So, we’re entering the final run of the transfer window. This is where things will likely get a little bit rough for the impatient among us.
There are two positions that are a priority for Arsenal. The absolute guarantee you can make is that Arsenal is going to sign themselves a #10. This is happening, do not fear, we’re going to bring someone into that role. I think the two priorities are likely Martin Odegaard, who comes with complications… and possibly James Maddison, who will also be tough to wrestle from Leicester primarily because there’s a lot of money needed to move on him. It’s not in doubt though, the window will not end without a name there.**
**Worth noting a snippet of news that slinked out a couple of days ago. Maddison apparently has a 15% sell on clause in his contract, inserted by Norwich. Emi Buendia was a target for Arsenal, we shied away, I suspect that sort of sell-on clause was pushed our way and we said no. Rightly so at £40m, if you were lucky enough to resell him at £60m, you’d be handing over £9m, taking your profit to £11m. Anyway, main point here, we’ve already made moves on a #10, it’s part of the budget.
The next position the club will likely work hard to work on is right back. This is where it’ll be tough for fans, because it’ll be a one in one out situation here (maybe even two out). Bellerin is with his agent in London right now, likely trying to loosen the vice we have on his tenure here… Arsenal want a sale, Hector is a known quantity, he’s at his peak, and PSG apparently offered £30m for him last season. Then you have Cedric or Cal Chambers, who’d probably struggle to find a buyer, but one will have to move for on loan for Arsenal to sanction cash for a new right back.
Central midfield is where things might make us a little sad. The Granit Xhaka contract stories yesterday were a bolt from the blue. I have no idea what is going on there or whether it’s true… but here’s what is likely a fact. Arteta likes Xhaka, he doesn’t see him as a major problem, so if he stays, he’ll be fine. Roma is clearly interested, but if they don’t pony up, Arsenal would rather keep him around than sanction a shite deal that stifles their ability to replace him. This position, 100%, is a one in one out as things stand. If you want Bruno to replace Xhaka, there will have to be an actual fee for Granit.
It’s the same story in attack. David Ornstein just shared that Arsenal moved really did move on Lautaro Martínez… BUT… they wanted to see if they were interested in taking Lacazette in return. Which was a big fat no by the sounds of things. We can’t add to our striking unit if there’s no space for talent.
I see a lot of ‘ARTETA SAID HE’D BE RUTHLESS THIS SUMMER’ and I remember the quotes well. But part of being ruthless is telling other clubs to give you actual money for your good players. Granit gave a very good showing last season, he had a top Euros, he’s 28 years old, we cannot be accepting £12m for him (even though many of us would like to)… because we have needs as a club as well. If Roma is not serious, they’ll have to look elsewhere.
I think where you will see movement very shortly is with some of the English players. Ainsley, Reiss, Eddie and Willock are all likely going to have to find themselves new clubs and it does appear there is a bit of interest in all of them.
‘WHAT ABOUT RAMSDALE’ well, this quote from Arteta yesterday gives you a little bit of a view into Arsenal’s approach this summer.
“Ben is an intelligent defender who is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his style fits perfectly with us. And of course, he is still young, so his age and profile fits with what we are building here. We are all looking forward to Ben being central to our future long-term plans.”
This summer, so far, has not looked like a typical Edu run out in the park. It looks like the analysts are finally having a bigger say on who we sign. Ben White took everyone by surprise because most normal fans weren’t looking at him last season, but he clearly has a set of unique talents we need. Sambi Lokonga, a player who seems to have it all, was on not one soul’s radar this summer. Tavares is raw, but he looks like he has all the qualities to be a top talent. Arsenal is identifying the qualities they need for our system and acting on them. I have no idea what they are looking at in Ramsdale, but they seem to have found something they think is valuable to our system and it’s not a recco from the keeping coach.
