Arsene Wenger says that now that January is underway and the window is open, the club will be looking do some transfer business.
The Frenchman made the comments in the wake of yesterday’s FA Cup exit to Nottingham Forest, and insisted that although no deals are currently close there should be some action before the end of the month.
“I cannot give you any news on any transfer because we are not close to signing anybody,” he said.
“We signed a Greek boy who looks quite good in training but apart from that, we have not done anything. Will we be out there to do something?
“Yes we will.”
Asked if he was expecting any developments this week, he continued, “Yes because we are in the second week of January. After that, it passes quickly.”
There are certainly some whispers with Francis Coquelin being linked with a move away, while long-standing interest in Jonny Evans could be revived with Mathieu Debuchy going the other way as part of the deal.
Not exactly inspiring stuff but let’s see happens when we’re sitting there doing the transfer deadline day live blog and it’s 4 minutes to 11pm and we’ve been doing it all day and we haven’t signed anyone after a long month of ‘If we find top, top quality we will do it’, and that’s the thing that finally drives us insane and when we recover we’ve decided to tend bar in a small town near a beach in a warm country and forget all about Arsenal but there’s a mysterious elder gentleman who has also moved to town following his sudden retirement and he comes in and you ask him what he wants to drink and he says ‘Look errr …’ and HOLY GODDAM THERE’S NO ESCAPE!
can we transfer the manager please.
I love Wenger but the guy really needs an intervention and a good friend to tell him to step away. If he won’t he needs someone to do it for him. The lack of leadership at the club to provide a halfway respectable send off for the guy is a disgrace.
He wouldn’t last 12 months anywhere else.
It’s only us mugs that make him the highest paid manager in the world…
If you find top top quality? Now where have I heard that before. Line up the drinks Blogs I’ll be a regular in your bar
He is his own poison. He generally buys very well which is why he has flattered to deceive. It covers many of his flaws and his idealism. But the league has caught up technically so his early advantages have been eroded. Partially its bc of new oil rich entrants but also the rest of the league have shed their foreign ‘inhibitions’ and been better able to buy technical players from abroad thanks to better TV money redistribution. Meanwhile Wenger is operating on a model based on his frugality through the stadium rebuild. In truth he has spent more over recent… Read more »
Alexis Sanchez + Arsene Wenger for Pepe Guardiola.
I’d do that in the summer not even wenger could stop them now
Boom
Weird how we’re “not close to signing anybody” when the team clearly needs reinforcements. Back ups and replacements to Bellerin, Santi (overdue a few seasons now), Per and Koscielny, and for when Sanchez inevitably leaves. On top of that we have very little goal threat in the team that I think another wide forward on top of Sanchez’s replacement is necessary.
Agree with most of what you’ve said (especially santi) – but I do think that he wouldn’t say things are close even if they are. And I’ve often felt other teams go in based on our interest, notably Chelsea on hazard a few years ago so I don’t blame him. It is genuinely painful to see us incapable of holding on to the ball, particularly this season though it’s been getting worse for awhile.
Alexis Sanchez out?
Johnny Evans in ?
What a transfer window that would be, all our problems solved and another transfer surplus for the silent prick
*sobs uncontrollably*
And if you do buy one check the fckn handbrake function is disabled.
I don’t like Evans. Nothing against him but its yet another patch job ala Squillaci and Silvestre. But 5m as oppose to the options in half baked Holding or Chambers if its short term is better than nothing. Still I think we have persistently short changed ourselves molding a feet of clay for many years now. And the whole defensive backline policy makes no sense. Instead of retiring Per on a high we ask him to help carry one more season however limited in appearance (which in itself doesn’t help either) Worse we sell Gabriel a player who was maturing… Read more »
Honestly I couldn’t give a toss who comes or goes. We can’t coach or organise those we have. If Sanchez and or ozil leave are we really going to spend the sort of money to buy adequate replacements in this market. Do you trust the manager to spend less and coach a few prospects and turn them into the likes of ozil and Sanchez? I know I don’t. Even if we grow a pair and spend the money this team clearly needs spending on it I don’t trust this manager to get the best out of whoever we buy. This… Read more »
I hope someone at the club reads this…
You have had your time Wenger. This man should not be given another penny in funds to waste on more average players.
Focus on coaching what you have properly particularly the defence.
As you may know, I am on the board of Arsenal F.C. and can assure you that we do monitor your posts. Please rest assured that, based on your advice, we will not be releasing any more funds for average players and have urged the coaching team to focus on the defence. Thank you, Twisted cuntloks, for taking the time to comment; we really do appreciate it.
you are hilarious Blogs !
If possible at your next board meeting, could you persuade AW to open a kebab shop abroad and possibly retire to oversee the running of it?
Thank you.
