So we’ve gone from being very sad at the lack of activity, to me and Johnny dropping a miserable Patreon about how anxious we were, TO ACTION!
Fabio Vieira is in for a medical today, the story around the silence of the deal is that he only wanted to play for Arsenal, despite interest from a host of other clubs. Kind of knocks the idea Europa League being an impediment on the head, right?
It’s also expected that Eddie Nkeitiah is going to sign a new deal, Fabrizio Romano saying it’s a 5 year offer, there was interest from Germany and England, and there are also strong rumours he’ll be our new #14. I like that because why the fuck not? He was treated poorly by Arteta last season and when he was asked to play because Lacazette picked up covid, he absolutely smashed his chance with goals and gut busting contributions. He has earned that new deal and if you don’t like it, keep quiet, because he will deliver next season. Most of the slander around him is because Premier League fans still can’t accept that it is really hard to make it as a young player in the hardest league in the world, especially as a striker. BIG season from him incoming.
A lot of the big papers are leading with the Gabriel Jesus deal. I doubted the move, I inadvertently slandered the good name of David Ornstein, and it appears the tallboy summer I had hoped for was NOT on the cards. So you know what I’m gonna do? Delete all the evidence that I ever suggested this rumour wasn’t right. The story is £50m, but I think that’s a hopeful fee from City. I reckon it’ll be lower, but who knows, hardly the best negotiators of fee, are we?
The Youri Tielemans deal is also looking like a goer. This one has been all over the training ground for a while, which means the players have been gassing like old ladies at a greasy spoon, and that means agents have probably been swapping rumours. You are going to look VERY foolish if you doubt his ability, just look at some of the bits he’s been doing for Belgium the past couple of weeks. He’s top talent, our Thiago, he will make us MUCH better.
I was asking a Technical Director about the Tielemanns move and what he thinks. He basically said he’s an exceptional passer, he’s great in tight spaces, and he reads the game well. I asked about the pace worry and he was adamant that you don’t need to speed to excel as a deep-lying midfielder or a box-to-box because you are rarely running at someone one v one. Teams pack out the midfield, you almost never get to stretch your legs and run, so the main attribute you need is the ability to operate in tight spaces and find passes for… the fast players out wide and up front. Add to that the dead ball abilities of the Belgian, it really is hard to understand why anyone would be criticizing the signing. Experience, pedigree, specialist skills, elite character… perfect.
If you assume we have about the same money as we did last season, net £130m, we can start to see how the summer is shaping up.
£130m
-£30m Vieira
-£40m Gabriel
-£25m Tielemans
-£35m full-back coverage
That’s a pretty decent summer that covers off goals, end product in the final 3rd with coverage of Saka and Odegaard, competition for Thomas Partey, and cover for Kieran Tierney.
Then factor in we have the best keeper in MLS giving competition for Aaron Ramsdale and we have Europe’s best young centre-back dropping into the squad… well, it’s hard to argue our summer hasn’t been needle-moving.
All of the players we’ve added give us high levels of technical ability throughout the squad. We’ve added depth, we’ve added new options we didn’t have before, and all the players come with character.
The Fabio Vieira signing just gets better by the minute. I wondered what his character was like, then heard he’d been made Portugal U21 captain, which is all I need to know. He was being kept out of the Porto side earlier in the season by Luis Dias, he was told he needed to add more aggression to his game, and now he’s a much more complete player.
Did I ask someone if this skinny lad could handle the Premier League bullies? Yes I did. Then someone showed me this video.
Fabio Vieira vs Liverpool. Liverpool dominated the match but the *new* Arsenal man still managed to impress.pic.twitter.com/cRwUN91mEI
— Hesh (@HeshComps) June 16, 2022
Reading the tea leaves, I wonder if Mikel Arteta has looked at his striking options, seen that they are not the biggest of players, and decided he needs a City-like player to unlock his forward line. Fabio Vieira looks VERY much like the sort of player Pep has been pulling out of Portugal for years.
I do love that so many people have been whining to me that they don’t see the Arsenal strategy, now we’re seeing the dust settle on what this window is trying to bring, how much clearer could it be?
We’re signing hungry young players, with extreme levels of technical prowess, and this window has added goals and final product.
