Marseille are set to sign Elye Wahi. Marseille were bidding for Eddie in good faith, they weren't kicking tires..
Wahi is only 21 years old and he's probably better that Eddie imo, offering more opportunities to improve, unlike Eddie who's 25 years old who's in his peak years.
We've rolled the dice already and better hope we can get the likes of Bournemouth to come for Eddie. Eddie doesn't seem to be on Bournemouth's list at the moment.
Note to Arsenal, stop paying average players 100k weekly, not if we expect to get top transfer fees for them.
Not sure who that top player midfield player might be, it depends how Artedu see that position but there are options out there:
Eze is one of my top picks;
Musiala and Wirtz are obviously young and giga expensive;
Bruno G is probably not going to move;
Xavi Simons is again loaned to RB Leipzig;
Frenkie de Jong I read is on 600k pw at Barca which is absolutely unbelievable;
Kimmich, Goretzka, Rabiot, Barella, Fabian Ruiz are on the older side, obviously good but is Merino that much worse to the last 4 (Kimmich is top, top);
Zaire-Emery is about to be a star, not sure if we can pull him off at all;
Zubimendi is off the table (Pool);
Camavinga and Valverde don't sound realistic;
Gibbs-White is a favorite of mine, incredible versatility;
Ederson from Atalanta is gaining a lot of recognition;
Jacob Ramsey and Curtis Jones are my interesting shouts that I have time for.
My personal opinion is that this team is built for a Aaron Ramsey type of midfielder. I know he would have thrived with the current players we have. A Gundogan type.
I would shorten the list from above to Eze, Bruno G, Zaire-Emery, Gibbs-White, Ederson, Jacob Ramsey and Curtis Jones.
Or we could get Merino and have the platform ready to slowly give the keys to the fortress to Nwaneri. It is a real option.
Then we could end up the summer with Calafiori, Merino and a couple of goalkeepers.
And we go back to what I said months ago - get one or two top quality young players that we could loan or give limited chances to with the money we're expected to raise from ESR, Reiss, Eddie, Rams etc. There's a chance we move a few of our players with obligations to buy for next summer, meaning there will be no influx of money this summer. No doubt Rice's transfer fee will also be felt.
Calafiori, Merino, reserve GK (if Rams is sold/loaned) and one or two top quality talents and we're set.
We're not selling any main player - only squadies, including supposedly Kiwior. We're just raising the level of our squad which is nice but we cannot expect to sign top class if we're not making space for the new player by selling the previous starting player.
Zina and Jesus would have been the players I would have wanted sold this summer, but they are both expected to stay so it wouldn't make sense to expect top class players in areas we are good numerically.
I saw rumors of Coman and Adingra. I like Coman, a fantastic winger but his injury record is like looking at Tierney's. An absolute no, no.
Adingra is 22 yo and a slight upgrade on Reiss. I'm not fully convinced we need him either. Young players need to play to progress. We'll be taking a young player to give him a squad role fighting for 2 positions (at best) with Saka, Jesus, Marti, Tross and Vieira.
I'm not sure we need a winger per se. At most we need someone like Tross that can play across the front line but that fella could be Nwaneri. Reiss out, Nwaneri in and we're set.
The trick might be to bring in a top quality midfield player. Invest all of our money there and call it a day. We are fine in attack.
The play, if we wanted to get an offensive player, was to sell Jesus and bring in a Leao, Kvara, Osimhen (just throwing out random names). Apparently Jesus has been doing well lately and we've decided to give it another try (a mistake for me but there is a chance it might work). Then we're kind of stuck.
We've got Marti, Tross, Kai, Jesus, Saka, Fabio - 6 players for 3 positions. There's no doubt in my mind that Nwaneri will be a type of Foden, able to play across the front line. That makes 7 players for 3 positions. It's enough for now and we can reevaluate in the winter if we get unlucky with bad injuries.
My focus would be entirely on the LM position. Merino will work but it's not a top option. Completing all the sales we're expected to, we could go big on an LM. Get that top player in and we'll be set.
Forest have declined a €20m bid for Neco Williams from Atalanta. Neco fkin Williams man. Atalanta might come back with a higher bid or not. But the point is, how much they are willing to spend for Neco Williams.
I see Fabio Carvalho is moving to Brentford for £27.5m.
Not sure how we can be happy loaning Eddie with a clause of £25m. It's not enough money. We can do better if we wait. The teams in the PL will start to move in the last few weeks.
Samu Omorodion not going to Chavs is massive. Super talented player.
