Unai Emery says that Arsenal are working hard to sign players as we prepare to get busy in the transfer market.
Asked about the state of the squad this evening at a training session at Dignity Health Sports Park in LA, the Spaniard made it clear he wants new faces
“We are taking the market with patience and calm,” he said. “We want to sign players who can help us with a big performance. We think in the team you have very good players and young players.
“We need to take the best players in some positions, really being demanding of ourselves for these players.
“Really I can say to our supporters we are going to make a very good team with the players there now and three or four players who can help us in a few days.”
He mentioned the number of players more than once, continuing, “Other players can come here to help us. We need really players with big performances.
“Our target is to get three or four players who really improve our squad now. We are being very, very demanding and first speaking about the possibility to sign very expensive players.
“The first player in our list is our first target, if we cannot achieve that the second. We are thinking every time they’re going to improve our squad.”
Arsenal sources sounded confident that new players would arrive, with Raul Sanllehi and Edu working together to secure the deals.
The Brazilian has impressed people since he rejoined the club last week, and both he and the Head of Football are pressing ahead with negotiations, although there was no confirmation of names.
A suggested loan for Dani Ceballos was mooted, a player Emery refused to discuss at his press conference before saying ‘Dani Ceballos is a very good player’.
Roger gold leader.
Roger the cabin boy
Stay on target
“and three or four players who can help us in a few days.”
so potentially imminent announcements then???
Big performance = Top top quality?? Sounds familiar.
Very difficult with selling clubs playing hardball and talking up some of their average players to increase the price because it’s Arsenal. Fingers crossed
We’ll see. Efforts so far haven’t been encouraging – it’s not that we’re not putting in bids, it’s the structure of those bids – extended instalments, higher add on payments etc. that have scuppered them as the selling clubs want more money up front (surprise, surprise). Anyway, three weeks left so there’s time yet.
Presumably though, if rumours are to be believed, the 3 or 4 players we’re in for are Saliba, Ceballos, Everton and Tierney, all of whom I’d be very happy with but if Saliba is to be loaned straight back to St Etienne then where does that leave us at CB?? Surely we’d need at least one more?
Barely 20 days left. Hope they know
Barely 20 days? This surely isn’t your first Arsenal transfer window.
I hope they invest in two proper wide players and not sell laca or auba to make that happen. if they can get Zaha and Everton that would be a big summer in addition to the CB and LB positions.
They need to get rid if Mustafi, Özil, Mikhi, Jenkinson and Elneny and they havent even managed to sell even one of these guys.
Lets see how this unfolds
Your optimism is admirable.
I think we’ll have great difficulty selling any of those players. They’re all on wages above their worth. Even selling them for cheap the buying clubs likely couldn’t afford or wouldn’t want to pay the wages they demand. Out of all of them Elneny looks most saleable but he didn’t get enough game time last season to really do anything anyone would remember him for. Someone might possibly want Jenkinson but I doubt it would be anyone in the Premier League (as much as I think he’s a bit underrated). The other three I’m pretty sure are going all the… Read more »
I have a feeling we are going to do something big in the transfer market and shock everyone. Arsenal is still a big name in the world of football. C’mon the gunners, surprise us and get some decent players in so we can compete again.
That’s adorable
Don’t go and curse us, now.
“If we find one or two, we’ll do it. But they have to be top top quality”
everywhere i go, i see him. I miss him.
#WengerIn?
I hear ya.. I feel he was still here, Stan and Josh would be somewhat tempered.
When he said 4th place was like a trophy, he wasn’t talking out of his arse. He knew what’s type of owners we were dealing with.
Fuck this is so insightful
100 thumbs up I could
*if I could
It has become increasingly clear that Wenger’s ideas about how to run a football club, and the power he had to insist on those ideas, although they may have held the club back at the end in some ways, also served as a barrier to the implementation of the KSE plan: Arsenal as successful investment vehicle.
He was the shield for ownership ever since the truth of the post stadium ‘new normal’ began to emerge. He knew that was part of his job, and he even told us so dozens of times.