Is it time to stop doubting the vision of Arteta and Edu? I think so. We seem to be moving out of the banter era at great speed now, so we should all be happy.
The fixtures rolled pretty well for Arsenal as well. Is that down to me? I asked my guy with a PHD in statistics and he said 100% yes.
There is no such thing as an easy run in the Premier League, but opening against Palace, in the summer, on a fresh pitch, with all our first team players ain’t the worst. We don’t play a top 4 challenger until we meet United away in early September. The best bit of news for our horror show of an October is that Manchester City play Liverpool 3 days before we meet them at home. You won’t get a better advantage than that.
Did I like that Arsenal.com printed who we were playing after our European games to make it easy for me? Yes I damn well did.
The Premier League matches we play immediately after the UEL group games are at home to Everton, Brentford away, Liverpool at home, Leeds United away, Nottingham Forest at home and away to Chelsea. These are all due to be moved back to the Sunday (or Monday if selected for live TV coverage).
Yes. We have two big teams after they’ve played BIG games in Europe with their first teams. Let’s hope Arteta leans into the squad so we have fresher players for those games. Can’t be having any of that Arsene Wenger mindset where he’d play Santi against Ludogorets in a game we’d win with a reserve team.
Not that I want to pump KSE too much. But they have got to the playoffs in basketball, they have won a Super Bowl, and now their hockey team is in the Stanley Cup Final. I think we need to give them some credit, they’ve gone from not giving a shit about winning, to being VERY successful. I like what they are doing at Arsenal. It takes a bit of time for truth to catch up with reality… but what is going on at Arsenal is very smart, more people are going to tune into that reality next season.
Finally, before I go, I tapped @ZachLowy, an expert on all things Portugal, for a quick download on our new signing. Check it out, subscribe to the channel, and join our Patreon if you’d like to. (Check out his excellent write-up on Fabio here).
Pedro
Yep, looking good so far.
If Vieira Mk II has anywhere near the same impact as the original, Arteta will have pulled off quite a coup.
Here’s to the lad enjoying many happy successful years here at The Arsenal.
If we don’t get Tielemans then we have screwed up. Xhaka as a starter for another season while we spend 30 mil on this viera kid would be a stupid mismanagement of money. We need a better starting XI. I hope he leaves and we get Tielemans. That is a necessity signing for me. Then this Viera signing would make more sense. But Xhaka going would make things clear on this viera kid to be honest. Because we would have had at least 3 players in every position and 3 in DM if he did stay and we sign Tielemans.… Read more »
at least 2 players in each position *
TR7 – “If Xhaka goes it will be the biggest news of Arsenal transfer window.”
If Xhaka goes it will be the best news of Arsenal’s transfer window.
Habesha Goober
According to a reputable Leicester covering journo, Tielemans may be off the menu. Your concern is Xhaka being in the XI on a weekly basis. My major concern is Lokonga playing major minutes when the inevitable Partey occurs.
Honestly, don’t get your hopes up on Xhaka leaving. If Viera is the only midfield addition then this football club are even dumber and more stubborn than I thought.
Great post Pedro
Positivity is infectious — great to read all the comments and even some poetry!
Things looking very good at AFC
If it’s accurate that we are still in for Tielemens, then chances are Xhaka will be off back to Germany. Even Arteta can’t be blind to his limitations now. He’s a drag on the team.
You seem to rate Sambi pretty highly Habesha, is that based on anything more than hope that he massively improves next season?
I think he needs a loan and isn’t ready myself.
Tr7
Loved your point earlier on clever flair players and something I too yearn for the return of rather than the modern function/athleticism based footballer, couple with the rise of the generation of micro managers (pep, klopp, tets, conte, tuchel and so on.)
If we get in Martinez then we have x3 of our 4 CMs that can play in the double-pivot in Partey, Martinez, Elneny (back-up). Still have room to sign a Tielemans or whoever.
I would hope that we are moving on Xhaka but he has been a personal favourite of Arteta’s so have a bad feeling on that one.
