Arsenal interested in Irish teenager Mason Melia and have been tracking him for past 18 months. Forward can't move to UK until he turns 18 and Arsenal will face competition from other Premier League clubs.More here:https://t.co/xVnO2funfc— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) May 24, 2024
Team News and Tix was on with Charles Watts. He says..... - 4-5 first team additions - likely 200m(ish) spend but will be more sales - if Arteta could have anyone this summer it would be Isak - says we like Sesko but he's not sure if we will bid - not in video but posted on his patreon.... - Nelson & Partey both want to stay. Partey will be pushed out if a suitable offer comes in. - Rams, ESR & Eddie very likely gone
I sure someone has mentioned this but it seems that Pep’s real managerial superpower is keeping 100 million pound players semi-happy on the bench.
There is a degree of making your own luck with injuries. Going into the season, who would you have expected to stay healthy? Odegaard, Saka, Rice, Gabriel, White, Havertz, Trossard Who would you have expected to have injury troubles? Partey, Jesus, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu, Smith Rowe, Vieira Timber was a fluke injury. And you could have worried that Saliba's back trouble would continue, but knock on wood it hasn't. Largely played out as expected. This being the transfer thread, it's a good idea to buy players with a healthy track record and sell the ones that can't stay fit. Not to say you won't still get burned, but generally speaking, it will work out for the best. Expecting players with a poor injury record to suddenly overcome their problems is usually a bad bet, which is why I would be very open to selling Jesus and Zinchenko for the right offer this summer.
i generally agree. I would only argue that if the docs can clean out his knee, I would absolutely keep Jesus. In addition, he is damaged goods until his knee has been cleaned out and he has played a few games to demonstrate he has regained his form, so I wouldn’t expect the right offer this summer. With respect to ESR, while I think he is probably gone because Arteta doesn’t seem to trust him off the ball, surgery appears to have fixed his groin problems. He was healthy for much of the season, but just couldn’t get on the field.
There is an interesting comparison to be made with City. Pep had 9 players that logged over 2500 minutes in league play, In addition another 4 City players logged 1500 minutes and but for injuries, KDB, Stones, and Grealish probably log more than 1500 minutes. That is a core of 16 players. Arteta had 8 players that logged over 2500 minutes, 3 more with more than 1500 minutes, and but for injuries Jesus, Tomiyasu, Partey, and Timber probably log more than 1500 minutes, a core of 15 players. Plus Arteta demonstrated trust in Jorginho and Kiwior. So as far as depth is concerned, the two teams look very similar. The real difference is that Arteta “flogged” 4 players (Saliba, Gabriel, Rice, and Odegaard) with over 3000 minutes and 2 more (White and Saka) played more than 2900 minutes. At City, only Rodri played more than 2900 minutes. With respect to Saliba and Big Gabi, when coaches have unicorns in the center of their defense, they play them as often as possible. VVD also logged more than 3000 minutes and 10 of the 30 premier league field players with more than 3000 minutes this season were central defenders, two of whom, like Saliba, played every minute of every premier league game (Tarkovsky and Kilman). In addition, Anderson at Palace was only two minutes behind those three. With respect to White, a healthy Timber and/or Tomiyasu should be able to provide depth behind White and potentially bending Saliba and Gabriel. So the depth/rotation problem for next season comes down to three players, Odegaard, Saka, and Rice. For Odegaard and Saka, I’d like to see an attacking midfielder that can also play on the right wing. ESR and/or Vieira were supposed to be that player, but haven’t been trusted. So I’d like to see a player like Olise, Simons, or the recent speculatively linked Doue brought in to provide that depth. With respect to Rice, Arsenal are actively looking for another midfielder to replace Partey and provide depth behind Rice. If Charles Watts is right that Partey wants to stay, and Arsenal have trouble pushing him out, I’d go young with the speculatively linked Joao Neves. Finally, with respect to depth at striker, other than Isak I’m not particularly convinced by any of the options and I don’t think Newcastle are going to give him up.
Interesting analysis. Of the flogged players only Saka and perhaps Ode showed ill-effects from that. White had this superhuman power to play through pain & knocks. I very much hope that Arteta figures out a way (rotation) to flog these guys a little less. And as for your comment about how similar we are to Citeh, I can’t say I agree with your statement: “So as far as depth is concerned, the two teams look very similar.” Maybe quantitatively, but not qualitatively. That’s why I hope we buy at least one new elite starter (two would be nice!) and push a few of our current guys into the “quality depth” category
Ben Jacobs doesn't think Arsenal will pay the release clause and will only move if thr price drops. Suggested Bruno to City and Bernardo Silva to PSG as a possibility.
