Saturday, October 12, 2024

Ornstein: Credible reports that Arsenal want Rabiot

David Ornstein says Paris Saint Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot is very much on Arsenal’s radar with the club eager to try and sign the 23-year-old when he becomes a free agent in the summer.

Rabiot looks certain to leave the Parc des Princes in the summer having been banished to the reserves since contract negotiations fell through in early December.

The midfielder has since appealed to the French football authorities claiming the treatment goes against the league’s ‘professional footballer’s charter’.

While Thomas Tuchel has hinted at reconciliation by including Rabiot in his Champions League squad for the second half of the season, suitors are already circling.

Barcelona were heavily tipped to sign the player in January before looking elsewhere. Bayern Munich and a host of English clubs have also been linked.

Speaking exclusively on the Arsecast Extra this week about Unai Emery’s transfer preferences, including interest in another PSG man, Christopher Nkunku, Ornstein outlined just how coveted Rabiot is at the Emirates.

“I’m told Unai Emery likes experienced players, he likes to go with players he knows and trusts,” said the BBC Football Correspondent.

“That certainly explains the Nkunku interest, who he played far more than Thomas Tuchel has this season.

“It explains the pursuit of Denis Suarez, who I know a number of people in the game have reservations about, not just at Arsenal. And also [it explains] the reported interest, once again, in Adrien Rabiot who Arsenal were keen on during Arsene Wenger’s time with his links to PSG and the French game.

“It seemed he’d be signing for Barcelona [on a free] but they’ve signed a player for that midfield position, Frenkie de Jong. There are credible reports that Arsenal will come back in for Rabiot.

“There are people within Arsenal who are very keen that they sign Rabiot, or at least make a concerted effort. He’s very highly admired. There are some complications, around him, particularly around the people you have to deal with and his salary demands. But that’s certainly one to keep an eye on.”

Ornstein went on to suggest that had the deal for Matteo Guendouzi not gone through, Arsenal were lining up talks with Steven N’Zonzi, another player with whom Emery had worked at Sevilla.

“That goes to indicate that he likes players he trusts, players he’s worked with at other club. And who have experience and can do a job immediately.”

In other news, there are suggestions, seemingly emanating from the Telegraph, that Arsenal could put Shkodran Mustafi on the transfer list this summer as they look to bolster their transfer funds.

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Stuart_Ten

That Suarez comment is worrying….

Red-Sky

The jury is still out. But thankfully, if he’s not good enough we won’t have to buy him come the summer.

This whole ‘loan with no obligation to buy’ concept seems very convenient.

Aditya Gujarathi

The loan with no obligation to buy is shit tbh. No club would won’t to send their top players on loan. They’ll only send average or below average or youth players on loan. This is the exact reason why the Perisic deal miserably failed.

Nketibag

I’m sick to death of this new management structure already. Their whole attitude is so f-cking narrow-minded: “Go for players we know”, “Go for players I trust”. Stoke’s Steven nzonzi is not the future of this club. How are we going to get a competitive advantage over money-splashing rivals like this. If Emery actually looks critically at his squad this season. Who has he trusted most? Guendouzi and Torreira – youth buys with serious talent and future sell-on value. *He has literally built his debut Premier League season on Sven’s intelligent scouting of last summer.* Not some bloody washed up… Read more »

Billy

Rabiot is absolutely awe full too, what a terrible player to bring in. Just because you know him. Insert sarcastic tone.

Faisal Narrage

There’s the issue that a large part of why Guendouzi left PSG was he felt he wouldn’t get a chance, with Rabiot in particular a similar highly rated player in front of him performing the same role. How will that work then? I agree with Nketibag, I was hoping that Emery would be a man like Poch to trust and look forward with youth in mind, ala old Wenger. All this talk of experienced hold heads in Nzonzi, Banega, Suarez screams “Mourinho-like” views on players. Makes me concerned for the likes of Eddie, Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Saka, Beilik, etc. I’m not… Read more »

thw14

I like Emery’s tactical ideas, but this criticism of the transfer policy is completely fair. First of all, I thought the idea was to let a market expert do his thing and the manager was tasked with improving whatever players were brought in to the extent possible. In practice, we seem to be trying to get some shit band back together on Emery’s advice. Also I thought the larger idea was that transfer ‘experts’ would make Kroenke comfortable with spending money. If we’re scrabbling around at the loan-with-option range, no level of scouting and contacts is going to rescue us.… Read more »

