I think the one thing about Arsenal at the moment is that if this season doesn’t finish and the club doesn’t receive the financial payments it would have expected a couple of months ago, there are going to be player sales. It’s widely anticipated that our captain Aubameyang will be one of the first. Real Madrid are reported to be keen if we’re to believe headlines on NewsNow but I doubt they’ll be the only club.
The best Arsenal can hope for is a bidding war if he’s adamant about leaving. The board could put their foot down and say no to any club which wants him but that would be foolish and in any case, the money Aubameyang would sell for, is no doubt much needed.
Same scenario, different year eh. Vieira, Henry, Fabregas, Vermaelen, RvP, Gallas and even Arteta himself, all left us whilst wearing the captains armband. Now it looks like Aubameyang will be the next on the list.
But, as the old saying goes, as one door closes, another one opens which will certainly be the case for not only the likes of Martinelli and Eddie, but also for any player who comes in who’ll likely be younger, perhaps less experienced and certainly cheaper to fund. As said the other day, there are players in the under 23’s who’ll also be pushing for a first team debut.
The point of today’s article though is should Aubameyang leave, Mikel Arteta will be without a captain. Whilst our man from the high flying Gabon international team might lead from the front with his goals, I don’t think he’s a natural leader. I’m not sure he’d have been Mikel Arteta’s choice either but when he took over, I doubt he wanted to rock any more boats than he really needed to. Come pre-season, whenever that might be, Arteta might will be free to select a captain of his own choice.
But who?
I can’t think of anyone who jumps off the squad list apart from Luiz, who to be fair to him, has really shown leadership skills since Arteta took over and perhaps he’d be the ideal man to take over should Auba leave.
Today on Arsenal.com, the final game of our 2015/16 is being featured on Reload Day. We needed to better the Toots result at already-relegated Newcastle in order to overtake them in the league and secure second place. It was a farewell to Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky and Flamini day too.
For me though, it’ll always be the season that Arsene Wenger and his squad blew the best chance they’d had in years to win the Premier League.
Stay safe guys and stay healthy.
Morning Rico and thanks,
the curse of the captain strikes again. Perhaps we should make Ozil captain.
Seriously I think we will be lucky to get £30m for Aubameyang.
In a post virus world more than ever clubs won’t want to spend big on a 31 year old.
Thinking about it, Ozil has been captain before, he seems unmovable though!
Good morning Rico ad all.
Thanks for the post, I think it’s a matter of when, not if, Aubameyang leaves. It will give Arteta a chance to kick the whole captaincy farrago into touch. No more “five captains” garbage, he needs to choose one player and make him Club Captain, (the capital letters are deliberate) give him the authority and backing to make decisions on the field and make sure the rest of the team respect both the Captaincy and those decisions.
The club Captain has to represent the players, an provide a channel for feed back from them to the Head Coach and vice versa, so no more nonsense about the team voting, in a beauty contest, for a new Captain.
On a totally different subject, this morning’s Telegraph business section is reporting on the financial difficulties of our main shirt sponsor Adidas. The company is in negotiations with the German government for a €3 billion loan guarantee to support them through the financial fallout from the lockdown.
Should Adidas fail, Arsenal will be hard put to find another sponsor willing to pay the same kind of money, in a post Covid-19 world.
Morning Limey, Cicero and all.
Ozil will be gone next summer thank goodness. I’m not overly fussed about Aubameyang leaving as long as Arsenal use any money wisely.
I’m surprised to hear that about Adidas, what hope have the rest got. Bar Nike..
Nice one, Rico… well as I’ve said many times before (& sent you to sleep 😂) I don’t want Auba to go…. I think he will though, and I’m with you – Luiz for captain all day long, he’s ideal.
Yes, after beating Leicester at the Emirates, I was dreaming…. but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be…
Really enjoyed watching the Reloaded games 👍
Apparently Longstaff is looking for £ 20k but Newcastle won’t give it to him .
We just need our purchasing team to be as canny as all the others . If Auba has gone from £ 50 million to £30 then so has everyone else .
We have to ask the question of exactly where we need to buy if at all. Should Auba go with Martinelli , Nketiah , John Jules , Olayinka and Balogan coming through to join Lacazette do we need another forward.
Like many I have long felt that midfield is the area that needs attention ,we have plenty of skillful touch players but the steel is missing. Emery had problems with Torriera’s height so I would be looking there.
As you read your way through various Arsenal sites people aim complaints about the defenders but I feel that with proper protection in front the improvement will be noticeable .
I would be looking to strengthen there.
Do I get penalty points for repetition ?
