We’re entering the final 24 hours of the transfer window it’s all a bit flat when it comes to exit fees.
Good news:
Balogun is out the door for $42m. There’s a 17.5% sell on clause according to Charles Watts, that’s decent, and it is basically the premium we’re missing from a Chelsea bid for the player. I have no doubt Folarin will crush it in Monaco, it is yet to be seen whether he has what it takes to make it back to the Premier League. The shame is if he was exiting Monaco to Chelsea, the fee would be £60m.
Nuno Tavares still hasn’t found a move, though it looking more and more likely it’ll be a loan to Forest. Quite annoying that we’re being pushed into loan deals while Newcastle, City, and Chelsea are flogging untested kids for fortunes. I wonder if the market reputation we have for giving away players has been hard to shift? When we’re in the market late – it’s always a panic premium. When Arsenal sell late – it’s a giveaway. Not great.
Emile Smith Rowe has been lighting up the feeds. The player is out of favor at Arsenal and there is strong word he wants to exit to get more minutes. Chelsea apparently put their name into the mixer, but we rebuffed them. At this late hour, it seems unlikely we’re going to see him exit. On the one hand, I like that, but on the other, I feel for him because it’s hard to see how he displaces the faves of Fabio and Kai.
There are three other players that still haven’t moved. Rob Holding has Mallorca and Sevilla interested in his services, he’s definitely not getting minutes. Nico Pepe can’t even get a move to Saudi and looks to be heading to termination land. Cedric Soares might get a reprieve because we don’t seem to have a right-back lined up. That said, Tomi and Ben White can cover right back. So who knows.
My big question: What did we do with Saudi? They have hoovered up our rivals’ mistakes all summer – and apparently just offered £118m for Mo Salah. They haven’t touched any of our cast-off options. Why?
Then factor in that Chelsea just spent £45m on Cole Palmer – it is maddening that we’re not doing better with some of our players.
What I have found super interesting is how some fans are suddenly down on our window. This window has been exceptional by any standards. We replaced Granit Xhaka, we added the best young 6 in the league for a record fee, we upgraded out keeper, and we added a beast right back. You can’t complain about that – you can be angry that Timber is injured, but that is an outrageous window regardless.
It doesn’t feel like we’re going to get a right back. There’s chat that Reull Walters might get the nod. But realistically, I think we can cover with the flex we have in the system already. Partey, White, and Tomi is more than enough when you consider the make-up of the squad.
Right, short one today, will bounce back if there’s anything else that needs to be spoken about!
Not too much travel as well for us. Spain, Netherlands and France. Easy under an hour flight. Sweet
We’re going to get smoked.
All teams are no mugs in our group but if we can play the games, not the occasions and we go with our best performing line up (none of this fancy dan stuff Arteta) then we should be qualifying. We are the best team in this group by a country mile.
Can’t wait to be back at the Emirates for CL nights. Been criminally too long.
Seko Fofana also left Lens and he was massive for them
I blame Smith Rowe for not ” banging “ on Arteta’s door
If he did this he’d probably break a finger.
The poor lad has been made of chocolate for some time now.
I agree with Habesha that our group is about as good as it gets, it could be a europa league group with who we pitted against. No trips to deepest transylvania to play a team no one heard of and no matches against best teams either.
Just seen the draw, buzzing as I’m in Seville.
Get to watch the boys in the flesh.
Very nice group, as good as it gets.
Fuck you WEagle!
Haha Rap.
I haven’t gotten to a game in years so absolutely delighted, only thing is I’ll likely be lumped in with the Sevilla crowd.
Just look for the inebriated red and white shirted loon in the sea of Sevilla shirts celebrating when we score.
Don’t get beaten up por favor. If you feel it’s going in a bad direction, say that you’re a huge fan of Emery. It should do the job.
Good CL group for us.
PSV will most certainly be the most difficult team to beat out of the group, but this should not make it too difficult for us to get in to the round of 16.
The group to watch is certainly Newcastle’s. It will be interesting to see if they can even get out if this group.
As for Man Cheatty, how on earth did they get such an easy group??? Feels like maybe some *cough* brown envelopes *cough* were passed around?
