Mikel Arteta says he’s facing an important week as Arsenal step up their plans for the summer transfer window.
Disappointed that the Gunners ended the 21/22 campaign in fifth behind neighbours Sp*rs, the Spaniard’s focus has already shifted to strengthening his squad for next season.
The club have big decisions to make about the future of three out of contract stars and need to hold honest conversations with those on the fringes of the first team and a bevvy of players returning from season-long loan moves.
Having missed out on Champions League football, Arteta and Edu will also know they have their work cut out securing first choice targets. Already there are reports of competition for first choice Gabriel Jesus.
Asked when he starts thinking about next season, Arteta told Arsenal.com: “Now, because I cannot stop now. We have a very important week to make some decisions as well and start to set the platforms for what we’re going to do in the summer. We are ready to do that and we need to start to go.”
On the futures of Mo Elneny, Eddie Nketiah and Alex Lacazette – all of whom will be free agents in July unless new contracts are offered – Arteta continued: “I will speak to the three players now or tomorrow and after that, we need to start to move on but we have clear ideas of what we want to do.
“It’s been decided [what to do with them] but it’s very difficult to communicate it, what they deserve is to have a little bit of what they had today. But to do it earlier, one way or the other with three situations like that is very, very awkward and it could affect the team. So as a club we have to do the right thing in the right moment and sometimes to combine those two issues is not easy at all, but we will try to do the right thing.”
Having reshaped the squad with six signings last summer, it will be interesting to see how much new blood Arteta feels is necessary to take the Gunners to the next level. It’s clear with a busier schedule, he’ll need more personnel which may make being ruthless with existing squad members more difficult.
“From my side, I will do and the club will do what we have to do and what we think is the best thing for the club to move forward and do it with the integrity and the honesty that we’ve always done it.
“Those players know individually their situation, when it’s going to be communicated, and then that situation happens face to face the way that they deserve.
“The standards of this club have to be to win, and the moment that we don’t look at that with a timeframe or when we are going to win, we are not going to get there.
“So my aim is to win the biggest trophies and my plan is to win here and what we have to do before that to be able to reach that level.”
Convincing Nketiah to stay should be a priority. It’s clear he can make an impact at the club, even if he doesn’t start often. Hopefully he can be persuaded to stay under these conditions.
I’m not sure he will want it. We need to buy 2 strikers and that will most likely make him number 3
Yes, I know. That will be the challenge. Maybe the offer he’s made will help.
We need two strikers as nketia is Thursday choice for sure. Hope Elneny signs as he is ok with squad player and is good back up. Lacazette needs to go along with Pepe and I would get upgrades on Xhaka taveres Cedric and holding (who is consistent in back three)
If Saliba is coming back, I would rather hold on to Holding. He is a better fourth choice than most and if I am not mistaken there are no academy CBs at the brink of first team selection.
Personally, I think he is one of the best back-to-the-walls defender in the league – you know the kind of defender that can be relied to throw himself down blocking every shot and hoof long balls when you got to defend a one goal lead with 15 minutes to go.
Why on earth would you want to get rid of Xhaka who has hardly put a foot wrong since his return from injury. He also has formed a fine partnership with Partey. Holding rarely lets the team down and is a true Gunner.
Because we need an upgrade. The evidence when party plays and doesn’t play win percentage is very telling. Likewise with Xhaka just not in same way. Need a better more mobile partner for Thomas. Xhaka ain’t it. Hope that answers your question.
Upgrade doesn’t necessarily mean we have to offload Xhaka though does it? Xhaka has been really good this season, and to have him available as a back up seems like a good option to me, especially when you consider European football next season.
Elneny should stay along with Nketiah. Lacazette likely to leave and I can’t imagine Pepe is happy having played virtually no football this season.
Xhaka has not been ‘really good’ this season. He has been OK, with the odd flash of ‘really good’. But he has also been a liability who has undoubtedly cost us points – directly and indirectly.
I repeat – is he an EPL title winning level mid? Is he a CL final-making mid? I really don’t believe so – and, if that is indeed our goal, the sooner we replace him (and others at his level) the better.
