Morning all.
Expect nothing and you won’t be left disappointed. One whole month of a winter transfer window and so far, all we’ve seen is players leave. At the time of writing, there’s sixteen hours left for Arsenal to get one or two players through the entrance door, otherwise that’s it until the summer.
Personally, I think it’s risky not to add to the squad, but if that’s how Arsenal are playing it, it says an awful lot about where Arsenal are as a club. But, I’d rather the club sign no one than than to just sign anyone to make up the numbers, after all, we might as well have kept players who’ve either left on loan or sold if we’re going to do that. Honestly, I can’t see Arsenal doing that because that’s not progress, that’s panic.
Not every player in the game wants to play for Arsenal, that’s a fact. Not every player Arsenal are linked with, is wanted by Arsenal either. Sky Sports, Twitter ITK’s, David Ornstein and many others might try and tell us otherwise of course.
What doesn’t help Arsenal fans, or many other club fans during a transfer window, is seeing certain clubs spend millions on a glut of players yet our own club isn’t. Especially when it’s that lot just down the road reported to be getting in on the action.
Newcastle Utd were always going to be throwing their money around this month because for the first time in years, they have plenty of it but it doesn’t automatically mean they’ll avoid relegation. Eddie Howe might feel like he’s won the lottery today but will he get all his players to gel together? Mikel Arteta has had over two two years at Arsenal and six months with his new summer signings yet things are far from perfect on the pitch. Admittedly, Howe is far more experienced in management than Arteta.
Take Newcastle Utd out of the equation though and not many clubs have done a lot during this transfer window. Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, West Ham and Leicester City have done nothing so far. That’s not me trying to justify Arsenal not bringing a striker and midfielder by the way, it’s just an observation. A comparison. Aston Villa have been pretty busy though as have Wolves but had Arsenal signed any of the players they have, I’m sure there would be a lot of grumbling.
Arsenal need quality over quantity. Actually, that’s not true as the club need both if we’re going to challenge the clubs currently occupying the top three next season. Just my opinion I know but I also think we need more from Mikel Arteta before and during a game. Talk is easy but it’s the doing what matters. That’s what gets results.
As does being able to score goals of course but Mikel Arteta can’t be blamed for Arsenal players missing chances when they arise, which is quite often these days. Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Saka, Odegaard – they’re all guilty of missing goal scoring opportunities throughout the season which to you and I look simple. Why though? Well that’s down to Mikel Arteta and the individuals to work out between them. Is it as simple as needing a top class striker or do we need a player who scores goals? Both don’t always go hand in hand in my opinion.
I’d love for Arsenal to announce a huge striker name today, I really would. A player who is proved, knows where the goal is and is clinical but the days of Arsenal signing someone like that seem to be a thing of the past. Understandably really as look where big names and big egos have got Arsenal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the most recent big named player to help Arsenal win a trophy with his goals but look at what’s happened to him in recent seasons.
Arsenal best players over the years have often been ones who’ve been struggling elsewhere and simply need a new challenge like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Aubameyang himself in a way, or the likes of Freddie, Bobby Pires, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky – the list is too long to carry on but just because they became noticed playing for Arsenal, it doesn’t mean they were at the level they were with us, before coming to England. Similar could be said about 2/3 signings Arsenal made in the summer.
So I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Arsenal signed a player or two today who isn’t the all singing and dancing name we might choose to sign but that doesn’t really bother me, as long as that player makes a big difference to the team on the pitch from the moment he/they step foot on it.
Is that me lowering my expectations of Arsenal FC? Probably, and that’s down to the the club but equally, it’s about me accepting that not all big name players will work hard for the duration of their stay at Arsenal. Not all big names will see past the razzmatazz of England’s capital city and look at what The Arsenal means to its fans.
I’m off to find my tin hat and turn on Sky Sports.
See you in the comments.
We do look light up front. Lacazette will need to stay fit and interested for the rest of the season. The thought of Nketiah starting for 5-10 games worries me.
Isaak for £75m? He looked ok at the Euros, not £75m special. I think we will end up with either Ivan Toney or Tammy Abraham, but not til the summer. I can see Abraham being swapped for Xhaka.
I wonder if we will end up with Juventus’ dirty washing for the rest of the season. Morata fills a gap. Not my cuppa, but…
Keeping Lacazette interested and fit is key, I agree but with a new club looming in the summer for him, Nketia too, how much will they be thinking of that rather the job in hand for Arsenal.