Somehow I think Newcastle will qualify out of that group but it will blow up their premier league season.
Gravenberch to Liverpool done
So happy for Eddie!
“I recall when people were chatting shit about the two chances Eddie missed against Palace
I wondered back then if Jesus would have scored any of those chances too.”
I had the same thought dissenter.
I love how hard Jesus works, but it’s doubtful.
Especially the second attempt.. unless a player has mastered the Saka bullet into the roof shot, very hard chance.
The first one was Eddie putting himself into a great opportunity… even though he missed, it was a brilliant effort overall.
I never thought of those as simply “2 misses”.
https://x.com/lfclaurie/status/1697290658510160013?s=61&t=qtLJJVK68y3SEiFpti2NPA
Ornstein –
Liverpool have reached agreement with Bayern Munich to sign Ryan Gravenberch. Fixed fee €40m. Netherlands international to join on long-term contract. 21yo flying to Liverpool this evening before medical Friday
Doesn’t sound like anyone else coming in, I assume the plan is use to Walters if anything goes wrong with our defenders this season.
———
Edu –
“As everyone saw, we made a strong strategy to be very proactive at the beginning of the transfer window & I think we did it. Now we are talking about trying to balance the squad a little bit better.”
“We keep talking to a few clubs, but so far, we are really happy with the transfer window & we have to say thank you very much to all the people that work at the club to make that happen – good, exciting season ahead for us!”
andy1886August 31, 2023 16:23:59
I figure that resorting to insults is an attempt to hide the fact that people can’t make a logical case for their position.
match day comments might shine a light on things for ya, as if you didn’t already understand.
people wanna scream stupid shit about the team they support, don’t be surprised if and when someone takes exception to a fucked up tone and the insight of an adult shut in… on a fucking fan blog.
the only people on here who complain that they aren’t allowed to have an opinion are more often than not those posting opinions all fucking day- just like in real life. Whiny Tyrants imitating conservative politics
Cheers Luteo for posting the groups
No complaints with that. Newcastle group is comically fun
Salah wants to go to Saudi 140m deal plus 1.5 m a week in his pocket damn crazy money
Sounds like we’re done signing anyone and that to me is incredible especially since we let Tierney and are letting Holding go. Very very short and it basically feels like we’ve strengthen with Rice since Timber is injured and the jury is still out on Havertz as an 8
Mr SEGE
“Salah wants to go to Saudi 140m deal plus 1.5 m a week in his pocket damn crazy money”
Who can blame him?
He’s won everything possible at Liverpool; club and individual honors
Scousers hate him and burn his jersey but he won’t care.
*Scousers will hate him and burn his jersey but he won’t care.
we sold Xhaka but bought Rice, we lost Timeber and than we loaned out Tierney, Havertz is a question mark, surley we need to get someone tommorow but it seems unlikely
Haha manure, just seen the CL draw
We got a decent draw
Newcastle got a shit one
Diss I hope the salah deal happens that knocks back pool a margin in my opinion.
Regulon to manure they are broke lol he can’t even get into the spurs team
We would have cruised this group with last season’s team.
What I’ve seen so far from us doesn’t guarantee anything for us if you’re being honest.
But I still think we’ll rise to the occasion.
Good games ahead anyway.
Karim,
Not so sure about we would have done better in this UCL group last year than we will do this year. We’ve added more European experience and depth with Rice and Havertz. Also hard to compare as we know what an advantage the team had last year with no European distractions on our league effort.
We all have concerns with Arteta’s experimentation but I can understand why he’s trying to give us more formational options. Regardless, my 16 year old son pointed out to me today that the last time he saw us in the Champions League was when he was nine so I’m thankful to Mikel, Edu and the Kroenkes for finally bringing back the Champions League to the fans.
Bacary I agree with you so happy we are back
From the previous post:
” We opted for Rob Holding and the rest is history. ”
Who’s the ” We ” ? 🤔 That should read He (Arteta).
There was no we in that decision. I understand you love Arteta but cmon be objective. It’s almost like you think the sky will fall in, if you say Arteta was wrong or made a mistake!
