There have been serious rumors, weeks ahead of time, about everything they've attempted this summer and the only defender that has been consistently linked who would actually be here for the upcoming season is Tierney. But now rumors suggest Arsenal are walking away from a deal, because Celtic want the money up front. Given that negotiations for both Saliba and Tierney dragged on because Arsenal was trying to negotiate liberal payment schedules, I'm not confident they can complete a new deal in the 16 days remaining. If they don't,Arsenal will be heading into the season with the same defense they had last season, minus Kos and plus Chambers and maybe Bielik.
Ceballos should actually be useful, so while getting a loan is not exactly a power move it should help the team.
A loan with an option to buy would be nice. If he disappoints, Arsenal turn it down. If he impresses and Arsenal values him at more than the agreed fee, it becomes a steal. My guess is Ceballos isn't ready to give up on his Real Madrid dream yet. Maybe he falls in love with London and RM make it clear they prefer other options and the deal becomes permanent. But at the moment, you would have to bet on it being a 1 year deal only. Then at some point it become a situation where unless he is clearly your best option, you are better off giving playing time to players that have a future at the club, like Willock or Smith Rowe.
Me too, but considering the weakness of the club's position right now at least they got someone who can provide some value on the field for a year.
The lack of an option to buy sucks (because Real get the upside of Ceballos playing well), but it's a function of Real not wanting to bear the risk of Ceballos sucking and not getting any of the potential benefit of him playing well. I think that, regardless of whether there's an option to buy, Ceballos still has the ability to return to Madrid because he can refuse to sign a contract with Arsenal. If you're Madrid, the only way you agree to an option to buy is if you've got a logjam in midfield and there's no use for Ceballos and you can't find any buyers.
For what it's worth, I did see Mavropanos on the field after the game in Charlotte. He was not dressed to play, he had a polo shirt and workout pants on, basically what Bellerin was wearing. Not fit is my guess, but even if he was, Emery does not rate him.
With Fakir going to a tier 2 team I guess his dreams of playing for a big side are over Seems like liverpool's injury diagnosis may be correct
His knees must be held together with scotch tape, and it has to be the sort of situation that everyone knows what's going on. Not just going to Betis, but for that price too.
Seems Arsenal are moving on from Tierney after dicking around for weeks. Doesn't seem to be a plan B there and with only a few weeks left of the transfer window combined with the painfully slow speed at which Arsenal do their business. Kola will be the only LB for next season.
Somebody please tell me we have a Sokratis-type serviceable, veteran centerback coming in the next 2 weeks. Kos forced his way out because he believed Arsenal's plan for him to be our number 1 centerback again this season was ludicrous (and it was). So if the answer to losing our perceived number 1 centerback option is to do nothing in the transfer market, then what do you call the level above ludicrous? That's what we should call our current situation in central defense: a level above ludicrous. PS, this should go without saying, but signing Saliba is/was not a response to our current CB situation. We were working to sign him long before Kos went rogue, and even if the club already knew and Saliba's signing was the response, buying a player that won't play for us this season does nothing to solve our current CB situation.
I have a feeling that out lack of plan at CB for next season is atleast in part due to our inability to find a taker for Mustafi. As it stands (assuming Kos is sold), we go into next season with Sokratis, Holding, Mustafi and Chambers/Mavro as your rotation. With a 4 man backline, while the quality isn't ideal the numbers are what you need/want. Its hard to add a quality CB or 2 and then go into the season with a glut at that position. If you can offload Mustafi and/or Chambers it becomes a little easier to add a CB and still have roster balance. We have been linked with a number of CBs, so I'd be surprised if we weren't trying. My guess is we end up seeing one of 2 scenarios play out... #1 - We are unable to offload Mustafi/Chambers but free up some space by selling Mavro/Bielik and replace them with a U21 that Emery rates. Head into season with Sokratis, Holding, Mustafi & U21 with Chambers as a utility CB/RB/DM player. U21 is given opportunity to take Mustafi's minutes. #2 - We are able find a taker for Mustafi/Chambers. They are replaced with a reasonably priced player (maybe loan with an option) in the 23-30 yo range. Then possibly add a U21 if we offload both of Mustafi/Chamber or 1 of them plus Mavro/Bielik Either way, I think we head into the season with our intended CB depth to be Sokratis, Holding and someone new. The question becomes the quality/experience level of the someone new and who do we ultimately have for the 4th/5th.
If your theory is correct that's as glaring a sign of the team's incompetence as any. The failure to act on the biggest need of the off-season should not be solely dependent on a player sale, especially for a club as big as Arsenal.
It’s like Raul and Venai looked at the roster, looked at the 5 pound note left on the table and said, “We don’t need another centerback this season. We can wait 2 months for Holding, avoid catastrophic injury for an entire season and still finish 7th . . . right?”
Ted speaketh: 1153409508619759617 is not a valid tweet id Of course the bad news here is that Ndombele and Lo Celso are going to Sperz this summer.
Really hoping we can eventually sign him permanently. Think he & Torreira could be a really good pairing.
Yep. Given the timeline, I think it is FAR more likely that we offload the youngsters that Emery doesn't rate and either replaces them with a vet on loan or another youngster that he does rate. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we end the window with Sokratis, Holding, New guy, Mustafi & Chambers (CB/RB/DM utility)
I guess that signing Saliba to start next season was intrinsically tied to keeping Kos for 1 more year. And I really do wonder how they're going to pull a defensive rabbit out of a hat and solve the mess we find ourselves in.
His errors at CB are loud and noticeable but he's a poor fit for RB especially for Emery. He'd probably be a bigger net-negative there ultimately. I suspect we will see a lot of Chambers at CB.