Monday, October 14, 2024

Report: Lyon say Aouar is staying put

According to RMC Sport, Arsenal’s pursuit of Houssem Aouar looks set to end in disappointment with Lyon confirming this afternoon that the attacking midfielder will stay at the club this summer.

The Gunners have been trying to persuade the French side to part with the 22-year-old for a number of weeks but our offers have fallen well below their asking price around the €40 million mark. Juventus and Real Madrid are also said to have been sniffing around.

The Gunners sold Emi Martinez to Aston Villa for £20 million and have been trying to offload a number of other players to raise funds but we’ve struggled on that front in recent weeks. Lucas Torreira will join Atletico Madrid on loan but buyers for Matteo Guendouzi,  Sokratis and a few others have not been forthcoming.

With no movement in the pursuit of Thomas Partey, our other main target, there’s a real chance our midfield could end up weaker rather than stronger having made it a priority area for reinforcements.

The transfer window for business with foreign clubs closes at 11pm on Monday so there is still a bit of time to make signings. Lyon, who also have several clubs interested in Memphis Depay, could be posturing, who knows? But it does sound like they are keen to put the saga behind them.

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Ooooar

Umm … not great if so… let stay cool and hope for the best, but midfield is a major concern… never mind

joeb

Bring back mesut!

TJOY

Have you not seen the improvement in the team since he’s been frozen out?

Bobby

Defensive improvement, but we are in dire need of a CM who can influence the middle 1/3 of the pitch and Ozil can still do that. If we ain’t getting Auoar we need to re-introduce him in some shape or form as the football we are playing isn’t sustainable with Arteta mentioning it

Beowulf

What improvement? Having the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang up front starved of service?

Qwaliteee

?????????

Qwaliteee

What, barely scraping half the Premiership points after lockdown last season and finishing eighth?

Have you checked out midfield creativity lately – or rather our total fucking lack of it?

Go back to sleep.

Dave Roberts

The only Arsenal player who will end his lengthy career with a big fat Zero in the Tackles column.

Jacques

Goodness, it would be very Arsenal-like to do last minute deals (i.e. bring Jorginho in like they did with David Luiz)

Johnny 4 Hats

Arteta needs to find an Arteta in two days. And preferably a Yossi too…

Non flying Dutchmen

Sod it, player manager is the way to go I reckon

Non flying Dutchmen

Im being half serious i have that much faith in him. Pity about the rest of the stucture

Kartik Iyer

Gotta say, Yossi Benayoun was a damn good player for us that season.

Johnny 4 Hats

Great to hear from you Kartik. How are things going as chairman of the Marouane Chamakh fan club?

atom

It might be a case of Aulos just wanting to generate a higher bid as he’s been pretty clear Auoar is for sale for the right price. We appear to be the only serious suitor so the last few days have seen stories of PSG bidding (Leonardo denied it), Real Madrid interested (he would sit on the bench there eve if true), Juventus wants him (they have a surplus of attacking players) etc. Depay has been linked with Barcelona repeatedly but with Fati & Coutinhno playing so well it’s not clear he gets into that team/they have any interest. Lyon… Read more »

Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia

What I read in french news is that Aouar himself confirmed he is staying. Looks like Aouar has an agreement to go to what he perceives as a bigger club next year.

Goonerink

Psg probably.

Probably a blessing in disguise if true. Why sign a player whose mind is already elsewhere.

Can’t say I’m unhappy the deal is likely not happening. It tends to be players like these who end up getting ahead of themselves & then signing for Newcastle/ West Ham when the smoke clears.

I’m just gutted for the gooners that wasted their time following developments regarding the guy. Hopefully the club has a contingency.

Simon

And David Luiz was crap…

Duno

Utter bollocks. Unfair to Arteta if true.

Cyprus The Immortal Gooner

Ssshhh…dont say anything about the ownership because some people are bored with it…

SB Still

Agree plus rest of the team and us as well.

We need a good midfield to get the best out of front line, Auba and Laca aren’t getting the service needed. While Willian and Pepe (while in form) are having to go up the field all by themselves, without adequate support.

Stating the obvious, adding the right midfielder would increase the offensive output of our team significantly.

