Now that we’ve made an actual signing – with Gabriel Martinelli joining the club yesterday – we assume many of these rumours will turn into rock solid deals.
Here’s the latest from the Arsenal transfer merry-go-round.
Kieran Tierney
Some say Napoli are edging ahead us in the race to sign the Scottish international. The Scottish Sun, which first broke the news of our bid, says the Italian side are ready to ‘blow us out of the water’.
However, in Italy there’s talk that we’re trying to make it happen before the Serie A side can tempt him to the city of incredible pizza.
Which would make you think we ought to make another bid. As far as Celtic boss Neil Lennon knows, that hasn’t happened yet. He says, “As I said last week, the first offer wasn’t what we’d look for and I don’t think we’ve had another one yet. It’s as you were.
“Will it rumble on? Probably.”
So there you go.
Malcom
The Brazilian winger was strongly linked with us during the January transfer window of 2018, but in the end no deal could be done, and that summer he moved to Barcelona from Bordeaux for a fee of €41m.
He hasn’t had a happy time the Camp Nou, making just 15 sporadic La Liga appearances, completing 90 minutes only three times, and scoring a solitary goal.
The Catalans are willing to letting him leave, and although they would prefer a permanent deal, they are open to the idea of loaning him out for a year in a deal that would include a purchase obligation.
This is according to both El Mundo Deportivo and AS, but Barcelona will not countenance a sale for less than what they paid for him. With our pursuit of Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha hitting troubled waters, perhaps Malcom is seen as an alternative option.
Nabil Fekir
L’Equipe are reporting that we’ve initiated contact with Lyon over the attacking midfielder – someone who was very much on Arsene Wenger’s radar in the last few years.
He was on the verge of a move to Liverpool last summer but that broke down, and this article makes for interesting reading about why it didn’t happen.
Apparently our people have been in touch with his people, but it’s all a bit ethereal at the moment, and the L’Equipe report suggests that any deal might hinge on being able to move on Mesut Ozil.
So right now I think we can file this one away in the drawer marked ‘highly unlikely’.
The malcolm deals seems decent if true which it probanly isn’t.
Only really makes sense if we have a buyer for Mkhitayran. Which I highly doubt.
maybe the kind of deal that we need to take a risk and make happen. If Mkhi sees him coming in and stealing all his game time then maybe he’ll decide he’d rather leave and play regularly somewhere else.
Malcolm strsight swap for micky then. Throw in ozil and mustafi for umtiti while we’re at it? But that’s 3 players from our side. Hmmm… ok. Messi on loan for one season. Where do i sign?
If that Suarez deal has shown us anything, its that we massively need to avoid buying cast offs from Barcelona. Their transfer policy is so different to most clubs making it impossible to gauge with any real certainty whether the players they’re selling are actually any good. Considering Barca buy any youngish player off the back of one decent season. As all they have to do is peddle the whole ‘Barca DNA,’ which unsettles the player so much that literally any transfer offer is accepted by the selling club because they have no other option. So you never know if… Read more »
So true, and funny!
Umm.. Alexis sanchez?
@Anne Noyd,
He would be the exception, but when you consider how badly he has fallen off a cliff at United. You could argue we got fairly lucky there. That could easily have been us.
Right, because Bellerin and Cesc Fabregas (remember him), were such terrible business.
@Homer
Yeah because signing players at 15/16 from their youth academy is really comparable to signing a middle aged pro who’s literally hardly featured at all for the Barcelona first team.
With those sorts of nonsensical comparisons it sounds like you potentially already work in our clueless transfer department.
We need a Centre Back — are we resigning Vermaelen?
I’m not sure the suits over there were too thrilled with Song, Hleb and Vermaelen either.
Given that Sanllehi spoke of already having irons in the fire back in March, kinda feels like we are winging it a bit here.
If we wanted these players in May, why are we making bids in July? Hate to question the organisational prowess of the powers that be, but it all seems a little arbitrary from where I’m standing.
