ALONE AFC

Stop backing these charlatans and their puppets.

Pierre

Valentin
“RB does exactly the opposite: exposes his lack of pace and his eagerness to tackle.”

Does white lack pace ?…is Tierney quicker than White, does Tierney lack pace…

Dissenter

Pedro
Arteta; “We had a situation in the summer with Andreas [Georgson], where he had the possibility to leave to his country,” said Arteta. “He had different reasons to do that and I understood that situation, so we needed to recruit somebody”

Another forced replacement of his assistant manager, not the ruthless culling that you were suggesting. You were insinuating this was Arteta firing the gig, turns out it wasn’t.
Same way Arteta will never get rid of Inaki Cana, no matter how crappier he gets.

Mark

@Pedro ” but no doubt if Liverpool or Chelsea did this we’d be praising their shrewd scouting. ” I have to push back on the above statement. Paying £50m for an unproven (1 not outstanding season in the prem) player could hardly be considered shrewd! It doesn’t seem like the kind of deal Liverpool or Chelsea would make, certainly not at that price. When they spend that kind of dough it’s usually on instantly recognisable proven players. What’s more concerning is the rumours we may still be waiting around hoping RM decide to loan Ode. again or sell. WTF kinda… Read more »

Habesha Gooner

I don’t think White has weaknesses 1v1 as Valentin is alluding to. That Rashford goal made him look like he can’t deal with tricky players but he is actually very good 1v1. What I am not comfortable with is how he uses a sliding tackle as defensive option. He goes to ground a lot. Mustafi had the same problem. But white seems to win his duels when he goes to ground most of the time. Anyway I like the player. I just don’t think he should be priority. It is not his fault he is being signed by an incompetent… Read more »

Terraloon

ES I don’t know if you post using another name on Untold but you really need to be more objective in your posts because you are coming over as someone that just isn’t able to see the confusion and poor decisions that are continuing to be made at Arsenal. CG is spot on when he highlights the fact that there were cuts everywhere last season and even a Pedro points to the cost saving measures . KSE have mortgaged everArsenal asset and future income stream to generate cash. KSE is ring fenced it’s registered elsewhere but Arsenal Holdings are vulnerable… Read more »

Marc

I’m not going to criticise Ben White – I’ve seen him play but cant’ remember him at all. He could be a fantastic player. What I will question is spending that amount of money on a CB when we have no midfield. The argument being put forward by Pedro is that our system HAS TO HAVE a CB who can progress the ball like David Luiz. That would be a perfectly reasonable viewpoint if it weren’t for the outpouring of rage on here (supported by Pedro) when we spent a net £3 million signing Luiz 2 years ago. We had… Read more »

Chika

Leicester City are reportedly demanding an astronomical fee for Maddison. What I also like about Maddison is that he offers goals from midfield, something we painfully lack. His set piece delivery is also impressive. If indeed he’s not in good terms with Brendan, that should knock off few millions from the fee.

Tavares, Lokonga, White, Maddison, Neves and a back up keeper would make a solid window.

Emiratesstroller

CG The redundancies and paycuts at Arsenal are no different from what is happening throughout the economy and everywhere on the planet. My daughter who is a senior manager at a FTSE 100 company with resources more than 10x larger than that at Arsenal went through similar processes before Christmas. It was at the time stressful, but she survived the cull and the company now recognise that they need to look after properly the staff who remain. You may not like what has happened but sometimes a business needs to undertake a review of its modus operandi. I was told… Read more »

Marc

I always considered Emiratesstroller as one of the more balanced reasonable posters on here. I didn’t always agree with him but there was always a degree of logic or common sense behind what he said.

Lately he seems to be losing all objectivity and refuses to look at what are clear facts around the club.