Obviously, the big question you have then is… are the analysts any good? We’ll see, but if it’s a choice of Ramsdale because they’ve found something others aren’t looking at, or Neto, because a palm has been greased somewhere, I’ll go with the smarts (as long as it’s a very good price and I don’t for one minute believe we’re offering £36m). White, Lokonga and Tavares look like smart buys, Ramsdale is a confusing one, but let’s see what it’s all about. Main point here… it’s a new day and the ideas will absolutely have been thought through based on a profile not a favour.
So, to conclude, outside a CAM that will definitely arrive, we’re at the phase of the summer where incoming players will only happen if exits accompany them. It’s frustrating, but one of the biggest issues last season was having senior players without squad places, and the toxic waste it causes to the whole club. Edu cannot allow that to happen again this summer, so he’ll have to get his Romford Market selling hat on and start moving some bodies.
Only thing you can take a positive from is that the market really isn’t in free flow at the moment, no club is selling deadwood for millions, and none of the clubs that usually buy it up have been spending. Just be happy that KSE is actually pushing cash around this summer, because if this apology tour wasn’t happening, we’d be bumming around like we did last year moving nowhere fast.
£110m is likely going to be the top out of expenditure (assuming £40m for CAM), we’ll need to raise cash for anything else from there. That’s an educated guess btw, but not bad considering we finished 8th and have no Europe.
Fingers crossed the summer is going to kick up with some sales, we need them.
1st
2nd
3rd
Fourth trophy?
And Trophy….
Yes. Back in the big time 🙂
Sorry, Mulerise14. But you have to respect your elders…..
We have spent £50m on a CB, maybe not a bad idea…maybe it’s even a statement of ambition.
But no matter what Arteta says, defense was not our worse problem last term. The real issue was creativity in our attack system.
Now if we show a £50m ambition in an area where there was no serious alarm last season and then fail to show same or bigger ambition in areas where the alarms were mind blowing, then it’s poor management.
In fact, it’s crazy management.
What!…. thought I had it in the bag….lol.
Let me get back to read..nice one NJ Gooner
Then I think Xhaka isn’t coming back.
We are just playing poker with Roma.
Xhaka will be moved.
We are right to hold on a bit, some other club may sell a player and need a replacement.We have a swiss captain who just set the euro alight and who is ready to settle for €50,000 a week.
So let’s see…
I can stomach Xhaka & Elneny as plan B in Cup matches. Important thing to remember is we lose Partey at AFCON . Do we play Lokonga and Xhaka then ? What if someone gets injured ?
Divine, Lokonga is pretty decent.
Said it the other day, our new midfield signing would be Xhaka.
Bloody joke if it’s true.
Great prospects don’t come along too often and you have to bear in mind, if Ben White had another season at Brighton, next summer he’d be off to City, United, Chelsea or the scousers. We are not as big a pull now and probably need to move quicker on youngsters and make slightly more risky moves, for bigger rewards. We did need a top CB despite our defensive record being good last year, and you do need to build from the back. Having said that, midfield really needs two I think, I’d still like to see Bissouma come in along… Read more »
Thanks Mulerise. Very gracious. I know it isn’t a popular view around here, but I wouldn’t be shocked, nor too dismayed if we only got a good no. 10 at this point. As long as we got ride of some of the others (Willian, are you listening?) and could convince AMN to stop messing about with his career and become a great inverted no. 2. I’m not a Xhaka fan. But I think Lokongo will soon give him a run for his money for that slot besides Partey, as – possibly – will Chambers when we need to defend against… Read more »
If Bellerin and GX are offered new contracts that’ll be it for me.
I think Xhaka will stay. The club is likely finding that the valuations it hoped to exploit this Covid summer simply aren’t there, especially when looking for ‘ready’ PL talent. White clearly cost much more than we expected (£50m + £5m + sell-on clause), and I’m sure if we went for Neves this late in the window, Wolves would demand £50m. If it’s at least £40-50m for any Xhaka replacement, and no-one’s willing to pay actual money for our surplus players, then keeping Xhaka starts to look attractive to A&E. (I can almost hear Ishola choking on his shitto sauce).… Read more »
I’m fairly confident we’d be signing two more players this window and I’d be really surprised if Xhaka stays back.