If Mikel Arteta thinks the squad is good enough for top four as it is, one has to wonder why we’ve not been doing better with a bigger squad.
Arsenal now remind me of the final years under Arsene Wenger.
Pepe is now training in Dubai. We could do with him stepping up over the next few months.
Today’s the day when it all comes clear , OR NOT !
I would like to think that sometime in November / December Edu and Arteta sat down and took stock of the squad , whose signed up and who either wants to leave or the club wants to go.
Currently we have 34 players listed , 12 of whom have not set on the pitch for the first team squad apart from the occasional pre season friendly and currently have 19 players on loan 10 of whom have yet to play for the team .
Of the 22 remaining , and that includes Patino, it is widely believed that 4 want out as quick as possible and will not be with us next season.
Of the 9 first teamers on loan , only one is likely to return ( Saliba ) and if you believe those paragons of virtuous reporting he doesn’ t want to come back and prefers to stay in Marseille and doesn’t like Arteta to boot.
I am not making a case for anything just putting down what I believe the powers at Arsenal should have done and possibly have some time ago.
If there is a process it must realise that we will need a forward or two and at least one defensive midfielder but logic suggests to me that we can’t do that until the future contributions of Aubameyang , Lacazette and Nketiah are decided. and furthermore in the midfield until we have moved on AMN , Torriera and Guendouzi . Despite the fact that we have been shedding players they have in the main gone on loan and we have only actually recieved cash for Willock , which is certainly not enough to fund the neccessary purchases.
The Covid pandemic has had a detrimental affect on football’s finances and our inability to sell players is now coming back to bite us . We purport to be a self funding entity , as far as I can see , we have not been doing enough to fund ourselves long term and have spent most of Arteta’s time , making knee jerk decisions often not for the best.
Hi Rico.. I don’t know about Arsenal panicking but I certainly am!! It appears we’re relying on Eddie, who we’ve turned down offers for and will let him walk away for nowt in the summer and Laca.. remind me of how many goals they’ve both scored this season?Then there’s Elneny, who has now played more minutes for Egypt at AFCON than Arsenal this season… what a mess!
As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t look good! After the rubbish month we’ve just had – no cups, 1 goal scored.. you’d have thought some sort of plan was put in place, not wait until the last day/hour of the window [again].. top 4/6 is all we have left.. we have to make those European places, otherwise we’ll be left even further behind and I’m sorry but with the team we have right this minute can we rely on them getting us to that spot? I’m not so sure..
What a massive gamble we’re taking.. let’s hope we can pull it off..
And according to Arteta ‘All the best players in the world want to join Arsenal’
Oh really?!
Good day! Nice post with a lot to agree with.
– ‘I’d rather the club sign no one than than to just sign anyone to make up the numbers’ – indeed so; quantity doesn’t become quality.
– ‘What doesn’t help Arsenal fans […] during a transfer window, is seeing certain clubs spend millions on a glut of players yet our own club isn’t’ – I admit making fans happy is important, but the way is to win games and to play attractive football. Spending money is not the goal but the mean to achieve an improvement, so it cannot be demanded per se.
– ‘I also think we need more from Mikel Arteta before and during a game. Talk is easy but it’s the doing what matters.’ – <3
– 'Mikel Arteta can’t be blamed for Arsenal players missing chances when they arise' – I half agree. I mean I obviously agree that Mikel cannot score himself on behalf of the players, and I wouldn't throw a tantrum if we had a game against a peer or inferior opponent where 11 out of 16 shots were on target but the opponent's goalkeeper had an inspired day, they were saved by the bar twice and the post once and a seemingly correct goal was chalked out for an infringement in the build-up. But if the team keeps completing games with 4-6 key passes, 2 shots on target and the only major chance wasted by the striker, that's partly on Arteta. Not the missing part (however if it becomes a pattern instead of an isolated case then some might question the motivation or mental preparation), but the low number of chances.
– 'if Arsenal signed a player or two today who isn’t the all singing and dancing name we might choose to sign but that doesn’t really bother me' – good point, me neither. But the price is extremely important. From that perspective Tavares and Lokonga were perfect examples (and hopefully signings). Or Martinelli. We can – or probably should – gamble with players that are not yet on the radar of Real Madrid, Juventus and PSG, but could become world class in Arsenal. But even for them the risk should be included in the asking price. For 50-70M we need an established, class player who could hit the ground running. If we go for the Gabriel/Tierney/Tomiyasu way (which I wouldn't mind a bit) then we shouldn't spend more than 15-25M for a player.
