Agreed. Think the ins are 100% spot on. The outs I think are a bit more complicated. A lot of guys currently out on loan (Mari, AMN, Cedric, Pepe, etc...) need to be moved as well and I think there is a very good chance that we could cash out on atleast a 1-2 more current 1st team guys (Holding most likely and Partey & Eddie as possibilities).
Sambi needs a really good loan spell at Palace to be sold this summer at a good price. I think more likely he needs another season on loan to build his value up to where it should be. There are rumors about a new contract for Xhaka, enough that Arteta was asked about it. He shot those rumors down, no surprise, but talks could still be happening. Xhaka, Elneny, and 2 new CM signings means one of Partey or Jorginho should be leaving because you don't need 6 for 2 positions (not even including Sambi, Patino, Vieira, ESR, Zinny). Partey is arguable the best midfielder in the league, but he has 2 years left on his contract, he's entering the wrong side of 30, he has potential legal issues, and he can't stay healthy playing once a week, let alone twice if the club are in the CL next season. It would be bold, but it wouldn't shock me if Arteta moves on from him in the summer. Especially with how well Jorginho has filled in. Rice, Zubimendi (at a lower cost than Caicedo), Xhaka, Jorginho/Partey, plus Elneny is a deep, solid midfield.
I agree with this. Given the other guys we have that could be used to raise some transfer funds, I would rather loan him for a full season and hopefully raise his value for a bigger sale the following summer. I'd be ok extending Xhaka. He has good leadership qualities and plays hard every time he is on the field. I expect that he likely gets replaced as starting LCM at some point next season but he has qualities that make him an excellent #2 for a CL level squad. We seem dead set on bringing in Rice. Based on his stats, I see Rice at much more of a Partey replacement than most on this board. If Mikel agrees, I highly doubt he is brought in to be the backup. That scenario also make significant more sense to move Partey. If Bellingham goes to Real, I would make a big push for Camavinga as well. He seems to be the odd man out and adding Bellingham isn't going to fix that even with Kroos & Modric moving on (assuming they do). And supposedly we made a loan offer for hi in Jan so it appears that there is atleast some interest. Think he has potential to play in either the Partey or Xhaka role and excel.
I don't know, the strong pursuit of Caicedo and rumors that it wouldn't prevent Rice in the summer makes me think Arteta sees Rice, at least initially and primarily, as a Xhaka replacement. Feels like I'm always seeing Madrid fans gushing on Twitter about Camavinga's awesomeness. Recently they've deployed him as a Zinchenko-style LB, I think he played there as well in the WC final for France. Would love to see him in an Arsenal shirt if Madrid are dumb enough to let him go. Sadly, doesn't seem like Arsenal are on Bellingham's radar.
I've also seen claims that Caicedo was viewed as a "prospect" that could be molded into either the Partey or Xhaka roles. According to Who scored he has played more games as a CM (15) than DM (10) this season. And if you compare fbref per90 numbers, Rice is a much closer match to Partey than Xhaka. Caicedo's numbers look like a prospect. Slightly more defensive but overall not really ready to step up. Either way, I'm not sure we really know how Mikel sees any of them because he doesn't talk about player publicly until the deal is done.
For comparison sake... Realize Rice is running in a different system and there could be little nuances to his game that project differently to Mikel, however, the above basic comparison screams Partey replacement to me.
Bladdy Chelsea trying to ditch Sterling on Arsenal !! He’s not nearly good enough for the current Arsenal squad
I’ll wager that two years ago the top third of Xhaka scouting report would have looked very similar to the top third of the Rice and Partey scouting reports. Since that’s the only significant difference between the three I don’t think you can arrive at any conclusions about how Arteta would use Rice based on the data. Arteta could see Rice as a significantly more mobile left 8 than Xhaka.
Rice is a cm in a 4231 I don’t think he’s a good enough footballer to play 8 and seems limited as a single pivot I would rather look elsewhere
I guess I see it the opposite way, that Rice is a really good player and versatile enough to play as a 6 or as a 8.
supposedly tier 2 chelski source... 🚨 Declan Rice is still on Chelsea's radar.However, Arsenal is doing the groundwork right now, and there are even some whispers of terms being unofficially or tentatively agreed upon, or at the very least, not being a problem. Arsenal are confident.#CFC(@siphillipssport) pic.twitter.com/ashshVlpeq— Chelsea Dodgers (@TheBlueDodger) March 2, 2023
Agreed … he’s a flat track bully imho . I’ve not seen him play well against a good team’s midfield and I felt he went MIA again last night against ManU
Bit Xhaka fits into the current system perfectly.. Rice couldn’t improve on the current Xhaka in that midfield imho
Xhaka has fit into the left 8 nicely, but hardly perfectly. A quicker player with quicker feet could generate more end product. There have been several instances in recent weeks when another half step might have resulted in a goal or assist for Xhaka. In addition quicker recovery speed by the left 8 could solidify the defense even more. Re Rice, if the rumors are true and Arsenal really are interested in signing him, you can bet your last dollar that Arteta sees something in Rice’s game that he believes he can use.
Really ? A lot of the beautiful football played by Arsenal has been unbelievable and Xhaka has been paramount a lot of their success Rice is captaining his team into the Championship. Anyways, hopefully they are just rumours hopefully as is the one that Arteta wants Sterling etc
Ramsdale was the goalkeeper on two consecutive relegated teams, Saliba's St-Etienne finished 17th, White's Brighton finished 16th, Tomiyasu had never finished in the top half of a first division. Rice is a good player on a mediocre team. Not his fault Jarrod Bowen and the rest of West Ham's attacking mids are shitty finishers.
He's finished at top level too. He had began to lose form and was not a Pep Untouchable anymore the last two years. This wreaks of Willian. He also stays on the ball too long. Maybe Mikel is keen on him because of their history at City. Whatever he decides I trust Mikel.
He’s had some injury problems, but ironically with 4 goals league goals he is Chelsea’s second leading scorer and his two assists are tied for the team lead, Chelsea’s problems are a lot deeper than Sterling’s form. They don’t have a striker and they don’t have a legitimate playmaker. I don’t know whether or not a Sterling is done at the top level, but his failure to put up big numbers at Chelsea is not an indicator he is done.
Sterling isn’t a good enough passer in the wide position for me and is suited to run into open space we should be spending on guys like the kid at Napoli or an elite dribbler who can chip in with goals and assists trossard and martinelli is fine there but Saka doesn’t have a high level back up unless we use Jesus there and balogan comes into the fore