Tanned arse

Auba and laca don’t provide service for each other

Looney

If Arsenal end up not signing Aouar, then it makes no sense at all not to recall Ozil into the team. Someone needs to eat the humble pie for Arsenal to move forward. They need to start thinking about the good of the club got Christ’s sake. If I had to choose anyway I’ll say buy Partney and give Saka/Ozil Ceballos another chance as the main creator.

Xhaka Kaka

I’d prefer if Ozil ate some performance pie.

db10s

For all of Ozil’s flaws, one thing I did appreciate when he played before the lockdown was letting us control the play further up the pitch. His movement and passing let us build up play further up the pitch as opposed to our horseshoe style now.

I agree that if we don’t sign anyone else we must integrate him in some form otherwise it’s very counter productive letting him sit back and bleed our accounts dry at least until the next transfer window. He wins and we lose.

Simon

He plays a No 10 role that no manager wants anymore and has a tantrum if he’s asked to do something else – so he isn’t coming back, ever.

TJOY

You dont call yourself looney for nothing , do ya? How many more chances do you think Mesut” id rather money than playing ” Ozil deserves? Maybe you haven’t noticed the strides forward the squad have taken since hes been out of the picture. On hols in Turkey while we were winning the cup..need I say more…

Never Happen

no

Thierrys_Tears

If Ozil is in the center of the park we will again be fighting for sixth.

Qwaliteee

The only reason we were ‘fighting for sixth’ with Ozil in the side was down to Mustafi and the Set Piece Clowns, shipping what should have been adequate goal leads.

Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia

I blame them for not trying to find a destination for Ozil. We should have heard that Arsenal offered Ozil to as many as 20 clubs but we heard none. Doesn’t make sense to get rid of 150K out of 350K?
If they dont want to do that to buy another player, they just have to play him.

Atom

Everyone and their brother knows we want rid of Ozil & Gendouzi. The issue appears to be both players seem relatively unwilling to leave unless the perfect offer comes in for them. We can’t really do much if neither player actually cares if they sit out an entire year

Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia

Man U managed to get rid of Sanchez, Real of Bale. Last year, Bale was close to going to China until Real got a long term injury to a player. In terms of club management, we are in relegation zone in the league.

Atom

Both of those players actually cared if they played.

Eternal Titi Berg Pat Nostalgia

Van Gaal called RVP and said: You must go.
RVP responded: But I have a contract.
Van Gaal: I don’t care.
Football is cut-throat. All you can achieve with ” He has a clean slate” and not putting him in the squad is not being able to match the money demanded for Aouar or Partey.

Atom

I’m really not sure what part of this you’re having problems with. We can tell Ozil to leave and that he won’t ever play for us again. If that doesn’t bother him there’s literally nothing we can do

Qwaliteee

Make that club ownership instead of club management and you’ll have a point.

Qwaliteee

Does Ozil pick the team?

No he doesn’t.

db10s

Yeah. Offensive output is one thing but our retention of the ball higher up the pitch too. We have no one who can control/keep possession in the middle of the pitch (Ozil and Guendouzi could to a degree lol) and I feel our tactics have reflected this under Arteta. Meaning we’re always looking to build a quick attack from the back or play a quick counter attack after winning the ball back this works with our current crop of players but it doesn’t work on teams that sit deep and Liverpool lol. We need an alternative strategy to mix it… Read more »

Francesc

Let’s pay 50m and just go and get this guy if we are really sure that he is that good. Even the likes of Sheffield are paying 23m and the 17m of Emi has been a bonus income anyway.

