The transfer rumour mill is moving as fast as we can remember in recent times. Just hours after saying he’d be honoured to be Arsenal captain next season, Granit Xhaka is being linked with a move to Inter Milan.
Apparently ‘whispers’ from inside the Swiss training camp ahead of their Nations League game against Portugal tomorrow are the source, so the pinch of salt with this one is pretty hefty.
RSI Sports reporter Marcello Ierace who is with Switzerland squad in Portugal says there are ‘intensifying whispers’ within the camp that Xhaka is close to join Inter Milan. He claims discussions accelerated after Conte’s appointment. pic.twitter.com/RNzAXnk5dc
— Arsènic™ (@MrArsenicTM) June 4, 2019
However, the same reporter has also suggested Xhaka has refused to deny the story, adding a bit more fuel to the fire.
At 27, and after three seasons at the club, it might well be a good time to cash in on a player who has had some good times but never been quite able to iron out the flaws in his game. The slower pace of Serie A would also suit his game very well.
However, with a midfield replacement for Aaron Ramsey already required, Mesut Ozil’s future up in the air, and Mohamed Elneny a player Unai Emery barely uses, it would mean an almost complete rebuild of our midfield if we were to move all three on.
Of that trio, Xhaka seems the most sensible ‘keep’ option, to provide a bit of continuity, but maybe there’s an offer that will sway Arsenal.
We’re not fully convinced there’s a great deal to this, but we’ll hedge our Poo-o-Meter bets with a 6.
Some might see it as a sideways step but generally that’s how he moves anyway.
This is what we can do given our financial difficulty
Sell Xhaka and Mustafi. Approximately 55/60 mil. Replace with two quality players.
Get rid of Kos and Monreal and use the 40 mil budget for their replacement.
Replace Lichsteiner and Jenkison with Chambers
Sell Elneny replace with a promising youngster
Emily Smith row to replace Ramsey
Bring back Nelson + use wilock a bit more
Use Kolasinach more on the left wing
Nketiah third option striker
Get a loan striker to replace Welbeck
Keep Ozil and Mkhitaryan on the bench. Let them learn from the kids.
If Kos (or Monreal, for that matter) want to leave, we should let them, but I’m not sure there’s much benefit in us ‘getting rid’ of them if they’ll stay. Kos is an important presence even if he had to play less next season, and though Nacho isn’t what he used to be, he’s the only defensively competent left back we have.
Also, keeping Ozil and Mkhi on the bench is quite literally a waste of half a million pounds a week. Move them on or use them
I think with your suggestions, we would have a serious chance of competing with Everton, Wolves, and West Ham. If that’s what you want.
Living in dream land.
Who’s going to pay that price for those two players?
We can’t even get rid of Elneny and Jenkinson for free.
The fake santori strikes again.
Sounds like good business to me. Xhaka is a diesel, we need a tesla
That’s a bit harsh on Xhaka he is, at least, a Prius. Certainly has the turning circle.
What? Hideously expensive and every time you get the best out of it for a full 90 it has to spend the next six games recharging it’s batteries?
Why do we need another Özil?
Not a bad player who would probably excel in Serie A but unfortunately hasn’t made the grade for us despite 3 years at the club. I would def cash in given the opportunity. Easily replaceable.
I detest Xhaka…really hope there’s something in this.
Sick of his constant mistakes….penalty against Brighton anyone?? That cost us.
He sums up what is so weak about Arsenal.
Detesting people trying their best? No need mate.
Is he though? Plenty of examples of him not tracking back, which I am also guilty of, however I’d like to hope he’s a little fitter than me. ?
Ok, detest is a strong word but I’d sure love to see the back of him. He’s a liability. There are better players out there, hopefully in our price range
Xhaka Mustafi double deal please!
If we could get what we paid (£70m) that would be amazing.