That transfer business being Sanchez being sold and us replacing him with some second rate winger from the french league that’ll take a season or so to bed in, and when he does start getting good, will leave and go to a better team (ie man city).
Hopefully walcott’s on his way out too.
This is the problem. Even without Alexis being sold, we need a player on the right side to balance him out and help support Bellerin. Walcott should be sold. Mahrez is obvious solution but if Wenger simply buys one to replace Alexis, we have not made the necessary upgrade to our technical/creative needs sufficiently. It will be square one. IF Alexis goes, we realistically need 2 players to come in. If we want to be attractive to do more business and appear as a top 6 club, I’d say we need Mahrez level player and someone like Draxler on the… Read more »
I dont have an issue with the product Lacazette has deleivered so far. He has had plenty of games where he is doing his work outside the box due to the way the team is setup and how packed defenses can be vs Arsenal, and that isnt his game. In the games where they can get him the ball inside the Box he has created chances and even scored a few.
Who says Lemar can’t be moulded into a CF?
That’s great, looking forward to two new defenders, three new midfielders and a reserve striker of top top quality to supplement our out going players. Happy days……
Need a keeper who can save pelanties too.
Oh ffs, yes Cech being rubbish at penalties is annoying. But he’s been overall pretty good this year and many great keepers were bad at penalties, and vice versa. Many of our squad do deserve whatever shit they get from fans, but slagging off one of our better performing players for a bullshit reason irritates me.
Still moronic to sell Szczesny though, he’s been brilliant whilst Buffon’s been injured – back on track to being one of the best in the world.
I still hold hope that he was told ‘you’re young, sign a 4 year deal with Juventus but don’t sign another, then come home with Cech retires’
Cech is about 4 years younger than Buffon.
szczesny is being coached properly now, that’s why he’s improving & playing well for Juve.
We’ve still got Gerry Payton who is rubbish, hasn’t been able to improve one keeper & is one of Wenger’s yes men.
We should have kept Szsc to compete with the aging Cech for first spot..no guarantees for either.
The keeper policy was at best again flawed and lacked balls.
Or defenders who don’t concede them in the first place…
Even with a new defender the problems won’t entirely go away. Solution in defense is not restricted to player alone. Its the system. We do not defend as a unit. sure the defenders are culpable for their individual errors but plenty of the issues also derive from our midfield being disconnected and not tracking runners into the box. Also the general concentration level is poor and there is no organiser during set pieces to spot dangers outside of the zonal marking (which I have no problem with but is obviously not the entire picture) Even with a new defender in,… Read more »
You’d be lucky if he adds just one.
If its a half arse Johnny Evans (the new Squillaci or Silvestre), it’s simply throwing clay at our feet when we need better material (for many years now)
#AncellotiIn
Mourinho’s head may explode!!!!!
The club’s a mess. We’re not going to attract anyone with real pedigree. I imagine we’ll get a youngish up-and-comer. Could be interesting. I mean, ‘interesting’, but in no way possible because, let’s face it, Wenger will still be managing this club for years and years, possibly including from the afterlife.
The club should have a good plan in place for January because we damn sure don’t have one for this summer’s exodus and we sure as shit don’t have the players to put up a decent fight in the next few years. Oh, and we’re losing our two best players to rivals (if we flatter ourselves) for not even a red cent while at our lowest point in decades. The thing that drives me up the wall the most with the club in this Kroenke era is they seem genuinely fucking surprised that transfer windows come around and have no… Read more »
Summer is going to complicated. Prices are likely to heat up again with many of these top tier teams in better and more attractive positions than us and willing to spend over the odds. PLUS the World cup will further complicate issues. Expect us to drag and wait till end of window to see if prices cool off and await the bigger boys to finish their feeding frenzy for price correction. AND if we are not in CL, it will make it even less of a pool in terms of top talent to pick from. His best option is to… Read more »
We should have started the rebuild last summer. Koscielny is struggling with his fitness, Sanchez and Ozil won’t renew, players who have probably over performed earlier seasons (Walcott, Elneny, Coq, Welbeck) seem to have lost confidence possibly because of management and not playing regularly.
The whole situation is because of the management (and the board). We need another manager to start the rebuild.
Remember, it’s great that they’re in the last year of their contract, as they will fight to prove themselves that they deserve a new contract. That’s what Wenger said.
Because you can see it Alexis’ eyes, does he really want the risk of a bosman and getting a free transfer with huge wages for what is likely his final ever contract to the league Champions and the world’s best manager? When he can battle for 6th for Arsenal?
/rollseyes.