Er no, here’s an article from 2007 to show you everything you’ve just written is nonsense.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/wenger-keeps-feet-on-ground-after-emirates-move-transforms-fortunes-403443.html
Sorry, this message was a reply to the reply below @Mpls
When the window closes ‘we couldn’t find those players that were top top quality this year’. Like honestly are we going to fall for it again this year, call me cynical but they’ve only wheeled emery out to say this in the wake of that open letter. I hope I’m wrong.
I think it’s a different message. Emery seems to be saying they have identified the players so it’s not “if we find them” it’s now more a question of “how much will they cost?”. To me this is a test of how willing the board and owners are to spend money.
That’s how i read it too, this guy won’t hang around if he’s not able to do his job properly
Well good because that’s what we are expecting also. I’m excited again and for once actually feel like I won’t be disappointed
Shouldn’t we wait and see who we’re getting first? We’ve been unsuccessful so far, despite making bids for a number of players. Bringing in new players won’t be enough in itself, it’s the quality that counts. We’re still up against the fact that compared to other clubs our funds are very limited – which is the main reason why we haven’t brought in the players we bid for!
Just reason between the lines, Dani Alves is one of them
Well, there are reports in the press today that we’re supposed to be offering him £200,000 a week (worryingly, the reports don’t say if it’s on a fixed term contract or a game by game basis if/when he plays). Either way, that’s staggering if true. We’ve had our fingers badly burnt with the Ozil wage fiasco, which is the main reason why we can’t sell him to anyone. Please let’s not waste more scarce cash on the elderly Alves.
We’ve freed a large chunk of wage with the recent departures of senior 1st team players like Cech, Rambo, Welbz and soon maybe Koscielny. If we buy smart otherwise, like young players or smaller wages, i’m ok for the club to be spending a bigger wage on Alves on a short term contract. He’s 36 but still a very good and versatile player, as seen during the Copa America, and at PSG where he could even play in midfield. He’s one of the players with the most trophies in the history of football, so he might have a thing or… Read more »
He was one of the best right backs in the modern history of football, is still great–and is a completely ridiculous fit with Arsenal today. Luckily, these stories are almost surely nonsense.
The guy is pure class, in a totally different league to poor Lichtsteiner. If Dani Alves wants to come play at the carpet, we should jump at it. It should be irrelevant to us as fans how much he’d earn, and I wish Gooners would stop acting like economics professors. Because we always make the mistake of trying to assess value before the fact. Dani Alves is better than any right-sided option we have in the squad, and if he can balance that side, spell Hector while he recuperates and help us back into the Champions League, whatever we paid… Read more »
If alves were as good as this hype makes him sound, he wouldn’t be available on a free transfer, even at 36.
Come on man, this kind of logic only makes sense to us Gooners because we have an inferiority complex and all we do all day every day is drown ourselves in negativity.
Free only means ‘out of contract’. He’d still want at least 150-200k a week in wages. Whoever gets him will pay because he’s still worth the money.
The free transfer is his (and his agent’s) choice. He left Barca on a free.
Couldn’t of said it better myself, I couldn’t give a shit what the players earn, just get it done.
Dick Law “Arsenal can afford Özil.”
https://www.goal.com/en/news/we-wanted-hazard-deal-ex-arsenal-transfer-fixer-law-reveals/1ru4cuhccwyef1xr2r8fjkpaan
What Law is saying is that when you buy a player, as Real did with Hazard, you add the transfer fee (amortised over the life of the contract) to the annual salary. The transfer fee for Ozil was zero, so his annual salary is the entire cost of “acquiring” him. (Obviously, this assumes he plays well; if you think he’s crap, then of course it is too much money–but Law is only pointing out that Ozil’s contract renewal was not nearly as rich as it seems.) Which raises the interesting question: doesn’t this also apply to Ramsey? Will not the… Read more »
There’s no way they would be stupid enough to offer more than 2 yrs, and I should hope they’d be smart enough to just offer 1. Even if they offered 2, he’d probably move on after 1 if Hector comes back to full and he’s asked to be support role.
