Morning all.
Gabriel Jesus’ move to Arsenal seems to have gone up a notch. Personal terms have been agreed according to many newspapers with The Mirror suggesting the club are going to pay him £260,000 a week. If true, it’s bonkers because City were paying him £90,000 a week. I know London is a bit more expensive than Manchester but… It’s not my money I know but where would such a vast salary leave Arsenal when they try and tie the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli etc down to new contracts?
Thomas Partey earns £200,000 a week, Nicolas Pepe, £140,000 a week and our third highest paid player is Ben White on £120,000 a week. Bukayo Saka is on £30,000 a week, £10,000 less than Alex Runasson earns! The figures are from Spotrac.com.
Food for thought eh?
Mikel Arteta and Edu were criticised during their first year at Arsenal after a few dodgy signings were made and Aubameyang signed a new contract but things seem to have improved enormously as far as transfers go. There’s a plan that’s for sure as Edu confirmed when asked about the club investing in younger players:
One hundred per cent. That has to be Arsenal. We have to go into the market for exciting players with the right age, right attitude and right mentality. We want to see a club like Arsenal with a young squad, an exciting squad with a big, big future because as I said last summer, the idea is to have a young squad. We want to give them the opportunity to play together for two, three, four, five or six seasons.
I totally understand why the club has gone down this route. Footballers don’t come cheap unless they’re in their final year of contract or the selling club wants them gone. Even though Gabriel Jesus might cost £50m odd, if he arrives at Arsenal and scores 20 odd goals next season, his value will only increase. Same applies to Fabio Vieira and Marquinhos. There’s no guarantee they’ll hit the ground running but that’s the risk with every transfer any club makes. Look at what happened with Lukaku. £100m for what? 2/3 more goals than Eddie Nketiah scored in far less games.
We still have a lot to do but we are really excited to start the season with the players we target and the players we want to sign.
I don’t get the impression Edu is making empty promises. Why make such bold statements if there isn’t a chance the club will deliver? No sane person would do that unless he/she wasn’t 100% confident actions wouldn’t prove to be bigger than words. Edu added that the business the club are doing this summer follows months of planning.
This summer is just the consequence of what we’ve been working on a lot, to try to find the best players, the best targets. We identify really what we need in the squad, so when we started this summer, we are prepared.
We’ve gone from being a club which appeared to be leave things until the last minute in a transfer window, waiting for a player’s agent to offer his client to Arsenal, to being proactive, having a plan and the ability to execute that plan. Last summer was the turning point I think when Mikel Arteta and Edu addressed the gaps in the squad. Not all in my opinion but the club doesn’t have a bottomless money jar to dip into. A year on and the club are in the same frame of mind with three additions already through the door and a massive hint of more to come.
Transfers aren’t the only solution to any clubs problems though and last season, I thought we had a few of those. The team’s mindset was one, rotation another, or rather lack of it, a lack of goals and a midfield to gel our attack and defence together. More depth and strength could/should solve the rotation problem, a midfielder stronger, quicker and better than anyone we currently have on the books would certainly offer more protection to our defence which in turn will help our attacking players and if we can have a stronger start to the season than last, confidence will hopefully grow and grow. Only confidence and inner belief will help change a teams mindset in my opinion.
One man who isn’t short of self confidence is Eddie Nketiah. The Telegraph quote him as saying:
When you get a run of eight games in the first team, you get that database and platform to show everything you can do. I have worked a lot with the manager on playing with my back to goal, on the spaces to drop into and link play. Of course it has been developed, but at the same time you don’t get here by just standing in the penalty box and scoring a goal.
People are always going to say things, but I know what I can do. The people that have played with me, played against me, the coaches that have worked with me, I know how they feel about me.
Every team needs a squad to compete. The club is always looking for ways to strengthen. They have extended my deal and they have done so for a reason. Whoever comes in, you relish the challenge. You make them feel welcome, and then you fight and compete.
Fight and compete. Isn’t that exactly what we want from every Arsenal player, the passion to fight for a place in the team and not just accept a spot on the bench? At the moment, Nketiah is our only out and out senior striker but he needs competition. Healthy competition. Every player needs that and not only for the benefit of the team but for themselves too. Without it, it’s easy to become complacent. No player should believe that his place in the team is a certainty. Having a strong and deep squad is the only way to ensure they don’t….
Catch up in the comments.