There’s honestly no point even trying anymore. Not being terrible is being amazing to Xhaka fans. Its best to not engage and just wait patiently for him to leave the club with well wishes and hopefully the fog will lift from their brains. Though they now seem to have developed a similar blindspot for Eddie
Don’t you realise how much Partey improved with Xhaka as partner? In fact the improvement in our play and our best run coincided with return of Xhaka. No you haven’t remotely answered the question as to why we should offload him. Also Holding is a great squad player and is totally consistent and rarely lets us down
I’m not sure it was down to what you believe was upturn in Partey’s form, I think it was because Arteta started playing him deeper. I know you defend Xhaka and he had some good games this season but if we want to compete at the top then we need an upgrade on him. Just imagine what we might play like then in the middle. I doubt Xhaka will want to be squad player though. I remember sitting over the emerates listening to some fans who wholeheartedly believed Denilson was a world beater 😂. I wonder who would win a… Read more »
Are you seriously trying to compare Denilson to Xhaka? Our Swiss midfielder is classes above the Brazilian. Of course Xhaka wouldn’t want to be a squad player and has always been more than that. Please tell me why every manager he’s played under has always chosen him and he’s now captain of Switzerland.
I’m so sick of hearing this meaningless argument. Where exactly has Xhaka played that we should be impressed that he started every game? Mark Noble played a lot of games, who gives a fuck he’s still trash. Everywhere Xhakas gone he’s been the best midfielder on bad teams, of course he’ll get picked every game. If you think Xhaka is the future then please stop being a fan. And stop about this year, he wasn’t that good!!!!!
😂😂
Just because you disagree with me about Xhaka it doesn’t give you the right to start throwing out insults. Are you honestly saying that ArsenL have been a bad team since he joined and remember he captains Switzerland who have ranked as high as third in the world. I’m really sick of hearing people like you calling a fine midfielder trash. I will repeat as much as it irritates you that since returning from injury he has been excellent and formed a great midfield partnership with Partey. No argument is meaningless if you disagree about a player’s ability.
Sorry, was in a foul mood didn’t mean to be so harsh. But my point stands, he’s simply not dynamic enough for what we need. He’s been a great servant, always available, never hides, good passer. There, I’ve listed every single positive about him as a player that I can think of. I’m curious what are his myriad other skills? Certainly not discipline? Can’t be end product, that doesn’t exist. Leadership? Arguable at best. Mobility? Defending? No one’s saying he’s terrible, but we know what he is, a middling player nearing the end of his career who would be perfectly… Read more »
No club in world football was willing to pay more than 12 million for a 28 year old in the prime of his career. Doesn’t that say it. We have not qualified for the champions league since Xhaka joined. Although it’s clearly difficult for you to see but if we have ambitions of competing at a higher level we need better quality players.
Murph… ‘none so blind’, as the bard once said.
Are you honestly blaming Xhaka solely for not competing in the Champions League? You might as well say any player signed after 2016 is responsible too. 🙈
FACT: we have never won any major anything since Xhaka has been running our mid-field. And it’s not him that makes Partey look good, it’s the other way around! Partey looked even better on the brief occasions he parterned Mo-Nenny, ffs!
Fact is we have won 2 FA Cups with Xhaka running our midfield unless you don’t regard them as major trophies. I remember exactly how Partey improved after Xhaka returned from injury and partnered him. The agenda against Xhaka is laughable.
Xhaka polarises this fan base like no other, perhaps Mesut. He is a fascinating character however I simply ask one very direct question: is he an EPL title-winning, CL semi or final-making midfielder? Based on the many years we’ve now had to watch his various incarnations – I don’t believe so. He has strong points, yes – but his lack of pace, his one-footedness and his lack of self-control are just too risky, against the better teams/managers – they have always been able to expose one or more of these clear limitations, and will continue to do so. Nothing against… Read more »
Martin you are absolutely right that’s what I too sighted this season
I am not sure about the two strikers. What I think Arteta will do is one out-and-out striker and another player who can play anywhere in the front three. Martinelli could move Central next season, and Marquinhos could take his place, depending on how his pre-season goes.
