So the shape of our summer is starting to ebb out into the media.
- Darwin Nunes
- Youri Tielemans
- Marcus Rashford
- I suspect we’ll read some bits about Rúben Neves at some point as well.
All four names move us up a level, no question about it. Tielemans is the hottest and most likely. He isn’t going to sign a new deal with Leicester, he has 1 year left to go on his deal, I suspect Sambi Lokonga and maybe even Thierry (who loves him) have whispered some things in his ear.
What I like about the players we’re linked to is they all sit in a very specific category of players.
Just look at the lead strikers we’ve been linked with.
- Vlahovic
- Tammy
- DCL
- Nunes
- Alex Isak
- Rashford
- Haaland (lol)
The commonality is clear.
Tall and wirey: A little like Adebayor. Setpieces have been a big feature of our game this season, but we haven’t had a striker that can do things in the box. Height and power is going to be huge for us this summer. I know holding the ball up isn’t just the preserve of the tall, but it sure helps when you have a large wingspan. We will have an actual target man that can challenge in the air as well. All this talk of Jesus and Jonathan David… I’m just not sure our main striker will be shorter than 6ft1.
Speed & Power: Lacazette does an exceptional job at linking play, but his main weakness is he can’t link play then attack the box. He doesn’t have the power. All the linked strikers look like they have some speed in the legs. I think Alex Isak is the fastest of the lot, but I suspect he’ll be very low down the pecking order because he doesn’t score goals. I have Rashford in my list above, but I suspect any attempt at bringing him to Arsenal will be because he’s so flexible in where he can play, he’s is one of the fastest in the league, that pace under a great coach could be fine tuned and honed without doubt.
Goals: We can just continue that previous point about Alex Isak. Just take a moment to remember the hysterics from the base this January when people wanted to gamble £75m him. He’s scored 1 goal in the league since November 1st. Can you imagine the vitriol Edu and Arteta would be getting if he’d have tanked that bad for us? Whoever we sign needs to have a record of goals. I don’t want to need to read and essay about why we’re signing a striker that doesn’t have them. We have £60m to spend, we don’t need to debate whether goals are important, the are THE thing we need if we’re to affect the top 2. Tammy has 23 goals in Italy, an extremely tough league to score in. Darwin has 26 in 33. Rashford has nearly 100 Premier League goals before he’s 25.
Link-up play: I don’t think we’ll be looking for a player to do exactly the same as Lacazette. I think Laca over compensates with link-up play because he’s lost his edge with goals. But it is imperative that the striker we sign is not THE solution to our goals, because that lessens the unpredictability Arteta has been baking into the side this season. Season 1 of Mikel was all about Auba, if he didn’t score, we didn’t score. When his goals dried up, so did our progress.
We need a striker that can act as a creator, a player that causes problems in front of goal, but also with their vision. Rashford has a goal or assist every other game, he’s as much a provider as he is a finisher. I think creativity will factor into who we sign as well. Even if it isn’t apparent with the numbers, it will be a consideration as to whether they can develop some of that in their game. Remember fans saying Ramsdale was a hoofer at Sheff U? Well, the scouts knew Chris Wilder signed him for other reasons, then he was sacked. The club knew Bournemouth weren’t a hoofer team. Certain things aren’t always present in the seasons priors data.
Age: Remember the target: Arsenal want to be competing for the league in 2 years time. The plan was Europe this season, Champions League the season after, title contending the season after. If you sign Lewa, you’ll have a 37 yr old leading the line when you are fully baked as a team. We need to look at younger players that can grow with us. Don’t expect anyone over the age of 25 and don’t expect them to hit peak after game one. We’ll sign someone that can develop with us.
Character: I read a Tammy tweet from when he was a kid, he said something like, ‘I’m to be trying to be in FIFA to worry about playing it’. That’s a great line and it gives a small glimpse into who he is as a character. Nunez has made it out of South America to Europe, that is a beast of a journey, he will have the right character. Rashford is just a best in class human. We need to continue to the focus on the people we’re bringing in.
We aren’t signing an ego, we aren’t signing someone that’ll kill our wage structure, we will do our research and ask around. We have a lean squad of players that all want to be at Arsenal right now… that culture needs to be gently grown. No dickheads.