That’s if there’s any truth to it at all.
Cahill, Ceballos and Alves = £00.00
Cahill? Please, no.
1. Kieren Tierney
2. Everton Soares
3. William Saliba
These seem to be the names that have been sticking the most in recent days.
If those get confirmed, can Saliba really be considered an addition to the squad when he will be loaned out immediately? Probably not, so that would suggest perhaps a 4th signing?
+ Ceballos perhaps… We’re not getting a new cb are we?
Ceballos is a box to box midfielder, so Emery may have his eye on him. Whether we nab him is anyone’s guess. As for a new CB… here’s a thought. Despite playing exclusively at left back for Celtic over the last four years, Tierney has often found himself moved to more unfamiliar roles when playing for the Scottish national team due to the emergence of Andy Robertson as one of the world’s top defenders. Not wanting to leave one of the nation’s best talents out of the side, managers such as Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish have often moved Tierney… Read more »
This is interesting… but if you’re gonna copy and paste from an article about Tierney there’s no harm giving credit.
People might even be interested in reading the rest of the article (https://www.90min.com/posts/6412447-kieran-tierney-4-reasons-why-the-arsenal-target-is-worth-breaking-the-bank-for).
Thanks for the full article. Only trouble is does he want to join us? I hope he does and we can get the deal done. Dunno why but I get the feeling this is gonna fail.
Really hope he comes but if he does and ends up in the treatment room for any period of time, our fans will call him the Scottish Andre Santos. So I can see why the club are being careful about it.
No way. Teddy Bear Santos was way more puffy and cuddly than Tierney.
Spurs just sold a full back who played in the World cup for 20 mill. So how can Tierney be worth more? They are taking the piss – Celtic that is
Tierney is much better than tripper. And just cause he played in the world cup that makes him better? Your talking shit
The pressure on the whole management team to bring in new faces, particularly after the comments by Kroenke Jnr, is building rapidly as we get towards the end of the Summer window. Despite Emery’s remark about improving the squad, let’s hope they don’t sacrifice quality (as best we can afford it, of course) for expediency. An interesting three weeks or so ahead.
The most frustrating thing about this window is that we haven’t been able to move players on. That would greatly help the budget to be at least double what it’s quoted to be. I suspect the bad press Arsenal get continues to suppress the value of these players in the current market.
Yeah it’s pretty frustrating that the only Arsenal player we’ve been able to sell this summer is David Ornstein.
Seriously though, because reducing the wage bill is such an economic imperative for us, I think some of the deadwood will move on eventually. Sometimes players and their agents need to see new signings come in first so they realise the stark reality that they won’t get much playing time this season unless they move.
Shit, where is our inside knowledge gonna come from now?!
Just found the Ornstein news now–and not to worry, I’m sure he’ll be more involved in covering the club than ever. The Athletic, which is a paid subscription site, is quite good with many strong writers (I’ve been a subscriber for more than a year), at least for North American fans of a variety of sports. It’ll be interesting to see how they do in getting subscribers in the UK, though. Hopefully they’ll keep using James (Gunnerblog) for freelance work!
As long as others keep relaying his information. I know the Athletic has some great writers, but I’m not interested in any more fucking subscriptions!
Ikr. It’s frustrating.
Ozil for 30 mil, Micky for 20 mil, Mustafi for 20 mil. I would rather promote Bielik, Joe Willock, Saka for replacements.
Furthermore, we can’t even push out Elnanny, Jenkinson.
With Ozil’s wages you can forget about a transfer fee and possibly even a free transfer. He’s going nowhere this window.
I still don’t see any mention of a centre half (or two)
Better lower your expextations, mate.
Well with Edu and his Brazilian connections, it’s obvious with the situation going on right now, we’ll be getting Neymar on loan.
Also surprised blogs hasn’t posted that news excerpt of the super agent Kia and him talking about arsenal and “now we finally have people behind the scenes who understand football”.
On one hand, sounds very damning. On the other, may be an agent talking up his new opportunity and connections.
