Arsenal’s pursuit of Pedro Neto looks destined to end in failure with Wolves reluctant to sell and unwilling to budge in their asking price.
The Portugal international had been identified as the Gunners’ preferred replacement for Nicolas Pepe, who recently moved to Nice, but despite positive talks with his representatives, little progress has been made.
Writing for The Athletic, David Ornstein says a move “is now looking highly improbable”.
Given the transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday, Mikel Arteta and Edu face a race against time to buy the winger they’ve craved all summer. A pursuit of Brazil international Raphinha also ended in disappointment when Barcelona found the necessary funds to lure him to Camp Nou.
Villarreal’s Yeremy Pino appears to be a player of interest but there’s not been much in the papers about that link since it surfaced earlier in the month.
If a big-money signing isn’t made, the club could make use of Marquinhos and Reiss Nelson should they want to rotate in the Europa League.
In terms of outgoings, Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles could still leave. It’s expected that further academy kids will also depart on loan.
Edu out!
😜
Get in a loan perhaps? Bukayo can’t play 60matches…and travelling to PSV on an Europa night will gruelling… there’s talk of Marco asensio….his contract ends next summer…we could get a deal….I’m more bothered about the backup at no6 position though…our build up and control was worse without zinchenko and No6 on Saturday…
Number 5 I guess.
Asensio would tick a lot of boxes, can play on both wings and centrally, mid 20’s, with bags of experience.
…Constantly injured
He certainly had one big injury – cruciate ligament – in 2019-20 which cost him the season basically. There have been a number of minor injuries since then, but he hasn’t really missed many games – around ten, I think. We’ve signed other players who could be called somewhat injury-prone at their former clubs – Tierney and Partey come to mind. Whether that was wise or not …? My Spanish friends tell me that Real Madrid certainly wanted to keep Asensio but he pis*ed off the club president, Perez, (never a wise thing to do as he’s the real power… Read more »
Partey was not injury prone, if I recall correctly. I seem to remember that was one of the positives, he had spent little time off the pitch from injury in Madrid, he only started getting hurt here. Lucky!
Then he’s perfect for Arsenal.
He doesn’t have to play Thursdays too; Fabio Vieira was not signed as a ball boy. If he can’t play EL group stage at the least, then his signing comes to question.
Yeah Edu out!
Out to get Yeremy Pino, that is.
Given age and experience, what’s the difference between Pino and Marquinhos?
We need a CM/DM more at this point given Partey’s injury record, no?
Let’s hope so.
Why? For not buying an overrated an overpriced winger who is not as good as Pepe who we have let go?
Humour Martin, humour.
😂😂
*attempted* humour
I thought that the winky emoji would remove any doubt that this was very much tongue in cheek.
Window has been good. A couple extra would be amazing, but I’m comfortable with what we have
Neto made some pretty impressive passes on the weekend and looked strong against the challenges, something I don’t recall seeing Pepe do very often. His game seemed to consist mostly of that infuriating tippy-tappy head fake bullshit that very rarely ever led to anything good.
Easy on mate. I think it’s called sarcasm.
It doesn’t count if you add a wink.
😂
Edu out…?..naaaa…highly improbable
Got money for a midfielder instead then?
Seems rather implausible that we loaned out Pepe without more of a plan than just hoping Wolves give us a good deal on a player with a 5 year contract. Surely a secure backup plan waiting in the wings.
I’m not sure I agree with this. If there is one thing I learnt from the Auba situation is that the club are making good decisions. Pepe clearly isn’t happy with small minutes. Un happy or want away players ruin the atmosphere and we’ve seen where that got us. It seems to me that Edu, Arteta and the club have plans, have players they like and tell absolutely no-one if they can. We’ve been linked with a ton of players that quite clearly, they have no interest in. Scamacca, Melo, Paqueta, Guimeres, Aouar et al. have all been players Arsenal… Read more »
Considering the money had/has been tight, we should be doing this long time ago. Then I remember quotes from Josh (from All or Nothing) that they got total control some 5 years back and are still getting to terms with English football. I believe that is the price Arsenal paid for people learning on the job, which is fair because now they are ready. I hope they keep their heads and not throw away hard earned money to selling clubs ( FFS how can Antony be valued at 100 million!! If that’s right then I will gladly accept anything above… Read more »
I completely agree with you! There’s a good chance we’re already in talks with a certain RW who fits the Arsenal squad profile.