Dreaming. Who would pay that money? You’d be lucky to get anything beyond 20m for the pair maybe and then it means more holes to fill when we have a finite budget and many other critical areas to add. Mustafi in particular may not be sold. Depends on offers (and I suspect vis-a-vis Chambers). Even with a new CBack in, you’d need one more to add to Holding and Sokratis (Plus new chap). Monreal can be a make shift Cback but he will be last resort at best (should we extend him) Mavropanos better off on loan to develop. So… Read more »
A complete rebuild may be the best scenario.
Except we don’t have the money.
And we are shit at selling players.
I like his jawline, his hair, and his left foot every now and again.
He’s also slow, can’t dribble, commits Mustafi-esque fouls, and Inter Milan’s owners have stupid money.
Let’s get this done.
Wouldn’t be sorry to lose him if they are willing to give us a decent amount of cash for him. Don’t see much point of keeping Elneny either.
Bye Xhaka, if we can get decent money sell him. To slow with the ball #upthearsenal
Agreed, he will excel in Seria A Pirlo-ing the ball from the edge of his own D. Different styles, and I’m not convinced quite Arsenal standard, but I’d be inclined to take a punt on Doucoure from Watford in his place. Some serious physicality in the centre has been missing from the Arsenal for over a decade.
He’s been picked ahead of Torreira for a reason.
Torreira has been culpable for many goals this season.
And you want to get rid of the better player?
Some people need a reality check.
I think these people who are prey to red herrings from the media need to do a bit of homework and watch matches again. They selectively watch out for every mistakes of certain players they don’t like whilst conveniently ignoring those of the ones that are their favorites.
Like this idea
Ya a doucoure Ndidi Capoue like player with epl experience would be shrewd business.
Torerira one of the above plus silva from Barça in a three with Praet on front of them off the right and laca and aube up top.
Chambers as a cdm sub gunduez as a cm Willock and Iwobi as other options be decent.
He hasn’t really turned into the player I thought he would be. He looks better for the swiss national team than he does for us. If we got close to what we paid I would let him off put his wages towards trying to do a deal with PSG’ Rabiot. Anything is worth a try at this stage.
I like him. But if Torreira is your #6 then I don’t think he offers enough as an 8. Optimally we have the resources to keep him as a rotational guy playing 60% of the minutes at one of the two deeper spots. But, we don’t. Sell him and consider pushing Bielak up the depth chart.
60m? Yes pls.
Any news of a figure yet? Anything north of 25mil and I’d be tempted
Anything less, I’d say not worth selling. Don’t think we’d be able to find better than him for that sort of money.
We should easily recoup the £35m paid if not more, but then again this is the Arsenal negotiation team.
Nobody is going to pay that for Granit. Your living up your arse TBH. Pull your head out.
We can’t even sell the likes of Ospina, Jenkinson or Elneny.
Complete rebuild fo midfield sounds good to me I have to say.. keep Torreira, Guendouzi and the other youngsters and get one or two in who can play in Emery’s – and the modern top level game’s – way.
No.
We only have 40m Even if we can sell to raise 20m-30m more, that’s 70m.
GIven 10m say for improved contracts to stave off attention on Auba etc, we will be left (Best case scenario) with 60m
That buys you 3 quality players in todays market.
We need Cback, CM and Winger. Maybe a young striker for cheap.
Money won’t go far.
There will be no complete rebuild.
Satori you are nob
Because there are a load of world class midfielders out there that we can replace Ramsey, Ozil and Xhaka with for peanuts and no CL?!?
A complete rebuild likely means a big dip in results while they learn the PL, each other and we replace out the ones who don’t turn out to be good enough.
Xhaka has cost us at times, but this team has won far more than lost with him directing much of the play.
Who are you going to buy for 35M to be a starting midfielder that raises us above our current level?
Silva at Everton on loan from Barça is one.
Gomes. Not Silva.
gomez what!!!!!!
Sell
Please let this be true ???