I feel Elneny is gone; we need an upgrade there (Tielemans, maybe).
If Saliba goes, we need another defender.
Although it’s gone cold recently, Aaron Hickey could come in.
My prediction is: one striker, another forward player, a central midfielder and two defenders: 5 new signings.
We are building the squad, we need few more years blah blah blah. Wrong tactics at Newcastle got us fail, period. I am convinced Emery would have achieve top four by now. One day Arteta will run out of alibis.
It wasn’t Newcastle game that got us fail. It was the home defeat against Brighton. It should be easy 3 points that would put us ahead of sprs
I’m pretty sure it’s not the Newcastle match. We would have secure CL should we win the Derby
Painfully, it wasn’t even losing to the scum that cost us 4th. It was getting 3 or 4 out of the 9 points available against Brighton, Palace and Southampton that did us in.
*not getting*
Yeah, 1 win or draw those three games and it’s a different story. Arguably, you could say the loss to Brentford at the start of the season did it. Fact is, 1 win from elsewhere in the campaign and we’d have got top 4. Or not. Football is a funny game, the Brighton, Southampton and Palace losses, maybe if we win against Brighton, we win against Southampton and Palace as well. Maybe winning those three gives us 3rd spot and Chelsea loose out on top 4, finishing 5th. We haven’t quite done it this season (finishing top 4) but it’s… Read more »
Complete nonsense. You’re “convinced” the guy who won one of his last nine games in charge and just finished seventh in Spain, where’s he generally far more effective (with no language barrier), would have finished top 4 by now? Guess you’re easily convinced, when you want to be.
Did the owners Emery has in Spain spend all the money that the Kroenkes spend on players? Emery is still playing Coquelin in midfield. The Kroenke paid for Partey’s release clause. We have very good owners. Their weakness is that they do not have the passion for the game like Abramovitch for instance. They are the owners who spend the right amount of money in the PL.
Yeah, if only Arsenal were owned by a passionate supporter like Abramovich. Or maybe a Crown Prince who would really put the fear of God into our own players (oh no, Pierre, don’t go into that consulate!) as well as the opposition (are you sure scoring that goal is worth your children’s lives, Harry?). That’s what Arsenal need, not that Wenger crap about football’s purpose is to make people happy.
Passion for the game like Abramovitch? You mean the guy the British government seized Chelsea from because of his close links with a murderous dictator? Not sure we need that kind of “passion” at arsenal.
Or, for that matter, any wealthy nation state that wants to use our club to launder their reputation. No amount of transfer backing is worth that.
I’d rather our club do without the ‘passion’ of a thieving war-criminal’s best mate, thanks.
Horrendously inappropriate comparison, fella!
I would say that the first 3 games of the season done us more than anything else.
Are you serious?. Emery was a disaster.
If Emery was a disaster, what does that make Arteta? Virtually every trough that Unai reached, Mikel dug further. (1) Unai crashed out of top 4 with 70 points, Mikel crashed out of top 4 on 69 points. (2) Unai goes on a winless run of 5 league games. Mikel goes on a winless run of 7 league games. (3) Unai had Arsenal in 8th on match day 13 of 2019-20. Mikel had Arsenal in 15th on match day 13 of 2020-21. (4) Unai goes 3 hours without a goal from open play. Mikel goes 12 hours without a goal… Read more »
Selectively quote cherry-picked ‘stats’ as much as you want, mate – I prefer to look at the present:
Stats schmats!
Arteta has nicer hair and speaks english. English people dislike people who don’t speak English
Let’s not confuse disliking with ‘struggle to make a connection with’.
And that’s true of any language, stop being so stupid.
It’s not that your comment is bad it’s actually the way of thinking that is most detrimental. Why even dabble in what ifs?? (especially ones that are so ungrounded) The amount of overhaul that has occurred since Arteta has arrived is unprecedented. We’re obviously building a whole new squad and I’d say we have shown that there has been good growth already. As difficult as this past season has been we’ve improved and we will further improve. The evidence is there, be a protagonist and get behind the team! We’ll need everyone if you truly want us to return to… Read more »
I still think Nketiah isn’t a champions league quality striker. I’d rather have Balogun playing Thursday nights to see what his ceiling is. Plus if we continue you with the young players with potential any striker will need a year to settle. I’d rather have a striker playing Europa who has the potential to be Champions league quality eg able to perform away from home at San Siro, Bernabeau, Nou Camp etc.
