As Dan outlined in a post last week, Arsenal fans are not used to seeing many ins and outs in the January window, especially in the Arsene Wenger era.
The exception was January 2018 when we brought in Aubameyang and Mhkitaryan, although we sold Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud and Coquelin to recoup the money spent. This January could be similar…
As Arteta said recently: “The planning is done, what we want to do in January and in the summer,”
“Sometimes you can do it, sometimes not depending on a lot of factors. Edu is dealing with that at the moment and I’m focused with all the games, we don’t have much time to spend energy now on that because it’s very clear what we want to do.
One thing is certain, we have too many players at the club at the moment, which is why Ozil and Sokratis couldn’t even be registered, so more than two will have to leave for us to bring in anyone at all.
Obviously our main target will be an attacking midfielder, with Lyon’s Houssem Aouar, Norwich City’s Emi Buendia and the former Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen all being discussed, amongst myriad other possiblilities.
Ideally (in my opinion) Ozil and Sokratis of their own accord, Mustafi and Kolasinac could be sold to free up funds and a place in the squad.
Who do you think should be leaving Arsenal in the January window?
nothing special we might no see any transfer for first team until summer, except a few loan for the likes of saliba. nobody wants our players and they are not ready to leave, without selling we cant buy, we already have more than enough players, enough to cause division in the team and fanbase
Only worth selling Mustafi if we can get a fee or if we’d be willing to bring Saliba into the squad. SM has been decent under Arteta, fine as an option to the end of the season.
Sokratis should be allowed to leave for no fee. Good pro and just wants to go somewhere he’d be useful.
Kolasinac should definitely go – we shouldn’t be seeking a big fee, just need to get his wages off the books.
I’d be shocked it Ozil left but he would gain back a crumb of respect back for doing so (even though he could have done it much sooner).
Not sure of the torreira situation with the loan, but I don’t see any reason not to sell in January if we can. Take a loss if necessary. Don’t think he’s a bad player at all but he doesn’t want to be here, so no point keeping him around.
Bellerin is an interesting one. Played great in the last game, as named captain, but pretty inconsistent overall and I don’t see him as true captain material. Might be best to move him on at the end of the season, but would we accept a decent offer in January?
Add Willian & recall Matteo!
Good observations Davi. January transfers are tricky, prices are overinflated and any player of any quality won’t be allowed to leave. I’m fully behind Arteta but he needs to stamp is authority and not play the likes of William coz he’s Edus mate. Let’s be brutally honest and I love the kids being given a chance but Willock, Nketia aren’t up to it. ESR, Saka, Partey, Martinelli, Gab, Tierney, Leno and Auba are keepers, the rest can go. Really, really need a Grealish type but we’ve known that since Mesut went off.
Oh, I forgot, we MUST keep Balogan, he’s got enormous potential and will turn into another Serge if he goes
I fear you might be right – not convinced we’ll manage to keep him unfortunately
I hope I’m wrong, but MA regularly giving Eddie the nod over Balogun, who most of us agree is a far superior prospect, may lose us Balogun. He wants his career to advance, there’s a traffic jam in front of him so he won’t sign a new contract. Quite honestly I can’t blame him.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Buendia, but agree it’s not likely as I’m not convinced we can shift anyone from the current squad
Slightly disagree on Willock. I don’t think he’s ready to be a regular but it’s very possible he’ll get there. Nketiah needs to adapt his game (find another position) or massively improve his finishing to make it in my view. Balogun should be ahead of him.
Kellers Good post and I laughed at your Ozil description of “went off ” . Not for lack of trying though surely,(he wrote , ironically!) That deadly does of idleitis he contracted around 2016 must be contagious, as Pepe, Willian and even Auba have caught it this season!
Pepe actually caught it as soon as he arrived and still has it.
“I’d be shocked it Ozil left but he would gain back a crumb of respect back for doing so (even though he could have done it much sooner).”
He will gain more respect by sticking to his guns and seeing out his contract. The club has a choice to buy out his contract and let him go instead of trying to strong arm the guy.
On the other hand if he capitulates , that will be terrible for other players in the future.
Everybody should do the right thing and play by the book.
Ask yourself this question: How would you feel if a player under contract demands higher wages from the club before his contract expires?
I love Arsenal but not a crooked Arsenal.
Don’t see the issue. I’m not saying just cancel his contract, I’m saying move – don’t think Arsenal are looking for a fee for him and there appear to be a few clubs interested.
The club don’t have to pick him, so what is he going to change by taking this stand?
Question is “is Mesut Ozil a professional footballer, who wants to play?” His career will not last forever.
Mark 8: 36.
What club will let their best assets live in the middle of the season?
Lots of clubs might have to Goonster – in particular French clubs who are in dire financial straits after their tv deal collapsed. Plus they’re not always their best asset – eg Brandt can’t get into Dortmund’s team. The bigger clubs often have class players kicking their heels (unfortunately not the case here!)
Lets these guys leave even for free – Sokratis, Ozil, Mustafi, Willian
Sell –
Kolasinac – 8-10 million
Torreira – 15-20 million
Mavroponos – 5-7 million
Cedric – 5 million
Bring in a creative midfielder and a right/left wingback
Bring back Guendouzi
Get Buendia and bring back Guandouzi, manage to give more minutes for the youngsters, build a team for the future, anyway, we are not winning the PL this season!
