Well, not much has moved in the last 24 hours. The most important rumours appear to focus on the striker department.
Auba is being tracked by Juventus, who need to move on Morata, and Barca, who need to move on the immovable object that is Dembele. Both clubs have done a background check and have decided their lying eyes are just that… Auba is a model pro. At this point, I am fully willing to go along with that sort of rhetoric as long as he’s off the books. I just hope we don’t give either club special deals, because both plead poverty, but there always seems to be £60m behind the couch when it’s another club.
The Eddie to Newcastle deal didn’t happen yesterday, but you’d imagine that’ll be an easy deal to do. The money will be there, they need a striker, he wants out of Arsenal.
If those two moves happen, we’ll have Alex Lacazette and Mika Biereth here to lead the line for the rest of the season. Not ideal.
But… did you see Alexander Isak rolling around Selfridges? Oh you didn’t. Well, he has a release clause that is absolutely monstrous, and we know that Edu LOVES to trigger those.
I’d love to be onboard with this sort of rumour because let’s be real, there’s not another rumour to be onboard with. We are limited by choice and the specificity of profile we’re looking for. Isak is raw, out of form, but he has all the ingredients. It just seems wild to me that we’d bet the house on raw.
Something Arsenal really do need to get on is reshaping our striker department. Once we have our star man, we need to have options that sit behind them that can be the next Oshimen, Jonathan David, or Dusan Vlahovic. Maybe we have that player at the club right now, but it doesn’t feel like it at the moment.
The squad feels very empty, but it does bear repeating… nearly all the players we’ve shifted are names you’d rather not have on the team sheet.
Kola or nothing? You’d rather nothing.
Ainsley or nothing? Ok, I like him, but every time he steps into midfield, we’re all reminded why Big Sam said ‘you should just play right back’ after he had him on loan.
Cal Chambers or nothing? Arteta already chose Ben White over him at right-back.
All the players that are leaving greatly impact our ability to compete when called upon. You might as well get rid of them and promote from within if you can’t sign anyone.
We have 17 games left this season. That’s basically a game a week. The squad is thin, but so is the ask. We’re 2 points off top 4 with this group of players, there’s no reason we can’t continue the form that has us where we are now with less games and less squad problems.
The issue is you have to rely on luck. Everyone has to stay fit and focused. If you have a covid outbreak, you are looking at a cancellation immediately. A skinny squad is a real roll of the dice.
We also have to hope that some kids can step up if called upon. Can Patino adapt? Can one of Salah, Hutchinson, Biereth do a job if asked?
I’d rather not roll the dice than blow good money on players that will be deadweight in a few months. Don Raul and Edu added bodies for the sake of it two seasons ago. Cedric was a Portuguese international and Pablo Mari had one major tournament in South America. Both looked like decent solves, both were absolutely shocking for us, both have no future now.
Bodies for the sake of bodies will be an instant regret, like a coffee at 6pm to finish that one last presentation. Every roll of the dice Arsenal make in the next two years has to be perfect, because there’s no Saudi backer ready to correct expensive errors. We need young players, with a great mindset, that fit the specifics of the system.
There are still two days to go, Edu always brings home the bacon, Arteta would never intentionally smack himself in the face with transfers… so let’s see what the club has.
Right, see you in the comments. x
TR7
🎾👏
All the outgoings are a desperate attempt to balance the books
What about loans?
Manchester United official statement on Mason Greenwood situation : “Mason Greenwood will not return to training or play matches until further notice”.
Roger is the Grass GOAT, Rafa Clay and Novak Hardcourt.
Think that prime Djokovic is the most unbeatable tennis player ever personally but always preferred Rafa. All as great as each other achievements wise.
‘’ This must be just about the only time ever that a club who is challenging for CL places hasn’t looked to build on their squad .‘’
We obviously have looked to build on the squad, whether we do is a different matter.. we might have to wait till the summer though to get the striker we want
Marko, I call it clearing the squad of deadwood. Let’s not forget the difficulty of COVID stretched budgets. Chambers ought to have been sold last summer but the other two were difficult to shift. Kola’s contract was cancelled with only six months left. I do agree that our squad was bloated with a lot of players not justifying their wages and therefore making them hard to move on. By the summer the ‘tidying up’ process will be pretty much done with regards outgoings. This is progress whether you care to acknowledge it or not. It’s also true to say we’ve… Read more »
Yep, Greenwood all but finished now. Won’t play again while this is dragged through the courts and the damage likely will be irreparable even if he is found innocent.
The audio was pretty damning all right.