OnAnyBlock

Perhaps it could work as follows: Torreira sat in front of the back four, Rabiot and Guendouzi playing as mobile 8’s either side of him. Plus the former is left footed, which would bring lots of balance. Theres absolutely nothing wrong in bringing in an experienced and trusted old head to help steer the ship, guide players through matches and do some of the more ‘ugly’ stuff. I’d like to believe someone like Nzonzi puts a player like Fellaini in his place for pulling Guendouzi’s hair/stands up to the bully-boy tactics teams like Cardiff and Burnley employ against the 19… Read more »

Too Drunk To Be Offside

Whats wrong with Unai wanting to bring in players he knows and has worked with before.

Also Mustafi being sold to raise funds. Lol. Arsenal would have to pay others to take him.

Alex

What’s wrong with favouritism? Nothing ! See Wenger with Wilshere and Ramsey! Cost us many points.

Red-Sky

Was Wenger also using favoritism when he signed his former player, Thierry Henry??

A Different George

And Vieira came in because Wenger wanted him.

Faisal Narrage

Original Wenger was Emery+Sven rolled into one.
Vieira was a young unknown entity, more similar to the Torreira and Guendouzi signings. Same for Henry.

31 year old Nzonzi, 30 year old Banega and Suarez aren’t even comparable.

John C

Remi Garde and Gilles Grimandi?!?

Kentgooner

Yes ok Emery knows these players but ask yourself does Emery really get what being The Arsenal manager means. Does he understand what is required. I want to see players that will improve us NOT players he knows. We are The Arsenal for Christ sake. Not a refuge for players that aren’t good enough for Barcelona, PSG etc.

Yes I admit under Wenger he brought in players he knew, but Thierry, Patrick, Bobby, Petit Areca million miles better than the players Emery is after

AusDrexler

Thats the difference between the clubs then and now. Then it was about winning the EPL, now its about 4th spot. The sooner fans realise the club is top 6 only and not interested in winning the league but keeping the money ticking over by qualifying for Champs League on a regular basis the more relaxed and satisifed they will be. The club is not in a position to bring in superstars anymore, there are bigger clubs with bigger buckets of funds who will pay bigger money to get them. Arsenal wont. so we need to find players who are… Read more »

SCOTT

Thierry was considered not good enough for Juventus, and Patrick was just a young lad on the fringes of the first team in Milan.

The key is that they were young enough to develop. That’s what we need; players under 25 with potential.

roof_attack

i quite agree. i made my peace with this since SK came in and it became clear he wasnt going to invest. also rans and hopefully the odd cup here and there is the best we can expect for the foreseeable future.

Too Drunk To Be Offside

I don’t know where the mistrust on Unai’s transfers are coming from. I like the players he has signed so far. Torriera is potentially the signing of the season, Guendouzi is a solid signing. Okay Sokratis has come a bit of a cropper in defense, but I understand he was a done deal well before Unai was appointed. I trust Unai in his transfers. Even Suarez is supposedly a player who will run his socks off for the team while covering in defence. I dont know whats the problem with that. Give Unai the windows he needs to rebuild the… Read more »

Faisal Narrage

Erm, you do know he’s the head coach? He didn’t sign any of those players.

Red-Sky

They wouldn’t get through the door if he didn’t agree to them.
That’s how it works.

A P

Except Torreira and Guendouzi weren’t Emery’s signings.

Mpls

There is absolutely nothing wrong at all with Emery wanting players he has familiarity with.

Unless they’re not of the quality we need or are pushing out someone better.

Let’s hope neither is the case and we’re all good.

Bob

@Mpls: “Unless they’re not of the quality we need or are pushing out someone better.”

Suarez, meet Ozil ?

Such a weird one, we spent all of the January window with this as a priority, rather than a loan for the defence!? At what point does it stop being negligent and start becoming trolling?

A Different George

Here is my worry, as much about the ownership/management structure as about Emery, that the long-term plan is something like this:
Of course, Suarez is not as good as Ozil, but he is not terrible and he is much cheaper. Of course, a player like Banega is neither as good nor as young as Ramsey, but we can make do with him, and he is much cheaper.

