Let’s talk about Arsenal putting Senor Edu front and centre for all these deals we’re doing.
Arsenal 🤝 Young players
💬 “We want to see a club like Arsenal with a young squad, an exciting squad, with a big big future.” pic.twitter.com/KgiQVQMd0K
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) June 21, 2022
He’s been under a bit of pressure over the past few years, he was signed by a scuz bucket director of Arsenal and was very close to a lot of murky goings-on at the club before the said scuz bucket was ejected from Arsenal never to be seen again.
Edu kept his job. Was it because he was just following orders? Was it because the club didn’t want more disruption? Was it because he has a really nice voice and how nice your voice is impacts how people percieve you?
Who knows. But there has been a bit if a rebirth of Edu. Just watch that video, listen to the strategic clarity in his voice, look at the positivity he’s omitting. The guy is very believable and if I met him, I would sign whatever paper he was waving in front of me.
I’ve had my misgivings. The double-your-wages deal for Willian. The Super Agent lovefest. The Cedric deal that was HORRIBLE. But… we have to forgive in life. We have to look to the future, not dwell on the past. We have to embrace the good in someone, rather than point to what has gone before.
Edu, I’m ready to forgive. Come give me a hug and let me smell your cologne IRL. Is that Le Labo? Ooof, you sexy beast.
I think the best thing about Edu is that if you give him a brief and tell him to get a deal… the man will get the fucking thing signed.
Let’s look at what he’s achieved:
- He’s moved on roughly 18 players that could have been considered in the first-team squad
- He’s overseen about 15 signings since Don Raul was exited
- We haven’t lost a single player to a free transfer that we wanted to keep
- Our wage bill has dropped from £190m to £90m
- We are no longer a banter club when it comes to negotiations, he gets the job done
- We have the youngest squad in the league
Can I talk speculation? There are strong indicators that both Gabrel Jesus and Raphinha are going to turn down the advances of Spurs because they prefer the Arsenal project. Who is sitting in a room with those two? It’ll be Edu, in a crisp white shirt, with a plate of BBQ, and a Keynote prez.
Is there work to do for him? Yes. He needs to sell someone for a proper fee at some point. But who cares right now with Sugar Daddy Josh showering us with Super Bowl/Stanley Cup money.
You can’t knock Edu right now. All the fears everyone had about Europa League costing us talent seem to be getting dispelled. Edu is firmly in the mixer there.
Do I like the Super Agent stuff? No. But it’s the price of business at the highest level. Jorge Mendes is trying to move Raphina to Arsenal, he’s moved Vieira there, he’ll backfill Leeds and he’ll backfill Porto taking a fee at every step.
But I have to accept that and so do you… I don’t mind super agents when the players are super talented.
So in short, I’m enjoying the better Edu, he’s doing great work, I am over my issues with him.
Right, are you going to jump into our Patreon? Johnny is completing his Top 25. We also have a nice FREE podcast for you to enjoy.
Clubs pay a premium for successful premier league players. Jesus is in that category. To pay the same amount on a guy with potential is something else. Money clubs can do that.
Matt
Based on how the season panned out, I think all Arsenal fans know that top 4 was there for the taking.
We blew it at the end and it wasn’t just down to injuries to key players that, in fact, could have been prevented if rotation and selection of players had been better thought out.
Goober! I understand mate. I think the entire fanbase has had PTSD from all the nearly times. How many times was Wenger two purchases away from creating his 3rd team of champions? It sounds like some of us have recovered quicker than others. My main observation is that there are those of us in the supposed fanboy camp who perceive the lag effect of a root and branch overhaul being a lot more involved than the so called bedwetters will accept. And their sensibilities have been burned by obvious errors that were made like Willian, predicting Champions League win in… Read more »
Gone a bit early on the Edu redemption I think!
Jesus has never been a key player at any point in time for City’s title winning teams. Sterling, Mahrez, Silva, KDB all have. He’s a capable player but the numbers are stupid.
Habesha
I thought he was on €64k. And you can find that 70m rising to 80n is not so far from 85m. And if you are paying 200k to a striker, let it be Osimhen.
So Arsenal are going to sign one of Man City’s absolute key players are they?
Some fans need to get real.
We have been enough years out of the CL now.
You can keep piling up on players of a certain age with potential all you want but to think that you are going to actually win big with that overall strategy without mixing it up is a pipedream.
Edu redemption?
He redeems himself along with others when this club actually gets in the top four.
Ishola, Edu is doing a good job. Arteta is not so capable. That’s the problem. His work last summer was enough to get top 4 for the club. I will say…
They all do good jobs when this team gets back into the CL.
Is anyone else getting a bit bored with the Jesus saga being played out in the media? I don’t know why we so often take a bloody age to get things done. Maybe that’s why the Vieira signing was such a shock, that it got done without weeks and back and forth and gameplaying.
Insideright
“Maybe that’s why the Vieira signing was such a shock, that it got done without weeks and back and forth and gameplaying.”
Different calibre of player that’s why.
He would have been on not a high wage at all at Porto because he was not an absolute established first team player there.
Much easier to get that done quickly in comparison to Jesus.
The Jesus deal is very complex agent fees, loyalty bonuses from city, appearance and goal bonuses, relocation etc it’s far harder than Fabios deal
I’m not buying “Where did you think we would finish after 1st three games” type of questions. The real question to ask is: “Did you think in November 2019 that in Summer of 2022 you’d be not only defending, but waxing lyrical about the manager who failed to get us into Top4?”