Dissenter “Did we spend so much in the summer that we are having to balance the books now to meet FFP.?” Seems no one is taking this ^ seriously and whilst I doubt that the sum due to be amortised on the summers transfers were that vast £25 ish million) your comment got me thinking. We are just a few weeks away from the end of the current accounting year and the previous years figures will be out in a few weeks the 31/5/21 numbers and those for the year ending 31/5/22 will be averaged & added to the losses… Read more »
Samesong
What about loans?
Wages off the books and possibly a loaning fee
So I couldn’t bear the tension with Rafa 2-1 down and I went out to have some drinks to cool off. Plugged back in now to see that Rafa did the unthinkable. Guess how I feel….wow!!!
‘ Wages off the books and possibly a loaning fee’
Apart from the fact that Arsenal seem to substantially subsidise wages for players on loan, certainly recently
Regarding Greenwood, girls father released statement saying her phone was hacked and she didn’t want it to come out this way. Why she took it down, but its now in the ether and no pulling it back.
Audio not something a person is able to leave behind, mortal.
That will follow him, ever present.
Do we still owe money on Pepe. If so Arteta better start using him like a new signing post afcon as it may be all he will get.
Frustrated but not panicking. I’ve been waiting to hear about Aubameyang going. This would be great news regarding incomings. There could be a couple deals or more that are basically agreed, and the leaks are a few days behind when it gets to this stage. The fact that he’d be leaving means a replacement, and more salary (not all of his) off the wage bill. Also nice just to know it won’t be an Ozil festering situation. Something could probably be arranged for next season somewhere. We must have a plan for these 2 days. It’s going to look bad… Read more »
TeeCee
Apart from the fact that Arsenal seem to substantially subsidise wages for players on loan, certainly recently
Subsidising means that maybe you are paying something but the likelihood would be that you won’t be paying as much as you would if they weren’t out on loan
Look we are now under 30 hours of the window left let’s see what the position is come 11.00 pm tomorrow. If there aren’t any incomings and more players leave it will almost certainly have many in lime scratching my head!
I mean, okay, we are poor. If they spent our whole budget in the summer so be it.
But what about us going hard for Vlahovic then? Or for Locatelli in the Summer as well?
Vlahovic was £60m plus. I’ve no doubt we went for him as so many people reported it for months and again this month.
So that puts the no money to bed. Probably we wanted to buy a Striker and land a loan for a midfielder this January. That was the plan imo.
Man.. this transfer window.. going like the summer window where we only signed Petr Cech. Matt Turner incoming in the summer and a bunch of silence.
Only way it makes sense is if Josh K told them… clear the decks or you aren’t getting shit in the summer.
If we sign Morata on a loan…last minute that would be a total banter move that even Wenger would be jealous of.
Watching the mighty Bluebirds just go two up against a fucking terrible team from the east Midlands. A team Arteta’s Arsenal would never lose to… Notts Forest. Oh, wait.
Can see a toxic fan meltdown if we don’t sign anyone in the next 30 hours after all the departures this month
Really some people on here need to calm down. We still have just under half the season to go and we are not in a bad position for possibility of top 4. You’d think we are in the relegation battle. Fair enough if at the end of the season we are 8th and didn’t sign anyone it’s a different story but at least wait.
On the Bruno G deal saying it’s affordable have you seen the details plus a 20% sell on clause and that’s even if we were definitely interested which none of us here really know.
Rap Vlahovic was £60m plus. I’ve no doubt we went for him as so many people reported it for months and again this month.So that puts the no money to bed. Probably we wanted to buy a Striker and land a loan for a midfielder this January. That was the plan imo. Not sure I would suggest that throwing you hat into the ring would prove too much because even if he had been purchased it wouldn’t mean too much in terms of charges against the 2022 amortisation charge . It really isn’t necessarily the cash on hand it’s all… Read more »
Marko you mentioned Arteta wasting money… how that then ?
Muppetman
” Fair enough if at the end of the season we are 8th and didn’t sign anyone it’s a different story but at least wait.”
That’s the thing it won’t be a different story in regards to Arteta himself and facing any consequences.
He’s under no real pressure to succeed from the club and plenty of the fans.
That can’t be a good thing.
4th or 8th he will continue into next season.
New post. No tennis talk
Foxy – maybe but at football owners you have to speculate to accumulate. Someone who knows very little about the prem could see this is our golden chance to snatch top 4. Roughly bringing in £100m+.
Assuming a faltering a spurs or Utd will pop so why bother means we are proper fucked long term. We don’t want it.
Close of play tomorrow tells us a lot.
If anyone but Arteta had presided over this transfer window, Pedro would rightly be calling them out for it. Instead, all we will get is stats on how much has been saved in wages. That may well be the case, but the squad is weaker as a result, whether some of the players were starters or not.
Anyone need reminding that we had to get a game
Postponed two weeks ago because we didn’t have enough for players?
TOL. We did speculate to accumulate at the beginning of the season in quite a big way.