Well put Potter. I get the feeling Arsenal are making things up as they go along. As said before, if we can beat a team like Burnley with the squad we had, how is that going to improve with less players in the squad.
Hi Sue, a friend just text me. ‘We have had more red cards in 2022 than goals’ – that’s the reality of our situation.
How many more ‘world class’ players are going to be isolated by Arteta and then left out of the squad. Arteta has never been good enough to manage Arsenal and results have proven this and where is the progress??
Just in passing. Perhaps Arteta is thinking of using Pepe down the middle on a more regular basis. After all, he is our record signing, so he must have something a little special in his locker. It’s just that we haven’t seen it yet!
Morning al.
I wonder where Rambo will end up; he’s back in the UK…
Pbarany, Burnley was just an example. I look back at the way we’ve played all season. At Utd, Everton, Anfield in the League. Have we show real sign or progress?
Maurice, players, especially our captain, should stick to the rules though.
Wavy, I think that’ll happen at some stage too.
Morning Rico. Progress is a tricky one. I believe that, statistically the answer is no. There have been sporadic signs of improvement, but as a club, we seem unable to ever really drive the feeling of improvement far enough to convince the fans.
Speaking to friends, I’d say that Mikel’s popularity is hanging by a thread as more and more people decide whether he is doing very much at all except talking a good game and run around a lot.
A few more Burnley-type results and a failure to finish in the European places and it will look grim for him.
Pepe is set to leave today….
According to NN. 🤣
Morning Adam. Agree re the football. One day it seems things are changing for the better and the next, we’re back to last season’s kind of performances just with different players.
Yep, talking is easy isn’t it. We can all do that but putting something into practice is a very different thing.
I think we have made progress.
The market has been depressed for sales and wages right at the time that we had players to shift who were on high wages. It’s not a surprise to me that we cannot get rid of them.
We went through a stage in our purchasing a few years ago where it all looked a bit desperate and we did some silly things with new contracts as well. We are still paying the price for that.
Since Gazidis/Sanllehi have gone we seem to be moving in the right direction. Just not as fast as I would like. The dead wood and mercenaries are going. Those with crappy attitudes are going. That’s all good.
Bringing people in has been pretty good (excluding Runarsson).
As for this window I think it is obvious that we are trying to continue the clear out and that we have tried for a few players. I just think we have failed in our targets and are moving on to others. Whether they can be done in time, or at the right cost, is a different matter.
If Auba stays I can see nothing more happening today, but as he has been sighted in Barcelona I think he is gone.
I think that leaves 3 options;
1. Nothing happens and we are waiting until summer for our targets. This will leave us short this season but this is better than wasting money. Not at all ideal though and would be a failure in my eyes.
2. We get a last minute short term loan in to cover until the summer window.
3. We trigger a buy out clause somewhere and bring in one of our targets but at an inflated price.
Not long to go now.
Raúl de Tomas, a 27 year old striker from Espanyol is today’s hot news, but the 60M fee (release clause) is a joke. Even though TransferMarkt’s evaluation is not the highest authority, it is still a good indicator to start the conversation with. de Tomas currently worth 13,5M and his all time highest value was 18M for the twice capped Real Madrid academy player. He is decent at hold-up play, but he is extremely card-prone.
As he is Espanyol’s #1 forward and 2nd highest valued player (behind Man City loanee Herrera) I don’t expect this deal to materialize.
Afternoon Rico and all
just wondering If we don’t bring anyone in did Arteta blow the budget in the last transfer market and was that why he was in the America trying to get more money and Kroenke refused.
If we don’t bring anyone in and fail to make top 5 then Arteta has to go.
What do they say about sinking ships ?
, Players talk and a large group have been together in Africa and lets face it who in our contingent will have exactly been singing our praises.. Partey has found things difficult in our disfunctional team, Pepe and Elneny both first picks for their countries spend their time polishing the benches here and the least said about Auba the better.
Now we have the Marseille trio , do we really belive that Guendouzi and now Kolasinac have had a good word to say to Saliba .
We have our own players going all over the place to get a game . Nketiah , Nelson , AMN , the purpose of an academy is to bring through young players and keep the best whilst getting money for the others but we don’t actually get round to the last bit . We loan them and then do it again and when their contract is up they go for next to nothing .
