Arsene Wenger says he won’t destabilise his first team squad by bringing in too many new faces but admits Arsenal remain active in the transfer market.
The Gunners have already strengthened their defence and attack with the signings of Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette and have been tipped to strengthen in other areas with a host of squad players now in the final year of their respective contracts.
While deals for Monaco duo Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe could be difficult to get over the line this summer, the boss says his scouting team are keeping their eyes peeled for other possibilities.
“There are two ways to strengthen the squad,” he told Arsenal Player while in Sydney.
“The first is to analyse where we have not done so well and where we can improve together, and the other way is to bring in players from outside.
“We are still open to strengthening our team with players coming from outside.
“We are very active on the transfer market and have already realised two incomings. We have to keep a balance as well, that you don’t destabilise the team too much by bringing in too many players.
“But we are still active on the transfer market so let’s see what kind of opportunities we can find.”
There’s nothing particularly new about what the boss is saying, as you’d expect he’s keeping things close to his chest. Of course, as we all know, there’s a rather large gap between being open to new signings and actually making news signings. For the moment, it looks as though the club’s priority is shifting those players who are surplus to requirements.
This is going to drawn out agonizingly until transfer deadline day..
Not sure we even need anyone more As long as Sanchez stays…which will also drag on…sigh
We need a solid midfield player like Patrick V
We certainly need to consider strengthening midfield and yes, a solid player who has excellent ball retention skills has been missing in our capability set. Someone like Kongdogbia at Inter who has all the requisutes in strength and technical ability but is yet to realise full potential (positioning issues) may be just the sort of player we might be able to come in with a make weight deal. Wenger has been known to polish these players before like say Henry, high potential but flattered to deceive at Juve. I think we should be ready to pounce if there is opportunity.… Read more »
Patrick VI ftw!
I think we will see the best of xhaka this year, his partnership with Ramsey looked fruitful in the closing stages last year… It’s a playmaker like cazorla that I would like to see come in.
At the start of the window he said expect 3 players, and we haven’t even sold anyone yet so I would expect atleast one more transfer, in or out
It always seems like little actually happens when Wenger and squad are away on tour. We sometimes buy early and often late but rarely when the team are on their preseason jaunt. That worries me slightly as it suggests that Wenger is pretty much handling all the transfer business and cannot relinquish his powers to others while away.
To be fair Gazidis went with the team on tour.
I’m amazed we haven’t been linked with any midfielders. All of Rambo, Coq, Elneny have their qualities but do I see any of them as good enough to form a title winning partnership with Xhaka ? Being honest, no.
I really think we need to buy a midfielder.
I agree, we desperately need a top top no. 8. Seri would be Nice (all puns intended).
I remember seeing the headline ‘NICE ATTACK’ on BBC and going like wtf?
Granit- Ramsey work in 3-4-3. But this limits us to this approach alone. Coquelin also seems to have improved with new formation. Beyond these 3, we have half options. Santi is a bonus if we find him fit at any point of season now. Jack carries some special qualities still in midfield but is also injury culpable. Elneny is a mediocre option. He’s a decent pair of lungs and a willing worker (of the bench which is his asset) but otherwise isn’t anywhere strong enough. The Ox can be played in midfield but it really isn’t his best environment if… Read more »
How is this even news? He says this every year, even the year when we got Cech, and we know how that went down
The golden rule when it comes to Arsene and transfers, is to pay attention to what he does, and not to what he says.
And watch for grins
It is actually a rule to everything regarding Arsene.
Exactly – and he is doing nothing at the moment….
Ship Alexis to PSG and throw a shitload of money at Roma for Nainggolan
Don’t know Nainngolan but preparing for life after a player who doesn’t want to be with us sooner rather than later is the right way to go IMO.
Heh, seems like an odd switch of players.
If Alexis leaves, we need more than a 29-year old defensive midfielder.
Ok i am finally satisfied with the signings so far specially that of Lacazette. I don’t mind if we do not sign any more players but as long as Wenger doesn’t get his tactics right and demand 100% from his squad every single game nothing will change. Leicester didn’t win the league that season because they had better players than we did but because they didn’t only turned it on when they felt like it or when the pressure was on.
Spot on but we need Lemar.
