That would be a surprising development. I agree that Alvarez makes significantly more sense for us as a LW but like noted above he left City because he wanted to play centrally. Id be open to bringing him in as a LW but I don't wanna spend 100m for him and I would honestly prefer a younger option.
Last rumor I saw suggested that PSG is trying to include Kangin Lee & Ramos (+cash) in the deal, which would cover most of their needed exits. Would leave them with Kvara, Doue, Dembele, Alvarez & Barcola to rotate the 3 FW spots with all of them capable of playing multiple spots.
Tpky on t he T ok k mo k look kk I mi k ok Also depends on how much cash PSG offer in that deal. I had heard PSG offered 100M straight up for Alvarez, but if PSG players are being exchanged in that mix, that potential fee could still become significant. with the apparent angst between Atlético and our club right now, it’s hard to be optimistic we will land Alvarez if he is a top target. PSG can afford to rotate heavily since so many of their league and cup matches are against cream puffs. I was never a huge fan of Alvarez for the expected fees being thrown around, but do like the player. If we are expected to offer 9 figures for the him, then we better look into alternate options.
The EPL is still the top league and players want to play here. The only reason they go to France is to get a CL trophy. They don't care about being Ligue Un champions, they can do that in their own leagues. The only reason they go to Spain is to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid, and the aura not to be la Liga champs. The EPL is a different animal. Most watched in the world, the race to league champion is a global season long event. Plus London. If we win the CL this season, it makes us as big if not bigger draw than PSG since we'd had to have beaten them in the first place. We may see either a reduced role or the sale of Zubi if we get Fernandes from WH. Presumably a Fernandes, Rice and Odegaard or Eze (depending on form or the game) midfield, with MLS and Merino subbing. Probably see Trossard gone due to age and Barcola or someone coming in. I know I'm repeating myself but I really hope we make a play for Kofane.
Typo at the start of your post. What do you mean? I don't care about player prices the past 7 years. It's the market what can you do? Rice, Caicedo, Alvarez to Athleti and they all are valuable. Kane wasn't bought by Madrid and United for holding back. I agree Levy is an ass but Kane is value for money and would always age nicely given he is hyper technical.
Not 100% Arsenal related but seeing rumors this morning that Chelsea are gonna make a run at Mbappe this summer. While he is good, I kinda hope they pull that off. Will cost a ton and he brings nothing but drama wherever he goes.
Alonso didn't really fail: his Madrid team was actually good. But Vini threw a tantrum and got Alonso canned. Problem for Real is that they need to get rid of one of those two, and Vini is probably the more sellable. Mbappe would have to leave on a free for it to make sense.
Real are a mess modric and kroos leaving is probably the end of their dominance, 2 of the best cms of all time up there with the Barca 3 all they have now is runners
Frankly the entire creative/attacking aspect of play has been disappointing over the course of the season. As of six weeks or so ago, I would have said that none of our creative/attacking players are untouchable except Max Dowman, tho a couple others would be difficult enough to move to the point where they are practically guaranteed another season. For the most part this still holds, except that there has been enough differentiation and emergence among the players to the point where things are a bit clearer now. Basically Jesus, Martinelli and Madeuke are out, everybody else stays. Frankly it's not even really about position: striker, creative midfielder, winger we can stand to upgrade any or all of them. I don't even think it's about money. Josh has said we'll have money to buy what we need, but I don't think it's necessarily guaranteed that more expensive is better. Arteta has been an excellent scout for us, but he's done better with defenders/GKs/defensive or holding MFs. That may be a small sample anomaly, or there may be a reason for that. It's hard to say for sure right now. But for sure what we do need is workrate, fitness and players who consistently train well. If we can find players who fit those criteria and who Arteta likes and wants to play that should be good enough.
Yeah, and this too. For us, this summer isn't about who's available for us to get, instead it's about choosing well among the many many players who might want to be here.
Thread title should be updated to "Preparing for a title defense - Transfer Thread" I guess the main things are we have seen what squad building is needed to win a league title but we are yet to win the UCL. Feels like we will lose 2 or 3 key players from the squad and the PSG match will expose any key weaknesses. The rumours were floating around that we were looking for another LB, CM and LWF. Would be very keen on Barcola if he gets pushed out.
Real Madrid believe they are not above football, they think they ARE football. They really don't see anyone else as equals, even in off seasons. I hate them and were I great player and they come calling I'll tell them to stick it in their Arsenal. They have chosen commercial profits over the team over the years. They didn't need Becks, but bought him strictly to sell shirts.
Madrid pull is real, if any other club were described as "totally dysfunctional, the animals running the zoo, forwards don't track back, egos everywhere from the boardroom to the pitch and they just brought in a manager who hasn't been good or relevant since 2013" and they were interested in you, you would laugh them out of the room. Thankfully the players we target and who Madrid targets aren't the same even with Mou in charge.
I would love krav over barcola but his cost would be monumental Don't mind Fernandez but prefer tonali, another rmassive cost Not sure about lb but we definitely need a RB if white goes
Tonali is great but he's a driving midfielder into the opposition, fernandes is a passer, very different. We have players similar to Tonali (Merino, Rice, Eze, Nwaneri). Odegaard, Zubi and Norgaard are supposed to be the club's quarterbacks. I think its partially our set up, but also Zubi isn't as great a passer when we needed it. I would take Rogers from Villa over Tonali, but that's me. Both are great.