Leftside
Miserable comment…
Dream 10 I think we can get by if our other midfielders are good with Sambi and Elneny as holding midfielders. Say for example Partey was injured and we had a Sambi/Elneny, Tielemans, Odegaard midfield, it will still smash most teams because we would be an offensive juggernaut. But If Xhaka stays and we don’t sign another midfielder then we are playing Partey and Xhaka with few appearances from Viera the whole season. And if Partey gets injured then it will be a midfield of Xhaka and Elneny/Sambi. That is the midfield that let us down last season. We would… Read more »
Raptora
I got the joke haha
But I assumed you were referring to Vitinha.
Sounds like Xhaka is gonna survive another window
Un that is what I have seen online, nothing miserable about it. Although it makes no sense, Tielemans and Viera are two different player profiles, and even if we don’t go for Tielemans I’d expect at least one central midfielder to come in.
I must be missing it with Sambi because I didn’t see a player capable of holding his own in the middle at this level whenever I watched him play.
Herbsarmy
“If Vieira Mk II has anywhere near the same impact as the original, Arteta will have pulled off quite a coup”
Be interesting to see a Vieira replacing a Vieira.
When you wait almost 20 years for a replacement for Vieira and then replace him with a Vieira.
Tbf it would be very arsenal to bring in another number 10 to address it’s dogshit CM options
WengerEagle I do rate Sambi highly. Players need rythm. And when he played regularly in the first half of the season he was playing very well. Xhaka was injured and Sambi did very well in his absence. And Xhaka came back and he was benched. And not only that, after Partey got injured he played as a lone 6 next to Patino at forest. And after that he had to play with Xhaka in those three games we lost. I like Sambi because of the potential I saw during those games. He barely had 5 starts in the second half… Read more »
WengerEagle
Sambi was good at the beginning of the season. Played well. Then got benched for months after doing so well initially. Playing second fiddle to Xhaka for months can be draining I m sure.
WengerEagle
I know YouTube reels make everyone look decent but check out this video. The dropped shoulders, the cross field passes, the passes in between the lines are what Sambi is good at and why he will be a very good player for us. But he isn’t ready to be a 6 with out someone holding his hand yet. May be with some more coaching he could do it next season. Elneny is there to be a guarantee if he can’t do it as a 6 though.
https://youtu.be/nwIhw99m24s
Call me crazy, but £35m for a player who has made a grand total of just 54 appearances in Portuguese top flight football is silly money.
Habesha
I agree that the transfer window will only be successful if we get rid of Xhaka. We must replace Granite ‘Key master’ Xhaka for us to arrive at the promised land.
Buying all these cool players and keeping Xhaka is like buying a new car and pumping the wrong oil(diesel) in it.
I agree with both eagle and habesha
I don’t see it with Lakonga. He’s 22/23 now but players do need rhythm and time to settle and adjust. This is so often overlooked with signings and young players.
I’m a little concerned that ESR might be getting squeezed out here though. I hope not.
Would Arteta really use two left footed attacking 8s over a right and a left?
I think we are definitely going to see us move more towards a 433 this season though. Maybe he has big plans for ESR as a wide forward/attacking 8 in this formation. He’s more effective than martinelli at the business end
I do feel that if Tierney didn’t get injured we’d have seen more of ESR on the left but martinelli was preferred over his work rate to cover for Tavares
It will be interesting to see what he does with all these options this year
Naija Honestly I am resigned to Xhaka staying forever. I have been screaming for it for 4 years and it didn’t happen. And finally he had a very good season for us by his standards. But I didn’t think it would stop us from signing an upgrade like Tielemans and sign a kid instead. I don’t care if he leaves or not. I don’t mind if he is a squad option. But what will annoy me is if we somehow sign a 22 year old attacking midfielder from the portugese league and we fail to address the upgrade on Xhaka.… Read more »
So I agree with Habesha that until the last member of the axis of evil is gone..Mr Xhaka. The team can not move on and neither can the fans. He is the last link to the Banter years Arsenal. If we sign all the players we are linked to solidly.. and Xhaka moves on.. it would be the summer I was looking for.. however unlike Habesha I am not optimistic.. about it happening. He seems to have convinced Arteta and some of the fans once again his tactical weaknesses aren’t that bad and he brings leadership. After years and years… Read more »
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12635963/youri-tielemans-arsenal-interest-in-belgium-midfielder-cools-to-make-one-year-leicester-extension-more-likely
Honestly Arteta doesn’t make it easy on himself. I like this Viera kid. But this is trying to be too smart instead of the right option. If we somehow fail because this kid is inexperienced and we should have had a better CM then it will all be on Arteta. Xhaka has some how convinced him that he is better than anyone on the market and that is baffling. I hope this article isn’t true. But if it is then we are screwed.
