Some weekend transfer tittle-tattle to tide you over until some actual news.
First up, Alex Iwobi is being linked with a move to Lazio. Reports from Italy suggest they’re on the brink of signing a player from an English club for a fee of around €25m, and the Nigerian international is the man they’re after.
They also have an interest in Lucas Perez too, going back to earlier in the summer. Of course the two sides meet in Stockholm on August 4th, our final warm-up game of pre-season before we face Man City in the Premier League, so perhaps there’ll be more than boardroom niceties going on that day.
Meanwhile, from Colombia, a story that says David Ospina could be a target for Fulham. This is very confusing as Fulham are a team from London, England and not Turkey. Quite how this has happened we’re not sure, perhaps there’s been a glitch in the matrix.
It’d surely be a tempting offer for Ospina because it’d probably mean he doesn’t have to move house, and regardless of whether you’re a football or not, moving house is a massive pain in the arse. Could that swing it for Fulham or will the lure of Turkey finally be too much for the former Nice man to resist.
Then there’s this from Marca:
Arsenal are in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Borussia Mochengladbach goalkeeper keeper Yann Sommer, although face competition from Barcelona, who want him to replace their outgoing second-choice keeper Jasper Cillessen. [Marca] #afc pic.twitter.com/kHSnspn0mO
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 21, 2018
It’s pretty clear now that, with five keepers already on the books and with a new deal given to one of the young goalkeepers at the club, Unai Emery is planning a unique system of rotation, choosing a different guy for each game to ensure none of them get too tired.
Genius!
Transfer madness
I know right
25 mil for Iwobi !! 😮 If that deal goes through and someone shells out 25 mil for Iwobi, I would have Emery locked up immediately. I mean there is robbery and then there would be this. Also dont like the Yann Sommer talks. No one will have so many keepers at the club, which means both Cech and Ospina are heading out. Finally just sign one more central defender. Kos was great, but now Kos is not that Kos anymore and Mustafi was never Mustafi. Either of them playing in defense regularly will leave the defense leaky and weak.… Read more »
A shame if Iwobi is sold as I’d have loved to see how he’d develop under Emery! Bags of talent played out of position me thinks. I think he’s better suited for CAM. Anyways I know fuck all.
Not for me. He’s had plenty of opportunities and failed to take them. I’d take that kind of money for him and reinvest.
Although I know fuck all too.
although i agree he has not performed to the extent we had hoped , part of the blame has to go the mismanagement in previous years. many player were put in different positions which didint benefit any of them . iwobi is one of them , they never really played consistently in one position to improve themeselves and the coaching staff didint help them in any way. you can see this in the case of ox . he was inconsistent for the most part of the career he was with arsenal . after he went to liverpool he is now… Read more »
Ox is no better or worse at Liverpool than he was with us: some brilliant man-of-the-match games, and some did-he-even-play?? games. He just looks better there because they were clearly much better than us last season.
Ox was good for us in general but at Liverpool he went to another level. Playing in his favourite position and for a team that suited his style more helped, but also Klopp gave him more attacking responsibility then he had at Arsenal. Hearing Ox compare Arsenal and Liverpool gives a really good insight into the difference between Wenger and Klopp’s philosophies.
Ox played on the right of a midfield-three (not his preferred position of central midfield) in most of his appearances, and though Liverpool were far more prolific than Arsenal in scoring I don’t know if Ox necessarily had more attacking responsibility or that his numbers there were any better. Any player who moves clubs is going to favour the new club, whether purely for PR or for personal psychology, so his comments don’t necessarily shed light on anything.
This Ox/Iwobi comparison got me curious, so thought I’d consult WhoScored for a slightly more objective view. Purely stat-speaking, it actually rates the Ox as worse with Liverpool last season (17/18) than he was in his last full season (16/17) with us… 16/17: 6.99 17/18: 6.88 …by comparison Iwobi actually stepped it up in the same time-frame… 16/17: 6.72 17/18: 6.88 …leaving them both on the exact same rating for last season. With that in mind, hoping that Iwobi will really push on next season. Reckon he could really benefit from Emery’s fresh coaching perspective, especially when combined with the… Read more »
i dont know what games are you guys watching , but ox has stepped up a level with liverpool last season. if anything he increased his end product well to 7 assissts and 3 goals in premier league alone. his best tally so far ,far from an inconsistent winger we had. and if you dont think thats good , consider that he accomplished that from midfield. some of his best performance came against the better teams in the league like city and so on. if it wasnt for the injury he would have been a real contender to start for… Read more »
His Premier League stats are even when comparing his last year with Arsenal and his first year with Liverpool; his goals and assists in all competitions were higher in his last season with Arsenal than his first season with Liverpool. He started for England when he was an Arsenal player. He also got himself injured for Arsenal right when things were getting good, on more than one occasion. I ended up watching a lot of Liverpool matches last season and as I said originally, Ox had some great games and some bad, just like he did with us. Not sure… Read more »
I wanna see him as a CM before my final decision.