Get me Osimhen, Neves, Molina and Hickey plus convince Saliba and Nketiah to stay and I’d call that a decent summer.
This is what I’d like to see!
Out – Leno, Lacazette, Pepe, Bellerin, Guendouzi, Torreira, Mari, Maitland-Niles
Keep – Elneny, Xhaka, Nketiah, Saliba, Nelson
In – Turner, Jesus, Tielemans, Neves (if Xhaka leaves), Hickey, Calvert-Lewin
Can’t argue with that.
Think there’s a chance we can get 2 strikers of that caliber & keep Eddie?
No Calvert-Lewin for me. We can find someone abroad with aerial ability that won’t cost £50m or whatever ludicrous amount Everton would want for him (likely even more). He goes on hot streaks, sure, but he also runs very, very cold. Don’t see what he’d add over the course of a season we couldn’t find elsewhere.
I’d break it down like this:
1st XI requirements:
Squad requirements:
We have Saliba
Who said this weekend that he wants to play in the Champions League next season, with Marseille
Why is this being downvoted , isn’t that what he said ?
Why are people down voting this? On the one hand you have Arsenal, where you have had a terrible experience (left out of the squad, left to play reserve football while Mustafi Mustafi’d in the senior team), where you’d come in playing second fiddle to Ben White (because Arteta prefers a left-footed player play left CB and he can’t bench a £50 million signing after 1 season), essentially coming in to play the role Rob-Holding is playing. On the other hand you have Marseille, where you start every game you’re available for, where you’re in the Champions League, where you’ve… Read more »
Its not his choice. Marseille wont pay up.
So the alternative is he comes back, sulks, stinks up the place. Then these idiots will pay him to leave as we’ve done with so many players. Will Arteta/Edu have there wages docked for the money we have lost not just on Saliba. But if Mavro, Guen etc etc get sold on for big money, in fact all the players Arteta can’t manage.
I think Pepe has shown that being a top player in Ligue 1 isn’t guarantee for success in the PL. And he’s already on big money. He was a millionaire and set for life even before he was 20. How much money does a person need? I get his initial disappointment with how things played out when he joined us but quite frankly I’m bored of him constantly sounding off about how much he dislikes Arsenal now. If he’s so keen on not being here then he’s free to fuck off to wherever he wants as far as this Arsenal… Read more »
To clarify, I’m referring to Saliba. Not Pepe.
He has a contract with Arsenal not Marseille, who quite frankly couldn’t afford to buy him if we decided to sell
We know how this goes though, if a player has resolved to go, the only thing left is whether they go amicably or combativly. I haven’t read into reports of him wanting to stay or go, but it just wouldn’t surprise me for reasons stated if he did want to go to Marseille, so it’s strange to me that people are taking for granted that he simply will return to Arsenal and that’s that.
People are voting down that utter tosh by loose cannon because its a bloody free country and we can do it.
Also, because its crazy: 8 new players? That’s never gonna happen. He is suggesting a quality player for every single position on the pitch. Ha. Ha HA! Good one.
I guess nothing wrong with wishing on a star, but dont hold your breadth.
Well, if that’s what he said we might as well tear up his contract & give him to Marseille for free then. Because that’s how football works, right?
Haha well to be fair that’s what we’re known for doing these days!
Very true.
Though it’ll be a novelty to actually do that to a player we’re not desperately trying to get rid of. First time for everything I suppose
Even with Saliba back, we’d have him, Gabriel, White and Holding. I don’t think that’s really enough for European football and personally, I don’t think Holding is at the level required for the team, at least when playing in a pair. There’s obviously a question mark over whether Saliba wants to come back at all too.
Actually, we’d have Gabriel, White, Saliba, Holding, Tomiyasu, and–if we play three at the back–Tierney. We need quality at both fullback positions to allow this sort of flexibility. That doesn’t have to be two people, by the way. If you have someone at Bellerin’s (current) level, for example, that means Tamiyasu can play at left fullback in place of Tierney, if needed, or at centre half.