Ok, that’s all I have time for today.
Call your mum, right now. x
Here we go.
Bankz is here for the tr4phy again
((((BOOOOOOM))))
You got it Bankz.
4th
Lol.
I missed it.
4th is the only grail
Close but no cigar,
People are saying that Suds, United, Chelsea etc will be better next season…
That’s said every year and every year very few teams get better.
I think, with a striker and midfielder added, we will certainly get better.
Habesha Whatever about the Bundesliga I never understood that people say La Liga over the years has been weaker than the PL. Sure maybe not as top heavy and the gap may have widened in the past few years with money pumped into midtable clubs but in the 2010s Spanish clubs massively outperformed PL clubs in Europe and that extends to the Europa League as well as the CL. Players like Aguero, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Juan Mata (at Chelsea), Ozil, Santi Cazorla, the list goes on came over from La Liga and were even better than they were in… Read more »
Still within
I wish that people would stop mentioning Isak.
Anyone who has actually watched him this season would know he has been dreadful. Far too flaky and wasteful in front of goal for what we need.
Just not sure about Rashford TBH…..Yes, fantastic human….fantastic goal scorer….but has his activism and social interests become his priority over football? For how much longer will football still be his priority assuming it still is?
These are valid concerns/questions AFC should be asking itself when deciding on which CF to spunk 100mil out on. For me it’s got to be Darwin Nunez….a fiery, tough Uruguayan with height, pace, power and goals.MY GOD. Break the bank.
If we can’t get him, i’d say go after Tammy Abraham.
Tom
Yeah he scored 25 goals to Vardy’s 24 but when the pressure was on , when Spurs really needed him in the last 12 games he went without scoring in 6 of those games and proceeded to finish below even us . Definition of bottling.
Vlahovic off the table of course.
The only traditional 9s on that list I like are Darwin Nunez and Tammy who I have been really impressed by this season.
Failing that I would prefer somebody like Gouri/Leao who could allow Martinelli to play through the middle sometimes and alternate.
I’d take both Rashford and Nunez . Or if our sunmer only consists of Tielemans and Nunez , that too is okay. Any Serie A fans , how good is Rafael Leao from AC Milan ?
In the summer TW looking for a striker replacement will be a herculean effort because of the striker availability as well as the demand that is out there. This basically leaves 3 options.
1. Splurge massive amount of money on a proven striker, perhaps like Osimhen
2. Unearth some hidden gem in deep bowels of the footballing leagues.
3. Short term contract for established striker while grooming academy player.
It will not be easy and looks like a wild ride in the summer TW.
Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Noa Lang, Danilo and Ryan Gravenberch is who we should sign.
“Bit disingenuous that Tom. Lewandowski was a monster for Dortmund in their 2011/12 double winning season and in their 2012/13 CL Final campaign….” Weagle, not disingenuous at all. I’m not denying Lewandowski had a monster 2011/12 season, but Nigel made a point Lewandowski won multiple titles with Dortmund, and one of their titles winning seasons was 2010/11 when he scored 8 goals. Is there a plausible scenario in which Tottenham wins the PL title, let alone with Kane scoring 8 goals? Because if there is one then I’d like to hear it lol. But Like I said I’m not interested… Read more »
Tom
Rooney played up front in Kane’s position for what, 2 seasons? Pre 2009 he was Ronaldo’s support forward like Benzema was at Real Madrid and in 2010/11 they had Berbatov up top and 2012-13 onwards Van Persie.
And he scored 26/27 PL goals in each of those seasons where he was the go to CF.
”As for titles, well, one played for United….. the other plays for Tottenham.”
I get that but not to even win a domestic Cup throughout his career?
He hasn’t played with bums he has had a very solid supporting cast over the years in Son, Eriksen, Lucas Moura, Dele Alli, Dembele, Walker, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Trippier, Lloris.
Easily a good enough team to win a sole trophy in a time when Leicester have won more than one.
We have won x4 FA Cups in Kane’s career with I would argue worse teams personnel wise.
WE, Arsenal were definitely watching Isak.
Hopefully we have stopped Pedro.
There are better names out there for the silly money La Real will want.