We do need a major rebuild of the squad. Midfield rebuild is key, together with defence
We don’t have much money.
We are not in CL to entice top quality additions.
We can’t sell to save our lives.
Teams won’t buy mediocre players at high prices from us. Why would they? Add salary they have to accommodate.
Please do better thinking.
When an opposing player tries to ‘impose’ himself on one of our players Xhaka is always the first to react. Apart from that I can’t think of any other good qualities he brings, sell him.
If you don’t see any other qualities then I truly worry for your perception of this beautiful game called football.
More often than the average premier league midfielder, a ball played in to him in the backfield is transitioned to the next level.
Saw this and joy crept into my heart.
Let him go (and then watch him smash one in from 30 yards if we play them)
Well he averages about two of those a year and we usually play most teams twice so I’m sure they will both be against us.
Even if we only recoup what we paid, you’d have to think a smart club could find a player to fill his role with that kind of money.
A smart club?
We can’t even sell Ospina let alone give away Jenkinson and Elneny.
Other than our two strikers, Guendouzi and maybe Leno I’d be happy for us to sell the rest. I like Holding+Bellerin, but off the back of their big injuries… I’d let them both go for the right price. I haven’t felt this downbeat since the summers of 2011+2012, incidentally Kroenke got his majority shareholding in April 2011, and since then we’ve been treading water, but now looks like we’re going under. My prediction is Emery gets the boot around November/December, we get a new manager, but things get worse and not better, because our problems run much deeper, can see… Read more »
Because we have a huge budget to by an entire team of mediocre players.
I really like Xhaka. He has his flaws but adds good long range passing to our midfield. But I’m not sure. I think our players are mentally scarred with the pressure and I don’t think they know how to deal with it. Maybe we should bring in a few psychologists like Liverpool.
Who doesn’t have flaws?
Torreira?
Guendouzi has been caught many times out of position. Monreal too.
Too slow and laboured in everything he does. Get rid. Please
Too slow like Giroud
…and Giroud peppered your defense in the Europa cup final ?
This is the season when Emery’s will shine. Which will happen through bringing in new players, but above all by improving those who are already here. Xhaka might be one of them.
Emery failed to improve any
Not sure about that. Laca was better, Holding was better. I agree with the sentiment that in the end the season was only marginally better. I’d give him one more year but I want top 4 as a bare minimum. Top 4 and a trophy isnecessary to guarantee his job for a 3rd year IMHO.
I think there were improvements in individual ability. Cech played his best season despite the early season wobble. Bellerin, Holding and Iwobi were better after stagnating in the latter Wenger years though Iwobi still needs to work on end product. Lacazette is much improved and Xhaka has reduced (but not eradicated) his defensive errors. AMN has become a better wing back. Am on the fence about Kolasinac though his assist rate has increased. My gripe with Emery isn’t about improving the individuals (which he has) but making out a cohesive plan to ensure that the team flows. We have looked… Read more »
The Ambrose piece on the main blog is pretty perceptive I think. To me, the danger is that Emery is a coach whose outlook has been formed by the need to take a smaller team, like Sevilla, as far as they can go–with the knowledge that they cannot really challenge Barca, Real Madrid, or even Atleti. That is why he sets up to play mid-table English teams away as if we were going into the Camp Nou.
I hope this changes as he adapts to Arsenal, but I am not confident.
Holding, Bellerin, Laca, heck even Xhaka all improved under Emery
Agree. Those four have improved but I would say Bellerin improved bc of Wenger.
Arguably Emery is getting the best out of Laca, Holding in some sense bc of Wenger’s work the season before.
Granit I feel is the one player I feel has really got better with Unai.
He’s worked on his situational awareness, Tackling has improved, positioning. He conrtibutes to us defensively for aerial balls (Soemthing Torreira is less able to)
Sure he had a red card but so did Viera many times round.
People have foggy memories.