Last summer he should have at very least kept Gabriel. He should also have kept Szsc (promoted him to foirst spot with the caveat that if he fucks up Cech takes over) He should have sold one of Ozil and Alexis but at very least he should have got rid of Walcott instead of mollycoddlying him but not even using him that much for this season. I think he lacks balls when it comes to being truly ruthless. Instead we are waiting on two admittedly top talent to leave because they are very unlikely to sign a new contract when… Read more »
I’m sure this will get a lot of downvotes but honestly the club need to decide immediately (they don’t need to tell anyone) if this is Wenger’s last season. If this is his last season he should have no input into our transfer dealings – they need to be handled by Minsiltat and Sanhelli with the next manager in mind. It simply doesn’t make sense to give him more money to spend if he’s not going to be the next manager, especially as the squad needs to be totally rebuilt. If they decide he’s here for the long term then… Read more »
Wenger should be sacked now so we can give another Manager time to access the squad, get settled in & then attack the summer transfer market.
Heh how much do you think we are going to spend this January..??
We will make a profit, again!!!
If we sell Alexis as it’s being reported then we’ll have to break the habit of a lifetime.
It’s all chaos at the moment, much like it was in 2011, the club is a mess and needs new leadership.
Personally even if we sell Sanchez, I’m not even sure I trust Wenger with the money to replace him.
The only question to which Johnny Evans is the answer is:
“If there was someone we could sign who would be totally in keeping with the increasingly bizarre way in which Wenger does his job, who would that be?”.
We could have a back four of Costacurta, Baresi, Maldini and Nesta and would still ship goals as there is no defensive drilling at all. Adding Johnny Evans to the mix is just taking the piss.
Who plays right back in that back four?
A left-footed academy no.10 of course.
Buying Evans seems like too much money for a short term fix, is he really the difference between 4th and 5/6th? It feels like the last days of Fergie’s reign at Utd, making decisions for the short term (e.g. him signing RVP) rather than the long term good (see also: not letting Sanchez and Ozil go).
I would argue that particular ´short term decision´ is actually for the long term good. If Sanchez and Ozil get us Champions league football next year that is worth far more than their combined transfer fees.
Don’t you think Sanchez will throw a huge fit if we turn down a bid from City this January? He’s only started playing well right around the window opening and I can’t see him playing nicely if the choice is between playing for a team legitimately chasing a quadruple and an absolute slog for at best 4th place.
RVP won Fergie the title almost single handedly. Yes it was short term but if it wins you the premier league you do it. Just as we shouldn’t have sold the prick to them because we would have won it ourselves and he would have gone on to be half the player he was for the remainder of his career and he wouldn’t have been ours any more. I would rather us be buying megastars for the short term that than spunking 25m on a shower of mediocrity like Jonny Evans. We need something special in January or we can… Read more »
I suggest Poldi’s Kebab shop
Meh! It makes no difference who we sign. Wenger no longer has the tactical, motivational or player development skills to get the right behavior and performance out of his players and team. I actually think jonny Evans would be ok (look, Pep is interested) but he’ll be shit just thrown into our shit defence. Nothing will change until the manager changes. Transfer and wins will give us momentary excitement and hope, only to be dashed the next game.
To be honest I think Johnny Evans is just more of what we already have, not physically imposing, technically pretty sound and relatively quick, pretty similar to kos and mustafi. Even so, as you say, we’ll make any defender look bad so it doesn’t matter.
Transfer yourself si vous plais monsier wenger you av ad long enough
Conte in at the end of the season when he’s had enough of Chelsea or they’re bored of him? I think he’d be good for us. He knows how to defend.
except against us, lol.
End of the season sale… Zzzzzzzzzzzz
We need players in this month that can be part of our side now. As it stands, we are in need of at least six players to replace those who are leaving… that can come from players signing extensions or from new signings, doesn’t matter. We know that santi and per are done after this year. Ospina and Debuchy are likely gone in the summer. Ozil, sanchez, and wilshere are all yet to sign renewals. We have 2 aging defenders in kos and nacho. Cech isn’t exactly young. Theo is garbage. Ramsey is in need of a renewal. Big work… Read more »
DM and Wenger cannot be used in the same sentence…
Just wished if we had a vieira and petit side by side
I love your optimism. New fan i assume? 🙂
Btw – United that Moyes took over had just won the league. We are a sixth place team, that on current course and speed will do well to finish in that position come end of season. We’re in a fight with Burnley ffs. that’s how low we have fallen. Forget spuds and mugsmashers – we won’t keep up with them unless something dramatic changes.
Yes we have new players coming in. We have Mustafi and Perez…Lucas Perez. Also Bramhall and Jenkinson are coming back from loan, they will be like new signings. We also have Asano coming back next season, he will be like a new signing. Monreal is on his way back from injury – he is also like a new signing.
Buy that Brereton sprog. He can’t cost much and would likely, Lacazette and Giroud aside, be an improvement on our attacking options at the moment.
One good performance doth not a decent player make
Any forward with a bit of pace would have torn that defence to shreds
And he’s young. A loan spell or two and see how he develops. If still not good enough and he can be sold on at profit.