WE, no goals since Nov is a hard stat to ignore for sure. Darwin or Tammy works for me
Tielemans is too slow to play for us
We need a better midfielder
Getting Rashford and Nunez or Rashford and Tammy won’t be bad
Weagle , I never said Tottenham weren’t bottlers………..and maybe Kane is one as well……. when it really counts.
That doesn’t preclude him from being the attacking force he is.
But when a club’s last league title was won some 70 years ago I tend to blame it on the club’s make up, and not a single individual.
Posters took mine saying Kane was the best all around attacking PL player at the moment and made more out of it than they probably should’ve.
I get it…… he’s a Spud and this is Legrove.
Anywho…. I’m done on the subject.
Tom There’s fuck all to talk about as it is international week and I welcome the debate for one. You are entitled to that opinion and it isn’t an unpopular or outlandish one at all, it is just one I disagree with. He is a certified bottler that is something that is pretty much confirmed by now. Blaming the club is a bit weak for me as Leicester didn’t exactly have a winning culture themselves, did they? I don’t see how he is a better all-round player than Kevin De Bruyne myself or Mo Salah for that matter but each… Read more »
Weagle , I welcome a debate too but bringing up Leicester to prove any point is weak sauce for me.
5000:1 odds explain it better than words.
It’d be like blaming a poor person for staying poor because some homeless guy won a lottery and became rich.
Not exactly perfect analogy but you catch my drift.
Tom
They won an FA Cup last season too, it’s not just the lightning striking PL win I was talking about.
Isak would be a bigger flop than Chamakh
You can take this to the bank.
Tammy will Not take Arsenal to the next level. He is a hardworking Lukaku.
ESR as CF would be a masterstroke.
Gerrard near on single-handedly won major trophies for Liverpool. He was the catalyst in Istanbul for the CL Final win and he literally saved them in the FA Cup Final vs West Ham the following year.
That was a dreadful Liverpool side, certainly worse than this Spurs one of the Kane era.
And Big Al Shearer brought that PL title to Blackburn Rovers in 95′.
A club that had not won a major trophy previous to that one in 70+ odd years. Where was their winning culture?
1914 was Blackburn’s last PL win before that one, lol.
They finished in Runners up in 94′ and won the title in 95′ with Shearer scoring 65 PL goals across the two campaigns.
Neves and Haaland are quality
Wenger Eagle
I understand that teams were difficult to play against in Lalaiga before all this premier league TV money came in. But there is an age difference between Kane and Lewandowski, Benzema. They have 5 years between them. Lewa even at Dortmund was coached by non other than klopp. Benzema was playing with one of the best midfield players of the last 10 years. And Kane started his career when midtable teams were spending like crazy. I don’t particularly like him but he would have had the same impact if he played for a team other than spurs.
Tammy, is my preferred option, but since we let him slip last year for 34 million, he’ll cost sixty plus mil to get now cannot see it happening
Reportley Chelsea have a sixty plus million buy back clause although that might be irrelevant in the future
Shearer and Vardy are on the same level
CF’s we should target in order of preference. Nunez Jesus Abraham David Isak Rashford Abraham has improved a lot at Roma. And I don’t think he is gettable just like Osihmen. I liked Isak because he runs like Thierry when he dribbles. But his scoring record is a concern and now he should be way down on the list. Darwin Nunez is made for us considering the other options. Tall, technical, can sprint and run in behind and an aerial threat. Still developing his game but he looks made for top level football. Jesus is my 2nd choice. He can… Read more »
Shearer = Morecombe. Vardy = Wise. There’s an English cultural reference just for you Sid!
Weagle Ever seen a striker that single handedly turned a club into a title winning machine? Consistently? You can call Vardy but he wasn’t even their poty. You can call shearer but Newcastle were a big club around that time and intentionally spent money to win the league and they did. Kane is a world class player and is on the same level with Benz and Lewa. Thierry Henry didn’t have the best scoring record against United for example. And not so bad against Liverpool and Chelsea (roughly 1 in 2) but not the kind of record you’d expect from… Read more »
Wenger Eagle debating and winning. Really good points. Hard to disagree at all.
Tom,
It’s true Klopp was a force of nature in Dortmund, and still is one today. I wanted him from way back then, and was wishing Wenger would hand the team over to him. Knew it would never happen.
