Morning all.
With Man City agreeing a deal with Leeds for Kelvin Phillips for £45-50 million according to Sky Sports, Leeds are going to be hard pushed to expect anything more for Raphinha in my opinion but they will I’m sure. English players, especially those already playing for their country, usually cost more because of the homegrown rule. Is Raphinha a better player than Phillips though? I think the answer to that is subjective. Statistics will only tell us so much but there would be no point is signing a player like Phillips if a manager wants what the Brazilian international will give to his team. Perhaps that’s something which can get overlooked. If the Leeds board know Mikel Arteta is desperate to sign their player, of course they’re going to push for every last penny they can get. Isn’t that exactly how many of us on here want Arsenal to operate?
The Arsenal of now is paying the price because of the way the club has been run in the past. Literally, but, that should change over the years to come because of the change in approach to transfers and the age of the squad Mikel Arteta and Edu are building. Give it a few years and it should be Arsenal demanding ridiculous transfer fees for their players. As long as the contracts of our players is managed well. Until then, if Arsenal want top quality experienced players, they’ll come at a hefty price and that’s just too bad really. If you’re sat there thinking “why didn’t Arsenal break the bank to sign a world class striker back in January or a midfielder” then I don’t think you can moan too much if Arsenal spend big on a player Mikel Arteta really wants. If that’s Raphinha, then so be it. Let’s not forget that isn’t wasn’t that long ago, Arsenal fans everywhere were lambasting Stan Kroenke and Arsene Wenger for not spending enough money or wasting money signing bang average players and giving those same average players a new contract when the time came.
Yesterday evening, Sky Sports announced that Arsenal had agreed a fee with Man City for Gabriel Jesus. Fabrizio Romano, probably one of the more reliable journalists, along with David Ornstein, announced the same on Twitter, saying that it was only yesterday that both clubs had agreed a fee for Jesus. £45 million apparently but as always, it’s best to wait until Arsenal officially announce he’s our player before getting overly excited, or utterly cheesed off. Lol
Of course there will be people ‘out there’ who claim this deal was done ages ago but just because they write it, it doesn’t make it true. Internet ‘ITK’s’ are likely to be even less reliable than The Mirror, Football London or The Metro etc. Still, it probably makes them feel good. Bless.
I still remember when Sky Sports announced Arsenal had pipped another club to the signing of Jonathon Woodgate, Real Madrid I think it was but where did he end up? Yep, Real Madrid. Man Utd signed Aaron Ramsey once, hang on, they didn’t because Ramsey signed for Arsenal at the last minute.
I still think, or perhaps hope, Arsenal will sign Youri Tielemans. If not him, someone with his energy, tackling abilities and experience. I know much has been written about Sambi Lokonga but it’s not necessarily him I have concerns about. It’s Granit the tortoise. A lot of what he does seems to be a second or two too late. He has his moments I know and there’s no denying his range of passing can be fantastic but I think back to Alex Song who might have been able to find RvP with a few outrageous long passes, but the rest of his game was pretty average. He was a liability too, especially with the clumsy challenges just outside the penalty area which back then, often resulted in us conceding a goal. When Granit Xhaka is considered our second best central midfielder, defensively I mean, it speaks volumes in my opinion.
Catch up in the comments…
“Song who might have been able to find RvP with a few outrageous long passes, but the rest of his game was pretty average”
Nonsense, he could do it all; strong, quick and had brilliant close control, he was almost always one of the three or four best players on the pitch when he played and was often the only one who was really “on it” in games. Probably his biggest issue was that he was a bit lazy defensively at times, wouldn’t run back to defensive positions every time he should, but ability-wise, he was top notch
Each to their own Davi, I clearly wasn’t watching through the same lens as you…
Morning all.
Morning Rico, a nice positive post, just the job on a rail strike day, yeah like you I never saw the Alex Song that some others saw, I always thought he was quite average.
I wouldn’t take too much notice of the click-baiters who rumourmonger about the salary Jesus will get, I mean has that been actually agreed yet?
I believe that the agent of Raphinha is Jorge Mendes, the same agent as Fabio Vieira, so maybe Edu is developing a ‘relationship’ with an agent we’ve previously kept at arms length?
Morning Kev, thanks.
I don’t believe any of it until a deal is official. The stuff on NN is just silly really but it’s about making money.
Interesting view on Mendes and Edu by the way. Perhaps he’s got fed up with dealing with Wolves, or is/was it Chelsea.