I fear the worst for Saka if we don’t find someone who’s capable of sitting him down for a few weeks. The boy has barely had a break from football over the last 3/4 years, and this season is going to be tough on him as it is.
Viera, Martinelli, Smith Rowe and even Jesus could play from the right if need be. Plus it looks like Nelson might stay and Marquinhos is close to the first team. I’d definitely take another quality winger but suspect we might look at internal solutions if we can’t get the player we want in this window.
I think we’ll be in trouble if we won’t buy somebody. The majority of our main rivals have 5-6 strikers or AM’s with proven goalscoring record (just look at Spurs for example: they have 6 of them).
With more substitutions and a World Cup in the middle of the season – I think squad depth will be more crucial than ever…
Spuds have 6 scorers in their team, really!!!!!
Lucas Moura was third top scorer last year with……………..wait for it……………..6. Even Richarlison only got 11.
We had 7 players who equaled or bettered Moura last season and have since added Jesus, Viera and Marquinos (to a lesser extent).
Getting a new midfielder of winger will be amazing, but if we can’t get the one we want, I’m sure we’ll be grand
Moura. Every time I see him i think “well there goes not just a cunt but a spud cunt.”
Richarlison was described best by Blogs, and I paraphrase: “He looks like someone who’d help an old lady across the road so he can push her in front of a bus and steal her purse.”.
He also helped out Harry Kane a couple of hours ago…
Maybe they are full of loosers, but if I’m not mistaken – they still managed to overtake us last year…
Boring argument, mate.
Boring.
“He also helped out Harry Kane a couple of hours ago…”
Whoever that is, is that supposed to make me like him?
Only if “helped out” is some sort of euphemism for “kicked repeatedly in the bollocks”.
I’d volunteer to offer Harry that kind of help. I’m not totally heartless.
Always one spurs fan clogging up the feed
Mock his looks all you want, but he kicked Jesus’ out of the Brazil team, and he’s a super sub for the tiny tots. They have firepower. Utter shit everywhere else though (bar Davies).
Since the start of last year – they’ve added Kulusevski, Richarlison, and Perisic. We’ve added Jesus, but have lost, Lacazette, Pepe and Aubameyang. Hopefully Viera and Marquinos will be good additions, but on one hand: at the beginning our managers thought it is maybe the u21 that fits Marquinos the best. On the other: Vieira himself admitted that he has to work on his physicality. All in all: They were not only better than us last year. But they’ve strengthened with seasoned professionals, and they have a a manager who is a 5 time champion in the top leagues. I… Read more »
To take this seriously: They have one central defender who, when he is not pulling hair, is *perhaps* on a par with our three best. Their wingbacks are not as good as our fullbacks. They have an experienced keeper who could easily play for us, though he is probably not as good a distributor as Ramsdale. Their midfielders are not nearly as good as ours (I don’t think anyone can dispute this, having seen Odegaard this season). Perisic is a very good addition, though I’m not sure he can physically manage a season in the Premier League–and even Perisic is… Read more »
One dimensional (counter attack) + toxic (increased in quantum by addition of Richarlison)
Fuck Spurs.
Worth repeating. Fuck Spuds!
I agree that we really do need to make a further signing if we can. Who knows whether we will or not? 50-50, I’d say. Squad depth and quality is key – no doubt about that at all. That said, there’s little point in arguing who has the better squad after only four games when nobody has had theirs really tested (although I think Liverpool have had a few absentees – and they seemed to cope). At the end of the day, all the “Big 6” and Newcastle, who may well join that group sometime, have strengthened their squads. We… Read more »
The wild card is that no one can know how the World Cup affects all this. No one has ever dealt with top players coming back with almost no rest from the most intense weeks of football of their year. Or with other top players (Salah or Odegaard as examples) with an early winter break but unable to train with many of their teammates and immediately thrust into a congested, crucial, set of fixtures.
True. Another point here is how many players will be “lost” to the World Cup from each of the relevant clubs. I don’t know for sure, nobody does, but I would have thought we will probably have fewer players there than at least some of the other contenders simply because they have more “experienced” internationals in their squads who are likely to be called up (and play). I’m not suggesting that will be any terrific advantage, but it could be a factor.
I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to rest or, indeed, need a rest. He eats and sleeps football; he is a kid living the dream and all he wants to do is get out there and play. So long as he keeps fit, impresses in training, there’s no reason to rest him at his age beyond a game or two on the sub’s bench.