Made me sick when Liverpool jumped on the opportunity. Now I’m just waiting patiently for him him leave. Let them have their dream… Gerrard. They’ll be right back to average.
Habesha
It’s all speculative re Kane replicating what he has at Tottenham on an elite team, he may have and he may not have, we’ll never know and that is on him. He knew what he was getting himself into when he put pen to paper on that SIX year contract!
I stand by the argument that players like Gerrard, Shearer, Mahrez, Totti brought major honors to lesser teams that Kane’s Spurs one.
If,
Isak runs like Thierry
Kane same level as Lewa and Benz
Sid has the talent of Joseph Pulitzer
”You can call shearer but Newcastle were a big club around that time and intentionally spent money to win the league and they did.” Blackburn you mean? And Spurs have spent loads of money over the past 7-8 years. Henry still scored 9 goals against Utd which isn’t at all a bad record in 8 years. Yes he choked the CL Final but what you neglect to mention is that he was a major reason we got there at all scoring the winner vs Real and against Juventus he scored too. Ran the bollocks off the Villarreal backline and assisted… Read more »
Same reason I’ll never hold Ibrahimovic quite as high as his career otherwise deserves. The CL is not like the World Cup, it is on every season and he has had more than enough chances to win it let alone make a Final app.
Any ideas where the outlandish and pure toilet Tite talk has come from? It is utterly incongruous nonsense right?
p.s Kane is shite – behave yourselves 😉
Wenger Eagle Bayern and Madrid would have won a lot of titles regardless of whether Lewandowski or Benzema. They always find a way. That is why any player that joins them is guaranteed to win trophies. Kane winning trophies at those teams is less of a speculation than say if Benzema or Lewandowski were at spurs and winning one trophy. They would have struggled the same way. May be they would have won one or two but no more than that. And I agree the 6 year contract was very stupid. I agree it is going to be a stain… Read more »
For me (Clive) we shouldn’t touch Rashford. An absolutely top class human being and what he has done outside the game is to be commended, but on the pitch he has stalled. I’m not so sure even a change of scenery would reinvigorate him to the level that would be required given the transfer fee + wages he would command. Just my thoughts.
I like the idea of an ‘animal’ like Nunez. A hardened South American who looks like he has the killer instinct I feel Rashford lacks.
Chris, you know who else stalled? Odegaard.
Only real problem I see with Nunez though is he is a handsome divil! Doesn’t look like he would enjoy a scrap.
Ideally give me an absolute brute South American CF like a Suarez or Diego Costa that live for hassling defenders and shithousing up top and are intimidating.
Sid,
I don’t agree with you about much, but I do agree with your opinion that “ESR as CF is a master stroke”.
The only thing is, ESR is English…..
We’ll agree to disagree Habesha although I take your point.
And yes, that’s enough Spud/Kane discussion for one day, Christ.
Did Odegaard really stall Pedro? So much as he took a year to settle in and acclimatise to the PL in reality.
Rashford has legit done backwards for 2 seasons running, quite concerning at his age. It’s maybe unfair to link it to his political activism but that is something that you cannot ignore at the same time.
Rashford would be perfect. Great guy, young, talented, and a goal scorer – but not not yet a finished product.
Great footballer, currently out of sorts, coming to the end of his contract and can’t bring himself to fit whatever it is that passes for a project at Manure.
I get Walcott vibes off of Rashford to be honest. Not too dissimilar players, Walcott obviously was faster and better off the ball with Rashford being a bit better on the ball and having a better shot.
Which isn’t even a slight. Walcott before his knee injury especially in 2014 was a very useful player for us.
Having said that, I never wanted him playing up top and leading the line.
Pedro even if that is true I personally can’t see Rashford hitting the heights that were expected of him, even in a new setting and with new direction. He has a great attitude and is obviously quite the talent, but something isn’t right, as has been pointed out by plenty of ex pros and in the media. We sign him and I think there would be a certain level of expectation and if he didn’t perform properly would likely be on to him faster than say they would, say Nunez. Of course that’s not right but would probably be the… Read more »
Been absent for a week or so.
What’s new?
Been absent for a week or so.
What’s new?
What about that Bale free kick?
Rashford should stick to politics, and forget football which is what he has been doing for 2 years.