I’d add an experienced goal scoring wide player to the first XI requirement. Saka, ESR, and Martinelli are great. But I feel we are putting too much responsibilities on their shoulders and could use an experienced wide player.
You don’t mean…. Willian
I would love to see Gnabry back. Unlikely to happen though.
Disagree slightly with prioritising a first XI CB, but apart from that, it’s a reasonable summary of where we stand.
I thought Elneny had signed an extension..? There were lots of reports of that yesterday
If we sign a starting centre mid (which we should), and keep everyone from this season, we’ll have 5 specialist deep lying centre mids
Even with Europa League, do we really need 5 senior centre mids for 2 positions?
Lokonga’s a good prospect and perfectly capable of playing now without being a liability. Elneny did pretty well covering when we were at maximum short term focus, but honestly I don’t want him taking many more minutes from Lokonga going forward
I’m still not quite sure how Sambi Lokonga has ended the season with 12 appearances and 7 subs. Under-utilisation of a capable player, albeit a young one who will have some bad games. Finishing 5th would’ve been more palatable giving a player like that a run.
Was really excited we signed him, the fact that he captained Anderlecht at 21 indicated we might have a future leader in midfield. If he goes the way of Torreira and Guendouzi….
I agree that he is an exciting prospect just one comment about his Captain status at Anderlecht.
There clubs that make profit by developing young talents and selling them abroad. So captainicity sounds more like “give us more” rather than real leadership attributes.
Fully expect Lokonga to get more minutes next season. 12 appearances and 7 subs ain’t too bad when you consider we went out early in the FA cup (which he would have played in).
I don’t mind that Elneny has come into the side and played out a fair number of minutes to close off the season, in Party’s absence he has been needed and his experience has helped see us through. Placing all that responsibility to Lokonga could have been detrimental.
Torreira is still an Arsenal player (on paper) isn’t he?!
Torreira is twice the player Lakonga has shown himself to be this season, i know hes young and may improve but thats a fact.
Torreira is a sulky little shit who didn’t want to play in England and is always whining about something. Lakonga is a very good young player who’s going to improve considerably next season when he gets to play more regularly.
Gabriel Jesus is overrated. Shouldve scored atleast double figures for that city team. Not to mention he scores 4 against watford. Take that game out, and he has scored 4 goals all season. Same as Laca. 40 mil pounds is an absolute joke. That money is better spent elsewhere. Signing Nketiah to a new contract is much cheaper and arguably will give us more goals. Martinelli can also play upfront with smith rowe on the wing. Pay whatever Benfica wants for Darwin, get a decent cm, and someone who can cover for Tomiyasu (maybe also Tierney).
I would be careful with the statement “overrated”.
In the last 5 seasons Jesus avaraged 15 G/A per season (10 goals and 5 assists) but he only played 1732 minutes per season on avarage.
With that statistics he would be our best player in this campaign.
…and would be ahead of Ronaldo, Mane, or Kane for example.
Stats per minute means absolutely nothing. What if he comes on when the game is already won? What if he playes all the easy cup games? Total goals is all that matters. If he was good City would have played him more considering they dont have another striker in their squad and he fits their playing style like a glove. 15 g/a per season is awful for a striker. He is overrated, because he is rated at 40 mil, which he just isnt worth considering his career so far (and also current contract situation).
Completely agree. Though, I’m still skeptical of Nketiah, he’s a tap in artist and a bit lightweight. He scored key goals vs. Chelski and manyoo, but they were sorta flukey. He’s a decent back up option, but it isn’t like any opposition sees Eddie on the line about come in and thinks, “oh no, not him.” If he’s leading the line come August, we’re in trouble. Not so sure about Martinelli up frount though. Also agree as you suggest: Cedric, despite scoring a nice goal yesterday, is a calamity as a defender. Signing him was a huge mistake. AMN was… Read more »
Downplaying the talents of a proven premier league player while suggesting we should ‘pay whatever someone wants’ for a young player with no experience in a top league is exactly how we ended up with Pepe when Emery wanted Zaha.