Jenko, Debuchy, Gibbs, Gabriel, Wilshere, Perez, Campbell, Walcott should all be sold. Would freshen things up a lot in the squad
For the money we get from that, we can get a new right winger (Lemar/Mahrez) and promote the youngsters to give them a go in the Europa and League Cup.
Cech, Ospina, Martinez, Bellerin, Chambers, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Holding, Monreal, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Coquelin, Elneny, Ramsey, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez, Welbeck, Giroud, Lacazette
Buy Lemar and promote Maitland-Niles and that’s your 25 players
What about Reine-Adélaïde who is already a 1st squad player?
If we sell them all first then we will look like a Club desperate for signings and the price will rocket up for any player we target. There lies the road to failing to replace our departed players. We’ll sell most of them late if we sell them at all.
I’d throw Giroud in that lot. The same level as Walcott, does not want to be a plan B, thank you, bye bye.
As usual, wenger will sign 3 players, but he have to sold if he want recruit top top top top top quality…
So that is pretty much it then I imagine (for new quality signings at least).
Don’t see how our new two signings will close the 18 point gap.
But then again Wenger did say last week that there is much more to football than trophies.
Sigh.
Other than Lukaku to United and Salah to Liverpool no one has really done any business that stands out. I think the PL has started to strangle itself. Too many players on top wages that the rest of Europe can’t afford to take off our hands, meaning we’re struggling to sell fringe players also inside the PL because mid+bottom half clubs are stuck with earners they also can’t shift. Seems a bit gridlocked and like with Szczesny we may have to take fee’s well below the players values just to make some room. Our squad is massive there’s 9 we… Read more »
This will be nothing compared to when the new sky deal is negotiated and shit really hits the fan. Neither BT nor Sky have seen their revenues a huge amount thanks to these big investments and the prospect of a premier league with all these high earners and a lower TV deal is a very real possibility
The PL bubble will burst and when it does there be a lot of clubs in a lot of trouble if they don’t plan carefully, which no ones seems to be doing. Also while there’s so much money around we have to make sure we buy well, it’s not about quantity. It’s when a player like Mbappe moves that we’re in front of the line. City have spent £120mill so far and I’m not sure they’ve exactly improved their team in the immediate. We’ve spent £50mill on a striker, in the current market it’s not too bad but again I’m… Read more »
Its starting to look like punters are a bit pissed off to have to pay so much each month just to see their team a handful of times each season. Who knew?
Jesus Christ!!!! U mean Walker to Manc Bakayoko to chelsea are not standout business??? I think I need to Continue reading my Bible
Ok them deals do stand out because of the price tags, but they’re not signings I’d have been happy with Arsenal making.
We don’t need a right wing back and Walker isn’t better than either of Bellerin or the Ox.
And I don’t think Bakayoko is the type of midfielder we need, I think we need a Cesc, Rabiot, Isco, Pjanic type signing.
I think Lukaku for United and Salah to Liverpool are both great signings which do significantly strengthen their first teams.
I don’t disagree with the midfielders you mention, but Bakayoko and Xhaka would be a hell of a dominant midfield. Heck, with those two we’d be able to switch back to a back four and still keep attacking fullbacks and not get destroyed on defense.
For me Cazorla is our best player.
He makes us tick, he’s certainly more influential than Ozil and every bit as important as Alexis.
Two seasons in a row our performances have nose dived as soon as we’ve lost him.
I think Xhaka will be much better this season and Ramsey will thrive in our new system.
Our ability to go back to 4-2-3-1 will depend on our ability to replace Santi.
It doesn’t matter whether you’d be happy if we had signed them. Citeh’s summer business is judged on what their new players bring to their team, not what those players wouldn’t have done for us. If they fix the weaknesses in our rivals then they were great buys for them and that is bad for us.
Lukaku strengthens Man United only if he is better than Ibrahimovic was last year. Maybe, but not likely.
Lukaku is a beast of a striker.
He’ll bag 30+ for United next season and the scary thing is, that he’s nowhere near peaking yet.
no he won’t.
You really think Walker to Man City is standout business. Spurs must be laughing at getting £50 million for him.
Bernardo silva for City is an absolute quality buy, they have improved their keeper in Ederson. And their full backs were dire last year so anyone will be better. They have definitely strengthened this summer unfortunately.
Jesus and Bernardo are real class
Comments are now moderated?
Sounds like he if doesn’t get Lemar or Mbabbpe there is no Plan B (as usual).
