Re: Meunier rumor Given the raft of needs facing this roster why even bother with trying to replace Bellerin at this point.
My only guess... they are willing to let Bellerin go and think that they can sell Bellerin for more than Meunier will cost (ie more cash in the kitty)
I'll never understand this phenomena. If it's possible for Arsenal to upgrade with a player that's cheaper than for what they'd sell Bellerin, then why the heck is that other team not just buying Meunier instead of Bellerin?!
Am I dreaming or wasn't it a fact that 10-20 years ago Wenger & Ferguson would compete to sign the cream of the crop? Ramsey comes most quickly to mind, but I think there were others before him, perhaps even bigger names. And now who will Emery & Solskjaer, current occupants of 5th & 6th place, compete to sign?
Not sure that value to Emery/Arsenal and value on the market is always directly connected. Every player has a different style of play. Some will fit a system better than others. A players market value doesn't necessarily correlate to how they will perform in a given system. I could see Emery not liking Bellerin's style as much as he can be lax in his defensive responsibilities. Emery is also comfortable with Meunier. He has coached him before and knows what he brings to the table. Not saying it is the correct decision but I can understand the logic.
Emery's inclination to primarily want players he coached before is worrying. I can understand a coach wanting to bring one or two players in that he has worked with before when he first joins, but a year later he shouldn't still be needing his old players.
This is very worrying. Unless someone is trying to dump a bunch of money on us for Bellerin, signing a 27 year old right back shouldn't be anywhere near the top of priority list.
Bellerin wont be able to pass a physical before the end of the transfer window, will he? Meunier is 6'3", maybe Emery thinks he can be a right sided CB when playing a back 3.
Seeing some tabloid reports that Laca has been spotted in Barcelona less than 48 hrs after the EL final.
I'm not clamoring for him to be sold, but logically, this makes much more sense than the Meunier rumors. We probably should only be playing with one strike up top, a true wide pacy goal-scoring threat, and an extra MF. If Barca wants to throw a significant number of £££ at us for Laca, we could use it to fund other areas of need. And yes, I'm well aware that the above scenario relies on the HUGE presumption that Raul and Emery know what the hell they're doing once they get said funds.
Agreed. The other caveat that really hasn't been mentioned... Does Stan give 100% of player sales back to the team to invest or does he pocket say 50%?
It doesn't seem to work that way. He takes a relatively small dividend through his other companies. Then he uses the cash balance as collateral for loans on his other projects. That's why Arsenal always has 100+m GBP available in their reports. Basically Kroenke uses Arsenal as an asset for getting loans, mostly for the Rams and his LA football real estate project.
I'm beginning to wonder if Kroenke might sell in the near-term. He obviously doesn't care about the club at all, and he'll soon have his Rams complex finished, so using Arsenal as informal collateral won't be useful to him (unless he's gonna try and redevelop Nuggets stadium which seems doubtful.) Otherwise, what's the point for him? He's not making money off Arsenal, he's tanking the valuation of his club long-term for short-term use as collateral by sitting on cash reserves in an extreme inflationary environment, and he doesn't care about the sport like he does football or basketball, so honestly, why bother? The unfortunate truth might be that we serve as a means to keep his failson(s) busy. If we're just the nest egg for Josh we are in serious trouble. It's never worked before but collective action by the fans might make the experience of owning us annoying enough for that whole clan of losers to fcuk off forever. Here's hoping.
Per my understanding based on some old comments I read somewhere, Kroenke views Arsenal as something he can hand down to his family. I wouldn’t get your hopes up sadly.
Snickered at first, then thought - eminently possible. The one thing going against that is NBA teams are cash cows.
Yes Hypothetical... What if we are trying to sign Meunier because Barca wants Bellerin in exchange for Umtiti? What is better Meunier/Umtiti or Bellerin/Boateng(he's rumored to be available for 20m)?
Boateng will be available for cheap because Bayern have bought too many CBs. I don't think he will come to Arsenal. Meunier's contract is expiring in 2020, which is why PSG will deal him for what they can get. I think he is currently a better player than Bellerin, but not by enough to make it a priority transfer. His preferred destination seems to be United and PSG may simply be using Arsenal and Emery to get a bigger fee. Nandez is a good player and would be a solid addition but kind of similar to Torreira. If playing a midfield 3 of Xhaka/Nandez/Torreira, you'd need extremely creative players in attack to create for Auba/Laca. Barcelona will want a RB, but Bellerin may not be quite what's necessary to take them to another level. He is another player who is of similar quality to Semedo and Sergi Roberto and not really an upgrade. Umtiti's injury conditions are huge concerns and one of the main reasons that Lenglet has kept his place alongside Pique at Barca. They will deal if they can bring De Ligt in, but it won't be a loan deal imo. They desperately require liquid cash.