Well by all accounts we are the only club in the running for Jesus so it’s not as if we’re in a race or anything. As previously discussed the circa £200k/wk wages are more a reflection of the fact that he can walk for nothing in 12 months and command a huge signing on fee so he and his agents will want to take that into consideration if the player moves this summer.
InsideRight
“Is anyone else getting a bit bored with the Jesus saga being played out in the media? I don’t know why we so often take a bloody age to get things done.”
No. My advice is stop getting triggered by the media, they love gullible people like you lot. These are multi-million pound deals, you do those on Amazon mate.
FabRomano: “No changes on Matheus Nunes deal, as of now. No agreement on personal terms and negotiations ‘more than difficult’ on player side for Wolves. 🇵🇹 #WWFC”
He could be our CM if we wanted him.
You would have to be a moron to prefer the teams of the last few years..(late Wenger yrs on) ….over the team we are assembling currently… (not including rumoured targets, just Jesus, which is done). That former bunch of players Freddie said was riddled with bad characters and really had a low ceiling at best. Cup runs, a small shot at top 4… great.. but really no future and no chance to break into the top 3 or better. As we are now, I could see us fighting for 3rd this year, and more beyond that as we grow. Who… Read more »
People complaining about Jesus on maybe 220k (max), forgetting Lacazette was on 180. We even paid more for Lacazette, years ago, who was not even premier league proven. We’re doing much better business now. I still can’t get over the numbers we’re hearing about the Raphina bid if they’re anywhere near reality. For a second choice to Saka? I guess the new goal of the club is like City, to have 2 high quality players in as many positions as possible? Hard to do that without Man city’s budget, or Abramovich pumping in 1.5 billion and eating the losses. I… Read more »
Rap
Would take him over any deal for Raphina in a heartbeat, much more important position to fill and that would be a chance to get a potential world class CM in.
Partey is injury prone and 29, are we really going to let him carry the whole midfield by himself and not buy in an equivalent level player to him until he leaves? Would be insane.
AFC
Who the fuck are you calling gullible?
“Talking about what peoples aspirations were at the start of last season is completely irrelevant. “
It is.
If you were told Man U would plummet from 2nd to 6th in a disastrous season on and off the pitch, where every decision they made was of the surely you can’t be serious type, would you still consider Arsenal’s fifth an achievement?
Of course you wouldn’t.
Tom There’s almost always at least one Big Six club who underperforms, often due to transition troubles, and I personally factor that in to my aspirations to try and make them as accurate as possible. But, if your thesis is correct, then there is absolutely no point anyone on here bleating on about what a disappointment it will be if we don’t make top 4 next season, because apparently pre-season aspirations are irrelevant, and we should actually just sit down and watch the football without either fantasising or catastrophising end of season outcomes, and then make a judgement about the… Read more »
Who are you, Sewage Siddeeq? 😉
Nigel “That former bunch of players Freddie said was riddled with bad characters and really had a low ceiling at best. Cup runs, a small shot at top 4… great.. but really no future and no chance to break into the top 3 or better.” Yep. Totally let Emery down and those at the top failed to deal with what Freddie had said. Blame whoever you like but Arsenal was a broken club from top to bottom. Sadly, fans frustration means that all gets lumped onto Artetas shoulders too, totally unfair. Naive too. He inherited a massive job but the… Read more »
the express has this transfer headline:
“Leeds ‘receive mystery £60m Raphinha bid’ from English club”
and then in the article:
“Fellow reporter Pol Alonso seemed to suggest the Gunners were responsible, writing: “It is Arsenal.”
sup all
AFC
I prostrate myself at the magnificence of your words. Amen to that! 🙏
Showing my age again here but all this talk about players, fees, salaries, negotiations etc etc, does my head in.
Oh for the days as a kid, getting the Daily Express delivered to your house and, turning to the back page, finding that Alan Ball had joined Arsenal for a record fee of £220,000.
Supermac was my favourite transfer.
Learning we had Wrighty on teletext was pretty magic!
WW, pre season aspirations are useful when based in reality but then the real thing happens and things change for better or worse and you re-adjust .
How hard did you celebrate our runners up in 2015/16?
Not very, right?
Why not, if Chelsea were clear favorites to repeat and Leicester weren’t even in the picture before the ball was kicked?
Great,great piece AFC the bedwetters should hang their heads in shame.But won’t.If you’re an eternal pessimist it’s ingrained.Still,onwards & upwards I expect.
Why oh why are my comments being moderated? Is it a wind up?Hmmmmmm,
Wicked Willy
Teletext, those were the days! Just imagine the youngsters today if you gave them a push button TV with three TV channels, teletext and one of those pong games consoles where you played tennis to a selection of loud beeps! They don’t know they’re born.
City sign Kalvin Philips
TR7
That’s been in the pipeline for a while now. Sky are claiming £42m plus add ons. Also reporting that deal has put negotiations for Raphinha on hold.
Good player but not sure all our English talent should be headed off to the Abu Dhabi Oil State. I remember Drinkwater after winning the league with Leicester was lured to Chelsea and it all went horribly Pete Tong. Last thing I heard he was on loan at Reading.
New post peeps
New post peeps
AFC
I think with Fernandinho getting on Philips will get some game time at City, even more so with 5 subs rule.