We bought Sokratis and Leno, who are pretty good. Liverpool (not Man City, not Çhelsea, not Man United) bought Van Dijk and Ederson who cost a lot more.

John C

It’s not that simple though is it?

Ozil isn’t £350,000 a week good and Ramsey isn’t £200,000 a week either, and herein lies the problem, it’s not just a question of is Benega better than Ramsey or Suarez better than Ozil.

It’s a question of getting the most out of your budget and whether or not someone like Ozil is worth paying almost double even the second highest paid player at the club? What effect does that have on signing and renegotiating contracts?

Billymac

The only thing wrong with it is that they might not be good enough to help Arsenal challenge for the title – or even top 4

Dobby

People worry too much these days. He’s a serviceable play on lona, in a position we needed to fill and if he’s crap he’ll go back to Barcelona.

SG_Gooner

nothing wrong with that. wenger bought vieira rami garde grimandi anelka etc…..

Faisal Narrage

All young with huge talent and potential that made them wanted by the top clubs later.

Those guys are similar to Torreira and Guendouzi, not Suarez or Nzonzi or Banega

Arsexual

Lol Remi Garde and Gilles Grimandi were young with huge talent when we signed them?

BigStick

The Mustafi comment is heavenly. I’ll do cartwheels if we sell him. He should have been sold last summer.

Gooooooonnnnaaaaaaaa

We’re interested in signing Rabiot, just as we were interested in signing lemar and mbappe. Let be real here, with all the top clubs interested in signing him and capable of offering him the same/higher wages we can, as well as champions league football and ability to compete, why in the world would he come to us?? Easy for ornstein to make those claims at this point in the season, he can easily track back in the summer and be like, at the time they were interested but……

Martin

The same reason that Aubameyang, Lacazette and Torreira came

Mpls

Plus familiarity with Emery.

Gunnery

You want quick results on a budget. This is what is required for the first couple of seasons. Unai and Wenger had squads which are both inbalanced and inflexible with their mish mash of individuals, with to many panic buys, especially last couple of years under Gaz

Sunil T

rumours have already started… its going to be a long end of the season…

Parlour's Paypacket

Do clubs actually put players on the transfer list in real life? I thought it was a football manager thing! Seems like it’s counter productive as everyone knows you want to get rid. We should make Mustafi captain and talk up his importance. He’ll be at Barcelona before you know it!

A Different George

And win trophies.

Ferg

That reminds me . Is Vermailen still there? Has he played yet? Best deal Wenger ever made

A Different George

Also played for Belgium in the World Cup (you know, the side that pretty easily beat England twice).

Anthony

I’d take Vermaelen over Mustafi any day of the week to be fair.

Xhaka Demus, no Pliers

With potentially bugger all money to spend, I’m sure we’ll be linked with all free agents with a bit of pedigree. Fingers crossed we qualify for CL so we can offer that as part of the package

Sue

Just noticed your name – Brilliant ??

Richard

Should tweak it…Xhaka Genius? No buyers.

Ya gooner

Xhaka genius? No, buyers!

Half a simpsons reference…

catbiscuits

I’m not sure that head coaches (rather than managers) should be able to shape transfer policy in this fashion, i.e. towards recruiting trusted lieutenants. Pursuing the likes of Suarez, Banega, or N’Zonzi doesn’t seem particularly sensible when funds are so limited, the needs elsewhere in the squad are so pressing, and the modern coach probably has a shelf-life of 2-3 years.

Btw, Rabiot doesn’t fall into this category, as from what I hear, he can play a bit.

Dobby

Why is everyone so obsessed with this “head coach” title and the dilution of the manager’s input? Is it some reaction to Wenger’s overarching control and how damaging that became? To my mind, Emery is a “head coach” in the same way that Sanhelli was “head of football relations”. There’s not a manager at any club in the league who doesn’t have some input on transfers. Pep gets his players, Klopp has a big input on players, Sarri has brought over two of his Napoli players already. Why are we getting so bent out of shape over something that is… Read more »

SharpasFc

It’s the Arsenal way…unfortunately!