Tieleman seems to be off
Le Sauce
How is “Arteta loves to splurge on defenders” a negative comment?
It’s a fact that more than half of Arteta’s signing are defenders and he’s yet to actually signs striker since he took over.
Pretty decent signing, good competition for odegaard and can provide wing cover. Doesn’t mean he didn’t play for Porto that much he is not good, let’s give him a chance and see. The past few signings have not been disappointing and these guys seem to know what they doing.
Geeewiz he signed defenders cos we needed defenders. He also signed midfielders and didn’t sign strikers cos we had eddie, auba, laca and martinelli.
Xhaka will stay coz Arteta loves him in his team. And I still doubt we’ll be able to land Jesus.
Tielemans must be pissed.
My fav comments of the week, by
FB and Mr. Serge….
FB June 17, 2022
“Dame Vieira Out, Fab Vieira InA lovely few days to be reading LeGrove
….and his best mate killjoy.”
This legrove culture change is similar compared to that in the Arsenal team..
Huge improvement.
Geeewiz he signed defenders cos we needed defenders. He also signed midfielders and didn’t sign strikers cos we had eddie, auba, laca and martinelli
Funny how we’ve had problems scoring goals the last two years.
Lol @ Buffouna
So if we don’t sign Tielemans then hes stuck at Leicester city ? He can’t be that good if no one else is interested in him. 4 years at Leicester.
Other teams are staying clear of him for some reason Chelsea, Liverpool,Spurs have all bought new midfielders in the last 3 years and none of them bothered to check out Leicester first.
Lol leftside, not surprising that you can find misery when 99% of the fan base is pumped. What a way to be about your football club. Always looking for the worst.
The weird thing is people seem to say Vieira isn’t that quick
In the YouTube clips he looks very quick. Great bursts of acceleration.
Not sure why people think he’s not quick.
We’ll see how he does ofc but on paper I like what I see with this player
Ofc xhaka survives the window
He said himself he will leave when he decides and he doesn’t want to leave. He just signed a new contract last season. And arteta thinks he’s an elite player.
The odds of xhaka still being in the starting 11 for the first game of the season are imo 80%
Would absolutely love to be proved wrong on that but I just don’t see it
What I m loving about this Fabio Vieira kid is that he’s a stats machine. Reminds me of Debruyne and first season Bruno Fernandes like that.
Oh and for those complaining about him not having enough starts, you are missing the fact that he has more goals/assists than he does starts.
Also on Xhaka at the rate we are going, he will retire at Arsenal and become our next coach.
Is the tielemans deal off or is it bullshit
China1
Yeah I thought so too when I saw his highlights. If he’s slow then I don’t know what to call Xhaka and Odegaard. Whoever called him slow must have been comparing him to Usain Bolt in their mind.
To everybody (many grovers) fretting over : “what happens when Partey gets injured?!” If we are lucky enough to get Tielemans, you can calm down… for God’s sake. Tielemans can play CDM .. maybe he’s not Partey quality DM, but who is? In his last 50 games, Tielemans started 27 as CM, 18 as CDM. Partey also sh1ts all over grover dreamboat Buffouna in skill, passing anyway, just one of the reasons we were never in for him. The big athletic dm destroyer is an anachronism. Ask yourself, would Pep or Klopp buy Bissouma? Never. Posters here talk about technical… Read more »
Mr Serge
No idea. Fabrizio keeps confirming that Tielemans is a top target and Arsenal are in talks with Leicester.
Meanwhile some Sky reporter named Rob Dorset wrote that Arsenal have cooled their interest on Tielemans.
Plus the Athletic are reporting that Jesus and Lisandro Martinez are priorities. And Tielemans will be signed if Xhaka leaves. And Raphinha is also a target if Pepe leaves.