Anonymarse

Yeah that would require the owners to fork out some of their own cash, which for some inexplicable reason they are unwilling to do

Anonymarse

I don’t really understand the downvotea. I mean, why do you invest a billion pounds in a top football club and then starve it of funds and watch it decline. That’s certainly what they did for the first 10 years and the strategy still seems to be ‘self sufficiency’ it’s just now we are generating more money. It’s their club they can do what they want with it, but we have a top manager now and the makings of a good team. It seems as good about as good a bet you can get. These people are loaded, it’s not… Read more »

Johnny 4 Hats

As much as I agree with you I think most fans have accepted that this is just the way it is. It doesn’t make much logical sense to mere mortals like us. We have to accept that the one thing we do know is that Stan has little or no interest in us from a sporting perspective. Whether or not it’s about having great London real estate or he is happy enough for us to stagnate provided he gets his yearly income is unclear. The only way out of this is another questionable billionaire coming in and taking his place… Read more »

Anonymarse

I suppose it’s pretty pointless complaining about it but it’s frustrating …

I have confidence in Artets and the players we have, we can still have a good season. Gabriel looks a good addition, Aubameyang has renewed. We might yet sign somebody else.

Still just feeling pissed of at the moment.

Futsboller

Arsenal operates on the self-sufficiency model, and always will. It’s likely one of the main reasons Kroenke bought us in the first place — an incredibly safe investment, especially when Wenger was at the helm. I know it’s hard for us to understand, but there is no need for Kroenke to put extra money into the club to complete transfers — saving jobs at the club, however, is a different story (that is something he could have and should have done). I’m in the “minority of one” landscape of Winston Smith here, but I think we’re finally doing things right… Read more »

Qwaliteee

And money. Lots of it. From Kroenke.

Or he (Arteta) will walk.

Johnny 4 Hats

Me too brother. I’ve been sulking all evening. My girlfriend asked if it was my time of the month. So now I’m emasculated and lacking between 1 and 2 CM’s.

Robstar

How has the owner staved the club of funds? We have the 5th highest player wage bill in the league and I think we have broken our own transfer record three seasons in a row. The owner has recently restructured our debt. Edu and co have a clear job, sell or let go players eg Ozil, Mustafi, Sokratis, Torreira, Guendouzi and buy two. The mission is clear but the execution isn’t I admit but stockpiling players via our owners cheque book will cause problems down the road.

goonerrah

Completely right, the money isn’t the problem. The fact the owner doesn’t care or watch Arsenal and hands the management to others is the problem.

Why should anyone at the club care about winning if the owner doesn’t? All the owner wants is money, and it trickles down.

Qwaliteee

What sort of problems? Those Premiership and ECL ones currently being experienced by City, Chelsea and Liverpool? ?

db10s

I agree mate.

Covid aside, we are self sustaining only IF we’re in the CL.

If we’re not then an alternate strategy is needed only until we’re back in the CL.

That’s the only thing i want from Kronke.

Qwaliteee

Mate, you’re wasting your time trying to talk sense to the Kroenke Apologists.

Missing out on Aouar today won’t wake them up to this board either.

joeb

sheffield united

Cruize

Maybe, Arteta values the player at a certain amount and thinks anything above that is a waste of funds?

Matt

Aouar of misery

The_Golden_Wrigglesworth

Looks as though the Aouar of reckoning is upon us.

Non flying Dutchmen

Leaving it to the 11th Aouar

Fenko

They already bought a replacement for Aoura. So I see no reason why the transfer won’t be completed. Aula just wanted more cash and we aren’t goingto pay over the odds. We are not Chel$ea

Matt

(Still think we can/will sign him. Aulas is weird guy.)

Tanned arse

I have little doubt this deal will get done

OlegLuzhny

Commeth the Aouar, cometh the man

The_Golden_Wrigglesworth

Where is Kroenke in this Aouar of need?

Tankard Gooner

I see the official website lifting this for the official unveil on Monday.

SarcasmB0t

He’s not gonna be Aouar player after all.

Yellow Ribbon

I have massive doubt that he would be Aouar player. And by the look of things we are not going to Partey too when the window closes.

Partey is now being heavily linked with Chelsea. A bit of a kick on the nuts if it happens. The last time we as a group got our kick on the nuts when they got Mata. Now seems like ages ago.

WCGooner

Aouar have mercy, for we are skint

rainman1645

The darkest auoar

Ranbo

Fuck

Blahblah

Subtle!

Up4GrabsNow!

Oh well… It wasn’t meant to be. At least we can say we did not get fleeced for another Lique 1 “prospect”. The challenge will be for current MF to step up and create. Arteta has improved the defense immensely but creativity in the final third is lacking. Ceballos, Pepe and Willian need to bring their A game every game. If we are paying “that guy” 350K per week, is there any hope he can be reintegrated / rehabilitated?