LEFT08

Because the players we are linked with are not good enough. They are cheap buys that won’t fix anything. At least Mislintat appeared to be basing his moves on a long-term strategy. Emery is apparently going after shit players and has-beens who will further consolidate our status as a Europa League club.

OnAnyBlock

‘shit players and has beens’?! If we put our entire squad up for sale, could you kindly tell me any who have been here for over 18 months who would command any sort of fee or even demand from ‘champions league clubs’??

Sometimes, try and be objective, there has been a huge amount of decline for several years and Emery is not to blame.

Clockendrider

But Emery was brought in to reverse the decline….after 6 months the jury is still out.

DB's first touch

well Ramsey is going to Juve, and he can’t even crack our starting XI at the moment…which can be interpreted either as “we have a lot of players that would be in demand with champions league clubs” or “Unai would rather play poorer quality players that he trusts/knows/fits his system”…depending on the narrative you want to promote.

OnAnyBlock

So one (1) then…because that was the original question. Also glad you mentioned Ramsey because even after a decade at the club, there is zero consensus as to what his ‘legacy’ should be

All I asked was for supporters to be objective, I am not trying to spin a narrative. This talk about Emery and ‘poorer quality players’ is jarring, especially when we literally don’t have a team full of proverbial ‘galacticos’

Red-Sky

Unai wants to invest the chance on future prospects who are not leaving in a few months. Like Guendouzi.

Martin

Bellerin, Holding,Lacazette, Xhaka, Ozil, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Iwob, Chambers and not forgetting youngsters such as Nelson, AMN and Smith Rowe.

martin

So none of those players would command a fee? Very odd

Red-Sky

The need for a box to box, and central midfielders are as pressing as for the defense. I you look at the game v City, we struggled to hold the ball, press from the front or retrieving it away from our box. Teams don’t keep clean sheets because they have good defenders only, but because they also make hard for the opp to reach dangerous areas or create as many chances as we concede. Aside from the striker position, and maybe left back, we need quality signings everywhere else. If not for the lack of numbers, then for the lack… Read more »

Aditya Gujarathi

We need a quality LB as well. Kolasinac and Monreal are good but still not best. So we need a LB as well. And most importantly we need to get rid of few players like Elneny, Jenkinson,etc. And then sign some quality players permanent bases and not loan. As Cech is also retiring we need a world class keeper as well . So we should go in for Jan Oblak who’s the best keeper in the world currently. Our Midfield can still be adjusted and developed and youngster like Emil Smith Rowe, Nelson ,etc can play so the thing that… Read more »

'Fool'ball Manager

You think you are playing FIFA 19?

clins

Even i thought we lost a lot of balls in the midfield ,i dont think it was because of central midfielders. guendouzi and torreira to an extend managed to keep posession well. But our defenders were not at all comfortable with possession, so all city had to do was screen the midfield, so defenders in most cases just hoofed it the other end. Also apart from lacca, guendouzi and maybe iwobi none of them had any idea how to link midfield and attack. we were playing kola and auba as well who were not at all good with possession and… Read more »

ramgooner

@Red-Sky

Totally agree with you. We need not just numbers but top quality in central midfield, wing and box-to box positions. Our bad defending can entirely be attributed to weak midfield and wingers who are afraid to take players on.

With Guendouzi and Torreira you have certainty when it comes to keeping possession.
We need more players like that. Guys like El Neny offer nothing special and he doesn’t even suit our approach towards the game. It looks like he is there just to make up numbers.

Mesut O'Neill

Left back? Thats one of area’s that needs addressing the most. Monreal is 33 & past his best, Kolasinac is only good in a 3-5-2 system.

Anthony

Definitely need a left back, a solid left back who is not only good going forward (Kolasinac) and that is actually a very good defender. I’m thinking someone of a similar mould to Cole, Gibbs or Clichy. Sure Gibbs didn’t solidify his place as a starter permanently and seemed to loose the faith of Wenger, but he was for a ling time solid as a defender and we actually seemed to have the right balance when we had Sagna on the right hand side with Gibbs on the Left. Right back is also a concern. Maitland-Niles needs time, and Lichtensteiner… Read more »

Costagooner

They’re saying we might put Mustafi up to sale,who in their right mi d would buy that useless twat.