The stories are confusing. The truth isn’t clear. We just have to wait and see.
I really, really, really, really hope that if Tielemans deal off it’s because something better lined up. If we leave our midfield the way it is, regardless of whether you call me a doomer or not, it will be a failed window. I really, really hope we going to bring a starter in Xhaka’s place. I can’t go through the same BULLSHIT yet another year. He’s a waste of space and not good enough.
Naija yeah I don’t know if he’s unremarkable over 70+ yards or something but football is more acceleration than top speed heavy. If you can be first over 8m and if you have the mental sharpness and agility to react early then for all intents and purposes you are in fact very quick
Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
Been told Youri Tielemans is not considering to sign a contract extension with Leicester now – could be an option in September in case he doesn’t leave, but not now. #AFC
Arsenal are working on it since long time… but no official bid yet. Other clubs are also interested.
He is kind of retracting too. So the truth probably is that we will only sign Tielemans if Xhaka leaves. It will be very stupid if we don’t pull this off and Xhaka is still our starting CM when the season starts.
I myself am the opposite. Give me a bit of distance and I’m faster than 90% of people. But I have less than zero acceleration and zero agility (xhaka syndrome is the scientific term) so i can’t beat anyone over 10m It’s something which I absolutely love about saka is his ability to stop on a dime, react to the smallest of changes instantly and burst towards his top speed almost immediately. That explosive start is the main way he savages his man. All those moments where both players stop and then bang he’s off and the defender is in… Read more »
Well said China, on the money.
Messi was never rapid over long distances but it is more important to have quick feet, agility and reactions not to mention low centre of gravity to be an exceptional dribbler/mover than a straight-line sprinter like a Walcott.
Obviously you need some good baseline of sprint speed but it is of secondary importance to acceleration and agility for a midfielder in congested areas imo.
Don’t mind if we’re passing on Tielemans in favour of another target. I prefer Aouar myself anyways to Tielmans.
Would be very concerning if there is no other midfield target though and Tielemans even if not my favourite walks into our CM as the 2nd best player.
I don’t even think Tielemans is all that but he still makes it in top 5 of the CMs we could realistically buy, sitting in 5th but still. I’ll take Tielemans at Arsenal ahead of the misunderstanding that Xhaka is any freakin day of the week.
Who are your 1-4 then Rap?
Raptora, if we get all the players we have been linked with it will be one of he most exceptional summers of the last decade.
Well Tielemans wouldn’t have been my first choice.. So Im not gonna lose my shit if we don’t get him.. but I was encouraged that it looked like we were doing a complete midfield rebuild and update as well as adding depth.. But I do want somebody and I don’t want that somebody to be GX like a new signing. So still a lot of time and negotiations to take place. And I don’t trust the media at all.. so.. stay tuned.. I would say. For example, What media agency had the itk on FV ? I can’t believe we… Read more »
Midwest, Leicester are too small a club to keep him and let him leave on a free next season.
Sudden disappointment about Tielemans. All the contact and groundwork with him and his people seems odd to pull back now.
Big mistake, and might mean we were never going to get 2 possible 8s to move out Xhaka.
Or maybe a ploy by us to get the player to push Leicester to be more reasonable on the price. That’s my wishful thinking, but that would be something we’d do to save a few million.
By the way, forget about Raphina. It is not happening even if we sell Pepe. Drop that name from the dream list.
We need a Xhaka replacement, and I’m the only one who defends the guy here.
There has to be a backup plan if we can’t get Tielemans. I might go full hater mode if we blow the window and Xhaka starts in midfield next season.
Nigel even if we sign Tielemans I’m not convinced that xhaka won’t start at least 60% of games next season lol
It may be that vieira is seen as the Pepe replacement anyway I doubt we’re signing him and raphinha Focus has to remain on CM and CF as well as LB I know this is controversial but regardless of the injuries I actually thought Tierney was really average last season. His entire game was just safe passes back to Gabriel and on the few times he got forward it was just gormless high crosses towards CFs who will never score a header (also known as the Cedric special) If wasn’t good enough at all if we’re being honest. He needs… Read more »
WE, Question is whether we wanted to have 2 physically strong CMs or just 1 with 2 technical players ahead of him. If we wanted to have the option to play 2 strong CMs, then one can hardly go wrong with Bissouma and our boy Anguissa. Another one is Sangare who is too good for the Dutch league and is a serious player imo. Koopmeiners again great physique and actually similar game to that of Xhaka which is probably not ideal. If we wanted to have playmakers in there, then Milinkovic-Savic clearly my favorite with Zinchenko behind him. his versatility… Read more »
It’s reasonable to say that no one has any clue as to what Arsenal is trying to do this summer
The signing of Fabio Vierra proves that
We are just going to have to wait.