Pedro
I agree he looks slick but then we do lack depth incase of injuries, if we dont bring someone and lose Partey and Elneny at AFCON .
Oh, and why aren’t we looking at Romero as a back up goalie? Old but reliable.
I didn’t understand why we didn’t go for Areola, who has just gone to West Ham for a small amount. But surely there is someone who can fill in for a season or so until we find a good young keeper for less that 20-30M.
So open question to the floor, how do we end up scoring more goals this season than last? What signings so far have made one bit of difference in that department? Let’s assume the CAM signing if it comes is Odegaard, how many goals does he have in his locker. For all the analysis that is apparently going on, this seems to remain completely unaddressed.
More then happy with transfers done so far and sure there will be 1 or 2 more. Ben white is going to prove to be a great buy. Mayb a touch over priced but i’d rather pay that if it means getting the player
Matt, for starters, once we added creative midfielders after Christmas, we racked up the 3rd most goals in the league.
We’ve added a line-breaking midfielder that looks excellent already.
We’ve also added a defender that will help progress the ball up the pitch much faster and give us more options as we break.
Then imagine Auba starts performing to his usual standard.
That’s how you get more goals.
We’ll also be adding a #10.
I said that CM was an issue last season primarily from the POV of depth, when it wasn’t Partey/Xhaka the level fell off massively – Ceballos and Elneny just poor players. Xhaka staying because Roma want to lowball the shit out of us doesn’t bother me, but only if you’re dealing with a player that has an appetite for being here. In an ideal world I’d bin Elneny and bring in a Neves to bolster depth AND quality. But if Xhaka wants to leave, then we need to make that work for us or it’s asking a lot from Lakonga… Read more »
The White money isn’t out of the ordinary for young English defenders, you just have to look at Wan Bissaka, Chilwell and Jones. Walker was a little older when going to City.
Although our defence was 3rd best in numbers, in my opinion it never exuded confidence in me so am happy for White to come in.
Plus if we can progress the ball from defence to midfield better and with more frequency and quality,, that should reduce the amount of attacks on our goal due to poor progression and getting caught out. Hopefully anyway.
Pedro
As I said , it that number 10 is Odegaard, I really don’t see him bringing many goals. Lokonga is not going to start many games this season and I think it’s a MASSIVE risk relying on Aubamayang to have. 20-25 goal season.
Looking at the madrid squad a get a sneaky feeling that they just might sanction the odegaard sale. They probably shouldnt but it would fit their style and past decisions.
My prediction for the first game 2 weeks from now..
Leno
Chambers-ben-pablo-KT
Partey-xhaka
Pepe-ode-thesmith
Auba
Don’t really like Xhaka…’nough has been written about him… but whether you like him or not,you cannot wish away the fact he was important for us last season. Infact, I have this hypothesis that if he had been fit for the matches against Villarreal, the story might have been different.so yeah, if he has to stay he has to stay, but I sure hope Lokonga manage to get ahead of him as I think a Lokonga-partey midfield would be way way better than partey-xhaka…..in the final analysis,the will to replace him is there,you can’t ’em for that, but we can’t… Read more »
Matt, Lokonga has been brought in to play this season, he will get games, he’s not here to bum around on the bench.
Odegaard has goals in his game, if he’s joining, he’ll score.
Leon Bailey to Aston Villa done for about £35 million
They’ll surely be moving on Grealish.Just goes to show how eager continental European clubs are desperate for fund and annoying that we misread the market.
No way lokongo is not playing in that midfield he will start a lot of games
If Xhaka can give tell fans to F off, then I am sure he wont lay down with Edu and Arteta for a move to Rome.
I think this deal goes through late. We should not wait to replace. Get the replacement now. Time is running out
Leon another good buy for villa they could end up playing Grealish Bailly and buendia behind Watkins that’s a very good attack
Pedro is already putting a spin on the “Arteta said he’ll be ruthless’ banter.