Morning Rico and all
Well put Rico, It’s good to see us active early and not waiting for the last minute, and as exciting as it may be to see who does come in I think we need to start moving some players on either sell or loan. Unless I was a sleep we still don’t know if Saliba is coming back or not also doesn’t Bellerin return as well
Morning Geoff and all.
Both Saliba and Arteta has said he’s coming back. You’ve been asleep Geoff 😀
G’day Rico, to be honest I can’t see Arsenal paying anything like £260,000 a week to any player. Jesus is currently on £110,000 per week, to more than double that figure on top of a probable £50 million transfer fee would be entirely unsustainable.
NIce scribe Rico
We aren’t used to therse early deals. It’s good to have a plan, which looks like it’s been in place for a while.
Still not convinced by Jesus. Hopefully he will prove me wrong. Maybe I should have faith in Jesus!
The mirror is a bit late to the party ,It was widely reported when i was in Cyprus that it was a done deal and the salary was nowhere near the £220,000 mark but since then every report you read puts the fee up and the mirror has just copied the previous one and added ten percent for good measure.
He won’t be cheap but he won’t hold the record salary either and our youngsters will find that they will get a boost in theirs or they will have to get a job on the railways..
Still things are taking shape and all we can do is hope that they have got it right this time.
Hi Cicero, £90k according to reports, even worse.
Thanks Pete. Early deals are a bit unknown, I was waiting for August.. lol
Amen to that Potter, just hope we don’t forget the defensive side of our game. Eg – a central defensive midfielder.
Football Insider are reporting that Burnley have agreed to sign Ballard for £2m.
I wouldn’t worry about those red-top figures from the mirror. They automatically inflate fees and salaries to make stories more sensational, even for neutral fans. I’ve heard from well sourced people on podcasts that it’s max 220k that probably includes add ons. To put in perspective, Lacazette was on 180k for years.
They did the same thing taking Nketiahs new deal to over 100k because that sounds better. But that amount includes bonuses and even factors in the sign on bonus we gave him.
It’s not really important, but the media like to make Arsenal out as mugs in dealings, but rarely mentions the incredible amounts Chelsea spent on flops much bigger than Pepe.
Kepa… was it 60 to 80 million ..
Werner 50m ..almost no goals.
Lukaku.. no need to say any more. Historic flop.
Pepe goal and assist production is not even so bad for minutes played, he just doesn’t fit in.
The only newspaper worth taking any notice of is the Athletic imo, Ornstein and on Twitter it’s Fabrizio Romano, they’re usually not far off. The rest just make it up as they go along.
True, Nigel, Pepe’s return wasn’t as bad as fans prefer to see/remember.
It was Lacazette who was among the PL’s top 5 chance converting forward (I remember him being #1, but it was my own analysis, so could have been incomplete), and now he was among PL’s bottom 5 (along with Harry Kane and Timo Werner).
Pepe wasn’t horrible, but he couldn’t provide the spark to the losing games as many of us expected from him.
Lacazette, Aubameyang and Pepe – all had a poor season imo. At least Lacazette put more effort in though.
Lacazette despite not having the best of time towards the end of his tenure was at least a consummate professional . He represented the club and supported the manager and took it upon himself to help the younger players . For that alone he deserves a lot of credit. He could have sat and sulked but chose not too.
I really don’t get it, is Raphinha that much better than Martinelli to warrant a 50m bid, possibly 70m with add-on? I watched the guy all season, I don’t see it. For that much money I will go after Ward-Prowse, a leader with skills that is needed and more suited than Tielemans. Someone has to lead the young players they are assembling. When would Arteta and Edu realize that Xhaka is a liability? This season alone he caused us about 3 games. As Potter said, Lacazette was a leader, and there’s a need for leadership on the team.
‘morning all. For those of you who believe The Athletic, Marseille want to take Tavares on loan and Arsenal will allow that if they can sign a replacement in that position.
As do Atlanta apparently.
Yes, Rico & Potter, even when his shot conversion failed him Lacazette had an unbelievable work-rate and a good influence over the team.
Obi, I agree about Raphina being inflated. But so was White a season ago. And if we buy a decent yet not amazing (DYNA) player even for a crazy price, we have no choice but to stand behind him.
Absolutely Pbarany, he put the likes of Auba and Ozil etc to shame.