What money will we get for Guendouzi ,Mavropanus , Ballard , Harry Clarke , Bellerin , Torriera , not a lot I will bet.
Will Azeez , John Jules , Illiev , Patino , Hutchinson etc make it as regulars before they too get the itchy foot syndrome and where will they go ? Probably like Chambers they will hang about not getting used and then bugger off for no reward .
We are being run like Fred Karno’s army.
Agreed with Adam.
Mikel was at the peak of his popularity as Arsenal won the FA Cup, but it is downhill ever since.
He is popular among fans for having the club DNA, being young and bringing top experience from Guardiola, but the results and the attractive play is missing. Even though it’s hard to dispute that the quality of the squad is improving, despite the inelegant departure of Özil. Nevertheless academy players are treated worse than under Wenger (obviously) and Emery, and for a club already behind in finances compared to Chelsea and the Manchester clubs, dissipating club value as happened with Guendouzi, Torreira, Mavropanos, Nelson, Kolasinac, Sokratis, possibly Lacazette, Leno, Nketiah and Saliba doesn’t look good. Even after leaving Arsenal I don’t see a decent club coming for him…
Good points, Potter.
Iliev is history though, and John-Jules’ bad luck will unfortunately prevent him for playing at the top level. Hutchinson can become a top player, but it will be difficult to break into the first team as his positions are covered with young starlets. But Azeez and Pation can make their career at Arsenal, as CM is kind of a weak spot in the Emirates, and even if we sign a big name player some day, Partey and Xhaka are close to 30, so their successors have a couple of years yet to mature.
Afternoon Geoff.
I agree in the improvements of the squad but it’s on the pitch which will decide things for fans I think. We’re into the 3rd of this ‘process’ but how long will the better players stick around in wait for the ‘process’ to bear fruit?
Rico, I can’t emphasize enough (without turning the CapsLock on) how deeply I believe in that we can do a lot more with a small squad than with a large one. Performance is not only about the individual skills! It’s also about
– finding the proper tactics
– bringing the best/most out of the players
– the lads’ own motivation
And while the skill portfolio and the possible tactics are linearly correlated with the squad size, the 2 latter aspects are reversely (inversely?) connected. Players need minutes, and you can provide them by a smaller squad and more games. While Arteta managed to reduce the playing minutes by around 30%, the squad size limited the squad players from maximizing their potential and keeping their spirit. So yes, with less players finishing in the top 4 is not less but more (!) likely.
Agree again Potter. It’s the decision making I’m struggling to understand. Why sign White when we already have Saliba, why let AMN go on loan when we’re terribly short in midfield. Why is Guendouzi out on loan? If it was because of his comments, clip his ear, tell him to grow up and get on with playing football. Chambers was very good against Liverpool but an unfit Tomi was deemed a better decision in the next game. Why did it take half a season for Aubameyang to be dropped when he was really struggling?
I’m not suggesting these players are the solution to our squad deficiencies but we’re paying them. Why are we turning down offers for a player who’ll walk for free in the summer.
So far the ones that have recently gone have saved the club £15 million a year in wages , The ones that we seem happy to join them will save a further 37 million a year .
Is the club in financial trouble ?
I understand that Pbarany re a smaller squad, certainly now we’re out of everything but we’re left with young players to replace young which is far from ideal.
If it is, then I wish Kroenke would sell up. Actually, I wish that in any case.
A small squad is fine until we have a couple off player out in juried and 1 or 2 out due to red cards. not counting a rush of games due to some being post boned due to weather or virus, our young players like Sake look like they need a bloody good rest.
Regarding the progress, here are the results of the key passes ‘mini-games’:
– Brentford 2 : 0 Arsenal – 6:20
– Arsenal 0 : 2 Chelsea – 6:18
– Manchester City 5 : 0 Arsenal – irrelevant due to the red card
– Arsenal 1 : 0 Norwich – 24:7 *
– Burnley 0 : 1 Arsenal – 11:9
– Arsenal 3 : 1 Tottenham 11:8 (but 10 out of the 11 came in the first half)
– Brighton 0 : 0 Arsenal – 18:5 (this disgrace was part of the unbeaten run that many fans were proud of)
– Arsenal 2 : 2 Crystal Palace – 10:7 (remember Arsenal being lucky to secure a point?)