I agree, all this stuff about Saka looking jaded misses the mark for me.
Yes, some players benefit from rest, but I think Saka is the type that needs game time to play his way back to peak form. Players who are out of form and tired tend to lose the ball more than usual (I’ve noticed that with Emile Smith Rowe) but Bukayo’s ball retention is still top. He just needs to get his dribbling mojo back
And I want Gal Gadot to ride me in bed 24/7 but I know at some point I need a break! Although it’s not a bad way to go from either really..
In the absence of her, maybe Gal Dove would do?
It’s a tricky situation to manoeuvre. Look at how the Smith Rowe/Martinelli competition has improved Gabby, and I’m sure Smith Rowe will take his chance when he gets it too. Saka hasn’t started brilliantly and that’s fine, but we need somebody to push him and to give him a rest. It would be gross negligence to have him carry the right side all season. Nelson isn’t up to it, I don’t know about Marquinhos but even with those guys we still need a more established person to complete the forward line. At the same time I don’t want them to… Read more »
Wolves are like Leicester etc, they fix an inflated price and you either pay it or you move on, if you’re Man Utd you pay it, if you’re Chelsea you pay, I’m just glad Arsenal don’t anymore.
Agree – anything over 40m would be a rip off
Yeah, I reckon £35m plus some more for add-ons and that’s about right given he’s not long off of a serious injury that saw him miss most of last season.
Also we’re on the Wolves naughty step for Marquinhos so their out to fleece us.
IMHO, it would be good to add a CM at least keeping the world cup in mind. While a good number of our players might get a break during that time, both of our starting CMs will be off to Qatar. I dont see Ghana getting out of their group but Xhaka and the Swiss might go a bit further. Between Elneny, Lokonga, Viera (possibly?) and Zinchenko we might have required cover but we could use some bolstering there.
Shame if Neto cannot be got. His performance v Newcastle, driving forward, accurate crosses, taking players on all highlighted the weaknesses of Saka
Weaknesses of Sake? You have just defined Saka
In fairness Sake is quite weak compared to other types of harder drink.
He wasn’t even good vs Newcastle…
You absolutely Wally.
WTAF….?!!!
😞
Yeah, that Saka, what a right liability…
Has anyone noticed we play twice a week every week (apart from the international break) until the second week of November?
There will need to be a lot of squad rotation and I’m not sure we have the necessary depth in three positions; central midfield, winger, striker. This could be solved with just a couple of signings but I doubt we’ll get them both. One might have to do for now, a wide player who can play as a striker would be my preference.
I also like Ben White.
Gotta have faith!
Wake me up before Sanogo!
Like Jesus to Ben White.
😂
See, I get the elation; I am equally pleased. But if I am being honest, I don’t think our summer incoming should be done at this point. We need a minimum of two good players to be certain of top 4. Apart from City and Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and United have done/are doing some business still, and will be in the mix. Injuries will happen (to all teams). We need to prepare for a Partey and Saka eventuality. Elneny is not a top 4 Midfielder by my reckoning. Vieira’s capability in EPL is unknown as yet; and our attempts to… Read more »
Am I the only one who secretly trusts Reiss Nelson to come good?
yes
No, but his latest injury isn’t helping his chances!
He’s the elneny of wingers full of sideways & backwards passing unfortunately.
If we can survive and give the opportunity in group stage, might just get his confidence back up and increase his valuation for January or summer. Carabao and group stage he needs to step up, this injury is annoying tho
I always think of that highlight when he was on loan where he did that little ball drag one v one with the keeper and scored. Breathtaking skill, there is a player in there if he’s capable of that.
He was my favorite coming out of Hale End. Still secretly hoping he will make it with us somehow… Maybe a goal will open up his good fortune. You’re not the only one.
Since the name Pino was linked to us, I got the chance to watch him play for Villarreal twice, saw him score too. He would be a very nice addition if it happens specially in the range of ~35m
I think I’d go for him as well, but I’m not sure how much Villarreal actually want to/need to sell him – reports vary.