He is an excellent distributer of the ball but has deficiencies in pace and rashness under pressure. For him to be consistently effective at the top level, which I think is possible, you’d have to build a midfield around him that makes up for his deficiencies and emphasizes his ability to bypass the midfield with his pinging passing. But we haven’t had a coherent plan and it’s not clear with our deficient D behind him and our current midfielders we ever could have one. I’d sell and replace with a more conventionally athletic defensive midfielder if possible. But we will… Read more »
I like him, he’s talented but flawed, and I do think he has passion for Arsenal so I give him points for that. He’s a good player, but in the end this squad just isn’t well constructed. If you’re going to build around Xhaka, you need a different player than Ozil. And vice versa.
Plus “build a midfield around Xhaka” sounds weird unless you are the Swiss National team.
Who’s not flawed?
Sokratis and Koscielny solid against Wolves and Chelsea? We leaked 7 goals without Mustafi.
Torreira doesn’t make mistakes. He was culpable for 4th Chelsea goal but even in mid season he made a whole slew of mistakes leading to 4 goals agianst us.
Stay away from the red herrings.
Too many people tend to follow and not think on their own.
They hear what others say, look for the flaws (They are there) but then ignore the flaws of other players and discount the merits.
I’m all for it…hope we have many players heading out the exit door. Blow the whole thing up.
Xhaka is the Jona Arsenal need to discover and throw into the ocean to save the ship from sinking! In a less physical league like series a, he’ll do well, how ever, in a physically unforgiven environment like the Premiership, he is not the material for defensive midfield. Preat is below average. We suggest Youssouf Fofana of Strasbourg for defensive midfield. Lipzieg Umpacano and Senegal’s U20 Souleymane Cisse are good defensive options. With this Ozil can relax and do his passing job.
Looking forward to watching Niles, willock, Torriera and myself run the middle rugged. Oh yes we canon ball!
Looks like a weak midfield. Very weak.
Without Xhaka, Torreira is about the only one left that has been consistently tested at a Top League level. (In the midfield, that is, in AMN’s case.)
Fact is, in possession and with his range of passing, Xhaka is currently our most stabilizing midfielder.
I’m not against it happening, but we’ve got to fill that position smartly, not just boot the long ball on it.
Torreira has made his fair share of mistakes. Taking Granit out (even assuming adding another high quality midfield) will still be replacement at best, not reinforcement. Beyond Granit, Torreira and GUendouzi, Willock is still a big risk. AMN is a ridiculous notion. Not sure why some people have it in their heads he is a midfielder. He has been playing at fullback. He may not be good enough in midfield and in any case we will start a whole new learning curve for him again replete with mistakes. Its not like he will suddenly go into that position and dominate.… Read more »
Why are people down voting when you got a solid point??? Xhaka isn’t the major problem with that team (in my opinion he isn’t less effective than the Liverpool captain Henderson) our major problem lies with the mentality of our players (if anything Xhaka is one of the few not suffering from that deficiency). Get the boys pumped up in confidence and get a fucking solid center back and a winger or two then we’d be well on our way to solving our issues! Ps…just forget about Ozil.
I’m not hating but xhaka wouldn’t of got In any arsenal midfield in this last 30 years except this one!! If the money is good then we should let him go
Please, he is way better than Denilson could ever dream, plus Song wasn’t grand either…we’ve been suffering deep midfield since Gilberto left.
I don’t even hate the guy for mistakes. I think he’s one of the best at what he does.
I just feel he represents a style that I don’t want arsenal to use anymore; all possession, no athleticism. I feel Ozil and Xhaka are the personification of an old style I don’t want us to have anymore.
I want physical, high energy and direct dribbling midfield. Sounds like the future, but in truth it’s just what the Invincibles did.
“I think he’s one of the best at what he does”. In the world, you mean? Erm…
His final entry passes and vertical passes are one of the best, check it up. There is no denying that.
Still doesn’t make him extremely limited.