Champagne Charlie

Pedro Re: Locatelli and the loan vs cash you talked about… I totally understand why Sassuolo would want to deal with us vs Juve, my issue is that ordinarily the deal would be done because the offers are such opposites. Why isn’t it done? Because Locatelli is desperate for Juve (unsurprising). That’s the bit I’m not in love with, is he really so good we want to strong arm him here, or wait until the last minute out of hope? Idk about that, much rather we took more control over the timeline of transfers and sought guys eager to join.… Read more »

Dissenter

Paying £50-55 million for a central defender with one year of premier league experience cannot be considered shrewd scouting. White had a good season in the championship with Leeds but there was nothing special about him last season.
Liverpool paying £35 million for Konate who has CL and EL experience, …that’s a sweet deal.

We are vastly overpaying for potential.

englandsbest

Surprisingly it seems that Arteta is focusing on the defence rather than midfield. Let’s hope a more suitable GK than Leno is on his list.

Early days yet, and no doubt a top-class midfielder will be signed or loaned. But the conclusion is that ESR, AMN and Willock will be retained. I like the idea of keeping home-rown players. I expect him to keep Nketiah.

As to the rest, that will depends on who he can offload.

Valentin

Pierre, Tierney is the model Fullback, is not to talk so he can turn quickly, has pace on the ball, has stamina to go up and down for 90 minutes, and can cross. Ben White is very good as a wide CB in a back 3. He can intercept, be aggressive in the tackle because he has the security of somebody behind him. Because of that extra security on the ball he can step up into the midfield helping the whole team to push higher. As a RB he can’t do that. With his lack of pace, he will get… Read more »

China1

Arsenal may well have been right to cull some staff. Got knows we have plenty of mediocrity in the playing squad and management team. The issue is more that arsenal have a totally haphazard and dumb way of approaching it so it’s hard to believe there is any method in the madness Lay off gunnersaurus to save a couple of pennies whilst offering monstrous wasters like mustafi a new deal. Laying off the scouts only to want to hire scouts again several months later Most of the places we made cuts were to making relatively irrelevant savings in the grand… Read more »

Mark

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wba-cryptic-message-pereira-arsenal-24547230

This would be a deal I could get behind, if we got him for £12-15m .

Dissenter

If it’s true that Aouar is available for £20-25 million then that’s is a no-brainer since he was the desired target for last summer. We waited for him until the last moment so why hesitate to sign him now.
He’s better value currently and needs the challenge to make a play to make the French squad for the next WC.

Karsa

I suspect business decisions made at the beginning of a pandemic, when estimates of a effective vaccine were measured in years. would differ from those made with 90% of the adult population vaccinated and 60,000 in stadiums.

Emiratesstroller

Marc Please explain what is my loss of objectivity? The club is undergoing a reorganisation which few people who support the club will disagree with. I have been a critic of the owner, the Board and management at the club. Kroenke has made changes since he took over as Owner. You and for that matter I may agree or disagree what has been done, but before passing judgment you need to it time to prove itself. Kroenke appears to have made a clear commitment to club. Time will tell whether the decisions and changes he has made will succeed. Arteta… Read more »

Mark

We should have snapped up Pereira as soon as WBA went down, with our good relationship after the Amn loan.

CG

ES ( thanks) ”””CG The redundancies and paycuts at Arsenal are no different from what is happening throughout the economy and everywhere on the planet My daughter who is a senior manager at a FTSE 100 company with resources more than 10x larger than that at Arsenal went through similar processes before Christmas”””””” WRONG! No other club in the premier league asked for the wage cuts and if they had to – I am sure they would not have the nerve to be spending £50 000 000 on ‘whathisname’ from Brighton HA soon after. You think this is how you… Read more »

China1

I’d rather white is CB than RB. At Rb he’d be another chambers

I also hope we’re playing 4 at the back. 3 at the back is perfectly workable but personally I don’t like the formation

I don’t like the idea of wingbacks. Always feels like an admission that you don’t trust your CBs and also suggests a lack of willingness to have genuinely front foot wide players on the pitch

It can work 100% but I’d much prefer a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 personally

Marc

China

That poses an interesting question. If Mustafi had accepted the new contract offer would we have signed White?

If the answer is no then spending that much to replace a player a bad as Mustafi is madness. If the answer is yes then clearly Arteta is stark raving mad.