You always seem to speak about questionable choices made by the manager, as somehow being part of the collective ie Arsenal decided to….
now it’s ” We decided ….
Just tell it like it is. People are offering up all these theories and looking really deeply into the simplest of things, and asking others to disbelieve their own eyes.
All I can say is I don’t care that it’s only 3 games in, it doesn’t look good, it’s not been effective, and we’ve struggled, (against what we all consider teams we should be beating, ) if we want to consider ourselves as contenders.
The changes haven’t worked, and I disagree that you have to go through this learning pain in case we have injuries. There are better ways to do this. Playing defenders in defence, and midfielders in midfield etc and using the depth of your squad is a simpler solution.
That should be resolved by good transfers, and a system you have which allows you to use the players you have at your disposal, the most effectively.
However you spin it the fans feelings towards Kai haven’t been helped by the ‘Willian-esque’ way he’s been ruthlessly thrust into the starting line up every game so far.
Easing him into the team would have not put so much pressure on him imo. He’s not done anything of note so far, so you question why is he starting over Viera or ESR?
If you’re gonna walk straight into the Arsenal starting line up consecutively, you need to be bringing something that everyone can see, the fans and the other players. Otherwise people will question why is he starting every game?
Players will consider leaving cos they ain’t had not 1 minute so far (ESR)
If we sell ESR I’m sorry but I’m done with Arteta. It’s his job as manager to manage those relationships with talented players. I don’t feel like he’s managing this well. A player that saved his bacon a year ago when he came in. Arteta’s memory seems very short.
What started as a very exciting transfer window
(albeit with the question of why do we want to pay so much for Havertz) we trusted the process and thought we’d shift our deadwood and get a couple of gems in to top off this fine window.
However it’s lost it’s sparkle somewhat as we’ve been unable to sell our unwanted mostly loans, and the sales we have made have been slightly disappointing.
Seeing players like Diaby ( has hit the ground running) and Kudus just 2 players who could have improved us, go to other teams for less money than we paid for Kai, and wouldn’t have been given such a ridiculous wage of £331k a week. ( No wonder he’s getting played, when you stick your neck out like that for a player…)
I can’t see things ending well unless we bring in a couple of surprises at the end of the window.
Some lovely places to visit.
Sevilla with all the oranges. (Rip Jose Antonio reyes)
PsV – stop off at Amsterdam to get some delights.
Lens will be ??
The scramble of the transfer window will be fun.
Gravenberch to Liverpool s u c k s .
By the way Guns of Hackney is a ultra racist and not good at trolling.
Amazing to see Nketiah in the England squad
Smith Rowe is a proper gooner and staying
Sal
“Gravenberch to Liverpool s u c k s .”
I had you in mind when I saw that Gravenberch was headed to ‘pool. I’ll say a prayer for you before I tuck myself in tonight.
Ah Lens
I mentioned earlier we could avenge 1998, but just remembered we beat them in the UEFA Cup a couple of years later anyway.
Hope Arsenal and Sevilla put a tribute together for Reyes.
PSV again isn’t exactly exciting, but it is a draw overall that should work out for us.
Crimson
Do you ever post without mentioning race?
”
Seeing players like Diaby ( has hit the ground running) and Kudus just 2 players who could have improved us, go to other teams for less money than we paid for Kai,
..
”
That would have an ideal TW…
*been*
Mr SergeAugust 31, 2023 20:31:32
Diss I hope the salah deal happens that knocks back pool a margin in my opinion.Regulon to manure they are broke lol he can’t even get into the spurs team
Serge
I disagree
They could really do some damage in the market with that on players who are coming up
Salah is on the way down
That would be great for Liverpool to have £140m to spend on attacking players
Eddie being selected for the England squad means very little، let’s not forget that Smith Rowe was selected and played and scored for England after a run in the Arsenal side…….now look at him، frozen out of the team .
Eddie has scored 21 goals in 33 starts in all competitions in the last 2 seasons، will that be enough to guarantee him a start in the coming weeks ، of course not.