There’s a Mudryk fellow at Shaktar that some reports have carried that we’re interested in. Why not pursue that? He’s about 21, quick, great dribbler and shone against Ajax in the Europa League, I think. He’ll be no more than 15 million pounds. There’s Semenyo at Bristol who is setting the championship on fire. Another one who won’t cost more than 20 million. Cody Gakpo who our interest in died for some reason is another one. He can play both wings, strikes the ball well with both feet, young and will develop into an elite centre striker. There are options… Read more »
Is there any reason to believe any of these players are better than Reiss Nelson? Mid-table clubs, and teams in lesser leagues, are full of credible players, even important players (Joe Willock is a very good example) who weren’t quite good enough for elite teams. It makes no sense to buy one of them, when you already have the equivalent, who are fully integrated into the club. If you can get someone significantly better, yes–otherwise, no.
Did you watch Gakpo leading PSV to elimination against Rangers? He was dreadful. The only danger from his shooting was to birds flying over the stadium, and I don’t think he beat anyone one-on-one in the entire two legs.
Mudryk would cost a lot more than £15M. There’s something about his technical ability, two footedness, dribbling skills, pace and eye for goal that reminds me of George Best, back in the day.
I can also see why some people have described him as like Alexander Hleb, albeit one who actually scores goals. I like this player.
I’m sure it’s either Neto (and maybe 1-2 alternatives) or nobody, we aren’t about to buy someone just for the sake of it. It’s interesting that both Arsenal and Wolves are playing on Wednesday night, just couple of hours before the window closes.
Agreed, it’s the right player or no player. And i think we can manage it. It might require Marquinhos playing 90 mins of all non-PL games and using Viera/Jesus/ESR to give Saka a break at the tail end of secured matches. The bigger picture is more important as 2022/23 isn’t the year we push for any titles.
I agree partly but that’s not how players/coaches think. Maybe managers yes but teams play to win all encounters. Whoever thinks beyond next game is not doing justice to their team. I think current team’s direction is spot on, only win the “Next game” and then the “Next game”. That’s what the captain said the other in his post match.
Martinelli has also played on the right and looked decent. Then we can use ESR on the left.
We play Wednesday night, the transfer window closes Thursday night.
Just never looked likely to me this.
Peno’ll do just nicely.
Callum HO would of been a decent signing on loan with option, but not sure Chelsea would loan him to us
What about Smith-Rowe and Marquinhos. Are they out now?
Similarly in midfield, I don’t know why we bought Sambi if he won’t play. He started last season really well and is already coming up 23.
Unless we can sign an outstanding talent, I wouldn’t bother. Raphinha was understandable, but other names lack goals or have a bad injury record.
I was equally confused about Sambi not starting, edu said himself he was brought in as a long-term replacement for Partey. I thought he’d also be a medium term player though and was disappointed to see Elneny start over him. If he’s not ready against Fulham, when is he?
ESR just got back from injury and he has encountered the massive hurdle of Gabi Martinelli. I’m sure ESR will play a big role in our season, both on the left as a Ödegaard replacement. Also, an internal solution not often mentioned for resting Saka is to play Martinelli on the right with ESR on the left.
Yes, good points. Also when will Vieira ever play if we bring in even more wingers.
There was nothing in the papers about Vieira…
These so called “experts” with “close links” to the club end up knowing nothing.
I’m pretty sure that David ornstein knows more than you!
He knew about Vieira didn’t he?
People know shit and talk shit, leave it to the experts, they know the best.
It’s been going that way according to various reports for a while now, hasn’t it. Interest in Tielemans at Leicester appears to have cooled. Pino may still be an option as the article says but one minute Villarreal have to sell him as they need the money, the next they don’t. Asensio at Real Madrid has been mentioned of course. He’s probably the cheapest of the possibilities and surplus to requirements there. Would he want to move to England though? And then there’s Zaha at Palace, who seems to pop up from time to time. He doesn’t fit Edu’s age… Read more »
Well, I don’t know how well Pepe played in their loss, but he was given 90 minutes with presumably hardly having trained with the team. Anyway, he faced the ex-Arsenal juggernaut of Marseille–Kolasinac and Guendouzi both starting (the latter with an assist) as well as Nuno Tavares, who scored. The other two goals? Somebody named Alexis.
I think, by the way, that it was Kolasinac on the left of a back three and Nuno as a wingback on that side. So Nico should have had a fair amount of space.
I watched that game for the various Arsenal ties (the above plus Ramsey) and it was actually a fun one. Given Pepe’s lack of minutes going back to last season, I thought he did fairly well. Tested the keeper a bit, won a couple corners, started a dangerous attack by winning the ball back up high. Tavares was very good overall, but completely lost his mark on a corner and was lucky the free header was out over. I think he could be a solid player, but everyone needs to just give up on him playing any kind of defensive… Read more »
Tavares just reminds me of Welsh Tarzan (Bale). Definitely a winger, his instincts are set to ultra-attack.