I am prepared to give it another two weeks. If we’re still faffing around at that point, I’ll be livid – and I won’t be the only one.
We have to get in a left back and a centre half to have any chance of keeping our goals against tally, under the fifty mark.
I totally subscribe to the notion that there was clearly no plan B. Raul clearly had nothing drawn up in case we didn’t actually make the Champions League.
He probably looked at the fixture list and thought ‘Siii, sii, we will beat Brighton at least.. if not, we will definitely beat Chelsea, their manager literally eats 60 fags on the sidelines..’
No need for the homophobia
We’re going off media reports and how people chose to present them. To be honest, I doubt we have much of a clue what’s going on behind the scenes aside from names.
True but we know from the Celtic and Palace reactions that these derisory offers came in over the last week. So it’s not like we jumped on these players the minute the window opened.
So, according to Blogs, the window doesn’t actually open until July 1.
Bid in May, betray your interest, so the price just goes up, eh? Sheesh.
There’s been a lot of upheaval at AFC in the last 6 months. I would expect a bumpy ride for the next 6-12.
Fekir? I barely know her…
Beautiful
“Fekir…off”. In the immortal words of Bernard Breslaw.
Yes, yes, yes Fekir! A number 10 who actually shoots!
This is excellent .
Really it isn’t that advanced a joke but I wasn’t prepared for it so i laughed out loud (it can actually happen) so props to you for bringing me a small glimt of joy in Silly Season Mr Fart.
it’s french for fucker
Get the Tierney deal over the line, get malcom and let Crystal Palace keep dreaming of getting 80m
Man u will pay the 80m. They paid 85 for pogba after hd left them for free.
United would have only to pay 68m since they have a 15% sell on clause on Zaha.
Nah sell on clause is 25% but they would gladly overpay and spend 80m£ for him .
They are Man united , it’s what they do.
Zaha money is fuckin ridiculous. The guy is barely better than Iwobi . Zahas best ever season stats are just a shade ahead of Iwobi who many say is poor.
Spot on comment.
No he is much better than iwobi but that’s not saying a lot. Iwobi can’t shoot , has no end product a good dribbler but not very fast. I think we should actually try swap and give them 30m.be very happy
Not sure that’s really a fair comparison, considering Zaha plays in a perennially relegation-battling side! What he would do for us is an open question.
They’re doing nothing to dispel the idea that Sanllehi is just going back through Arsene Wenger’s old Amazon wishlist. Next up: Gary Cahill?
Solomon Kalllooouuuu!
Well it’s not like they fired the entire scouting department is it? We also don’t have a director of football so targeting players we’ve previously identified hardly seems odd
RADAMEL FALCAO!!!!!!
Gary Cahill for free would be a solid signing in my opinion, bit of CB depth and stability, while teaching the young’uns a thing or two
Samba!
Fekir/Lacazette possibilities partnership again ???
Ozil also has played with Laca…
Pooooo? where are the pooo’s?
Doing one right now as I read it, if that helps ?
As things stand we are remaining with £39 million of our transfer budget.
We need to bring in nedved (or whoever is making things happen at Juve). Juve’s the king of free transfers!
They do pay huge signing on fees to those players though which means they’re always at the head of the queue for them. Although it’s probably a small figure compared to their actual transfer value under contract
& they have the benefit of the Italian league in reality has no competition so players are guaranteed at least a league title if they go there & a much easier run at the champions league as a result as the league is less physical than the PL. it’s the perfect set up for aging players.
Blogs, might want to amend the headline to Malcom.
Although if we sign him he will always be known as Maclom to me now. ?
Done!
Fekir would be an amazing signing, his combination with Lacazette borders on the psychic. Of course for now it’s all just speculation. I don’t know why they’d be supposedly keen to offload him? Contract situation? Malcom has been awful in a Barca shirt. Not interested.