Preseason doesn’t start until July 7th and the players involved in this stupid international games won’t resume until mid July
There’s still plenty of time left.
Arteta highly respects Xhaka as a player, and as a man.
I’ll be shocked if he’s not named captain. He’s the leader of the group.
Dissenters,
Are you the same dude as Dissenter? Kinda similar style tbh so you got me curious and confused.
raptora
I don’t know how the ‘s’ got added to dissenter
I suspect that when I type from my work station, it comes up as ‘dissenters’
Fixed it
I just hope we get the balanced between project youth and ready to go players
Fabio Vierra will need a season before coming up to speed with the league. We need a central midfielder that can challenge Xhaka and Partey for starting spaces
Dissenters lol
I think he’s ready to go once the season kicks off. To be honest I m surprised he only got 19 starts at Porto last season, like Porto acting like they Madrid.
We are gonna get a CM and a striker next I think.
Looks like some good business for us. I haven’t seen much of Vieirra live as CL football is on too late in Asia, particularly when we aren’t playing in it. That’s a crazy strong generation of Portuguese midfielders though. As you say, Dissenter, he will need time to bed in and get some strength in that frame, but for once we are starting to build a proper squad. If Tielemans also joins, then we have some good options in the middle of the park. Hopefully then Xhaka can finally exit and a new era begin. I also think we will… Read more »
Agreed on all points Moray
I love how people are claiming that Viera has baller status based on YouTube clips. If that was the standard then ESR and Odegaard would be rated as peak Iniesta and Xavi.
This was a stupid buyZ
It’s peak Wenger idiocy.
We need steel and Edu has given us a sugar cane.
This kid will be devoured by the EPL for at least the next 18 months. He’s not ready for this. And it’s not fair to him.
Mark my words
GD4
You are the finest example of whats called an armchair expert. People in Portugal who have seen him play , FC Porto’s management , the countless of reporters who analyse the matches . All have said that Arsenal have got one of the finest talent of Portugal . Every transfer is always a gamble but as long as we are going after the right quality I am satisfied .
GD4
I think we ll buy a CM too before the end of the window. Also, I think what you described in your last post is Vieira going thru a transitional stage which is pretty standard. The great David Silva struggled in his first season here too so lets hope at worst, he ll be in good company.
Signing just one striker? Very brave, if we sign Jesus and he ends up getting injured for 3 months we just have Eddie the Feather to play every game??? I’m not counting Balogun because he’s so far from being ready for the first team. It’s madness, we need two strikers this summer
It will be interesting to see how Arsenal offload unwanted players this summer once they have completed signings. Lacazette will join Lyon next season. Marseille have exercised option to buy Guendouzi and Stuttgart will almost certainly exercise option to buy Mavropanos and then sell him for decent profit. Other likely departures will be Leno, Runarsson,Mari, Bellerin, Torreira, Maitland-Niles,Pepe and Nelson. My guess is that all these players will leave on modest fees probably not exceeding £10 million apart from perhaps Pepe. Arsenal will accept by end of the window what it takes to get them off the payroll. Pepe will… Read more »
Left Testicle
Liverpool payed £47m for Diaz, who only played 77 appearances prior. Pro-rata, that’s pretty much identical. Was that a bad investment?
There is no doubt we are pushing hard for Tielemans. The main issue is convincing the player. With one year on his contract there must be a strong argument to wait it out. Let’s see if we can work our magic. If not, we’ll have to go for our backup option, and then maybe he, or someone like De Jong, can replace Xhaka next season. Also, whoever called Eddie a ‘feather’, is it really necessary to insult our players? Eddie exceeded expectations when he was finally given a run, and he has stuck by us even though we have constantly… Read more »
An overly optimistic post based on the signing of a young player and lots of rumours. I’m happy he’s signed but to suggest it debunks the notion that players won’t fancy the Ropey league is rubbish. He is a young allegedly talented player, he isnt a worldie. Good luck to him.
