One thing we have to hold in our tiny little EMOTION-riven minds is this: When you compete at the top level of transfers, there will be competition.
Arsenal found that out yesterday when Chelsea steamed into the Raphinha deal with £60m.
I found it a bit odd that a team with deep structural issues that include having no strikers, no centre-backs, and an aging Kante would decide that they’d like to spend a wedge of cash on Raheem Sterling and Raphinha, but there we go.
I think Gunnerblog nailed it when he said that there is a small pool of very good players that tick very specific boxes and big clubs will gun for them.
My suspicion is Arsenal looked at Raphinha to Barca fall through and fancied they’d get a deal at a low price. That looks like a miscalculation, but look, don’t be sad, we’re taking shots at players you didn’t think were in our league 4 weeks ago. We cannot win them all. We still haven’t lost out on Raph, but it’s looking unlikely.
Still, chins UP!
Arteta is getting backed by the club, there is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to steam into our plan b for a wide player with end product, and we’ll end the window with all the bits that we need.
The direction we’re heading is the same as the one I laid out in the post. We are loading up with end product, we’re moving towards a team that is really hard to take the ball from, and one that is outrageously hard working.
Gabriel Jesus was at the training ground yesterday getting his pictures, I’ve no idea why the club didn’t announce today, it might be that it takes time to make those player hype videos, or it might just be that Arsenal are teasing us.
Mad that the players were at preseason today… the season starts in a month.
Still plenty of business to do. We need a left-back, we need a midfielder, and we need a wide player that can give us a bit more firepower.
But rest assured, we’re going to do the business this window, it will still go down as one of the best of all time.
Right, short one today, hopefully, tomorrow I’m talking about Gabriel Jesus.
We’re gonna record a Patreon transfer special later, so sign up, and be part of our exclusive club.
First
Ist
One of the first?
Boomz… Trophy
Tr4phy
One of the first? ,
Too easy
Dammit! 9 seconds too late. Stupid connection
Too late guys. Next time
Well in Chinaman69….
Whether we get Raphina or not, I am pleased with the direction and the speed at which they are trying to get things done. I am looking forward to the new season.
On to the next target. Roller coaster of a transfer window.
Hope we got a plan b on the pitch.
WE, several factors to think about: Most importantly, are we on the market for a LB, yet another CB, CM or a CDM? LB – if we’re buying a LB then fk me, Lisandro has a total of 8 starts on LB in his career and he’s 24 and a half yo. Zinchenko clearly much more of a specialist LB with around 120 games there. CB – we’re surely not buying another CB unless we are selling someone, and 175 cm (5’9) CB in the EPL spells trouble but this is where Lisandro has specialized in – around 140 games… Read more »
Raptora According to Transfermarkt, Zinchenko has played a whopping 4 games at CM since 2015/16 in CM. He has played in CM for Ukraine largely because they are a very weak team and it makes little sense to have arguably along with Malinovskiy their best player at LB. It is the same reason that David Alaba has always played in midfield for Austria but never Bayern/Real Madrid.Club level is all that is relevant imo and he simply hasn’t played there. At least Martinez played there for a season at Ajax and has proven he is capable. And what makes you… Read more »
Not really bothered about Raphina,we have Saka that plays wide right and I watched a few Leeds games last season,and admittedly a decent player,not for me the second coming of Henry just yet.
🚨 Sunderland have agreed a deal with Arsenal for the signing of defender Daniel Ballard. The player has already completed a medical, with the deal set to be completed in the next 24 hours. [@SportsPeteO & @footyinsider247] #afc https://t.co/VD3ugdjBAR
Strange that Ballard is the only player we have heard anything about regards to outgoings when we have so many we need to offload.
WE,
Yeah, I agree with you. I’m not pushing for any name because who dafug knows what Arteta wants. As long as we bring a shiny midfielder that they hand-picked I’d be down. I’m just not a huge fan of buying versatile players when we basically need a starting CM and starting LB.
Plan B, or Plan A actually should be getting a decent cover for Partey,. I’ve just seen that Palace are closing in on Cheick Doucouré, and at £18 it seems a steal. So I would say get Tielemans in asap.