The best transfer business Arsenal can do to start alleviating the last decade of mediocrity is to dack the cutrent Manager & bring in Arteta..
Is he referring to a sponsorship deal with Poldi’s kebab shop?
Nothing personal, it’s just business)
Wenger cannot even zip his coat up much less turn the fortunes of this club around. Football has changed. There is no place for sustainability anymore – he who has the do-re-me buys the best players and has the most success. Its simple as that. Unfortunately Arsenal cannot see what is slapping them in the face. In fact, there was never a place for sustainability. Football teams are managed by young managers with fresh ideas of how to move forward. Not some nearly 69 year old who thinks what he did 23 years ago will have the same effect. And… Read more »
Perhaps you should tell FC Bayern about your «young manager»-theory? A 72-year old manager doesn’t seem to have hurt them. And I have yet to see a team play better football than when Heynckes was 68…
Its a completely different philosophy at Bayern. You underachieve and you are removed simple as that – regardless of whether you are 72 or 42 You are not rewarded with another lucrative contract. Bayern are a great club who achieved much by recognising when it is time for a change. Arsenal are a great club too but the difference is they stick with the same underachieving manager regardless. And no matter how shit this season turns out – and it will be shit he will still be there making the same mistakes and rolling out the same excuses. Don’t you… Read more »
Do you classify buying a Kofte Kebab from Podolski’s new kebab shop and transfer business?
Then again a bread based snack with stringy lettuce and garlic mayo sauce would probably do a better job of protecting the defenders than Xhaka ever could…
Buying Evans for anywhere near 25 million for a 29 year old makes no sense at all for Wenger (of course to us supporters it doesn’t) as he has so often referenced “sell on value” of players that he buys and doesn’t buy. However, he surely has changed his way of thinking because he’s been willing to let Ozil and Sanchez walk for free this coming Summer after paying over 75 million for the two of them.
On the Sanchez front, if City is willing to pay 25 million for him now I would take that in a heartbeat.
We will do transfers but only for top top TOP toppy top top players.
…by selling Alexis
This guy should immediately disappear from our club..
We need a massive team and managerial overhaul..
Are we though? Can we find players that can add better quality than Walcott, Elneny, or Welbeck? What a nonce
We could always compete with Utd for Griezman.
Griezmann was snubbed by Wenger so that’ll never happen.
Johnny Evans is the sort of quick fix patch job we should avoid. At 30yrs, he’s another Squillaci or as a United reject old on the legs a Silvestre.
We need to be doing way better than that.
No more of this mediocre patch jobs at the back or content with bringing in Elneny type players only good enough for the bench.
We need genuine quality.
Johnny evans??? Why???
Out – 1) Walcott. At 28/29yrs, he is still a one trick pony. His ‘pace’ is his main asset and that will quickly wane. He has yet to establish any form of guile to his play. We are so in desperate need of added technical quality/creativity particularly on the right even with Alexis out left. The team is critically unbalanced and reliant on Bellerin to come too high up to make a difference down the right flank. Estimated release price say 18m (Salary has always been prohibitive to other clubs taking him on. He may have to be convinced to… Read more »
Get rid as follows: Elneny. Walcott. Sanchez. Debuchy. Oh yes. Wenger.
And Welbeck.
Business will be done, only it will be with Man City …
We’ll probably get no replacement, maybe a Kallstrom at best, or another weird buy like Elneny. God, I’ve been waiting for him to leave for years, it’s at least nice to see that other people want this too…
At this point it’s more economical to list the few first-team players I would definitely keep than those I’d ship if given the opportunity.
Wether Wenger likes it or not his time here is up, no matter if he wins another cup or manages to get 4th place, fortunately.
I guess we will get one more season of this bs, then hope we bring a top manager, and there are top ones
New signings? We can’t even sign any of the players we already have signed ? We have a very important signing to make and it’s not a player. This is where we start. Lets hope it’s this summet.
Ok ok, Jack can sign da thing in the meantime, but that’s it.
Holy run-on sentence Batman !
Just remove the people that don’t want to be here and then build a committed team using a smattering of the youth and some sensible additions including a new manager at the end of the season. It’s not rocket science!
Is there any way I can add you guys to my Bleacher report app?
I rarely use facebook these days and if I read one more PainintheArsenal blog I swear to god…
Bring back the DENCH!
I feel like any signings now, will be like Arsene’s Glenn Helder & Chris Kiwomya….
The bi-annual transfer window transfer deadline torture looms. cant wait.
who will walk through the un-marbled halls?
which gems will be plucked from schools?
time to watch blogs doodle something so grotesque only Arsenal fans would dare to refresh the page..
Have we considered that we might be getting our coq out to bring in N’zonzi? I know the chat has dried up.. but it did look a little promising there for a short while