Based on the links we saw last week, the list of suspected names that we contacted are..... Vlahovic Bruno Isak Olise Zubimendi Sesko
Bruno G is a bit of a prick. Yeah I know he could be "our prick". But I'd just the same find someone else.
at last i can support a team of drug mules and goons farewell the legacy of Pires we can curb stomp our way to the title
He 100% is a prick. Like his skillset and what he could bring to the MF but for the expected cost combined with his general level of prickiness, I'd rather look elsewhere. Had we signed him out Brazil or even France, I would embrace the prickiness and love him as part of my team. For north of 80m, I think there are other options.
I don't think Bruno G is our main target over someone like Zubimendi, for example. We need to have back-ups to top choices though. IMO, it looks like we're approaching transfers in this sensible fashion: 1. Identify top attainable target(s) before the window opens (Plan A) 2. Identify suitable alternatives to top targets (plan B, C, etc) The benefits of having plan A and B, C, etc. as known options gives us better negotiating leverage.
Arsenal have bought 12 players for 20m or more in the Arteta era, 8 had PL experience. The 4 that didn't were Partey, Timber, Vieira and Gabriel. Raya will make it 9 of 13. Seems to be a clear preference, whether it is Edu or the board or Arteta, to not spend big on players from the continent. Maybe as a reaction to Pepe. I'm inclined to blame Edu less, I think Arteta prefers PL players. And the board may see them as lower risk.
Ehh. Four months on loan isn't much. I do think your 20 million cutoff is a little on the high side because of the PL tax. It rules out Tomiyasu and Kiwior, for example.
4 months training every day with Arteta, Arsenal knew exactly what they were getting with Odegaard. In the same span, Liverpool bought Szobozlai, Endo, Gravenberch, Darwin, Diaz, Thiago, Gakpo and Konate from abroad with only Mac Alister and Jota domestically. The club have backed Arteta with a lot of spending, I just think they've been relatively conservative. Spend big on players with high floors, limit spending on riskier bets. Throw in Nuno and Sambi. Maybe now, with a stronger foundation in place, they will be more willing to gamble on the next Bruno coming out of Brazil.
Seeing a new "wonderkid" link. Supposedly we are several big boys for the services of 17yo Norwegian AM Sverre Nypan. He's being compared to MO because he is from Norway but I've seen others that compare him to Wirtz.
Seeing some claims out of Italy (95% chance it is BS) that we have agreed to pay Bologna 60m euro for 22yo ST Josh Zirkzee
Last week it was claims from Italy were that Juve would let Vlahovic go for £60m and Arsenal were interested, this week Edu has agreed to Bologna’s €60m fee for Zirkzee, next week Arsenal will probably be linked to Osimhen again. We probably need to wait a couple of months before getting too excited about striker rumors again. Having said that, Zirkzee appears to be the two way kind of player that Arteta likes. Whether his offense is good enough is another question.
Yeah, I was going to make a highly controversial suggestion of having a moratorium on transfer rumordom until the EPL run-in is settled, a run-in which could be amazing? Granted it was only a half-hearted idea, given how big a juggernaut the transfer rumor mill is.
James McNicholas has said that Italian "journalists" are required to provide new transfer rumors on a regular basis, and it doesn't matter if they are completely made up. That said, I appreciate any and all rumors posted. And I definitely would not shut down the thread for the rest of the season, that's why we have different threads.
Looks like we could be getting a HG eligible US GK..... Sources: Colorado Rapids, US youth int’l GK Adam Beaudry is heading to Arsenal for a training stint.Beaudry, just turned 18, highly-rated GK on radar of clubs abroad already. Rapids letting him go to Arsenal & won’t be on the bench for MLS match on Sat. Good support by COL. pic.twitter.com/euNUaz11Ms— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) April 24, 2024
Zirkzee doesn’t look like a goal scorer to me good runner but not a great end product get me that kid from Bilbao, he looks the real deal and can play wide if we need
Eze has a 60 mill release clause and can be a good role class attacking mid centrally imo and help on the wings I would Prefer him to Olise but the midfield may be a bit too short with him ?