Thanks Sue, I’m not fussed only because this Arsenal squad needs players who want to be at the club. If he, or anyone else for that matter, thinks the grass is greener elsewhere then they can go too…
Potter, you and I have thought similarly on this one. Unless we have a mass sale of central defenders, it’d be the last position I’d spend money on. A midfielder would be my first signing. A Gilberto kind of guy with a footballing brain.
No. Lol…
Interestingly, Gilberto reckons Elneny is a guy who is the closest to a Vieira mould we’ve had at the club for ages.
I’ve always been a fan of his too. Right player, wrong manager imo. Perhaps Arteta will think differently about him.
I was quite surprised at that, Rico.. and even more so on Twitter at someone saying Elneny is better than Torreira!!
Yes we may see him back at the Emirates…
Blimey, Netflix, Amazon Prime et al, what about reading a book? 🙂
Arsene Wenger’s book is out soon, from the horses mouth, I wonder if he’ll explain why he signed Mikael Silvestre?
I watched a couple of videos of Elneny from the time before we bought him . He was a box to box player similar in many ways to Ramsey with the added extra of long shots and diagonal passes . All of this seemed to be bred out of him within days of touching down .
When you see him playing for Egypt he is a different player, currently he is in Turkey , it would be interesting to see him playing for Besiktas and see what he is doing there.
When you look at some of figures Swiss Ramble put at recently and the possible losses, I can’t see Arsenal doing hardly any business in the next transfer window – whenever that is?
Unless Raul has some free transfers lined up, to me it’s the same old for next season, especially if it kicks off behind closed door.
He was a tidy player before joining us Sue and for a while afterwards imo but he got pushed aside and that was that.
Kev, I have a good one of those to hand too. Jo Nesbo.
Mr Recycler and keeping it simple. Funny how he’s reverted to playing the ball forwards since he left us.
The Turkish league is slower and not so intense as the English one.
Elneny shines because he is an above average player and the pace is what suits him.
I know what I am talking about, because it is (it was) a habit here that they broadcast 1 or 2 Turkish league games in addition to seeing the championship summaries weekly.
As for Aubeymaung (and others): no one at the moment offers millions for a player (much more at the age of 30) not knowing exactly what the future will look like in terms of sponsors, television broadcasts and the public.
All the Clubs of the World are, for now, intending to make deep cuts in the players’ salaries in a 1st phase; reached the end of the contract, they will probably be free. The agent’s season may be almost over because no one will be willing to pay, for example, 30 million to a player and 15 to go to the agent.
Come on Arsenal!
Stay at home, if you hate Totts, M. United and Liverpool and you want to see Arsenal champion again!
Hi All Luiz could be a good captain but If I was to pick a out sider then Xhaka and I would not bring Elneny back its now time to look for some one younger.
Hi Rico If Adidas are having money issues then why can’t Kroenke sports become our major sponsor and simple double the amount Adidas offered. and then keep Adidas as a smaller sponsor until they get back on there feet
That’s not what Kroenke does . His track record is to take rather than give. Even his new stadium in L.A is underwritten by a money lending organisation and the surrounding area is full of real estate where he builds shopping malls and lets the stores .
Geoff, don’t you think that by now if Kroenke wanted to put money into the club he would have found a way to do so?
I see that Arsenal’s executives are taking a one third pay cut.
Colorado Mammoth :- Lacrosse sponsored by Vakuta Capital
Colorado Rapids Football Wells Fargo currently looking for more sponsors
Denver Nuggets Western Union
Colorado Avalanche Millers Coors
L.A. Rams American Airlines
Arsenal Emirates
No sign of KSE or Walmart anywhere and some of those look to be in a dodgy state as well.
Lets face it Kroenke will never help arsenal and that’s why parts of me feel that if the owner is not going to help then why should the players help the club and take a pay cut no matter what happens it’s us fans that loose out
He could sponsor the stadium perhaps Geoff but I’m not sure of the rules surrounding that.
Limey, just read that too and I’m pleased. Take cut as a club and no one can complain really..
Atletico want Lacazette apparently. Good. Lol
What do you reckon Rico, £45/£50m for Lacazette, 29, 2 years on his deal?
Maybe a deal for Thomas Partley?
Partley and £10m for Lacazette?
Enjoyed watching Reloaded… Arteta crying at the end – that always chokes me up seeing a man crying! Who’d have thought back then a few years later he’d be back as our head coach!! What a player Rosicky was too 👍
Ooh I’ve just seen starting Friday there’s live darts on – from their living rooms!! Should be good!!
Don’t know Kev, his form hasn’t been brilliant.
Partley is just what we need, on paper and YouTube 😂
Not watched reloaded yet, but certainly intend to..
Kev, I think we would be lucky to get £35/40 million for Lacazette now.
New post up now