– Arsenal 3 : 1 Aston Villa – 15:8 *
– Leicester 0 : 2 Arsenal – 10:7 (a disciplined game with a nice result, but wasn’t pretty)
– Arsenal 1 : 0 Watford – 8:6 (never been more ashamed of a victory; we didn’t even try to attack against a 10-men relegation positioned team at home)
– Liverpool 4 : 0 Arsenal – 13:5
– Arsenal 2 : 0 Newcastle United – 19:5 *
– Manchester United 3 : 2 Arsenal – 13:11
– Everton 2 : 1 Arsenal – 7:10
– Arsenal 3 : 0 Southampton – 13:7
– Arsenal 2 : 0 West Ham – 11:4 (the red card distorts the picture, but a fine result nevertheless)
– Leeds 1 : 4 Arsenal – 6:17 * (favorite game of the season)
– Norwich 0 : 5 Arsenal – 4:10
– Arsenal 1 : 2 Manchester City – 3:11 (another red card, but surprisingly well defended)
– Arsenal 0 : 0 Burnley – 16:9 * (a lot of shots, but not too many major chances)
If we add that in the 2nd leg of the League Cup semi-final we created 5 chances and against Nottingham in the FA Cup only 9 than we cannot talk about real improvement or visible progress. There were some good games (I highlighted 5), but scattered across the season. I still suspect the Odegaard-SmithRowe conondrum as well as being too predictable both line-up and tactics-wise, but these are just a couple of hypothesis’.
I am surprised at the hysteria around Arteta. He was always a long term plan. The team was a complete mess when Wenger left, and the Sanhelli debacle compounded the issues. Thanks to Ivan The Terrible for putting Us in that spot.
When I go to the stadium the crowd is firmly behind the Team and the Manager. At the moment there is no sign of that changing. If and when it does Arteta will be in trouble.
@Pb you make some good point on the Youth players.
I have heard John Jules is on his way out. There are very high hopes for Patino, Hutchison and Azeez. I have seen the first 2 play. Patino has a great eye for a pass and a goal. He looks pretty slow to me, so maybe like Xhaka. Hutchison looked very small for Premier League football. We’ll see what happens.
To get one Youth player coming through is good work. To have a handful knocking on the door to add to Saka & ESR is brilliant development by the Hale End team.
For context the whole time Wenger was in charge he brought through 2 youth players to the first team: Cole & Wilshere…and Ashley Cole was due to sign for Crystal Palace until Sylvinho’s duff passport became an issue. I don’t count the likes of Fabregas because he was signed from Barcelona’s youth team.
Peter why do you say that academy players are treated worse than under Wenger, or Emery for his brief period, who are you talking about because I cannot see it myself?
As opposed to Pete, just in case, Ryan Garry might have made a 3rd for Wenger, his injuries were tragic as he was such a promising player.
And what about Hughes, he played quite a few games in the 1997/98 team, although never a regular…
I don’t think hysteria Pete, just disappointment.
I can’t either re the younger players, it’s the older players we’ve had problems with. Imo of course.
Aubameyang to Barca in doubt – Sky Sports
A deal to take Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal to Barcelona looks in major doubt after talks over the financials broke down.
It is thought Aubameyang flew to Barcelona to visit family and did not have meetings with club officials.
Discussions between the clubs had centred around the percentage of Aubameyang’s wages Barcelona would pay.
Aubameyang had made “financial sacrifices” to try and get the deal done.
Time is running out for Barcelona to come up with the money Arsenal want.
Aubameyang is expected to return to London.
Barcelona don’t have any money Rico. To cut any deal they will have to do something very creative (bent).
Kev, I mean the opportunities to play for the first team even in a cup tie kind of games have dried up.
I don’t have precise statistics, so I just go and pick some games randomly.
Let’s see Europe League games.
Bate Borisov : Arsenal 9/28/2017 Wenger
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/spielbericht/index/spielbericht/2919811
We have the 17 year old Willock and Nelson in the starting line-up, and on the bench there are Josh Dasilva, Charlie Gilmour, Vlad Dragomir, Marcus McGuane and Eddie Nketiah – the last 2 entered as substitutes. Even Macey was the back-up keeper (now Ramsdale plays the cup games with Leno being the substitute). And this was not an isolated game. Ben Sheaf played against Red Star, Osei-Tutu
sat on the bench 4.5 years ago. Now they don’t get a sniff.