Alex

The one we don’t name is not China friendly.

Looney

I don’t understand why you are being downvoted. It’s basically impossible to believe that Ozil has nothing to offer with the current squad we have and with the crazy amount we are paying him. Use him and part ways at the end of the season.

SarcasmB0t

Ozil does have something to offer.

He also has notable weaknesses, not to mention an apparent lack of willingness to work as hard as After a demands.

I believe Ozil has regressed to a point where adding up his pros and cons leaves him in the red and thus out of the squad.

Beowulf

I remember Ozil actually working hard even to the point of chasing for balls when Arteta just came in. It might either have to do with his problems with China or his refusal to take a wage cut.

Paul Roberts

What do you think Blogs?

TheG

I guess you have to read the blog over at arseblog.com to find out what he thinks.

Paul Roberts

I was hoping he would open up.

Gooneron

Let’s ask Ja Rule.

Fabulous

A man of culture I see. Where is Ja??

Naked Cygan

I would think we have a plan B in place to get a similar player like Aouar. You dont always get your number once choice in the market. We definitely need a creative midfielder who can unlock teams that park the bus.

goonerrah

Exactly. How do we not have other unknown talents as a backup plan? I don’t really care for big names, I care for player type/profile.

Youtube has like 50 young players in midfield that are better than what we have, and we can’t find one??

John

Maybe we should be recruiting from YouTube then?

Jack4343

Thought we were…didn’t fire all the scouts for no reason.

Toure Motors

Better check first that the channels we use have been created by Kia and approved by Raul

Rich

Smith-Rowe and Saka are internal options, Willock is a player who provides a goal threat from midfield as well.

I was gutted when we signed Willian to block off Nelson, Saka and Smith-Rowe.

Unless we’re sure recruits are significant upgrades? Then I’m quite happy for us to give the young lads more opportunities, rather than make a panicked, badly thought out move.

Not all improvement has to be external improvement.

Hopefully Smith-Rowe and Saka both get starts tomorrow.

Tanned arse

Going for plan ‘b’ is what got us in this mess…..or was that plan C and D

SarcasmB0t

There’s a good chance “plan B” doesn’t get us to where we want to be.
Wasn’t Mustafi a “plan B”?

Man

One job Arsenal. That’s it, I’m off for a sulk.

Bai Blagoi

Quick! Call Kia to the rescue!

Chuffy

If true, I think this season will be another let down. Not Arteta’s fault, but the previous regimes terrible transfer business. The fact is we have a bloated squad that is wholly unbalanced with old has beens and flops. The Mari and Soares deals are woeful and have hamstrung potential business now. AMN and Gabriel are much better respectively so the 2 former players are pointless fillers. No way is Pepe 72m, he’s a 25-30m player at best, he’s no world beater at all. Re signing David Luiz is costly, but his experience and personality in the dressing room helps.… Read more »

Artitty

Hopefully, Mikel ekes 4th place out of this squad. That’s the best case scenario, but I’d expect more trips to far flung European cities at this rate.

Up4GrabsNow!

4th would be very impressive. There’s the usual Big 4/6 and Everton, Wolves, Villa, Leicester etc. have improved and are no slouches. We have a very tough run of games coming up…

Homer

Oh, FFS.

Never Happen

I’m impressed you could get so many upvotes for this bollocks,
you must be chuffed

Man Manny

That midfield is not a top 4 quality midfield by any stretch of the imagination. Except Edu et al are able to pull off something better than the honest but limited lads we have already between now and Monday night, it is top 6 at best for us.

karl

I would much prefer to take a punt on Amadou Diawara than Jorginho. He would be around the Martinez amount of money we have.

Tanned arse

I’d still rather we bought Soumare ahead of both partey and aouar

Artitty

All according to AFCBell’s plan, clearly.