Dissenter

Maybe Perriera is a better value than Aouar but it’s too obvious for Arsenal.

I’m no longer keen on Locatelli because he isn’t keen on Arsenal. We shouldn’t have to grovel to any player. He’s not the only fish in the pond.

Terraloon

ES How many other PL clubs saw their players take a pay cut? Two , yes just two clubs borrowed £100+ million from HM government to ease cash flow . Neither of those two clubs had the cash on hand to pay back these loans so both have had to increase their commercial borrowings to pay back the Government. Even to the most blinkered it surely must be obvious that Arsenal can’t afford a transfer splurge. KSE aren’t injecting their money they are loading debt on the club. Now of the money was being used to fund infrastructure then maybe… Read more »

DivineSherlock

Rich

Please , shrewd scouting is Leicester scouting Soyuncu . Meanwhilw we went for Sokratis . Also the left foot – right foot CB thing is overemphasised. Spain played both Laporte and Torres at CB, dont think they had any problems.

Marc

Emirates

You don’t seem to be able to differentiate between the Kroenke’s having money and Arsenal not. It doesn’t matter how much the owner has.

I have never suggested for a second that Arsenal will go bust but when you have a business that’s losing money hand over fist throwing money haphazardly at the problem is not a solution.

In fact it’s likely going to make the situation worse.

Valentin

Habesha, As part of a Back 3, Ben White can be aggressive and on the front foot. So he has a lot of interception. When he misses, he still have somebody to cover for him. Against most team, Brighton is a lot more defensive than Arsenal. If Arsenal wants to score more and win more games, Arsenal will have to be a lot more attacking. Bar against top 6 teams, Arsenal will have to be a lot more on the front foot. Especially against team playing a counter attacking low bloc. So as a RB, often Ben White will be… Read more »

TR7

If I were Arteta, Maddison would be my top priority. He is PL proven, can distribute the ball well, good at long range shots, and athletic.

I am not sure Locatelli would hit the ground running, looked ineffective in Euro although I agree he has good technical skills. Still a riskier signing than Besides he does not even want to come to Arsenal.

Odegard just not good enough for me. Slow, little acceleration and doesn’t really change a game.

We should absolutely focus on getting Maddison.

Marc

Karsa

The way the media is going at the moment we’ll see a return to lockdown in the next few weeks and months if not another whole season without fans in the ground.

It’s scaremongering of the highest order.

Marc

TR7

I like Maddison as a player but buying talent from the PL is not an efficient use of our funds. Leicester don’t need to sell and won’t won’t to strengthen a competitor for EL places.

He will cost a fortune.

TR7

Marc

Maddison is a non negotiable for Brendan. The deal is on if we pursue him. 50M should be enough to lure him.

Dissenter

If Madison was the priority then we shouldn’t have spent £50-55 million in a defender when we had Saliba.

It’s almost impossible that we are going to pursue another big transaction this summer without selling.
Maybe if the sell Willock, AMN and ESR, they can use the proceeds to buy Madison.

DivineSherlock

Valentin

Thats what I think too , Arteta preparing to go for a back 3 again. Ben White Holding and Mari/Gabriel .

Emiratesstroller

Terraloon

There are plenty of football clubs in England and elsewhere who have been making cuts and
financial savings.

The idea that mega rich footballers should not take a paycut when a club is struggling financially is frankly ridiculous. Do you seriously believe that other businesses did not adopt
similar policies?

Losing your job is always painful. My one criticism of the decisions made at Arsenal was
the redundancy of Goonerssaurus. That was quite unnecessary and could have been handled differently.

DivineSherlock

Also if we were smart we’d go for Harvey Barnes rather than Maddinson.

Marc

TR7

I can’t see Leicester selling him for £50 million.

We’ll see though.

WengerEagle

I’m with Marc in that I am not going to talk down on White as a player, I honestly haven’t seen him nearly enough although I do seriously worry about him aerially.

And I am going to give Artedu the rest of the window before fully passing judgement but all I can say for now is that our prospects to reconstruct CM do not look great with us already having spent £60 million without taking in any sales fees.