Emery discovered Saka and Smith-Rowe; the former were fast tracked into the first team and ESR played plenty of minutes. Some people give credit to Mikel for realizing Emile’s talent, but they are plain wrong. ESR played 265 EL and 137 League Cup minutes 2 years before playing for Arteta. He played 100 minutes in the PL under Ljungberg the next season before he was loaned to the Championship as he wasn’t part of Arteta’s plans.
For Emery mostly Saka and ESR were the ‘youth project’ (besides Martinelli and Guendouzi), but even so he had Zech Medley and James Olayinka on the bench against Standard Liege. There was a clear path to the first team, even if it was 1 academy player and 1 young transfer signing per year.
On the other hand Arteta can ‘show’ 63 EL minutes for Balogun and 13 in the League Cup. And Balogun was 19 at the time (compared to players having their first chance at 17 under Arsene and Unai). To be fair, in the last EL group game – when Arsenal was 100% leader after winning the first 5 games – Cottrell played 13 games and Azeez 7 against Dundalk FC, but neither played any more. This season we kept a large squad, and even the 20-year-old Balogun had a mere 70 PL minutes (in the first 2 sad games of the season).
Maybe the phrase ‘treated worse’ was a wrong choice, Kev. What I am saying that for Wenger and Emery it was an important priority to give academy players the chance to travel with the first team and play against “adults”. And not for only the best academy player, and not only in case of injuries and suspensions. Now Arteta relies on the core of 13-15 players, and even the first team is hardly rotated. He prefers a signing over an academy succession. Which might be a good thing for all I know. He has responsibilities towards the board and the fans, not the academy players, so not many would challenge him as long the performance and the results justify his selections. But they don’t.
And it’s hard to blame Nketiah to expect guarantees before signing a new contract given how Balogun was treated after he signed his and became the 4th choice striker (if Martinelli and Pepe are not taken into consideration).
@Kev – Stephen Hughes. A name I haven’t heard for years. A decent pro. Ryan Garry was indeed unfortunate with injuries.
Having seen Mr Brady drinking Guiness in the Bank of Friendship post match a number of times, when he was the head of Youth football at Arsenal under M Wenger, I got the impression there wasn’t much interest in developing home-grown youth players at that time.
The great flourish of players that came through in the 80s were a legacy of Don Howe’s work.
The deal for Dembele to PSG has fallen through, he’s staying at Barca so no room for Aubameyang. It looks like we’re stuck with him. Arteta has got to heal the rift and get him back in the team and functioning. Much as I hate to say it we need him unless we sign s a striker in the next five hours.
Rumour has it Pete, they’ve offered Arsenal Dembele.
Can’t see that happening with Auba.
The ground has been shifting beneath our feet. It wasn’t that long ago when top young players wanted to come to Arsenal. Wenger’s legacy and the memory of Thierry strutting his stuff on the Highbury pitch left indelible memories in a generation of players who, perhaps gripped by the success, style and even romance of the whole Arsenal ‘Thing’ wanted to be a part of it. According to Mikel, the World’s greatest players want to come. From what I’m seeing that’s well wide of the mark.
It only shows me how far we’ve fallen and whether we can ever get back to that is doubtful. Whether we can under the Kroenkes and the present managerial team I also doubt.
It’s sad really and harsh, but we’ve been falling away for a long, long time and it’s difficult to accept, for me anyway.
Is Sanogo available?
It’s heartbreaking Adam.
It is Rico🙁
A bit of light relief…to those who still wear their mask below their nose, it’s been a year now, it takes less time to potty train a toddler. 😉
Don’t need to wear them now though.. 😂
Ramsey joining Rangers then.
@ Joaquim LoL 😂
He was like Emile Heskey, but with less skill. Although he caused general mayhem against Hull in the 2014 Cup Final when he came on.
I hear we’ve been linked with Salomon Kalou!
Joaquim Moreira on 31st January 2022 at 5:11 pm
Is Sanogo available?
Afternoon rico, all. This must amount to the most disappointing transfer month I can remember. Many obvious things still to put right following good summer dealings. I felt it was silly leaving things to the last minute but unless anything dramatic happens in the next few hours, either no one wants to join us, or we had no plan at all. Constructive meeting them between Arteta and owner then. Despair we are really trying for top four now. No wonder Arteta is in UAE!
Afternoon Andrew, possibly a bit of both. I don’t think Arsenal are as an attractive club as perhaps Arteta thinks.
Rico @ 1:23, exactly. The inconsistent and haphazard decisions are ridiculous. You can’t run a major football club in that manner.
