That reminds me... heard yesterday that Mustafi to Roma is off because they reached an agreement with ManU to loan out Smalling
Yeah - both clubs are paying for the fact that these guys have years to run on toppy contracts We renewed Ninny only last year. Smalling and Row Joe were both reupped on dumb money. Jones resigned this year LOL Mozzer was signed on 5 years until 2021
I really don't get why we reupped ElNeny and then never played him. If they were unsure if/where he fit, they should have waited.
Not to mention Ozil & Mkhi. You gotta figure Emery would've liked to ship at least one of them, but buyers were not forthcoming. It's insane that our 2 most expensive players (or at least they were before the summer transfers) are sitting on the bench, and don't exactly have a lock on being our 2nd choice in their respective positions. Actually 1 of them hasn't even made it back to the bench after the bizarre personal crisis that went on. The waste of money that those 2 represent is colossal. Especially for a club that doesn't exactly have the deepest of pockets.
Utd also made this mistake post Ser Fergus when they had huge contracts with old players like RvP, Rooney, Falcao, Rio etc If Ozil and Alexis were reupped correctly before they entered their final 2 years, we'd have got full value for Alexis, Ozil would be costing us far less (or would have been sold) and we wouldn't have Mkhi at all. These basic missteps are so expensive (see Utd)
The problem we ran into there was that neither wanted to reup because of the direction of the club at the time and uncertainty of Wenger. Which means we should have sold them but neither the board or AW wanted to sell our "best" players. In hindsight, we should have sold both and used the money to shore up other problem areas (CB, LB, CM, W at the time) so that we had a more complete squad. Had we added the right #6 to run with Xhaka and some pacy wingers we could have run a solid 4-3-3 with Ramsey getting more minutes.
Yes - its the lesson of Ramsey, Alexis Ozil, DDG etc You should sell early - otherwise they can try to achieve their open market salary
Well said. And well remembered. AND hindsight it 20/20. Even I probably wasn't pushing to sell Ozil back then.
Late phase Wumger was a ditherer Ozil, Alexis, Ramsey, Wilshere, Lacazette, Gnabry etc etc His failure to act decisively was a massive problem By the time he acted on contracts, sales, purchases - it was always way too late
Loaning Smalling will leave them with four healthy CBs, including Rojo and the oft injured Phil Jones. With Bailly out until until December, It seems a little short sighted.
I saw the problem build but figured it was an Alexis or Ozil thing. I was very torn on which should be sold. Typically preferred the "sell Alexis" option because he seemed less likely to sign and I never imagines we would have given Ozil the contract we did. As Jitty said... hindsight, we should have sold both and strengthened the entire squad with the cash. AW would have needed to leave regardless but he may have bought himself another year or 2 had he sacrificed his stars for a more well rounded squad.
Kind of like us selling Nacho and leaving 5 healthy defenders on the entire roster for about a month.
At least we seem to be keeping/using Nacho for one last NLD! Then there's a 2 week break. By that time Holding could/should be back in the first team squad? Sadly Tierney's a bit longer than that I think. But yes, we'll have to cross fingers a bit, and who plays at LB is going to be interesting. Some have said he may go with 3 CB's and Kola at LWB.
We could have signed Ozil on a much lower wage with 2 years to go on his contract. IIRC he was more in the market for 250K+ up from 180 Alexis was always highly saleable, and it was the right move to sell him at that age. Wenger should have sold him 6 months sooner It was all messed up by Wumger
I presume that is why they loaned him - so they can recall him in the event of trouble It is actually Row Joe they want to unload - but no one wants him thanks to his stupid contract which they re-upped So Smalling has gone because he is the half decent one that can be shifted
My guess is that Nacho is done. They've tried to work him back up to match fitness and realised he can't cut it.
You're not counting Mustafi, who Arsenal still hasn't offloaded. My previous post about selling Monreal assumed Mustafi was going to be moved. At this point it's not looking very likely.
Roma appears to be dead. Only other option I have heard in the last several days is Zenit but I'm not sure it was a legit link. Have a feeling we are gonna have Mustafi around atleast until Jan.
definitely not as a premier league left back. as a desperation centerback fill-in . . . . eh? going back to spain is the better fit for him, though, i think.
Nacho is gone. He will attend the derby as a farewell, not available for selection. 250,000 fee paid in installments. Christ.