Smart to get in front of that one, I guess.
Maddison any day over Ode.
We need a game changer. Ode has shown what he has. Anyone who thinks he is a game change is way off man. How much more can he improve? A little but not a ton. Its not going to be worth the 40M for him.
Bailey is a good deal for Villa. Grealish surely off to City now.
My villa mate reckons Grealish is not moving I really hope he does so he can shut the fuck up annoying me
we are so slow… still need to sell a bunch too.
Not sure why this always happens…. we are like a snail that is half asleep
I am with you guns maddison over ode but ode is cool with me if we can’t get maddison
we need to take risks… not this safe and secure shit.
It will be more of the same…
need at least 2 game changers in the team. Maybe RB and CAM!
There’s no way Grealish turns down City or Villa turn down £100m for him. He’s gone in my view.
Mikel is about as ruthless as a granny working at a charity shop. Literally twice now that he could have gotten rid of Xhaka and he’s seemingly set to stay yet again. Loves hoarding bang average yes men he learned well from Arsene in that regard.
Lefty I hope you are right
Beiley and Buendia together can more than make up for loss of Grealish.
And Bailey, Buendia and Watkins is still a sufficient attack in any event, teams in the middle of the league showing some ambition and actively trying to get better.
Grealish to city is as effective as the impact Alexis Sanchez would had at city, had that transfer gone through.
Grealish had the ultimate freedom at Villa, their system allowed his ball hugging ways to prosper.
He won’t be the top tog at city, how would he adjust to that setting?
Sometimes big name transfers don’t improve clubs the way they hope for
Few wanks have been had by some on here over Villa
Not only do I agree with Pedro that Lokonga will get games, but i predict by the end of next season he will be considered one of our star players. I think that he and Partey can set our midfield on fire. Now all we need is Maddison. I’d be ok with us signing Ode but I do think that Madders will help move the ball much faster and will suit the style we’re trying to impose. However the big question willl be how we then fit him and ESR in the same team. JM playing deeper? ESR on wing… Read more »
Mr Serge “ My villa mate reckons Grealish is not moving I really hope he does so he can shut the fuck up annoying me”
I feel for you mate. I hope he goes to City just for you
All the deadwood still here, the signings so far aren’t going to take us to the next level and Pedro’s verbal gymnastics in support of his hero are becoming increasingly bizarre. One can only assume that Eduteta, a weird hybrid of two nincompoops, is obsessed with the number 8 because that is the league placing he appears to be aiming for again. How much longer will this nightmare persist.
As good as Grealish is, you cannot turn down 100m for him if you are Villa. They still have a very good attack in Watkins, Bertrand Traore, El Ghazi, Buendia and are now adding Bailey on top of that. Surprised that City are paying so much for Grealish over Kane but age and injury record plays a massive factor I guess. They also likely see him as the long-term successor to De Bruyne who is 30. Very funny to see Kane trapped at Spurs after his little PR come and get me piece at the end of the season. Finishing… Read more »
“Beiley and Buendia together can more than make up for loss of Grealish.”
Villa can only hope but I don’t think so. You can’t replace the things Grealish gives them even with two signings of relative quality.
Before his injury Villa were on track for push for Europa and we know how their season finished.
That’s where they’ll end up without him this season too.
Yea, I can’t see Kane moving in this window. He has three years left on his current deal and Levy doesn’t need to sell him.
“My villa mate reckons Grealish is not moving”
My City mate’s uncle reckons he is
BFB, it’s bizarre that you think selling players before you add to bloated positions is a bizarre concept. If you don’t understand, just say, but don’t pretend you are on some sort of hot track suggesting we just buy buy buy.
Northbanker, 100% with you there. He’s not here to be Ceballos. He’s here to be part of the mix every week.
