I think there are plenty of players who would die for a chance to play in the EPL. I'm so OK with OX leaving. I'm really most curious about whether Arsene's dip in reputation has ended our old pipeline of French players. Now is a good time to get French players if you can, considering they are looking the best side in the world these days. Hell, let's throw Ozil and Alexis' salary monies at a Griezmann transfer. Why the f*** not?
Claims today that we were after Dries Mertens this past summer before he extended his contract. Additional claims that we could continue our interest this summer as he will have a 25m GBP buyout. Like his game but I think he will be a little old for my liking next summer. If we are gonna offload the big name guys I would rather rebuild with youth.
There are a few players from Bilbao that look interesting but most of them aren't really interested in leaving. They are damned loyal to that club.
Alexis to PSG heating up again. Rumor is Neymar is pushing for him to replace Cavani. Rumors that Barca and Inter are interested in grabbing Ozil in Jan.
We need creativity on the wings. Draxler would be my choice. And we need a proper winger/wing forward too. Ozil is more a ten. Who was the last good one we had? Arshavin (for 1 year??) and Nasri before that?
Don't think we can afford his salary demands but if you were gonna get Cavani I think you would better off switching to a 4-3-1-2 or 3-4-1-2 and having Cavani & Laca paired together up top.
With Welbeck, Lacasette, and Ozil on the field at the same time, Arsenal were playing a de facto 3-4-1-2, with Ozil as the 10. When Alexis is on the field instead of Welbeck, his tendency to drop into he midfield to pick up the ball, makes it a de facto 3-4-2-1.
Rumors floating this last week... - PSG is going to offer Alexis a 9-10m GBP signing bonus to sign as a FA next summer - City wants Alexis to come as a FA - United is trying to lure Ozil as a FA - Ozil plans to leave on a free and is eyeing Dortmund, Fenerbahce & Barca - AW is frantically trying to find a buyer for both Alexis and Ozil in Jan that is not in the EPL - AW is going after Goretzka and Arrizabalaga as FA in the summer - AW is interested in Pulisic as an Alexis replacement - AW has inquired about Martial
Starting to see a little smoke RE the possibility of Alexis re-signing in Jan and Ozil being sold. If that comes to fruition I really hope we go 4-3-3.
Thoughts.... Ozil seems to me like a player that is done. He has no interest in being here and should be offloaded this Jan. Alexis may not want to be here right now but he is busting his ads. He is flawed but you can't fault his attempts to will the team to victory in every match. There seems to be some turmoil at Bayern right now and rumors of a couple players leaving this past summer. What is we attempt to lure Vidal from Bayern and resign Alexis? We could switch to a 4-3-3 with Vidal as the MF anchor. Alexis - Laca - Iwobi Xhaka - Vidal- Ramsey Kolo/Nacho - Kos - Mustafi - Hector
Vidal is not an anchor. Also, I love the idea that Alexis is 'busting his ass' because he goes wherever the ball is and tries to dribble 7 defenders when he gets it.
Interesting thread: Arsenal last week published their 2016/17 financial results, the 2nd Premier League club to do so after Man Utd. Some thoughts follow #AFC— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 2, 2017 Interesting tidbits: 1. Confirms that Arsenal were cautious in the transfer market this summer bc Premier League Short Term restrictions. 2. Arsenal think the impact of missing out on the CL is about 20m (imo this will escalate if Arsenal miss out again). 3. Results don't include this past summer, but Arsenal spent 200m net on transfers in the two previous summers.
Per Arseblog, The rest of the players apparently were pissed at Ozil and Sanchez for not showing up for the team picture and the sponsorship events. Screw it, I just want to see players who are proud to wear the shirt. That’s more important than what place we finish .
Not showing up for the time-honored, unified team picture would be a serious infraction in my book. And I found it hard to believe that would've happened, so I went searching and found this rebuttal: https://www.arsenal.com/news/behind-scenes-arsenal-photocall TF, where do you get your info from?
I’m talking about The event with the sponsors in which the players dressed up in suits—-as I mentioned the source was an arseblog article.
Aha. But since you mentioned "team picture and the sponsorship event" I focused on the former, not caring an iota about the latter. All straight now.
Rumors of the last week+... - Mourinho wants to sign Ozil on a free in July - Bayern & Inter are interested in Ozil but neither think they can afford his wage demands - Laca is recruiting Griezmann to join Arsenal sometime in the next 2 windows (Jan or Summer) - Arsenal plan to offload Walcott in Jan unless he can break into the starting 11 - Chelsea considering Jan move for Alexis