Why don't you get Arsenal a higher bidder? I mean Edu may offer you a finder's fee.
You say you know the market determines the player value but then you turn around and write these things.
The word is out that Eddie is available but Marseille are the only ones that have brought money to the table, real money to risk on a player, not your phony valuations.
The way you're going on about this, one would think it's money from your pocket.
Hard to get overly excited about a couple of friendlies but definitely nice to see us in decent form. Will be needed with Villa away, Spurs away, and City away in the first five games of the season.
With Tomi being a useless crock and Timber being a player back from an ACL injury, what is our plan when inevitably White is unavailable to play for a month or two? We're going to play there Partey - another crock?
There's no way we rely on Benny Blanco to play 51/52 games again? Where is the reliable alternative? There isn't one cause Tomiyasu is eating a spot at RB and we just renewed him 6 months ago...
Timber is expected to join the group this week, meaning not ready at the moment and he's coming back from an ACL injury.
Tomi out for weeks, prolly 2 months or so.
Who's available for the start of the season? Benny again. After playing 51/52 games last season. What happens if he gets injured for 2 months? Timber will be forced to play every single game. I doubt that his body will be able to take it. And there it is, a weakness. Cause our squad option is not available just like always.
They added a year. It isn't that big a deal. If he doesn't stay fit in the next 6 months, I am sure he will be out. Though, I want us to sell him regardless next January.
With an option for another year and as I read in this article: "Takehiro Tomiyasu gets mammoth pay rise. The Japan right-back will see his wages double to £100,000-a-week."
Bro has 4.653 mins for Arsenal over 3 seasons.
The likes of Saliba, Gabriel, White, Saka, Rice, Havertz make that in one season.
Just opening his transfermarkt injury history you can see the deep shit he's in. He's missed 10 games or more in each of his last 5 seasons in Italy and England. Five seasons in a row.
It's a joke. We could have sold him for 20m last or this summer and call it a day.
It's plain stupid, a big mistake and it's not getting any better.
I don’t think it is. I accept the availability point but Tomi put in a superb shift at LB in closing critical games last year. His flexibility across the back line is invaluable
Noise on Twitter that Eddie is leaving next week. And a lot are saying that is why he didn't get minutes now. Apparently a reliable account is saying it is close with Marseille. Will have to wait for Romano or Ornstien to confirm though.
“I was speaking to a couple of Arsenal fans who were on the USA tour & had a chance to speak to Edu. Edu said, with regards to transfers coming in, ‘Be patient, you won’t be disappointed at the end!’”
That was a good performance. I was concerned with our start to the season when our fixtures were announced. I think we can handle it now.
Zinchenko has looked very good through preseason. This was his best performance yet. Jesus looks lean and fit. Havertz has also returned at a good level and won't start from zero like last season. Martinelli was poor first half but shaked it off in the 2nd. Saka and Rice look as if they never left. Ode is Ode. And our defenders all look ready to go.
We just need a couple of signings to beef up the squad. A forward and a CM minimum. Merino will most likely be done next week from the noise. We need to get one more attacker though. It is pivotal we do so.
Thanks Habesha for your assessment of the game. Missed the game as I am at a music festival in London enjoying the lovely sun.
My assessment of the game from Wednesday was that we were really looking like we were really sharp and ready for the start of the season and your assessment is reinforcing this belief.
The Arsenal players really look like they are ready and raring to assault the PL.
Still think we need to add another goal scoring forward, preferably a striker, to unlock sticky games, like those we didn't look like scoring and not managed to win last season. Wouldn't expect Havertz and Jesus to provide the magic moments all of a sudden... also, still haven't players who could comfortably score from outside the box. Up to Edu and Arteta but not likely to win the titles with the same forwards, whether or not Eddie &/ Nelson are to be sold.
Marseille are set to sign Elye Wahi. Marseille were bidding for Eddie in good faith, they weren't kicking tires..
Wahi is only 21 years old and he's probably better that Eddie imo, offering more opportunities to improve, unlike Eddie who's 25 years old who's in his peak years.
We've rolled the dice already and better hope we can get the likes of Bournemouth to come for Eddie. Eddie doesn't seem to be on Bournemouth's list at the moment.
Note to Arsenal, stop paying average players 100k weekly, not if we expect to get top transfer fees for them.
Fab Romano
🔴🔵 Details of Brooke Norton-Cuffy deal between Genoa and Arsenal: €2m fixed fee, €2m add-ons.
5 year contract for Brooke as Genoa beat clubs from Ligue1, Bundesliga and UK to the signing.