I think we will sign midfielder whether xhaka goes or not. Plan is probably a squad role for him same as holding and Mo.
“Lisandro is good at long balls, like White is supposed to be. So the plan is long balls to our forwards”
His long passes look very similar to the ones Xhaka makes. Let’s hope he is signed as a Xhaka replacement. I don’t think we will pay 40M for someone to be a back up to Tierney.
Did I hear that Tielemans coming in is dependent on Xhaka leaving.
Oh well no Tielemans then.
Xhaka is an immovable object in this team.
Very positive piece from Pedro and nothing wrong with that.
It will be interesting to see though if Arteta lives up to these high expectations this coming season.
If he doesn’t live up to these high expectations then I expect Pedro to want to see him beheaded.
For me the summer rests on getting tielmans as well. I don’t see vieria as a cm, we cannot roll with xacka again.
Jesus vieria tielmans is good business. I worrry we are blowing the. Nah again on a cb when we have saliba there. Priority should be tielmans not another cb.
Of xacka starts next year we won’t get top 4
I hate hearing all these Gabriel jesus talk, if laca or auba was in mancity they’d be having minimum 20 goals, let’s get scamacca, 40m aight, Gabriel is a fraud, not even better than our own Gabriel in general play. Over hyped player, iheanacho better than him, he can’t shoot, we got skillfully passers and dribblers now, our striker gotta know how to just strike the ball in the net
Lol @ let’s get scamacca as if he is willing to come to us (Italian and EPL – you know the rest
WW: One things for sure, making snide comments about players who’ve done nothing wrong is unbecoming of anyone wishing to call themselves a fan. I think we could and should be better than that as a fan base.
Couldn’t agree more, well said …
Ishola
Many reports suggest that we are still pursuing Tielemans and his signing is not dependent on whether Xhaka goes or stays.
I like this Lisandro Martinez link. Aggressive, front footed defender with excellent passing. Could be trouble for Gabriel. Surely means Holding will be sold.
WW ” Eddie exceeded expectations when he was finally given a run, and he has stuck by us even though we have constantly overlooked him for others. Whilst we may well need to replace him in a year or two with someone truly world class, I think he makes an excellent bridging strategy and I would love nothing more than for him to kick on and prove that unnecessary.” This is another schizo comment regarding Eddie N following on from Pedro’s. If he is good enough then he should be seen as a first team starter and for years to… Read more »
TR7
“Many reports suggest that we are still pursuing Tielemans and his signing is not dependent on whether Xhaka goes or stays.”
Believe it when I see it.
Said before I think Tielemans is more a final third midfielder rather than an overall central midfielder and we could just get away with it maybe with him alongside Partey. One significant injury again to Partey though and it will all fall to shit.
TR7 “His long passes look very similar to the ones Xhaka makes. Let’s hope he is signed as a Xhaka replacement” Since Arteta arrived , Xhaka has gone from hitting 5/6 long balls per game to no more than a couple a game on average. It’s also noticeable that Xhaka is not on the ball as much, last season average 57 passes per game compared to mid 70’s on average when he first arrived. Also had 7 assists in 2017/18 compared to a couple a season on average now. Basically, since Arteta arrived Xhaka’s influence in games has become less… Read more »
Gbat
“Aggressive, front footed defender”
That’s the criticism of Gabriel though isn’t it.
That he needs to calm down as a defender and ease up a bit with his over zealousness.
So we would be replacing like for like.
I don’t know why folks seem to be so enamoured with “aggressive” defenders.
Probably because the action of aggression looks good on the pitch but history tells us many of the best defenders had very much controlled aggression when defending.
Ish
Saw some stats yesterday and Tielemans was top 10 for tackles made in the prem last season. Only a few behhind Bissouma.
It doesn’t paint the full picture of course but made me feel a little better about signing him.
Anything to get Xhaka out of the starting XI