I'd take a straight swap for Boey assuming we truly want him... 🚨 Galatasaray have met with the representatives of Nuno Tavares. The Turkish club will assess the situation and bid once the player finishes the U21 tournament with Portugal. Reports, @resatcan_ozbdak. pic.twitter.com/nmdzQ0yoXj— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) June 6, 2023
For lack of a better thread to put this... LIV Golf & PGA have just announced some sort of merger. Wow. Count me as one who did not see that coming. No idea of the details, but assume that it sadly falls under the category of money talks.
Feels like the most consistent, reliable rumors would indicate targets at 3 positions: CM - Rice or Caicedo RB - Boey or Fresneda Versatile attacking mid - Simons or Kudus Rice seems like the clear #1 target, hopefully Caicedo is still available if that falls thru. Unclear to me who the preference at the other two positions will be, may come down to price. I could see the plan being to add 3 players early in the window, then get outgoings resolved, and then know exactly how much they have left to decide who to target at the end of the window, maybe a CB or a forward or both.
Him being a lazy trainer didn't help but his career was effectively wrecked by one injury on top of a previous injury. After that he never had his explosive power After an hour, though, Hazard tried to turn away from Meunier, who brought him down. This was the challenge from which Hazard’s career would never truly recover — which is something of a surprise when you study it closely. Meunier has inevitably received his abuse from Madrid fans online, but sometimes the tackles which have the most severe consequences are entirely innocuous. This is hardly the classic “career-ending” foul — Meunier simply mistimes his challenge, and his foot doesn’t make contact with Hazard at all. It’s more ankle-to-ankle, and as Hazard tries to pivot and move away, his right ankle is caught beneath that of Meunier. It was the same ankle Hazard broke in training on international duty after the 2016-17 club season, although he made a swift and seemingly full recovery on that occasion. https://theathletic.com/4582090/2023/06/05/eden-hazard-real-madrid/
I think the point I am making is he didn't have the mental toughness to come back from these injuries because of his poor work ethic. It may not have mattered either way, but being lazy didn't help him.
Based on the current links, I agree. DM/CM - Rice seems a foregone conclusion. Everything I have read indicates that he has a deep respect for Mikel and appears to prefer to stay in London. That on top of rumors that he has already agreed a 5-6 yr deal. Would like to stay on Caicedo as a backup plan and simply to complicate the deals of the others teams after him. RB - Really seems that the links to a CB/RB hybrid have backed off the last few weeks. I still kind of prefer Fresenda but that is primarily due to age (he would be HG eligible), he is a natural inverted FB and the Spanish league is a higher level of competition than Turkey. CM/AM - Based on the links, I feel like we are looking at a more offensive feel to the MF (strong DM + 2 #8.5/10 types). Let's not forget that we were also linked with Gundogan, Mount & Maddison as well. Rotating MO, Simons, ESR & Vieira in front of the DM with the depth (Rice, Partey & Jorginho) to switch to a 4-2-3-1 for more defense could be a solid option but feels a little weaker than this season. Hopefully Rice and a healthy defense can help open up that group and help ESR & Vieira develop. Granted it was in a lesser league, but Simons's defensive stats are actually quite good for an AM.
Has to be, given the players are saying they found out via the breaking news today, same as the rest of us. I wonder how much Saudi money it took for Moynihan to say "Yes"?
Could also be waiting to see how the Saliba negotiations and his injury recovery play out before addressing CB.
Very true. In reality we could get by without buying a CB as long as we have adequate RB depth. Between White, Kiwior & Tomi (and to a lessor extent Walters) we have CB covered as long as we don't hit major injuries again. Side note FWIW... Sky is reporting that an extension for Saliba is in the works and both side are motivated to get the deal done.
Ecuadorian media claiming that Caicedo will be "deciding" on his next destination soon. They indicate that it will between Arsenal, Liverpool & Chelsea and that UCL will play a big part.
Haven't seen any links but a name that popped up elsewhere that I think we really should be considering to replace Xhaka... Pedro Goncalves from Sporting. 24yo, right-footed, 15g 11a in Portugal playing CM (18 starts), AM (15 starts) & LW (11 starts) with an additional 3g 3a in Europe (CL & EL combined). He's another that we faced in EL and if I'm not mistaken he scored against us. His FB ref per90 numbers are very similar to Xhaka, little more offense and a little less defense (stat wise). WhoScored has him averaging over 7.35 rating across all comps. Our highest rated WhoScored MF was MO with a 7.11 in all comps.
Apparently it’s Arsenal As per @Teradeportes , Caicedo is choosing Arsenal https://t.co/AeovUR8axR— Doc (@karthikadhaigal) June 6, 2023
You seem to be saying Martinelli has suffered an Achilles injury? I haven't read anything like that. Last I saw, it was minor ligament damage (which happens anytime one even turns their ankle) but he should be fine for pre-season. Not disputing it was reckless challenge by Caicedo, but let's not start rumors about serious injuries requiring nearly a year of recovery unless you've specifically read that.
On top of that, Canceido apologized after the match on Twitter. 1658176294306078731 is not a valid tweet id He only went in because Martinelli was being reckless and almost injured someone right before.
Oh, I certainly recall both instances well. Yeah, Martinelli should have been booked for the borderline Kane-style undercut challenge on Mitoma. And Caicedo should've been booked for his tit-for-tat hit on Martinelli. Ref was horrible in that match at controlling things. Not the reason we lost, but still horrible. And I saw Caicedo's apology. Nice gesture, although it gets that awful Cher song stuck in my head.
This is better than him choosing Chelsea. It's definitely good news if Rice decides to go elsewhere. But does Arsenal want Caicedo more than Rice? Can they afford both? A nit pick, but I don't think that's a fair description. Martinelli jumped, he didn't undercut, so his arm hit Mitoma - who didn't jump - in the head. It looked bad, but Martinelli didn't extend his arm/elbow to make it worse. If Mitoma had jumped, it would have been shoulder to shoulder and Mitoma would have gone flying but it wouldn't have looked as "dirty".
"Ruptured"? Hadn't heard of that. That said, I didn't like the way Caicedo "conducted himself" in that tackle. And it will indeed make for some "interesting" interaction(s) with Caicedo at Colney... if he joins that is.
Caicedo A. Didn't he choose Arsenal in the January window? With Europe clinched, maybe BHA are willing to move him but they still have to accept the offer. B. I've heard that Arsenal may be interested in him as a RB maybe like Partey played in the final two matches. C. Martinelli was atleast out of the walking boot after the final match.
Couple interesting points on the AV podcast: Brighton really want Levi Colwill from Chelsea, which could play in to their negotiations if Chelsea bid for Caicedo. Also speculated that Caicedo's new contract in March may have had a release clause that only applies to clubs in the CL.
Yeah it was revenge assault on Martinelli seconds after Martinelli had collided with Brightons left winger The Brighton players high fived each other whilst Martinelli was writhing in agony on the floor
Then start a new thread. This is clearly the place to discuss Arsenal transfers and only Arsenal transfers. Mods need to get involved.