Iron Ljung

Inshallah

Omonilelawyer

As much as I hate to say this, Arteta must reconcile with Ozil now. No point quarrelling with our only source of creativity even if he plays like a slouth. It’s a mega shame that we spent the whole transfer window doing nothing in the transfer window to boost the midfield. Its so Arsenal and until Kroenke goes, this is going to be the new normal

Artitty

I mean, sure why not, it’s like the awkward college roommate you deal with in your first year, it’s just for a year might as well go with it

Jimbo1

Until Kroenke goes? I doubt that ever going to happen, and will just pass to his son when he kicks the bucket. For better or worse Arsenal are stuck with KSE.

Homer

Spent the whole window doing nothing?

Jog on.

Tanned arse

How is ozil going to create anything playing his usual game in this team with this set up? Where does he play? He doesn’t fit stylistically or in terms of application. He’s finished and a big part of that is on him

SarcasmB0t

The Ozil thing is over. Move on.

Paul Roberts

If this is true then it’s an utter shambles and pitchforks will appear which makes me think it’s not true.

Tanned arse

Sure and we could’ve bought him for €60m ages ago. If we buy him for €45-50m will people turn round and agreen the club where right to dig their heels in and see it through to the end. Let’s lose our shit when the window closes

Cannon Heart

Jorginho here we come! Shit

Jean Ralphio

At this late in the window, selling clubs have all the power. I’m sure we’re still on for him. Do we have plan b’s?

HenryKamp

F**k Lyon!

I wonder when would Arsenal have that sort of command over transfer fees for young players. Can you imagine Arsenal asking 50mil for Nielsen, Saka or Willock! Our transfer business have always been s**t. Apart from Iwobi, which was an absolute steal.

Unfortunately this is the situation we’re at right now. Where we can’t afford a quality midfielder but buy two CBs for 25mil, bench one and send the other on loan.

Arteta deserved to be backed. But, it’s just Arsenal being Arsenal.

Richard

Who’s Nielsen? Did we sign somebody from Denmark?

Oh well

You comparing them to a player with over 100 matches who’s a French international and was second in dribbles and fouls taken in the champions league?

karl

There has to be someone available that could improve our squad for the £20m or so we sold Emi for. There must be a loan fee for Torriera too.

The only criteria are better than Xhaka, Elneny and at least as good as Ceballos.

Up4GrabsNow!

Like James Rodriguez? We missed that boat.

I’d guess the wage fund Arsenal used on Willian’s free transfer is the reason why we didn’t pursue Rodriguez, even though he would have been a better fit as he has played CM and CAM far more than Willian.

Alex

Götze. He is free….. but he is not a Kia Joob… player.

atom

Rather than looking at older players solely on the basis of a big name, I assume that Edu/Arteta have a list of younger players who fit the style he wants to play. I doubt many Arsenal fans knew much about Gabriel prior to this summer or Martinelli last year.

Billy bob

Atom good point and I will be very interested to see who these players my be? Who knows they might even prove to be better than Aouar, I have certainly been more enthralled by Martinelli than Pepe (who I hope comes good btw).

Javoroncov

Thanks Kroenke!

Homer

Thanks, Obama!

Max

Lol!!

Wayne_83

The current crop really has the potential to grow under Arteta as evident from recent games. We need to strengthen in the creativity area so it’ll be hugely frustrating to not secure a signature. If we were financially reliant on outgoings and knew Lyon’s stance on the fee months ago why haven’t we identified a cheaper alternative sooner and done business early to bed them into the squad? A new bright positive team on the field but the same old Arsenal off it it seems. Saying that, come Monday we could all be eating our bruised banana hats. FOOTBALL IS… Read more »

Datguy Saka

No surprise there.

Man Manny

In all honesty, Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Everton are stronger than us at the moment.
Man U, Leicester and the Totts are about equal in strength. Our matches against them can go either way.
Arsenal need to do something about the midfield if we are to have any Hope’s of cracking the top 4.
I am not holding my breath. Another mid table finish awaits sadly. Sigh!

Bryan

I wish raul was still here ,just saying cuz am gutted .not that i like raul

Anthony Payne

I think it’s clear at this point that we paid far more for Pepe than what he was worth. That was under Raul’s watch so no thanks.