If we are dealing with Mendes there will be no bargain buys, indeed he will ensure that both he and his client will screw Arsenal for every last penny. Rearrange the following to create a well known phrase or saying: with, touch, wouldn’t, him, pole, with, barge, a.
I’m sure Edu is capable of looking further afield than just Mendes Cicero, he’s not every players agent. If we want Arsenal to sign top players, we have to deal with the likes of Mendes.
So long as Edu uses a long spoon, Rico. 😉
Rico, good piece. Imho, spending is not the issue. I am quite sure that majority of fans don’t want spending just for spending sake, but rather, spending that improves the squad and put a quality product on the field. The problem before was Kroenke wasn’t spending that all. But now, I guess he has realized that winning is contagious, with the Rams winning the Super Bowl and the Avalanche one win away from capturing the Stanley Cup, Denver Nuggets being perennial playoff team, and the Rapids finishing first in their Conference,
he wants success at Arsenal too.
You’ve lost me there Cicero.
7 clubs in the Premier League haven’t signed anyone yet, including Man United whilst Chelsea have signed only one player, an 18 year old goalkeeper with no fee involved.
Makes you wonder if the football landscape is changing?
Agents are a necessary evil I’m afraid, most clubs employ their own to get deals done and Mendez is as slippery as a snake, but he also has some of the most sought after players in his stable, the type of players you’ll need if you want to compete.
I’d rather we didn’t have to deal with the likes of Mendes but that isn’t going to change anytime soon.
Wenger hated that part of the game especially after Dein left, that’s why we lost out on so many quality players and players who wanted to play for him but in the end they went and played elsewhere and Arsenal gradually declined to where we were in the late 2010’s. We’ve been trying to recover ever since and to do so you have to deal with agents and agents like Mendes. The alternative is being a Europa League club for the foreseeable future…
Thanks Obi, Kroenke was spending money though, those responsible for the signings were wasting it imo.
Agreed Kev.
Good afternoon Rico and all
Jesus is coming? And why has the fee changed? I thought it was for 30 pieces of silver.
Jesus, Nketiah, Saka, Martinelli, ESR (Raphinha????)…..a fluid interchanging attack where each player can drift and interchange positions at will.
Rico an old adage, He who sups with the Devil should use a long spoon.
Afternoon Rico and all
I’m like most I will wait until the club announce it, until then any think could happen at the last minute. Even today The Daily Mail are saying that Saliba could be sold as Arsenal have been offered 25 million pound for him.
For my take Song was legend in his own lunch time with an over inflated opinion of his ability. He was ok when he played within him self but when he tried to do more his failings came to the fore. Still he conned Barca into a contract but hardly played.
Rico @12:56, but relatively though. By the end of this transfer window, Arteta’s total spending since he came to Arsenal may reach well above 500m, quite impressive, as compared with the lean later years of AW and even Emery.
Per VERY creditable source, Julien Laurens on EPPN-FC: “Manchester City and Arsenal have agreed terms over the transfer of Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal will pay £45 million plus a further £10m in add-ons for the Brazil international striker with only paperwork and a medical standing in the way of a deal being completed. The Gunners had already agreed a five-year contract with Jesus. They are also keen to sign 24-year-old Ajax and Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martinez.”
Julien is better than Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein…lol.
Not heard of that one Cicero. Hi Geoff, Devil.
I don’t know Obi, Ozil, Lacazette, Aubameyang and Pepe didn’t come cheaply. Water under the bridge now though.
Evening Rico and all.
I still have difficulties wrapping my head around Lisandro Martinez.
First even according to Julien Laurens he is a CB, a pretty small one.
Second, I don’t see Martinez having anything on William Saliba – apart from his left foot. Saliba is 3 years younger, 17 cm taller, worth about the same (according to TransferMarkt), but Saliba could be sold 20M less than Lisandro’s asking price.
And worst of all, Ryan Gravenberch, Ajax’s and the entire Eredivisie’s highest value player was sold for an insulting 16.7M. Now Ajax wants to play hard to get by trying to sell their 5th highest value player for 3 times as much? Besides I don’t think we need Martinez, I think buying him for this fee would make us quite a sucker. And not just seemingly…
Evening Pbarany. I think he’s more likely to come in as a back up for Tierney and perhaps midfield. If, and it’s an if, we sign him, I doubt we’ll see him play in the centre of midfield.