Yep. One year left on his contract. Lyon don’t let players walk for a free. He’s going somewhere this summer.
I remember us daydreaming about the connection Mhiki and Auba had at dortmund before he signed. It did not work.
I remember some people talking about to but I also remember others pointing out that they’d hardly ever combined in their Dortmund days. Not true of laca and fekir, not just team mates but best academy buddies.
Mhkitaryan is past sell by date.
Unnecessary signing when we needed a winger even back then.
Mslintat misleading again.
If we can’t find a buyer for Ozil we should sell Mhki. He is more affordable (salarywise) to a club that may need an experience playmaker at 30/31 (say in Italy)
Should be able to bring in 10m.
Fekir is better than Mkhi tbf
Be great to replace Ozil with Fekir
Why? Just because it’s Özil and doomed to be a bad player by the press and fans? Fekir is an average player and injured prone and Aulas won’t let him go for that amount. Remember the circus with Laca.
Average? Phillipe Auclair once described him as France’s best talent (about two years ago). Not injury prone at all just suffered one bad acl but was more or less injury free last season. Also last year of his contract so yeah 30mil sounds about right.
They need to comply with FFP and missed out on Champions League, so it’s hardly a long shot.
I’d imagine the £54m they got for Ndombele might have already helped to redress the balance in terms of FFP.
Different type of player anyway.
BUT Fekir can play through the middle or wide which is great for us.
And that partnership potential with Laca not to mention we need to convince Laca to stay one more season or his departure will have repercussions.
Because he does not work in an average team!! You can’t have one less player off the ball if he is’nt going to make the difference on it, if Emery is gonig play a luxury player, he damn well better be unique..get it?
Fekir is faster, better close control, much better finishing.
Swap Ozil for Fekir, add 18M to cover the first year of Ozil’s salary? It might just be crazy enough to…. nah, it would never work
What makes you think Lyon want Ozil at his salary?
They have a very promising playmaker in Aouar.
We’re desperate for stamina, pace, work ethic, and dribbling ability in the wide areas, other than Kolasinac, and Bellerin before his injury, we played very narrowly last season, and I don’t think it was tactical, I think it was down to squad balance. I’m happy to miss out on a centre half this summer and give Bielik a chance, and whilst I’m not Chamber’s biggest fan, he’s decent enough, and looks to have improved in the air. Either Willock or Smith-Rowe can replace Rambo. Our shopping list should read Left back Right back Left sided attacker Right sided attacker Move… Read more »
Think we are short in the middle of the park also.. Never replaced Santi and Jack. Need a Diaby/vieira also. We are fucked.
Diaby/vieira is bielik
I do like the look of Bielik, but think he would make a better DM than CB. He and Torreria would fill a hole in our midfield and protect the back four. Put Nelson on the right and get rid of Mikki, I personally don’t thing Zaha is and better than Reiss and Reiss has time to get even better, Zaha is done. I am honestly having a hard time with the players we are linked with not being much better than the ones we have and not as good (potentially), than the ones we have coming through. All we… Read more »
Even with Reiss, we need a wide player. Bielik is not Diaby or Viera. But he can be useful and if we should not have budget for CM, we should consider elevating him (for lack of choice) OTOH, there are also short term options to consider as security measure (even with Bielik) BOTh Matuidi and Khedira likely will be sold should either of Rabiot or (unlikely) Pogba go to Juve. Khedira and Matuidi both 33yrs so a year stop gap may be feasible with better elasticity in our wage structure now (unlike last season when we loaded Lichsteiner and constricted… Read more »
Hes that good? Capable of bossing Lpool at Anfield? Or our midfield for years with only one other player able to compete with him.
More unrealistic fantasies.
We only have a 40m operating budget plus IF we can sell sufficiently (players not many want bc of high salaries) to raise 20-25m
So you want to bring in numbers it will be at expense of quality. Something has to give.
