From the Josh Kroenke interview: "I’m not concerned with the buying and the selling. It’s not who you buy, it’s how you buy. There’s multiple statements to say how to skin that cat. “While we’re not going to be in the market for some of the top players in the world at the moment whilst they are the top players, we’re actively scouting the globe to find the next big thing to become great at Arsenal football club. “And not only will we bring them to the club, we’ll be able to retain them in the fold going forward.” Based on these comments it's pretty clear that Arsenal are committing to a youth movement. I don't have an issue with this approach, it helped get Tottenham to the Champions League final and it was Wenger's approach during the first half of his tenure. The problem is that in the current market 40m doesn't even allow them to buy good young players, unless they are going full Martinelli. Celtic want 25m for Kierney, St. Etienne want 25m for Saliba and a loan back, Everton is 25+ m. If they are sticking to a 40m budget they get one of the three and will have to shop outside Europe or in the lower leagues to fill out the other needs.
Good question. He also said, “It’s no secret that we have a Champions League wage bill on a Europa League budget right now. That’s a fact. And one that we’re figuring out how to face internally at the moment. Conversely, they are not likely to get back in the Champions League on a Europa League transfer kitty.
I am willing to give the new technical director a chance But overall I think Emery is not in the top 3 coaches in the league So the idea of us being smarter than 2 other sides seems low given utd will keep throwing money at it
So see you in what 3-5 years then? If ever... I feel like there is no upside to any of this with the level of incompetence the club have shown and continue to show. Not to mention the Kroenke's
Now that rumors about Saliba, (who Arsenal wouldn't get until next year) have gone quiet and Arsenal appear to have been priced out of the Tierney transfer, for a team that trailed only City and Liverpool in goals scored, but allowed more goals than any of the top 9 teams except United, there are a lot of rumors about new offensive players but almost none about defenders. With the return of Nelson, who can fill one of the wing slots, I'd be happy if Arsenal were to go into next season with the roster of attacking players they had last year. Any significant improvement has to come from the defense. At a minimum they should probably sign both Tierney and Saliba, plus a center back who can help them this year. That's where I'd spend the £40m +.
Transfer stories today suggest that we won the race for Saliba, and Ceballos could be sitting our bench instead of the Real bench by the time we face them next week. Normally I'd be against a loan with no option to buy, but we have to fill the holes in our squad on our tiny budget any way we can.
Basically. Outperforming the market long term means we'd need to build a superior performance culture. But IMO we don't have better front office than our competitors
So this seems mad that we are still planning to add so many bodies this late in the window. Even if Ceballos, Saliba and Tierney all sign - that still leaves Arse dependent on Mozzer and Kos at CB Unai Emery confident Arsenal will soon have 'three or four' new players
West Ham can sign a striker from Frankfurt for 45 million pounds yet AFC can't get any business done...
There is just over three weeks left in the window. I'm not sure Arsenal can negotiate a signing per week. Emery may have to fall back on a Wenger cliche, i.e. Chambers, Nelson, and Bielik are like new signings and when they return from injury Holding and Bellerin will be like new signings too.
Agreed I think they will get Saliba done - as apparently that is close to put to bed. The loan for Ceballos, is an easier deal. Whether they do Tierney seems to depend only on whether they want to structure the cash payments better. So again they could probably close that quickly if the will is there. But maybe it isn't seeing they already dragged it on this long. So I can imagine Saliba and Ceballos. Maybe Tierney on the last day. .
About to start reading Astroball so I will be able to tell you soon But my prejudice is I think that there's basically no alpha in the transfer market left for a club like Arsenal and professional (including youth) development is the unexplored frontier that baseball teams are only just beginning to properly extract alpha from
There is definitely alpha right now if you can align a comprehensive style of play with a player type that is not highly valued.