IamsterdamGooner

I think they’re posturing. They know they have a talented young French international and simply won’t budge from the price. If we just give them what they want, or close I’m sure we can land him. They also brought in Lucas Paqueta from Milan. So pay the price and get it over with, Arsenal! (opinion)

ArsenalFC

Appreciate the heads up x

Non flying Dutchmen

I think it’s tied up with Depay. If he goes to one of his suitors there is a Laca plus money deal to be done. Think it could happen. Not sure Laca would then be replaced within this window with Arsenal chancing what they have up front through until Janruary

Richard

Laca’s definitely not leaving this year.

Teryima Adi

Then we go to plan B: Jorginhno.

Teryima Adi

Jorginho ***

myrtle

Jorginh-no is more apt

Biggles

Disappointing if true as we have rather put all our eggs in the Aouar basket lately, but it was always a possibility, wasn’t it. If/when Torreira finally goes to Atletico Madrid (will the saga ever end?) it will probably be on loan now so that won’t help with any bid for, say, Partey or raise money for anyone else. I suspect the “Martinez money” had, in fact, already gone towards Gabriel’s transfer in part or whole so we were/are relying upon other sales. Apart from Kolasinac, I don’t see that we have any obvious suspects who’ll raise anything but literally… Read more »

Man Manny

You can’t be that sure the team put all her eggs in the Aouar basket.
Even if that were the case, I feel Arteta’s reference to his own arrival might be a cryptic message to the fans.
Expect a roller coaster Monday. My gut feelings.

Cygan’sbaldspot

I assume Lyon are bluffing. But if we don’t get this guy I will be furious. Find the fucking money and back our brilliant manager.

AFL

After Pepe experience I’d be rather cautious throwing 50 mil £ on another player that had had only one good season behinf him.

Santori

Aoaur has had more than one good season.

A Different George

Lyon has just bought a midfielder, Lucas Paquetá, for £18.2m from Milan. I don’t think they do this kind of deal if no one is leaving. (No, Blogs, I didn’t track his plane or decipher that the shadows on the tarmac could only mean the Lyon airport–it was on the Guardian’s list of done deals.)

Yikes? What happens to Jeff at Lyon?

Doesn’t look like he is valued there

Leon

Some one please remind exactly what the point of Edu is?
They laid off 55 people yet kept that useless waste of space…

A P

Edu only likes Brazilians.

Tanned arse

In this instance probably to negotiate the best deal for the club whuch means not spending €60m so people blaming hum for over paying again. Seems he can’t win!

Salibaba and the Forty Thieves

To me I don’t think Edu will be here much longer. He’s even more agent-focused

Signing 3 players represented by the same agent (Joorabichan) that screwed his former employer over (Corinthians) is something I’m sure the board and ownership are aware of.

Leon

And, assuming the very realistic scenario of us not signing anyone in the next 48 hours we could actually have a weaker midfield with the imminent departure of Torreira.
Again I ask the question – what is the fucking point of Edu???

Bugziie

I guess you should apply for his position then. You seem to have it all together to better at it than he is.

Will

Semi-related question…
Why didn’t we move for Doucoure?

Tanned arse

Because his value was ridiculous for the player he is

Will

An initial fee of around 25 million is ridiculous?
That’s the number I found from reports online.
I personally rate him…

TeeCee

The fact that you personally rate him would only be significant if your real name is Mikel Arteta.

Don't Dada

I don’t think there is any issue with Lyon not wanting to sell Aouar. He is their player and they have the right to decide whether or not to sell him. The issue I have is that we have put all our eggs publicly in an Aouar shaped basket. We have not looked like we have plan B or C since this pursuit started. Aouar is not the only player in the world. Are we saying that we truthfully cannot find any other player who will be less expensive but give us a similar skillset as Aouar. What has our… Read more »

Hopefully it means we can pursue Szoboszlai in the future. Far more talented though not as polished.

Great attitude too as he chose to continue his development at Salzburg when there was great interest from Bayern, a big club. Unlike a certain someone with a catchy name

A P

Oh, I am sure we will get Aouar, so long as we loan him back to Lyon for a season, and then look to loan him back to France again next season because he can’t settle in London.