That quote could also be taken as “finally there are some suckers in the boardroom who are desperate and will pay my client ridiculous money. Just look at what they’re paying players who prefer fortnite.”
Sports agents are grifters first and foremost.
That’s what my latter statement implied, I was just trying to be nice. 🙂
Thanks Emery. We now know you’re gonna sign Neymar.
Right, this means that our new signinda are Bellerin, Holding coming back from injuries and possibly Nelson and Asano after they’re back from loan.
*signings
Don’t do it… Don’t give me hope.
To be honest i’ve never seen dani ceballos play, is he any good or is he just a dani suarez type? I dont rewally trust highlights on youtube to tell the full story.
I hear Neymar Pogba and Lukaku are available – that makes 3
Two of which are annoying spoilt twats and the third not an improvement over what we’ve got!
Well I hope whoever we get in gives bigger performances than Dennis Suarez.
LB, CB, CM, W–sounds about right at four signings. Emery knows what he needs and he’s not going to be shy about making sure higher-ups at the club know it. His ass is on the line with this year’s performance, after all.
what does he mean “very expensive players” Does that bring validity to Zaha/pepe rumours?
Or just a bit o’ Spanglish?
Expensive?
It’s all relative, and we’re the Arsenal.
5 players hmmm..
1st= Gabriel Martenelli not sure how he is spelled
2nd= Ceballos on loan
3rd= Teirney or that handsome fulham lwb
4rd= Everton
5th= a cb. I wud prefer Chambers n Mav to be intergraded slowly into the team.
We still need to get rid off some dead wood let’s not be fooled here.. unless we have more to spend?
Sounds too similar to Wengers ‘top quality’ comments really
That sounds like a very good plan
I do hope I’m wrong on this – but is it possible Emery’s wording has been misconstrued? “Really I can say to our supporters we are going to make a very good team with the players there now and three or four players who can help us in a few days.” Later he goes on to say: “Now needs to be with us Iwobi, Elneny, Matteo and Lucas…” (excerpt from next Arseblog news article) Could he mean that we have three or four players returning after international commitments in the next few days? Surely some reinforcements from the market will… Read more »
Oh fuck and shit you could be right! 🙁
No hold on, he also said ““Our target is to get three or four players who really improve our squad now. We are being very, very demanding and first speaking about the possibility to sign very expensive players.”
So three newbies but not in the next few days?
Don’t ruin it on us. Lol
Latest, and somewhat disappointing, news from Spain. While there’s a good chance that we’ll get him on loan both Real Madrid and the player are agreed that his future is in Spain. So the reports say that there will be NO permanent deal at the end of the loan period (assuming that it goes through).
Hopefully he is saying this to pile pressure on the club to sign the right players. Winger. If Edu can get us Everton Soares, I’d revise my impression of he’s hiring. There are plenty of options besides an over priced Zaha. Ziyech, Fekir to mention a few. Price should cool off as apex buyers in market start to ween off. Cback. Koscielny has frankly done us a favour asking for high wages so he can be forced out otherwise the temptation is that the club will attempt to do the lazy thing and rely on him for another season with… Read more »
Is that 3 or 4 on top of the one we just bought or does that mean 2 to 3 including him
Well this makes me happy. Sorry everyone! 🙂
Just like Arsenal this summer, I’m not buying.
I can’t help but wonder……if our budget is 45million and we are getting 3 or 4 quality players, surely we will be relying on future revenue to make those transfers happen. And if so this is a reaction to posting a financial loss this year, a big push to get into the champions league again. But if that doesn’t work out it would surely leave us in a bit of a Leeds situation? As people say, be careful what we wish for.
Is it just me, or does it seem like Arsenal struggle in the market because our squad is so popular. Everybody knows what players we want to keep and what positions we need to buy, so its easy for the other teams to have advantages in negotiations. With teams like lets say Chelsea, Atletico, milan or Man city, I have no idea what they need or who they see as dead weight.
Josh, if you’re reading this: I am excited.