Flipping Theo was one of the best at diagonal runs into the box. Doesn’t mean he was a great player either.
We have not been using his passing range. There is a reason why Unai starts him ahead of Torreira and Guendouzi. He brings something extra with passing range switching our point of attack quickly. BUT Auba has been poor holding the ball or being competitive with high balls. Also our build up tends to be intricate, we lack wide players who can independently take on opponents without wiating for reinforcements. Now is Xhaka the best defensively prob not he has his fair share of mistakes. BUT so has Torreira, GUendouzi, Monreal even Sokratis and Koscielny have switched off this season.… Read more »
He has qualities, this year he has been doing fairly well overall. While he also has his flaws, we Would struggle without him with current squad
You’ll get down voted bc most people here have their heads stuck up their arse.
Sheep.
They need to watch the matches again properly.
Sell!
Torreira, Guendouzi, Willock and Ainsley + shiny new signing?
That’s a very weak midfield
That’s a midfield with very little or no character at all…
I am constantly hoping for the collective foolishness of the Milan Clubs and PSG to clean our house a la Mustafi, Mkhitaryan, Elneny, Ozil, Kolasinac and Xhaka. I reserve my respects for Koscielny and Monreal for their years of top class service. When you add Cech, Welbeck, Ramsey and Lichsteiner to this list, you realize the scale of squad mismanagement going on.
We have a lot of work to do.
Why would they?
It would leave us with a heck of a midfield rebuild but I sorely want him gone… has his upsides but his downsides epitomise some of the worst aspects of this team.
Why?
He has been much improved.
He isn’t the weakest in midfield by a stretch.
Happy
With Arsenal top players being continually linked with exit,the buck stops with
the owner. Clubs which can compete in the cl and are perennial trophy winners
will attract sponsors.Arsenal may have attracted Adiddas but rest assured they
may not wish to associate with a club no more in the limelight.
According to one report,the gunners have fallen out of the list of top 10 clubs.
If this trend continues,Arsenal will be ranked with Everton/WHU/Wolves.
How the might would have fallen.
More likely what is happening. If we sell Granit (like Auba) we send a poor message to the squad and will be hollowing out capabilities not reinforcing what we have. Unfortunately too many fans are clueless. They have favorites and players they don’t like at any cost. NONE of it is based on reality. They see the faults of Mustafi and Granit , ignore the merits. The likes of Torreira gets only praise ignoring obvious mistakes he has made over many games as well. Torreira has not been the full answer we were looking for. He’s been an OK at… Read more »
I do support the sale of Xhaka on a big price tag. I also understand why people hated his flaws, especially during defensive moments though it has been slightly mitigated with Torreira next to him. However, the midfield looked to have struggled passing out to the final third without Xhaka and/or Ramsey. Xhaka did help us progress the ball well, for most parts of the season. My worry is that I don’t know if Emery has the nous to rebuild this midfield. The entire team looked tactically disjointed last season and I believe the only thing that worked was the… Read more »
It makes NO SENSE to completely rebuild.
It will retard whatever success Emery has had with current players. Means we will have to start from Scratch.
We will not be affording the top players of the world.
Which means there is further risk as is intergrating new players in.
Torreira has not been convincing for me.
Too many fans like to have a wank over him ignoring inherent mistakes and flaws this season.
There is a reason why Granit has been started always ahead of either Torreira or Guendouzi.
Certainly needs a teams built around him to be able to survive the crazy fast transitions of the Premier League, combined with the diving antics by other players. He was unfortunate with a few of the red cards earlier in his career and the referees had him marked after that. As Wenger said he is a good box to box player with a good engine. Just a bit slow in the turn, a bit like Chambers, who maybe replacing him in midfield.
A team full of bandaids unless we recruit carefully.
But what’s the point if we handle contracts carelessly.
