It’s starting to feel like the good old days when Wenger was in charge. We need first-team signings badly, but the club is out here bringing in teenagers. Yesterday it was Tim Akinola, today it’s Jonathan Dinzeyi from SPURS. We’ve landed a centre half for the U23s. It seems the club is keen to add low risk / high reward players to the setup next season.
I am totally game for these sorts of signings. Just because a young player leaves a club, doesn’t mean they can’t make it elsewhere. Look no further than some of the young players we’ve exited. Gnabry, Jeff, Malen, and Bennacer tells you all you need to know about how footballers develop.
The DM reckons we’re going to land Gabriel. ESPN’s James Olley is saying we have landed him as well. There’s a lot of smoke around this player. We clearly have a good relationship after we broke our transfer record with them last year. I really don’t think there’s much of a choice between Arsenal and Napoli. Do you want to be barked at by Gattuso? Or work under the tutelage of Mikel with Edu there to shoot the shit over Brazilian politics? I know where I’d be going, sorry Genaro.
The interesting part of the story is that the Italian club is going all out to bring Sokratis the other way. The Greek centre back has fallen massively out of favour with Mikel, likely because of his passing and love for on-pitch wrestling. I can’t be arsed to look, but Sokratis and Gattuso might have played at Milan together way back when. If we can move him on, that’d be great news for Arsenal considering the weight of his contract.
There’s a tantalising story doing the rounds that Champions League minted Rennes are interested in bringing David Luiz over for a couple of seasons. He’d give them a lot of experience and the slower pace of Ligue 1 would probably work really well for the 33-year-olds fitness. I like David Luiz the leader behind the scenes, but it’s hard to look past some of the problems he had last season. If you could get FA Cup Luiz week in week out, I’d be fine, but I don’t think that exists anymore and it’ll only get worse as his pace dissipates. I also don’t think he’s a bench kind of player. If he’s not playing, he’s a nuisance. Could be best for all parties if there’s a huge role for him in France.
There are many other questions fans are asking:
What are we doing about Thomas Partey?
Is there any truth in Aouar?
When will Auba sign the contract?
Are we going to be able to sell effectively?
Will we play the swap game?
One thing to note, the transfer window is open for quite a bit this season. We have until October 5th. It’ll be interesting to see if clubs wait to see what is going on with covid precautions. More fans means more money and less reason to sell. I also think it’s clear that a lot of the cash merry go round will start when the big clubs enter the fray. It’s a little slow everywhere. Champions League and Europa League hasn’t finished yet. Patience shall be the virtue of this summer.
Long and short, don’t panic yet, there’s a bit of time to warm things up. The club wanted a flying start, I suspect that recent events have tapered our speed to market, but I’m still confident we can have a very good summer.
ESPN Brazil reckon both Manchester clubs and Bayern were in for Willian. The scales were tipped our way because of Edu and London. Nice. I really hope he has a good 3 years with us.
Right, see you in the comments!
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Karsa Orlong, that you?
Haha.
Erikson had to steal that name from somewhere.
backpass
I think most people have watched him play.
I have already said I like his overall profile.
But there is a little concern with his high yellow card count.
Now get over it please.
Casemiro had 11 yellows this season, but anybody who watched madrid this season would know that Casemiro was lucky not to get more. Would you be against signing Casemiro?
ishola Nothing is guaranteed. Even with his quality he might come and flop. But as it stands he could be our best option. He brings drive to our midfield. Tackling and Interceptions makes him the Ideal fit to our midfield. Yes that’s a lot of yellows but as long as they aren’t reds and He is doing the job we will be okay with it. Xhaka even with those yellows, but we complain because he doesn’t do the job. We need someone who can cut passing lanes in our midfield. Torriera does it but his contributions in attack aren’t great.… Read more »
Still links to Morgan Sanson of Marseille.
Maybe he serves as a safety net to the Ceballos situation, or potentially he’s a player of interest in a swap deal for Guendouzi? Looks a pure CM.
“13 yellow cards in one season is high. That is an undisputable fact.“
How many cards isn’t relevant, the point you’re trying to establish based on the number of cards is.
What are you saying about Partey that’s evidenced by 13 yellows?
Poor tackler? No discipline? Rash? Stupid? Bad decision maker? Slow?
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Still links to Morgan Sanson of Marseille.
Maybe he serves as a safety net to the Ceballos situation, or potentially he’s a player of interest in a swap deal for Guendouzi? Looks a pure CM.
Karsa
Just checking;)
Ishola
Lille accepted a 35m bid from Newcastle in January though so it can’t be that much more, probably less because of covid.
He refused to move there so you know he’s not a dummy either.
” Partey is rank average. (Just checked him earlier on you tube.)Runs around alot and crashes into people. ”
lol.. Are you serious or did you state that for a laugh
Ishola It is atletico textbook signature move, if Lodi and Tripper overlapped ( who were playing their first season in La Liga and under Simeone), it is left to Partey to disrupt the flow,something fernandez does to perfection.. Last season he had Godin and Jimenez and this season they have used Felipe ( not good enough) ,Hermoso ( not good enough) Jimenez ( drop in form) and Savic ( best defender this season). In Midfield he had Rodri to stop the flow of the opponent with koke and saul on one side. But this season has really been poor from… Read more »
*Fernadinho
So how many yellows a player gets isn’t relevant.
That’s why Arsenal signed Mustafi and Xhaka then because high yellow card count is an irrelevance.
Believe it or not a high yellow card count can indicate a weakness in a player.
In the case of Mustafi and Xhaka this high card count along with them not being real top class players means they turned out not good buys.
I’d rather not see high yellow card count against a player even if his overall ability surpasses and over-rides this.
Well there was a question mark at the start about Partey and his high yellow card count and team structure, players around him having an effect could have been one of the answers.
Lyon at as long as 10/1 to win tonight with some bookies.
They will do well to keep Bayern below 3 goals.
Paul Scholes used to foil constantly until he got booked, and then he would stop. Like clock work, every game.
Perhaps Partey is, could be the same. High Red card count would be a definite concern.
New post ladies
Ishola You have to Consider the team he is playing in and how it affects him. Athletico always play deep and try to counter with full backs and wide players in a 442. That leads to a lot of exposure. 2 main CMs have to deal with a counter against athletico. Saul Niguez also has 10 yellows in laluga alone. Casemiro also has the same issues playing next to Kroos and Modric. He is tasked with anchoring the midfield. 13 yellows for him too. Then Compare it with Rodri of city and Fabinho of Liverpool, They have 7 and 8… Read more »
Athletico do not play an expansive gave yet Partey has many yellows shows poor positional play/decision making.
Hecwould be a disaster in a team aiming ti play an expansive game.
Casemiro is crap,
Um telling you for free!