#AFC have included a sell-on clause in the deal, medical will be in 48h.
Not sure who that top player midfield player might be, it depends how Artedu see that position but there are options out there:
Eze is one of my top picks;
Musiala and Wirtz are obviously young and giga expensive;
Bruno G is probably not going to move;
Xavi Simons is again loaned to RB Leipzig;
Frenkie de Jong I read is on 600k pw at Barca which is absolutely unbelievable;
Kimmich, Goretzka, Rabiot, Barella, Fabian Ruiz are on the older side, obviously good but is Merino that much worse to the last 4 (Kimmich is top, top);
Zaire-Emery is about to be a star, not sure if we can pull him off at all;
Zubimendi is off the table (Pool);
Camavinga and Valverde don't sound realistic;
Gibbs-White is a favorite of mine, incredible versatility;
Ederson from Atalanta is gaining a lot of recognition;
Jacob Ramsey and Curtis Jones are my interesting shouts that I have time for.
My personal opinion is that this team is built for a Aaron Ramsey type of midfielder. I know he would have thrived with the current players we have. A Gundogan type.
I would shorten the list from above to Eze, Bruno G, Zaire-Emery, Gibbs-White, Ederson, Jacob Ramsey and Curtis Jones.
Or we could get Merino and have the platform ready to slowly give the keys to the fortress to Nwaneri. It is a real option.
Then we could end up the summer with Calafiori, Merino and a couple of goalkeepers.
And we go back to what I said months ago - get one or two top quality young players that we could loan or give limited chances to with the money we're expected to raise from ESR, Reiss, Eddie, Rams etc. There's a chance we move a few of our players with obligations to buy for next summer, meaning there will be no influx of money this summer. No doubt Rice's transfer fee will also be felt.
Calafiori, Merino, reserve GK (if Rams is sold/loaned) and one or two top quality talents and we're set.
We're not selling any main player - only squadies, including supposedly Kiwior. We're just raising the level of our squad which is nice but we cannot expect to sign top class if we're not making space for the new player by selling the previous starting player.
Zina and Jesus would have been the players I would have wanted sold this summer, but they are both expected to stay so it wouldn't make sense to expect top class players in areas we are good numerically.
Nico Williams gets shirt number 🔟 at Athletic Club.
https://x.com/AthleticClub/status/1822924086038917490
So there's no doubt he's staying.
I saw rumors of Coman and Adingra. I like Coman, a fantastic winger but his injury record is like looking at Tierney's. An absolute no, no.
Adingra is 22 yo and a slight upgrade on Reiss. I'm not fully convinced we need him either. Young players need to play to progress. We'll be taking a young player to give him a squad role fighting for 2 positions (at best) with Saka, Jesus, Marti, Tross and Vieira.
I'm not sure we need a winger per se. At most we need someone like Tross that can play across the front line but that fella could be Nwaneri. Reiss out, Nwaneri in and we're set.
The trick might be to bring in a top quality midfield player. Invest all of our money there and call it a day. We are fine in attack.
The play, if we wanted to get an offensive player, was to sell Jesus and bring in a Leao, Kvara, Osimhen (just throwing out random names). Apparently Jesus has been doing well lately and we've decided to give it another try (a mistake for me but there is a chance it might work). Then we're kind of stuck.
We've got Marti, Tross, Kai, Jesus, Saka, Fabio - 6 players for 3 positions. There's no doubt in my mind that Nwaneri will be a type of Foden, able to play across the front line. That makes 7 players for 3 positions. It's enough for now and we can reevaluate in the winter if we get unlucky with bad injuries.
My focus would be entirely on the LM position. Merino will work but it's not a top option. Completing all the sales we're expected to, we could go big on an LM. Get that top player in and we'll be set.
Forest have declined a €20m bid for Neco Williams from Atalanta. Neco fkin Williams man. Atalanta might come back with a higher bid or not. But the point is, how much they are willing to spend for Neco Williams.
I see Fabio Carvalho is moving to Brentford for £27.5m.
Not sure how we can be happy loaning Eddie with a clause of £25m. It's not enough money. We can do better if we wait. The teams in the PL will start to move in the last few weeks.
Samu Omorodion not going to Chavs is massive. Super talented player.
Why don't you get Arsenal a higher bidder? I mean Edu may offer you a finder's fee.
You say you know the market determines the player value but then you turn around and write these things.
The word is out that Eddie is available but Marseille are the only ones that have brought money to the table, real money to risk on a player, not your phony valuations.
The way you're going on about this, one would think it's money from your pocket.