We are better with a coherent and concise plan to add in Cback, winger and CM. That would stretch our current budget as is.
Is it just me or is the lack of any defensive player being signed not very concerning….
This is the first window that I’ve lived through where I’d be overjoyed if we signed nobody but got rid of about 4 key players.
It would feel like having a large credit card debt expunged.
i agree, freshening up the squad is vital, and that means culling players who are just going through the motions. Emery worked Ozil out within weeks, the club now need to back his judgment. Ozil’s tweet after losing in Rennes shows he’s cynical, and the last thing we need is more instability, and a split dressing room. I’d much rather have a few hungry but inexperienced young players learning, than continuing with the same set of players who’ve continually come up short, and are equally inconsistent. Bielik – Mustafi Willock – Ozil Smith-Rowe – Rambo Chambers – Koscielny/Elneny Nelson –… Read more »
Seriously? Wolves, Everton, Leicester, West Ham, Watford are all stronger than the lineup you are suggesting. So, not a fight for top four, but a fight for top half.
Initially, yes – but I’m prepared to go through a couple of years of struggle in order to reach a better place. I remember the youngsters breaking through in the mid to late 80’s. They weren’t great at first – but ended up giving us that unforgettable night at Anfield in 89. Anyway, we have to live within our means.
Agree mate.
Forget about signing anyone. It doesn’t matter much as we have only 40 mil to spend. But getting rid of certain players will definately make us happy.
And i don’t see it coming.
Mustafi Xhaxa Mhki Ozil
RE: Fekir.
Check out his injury record, since his Acl, all his injuries have been knee injuries, granted they’ve been more short term, but I think the guy’s got dodgy knees, steer clear
It will certainly be one to evaluate and something we could use to drive down price. We have a lot of other options in market.
Lyon though just sold Ndombele to Spurs. So not sure how true the report is that they want to cut us a favour with slashed price on one of their star assets.
The Nabil Fekir signing would be a DREAM signing. He and Laca had an incredible run in Ligue 1 scoring 50 goals between them. I remember Philippe Auclair always talking about him on the podcast.
All three are the kind of players we need. We’d do well to get them.
Again… we have ONLY 40m. It is not a given we can generate an additional 20-25m in player sales.
Hoping we can grab Tierney, but we’re the Arsenal so I bet we will, as per usual, fck it over.
Malcolm deal is one I can get behind, a loan will mean we won’t touch much of our budget this season for him, and whatever agreement we get with Farçelona over his price, will be part of our next season budget.
Fekir I’d love it, but my guess is his price will be over our budget.
Don’t need Tierney at this stage unless the price is attractive (like Kolasinac)
We have to add more urgently at Cback, the winger and to some extent at CM for depth.
Lback Monreal is still in good nick (unlike Koscielny) and can push an extra season with us.
What is Priorities?
If we don’t get Tierney because we were running around chasing clouds…
Better than chasing waterfalls. You NEVER go chasing waterfalls.
Best to stick to the rivers and lakes that we’re used to.
More likely we are chasing our own tail.
Most of our woes are self inflicted.
New manager, new executives, same old under bidding for players and letting ours go for below their market value.
The inconvenient truth.
If not worse. Last January we were restricted to ‘panic loans’. Let me rephrase loan in the singular. Dennis anyone?
Listened to our old mate ‘John Cross’. Got to agree with him on the Dennis Suarez debacle, who takes the blame for that waste of money, also that Mustafi is the worst signing ever.
Tierney as mentioned, we don’t need to prioritise LBack unless price is really low. We have to stretch the budget to cover as is winger, Cback and CM which are more important at this moment. Malcolm I’ve not been convinced with. Fekir yes would be a no brainer. Still only 25yrs and if rumours are true (at this point seems spurious) way better than trying to convince Palace on Zaha. He has a great understanding with Lacazette as well which may also help us to sway Laca to stay another season minimum bc a departure by the Frenchman may precipitate… Read more »