Sorry, but the two signings thus far will not close the 18 point gap.
But then again Wenger said just last week that there is much more to football than trophies.
Sigh.
If Lemar is not going to happen, why not move for Mahrez? I wonder what Wenger’s reservation is, especially after praising the player publicly.
The reservation is that he had one great season when Leicester won the Premiership and hasn’t performed since and sulks. We don’t need a one season wonder who’s moody to boot.
Arsenal are going in the right, however to sell or discard eight players giroud included to fund the reported figure of eighty million for Thomas lemar seems excessive. Is lemar worth that much? Ido not think so. Sean casey
wow i didn’t agree with much of your comment but the way you ended it with “Sean Casey” right outta nowhere. wow. thumbs up!
Not a good deal if he has to play in eight positions at the same time!!!
If we sell eight we must buy or promote eight. Do we have seven rookies ready to step up to the first squad? I don’t think so.
No if we sell or loan 9? Then we still need to sell or loan out one more to make room for another signing who is older than 21
Does anyone know anywhere showing the Bayern Munich game tomorrow? It doesn’t appear to be on Arsenal player like the other friendlies.
I’m looking as well. Might have to make do with a live stream on YouTube *sigh*.
Arsenal player is showing the Chelsea game and I’ve already looked ahead for the emirates cup, and quest are showing them both (channel 144 on sky)
How dare you bring up a game that is bound to happen while we are discussing potential signings that are not bound to happen?
Wondering when The Jeff makes the step up. Cesc and Wilshere were already full time starters at his age. Time for him to make the move up full time to first team.
Let him recover from his injury first.
Now that Aubameyang is off the market oh I forgot AFC were only open to signing another left footed French player.
Wenger is con artist. This man is content with the 4th place trophy and FA Cup every year or two. Wenger and Kroenke have been keeping AFC fans in a deep illusion, spinning in the vicious cycle of false hope season after season. AFC will not be winning any competitions for as long as Wenger or Kroenke continues to reign. Hope i’m proven terribly wrong, but I don’t think I will.
A Gorrila ,why do you and some other fans ( fans?) always add Walcot to those players you want sold? How many goals did Lemar and Marhez score last season compared to Walcot’s 19 goals even when he played far less number of matches than each of them? Who in our back line can stop Walcot in full flight when he plays for another PL team? Who in Europe last season as a winger scored 19 goals? None! It amazes me that names of players who underperformed almost throughout the season are never vilified or recommended for sale . Please… Read more »
Walcott is crap, anyone who says otherwise has no clue about football. Sorry but that’s the truth, he lacks any kind of technical ability and only became a pro because of his pace. Admittedly he has learned to finish well but he contributes nothing else, he can’t even use his pace to go past players anymore.
Everything hinges on Alexis. We can keep him if City are the only option this is worse case scenario. BUT we will sell likely if offer is good enough. PSG may enter market on him as they have to shake things up having fallen short last season. Inter are also re-branding with new ownership and Chinese money as is AC Milan. We are holding to wait for them to enter the fray. Meanwhile it also helps to sweat out prices on Lemar (should Monaco want to sell still) and possibly Mahrez. As we have option to keep Alexis, there is… Read more »
Debuchy having a medical at Nice, Szczesny just arrived in Turin, and some strong rumors of Gibbs to Bromwich. Apparently we also received an offer from Sampdoria for Wilshere…I’d say we’re doing alright in the “outs” transfer department.
Debuchy didn’t have a medical at Nice, they cancelled it and signed Jallet instead.
The offers for Gibbs and Wilshere were derisory.
Sadly, we’re not doing as well as we’d hoped in the “out” department.
Nice have dropped Debuchy for some other dude. And the Sampdoria story came from the Daily Fail so fuck that. Gibbs to West Brom is the only one that holds any water but will he agree personal terms with a club managed by a wankbasket in a cap? I wouldn’t and I’m crap at football.
It is still early. I don’t see any more business until late in the window and maybe deadline day. Crucial business (Özil) can still be done and often is dislodged at that special moment.
The squad is looking good, the management is improved, the only question left for me is whether Wenger can reinvent himself and remove his own handbrake.
When you talk about Wenger andhis desire to complete all the transfers we need in time, i go to sleep
We should try and get Cesc back. He is a cunt, but he was out cunt once.