Safe Hands

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think everyone’s being a little too reactive at the moment. Let’s wait 72hrs and see where we are at the end of it. Also, even if we don’t get what we want then, given the state of the squad that Arteta inherited, this was always going to be a process. It might take 3 transfer windows before we’re where we want to be in terms of squad size and personnel. I would rather make do until Christmas, than see us panic buy someone who isn’t going to be good enough in the long run.… Read more »

SarcasmB0t

No, people aren’t being “reactive at the moment”.

People have been sick and tired of the shitshow that is Stan’s recruitment policy for years.

Of course they’re not gonna give the benefit of the doubt to the same cunts who’ve been consistently fucking up.

Safe Hands

As much as I share the annoyance at Stan not putting in his own money, the bigger issue has not been one of a lack of investment, but in an investment in the wrong areas. Mustafi’s price and purchase, Ozil’s contract and Pepe’s fee are all examples of this. Essentially poor judgement is the problem. So yes, people are being reactive, because they think they’re playing fifa and love a new signing, even if they have no real clue as to how much the player is worth/how good they are. What we should be clamouring for is good decision making.… Read more »

SarcasmB0T

That’s why I said “recruitment policy” and not “stinginess”. Mustafi was a fuck-up, pure and simple, the Ozil contract seemed like a terrible decision even at the time, motivated more by a Chief executive’s unwillingness to look like the incompetent cunt he was than by a reasonable valuation of the player’s contribution. The Pepe fee was much higher than it should have been due to Raul being a shady palm-greasing grifter. The issue here is precisely that Aouar is NOT overpriced – both because of the pandemic and because the Sportswashing clubs are stuck in FFP limbo. I don’t claim… Read more »

Espinoza

The most frustrating part of missing out on Aouar is that this feels like our best chance of signing a player of his calibre without having to compete with other clubs. For various reasons we had a free run at him this summer, but in January or next summer the likes of Man City, Juve and PSG will likely be chasing him again and we just won’t be able to compete. So it’s now or never! One step forward two steps back with this club…

Aleksandar

We have to get Partey now, no matter the price, just don’t let Chelsea have him.

Public Elneny

Eh, Partey is the one that really matters

SarcasmB0t

I’m afraid we might end up being … late to the Partey.

IamsterdamGooner

Not in squad for Madrid…again ???

Man Manny

Which match? Played 90 minutes against Villareal this evening.

SarcasmB0T

I guess you might say the … Partey started.

Tony 2

Just my two penn’th worth..we had the wank yank owning us whilst the Russian had 30%? The Russian wanted to buy out the wig wearing c u nxt Tuesday and stated he’d invest 100 mill +. SK refused and bought out Usmanov. BIG I’d mate bought into Everton. Fast forward to today we are struggling to find 40 mill whilst Everton drafted in PA spend a shed load plus frees and now sit top of the league. Just saying

I’m going to say it probably came down to cultural bias. Most of Arsenal’s previous shareholders were Conservatives from old-money backgrounds.

The Kroenkes are also from a (even more) conservative & old-money.

Usmanov on the other hand is a new-money oligarch from the former Soviet Union with a hazy past.

You can replay this scenario and 9 times out 10, they would have never sold all their shares to Usmanov Stan would never have sold out to a “commie” either.

Tony 2

BIG U’s mate. Damn premitive txt

Zack

Sky’s the limit for this team. And by that I mean Sky Sports Presents the 2021-22 Europa League.

Con

We have eight centre backs and three right backs. Mari, Cedric and Willian are all taking up precious resources this year. We have been unable to sell any players other than Martinez so far, and we have two first-team midfielders who simply don’t play. We’ve had months to fix this now. The lack of strategic thinking is appalling. Where is the analytics team searching for undervalued players? Where are the agent brokers helping us facilitate sales? We are the worst club at the transfer market. Edu and Fahmy should clear their desks and get out. But I won’t hold my… Read more »

Simon

We havn’t got any money and only teams with money are buying because of COVID. We are trying to offload average players and the big clubs with money don’t want average players. Not really sure why anyone thinks we would succeed.

Mcheza

Can’t blame anyone for the meltdown. It’s funny how Brighton, Everton, wolves play very attractive football but we are struggling.

Comedian