Stuart_Ten

Classy..

Mpls

Well that’s no way to get him sold.

“He’s fabulous – a ball playing modern CB and aggressive tackler”.
THAT is how you get him sold.

Tasmanian Jesus

Clubs in Spain perhaps. Was there before and was good, completely different league.

John cussen

If we sell mustafi, chambers, jenkinson, elneny, ospina, and with Cech and Ramsey gone at end of season, surely we can free up enough money to sign quality centrehalf and left back like maguire and chilwell, world class winger should be priority

Bogdan

Judging by Emery’s hairstyle preference in midfield, I certainly hope we won’t be linked with that elbowing oak that pissed off to China next.

NMArsenal

Well his hair is cut short so he is out of Emery’s preference. Thank the old gods and the new

Bob's Mexican Cousin

Let’s sell defenders and buy midfielders! Oh, wait…

m1Ö

?????

Red-Sky

Man City played 3 defenders ( not a back 3 ) with 6 midfielders if front of them and made a short work of us.
You can defend from the midfield just as effectively.

Bob's Mexican Cousin

If only we were owned by an Arab state.

Jasonissimo

“Arab.” Like Yemen? Nah, we a’ ’ight.

Mpls

Those 6 midfielders and 3 defenders cost more than all of the teams in the lower half of the table combined. (Probably. Not bothering with the mathematics.)

Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia

Rabiot is a textbook brat though. Hope he doesn’t come up with the demand to earn same money as Ozil.

Richard

Despite the downvotes, the comment is valid – he and his advisors seem like problematic (and greedy) people and we could really use some peace around the club, not troublemakers.

clins

even though i was against it bringing in rabiot would be a canny move by arsenal. Think about it, rabiot is obviously a quality player. The only potential issues here are his mother who represents him and probably his salary. But if you set aside that negatives the upsides are huge. We are getting a very good player for practically nothing at a very young age. And if he does indeed wants to leave then we can sell him to a bigger club for a good price. This deal has an eery similarities to how juventus took pogba and then… Read more »

Mpls

Or instead of the Pogba scenario we could end up with more of the Balotelli.
😉

m1Ö

one thing we have to guarantee rabiot is a good salary and playing time. we should be wise to tie him down for at least 4 years till we wanna sell if or when he starts acting up.

A Different George

There have certainly been issues with Rabiot, not just about money. His refusal to remain in the France reserves when he was not chosen for the World Cup squad was both very public and pretty insulting to those who were chosen. (Who did okay without him, of course.)

Christopher Wreh

Really interesting podcast Blogs, thanks for making it free to us all.

Real indication of where this club is going will come in the summer. We shall see

Alex

Rabiot had 4 very disappointing games with the French national team before Deschamps let him out of the WC 2018. To the displease of this young man who said it clearly. To the displease of Deschamps who locked the national door.
Then his mummy was too hungry for Barca that gave up. If Arsenal want it considering his ego and the one of his family, don’t expect less than £200 000 a week for a guy who is still to prove his worth.

loose_cannon

Deschamps also left Lacazette out of the France squad, I guess we should transfer list him too??

BigStick

For totally different reasons.

loose_cannon

For the same reason; they had incredible strength in depth. No shame in being left out of that side.

A Different George

But Lacazette’s reaction was totally different from Rabiot, who publicly attacked Deschamps and refused to remain in the France reserves.

loose_cannon

This is true and a good point tbf, though I don’t think we’re really in a position to be that picky! If someone of his quality and age comes along on a free, we have to get him. And if his attitude becomes a problem later on, we offload him. Also I reckon we wouldn’t be interested in him if his relationship with Emery is anything like the one with Deschamps.

Red-Sky

He wasn’t particularly impressive last season. And opted to go with Giroud who could offer other things than goalscoring.

martin

As he hardly played for France that comment makes no sense

loose_cannon

Arguably Lacazette offers much more than goalscoring to us, as opposed to Aubameyang. He can press, drop deep, create for others and for himself. Also it wasn’t an either-or situation with him and Giroud, Laca could have taken Griezmann or Mbappe’s place as well.