Watching the Chelsea circus is really funny. 😂😂😂
Hard to get overly excited about a couple of friendlies but definitely nice to see us in decent form. Will be needed with Villa away, Spurs away, and City away in the first five games of the season.
Nicholas Jover good work cannot be denied, lets give the man the credit he deserves
But...
(I'm sensing a 'but' here, denigrating some aspect not related to Jover.)
With Tomi being a useless crock and Timber being a player back from an ACL injury, what is our plan when inevitably White is unavailable to play for a month or two? We're going to play there Partey - another crock?
There's no way we rely on Benny Blanco to play 51/52 games again? Where is the reliable alternative? There isn't one cause Tomiyasu is eating a spot at RB and we just renewed him 6 months ago...
We have White Timber and Tomiyasu all at RB. I’m sure one of them at least will always be available. Josh Nichollls also looks a decent talent there
Timber is expected to join the group this week, meaning not ready at the moment and he's coming back from an ACL injury.
Tomi out for weeks, prolly 2 months or so.
Who's available for the start of the season? Benny again. After playing 51/52 games last season. What happens if he gets injured for 2 months? Timber will be forced to play every single game. I doubt that his body will be able to take it. And there it is, a weakness. Cause our squad option is not available just like always.
Arteta at post match press conference -
"Arteta says Timber's foot problem is "fine" and he's expected to be ready to train with the group this week. Tomiyasu will take "weeks from now on".
via @SamJDean
Mikel Arteta on Takehiro Tomiyasu:
“It will take weeks on that one, unfortunately. He is going to have to be patient.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
What a joke... We should have sold him instead of renewing his contract.
They added a year. It isn't that big a deal. If he doesn't stay fit in the next 6 months, I am sure he will be out. Though, I want us to sell him regardless next January.
With an option for another year and as I read in this article: "Takehiro Tomiyasu gets mammoth pay rise. The Japan right-back will see his wages double to £100,000-a-week."
Bro has 4.653 mins for Arsenal over 3 seasons.
The likes of Saliba, Gabriel, White, Saka, Rice, Havertz make that in one season.
Just opening his transfermarkt injury history you can see the deep shit he's in. He's missed 10 games or more in each of his last 5 seasons in Italy and England. Five seasons in a row.
It's a joke. We could have sold him for 20m last or this summer and call it a day.
It's plain stupid, a big mistake and it's not getting any better.
I don’t think it is. I accept the availability point but Tomi put in a superb shift at LB in closing critical games last year. His flexibility across the back line is invaluable
I accept and acknowledge the positives of Tomi but the negatives outweigh it.
Noise on Twitter that Eddie is leaving next week. And a lot are saying that is why he didn't get minutes now. Apparently a reliable account is saying it is close with Marseille. Will have to wait for Romano or Ornstien to confirm though.
Sky Sports journo on twitter -
“I was speaking to a couple of Arsenal fans who were on the USA tour & had a chance to speak to Edu. Edu said, with regards to transfers coming in, ‘Be patient, you won’t be disappointed at the end!’”
Wouldn't be upset if we cut our losses on Viera by the way, nothing to suggest he'll be bring any value to us
We don’t exactly have a queue at the door for him.
Just an opinion really, nothing about him excites or impresses
That was a good performance. I was concerned with our start to the season when our fixtures were announced. I think we can handle it now.
Zinchenko has looked very good through preseason. This was his best performance yet. Jesus looks lean and fit. Havertz has also returned at a good level and won't start from zero like last season. Martinelli was poor first half but shaked it off in the 2nd. Saka and Rice look as if they never left. Ode is Ode. And our defenders all look ready to go.
We just need a couple of signings to beef up the squad. A forward and a CM minimum. Merino will most likely be done next week from the noise. We need to get one more attacker though. It is pivotal we do so.
Thanks Habesha for your assessment of the game. Missed the game as I am at a music festival in London enjoying the lovely sun.
My assessment of the game from Wednesday was that we were really looking like we were really sharp and ready for the start of the season and your assessment is reinforcing this belief.
The Arsenal players really look like they are ready and raring to assault the PL.
We are ready to go. Just need to get the signings. The players we have here all have looked at a good enough level and we can start as a steam train.
Still think we need to add another goal scoring forward, preferably a striker, to unlock sticky games, like those we didn't look like scoring and not managed to win last season. Wouldn't expect Havertz and Jesus to provide the magic moments all of a sudden... also, still haven't players who could comfortably score from outside the box. Up to Edu and Arteta but not likely to win the titles with the same forwards, whether or not Eddie &/ Nelson are to be sold.