Locatelli/Odegaard feels like Aouar last summer, spend all summer barking up the wrong tree only to enter the season short.

Dissenter

Anyone seen that Tavares vertical leap while training?
The dude appears to be super athletic

WengerEagle

Dissenter

Not worried about Tavares’ pace and power so much as his elephant touch and poor technique.

Emiratesstroller

CG

You and I have a difference of opinion and lets leave it at that.

Yes my daughter kept her job and is now grossly overworked. She works in Global Communications and her day starts with dealing in Asia [including China, Hong Kong, India
and Japan] and ends with North America in the afternoon and evening.

However, what she has learned from the experience is the importance of a secure and well
paid job.

TR7

Tavares is good going forward from what I have seen of him on YT. He is fast and can dribble. He needs to improve his touch and balance though. Good raw ingredients for someone who was bought on cheap.

WengerEagle

A partner for Partey in the middle is a bigger priority than a CAM and should be the very next player that we are pursuing.

We neee both but being realistic, I don’t expect to see us buy a new CAM unless we sell Willock to Newcastle.

James wood.

I have no memories of Ben White in my head.
I have lots of Tyrone Mings.
Half the price of WHITE.
Perhaps when AVcAV came calling for ESR we should have countered with an offer for Mings.
Preferred by Southgate till MAGUIRE got over his knock.?

Terraloon

ES You just don’t get it do you. Yes clubs in the EFL National League, Southern League etc etc put players on furlough but you point me in the direction of any of those clubs that will be looking to spend or should I say borrow the sort of money that Arsenal will be doing to spend on transfers. As Marc says you have lost objectivity. Why did the Arsenal players agree to a pay cut as opposed to say Chelsea ? It was sold to the players because of a cash crisis that was ensuing particularly at Arsenal where… Read more »

WengerEagle

United will probably sign Varane for less than we paid for White is the reality.

Already have Sancho. Heavily linked to Camavinga.

Top 4 is going to be extremely difficult.

Rich

China1 We play two formations in and out of possession 2-3-4-1 in possession 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 out of possession Tierney was our most creative player last season, in possession Xhaka would move to the left to cover Tierney, then Tierney would create the overload We played different variations of it, and sometimes we’d mirror it with our right back kicking on, and Saka would play as an inverted no8 in possession But the whole point is to get 5 players into the attacking third, and create territorial dominance in the opponents half, and it worked quite well at times after… Read more »

Terraloon

Es

Not sure how these two comments fit

“It was at the time stressful, but she survived the cull and the company now recognise that
they need to look after properly the staff who remain.”

“ Yes my daughter kept her job and is now grossly overworked.”

Habesha Gooner

Valentin White isn’t slow. Have you seen him play? Pace is actually one of his attributes. I bet he is faster than every CB we have. Gabriel might give him a run for his money but no one else matches him for pace. And he seems to have done fine at Leeds in a back 4. So much so that he was one of players of the season in the championship and ultimately Brighton had to reject a 25 mil bid for him. His weaknesses are actually going to ground often (which isn’t good for a CB. And he lacks… Read more »

Marc

Terraloon

Emirates is all over the place – the club will spend a fortune because we have billionaire owner but the same billionaire owner wouldn’t make sure all the staff were paid.

There’s a world of difference between outing under performing staff and some of what we did.

Rich

Dissenter

Yeah seen it, what an athlete, he’s absolutely rapid, and physically looks like he could become dominant

He’s likely going to be raw positionally and tactically, most 21yr olds are, but if we’re successful in ironing out those creases, then he looks to have all the raw ingredients to become a brilliant modern day left back

Low financial risk, with a potentially big upside, I’d much rather a signing like this, rather than another player in their thirties, looking for one last big payday

China1

If arsenal can afford to blow 100+m bet this summer we could absolutely afford to pay people’s wages in full.

Classenal was the old term wasn’t it? Man that one always made me vom a bit in my mouth

TR7

De Gea

Trippier– Maguire — Varane — Shaw

Camavinga —-Pogba

Bruno

Sancho — Cavani —Rashford

Karsa

Marc.