I hope we swerve Raphinha too
The Lacazette I watched last season hid behind defenders, trotted around the pitch and made sure he didn’t get an injury so his new contract would be pumped. The Lacazette I read in the comments above was a myth.
@Rico my friend who watched Raphina at Leeds said he was a game changing player.
Good Morning Rico and all
The Jesus rumours keep rumbling on. And while I accept that certain transfers need time, tbh, this is getting on my nerves.
Can you imagine what headlines we will get if Jesus actually signs for us?
Jesus scores a hat-trick.
Jesus makes Gunners believe again.
Mohammed (Elneny) with the equalizer. Jesus with the winner.
Jesus rescues Arsenal with a late goal.
Jesus performs miracles in win against United.
Mohammed (Elneny) leads annihilation against Spurs.
Mohammed and Jesus combine to crush City.
Jesus and Mohammed hug each other after combining to secure EPL title number 15.
As KEv said a few days ago….with Jesus and Mohammed in our team what can go wrong.
Devil, What could go wrong , Jesus and Mohammed could be so busy with all their followers that they forget to turn up on match day. lol
Hasn’t he got a bit of attitude though Pete? At the end of the day, if he joins then I’ll be right behind him.
The Raphina myth at Leeds was quite understandable , they had nothing else to hang on to and therefore he became their fans superstar.
The rumours of our interest in him have been rumbling for sometime and I reckon it could well be wishful thinking on both he and his agents behalf .
If he joins us well so be it , but I don’t see where we need him . Central midfield is way more important in my view.
We have already got a number of pretty players and a few ugly ones at the back but it’s the engine room that needs improving most.
@Devil it was a shame we weren’t in for Nick Pope.
Pope, Jesus & Mohammed in the same side!
Afternoon Campers, Rico maybe that attitude (Raphinha) comes from him being a bad loser, I like bad losers because that means they want to win all the time.
DG, with Mo and Jesus in team team then God will lead us to the promised land, Hallelujah.
Hi Devil.
Could be Kev and if it is, not such a big swerve then but as Potter suggests, central midfield can’t be missed out on because it’s probably our weakest unit. Other than up front and in defence of course. 😂
The team needs strengthening all around not just in one department and not the other.
Obviously there are glaring deficiencies in some and not others however strength in depth is needed all around.
CDM needs to be strong and upgraded….because it is in front of the defence and is also the basis for our attack
Arsenal have set their sights on Lens midfielder Seko Fofana, according to L’Equipe.
The Gunners have already bolstered their midfield ranks this summer by signing Fabio Vieira.
Now, Arsenal are apparently prioritising new recruits in attack.
Arsenal must be the only team in the world with One Jesus, One Mohammed, Three Gabriels (Archangels) and a livewire demon who goes by the name of Saka. If this conglomerate of powers and principalities dont win us the EPL and also the CL we will never be able to win it.
Manchester City have agreed a deal with Leeds for England midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
The fee agreed is between £45m and £50m.
The deal has yet to be officially completed as Phillips still needs to agree personal terms and pass a medical. He also needs to give his final blessing to move, which he is expected to do.
Sky Sports News understands, out of loyalty to Leeds, the only club he would have joined was Manchester City and he has turned down approaches from other clubs.
The 26-year-old will look to fill the void left by Fernandinho at City, who revealed he will be leaving the club this summer after nine years with the club.
William Alain André Gabriel Saliba ……. ,Gabriel Martinelli ……….., . Gabriel two saints ( Dos Santos ) Magalhães.
Mohammed Elneny ……… , Seko Mohammed Fofana ,
If we get Gabriel Jesus as well we would have 4 angels , 2 Mohammeds with a couple of saints thrown in as well not to mention the son of God..
Maybe we should change the stadium name to the Cathedral.
According to Fabrizio Romano and Ornstein Arsenal and Man City have agreed a fee of £45m for Gabriel Jesus, the deal should be concluded in the next few days.
So if Kalvin Phillips, Leeds best player is sold for 45m + add ons that is less than 3m; why would anyone pay 50-60m for Raphinha, arguably their second best player?
Well we can forget Raphinha, he’s turned down offers from Premiership clubs in favour of Barcelona.
£45 million is way over the top for Jesus. Arsenal have denied that Marcello Pettinatti, the agent of Jesus, is in London to complete the deal.
Jesus’ wages are up again to £250000 a week ( the boot room ) , if we are doing it get it done and stop the daily exaggeration. It’s boring !
New post up now