Pedro I found it a bit odd that a team with deep structural issues that include having no strikers, no centre-backs, and an aging Kante would decide that they’d like to spend a wedge of cash on Raheem Sterling and Raphinha, but there we go. Sorry but you like many have made the mistake of going far too early when looking at and judging other clubs. I have no idea who they are looking at in the CB position ps but if we all know that they are short there don’t you think the likes of Tunchal likewise knows it?… Read more »
“Jesus is better than what we have but the stats don’t lie he is not a very good striker, he was a decent wide player in a great city side. Jury is still out on him being the main man.
Since richarlison signed for Everton he has scored more pl goals than Jesus…”
BigPer well said. I’m not overly excited by Jesus either
Raphinha gone?
Cuadrado
Pierre,
Honest question..
“Lisandro Martinez looks like he has all the attributes to play as a centre mid…….in Xhaka’s position.”
I thought when most of us were thinking of a Xhaka replacement, it was a number 8 … where he was playing this past season with Partey deeper? Those famous long balls will not function from higher up obviously. As a CB, is he any quicker than Xhaka?
Lisandro would mostly stand in for Partey, no?
It may not matter because the deep pockets will take him anyway.
If Tielemans gets taken, we will have miscalculated the strength of our position. For our needs, he should have been the one we bought first, even if we had to up the offer. 25 was a bargain basement price for PL proven, and he’s a very good player who would’ve been perfect for us, so, easily worth more than that.
I’ve been saying, get ready for Melo to come in. We’re the only team with money that rates him highly. Italian media say we’re keeping tabs and Juve want him out.
It all fits too well.
Chelsea can easily drop 70M on Koulibaly or De ligt
No Federer, Zverev, Medvedev, Felix, Hurcakz, Berretini, Cilic or Dimitrov.
Djoker and Rafa have a very clear path to the final. Krygios, Murray and Kessey the only ones capable of beating them.
Taylor Fritz is one to watch as well TR7.
It’s Djokovic’s tournament to lose though if we are honest.
Rafa looked shaky against a very poor Grass player yesterday.
“Rafa looked shaky against a very poor Grass player yesterday”
The older Rafa always looks shaky in the first week in grand slams and goes from strength to strength. Not saying he will necessarily go all the way but he has shown repeatedly he raises his game on big occasions. In Aus Open and French Open he didn’t look convincing in the first week but raised his game in the second week.
Fritz and Rithjoven are good. I will put them alongside Kyrgios, Murray, Cressy as dark horses.
So Rohypnol is most likely heading to Chelsea huh. I like Gakpo better anyway.
TR7
Would be amazed if Kyrgios got into week 2.
Very talented but complete headcase and mentally weak.
NIgel Tufnell “I thought when most of us were thinking of a Xhaka replacement, it was a number 8 … where he was playing this past season with Partey deeper” I get your point but I think if you look at last season , xhaka probably played as a no.8 the 6 or 7 games when partey came back from the afcon and before Partey succumbed to injury v palace away….other than that he played his usual position though don’t quote me on that as there may have been a couple of time where he played higher up the pitch.… Read more »
Looks like Raph could still be off to Barca regardless. His agent Deco pictured there today. You’d put money on them paying less than a PL club because the player will force through the move.
I think Arsenal are Rafinha’s third choice behind Barca and Chelsea. Anyway time to move on from Rafinha and get Martinez and Tielemans deals over the line.
Joker dropped a set in first round but looked imperious today, i’d like to go on a limb and pick unexpected winner in this but it really doesn’t have that vibe. Shame Berretinni tested for Covid he was looking strong as TR7 said nobody else really in this barring unexpected. Krygios will likely pull a blunt object in next round and attack anything in site.
Like the young American kid Brooksby, he can hit.
Sal
Alcaraz the only heavyweight left outside of Djoker and Rafa. Not sure though how good he can be on grass.
Martinez and Tielemans will do perfectly as well.
I think we need another offensive player and the bids for Raphinha point to that direction of thought in the Arsenal directors heads. We had Auba starting the season 12 months ago and as good as Jesus is, by switching those 2 on paper we don’t add many goals, just the opposite as Auba has always been a 20-30+ goals per season player. What I’m saying is, to the attack of last season we changed Auba and Laca with Jesus and Eddie and added Fabio to the offensive side. Would that increase our input by 30 goals? I don’t think… Read more »
Tammy, Tammy, Tammy
I see Bissouma has been cleared of sexual assault allegations, being released from bail and informed of no further action against him.