He has the physicality for it t be box to box, and would be great to have a dribbler in the middle. Can do what Jack and Santi did in terms of carrying the ball fro defence to attack, something none of our other CMs really do, neither Ramsey, AMN, Xhaka, etc.
Plus his end product is pretty shitty, so means not having to play him up front as one of the 3 because from a goal and assists perspective, it’s only 2 then doing something.
Recent talk is that he is signing a new deal and by recent I mean about 30 minutes ago!
I hate to admit it, but me too.
Iwobi both frustrates and thrills. I reckon with a more focused manager, and an actual direction of what to do on the pitch, he could do well.
Good post!
98% of all transfer news is balls. Ignore, give it a few weeks and we’ll know for sure.
Why are you being sooo….sensible?! 😐
Quite like Iwobi..not sure how i would feel about that. Plus what about the homegrown rule?
While we’ve got a fair few home grown players, the fact that so many of them are fringe players is worrying. Right now only Ramsey and Bellerin regularly start for us, and we’re dealing with speculation that Ramsey may leave as well. If others like Welbeck and Iwobi make way we’ll basically be left with a bunch of youth players hoping to break into the first team. The only players even close to the first squad right now are Chambers and Holding and even then you’d not really expect them to be regular starters. Basically we could really do with… Read more »
….and Maitland-Niles too.
True, Iwobi may be saved by the homegrown rule. Unai brought in five players in Leno, Sokratis, Lichtenster, Torreira and Guendouzi. There will definitely be a problem with the homegrown rule if Iwobi has to leave.
i dont think iwobi has the brains to play cam and pick out passes. He is a strong dribbler but when it comes to final ball, he seems confused as fck.
Sell Iwobi! If not for 25mil. Take 25 cents!
What about Kingsley Coman? 🙂
No, what we need: Give Bellerin to Barcelona and get Yerry Mina.
so..
give away our best rb, in order to sign ANOTHER cb.
please pass whatever it is you are smoking
How about Chris Samba?
Many of “the Lolz” had at that David Ospina quip. Yes, had to be a glitch.
Would be too bothered with Iwobi being sold in all honesty.
Blogs: Ian Holm was the android in alien btw not John Hurt.
It’s for when we play some useless team like spurs so we can put 5 keepers on the bench and Eddie will still score a hat trick.
Maybe the plan is to put 5 keepers on the pitch. That’d be a novelty.
In the picture, it looks like Sommer just scored a goal.
I was thinking more 5 keepers in the penalty area. Would confuse the shit out of the opposition.
€25m for Iwobi?! Take the money and run. We’ve seen enough of him now to know he’s not good enough and that figure would represent an excellent return. It makes sense that players whom have played in the first team over the last 12 months would be moved on now we have a new manager and bearing that in mind Iwobi would have to be high on that list along with the already departed Wilshere, as well as Ospina, El Neny, Mustafi, perhaps even Monreal, Koscielny and Cech due to their ages. In fact it would be difficult to say… Read more »
Would be sad if we sold Iwobi. He’s as “Arsenal” as Jack was and I still believe he has so much potential.
Really wouldn’t want Iwobi sold even if I would really want funds available for a wing type player…!
25m Euros for Iwobi? I say take the money and buy a speedy winger.
The biggest news here is that David Ospina is actually a football.
No wonder he’s always getting injured, no bones.
Surprise is he’s actually quite a good keeper.
Explains his short reach, too.
Would’ve very much prefered Sommer over Leno! Can’t see both hapening though…
Sommer is too short. We have had enough short keepers for now. Pity we can’t get Butland
Is there a technical term for a goalkeeper fetish?
Keepyerphilia
If someone will pay that much for Iwobi then we’d be crazy not to take it.
This is almost certainly just me. Reading the name Yann Sommer, I got the Miami Vice theme tune going through my head.
While I live my life with the Miami Vice theme in my head 85% of the time, when I read the name Yann Sommer, I think not of Jan Hammer, or Jann Wenner for that matter. I think of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, the greatest football name ever.
Not the biggest fan of Leno (lack of improvement in four years) but he’s decent enough.