If we are honest، the only time Arteta has started Eddie in the previous 2 seasons in the league is due to injury and every time he has been called upon he had never let the club down.
The fact that Eddie never started v Fulham should set off alarm bells within him، if Eddie hasn’t convinced Arteta by now then he will never convince him England call up or not..
I have no confidence in Arteta playing smith rowe or Eddie on a regular basis however well they play، it seems to me that our academy is designed just to bring income into the club ، iwobi، willock and Balogun have brought in close to a 100 mil، smith rowe ، Nelson، and Eddie will bring in a similar amount…
Personally I would have liked to see the likes of willock، saka، smith rowe، nelson، Balogun and Eddie given are realistic chance to succeed and who’s to say they wouldn’t have been a success as they were all brought through the academy together and had already developed a great on field relationship.
Agree sal I think whoever got Gravenberch was getting someone just waiting to explode somewhere.
Barring an unexpected turnaround, I guess the Guendouzi debate has pretty much been settled. Marseille are letting him go on loan with an option to buy for about the same price they bought him for from us.
He’s basically a French Connor Gallagher with a bad attitude. Lots of huffing and puffing on and off the field but a blunt instrument in a sport that’s becoming more and more technically complex.
Gravenberch is a player, he was just unlucky to be behind two world-class CMs at Bayern all last season.
Pool are cobbling together a pretty exciting midfield I have to admit. Losing Salah would be a massive blow to them though.
Pierre
I don’t think dropping Eddie was a slight against him but just a question of Arteta making the wrong decision. He tried to give Trossard a game but it should have been at Havertz’s expense and not Eddie’s. The good news is that he recognized his error it at half-time.
I think they’re lacking in a proper 6 but they’re trumping us on 8’s
WengerEagleAugust 31, 2023 21:50:22
Gravenberch is a player, he was just unlucky to be behind two world-class CMs at Bayern all last season.
Same logic could be applied to Havertz
He’s been unlucky at Chelsea
Could explode for us
But need support to gain his confidence
PSG did some really good business this summer. Kept Mbappe (at what cost?) got rid of Messi and Neymar and brought in Dembele, Asensio, Ramos and now Barcola to their front line. Possibly Muani too.
I think they’re lacking in a proper 6 but they’re trumping us on 8’s
Hmmm
ESR vieira Havertz Odegaard trossard and Rice or
Szoboszlai and mcallister?
Missing a key point that WE said but that’s okay
You just named 4 CAMs a LW and a 6. Keep up
“Do you ever post without mentioning race?”
Poor Un triggered again.
“Gravenberch to Liverpool s u c k s .”
Yeah when you look at some of the transfers that went over the line the past few weeks, I think there have been some surprises and a lot of players that weren’t expected to leave their clubs went to less than predictable destinations. Long way of saying maybe we splurged on our transfers a bit too early. God forbid we got into a bidding war for Kai Havertz but looking more and more like funds could have been spent more efficiently without having compromised Project Youth or any type of ambition or quality.
MarkoAugust 31, 2023 22:08:51
You just named 4 CAMs a LW and a 6. Keep up
Oh marko
It’s that kind of archaic square peg square hole thinking holds you back dear boy
This arsenal team is more fluid than that
All of those players will play as 8s for us this season.
raptora August 30, 2022 15:37:10
Fulham are in for a top class Summer the way things are shaping up.Palhinha, Diop, Andreas Pereira, Mbabu, Leno and about to join are Kurzawa, Justin Kluivert and our acquaintance – Willian.They will survive with ease with so much class on the pitch.
_________________________________________
This aged well but I can’t find my even earlier post on Palhinha.
João Palhinha told Fulham that he’d like to join Bayern. There’s an agreement on personal terms over contract valid until June 2028. 🔴🇵🇹 #FCBayern
Luteo
Agree with all of that, we nailed this window barring Havertz which always looked like a soft mid field addition at premium price. Ødegaard/Gravenberch/Rice has a bit of everything very good Xhaka replacement imo. Strong options off bench in Partey/Jorinho and either ESR or Vieira which its looking more like that latter at moment.