Conte was taking the agent of Gabriel Jesus on a tour around WHL. He smiled and said, “Can you imagine the atmosphere in this stadium. Especially during CL nights. We can offer Gabriel those magical nights frequently during the season”
Gabriel’s agent smiled and said, “true. And those nights are frequent as well during the early months of the campaign. But we want to win trophies too and these happen at the end of the season. Arsenal do that much more than Spurs.”
😂😂😂😂😂
Neither win them these days..
Mike Riley gone
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61937045
Saw that too Kev. 😆
Good, hope he takes a few more with him when he leaves.
Rico, but if we are in the market for a backup LB why don’t we buy someone that has more than 12 games under his belt as left back, and wouldn’t cost us an arm and leg?
If we focus on the Dutch league there are better LBs than Martinez (24, Ajax) with his 4 goal contributions: Owen Wijndal (22, Alkmaar) has 13 and Tyrell Malacia (22, Feyenoord) has 7. They are both LBs in the Dutch national team, while Lisandro never played LB for Argentina. Both players worth around 12-15M, so could cost us south from 20M, and if we try to sell Nelson to Feyenoord (which I hope we won’t), we could use Reiss in a player plus cash deal, and get a better LB for 30M cheaper…
Not till the end of the coming season! Another 38+ games of mindless mayhem, dodgy decisions and fabricated fouls free kicks and favours for friends! Oh joy!
At least the end is in sight though.. let’s hope they don’t do the equivalent of substuting Johnson for Farage😉 and then think it will turn out well!
Light at the end of the tunnel ?
We can only hope that a new leader will bring through the changes that everyone knows are needed . Nobody whoever they support is happy with the way that VAR is being operated and all agree that it needs to be completely overhauled.
The question will be who is inline to replace him , no doubt during his leaving period the candidates will be jockeying for position apparently Howard Webb is the early favourite .
Evening Rico, been a while since I contributed.
With regards transfers I think we have to follow those reputable journalist’s as you stated, Romano and Ornstien to provide the facts and not the gossip, hence why Sky Sports continually refer to them.
I have heard anyone mention this but touched on certain aspects. Which is those Brazlilian players all vying to get into the World Cup squad. What Arsenal have and it’s certainly a card we hold whereas other PL top 7 don’t is our close connection with the Brazilian squad and Brazilian players. We already have Gabriel and Martinelli aiming to tie down places in the Brazil squad. Then you add Jesus, Raphina and Martinez into the mix and suddenly have 5 potential squad players. Te advantage is that if they all start gelling and performing your making a stronger Squad selection case for all 5 players. All training and playing together will strengthen their inclusion for World Cup inclusion. Then you have Edu at the helm working with Arteta and a direct link back to Brazil and it gives Arsenal a very strong Joker which I’ve no doubt is being played during
Transfer negotiations.
My final word is, we seem to have a selection system in place under Edu and Arteta which is reaping rewards. So I say we trust their selections and back them because this could be the summer that finally get Arsenal back to World Class status and a club that can challenge for the PL title maybe for the 2024 season.
Perhaps because Arteta knows what/who he wants Pbarany. It’s easy for us just dropping names in here and there but I’d imagine the club have done more homework on a player than us.
I wonder if Mike Dean will replace Mike Riley
He has the ego Geoff but I don’t believe that he will have the support .The problem is that we don’t know the inner workings of the PGMOL and have no idea of who will make the decision or even who will be consulted.
The Arsenal transfer rumours continue to rumble on in the red tops and twitter , Jesus , Raphinha and Martinez seem to be the market leaders as they all copy each others stories but I would not be surprised to find that either they all come or none of them.
The fact that none have been tied up suggests that all the dealings are up for auction and that we are being squeezed for every last penny.
Be prepared for a signing that comes completely out of the blue and not necessarily the light blue side of Manchester
Howard Webb seems to be the front runner Geoff.
Good choice I think Kev, his history would suggest he’s about fairness.
Who gets in charge of VAR / ref’s lets just hope they clean it up and make it fair for every one.
I believe a complete reappraisal of the whole VAR concept is necessary. The protocols governing what VAR can be used for and how it can interpret judgement calls as opposed to line calls must be clarified. The final say in all decisions must be left to the on-field officials with much greater use of pitch-side monitors. However, the VAR must be allowed to intervene if there is a clear and obvious error by the ref or linesman.
From a purely entertainment point of view I would scrap the whole thing. It breaks up the flow of the game and just leads more and more controversy.
New post up now
I’d hate to see VAR go. It’s the operators of it who need to change imo.