BFB – if no one is buying then you can’t sell. It really is as simple as that
We have great young players gradually coming into the team
Grealish is absolute mustard, those two players would be a revelation just to replicate his influence.
Such a massive miss for us a few years back.
Ledtside Chelsea is the only viable move left on the cards for Kane imo. They seem to prefer Haaland having said that. People will point to the Poch connection at PSG but I think he will be out on his arse before Christmas myself, he is already on incredibly thin ice after losing the title to Lille. United busted their load on Sancho+Varane, they won’t have another 120 odd million to put into Kane on top of that given Sancho and Varane’s massive wages on top of the 115m fees. Where else is a realistic landing spot for him? Nobody… Read more »
“Few wanks have been had by some on here over Villa“
😂😂 more than a few.
Kane may well nick Big Al’s scoring record but it looks like he’ll never win a PL title at least hehe.
After his displays in the Euros, I’m surprised anyone is interested in Kane. He seems to have done an Auba. Really sluggish and barely moving other than in the SF for a brief spell. No matter who you are, £120m is a serious outlay and you’d need to be pretty confident of getting a big return. If I followed one of the suitor clubs I’d be praying it wouldn’t happen.
Perhaps GF they have more of a clue than you do. Perhaps they have assessed their current CB stocks and realised they need someone who can play out of defence. There’s bit more to an assessment than watching old YouTube clips
Yeah Northbanker and dodgy knees/ankles are ailments that only tend to get worse with age.
Kane’s ankles are completely shot and he’s 28. A lot of Spuddies already reckon he had lost considerable mobility since his early to mid 20s.
Ameteurish reactions from some over a suggestion than Bailey and Buendia are good replacements for Grealish.
Some people need.to grow up, nobody is wanking over Villa.
Having said there’s more to it than watching YT, I’ve just seen this
https://dailycannon.com/2021/07/arsenal-hire-first-football-methodology-analyst/
lol
On the flip side, Grealish will have a lesser impact on City’s overall play than he’s had on Villa’s.
City don’t necessarily need him this minute, they’re just spending £100m for him now so they don’t have to spend double that in 2/3 seasons time.
You know, kinda like we did with Saliba and White transfers.
WE – can’t decide therefore whether i want Spurs to keep him and lose out on a big pay day or one of the top rivals buy him and waste huge amounts of money
Ok – thought about it – he stays at Spurs
WE BD won’t sanction a deal for Haaland in the same window as Sancho in my opinion so that may be a next Summer deal at the earliest for Chelsea and I couldn’t see Levy doing a deal with them for him either. I think the only way we’d see movement with Kane was if he was to try and force the move but I’m sure he won’t. He’s a “Spurs” boy after all. I did think PSG could try something but they do not seem to be interested at all, you reckon Poch will be out? I think if… Read more »
TR7, I’m with you, I think Buendia and Bailey are good signings. No one can replace Jack, but they can certainly take the edge off.
Not worth responding to someone with the name of Muppetman TR7, his level of discourse would have the year 9’s giddy.
Arsenal are expected to submit a third offer shortly for Aaron Ramsdale. That could include an invitation for Sheffield United to select some of Arsenal’s most promising young players for loan moves. [@SheffieldStar]
Two unofficial offers submitted by #AFC so far. Second one was through an intermediary acting on Arteta’s behalf – offer worth around £30m that still fell £10m short of Sheffield United’s valuation.
Mind-boggling if true !
Except Saliba is bound to be hushed out the backdoor for a snip of the 30m that we paid for him.
Arteta has made it pretty clear that he doesn’t rate him. Yet another solid loan spell in France will change nothing unless we have a new gaffer next summer.
Hope getting Maddison and Lautaro would be great signing for us,,, Maddison is capable of getting us forward
Weagle
Where would you place Lautaro Martinez in terms of current PL players and their output/influence?
Is he a Grealish? Sterling? Pulisic? Jota?