Timber just really an unlucky one, looked pretty complete in limited time we saw him.
Negatives, Eddie getting much love and deserved but I think we’re going to be short up top lacking in goals overall this season.
This arsenal team is more fluid than that
Fluid my arse
Bac
We were playing like the Harlem Globe Trotters last season or is it me ?
I wish we kept some of our powder dry in the transfer window
I wish we showed some restaurant with that £65 million, we could have signed a very good number 8 and a backup for Saka with that £65 million [with a little boost]
*I wish we showed some RESTRAINT with that £65 million, we could have signed a very good number 8 and a backup for Saka with that £65 million [with a little boost]
I mean look it’s not Havertz fault the price we paid for him or the way we decided to use him and he was always going to be behind the eightball because of it. It’s a shame but he was the wrong player signed for the 8 position.
Gravenberg to Liverpool for 40mil is awesome business. I’ve wanted that guy for 2 long years. What a player!
Un.
I tend to be a lurker on here. But when hamsters talk utter bile. Its hard not to throw nuts in the face of pure vitriol
£100,000 for Mary Earps… Zinsberger just signed a new contract!
Arteta is rubbing off to Eidvell
“I mean look it’s not Havertz fault the price we paid for him or the way we decided to use him and he was always going to be behind the eightball because of it. It’s a shame but he was the wrong player signed for the 8 position.”
Honestly though I think most of us saw this coming pretty much as soon as Havertz was mentioned as a target for our midfield, and it’s probably why the frustrations have been so palpable even after just a handful of games. A number of things had to go EXACTLY right straight away from the beginning for this particular transfer not to have become a polarizing issue, they predictably didn’t and here we are. Club really did the player a disservice in this kind of situation, because they should have known better. Kai really isn’t at fault, bless him for wanting to come to us, but it was going to be an uphill battle from the start.
The quickest way to put this all to bed is for Havertz to become a world beater in the next few matches. Fingers crossed. Other than that, it’s for Arteta to start playing a normal 11 and not make Kai the target of fans who think he’s being shoehorned into the team at the detriment of our overall level.
So many back seating gamers… do this – do that
Sign him, don’t sell him
It’s painful reading in a worthless debate
Is Emile to nice?
Will Uniteds injuries make Maguire play?
Crimson
“Will Uniteds injuries make Maguire play?”
There’s talk that his transfer to West Ham is back on
United need the money to sign Amrabat
Southgate is a joke though
Why is he ignoring players who are bursting their behinds and calling up Maguire?
I am worried by our defense. We need to get a defender. The rumour mill has been quiet too. We need one more regardless of whether Holding leaves or not. A CB or a LB would be good.
San Sebastian is a beautiful place
did we get anyone?
#BVB and Bayern still in the running for Armel Bella-Kotchap. Will one of the two competitors still strike? According to @SPORT1 information, Southampton has meanwhile reduced the demand for € 8m rental fee and only wants € 3.5m.
_____________________________________
Could be a good option for Holding’s place in the squad if we manage to offload him.
Karim
We were breathtaking for much of last season but at the same time we bombed out of all the cup competitions which did speak to our lack of depth. I prefer the look of our squad this season considering we’ll be more stretched than last year but there’s no doubt we’re nowhere near the levels we reached in the Premier League.
I posted at the start of the window that if we could get a cheap deal for Chalobah we should go for it.
He’s not elite, but not every signing needs to be.
He’s a decent defender who could plug 2-3 different roles in our backline, and stylistically a good fit for the system… . For £15 – £20 million I could get onboard with it.
I don’t feel like he’s managing this well. A player that saved his bacon a year ago when he came in. Arteta’s memory seems very short. [@Mark] – – –
Mark: Why do you repeat the urban legend that is Smith Rowe saving Arteta? Arteta has not been in danger at losing his job since he started it. Could he be on the hot seat in the future? Damn straight, every manager has an expiration date. However, Smith Rowe did not save anything.
Having said that, my own position is that I hope Smith Rowe stays at Arsenal.