The romantic in me would like to see us go for Pickford but otherwise I’d just settle. Though I think it’s time to move on most/all of Macey, Martinez and Iliev due to their age and lack of relative experience at this point
What if the plan is to sell BOTH Cech and Ospina
Plot twist!
Perhaps with all the comings and goings this summer nobody noticed when Ivan appointed M Night Shyamalan to the recruitment team.
I had a football once. It moved house. It moved next door and my neighbours said it couldn’t come back. I miss that football.
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Think it would be wrong to let Iwobi go. It would be our pogba moment…kind of
This Sommer speculation must mean that we’re looking to offload both Ospina and Cech this window, and probably Martinez as well leaving just Macey or Iliev as our 3rd choice keepers. Can’t say I’d be too opposed to it personally but with both Leno and Sommer being first choice at their clubs I don’t think they’d be happy with the new status of one having to play second fiddle. Likely the only way we attract Sommer now is giving him a substantial wage increase and, as we know (e.g. Debuchy, Jenkinson, etc.), this can prove a huge problem when we… Read more »
The alternative is that the Sommer speculation is just bollocks.
Why do I feel like Cech going back to Chelsea is the reason why we are linked to another keeper.
Moderated and then removed. Why?????
All i said was i quite like Iwobi!
It happens sometimes, then it shows up later.
Not Iwobi! Say it ain’t so…
He will not go,
Turn the lights off,
Carry him home.
No wonder the poometer broke
I don’t see Iwobi going, as losing him from the current squad will hurt our homegrown player requirement (particularly if we’re moving on Akpom, and Jenkinson and having lost Wilshere).
I’d also like to see him stay at the club because I think he’s a decent player who hasn’t gotten the tactical instruction he needed to flourish. Emery could be the catalyst.
Fulham just signed Patricio. They hardly need Ospina as a cup keeper.
Nevermind that was Wolves. Sorry.
The Wolves seem to have a taste for Portuguese meat these days!
I reckon the new plan is to offset the crap defending by playing 3 keepers at the back and only one defender!!
I know its against the rules, but yesterdays arseblog, was very dismal, it looks like until we get into the champions league, we are fucked, and as I cant see us finishing 5th or 6th for the next couple of seasons, the future doesn,t look good, I know its hard to take, but that’s the way it is, so im not expecting anything to happen for the next few seasons
Yeah, right?
I mean why even play any matches this time? Let’s just throw in the towel now because sport is so predictable, especially football. What with new players and chemistry and fresh ideas – having one of the more exciting managers in Europe – that would never make a difference at all.
Off topic. Anyone read the twitter three part message put out by Özil? He comes across as a deep thinking individual. Not that we didn’t already know that.
It’s shameful the way the media in this country and Germany have behaved towards him. Never mind that he didn’t even post that photograph, that was stupid Gundogan, neither did he call anyone “my president” that was also Gundogan, and anyway it was his private life and nobody’s business anyway. This was all started by the english media and tossers like Keown who should know better I hope they’re proud of their useless selves. It was easy for the German media to pick up from there. I’m ordering my new number ten shirt and will continue to sing his name… Read more »
SIGN ALL THE KEEPERS!
Just read that he’s about to sigya new contract.
Iwobi has talent but is reactive rather than instinctive and makes poor decisions most of the time. Maybe the new boss can make a footballer out of him but I would take the 25m if true.
I like Iwobi but 20mil is a steal.
Ah, but it says on that Twitter that Yann Sommer is a goalkeeper keeper. He is just going to be tagging the other keepers legs with rings, so we know they are ours when they fly off, and feeding them in their coop.
Iwobi is hugely talented and could be a star in a more direct, attacking football. One of the top German clubs will fit him best. Lazio has a considerable right-wing following which on several occasions have heckled black players.
Dont get the Sommer link. Isnt he more or less the same as Ospina?
Meaning small and quick.
Funnily enough i heard something about Josh Da Silva going to an Italian club last week. This could be a case of Chinese whispers
Would be mental to sell a player with that kind of potential before seeing what he could do under a new coach. Hopefully as well we can sort out his position, I think he’d benefit from playing a bit deeper and more central, maybe at CM. His best attributes are his strength, passing and dribbling but his big weakness is his finishing.
so it looks as if cech is off, cant say im sorry, he is getting on a bit now, but pleased iwobi is staying
The same site will publish competing articles “Iwobi to be sold for 25 million” and “Iwobi to sign new deal”, can’t believe any of it. There are very few sites/reporters that I believe, most of them are just after click bait. As some have said don’t believe anything until Arsenal posts it on the main site.
Take the money and run fro Iwobi, assuming it is true
Iwobi is like a headless chicken on the pitch. Get rid of him.