We can blame the board for zero interest or lack of ambition and penny pinching. But who was there to stop Gazidis from breaking up the wage structure, long term transfer strategy, team makeup and transfer-warches-cash-flow?
Shouldn’t that have been Raul or Josh Kroenkes job. And ultimately Stan’s job? It’s a smart move by Raul to package that responsibility into a technical directors role.
Let’s hope that edu or whoever is strong enough to deal with the bs at this club
What makes you think Chambers is better than Mustafi?
On what evidence?
What makes you think Chambers is better than Granit in midfield?
Granit’s long passes are key to our quicker switch in focal point of attack. We have not utilised it well enough.
Aubameyang has been wasteful and does not protect the ball well enough/non competitive in the air.
We need at least £45-50million for him, MINIMUM.
For who?
Which club will pay thast let alone half of that and then accomodate his salary at 90K?
Are you alright?
Now when Kroenke refuses to put any penny into Arsenal. We have to be smart in the market like Liverpool.
If this report is true then good for us! I hope that Sanllehi can make a good amount of money from this deal. 25 mil is acceptable.
Please leave Xhaka! We can’t afford any of your mistakes in big matches.
The next ones to leave should be Elneny, Mustafi and Ozil.
Big mistakes in matches?
Torreira 4th goal for Chelsea in finals, lost the ball in critical area leading to the goal.
Not the only time.
Against BHA, Soton (Away), West Ham, United over Xmas, lost the ball 6 or 7 times leading to 4 goals against. Turnovers in critical areas by mispass or being fleeced.
Bye bye xhaka. U, ozil and eleneney can go. Ooo dont forget guendouzi
This just goes to show how daft most Arsenal fans are.
They don’t think.
If we can pull in 25/30 mil then I wouldn’t hesitate in accepting it. If only his concentration matched his will.
The truth is, he has never matched Arteta’s level of consistency (and we thought Arteta was a step down from Cesc). When you lose players of Cazorla’s level and see Xhaka as your main man, it’s easy to see why we are no longer a top 4 team.
Let the great clear out begin!
There will be no great clearing out. We are already losing Cech, Koscielny (likely), Welbeck, Ramsey (all for free) We will need to get rid of Jenkinson (useless), Ospina, Elneny (mediocre) Thats’s a lot of players already out and we have a finite budget. Plus sales of players is not a given for us. Salary will be a great hindrance for clubs that can buy better players and younger ones elsewhere. Why would they buy from us? Ozil or Mhki (neither are great both on high wages. Both 30yrs +)…why buy them? Most clubs will probably pass. Mustafi or Chambers… Read more »
Add to that if there is too much change, it could be detrimental to what Emery has built up in terms of playing style and work done this season.
It means starting from scratch all over again.
…recipe for disaster.
At this rate we will have nobody left to start the season
I wonder tooo
What exactly is Antonio Conte aiming at!!
Xhaka too?
Xhaka is certainly the best ….how do you expect the guy to glamour while he is the only ‘playing’ midfeilder within the team …he is the most competent of them all no money can change that i wouldn’t sell him for any value no matter what!!!
We cant keep making the same mistakes over and over we lost santi,wilshere then Ramsey now xhaka nooooo…….
May depend on f.f.p. , I read inter may not never able to afford lukaku? , if they do buy him will they be able to afford Chaka , as well? ( without lots of sales or a swap deal )
Unless lukaku, goes to Paris…
They won;t pay that sort of price please.
Many other midfielders in market for less (Plus salary will be another issue)
Most people here need a reality check.
This would be great for the club and him. There is a good player there , maybe the pace of seria a would suit him. Its time for him to leave.
Just need el neny to have a good afcon to gain interest in him.
As for mustafi – i think most arsenal fans will be celebrating as if we have signed mbappe when he leaves
Most fans (Arsenal ones) are delusional.
We won’t be signing many players.
And we may not sell Mustafi. Depends on price offered and possibly weighed against sale of Chambers (again if there is a good offer)