It’s scaremongering of the highest order.

It is. Fear sells papers and grabs viewers and that’s all the media cares about.

WengerEagle

TR7

Bench of Martial, Greenwood, Van De Beek, McTominay, Fred, Wan Bissaka, Telles, Lindelof.

Lot of depth there. Although I would be surprised for them to give up on Wan Bissaka at RB so don’t see Trippier brought in.

Rich

WE White 23, £50million, reported £120k p/w Varane 28, £50million, reported £400k p/w Net spend doesn’t really mean anything, you need to take into account for wages, length of service, age profile One transfer is worth potentially £154million over 5 years, at which point the player will be 33 and at the end of his career One transfer is worth potentially £81,200,000 over 5 years, at which point the player will be 28, and should have another 4-5 years playing at the top level Both transfers will clock around £50 million fee, but the costs and metrics around those investments… Read more »

Marc

Rich

Your numbers don’t take into account what impact the signings will make on the clubs performance. ManU will be in the CL places at the end of the season Arsenal will not.

It’s strange that the “positive” people on here who think we’ll spend a lot of money also think 5th will be a good achievement.

WengerEagle

Rich

So they’re set to make a 28 year old CB in Varane their highest earner on 400k a week? I seriously doubt that.

Pogba earns 290k a week and he has been there half a decade and is a more marquee player than Varane.

Expect Varane’s wages to be around the 250k a week mark.

TR7

WE

Top 4 chances look really bleak. City, Pool and Chelsea are way ahead of us. United will spend their way in to top 4 again. Leicester have added Soumare and Daka. I don’t even understand what we are doing.

WengerEagle

Just looking at some of the wages at United is eye-watering.

De Gea is on £375k a week and he hasn’t even been starting.

Sancho just turned 21 is on £350k a week.

Rashford is on £200k a week, Martial is on £250k a week!

I remember when it was a massive deal that the bery best players in the world in their positions like Henry and John Terry were on £100k a week deals, now you have not much above average players like Rashford on 2.5 times that.

What a time to be a PL footballer.

WengerEagle

TR7

Chelsea are a Haaland away from being title contenders, never mind top 4. I doubt Abramovich will even blink before shelling out a club record fee for Haaland.

United will also push City.

Liverpool have added Konate as well as having Van Dijk and Gomez back. They need to add a CM and a ST but even as they are, easily a top 4 side.

Up 4 grabs now

Honestly, if you said a year or so ago we were splurging 50 million on a centre back most fans would be over the moon. But most of us on here are so dismayed with whats happening on and off the field it barely registers. we havent won the league in almost 18 years, thats the length of time from the double in 71 To, “its up for grabs now” at Anfield in 89. we havent really competed for the league in 10 years, (we were never competing with Leicester a few years back.) we’ve needed a major reboot in… Read more »

Rich

Marc I think we’ll spend, providing we can get players out, and keep our wage bill and squad size in check, I don’t for one moment expect KSE to green light deals that put our wage to turnover ratio in a completely unsustainable position We’re not currently operating in the same sphere as Man United, they have CL football, and revenues that completely eclipse ours They’ll be looking to go from second to first this season, and to at very least be competitive in the CL We’re at a lower ebb, what I want to see, is for Arsenal target… Read more »

WengerEagle

Up 4 Grabs

It’s been 17 years since we won the league. We used to mock Liverpool for going 30 years, would anyone really bet serious money against us going another 13+ years?

We have never been further away. Even if every move we made from now was perfect and the top sides regressed, we are 4-5 years away at an absolute minimum.

Matt

Season starts in less than a month. So much still to do and what some people seem to be missing when they say lost of clubs haven’t done much business, is that we needed to do so much more as we were so much first get behind. It now looks like we have signed White, which could be a good signing, but where are the goals coming from? How is that fat Brazilian waste of space still making appearances for his club? Finally, that new kit is awful. I don’t get the love in for it at all. Of all… Read more »

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