I'm open to keeping Partey as a contingency, but not a strategy/priority. If he does stay, my assessment will be based largely on his wages in proportion to staying health. I can't imagine we'd offer him the same wages (or more) at this point of his career. We also need to keep in mind that Dowman will likely be a rostered MF next season. While I highly doubt he'll get nearly as many minutes as MLS or even Nwanieri this season, some reports indicate arrangements are already made for him to travel with the first team next campaign.
Claims in Spanish media that Joan Garcia is close to a move to Newcastle. FWIW, I think this may be the same source that claimed Real was hijacking Zubi.
I don't see how Dowman & Partey have anything to do with one another. Dowman is more of an 8.5/10. Agree he will be on the roster but his playing time will ultimately come from further up the pitch.
I did not frame my argument well. You are right to call me out. In general, Dowman is more of a central and right-side player, which is where Partey also plays. So I was generally referring to back-up Midfielders and potentially needing to split MF minutes (in general, not the same formational position). FWIW, based on what I've seen of Dowman, I'd say he's a more logical Odegaard back-up than Partey. Said differently, if we line up in a 4-3-3 and our starting midfield is Rice-Zubimendi-Odegaard, then I don't see Arteta subbing out more than one of those midfielders out in a typical match. So if Arteta follows form and only makes one sub in midfield in a match, is he more likely to replace Zubimendi with Partey or Odegaard with Dowman? Depending on who we sign as striker(s), I can also also see Havertz and Merino also seeing a lot of minutes in midfield as left-sided 8s. So again, I just want to be sure a potential congestion of midfielders (in all positions) doesn't inhibit Dowman's minutes for development
Ignoring subbing tendancies and simply looking at likely depth for each of the MF positions based on current roster, expected exits and "known additions" we are looking at..... DM - Zubi, Partey LCM - Rice, Merino RCM - MO, Havertz, Nwaneri/Dowman There is some potential overlap with Rice/Merino/MLS potentially getting min at 6 situationally or MLS/Nwaneri/Dowman/Havertz at LCM but in general, that feels like pretty solid depth. Now it is up to Arteta to manage those minutes.
Last 25 Viktor Gyokeres Headers pic.twitter.com/Ih1hykFreZ— SHAYEE 𒀭 (@tier_first) May 15, 2025 Do not want
I want more now after watching that. Headers are super fvcking hard to score and most of those he doesn’t really do anything wrong.
If its true we can keep Partey and get Zubimendi then its fantastic news. When he's good, Partey is among the best in the league. He also does a fair job at RB when needed. We can do without Jorginho who did way better than I thought he would. For what he lacks in pace, he makes up with reading the game. Gyorky will do very nicely in our set up. He can get 15 goals minimum his first season and I think 2 or 3 of those can be headers from our set pieces. Assuming we have Zubi then a striker and RW would pretty much get us there. Where ever there is.
Not my tweet link. What it showed was Gyokeres last 25 headed shots, only the last of which found the goal. You might try going back to the link in @DaPrince84’s post.
Why are you focusing on headed goals? While it's an aspect that comes into play, aren't we looking for a striker that buries all of the run-of-play shots that Havertz has missed? Looking at the last two years of headed goals, I'm not seeing a huge difference. I've included their last two years of xG/90 in parentheses. Of the two rumored options (Gyokeres and Sesko), Gyokeres is far more likely to score. Havertz - 7 (.42, .46) Gyokeres - 5 (.67, .96) Sesko - 8 (.45, .38) Haaland - 8 (1.03, .73) Isak - 6 (.81, .68) Ekitike - 4 (.3, .76)
Couple tidbits from this morning..... - Arsenal are not paying Zubi's release clause. They are working directly with Sociedad to establish more favorable playment terms (this was generally known). - Sesko's release clause has performance escalators associated with it. Those (some? most?) have been triggered and his release is not £75m (per Watts) no indication recently whether RB would except a price less than his release. Rumored asking price for Gyokeres is €60m.
New link for today...... - Starting to see some buzz about Joao Pedro as a forward option. Having watched him a few times, I think there are some things there to like but his end product is very unimpressive, especially at the rumored 60m price tag. Supposedly Liverpool & Chelsea are sniffing around as well.
I was going to post something about him this morning. He's played a descent amount on the left, maybe he could be signed in addition to a 9, taking the Trossard role as a pacier/Martinelli-like left wing but also a more traditional 9 when needed. While Cunha's finishing stats are better, I think Pedro fits better into this squad.
Summary of Gunnerblog's article on the Athletic today (found this on reddit) On a winger: Arsenal are interested in adding a wide player but that may require one of their existing options to depart Long-standing interest in Nico Williams Arteta is a fan of Rodrygo but financial parameters of any deal would be challenging Jamie Gittens has also caught Arsenal’s attention On a striker: Sesko and Gyokeres strong candidates Berta remains informed on Ollie Watkins . Arteta is a fan of the player but the club have concerns around paying over £40m for him due to his age Admiration for both Ekitike and Joao Pedro On contract extensions: Berta has held exploratory discussions with representatives of Saliba, Gabriel, Partey, Nwaneri, Trossard and Saka In the case of Partey, Arsenal hope to retain him on a relatively short-term contract. Partey’s priority is to stay at Arsenal — if his demands can be met Joan Garcia : Arsenal pulled out of talks last summer after Espanyol wouldn't negotiate his €25m release clause If Arsenal want him for €25m this summer they may need to move swiftly, his clause would rise to €30m if he's called up for the Spain national team for the nations league on June 5 (+ the clause also rises in the final 2 weeks of the transfer window) If a more affordable candidate can be found, Berta may push to pivot Zubimendi: Edu made significant headway in talks last November and Ayto took over talks since then Arsenal negotiating the payment terms of the deal will allow for greater flexibility with other signings this summer
I can see value with him but I feel 60m could be better spent on a player that is a more natural & productive LW.
In addition to the headed goal question illustrated in the tweet there are two other concerns about Gyokeres numbers. 1) There are legitimate concerns about the level of competition in Portugal. Three years ago Darwin Nunez was the next big thing at Benfica. His non penalty goals per 90 that year (1.0) were actually higher than Gyokeres non penalty goals per 90 this year (.86). Ask a Liverpool fan how well those numbers translated to the Premier League. 2) Gyokeres numbers have been swelled by 12 pk goals this season. Do we think he’s getting 12 pks per season in an Arsenal shirt?
Feel like..... - Rodrygo's fee will be far too high - Nico's salary demands are insane - Of the current links Gittens makes the most sense. Curious to see if any other options surface Personally I am torn between Gyokeres, Sesko & Ekitike. Each has positives & negatives. But I have been unable to find a realistic option that is better than one of those 3. 40m for a 30yo Watkins is stupid to me. 60m for Joao Pedro is less stupid but not by much given his lack of end product. Saw a claim this morning that initially opted to not post. It suggested that Berta was pushing Arteta to identify a cheaper alternative to Garcia. I am kinda hoping that this claim is accurate. I don't see the logic in spending 20+m on a backup GK that was nearly relegated. Our pattern of GK spending is insane. Since Arteta has joined we have spent approx 71m euro on 4 Sr GKs and have brought in a handful of u21 & u18 GKs. Personally I would much rather bring in a cheap vet good for 10-15 matches and see if we can't get 1-2 of those young guys ready to challenge Raya.