I don’t think so either Obi. Which is why I’m struggling to understand what this process is.
We can expect more frustration, more sending offs and more missed chances than should be.
All we needed was a good defensive midfielder to replace erratic Xhaka, and someone to share the load with Laca, but nothing?….. Aston Villa seem to be getting things right, not impossible they will be playing better football than us.
Seems Auba may still go on loan to Barca. They could afford if Dembele leaves for Chelsea.
EXCLUSIVE: Barcelona have verbal agreement with Arsenal (subject to contract) to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on 6 months + 1 year deal that, if completed, will bring his #AFC career to an end. Medical to take place tonight (The Athletic)
Auston Trusty; a defender from Colorado Rapids is to join us in the summer… sigh
Exactly Andrew.
Aubameyang gone.
Who the heck is Auston Trusty?
We’re obsessed with defenders!!
Go and smash it at Barca, Pierre.. ❤
If we don’t sign a replacement, Lacazette gets injured, then Auba takes off again, this is either a brave or foolish call.
If we don’t spend, all I can see is 25 million pound wages saved for our owners.
Mikel for a pay rise?!
Love the new gravatar Andrew.
I hope Auba does well at Barca, just as Henry did.
Aubameyang to Barca on a free transfer.
They haven’t got Messi ruling the roost now though
I think Peter, if we’d had a 4th competition to compete in that you would have seen more rotation and more youngsters, with only 3 competitions to go for I think that Arteta followed the Guardiola mantra of playing your strongest team in the League Cup to try and win it.
Maybe Wenger gave games to youngsters who he really didn’t think were good enough to make it, but he gave them a game anyway and as he didn’t really rate or respect the League Cup it didn’t really matter to him and he just used it as a testing ground? Same applies to the early Europa rounds perhaps?
Arteta possibly only picks youngsters who he believes in therefore there’s less opportunities but the quality of the youngsters are higher and they’re more likely to break through?
Just a guess you see….
rico, picture I took of Wright at Highbury, reminded me of the good old days😀
Well, now it starts, the last hour, I’ve got Jim White on the radio screaming into the microphone and this is where Arsenal shock everyone.
According to Talk Sport, Aubameyang took a pay cut to join Barcelona…
What a guy….
There’s nothing quite like listening to Jim White on deadline day….
Juventus are paying the majority of the wages of the Aaron Ramsey deal, as Jim White says ‘sensational’….
Aubameyang had 18 months left on his contract. That’s around 78 times £350 k saved in wages. Should pay for a decent striker and a defensive midfielder. If only we had the time. 😕
If only he was 25 again Andrew….
Still time to bring in Jack Wilshere?
Trusty the process
Just checked premier league site so 2 in 15 out the 2 in 1 for academy and 1 staying in America until the end of the season no mention of Auba leaving on there site.
I wonder if Kroenke told Arteta at the meeting that he had to buy a American player.
That’s it, he’s gone, Aubameyang is now a Barca player, ok Cicero, let it go… 😄
I’m so disappointed right now.. what a circus!
Night all, sleep well. 😉
The American player is from Colorado Rapids, isn’t that Kroenke’s club? He’s staying on loan until the summer and then being loaned out in Europe. So what the hell are we wasting time and money on him for?
Cicero if Kroenke owns the rapids that would explain it, he has taken money out of Arsenal to prop up his Colorado Rapids, there for he doesn’t need to dip into his pockets.
Arsenal paid £56 million for Aubameyang in 2018 paid him God knows how much in wages and then, still with eighteen months on his contract, let him go for free. What a farce! Arsenal Football Club are a laughing stock when it comes to transfer business.
Hi Kev.
I’m not saying that there is no justification neglecting the academy players.
I was merely pointing out that
– Wenger had always the youngsters’ interest in his mind and heart (but he was known to be a father-figure type of manager anyway)
– Emery did his best to fit in his shoes, and did a decent job in that manner (despite his shortcomings with the English language)
– Arteta didn’t even try to live up to that kind of expectations; he is not mean, obviously had his reasons
– Apart from the occasional call-ups to the first team trainings, academy players have no chance to get a sniff (apart from Patino’s glorious debut)
If you were a young starlet, Kev, would it affect your decision about signing a professional contract with your boyhood club?
Because apparently we lost Amani Richards already (a major talent according to Jeorge Bird, as you well know), and we face the same risk with Kido Taylor-Hart…
Morning all.
New post up now.