Rather, France are just that strong that they can afford to leave Lacazette out, just as they did with Martial and Rabiot. The issue isn’t their quality, it’s just the competition for places. The point I’m making is that just because Rabiot was left out of the France squad, doesn’t mean he’s no good.

Donald's Trump

But I think you’re missing the point. The point being Rabiot is a bit of a twat.

SB Still

We were interested very interested in Mbappé too!

I’m sure there are many that we are going to be interested in as part of Emery’s and Sanllehi’s over haul of the squad but with out budget constraints, I’m not sure how many we’ll actually end up signing.

atom

Since Rabiot comes on a free it’s literally just a question of if we can convince him to come here & can we free up enough wages. A midfield of Torierra, Rabiot & Gendouzi could be pretty solid

SB Still

Yes there is no transfer fee but because he is talented youngster on a free, many top clubs will be interested. There is no doubt there will be a big sign-on fee.

Also, apart from the money is, whether he will find us attractive enough to join.

loose_cannon

Would be an excellent signing imo but will be a hard one to pull off, especially if we’re still in the Europa league next year. And because he’s on a free, he’ll have the pick of a lot of clubs. Hopefully the Emery connection and promise of guaranteed first team football will be enough to lure him here.

Irrational Gunner

When was the last time we were linked with a defender? Sorry, that was a free defender, of course.

Crash Fistfight

Is it season-ticket renewal time already?

Seriously though, as-if we’re likely to get Rabiot when most of the top teams in Europe are after him. I don’t know what’s less likely, that or anyone being stupid enough to want Mustafi.

martin

This is an old chestnut. As there is a massive waiting list that argument doesn’t apply

Red-Sky

Amen to selling Shkodran Mustafi.

LEFT08

Now imagine going for Nzonzi instead of Guendouzi. It’s completely wrong. As is the Suarez transfer and links to Banega-type players. These are unambitious moves which show there is no vision or long-term planning. This crap is the post-Wenger Arsenal. He was the last person at the club to guard against Kroenke turning everything into shit.

alex alexsson

tbf we were already shit by the time wenger left

LEFT08

Agreed. Due to Kroenke’s 10-year ownership. Now the shitstorm is really coming down hard.

Aditya Gujarathi

Yeah but atleast Wenger didn’t succumb to Kroenke so easily as Emery has. Cause if he had done that we would’ve never ever got players like Özil , Laca and Auba.

Martin

I find it sickening when people use terms like shit when talking about players or the team and disgusted that so many give up votes. Wenger left a team that needed to be built on but With Bellerin, Holding, Monreal, Chambers , Kolasinac , Ramsey, Xhaka, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Ozil Iwobi and a talented group of youngsters it was far from being terrible

Red-Sky

No. The squad is terrible if the standard is to compete for the PL or even top 4, seeing as how our rival line up. That is well proven by now.
And one of our biggest problems is we keep talking them up all the time, as if we don’t learn from all the let downs over the years.

Anyway that’s all settled. The new regime is ruthless and there will be a PURGE!

Jasonissimo

…a purge of our top talents.

Red-Sky

Nzoznzi and Banega are very good players, you come as someone who does not know what he is talking about and haven’t watched them play for 1 minute.
And guess what, both are much better defensively than Guendouzi, who is good with ball and not much without it.

loose_cannon

Haven’t seen enough of Banega to comment but I’d have definitely taken Nzonzi as a DM option at the time, and perhaps I’d still take him seeing as Elneny will almost definitely go.

atom

My only real issue with Banega & Nzonzi is I don’t think the club needs to be bringing in players on their last major contract but simply prefer players like Genduozzi who while not currently as polished, have a lot more upside to them. They’re also saleable if they don’t work out from our perspective vs. older players whom we’re just kind of stuck with.

loose_cannon

Agree we should prioritise younger players, but if an older player can do a job for us and isn’t too expensive in terms of transfers and wages I say go for it. Admittedly it’s more of a risk but at this stage, drifting further and further away from the top while we linger in the Europa League, we must prioritise the here and now. And it’s not as if the Guendouzis of this world grow on trees. One of Wenger’s biggest mistakes was thinking he could repeat his Fabregas trick every summer, that’s how we ended up with Denilson and… Read more »

atom

@loose agree with the broad sentiment. I like what Sven was doing in terms of buying stop gap players (Sokratis) in areas where we have young promising players who aren’t quite there and buying young promising players in areas where we already have a lot of experience (midfield arguably between Ramsey, Elneny, Xhaka & Ozil etc.).