If the tabloids are to be believed, Scamacca the target of PSG
Murray is no match for this Servebot.
Just a little bit premature with all this best ever transfer window talk.
Thus far we have signed one established player from a club that no longer required his services.
Arsenal have signed similar players to this in the past you know.
The Arteta hype is heavy and strong.
I just hope he can live up to these expectations in the coming season.
Bergkamp and Henry were the same sort of scenario as Jesus when they were signed.
At big or successful clubs that no longer wanted them.
So we have been here before in the past.
Just seen this on Twatter.
“Chelsea have “broadly agreed” personal terms with Raphinha at £115k a week on a five-year deal, according to Matt Law”
£115k per week. Let that sink in compared to the way we keep spunking cash up the wall.
Another Striker target we should be looking at is Broja. Whether Chelsea would sell him to us is another matter
Sterling and Rafinha wide with Chillwell and James as fullbacks will make Chelsea a real attacking threat.
“Chelsea have “broadly agreed” personal terms with Raphinha at £115k a week on a five-year deal, according to Matt Law”£115k per week. Let that sink in compared to the way we keep spunking cash up the wall.”
Had we signed him, he would be on 150k+
Hard to imagine that Jesus is on 250k weekly, no wonder he jumped at the chance to come to Arsenal.
The Arsenal project pays very well.
You reckon Jesus will be on 250k a week I don’t think so at all
Mr Serge
That’s what the “media” is reporting. It is consistent with the way we paid Ozil, Willian and Auba
before tax most likely
The report I saw was that Jesus will be on £220k per week.
No wonder he hugged Edu. A 145% pay rise after being pushed out by Citeh. Great work if you can get it.
Pedro thank you for keeping this blog updated and always providing insightful views on Arsenal stories. I have been following the blog for the past 2 years or so and I still find myself opening the website at-least 5 to 10 times a day. Keep up the good work.
This is definitely the best transfer window Arsenal is having in years! Super excited about the season ahead.
Lol I would hug him too
I sure hope that’s not true
lol Dissenter hates it that Arsenal have veered off the path of buying these under the radar players.
I don’t know whether Jesus will be a big hit or not but what I do know is that you won’t win big with just signing off the radar players unless you go along with the line that Arteta himself is a generational manager.
Got to mix it up a bit with a few more seasoned players to go along with these potential players.
Having an amusing time watching a growing number of Chav fans, who were delighted about the possibility that Raphinha might sign for them instead of us, now turning against the deal because Deco immediately skulked off to Barca trying to persuade them to match Chavsea’s offer to Leeds and take him to Spain. Hilarious as it dawns on them Raphinha doesn’t want to go to Stamford Bridge.
Lol. We are paying 45m already. That’s like 20m more than we should be paying.
Liverpool paying Nunez 140k pw too. We paid Lacazette with lesser hype around him 180k pw 6 years ago and people are doubting we are paying Jesus 220?
We were linked with Asensio recently when the Raphinha stuff broke down. I would be disappointed if he was the plan b. Like I said Diaby is the better player for me I think he’s a worldie
Pedro Gonçalves could be a decent shout too.
When someone is cleared of sexual assault, does it mean the accuser gets some kind of punishments? Or they just sweep it under the carpet?
‘’ Hard to imagine that Jesus is on 250k weekly, no wonder he jumped at the chance to come to Arsenal.
The Arsenal project pays very well.‘’
Did you just make that figure up… he’s on 190k a week
Someone like Abraham would be a good plan b and then play Jesus out wide, though I imagine Roma will want twice what he is worth
How has Isner not gone further in majors with a serve like that?
‘’ Thus far we have signed one established player from a club that no longer required his services.‘’
So what’s your point, if city don’t want him then we shouldn’t either ?