Played well for someone relatively out of the fold. Did a lot of work in his own half, chipped in defensively, was on set pieces, which bodes well for his game time and value.
Yes, that’s a fair point about training with the new team. The report wasn’t very complimentary nevertheless. Doesn’t mean to say Pepe isn’t going to improve of course, but I think he needs to put himself in the “shop window” pretty soon as it’s unlikely he’ll play for us again.
It’s Neto I feel sorry for
Heard Wolves are holding out for 60m-ish? Overpriced IMO. Marquinho and Nelson can back up for Saka. Save that money to get Neves next summer if we can’t get another no. 6 this window. With all respect to ME, against Fulham quality dropped off significantly in that position without TP. We couldn’t progress the ball quick enough. Our build up play took a hit. Zinko’s absence didn’t help either.
They need to have other alternatives.
I would prioritise signing a replacement for Partey over a winger signing. We have ESR and Viera on the bench. Very hard luck that both Partey and Zinchecko got injured at the same time. Curious to see if Arteta goes with Zinchenko in midfield ahead of Elneny.
Given age and experience, what’s the difference between Pino and Marquinhos?
We need a CM/DM more at this point given Partey’s injury record, no?
Oh dear. I did say we should get in a replacement for Pepe before moving him on…but there you go. Still, it’s been a fantastic window and it would be churlish indeed now to moan. As far as options go, Martinelli, as evidenced in the second half on Saturday, can switch to right wing, (with ESR on the left) in order to give Saka the occasional breather. And as for the league cup and emergencies, etc, I would now retain Nelson. A shame all the same if that’s the case – I was quite looking forward to seeing us sign… Read more »
Marquinhos is very very similar to Saka I’m style and function.
Please, Blogs, why am I being censored?
Forget about it.
Fine by me. No way this guy is worth 50 mln. To be honest, if they can’t get the winger they want, I’d like to see us use Nelson as backup to Saka and try to boost his career. Even if it is only to raise his profile & price in the market.
We do need someone in there, either brought in or moved up. I’d still try for the former as the best option but with a only a few days left now it may be too late.
That’s for Edu to worry about, I don’t care about the destiny of Nelson tbh, let alone giving him minutes where he’s way out of his depth just to “boost his career”.
Arteta and Edu both know a lot more than Ornstein who just works on rumours and so called “sources close to the club”
Only these two know what is going on – as it is, I think we are OK anyway with regard to cover although I would prefer to see Tielemans come in to strengthen the central midfield area…
Tielemanas is not cover for Partey – he plays much further forward. I’d prefer someone like Malinkovic-Savic, a true number six destroyer. With him as the understudy to Partey, we’d be set in that position for years.
It’s reported Leicester are holding firm for £40m+ for him – although he’ll be a free agent next summer. Do we pay that – or anything like that – now? Probably not. We could wait until January and get him for around half, or less. That wouldn’t help us in the run up to Christmas though, so we would go with what we have. Is that really sufficient? All in all, I suspect that Edu/Arteta will still want to bring in someone now if possible, but it’s very tricky as we can all see.
Just seen Ross Barkley has been released from his contract at Chelsea. Still only 27 or 28. Am I the only one who would consider him to boost the midfield ranks?
He’s still got talent despite being ex-Chelsea scum.
I’m guessing he’ll end up at Vila or Everton though as he’ll probably need guaranteed first team football and played for both before.
In Arsene Wenger’s latter years, he had a frustrating way of leaving the team short of, sometimes, the last piece to make the team hit the next level. ’07 – ’08, we were one striker away from a complete team, and winning the league in a canter. ’08 – ’09, it was a DM after Flamini ‘s departure. No show.. 09 -10, Almunia pulled us down. If you look through, you will see this trend. Every pundit will talk about it, but for Arsene, “If we see something better than we already have, we’ll do it.” He never found! Arteta… Read more »
Neto incoming never made a lick of sense sthis stage of the season/transfer window. Was always going to be priced higher than we would want to spend.
Hope that Hector gets his move which is to say, Betis stop trying to mug us and either fork up a face saving wad of cash or agree to an 80% sell on fee.