That is exactly how Man United ended with Harry Maguire when Mourinho wanted Koulibaly.
“Pl proven” means absolute nothing. Hes arguably a more physical player than Jesus dont see why he wouldnt fit the pl.
I’ve tried to watch Gabriel Jesus more since we have been linked to him. He is very good, much better (though also older and more developed) than Eddie. He is not a transformative player, and no one pretends he is. But he is good enough to play regularly on one of the best teams in Europe as well as for Brazil. When I say not transformative, I mean like Alexis Sanchez was for us (not necessarily Cruyff or Messi). On the other hand, it looks to me that there were many games this season where, if we had a player… Read more »
Tammy A would have had a dozen or more for us… at least!
I’d rather have Tammy Abraham than Jesus – broken the 60 year record for most goals by an English player in Italy (banged in 2 in their last game of the season, just for good measure).
He’s fast, strong, great in the air and a boyhood Gooner… we should snapped him up for 32m when we had the chance instead of handing him to Maureen. He’ll cost at least 10m more now!
I trust the club to bring in quality players this summer. I just hope it’s done before the season begins
Yes, this is the crux of it for me also. I am sure we have been working on summer targets for a while… some we will get, some we will miss out on, some will be new opportunities as the transfer merry-go-round gets turning. My biggest concern is the timing and getting the recruits involved with the summer training programme as quickly as possible. We tend to announce new signings, 2 or 3 games into the seasons when (if the last few seasons are anything to go by), we’ve already dropped crucial points
Personally I’d be happy if Jesus went to another club. He is not the answer to our lack of goals. Playing in that City side, he should have much better numbers and I don’t see him as a lot different from Eddie.
Crazy how this sentiment is getting majority upvotes now. Say that a few weeks ago and it would be flipped around.
He’s so much better than Nketiah it’s almost comical.
He passes better, is more intelligent with runs, finishes better, stronger, and dribbles better. He plays any position across the front three. I wouldn’t be devastated if we didn’t get him, but let’s not get carried away over Eddie.
Nketiah has put in a shift the past couple months, and I’m sure we all wish him well, but we should still be comfortable with him leaving. He’s not the answer to any of our problems.
A voice of reason!
I would think Jesus and another top level striker for the PL with Balogun and Martinelli in the FA Cup, EL and the Carabao Cup.
Eddie served the club well for these last two months. I’m sure his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and he’ll have plenty of interest from other clubs. I wish him well wherever he decides to go.
The task is easy:
– get rid of deadwood: Pepe and Cédric (since bellerin is returning)
– loan Tavares and Balogun to EPL teams
– address contract situations, for better or for worse: Laca, Nketiah and, most importantly, Saka
– sign a striker, a winger, a backup LB and a Partey partner.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Not sure Bellerin wants to come back, and probably better to cash in whilst he is coming off a good season in Spain. I don’t think Cedric is that bad. Attacks well, but needs to play alongside a more restrained left back than Tavares as they both bomb on simultaneously.
I still think Bellerin is better than Cedric.
No idea if Bellerin wants to come back or not, or if he’d be happy to compete for the slot with Tomi.
If he’s happy to do that, for me it’s a no brainer, knows the club, knows the fans, knows the league, and would still be beneficial to us.
Bellerin’s race is run with us. He was woeful last season and in the pre-season. Remember, he lost his job to Cedric and Chambers. He was a great club servant but it is time to move on from him.
Trust the Spuds to want to get their sticky trophyless paws on Gabriel Jesus.
Hopefully, the promise of being part of an exciting emerging team – to say nothing of actually winning some silverware – will persuade him to sign for us.
Fuck off Tottenham. Haven’t you got an open top bus parade for Son’s Golden Boot to organise….
Will get downvoted but can we really depend on partey n tierney to see out the majority of a season without being injured, gift wrapped the scum 4th , more quality back up in them areas would of been 4th all day long , along with the centre forward position that should of been addressed in January , albeit with a limited market
You can’t be serious about your ambitions and then pin them on players who are fit and available for 50% of the season.