The only concern I have is our budget supposedly is only 40m if we don’t make the CL- we really can’t afford to blow 1/2 of that on an experienced stopgap unless they are that much better.

Anthony

I think the biggest issue with this strategy, is ultimately you end up with many not working out, slow to adapt to the league, or just a stick pile of players thst were never good enough.

We’ve seen it before – Squallaci, Silvestre, Lichtensteiner, you could even argue Kallstrom and Perez fall into thst mix too.

We don’t have a fantastic track record of this kind of signing.

A Different George

Of course, Nzonzi is one of those Deschamps chose ahead of Rabiot.

Tim Miller

Looking at the way N’Zonzi is performing at Roma, I’d say we dodged a bullet there… although you never know (different team, different league)…

Thierry Bergkamp

I like Rabiot.

Rich

Rabiot+Guendouzi would be our best midfield pairing since Vieria+Petit.

Adems

Mustafi transfer listed ??

Abdulkafeel Gidado

The words that comes out of every Soccer Analyst is that Arsenal is suffering from lack of defenders.
But despite the porous nature of our defence you hardly hear that we’re on the trail of any defend.
Emery should please pack his bags and leave.

TexasGooner6

This article made me happy

Artem

Why would we put Mustafi up for sale? Shocking decision. Our best player

Runzac

Tall strong guy who can defned well AND create. The heart of any team lies in front of the CB´s where the ball is won and distributed quickly. Viera, Petit and Gilberto did the job but since then it has been downhill for Arsenal. Look at the best clubs and their midfield anchors and weep. Cazorla did amazing creating stuff but no PL or CL prizes won though. We need a beast and Torreira is not the answer – how often does he hit the ground and we do not get a free kick? Many fans been crying out for… Read more »

Micky Tayrian

I like his hair

Jht

Arsenal want every pal of Emery whom he has coached. Great.

Lord Bendnter

U mean to tell me Mustafi hasn’t already been on the Transfer list for the past year or two?

YaGunnersYa

Neymar and Mbappe also played under Emery. Perhaps we will sign them too.

Back to reality, it seems increasingly likely that Özil may be offered to potential suitors in the summer to free up some transfer funds. I think the team will ne worse for it, but perhaps Emerybhas someone with a younger age profile who can combine well with Xhaka / Torreira / Guendouzi.

I’d prefer Isco to Rabiot personally, were that at all possible, given the former’s lack of playing time at Madrid this season.

James

How can the team be worse if he never plays?

Gunnery

Very interesting insights.

Rabiot. Yes.

Gunnery

I like that Raul ultimately backs his manager rather than scout. Makes a change.

It almost seems as if we are trying to lay down some foundations which are not purely financial and more football related.

Only time will tell if it was the right choice. Strong decisions needed to be made and they have.

Rayk 47

Bout time we gave Mistakefi the chop! Please oh please let it be true… (and not at too much of a loss)

Don’t Forget

The most worrying thing to me was hearing him say that basically Emery preferred N’Zonzi to Guendouzi. Thank god for Sven

baz00r

Bosman means huge salary. Which rules us out as a destination unfortunately.

Santori

They ‘want’ him sure.

Whether they can get him is another issue.

Whether they will be able to get him is a different thing particularly without CL.

Whether we will pay to get him is again another question most no the answer to.

truj

Skoda Mustafi – just for our czech supporters.

Abhi

Great news, if true. An important part of summer business will be to sell ozil, Mustafi and Elneny in the summer for max money. A bonus would be sale of Miki and Iwobi as well. Maybe even xhaka! I know this sounds harsh but I think the whole goddam squad needs an overhaul. Get rabiot on a free transfer with freed up Miki wage, a great central defender and nkunku with transfer fees that we get for miki+elneny+iwobi+Mustafi+xhaka, reiss Nelson coming back, so go big on someone like Isco in central attacking midfield! .. AMN will need to learn to… Read more »

Abhi

And fuck Steven Nzonzi, exBlackburn and Stoke scum..

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