Curious what sort of impact people see him having were he to actually land
“Kane’s ankles are completely shot and he’s 28. A lot of Spuddies already reckon he had lost considerable mobility since his early to mid 20s.“
WE, so that’s why the poor lad can’t stay on his feet around the penalty box ……….I’ve had him pegged all wrong then.
I should probably retract some of my past comments and issue a strongly warded apology post.
WE, we’ll see on Saliba. If he has a great season, he’ll have the best teams in Europe vying for his signature if we decide to sell him… and then we’ll likely keep him because he’s sanded down his weaknesses.
Arsenal linked to Toni Kroos. Lol
Azeez scores against Ebbsfleet
Well said TR7 Dean Smith of A.Villa has taken them from the championship and into the upper echelons of the prem effortlessly. His ‘ Process ‘has been flawless. He is dour and even on a good day looks rather unattractive- but as he proved at Brentford – he can manage with the best of them. To extract £100 000 000 for Grealish- shows he can man- manage too. From Martinez to Watkins to Cash his judgement is spot on. He dont shell out on £80 000 000 on the likes of Ramsdale and White. He spends his resources on players… Read more »
I agree no one can replace Grealish and I hope Kane stays at spurs under an enforced agreement the lispy twat
Pedro, the only weakness Saliba needs to sand down is his willingness to speak his mind openly to journalists.
Good to know that Dean Smith is not on CGs babe list.
I apologise leftside I’ll keep it strictly above board from now on
I can see the villa bubble bursting a bit next year. Second half form was pretty poor especially without Jack. Add into the mix the time it will take new signings to gel etc
“I agree no one can replace Grealish and I hope Kane stays at spurs under an enforced agreement the lispy twat“
Jamie Carragher and Kane would make an ideal pundit duo for future studio work.
If Xhaka does stay it will probably facilitate the rise of Lakonga and Azeez . These 2 will be big players for us soon.
Pedro
Let’s assume the only other signings we make are Odegaard and ramsdale, do you think that’s a team good enough to get top 4??
McGinn is underrated, he is hard working and sharp. Wouldn’t look out of place at Arsenal if signed.
P
Smudger is a Brummie- leave him be.
We need a handsome man in charge.
(Just one thats not bloody clueless)
Dean Smith is an exceptionally good manager.
and Mikel Arteta is not.
Undeniable and The Truth.
There are at least FIVE Villa players other than Grealish who would definitely start for Arsenal
Where does Arsenal finish with odegaard/alternate and current crew?
Am I missing something? Villa finished 11th last season.
“””Am I missing something? Villa finished 11th last season.”””
with a name like yours, probably.
guys forget top 4 next year. No matter if we sign Ode or Bruno ore even Lautaro. We are few players away from competing for it. Are we goong to do better than Pool, city, chelski and utd after varane and sancho transfers? Havent even mentioned leicester. Give me a break!
CG but better players and manager surely they would be finishing above us?
Next year is all about priming us for the year after. Clear the deadwood for good, including Xhakalson and Vegerin. We aer at least three four players away. Dont be oblivious!
And this is an Arsenal blog not my CV lol
Charlie I’m not a massive Lautaro Martinez fan personally. He is being talked about in the same breath as Aguero, Tevez and Suarez but imo it’s just a lazy comparison because he is a 5’9 South American ST, like comparing any leggy African CM to Vieira type of comparison. He is a good ST clearly, potentially a very good one but for me he’ll never be truly top drawer. His all round game is sorely lacking compared to that trio of names. He isn’t really involved in the build up, is not a good passer and isn’t a particularly good… Read more »
Dean Smith has done a good job but Villa will never win anything, they’ve cemented their PL future with the investment but the players they have are going to get them to between 6th and 9th place I’d say. Grealish won’t play from the start in every game at Villa, De Bruyne is first choice. Could be a big mistake for his career in some ways, Mahrez fu**ed himself by going to City to warm the bench often. As others have said, if City have offered 100m, it’s a done deal, no way Villa turn that down. I like Buendia,… Read more »