I just realised something yesterday: Alex Runarsson is still an Arsenal player. I’d completely forgot he existed until then.
If the club is serious about backing the manager, they can’t bring in players on a “Europa League budget”. They need to bring in players who push to win Europa League and finish top 4 coming season and compete in the Champions League the season after. Those don’t come cheap.
It might help if we stop haggling over loans for limited players like Arthur when the same club is willing to sell a player like Bentancur for a reasonable fee.
Need to move fast while levy is still working out how little he can allow Conte to spend without him walking.
Arsenal were operating at a loss already due to covid and went on a spending spree in spite of that thanks to loans (some understood this as Kroenkes direct financial backing but that is not the case). But I don’t know why people seem to just be assuming that the same level of spending can be repeated. Am I missing something? I admit it’s nice not constantly worrying about the clubs finances since Arsene left because he perhaps used to speak about it too much, to the point it became yet another topic of conspiracy, derision and division amongst fans.… Read more »
In relation to the three mentioned… Elneny will (should) get a new contract; nketiah will be offered a new contract, decline it and thus be on his way; Laca won’t be offered a new contract and will go to Lyon
Seeing someone like Boubacar Kamara go for free to Villa, while we sell them Gendouzi for peanuts, makes me nervous already. Guy is ‘experienced’, young, kwality CM. Surely an upgrade on Elneny?! I dont know, just thinking out loud. Or in writing rather 😐
If you mean Guendouzi then he’s also a gobshite whose stock collapsed after embarrassing us during and after the defeat against Brighton. He hasn’t done anything to mend fences since but it doesn’t matter anyway since the deal was struck already last year. He’s gone.
I expect the same will apply for Saliba if he keeps on running his mouth about how much he dislikes Arsenal for much longer.
Saliba is chipping away at his future as well. There is a reason nobody in Europe went for Auoar at a cut rate last summer either. Talent over team is no longer an acceptable model for clubs.
As far a Guendo, he can room with Ashley Barnes in the Championship, that is his level.
I’m utterly exhausted by this season. I’m just gonna let them get on with the transfer window, trust they know what they are doing and have a nice 2 month break from al things football
I commend your discipline. I, on the other hand, am weak and can’t wait to click on every single article on this site and ride the roller coaster of summer ins and outs!
I would sign a first choice right back. Tomiyasu to cover both LB/RB on rotation.
If we can convince Hector to stay, that will work. Plus, the real off-pitch leader of the team for several years. (The on-pitch leader, for better or worse, has been Xhaka.)
I think Pablo Mari could fill that slot. But the end of the season showed that two superb full backs (White and Gabriel) is not enough. Holding is not good enough, neither is Tavares.
Turner
Hickey
Gundogan
Tielemens
Gnabry
Jesus
Abraham
Please and thank you.
Blogs, if you can get James to pass that along at a presser that would be spiffing.
Definitely optimistic we can build on the additions of last Summer (four of which were solid starters and big pieces to the future) with some smart additions (esp in the key areas needed) along with offloading those players that need to go elsewhere. Need to get Saliba into the team as well.
Eddie is clearly a superb squad player, that with Europa League will even as back up get regular game time. He is also in a good position to get a money boost by going elsewhere
I suspect that Arteta is going to play Tomi at left CB next season. Then there will be two highly technical CBs who can dribble into midfield and act as playmakers. At the moment, opponents are putting a lot of pressure on White. Won’t be able to do that with Tomi playing next to him. Tomi will also have a lot more space than as full-back and might preserve his body a bit more.
Buy two new strikers, a creative midfielder and a back up for Partey, perhaps a right back or left back who can play both roles if possible. But I cant see Arsenal challenging the top four next season unless these purchases are incredible. Chelsea have new owners who will make a statement in the summer, Antonio Conte is a machine and will win trophies in any club he manages, Klopp will be back to win the title, Pep has a lethal team and Utd has kick started a rebuild.
Watching Scotland-Ukraine, Mykhaylo Mudryk caught my eye. A fast, technical midfielder/forward. He’s currently with Shaktar Donetsk (temporarily relocated to Kyiv). He is born in 2001.