Defense is better but now the offense sucks - 2021 Jan Transfer Thread

Arsenal are not spending £50m on any player this window. In addition they currently only have room for one non home grown player.

 

They have agreed on a deal to terminate Sokratis’ contract. There are rumors of interest in Mustafi from Lazio, but with 6 months left on his contact they may need to buy him out too to move him this window. Douzi and LT should be easy sales come summer. Xhaka, Willian, and Pepe are the biggest issues.

 

Matteo is a c*nt but you need that type of player on your team like Diego costa, muller and busquet. The type players that get in your face and is really annoying when your playing against them

 

That's not the kind of c*nt he is though. He is allegedly a c*nt to his own manager

 

moving xhaka will be easy. he will be 28, not past his prime. he has shown performance in bundesliga and, at times, premier league. the only question is how much we can get. we will not make back what we spent but he easily can get interest from bundesliga and, i think, he would be great in either serie A or la liga. we do need to make a decision on him this offseason, though: either sell him now when he is 28 with 2 years left OR we keep him to finish off his contract. one or the other, period. not waffling between maybe-maybe not and be stuck with 12 months left and a dude at 29.

pepe could probably be sold without difficulties. the real question is whether we can get 30 and whether whoever buys him can match his wage packet from us.

willian . . . . . . is going to be damn near impossible to get rid of without a buyout. even if we do not ask for anything back, how many teams would match his wages?

i wonder if a 6 months loan for mustafi just to remove his wage - same term as saliba's - might be worth it. or if you might as well just have him as insurance.

 

i can't see it happening. guendouzy needs to change and there is no impetus to. the fact that he is succeeding this year makes it even less likely that he will do so.

 

for me, my BIGGEST transfer want is for us to go down to championship and find a decent/mediocre midfielder. just the dirtiest, nastiest ************************ most likely to ******** somebody up. someone bigman probably call, "a right cunner" (if i understand how he speaks correctly). let dude know that he is unlikely to play much but is here as a mutually assured destruction option. he will be paid premiership wages instead of championship and he will be a premiership player.

and i would let these mother********ing managers know that . . . if you keep playing that, "my defense against saka/smith-rowe is to kick him out of the game" game, then i will bring in that bastard. and i will accept playing with 10 men for that game. because i am so done with that bullshit.

 

Xhaka should be easy to move, but will Arteta move him?

 

that's a different question. i think . . . if lewis and edu okays a buy, say, a 23-25YO with experience that he thinks can double pivot with partey better, he will. i think that, while he sees a lot of himself in xhaka - both slow-footed distributors with good vision and leadership qualities but i think he misses that, at least in my opinion, xhaka does not necessarily have the same footballing intelligence he did - he is not married to the concept of xhaka as a foundation. more of a mr. right-NOW than mr. right. i do think he sees significant importance in xhaka's leadership and presence (like david luiz), though.

 

But he got along fine with Emery and seems to be doing well at Hertha. Perhaps first-time manager Arteta was too insecure and needs to learn how to deal with c*nts?

 

Let’s not overrate Douzi. He was good in his first season, meh before COVID, and refused to apologize for being a prat.

 

Depends. If you think you have nothing to learn, well.....

 

We’re sitting here with 10 days to go and most of the rumors are loans, I don’t think Arsenal are even spending £35m on a player this window. They could probably get a good, experienced, relatively young 6/8 for £35m or less, but with the possible exception of Brandt, a good, experienced, relatively young 10 will likely cost more. If they buy a 10, I expect them to buy relatively cheap young potential. I think it’s much more likely that they bring in a 10 on loan, possibly Odegaard or Brandt.

 

I haven't followed Guendouzi's loan, but I'll take someone's word that he's done well at Hertha.

I liked his style of play a lot at first, but then soured on him towards the end, which was more about his "emotional immaturity"

I'd be willing to give him one more chance, one more year with us, BUT they'd have to sit him down and come to an agreement (even if just a gentleman's agreement) about what is expected of him both on the pitch and off. If he can't agree to these expectations, then see ya later.

 

I'm mostly going off of playing time. Since missing his first two matches due to Covid and coming on as a sub in his third, he has played a full 90 minutes for Hertha in 11 straight Bundesliga matches. Even if he never plays for Arsenal again, that has to be good for his potential resale value.

Most of Arsenal's goals for the rest of the season (win Europa League/FA Cup, qualify for Europe, don't get relegated) are long-shots. A big new January signing isn't going to change that one way or another. So I agree, keep the powder dry until the summer, get a 10 to spell ESR, and if that loanee impresses, make a permanent move in the summer.

 

Worth mentioning that there are reports we are offering ESR a new contract with similar terms to Saka's. ESR still has 2.5 years left, but locking him up now is encouraging.

 

Sounds like we might be getting a leg up on getting a loan for Odegaard. Reports are he is close to flying to London.
Odegaard 'very close' to joining Arsenal from Real Madrid (football365.com)

 

This article cites Sport as a source. Sport is a Barcelona mouthpiece.

Now, if it cited Marca, it would be a different story.