Mystic “When someone is cleared of sexual assault, does it mean the accuser gets some kind of punishments? Or they just sweep it under the carpet?” Two men were arrested regarding this incident. Bissouma has now been told he is no longer a suspect and will face no further action. The other man has had his bail extended while investigations continue. Quite often, when bail gets extended in this way, the police have little to no evidence and eventually they will close the case. The accuser does not face any action unless the police can find evidence of malicious intent… Read more »
Spuds debt is £706m and yet they can still splash the cash.
We live in a crazy footballing world.
G
My point is regarding this line of best ever transfer window that we are hearing of late.
We have signed similar players to Jesus and in the same scenario in the past.
Bigper
“Someone like Abraham would be a good plan b and then play Jesus out wide, though I imagine Roma will want twice what he is worth”
Reportedly, part of the reason Jesus agreed to sign for Arsenal was that we met his demand to play in a centre forward role. He doesn’t want to play out wide and he wants to be the first name on the team sheet.
InsideRight
“Reportedly, part of the reason Jesus agreed to sign for Arsenal was that we met his demand to play in a centre forward role. He doesn’t want to play out wide and he wants to be the first name on the team sheet.”
ha! ha!
If that is correct we better relay this to Pierre and Dissenter very gently.
They will be mortified.
Ishola I hear you. Vieira and Marquinhos have fewer than 60 senior appearances between them in the last two seasons. They could both be stand out players. But they are both young and haven’t played in a division as strong and as competitive as the Prem, so even if they do set the world on fire, it might not be for a while. We all know Jesus has some talent, but was his output a result of the talent around him at Citeh, and can he replicate that in Arteta’s system here? I certainly hope so, but I don’t feel… Read more »
‘’ Chelsea have “broadly agreed” personal terms with Raphinha at £115k a week on a five-year deal, according to Matt Law”
Apparently Chelsea still to speak to Raphinha re wages , though fee has been agree… 115k a week,, ,, yeah right
Ishola I think some were saying that if we got Raphinha as well.. we haven’t so will just have to judge transfer window when it closes
Jesus now is likely to be our marquee signing of this window.
Whether he lives up to that tag we will have to see.
If we splash another big transfer on someone it is probably to be seen as over-paying as it looks to me that it will be another “progressive” player rather than a seasoned one.
I really hated Richarlson at Everton with his antics etc going to dislike him even more playing for the Spuds
Nunes at Liverpool was not going to get big wages. He has to prove himself in England, and they pay less being one of the best teams in the world, challenging for Europe and domestic titles. Guys are dying to go to Klopp and Pep, and they even become better players in the medium/long term. Some people shading everything negative on the Jesus salary, saying 250. That’s a media trick when you want to make Arsenal look bad. I’ve heard 210-220k max from good sources .. which is only 30-40k above Lacazette. Jesus is a statement signing, PL proven, and… Read more »
Pierre thanks for the response. It had also occurred to me Arteta was thinking of the old Xhaka play of covering Tierney who could join the attack. Lisandro may have been born to play that role.
That tactic, by the way, is ok to change things up to show the opponents different looks, keep them off balance, but I don’t like that Arteta was using as much as he did. Teams figured it out and used it against us. Nice to have in a bag of different tricks. Hard for opponents to prepare for everything.
Inside, thanks for the lowdown. Gabriel Jesus has never preferred playing out wide. He had to adapt his game so as to get game time under Pep. Pep is a freak and classic 9s suffer in his teams while midfielders and wingers thrive. Tell me one classic 9 that has banged or gotten better in goalscoring under Pep the way his midfielders or wingers have? Instead they become grafters and link up play specialists which make them lose their edge somewhat in front of goal. What I am saying in effect is that Gabriel Jesus, even though I am not… Read more »
Raphinha is currently on £65k pw at Leeds so the £115k offered by Chavs make sense. I expect us to be around that number up to a maximum of £130k. Then we have Gnabry who is currently on 130k at Bayern and is not going to put pen to a contract under £300k pw. It’s one of the reasons why we haven’t heard much noise around Serge as his huge salary demands are a deal breaker even if Bayern would gladly sell if he had given them a final negative answer to their offer. As it stands, it feels like… Read more »
Am not Rafingha wants to play for Chelsea otherwise the deal would have been closed by now after offering over the odds for Leeds
Mane situation not too different to Gnabry’s.
1 year left on their contracts, both demanded a super high salary.
