We're a few months out but rumors are already swirling. Might as well start a thread to share and discuss.
To start... Ozil & Alexis are FAs starting in July of 2018. Alexis looks like he is out. Question is does he get sold in Jan or leave on a free. There has been minimal info on Ozil throughout the summer and then he started the season looking very flat and almost like he didn't care. Late in the window there were some Barca rumors and now some stating that he will go to BvB when his contract expires. In the last 2-3 days I've seen several publications stating we will sell both Alexis and Ozil in January if we can add 1-2 replacements. All replacements being linked so far have been wingers.
Reports that I read said that we haven't hardly attempted to negotiate with Ozil since Feb. If that is evenly remotely true we should have tried to sell him this summer as well.
Media claiming our main target right now is Lucas Moura. Like him as a player but seems to be a better fit for the wings. Wonder if that would be a sign of moving to 3-4-3 (with wingers vs AMs in a 3-4-2-1), 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1?
Does playing in a Europa match prevent someone from playing a CL match for another team? Apparently not. Interesting.
If we lose ozil and Sanchez I have no idea who we could bring in Do we still want a ten? I would rather see a formation change if so and a more competent scorer in that position If Bayern don't buy james maybe we could?
I think January is as good a time to start the mass exodus as any. Arsenal needs to win as many games as possible while completely retooling and replacing a lot of the "big names" with new blood, IMO.
All good points but can you guys really see Wenger making moves in January? He loathes the January transfer period...hell, he loathes having to deal with transfers period. I just don't see much action for us in January aside from Sanchez leaving and Ozil maybe leaving.
Agree, we should look to change formation. Personally I would like to see a 4-3-3. Our current roster without Ozil & Alexis is built pretty well to work in a 4-3-3. Replace Alexis and Ozil with a DM and a left footed W and You could keep moving without much falloff. Starters Iwobi - Laca - New W Xhaka - New DM - Ramsey Kola - Kos - Mustafi - Hector Cech Backup Nelson/Welbs - OG - Walcott El Neny - Coq - Wilshire Nacho - Holding - Per/Chambers - ??? Ospina That may not be a better roster than some of the other top 4 teams but it could be quite competitive. The other thing I would look to do in Jan is sign a few Bosman transfers or start talking to some that will be FAs in July. Players of note currently set for 2018 expiration... Isco Gimenez Marcos Llorente Leno de Vrij Keita Balde Goretzka Ozyakup Arrizabalaga Koziello Herrera Shaw Barkley
I think the board may force him to unload Alexis & Ozil and then replace them with someone. Other than that I doubt we do any business unless we panic buy due to injury.
Isco re ups and they sell bale imo If we lose ozil and Sanchez we need a dynamic forward and winger imo and we still need a great central midfielder and centre back Van dijk and koubouly are obvious I would also argue we need a new keeper as cech is getting old and makes errors quite frequently (might be the defence) so I like the idea of butland coming in who is genuinely good Lemar is an obvious winger who Wenger likes, I'm not sure about the strikers available who we can buy, immobile? The kid at Torino? Lemina is showing some really good things early on, maybe we could pay over the odds to bring him over here from Southampton? I think the diamond or 433 or the 343 all can be utilised With those players We need to cast off the failures and start a new cycle
Agree that you really need to consider a high quality CB no matter what formation you pick but especially if you plan to stay in a 3 man back line. In addition... If you go diamond, you need to replace Ozil with another 10, add a 6 and find a complimentary ST for Laca. If you go 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 you can get away without the 10 but you need a scoring W and a 6 If we are going overhaul, I would tend to go 4-3-3 because it requires fewer changes and allows us to play a style similar to what AW wants. RE my list of FAs...
Repped for this last sentence. I am ready for a true housecleaning. Obviously Ozil and Sanchez, who want to leave, but also stragglers like Debuchy and Mertesacker, who is slow as dirt now. Wilshere, Welbeck, and Carzola need to come off the books too, but I'm not sure anyone would take one of them because they are never healthy.
Ozil - looks to headed out one way or another. I hope they cash out in Jan Alexis - see Ozil Debuchy - been trying to offload him for 1-2 seasons but no takers. Even rumors this summer that we were willing to give him away for free. Per - contract expires at end of year and he is joining the staff as youth team manager Wilshire - contract expiring at end of year. Looking like we are trying to sell him. Rumor is he wants to move to West Ham. Welbeck - far from perfect but works hard and serviceable player as well as HG. AW working to sign him to an extension. Santi - contract expires at end of year. May never play another game for anyone.
like most of our "give aways", the problem is always the wage packet. he would actually be a good keep if he is willing to accept not being first XI. he does not have the speed to play further forward anymore - has not, in fact, for multiple years - but he would still be a viable alternative to xhaka as the deep playmaker.
Random (and possibly fake) rumors of the week so far... - Man U is after Alexis and plan to offer a big signing bonus to convince him to choose them over City - Man C is after Alexis and Guardiola may consider a low-ball offer in Jan - Real Madrid is after Alexis in Jan - RM is willing to sell us Benzema in order to get an Alexis deal done (though news just broke today that Benzema signed a 4 yr extension) - Wilshire wants a move to West Ham in Jan - Jose Gimenez wants to play in the EPL next season - We are pursuing Draxler - We are pursuing Lucas Moura - We are pursuing Cuardado
Who on earth would want to play for us right now? Isn't it telling that Ox settled for half his value to GTF out???
To be fair. We don't have the full story. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall. But we do need a new team, and I'm for using our farm as much as possible.
You're probably right. For now, I'm just enjoying the comedy of seeing OX attempt to play for LoLerpool, and hearing many of their whiny, entitled fans already moaning about how little value he seems to be for them.
Ox got a cut of the transfer fee, and our offer had a lot of incentives, like making the CL. Take those out and the money was a wash.