Absolutely, no other manager in the world gets away with castigating his 100M pound bench player on the pitch directly after the match. Partly because Pep always signs choir boys (us now too), but he’s also clearly got the man-management juice
Other than the new starting/rotational quality midfielder to complement Rice and Odegaard that Arsenal are currently looking for, who are you replacing and with whom? If Timber makes left back his own, I don’t see anyone available who would be a clear upgrade on the back four. Among the forwards, you aren’t replacing Saka, so that leaves striker and left wing for your potential starter quality upgrades. As I suggested above, I don’t think Isak is available. So who else would be an upgrade on Havertz. Offensively Osimhen would be, but there are questions about his off the ball work rate and he would cost at least £100m. The forward Arsenal have been most frequently linked with, Sesko, is only 20 and there are also questions about his off the ball work rate, so he may back up Havertz but I don’t see him replacing Havertz. Re left wing, the combined production there was quite good both this year and last year. If you bring in starter quality there, you are pushing Martinelli further down the bench. He had a down season this year, but at 18 he had 10 goals and 4 assists for Arsenal the suffered an injury setback before recording 15 goals and 7 assists for Arsenal last year. I’m confident he will return to last years form and could become one of the best left wings in Europe as he enters his prime in two or three years.
Yup, I see no reason to mess with the back line at all, assuming they all stay largely fit and stay with the club (you listening Big Gabby?!) So the 1-2 elite players I'd like to bring in would be firstly up top as I think I said above, and as you've focused on yourself. And then I'd probably like to see a CM/DM, especially if Partey leaves and maybe even if he doesn't. And so, at forward... I don't pretend to have much of a clue about which forwards are available and would meet our requirements & budget. But I think it's the one part of the pitch that shouts for Mikel to show the ruthlessness we know he has. I've been a bit of a Martinelli fanboy in recent years, but I'm now starting to think he might've reached his ceiling, and I'm willing to push him down the pecking order a bit. And give both him and Leo a bit of competition. Ideally if that player could also play on the right and provide emergency cover for Saka that'd be sweet. Or if Jesus can get healthy I'm pretty comfy with him playing on the right too. And at CF, as well as Havertz performed in the 2nd half of this season, I'm also OK with bringing in someone (I've always said I find Isak tempting) to compete/rotate with Kai. And Kai is quite versatile so even if someone "replaced" him at CF, I have a hunch Arteta would find a use for him elsewhere.
I think White showed ill effects---definitely just before Dubai and then again in the last two matches.
City bought a guy from Wolves last season named Nunes for £53 million. He did nothing this season for them and they are looking to sell. No other club in world football can do that. Even PSG. I also don’t remember this signing or player, but it happened.
Didn't he say that was before the Paquetta issues that likely lead to a ban, and that we will now likely face competition from City for Bruno G?
🚨 Stade Rennais is preparing to lose Désiré Doué this summer.The following clubs have made contact with the club and representatives #PSG #MUFC #Arsenal#Tottenham#Leverkusen#Bayern #Dortmund pic.twitter.com/lPjBoaJ0S0— TheSecretScout (@TheSecretScout_) May 25, 2024
🚨 @DiMarzio: “Juventus wanted Thomas Partey & Napoli also like him. The sports director, Giovanni Manna, wanted him at Juventus & he’ll probably try to get him again, now for Napoli.” [MBS] #afc pic.twitter.com/HeFOuI1iQd— afcstuff (@afcstuff) May 24, 2024
Sturm sporting director Andreas Schicker on Mika Biereth:"We want to try to sign Mika permanently. There is an appointment with Arsenal next week.Maybe they will quote a price that would be feasible for us. We can push our limits a little higher for a player like that." [tbr]— AfcVIP⁴⁹ (@VipArsenal) May 24, 2024
Talks scheduled between Arsenal and Emile Smith Rowe to decide on his future. They will take place imminently.Smith Rowe has a deep affection for Arsenal, but getting regular game time now key to the 23-year-old.Full story 👇https://t.co/MjoruAvwbf— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) May 25, 2024
If we can sell Partey, esr, Eddie and zinchenko as well as ramsdale, we will have a good stockpile of money
Sturm Graz won their league giving them CL next season so maybe that will give them a little more to spend. Their record fee is 4m euros, so probably still looking at 5-10m max for Biereth.