Stay well clear or him.
I can see that Rashford could be a really interesting gamble and certainly if we got it right this would be a master stroke
But for me Nunes is the more exciting option .
Not changed my mind about Adeyemi or Nunez for the summer.
Would take either.
Wenger Eagle Nunez isn’t someone who shies away from challenges. By all accounts he looks like a typical south American scrapper of a forward tbh. I might be wrong but from the little I have seen of him he looks like a fighter. Completely agree on Rashford giving me Walcott vibes. Dude hasn’t got a football brain. He tries to score from distances that are closer to the half way line than the goal. And he doesn’t see passes as an intelligent player. Beside that he isn’t a hardworking player either. Those couple of seasons that he had scored a… Read more »
I know transfer talk is usually good for clicks but it’s all pretty meaningless. Think back to March 2021 and the only player anyone was talking about joining us permanently on transfer was on loan Odegaard. Can’t remember a single person mentioning White, Sambi, Ramsdale, Nuno or Tomi.
WE, he had a blinding year at Real Sociedad then say about 14 minutes at Madrid. I would say he very much stalled.
Bacary, transfer talk is never meaningless, it’s a huge part of writing about a club, and one of the most interesting topics. Everything is written for clicks, there’d be no point in writing if no one clicked.
I really don’t rate Tielemans, but if Arteta does, then I’m fine with that.
I’ve said it at least twice and I’ll say it again: Maxence Caquaret is the one we should be going all in on. Perhaps even above a striker. A player of his profile would completely smoothen any transition and attacking flaws that we have. He’s a dogged defender too.
I’d prefer either Nunez or David (because I’m Canadian) for striker.
I know Isak is currently not the flavour of the month and perhaps he shouldn’t be our top target but I can’t completely drop him because he understands Odegaard and Odegaard understands him. If we want our new striker to hit the ground running, having this understanding is very important. Is it worth £75m? No, but if we could get him for a decent opportunistic price it wouldn’t be a disaster either. I don’t have a favourite, I’m just glad we didn’t blow our funds in a panic buy in January. We’re biding our time and sticking with our newfound… Read more »
Darwin and joao felix please. Think you might be getting a bit carried away with the rashford rumours. The guys on £200k a week and has a habit of going missing, no thanks
We should be getting 2 forwards anyway . That way at least one of them will bang.
Jonathan David is interesting. He doesn’t particularly strike you at first, seems boring, dont have as much flair as say Isak but I m getting some Firmino vibes from him.
He would be hardworking, submissive to the manager’s ideas, and most importantly, he’s gonna put the football in the net regularly.
Darwin is the only player on that list I feel could work for us. Youri T is having a poor season so would be a chance not worth taking as there are better options spoken about here. Rashford is more interested in philanthropy than football. Not the player for music and never was. No real point is picking who we’d like as it depends on our owner’s ambition for the future. Buying Haaland would be a statement not only to the club but the rest of the PL. We bid for Dustin, so why not Haaland to pair up with… Read more »
for us*
I’m of two minds on Tielemans. Used to love the player but he’s always had some inconsistency to his game. At same point, a talented player grows out of that and becomes great or it becomes permanently flaky. I’m not sure if the latter is what has happened with YT this season but he’s been bad. Might be that he’s just having an off season but I’d prefer Neves. He’s really impressed me this season and I have a feeling he’d slot in perfectly in our system.
great write up, is it just me or do you have a new edge pete?
you may want to check the grammar or whatever on that tammy tweet tho…
and i am calling my mother right now.
Don’t get me wrong, Pedro. I absolutely love talking about potential transfers but we all know that it usually has no relation to what is going to actually happen.
Why does everyone around here use the phrase ” Sid, i dont agree with you about much……”
Theres no need to be modest, its a case of great minds thinking alike when you we find ourselves in agreement.
I think I can say with some certainty that we will buy one of those mentioned or we won’t, and buy someone not on that list. I think that about covers it ?
Even though Ode & Haaland play on the same national team to have Haaland come to Arsenal is a fantasy here is why. 1. The biggest and most prestigious clubs will bid for him and it is estimated that with salary, agent fees and other bonuses that deal could exceed 300 mill. 2. As a player if you had to choose between Pep or his apprentice who would you choose, the master or the apprentice? 3. The chance of winning the league trophy. Arsenal is not there yet. 4. Compare the players who would feed him to score. Arsenal is… Read more »
The most important thing is strengthening CM with Neves.