Reiss is the back up for saka
I would.never be happy of Smith Rowe leaves but if he goes to Brighton then atleast I can make my peace. Brighton plays an attractive brand of football and the way they pick up the pieces and move on is a credit to the club. Hope Smith Rowe gets good opportunities to rebuild his career wherever it may be but hoping to be Arsenal. After playing much of his growing years with pain the surgery seems to have made it painless. Hopefully he should be able to kick on. Love him.
Very favorable CL group for us. No excuses for not topping it even tho PSV and Sevilla away will not be a walk over
Meanwhile Newcastle’s group wow lol. That’s gonna be fun as hell to watch from the sidelines. I just hope it’s a proper mess with everyone taking points off everyone and we don’t have 1 or 2 teams running away with it
Re the transfer window, if we sign a good CB or FB (or someone good at both) I’ll feel better
The overall window has been very good for us but the recent hitting of the defense is a massive red flag which is going to ruin our season if we don’t address it sharpish
Replacing Palhinha with Amrabat for Fulham, ageing down and pocketing £20m isn’t bad business considering it’s a late stage pivot
Rich, Chelsea are allegedly quoting €50m for Chalobah which sounds fanciful.
MattAugust 31, 2023 13:16:22
Saka has more than enough credit in the bank to be forgiven for committing the odd mistake – he is human after all.Havertz has zero credit in the bank (for me personally he was already in the red after 3 years of crap at Chelsea), so is it really so hard to comprehend that he will not be afforded the same forgiveness? I don’t understand the mentality of comparing Saka and Havertz. Not everything or everyone is judged through the same lens. All kinds of, other factors influence it and that is just a fact of life.
This is a quite foolish way to think, considering we’ve all been complaining about refs and PGMOL. So, If Saka beats someone and Kai beats someone, they don’t get the same punishment? Because Saka has “SOME” credit? That’s also like saying if a police officer kills an innocent person three days after saving someone’s life they shouldn’t go to jail.
DissenterAugust 31, 2023 11:15:41
Saka lost the ball under pressure…hats all he did
That loss of the ball should never have led to a goal in the first minute but fir the unfamiliarity with the new system.
There was a gaping hole on the right because Partey and BW were interchanging.The way china1 is carrying on about two fuck-ups you would think he lost the ball so close to the goal. Saka lost the ball but the systemic cock-ups amplified it.
Why’s Ramsdale always so far from his goal so soon after kick-off? Teams are going to profit from that needless interchange between Partey and BW.Blaming the 2nd goal on Saka is also so childishly le-grove. We don’t man mark for corners, it’s zonal marking. The players collectively went to sleep defending that corner.
Saka was RIGHT IN FRONT OF PAHLINHA. How is it now a zonal thing? Zonal marking means handling the man in your zone. Saka did not do that. Zonal Marking failed us? Dissenter, Guns of Hackney are both jokes. They just come on here for the sake of noise and to create disturbances especially Guns.
Watching the Fulham 2nd goal again there appears to be a lack of communication as Paulinha was allowed to make a free run from around the penalty spot to meet the cross.
Vieira had his man but it looks like Rice was maybe not touch tight with Paulinha to block his run.
This doesn’t take away from the fact that Zinchenko or jorginho really should have headed the ball away as they both appear to mis judge the Flight of the ball، Saka us in no way to blame for the goal as 1) Paulinha should have been marked and 2) the corner should have been cleared.
As I pointed out earlier in the week، not having Havertz or Gabriel or Holding on the pitch left us short of height which meant we had a small player defending that area of the near post ، if Havertz had been on the pitch he and Eddie would have defender that corner with ease ، plus of course Gabriel not being there meant Rice also wasn’t in a position to defend the near post which is the most important area to defend from a corner…
So in retrospect it was Arteta who was to blame for not having any of gabriel، Holding or Havertz on the pitch as security at dead ball situations in the closing period of the game، leaving us lacking in height at the all important near post area..
I doubt that Arteta will allow that to happen again، important to learn from your mistakes.
Pierre is ready to shit on the club he supports because of a player that was sold. Senile cunt
Olumide with the best post of the day. I can see Pedro listing a number of these excuses throughout the season.