Liverpool decided to cash £30-34m for Mane rather than keeping him for 1 more season and then receive nothing.
Bayern are in a similar situation with Gnabry. Interesting to see what will happen as I read that Bayern’s fans are not very happy with Gnabry’s game in the past season. And to demand £300k you have to be a superstar.
Why aren’t we meeting the £45 million release clause for Arnault Danjuma?
He’s got championship experience and is every bit as good as Raphinha
Mystic, Jesus himself previously stated he preferred to play out wide, saying: “In my mind, I was always more of a winger than a forward. I think that with my qualities, I help more from the wing than from the centre.” Also “I feel comfortable out wide and can help my teammates and my team. I can make runs in behind, control the ball, make passes, make crosses, help in defending. As I say, I feel comfortable there. “I didn’t start to play as a winger just this season. I have played with the national team there for two years.… Read more »
Jesus wanting to play first team matches for Man City regarding the above.
Pep to Jesus = I will be playing you on the wings a lot.
Jesus to Pep = I just love the wings boss.
Pep to Jesus when he signed for them in 2017
Lad you do realise that we have Aguero as our main centre forward don’t you.
Jesus to Pep. I know boss but I just love those wings.
Arteta to Jesus in negotiations for signing for Arsenal .
My good man you do realise we have Eddie Nketiah as our centre forward don’t you.
Jesus to Arteta.
Yes I heard about that. Play me centre forward or else.
Again not to be disparaging to Eddie N but do you see the difference.
Raptors Pretty interesting comments which I have read before by the way. I mean, watching Jesus it’s not very difficult to see that he’s not a natural winger. His instincts are that of a pure no 9. Maybe he can play wing—when you are young and starting out, coaches tend to bounce you around to either solve issues or develop certain areas of your game—but it’s not difficult to realise that maybe he might have said somethings to make sure he gets minutes. He will definitely play 9 for us not wing. Also your maths on Gnabry is interesting when… Read more »
Mystic
Aguero was Man City centre forward when Jesus signed for them.
Jesus had to start liking playing on the wings or he didn’t see first team football too much.
Different scenario now.
Eddie N is not Aguero.
Sorry for the typo raptora
Sure ishola. I agree. Players say similar all the time to get games
Yes Raph, this is the team you want to sign for …
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/29/sports/soccer/chelsea-workplace-suicide.html
If it’s true that raphinha has agreed to only 115k a week at Chelsea then how did we land at over 200k for Jesus?
China1
“If it’s true that raphinha has agreed to only 115k a week at Chelsea then how did we land at over 200k for Jesus?”
Because Arsenal is more desperate than Chelsea at the moment. I mean they have champions league and win trophies quite regularly. We don’t really have the same negotiating leeway. I hope we can get there.
Hard to envision Arsenal signing any Ajax players wanted by Ten Hag’s United, in fact it’s silly to engage as we are dead men walking in that regard.
SalP
I take it you don’t think we have a chance of getting Lisandro Martinez ?
Ishola You’re just spinning around in circles regarding Gabriel Jesus Everyone knows there’s a conundrum three. He does not have the confidence of a striker leading the line and has been asked by everyone of his coaches…’what position are you best at?” Pep has asked him, he said playing wide Tite [Brazilian national team coach] has asked him, …he said wide When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. ~Maya Angelou This player has told those in the position to know where he feels he’s best at and yet you’re still theorizing he’s just hoodwinking them… Read more »
Sal
‘ Hard to envision Arsenal signing any Ajax players wanted by Ten Hag’s United, in fact it’s silly to engage as we are dead men walking in that regard.’
Wise words
Ten Haag was the king of Ajax, those players will naturally follow their manager
Hope we have our plan b, plan c etc ready
Another Striker that has fallen off the radar is Jokic at Real Madrid. Tabloids have him going to Fiorentina on loan but there has been a snag at the last minute. He’s a player that fits the bill as a pure striker that we could take on loan this year and if he performed then we pick him up. He has never really been given a chance at Real Madrid but the few times he has filled in he has performed admirably if I remember correctly. It works if Jesus plays on the wing but not if he plays as… Read more »
*Jovic
“Still, chins UP!”
WTH is that?! Is this a Chelski blog