ESR at CF is as good as Haaland.
Rashford would need to take a pay cut as we cant be paying him what he’s on now – so i dont think this one will happen. Was thinking about last summer TW and how we went under the radar on our signings. theres probably value in some lower placed teams. Billy Gilmour wont get into the Chelsea midfield likewise Connor Gallagher? Kalvin Phillips? I’d take any of those as much as i would Tielemens. Value in strikers at lower league teams….thats a tough one.
They should arrest the SIMP for assualting a man at the Oscars, what message are they sending to kids watching?
here here
Tielmans and Nunez all the way all day long….
Young athletic and hungry,
Yea seriously that slap in front of millions and no arrest?
SID
ESR aint no CF
Bernardo Silva is the type or the actual we need
I must add, men with longstuff do punches, slaps are for sissies.
Guns of SFMarch 28, 2022 06:01:33
SID ESR aint no CF
They said the same thing about Thierry/firminho/Messi/RVP, the rest is history
Arsenal have 44 goals so far. Assuming two goals scored for the rest of the ten matches that gives 64 goals. Of that let say 10 goals are lost by losing Laca, Nketiah, Auba and Pepe. So the current team maybe have 55 goals in them next season. The target Arteta has given is 90 goals per season. So we probably need 45 goals from new signings. Assuming Arsenal sign Nunez and Tielmans. Nunez might get 15 and Tielmans 8 so the team might need a total of 22 goals from another source. The goals might come from squad players… Read more »
Sorry 35 goals needed and 10 goals from another source.
i cannot see Arteta going for an out and out goal scorer. His system is not built for that type of beautiful and powerful, limitless and freedom playing.
Its utility and purpose…
But hey if it works then great
Arteta is not one for beautiful football. systems man
Rashford is a decent human being, that’s good enough for me. He’s a class act !!
Talking about strikers. Kane will be forgotten in the next 5 years. Mayone spurs fans will talk about him but having never won anything nor contributed significantly for anything either domestically or internationally, he won’t be given much thought.
Rashford is just welbeck 2.0. No to him all day long.
It won’t be hard to upgrade on our Strikers because frankly they are all mid table quality.
Get in a 40 year old abrahimovich and he will score more goals than laca
Spot on in every sence of the word Pedro, I can get behind everything you said mate. You are bang on in your assessment of what we need up top, Darwin Nunez ticks the boxes for me though I think he’s ready to go bang. Yes I agree with you on Isak, imagine it, we miss out on Vlahovic, some fans (not me) calling out for us to spend 70+m notes on Isak. He scores 1or 2 goals and we miss out on champions league this season. Imagine the uproar from those fans who are never happy with anything Arteta… Read more »
I’d prefer a nasty bastard like Suarez/diving Drogba over decent guy Rashford
Steg Kalvin Phillips is a no no from me because quite simply he plays far too many sideways balls. Think you are wrong about both Gilmour and Gallagher I see both of them back at Chelsea next season who I genuinely think will be letting Barclay, Jorginho and yep even Kante going. Barclay because he wastes a squad number the other two because they are both coming toward the end of their contracts , will both be sold for reasonable fees ,will both be 31 in 2022 but primarily both Gilmour and Gallagher are ready for a step up and… Read more »
This team has to many meek lambs, the nastiness that makes the difference between title contenders and top 4.
Ode lacks the nastiness Cesc had before he got involved with a MILF and she sucked it all out of him.
Missing Valcovich, I am fully in two of Rashford/Jesus/Felix camp, to play as LW and forward… Smith Rowe and Odegaard as CAM, Martinelli/new LW ad LM, all players are versatile. New CM/CDM is needed, Fabian Ruiz?? And a youngster. Unpopular opinion, have seen 3 full Marsellie games and few highlights, would sell Saliba in heartbeat, if we can get 35-45 million for him, two years left in contract, his market is high right now, think he will get found out in PL… To make Saliba point clear, I don’t like White’s stand your ground move while defending cross or blocking… Read more »