Fight for the trophies and most importantly, the EL title which will qualify us to CL next season!
👍 Norwich want 15m apparently…😳 Thought it’d be more…watch this space!
Sue and Wenger91, Emi Buendia at £15m for an EPL tested AM would be an asset for the Arsenal too good to pass up. Also I believe Guendouzi deserves a second chance.
Hurrah, I do also, Ozzie 👍
As for Buendia, I won’t be holding breath .. it isn’t like us to mess things up by dithering, is it?!!
I very much doubt if we will bring in any new players next month and, apart from Socratis, I do not see anyone leaving. Realistically, what can we hope to recoup from the likes of Mustafi,Torreria and Kolasinac?May I suggest 10m-12m -5m respectively at best?As for Ozil he is with us until his contract expires, and he will no doubt still be the subject of many articles on JA long after his departure..I would hope Arteta and Guendouzi are reconciled as I think the young Frenchman has a lot to offer and will hopefully be a more humble person on his return.
Agree, Grandad. Specially on Guendozi, he is a quality player if you consider his age which a lot of us forget when we talk about him so under right guidence he can be one of the pillars of Arsenal team for long time. I would also through another hat in ring with Torreria’s name on it. What we saw in some parts of his first season is enough to suggest boy has quality. Again he is young as well and I don’t think he has been treated fair. He was injured, lost his confidence and when team is going through slump it’s hard to put out great performances when you come back from injury. I think we should be a bit more patient with him and recall him next season. He can be a good cover, learn from Partey as most Uruguayan footballers are hard workers with good attitude and then future take over from him.
But the most prominent indications are there that Torreira is unsettled in London. If that is the case then I think he will struggle more. I think In LT we have a good saleable asset whom we can sell for good money. I used to think like that for MG but I think he would be better as an Arsenal player and can become a really good DLP.
Grandad, I am accepting bets as to HOW MANY Ozil articles will be on JA immediately after Ozil has HIS PERSONAL GOLDMINE CUT OFF AND NO LONGER LEECHES OFF US.
I predict 20-30 in July, 15-20 in August and 10-15 in September. Average posts on those articles will rapidly decrease in number though and only that factor will finally kill off these diabolically boring articles on JA.
On Guendouzi, I doubt he will ever come back and fervently hope not too.
“On Guendouzi, I doubt he will ever come back and fervently hope not too”
Same here
Given the behaviour of other players, who Arteta has brought back into the fold, for consistency Guendouzi deserves another chance.
👍👍
Ozziegunner
I thought it was down to persistent discipline issues with Guendouzi so he only has himself to blame if the simple act of apologising is beneath him.
Sue. P is spot on. Persistent lateness to training , hugely arrogant, dismissive of team mates and overall a very rude young man. I would drive him to the airport if he hadnt already gone. Don’t need that.
Actually, I hope we steer well clear of Auoar, even if he was willing to join. Sounds like the reason we pulled out was to do with contract negotiations and people around him wanting more money – major red flag!
Might be a great player but let someone else take the risk.
I don’t think many will be moving out in January, maximum one or two but I wouldn’t be surprised if no one left.
Issue is not too much quality players are available in January, so we don’t want club to spend money on some below avg players just for the sake of it and we are then stuck with them for 3-4 years. We have a history including last summer transfer market to show we have not learnt the lesson. Also what is the point of buying players who will either be used in cup games, benched or thrown out of squad. Arteta had a good enough squad to finish in top 4 which won’t happen no matter how optimistic we are, why give more money into the hands of same ppl who are incapable of doing the job. I would say don’t spend a penny in January, get a new manger through the door and then support him in summer when we will have good players available and plus some players will be leaving us so our wage bill will come down fair bit. If anything we should try to get rid of recently acquired dead wood like Willian, Mari, Cedric..the ones who’s contract are not expiring next summer. Ozil, Socrates, and Mustafi will be leaving us next summer anyways we should add Elneny, Laca, Pepe, Xhaka, Willock and Nelson to the same group and sell them.
Who should be leaving, asks Pat. How long have you got Pat, as this could take some time!
In no special order all these: OZIL(quelle surprise!), Kolas, Willian, Pepe, the three clowns – Luiz, Mustafi Sokratis – Bellerin, Nketiah, Xhaka, Elneny, Chambers. I realise of course that we cannot sell or give away all at once, even though that would be the ideal.
Then the only lazy player left would be Auba, based on this season, but he is worth keeping, as in ability he is proven. Though if he keeps on hiding in games I’d sell him next summer. Laca is marginal too.
Of course we need some stellar names to come in too , so much will depend on Kroenke and how much he cares and prizes the health of his football club. Based on the last 13 yeasr, no-one of top value will be bought at all! In which case we will be stuck with some of the above deadbeats!
Would go for Giroud and Costa at AM. T wo battering rams. Less of the pussy footing about. We have no hard men in the team (Ala Flamini).
If my fantasy dream could come true this January, we could get rid of:-
Socratis, Mustafi, Ozil, Xhaka, Kolasinac, Ceballos I would bring back Guendouzi. I would give Saliba, a place in the squad, some playing time for Balogun. I would like to see Balogun and Martinelli play together at some point. Aouar is definitely still worth going for. Buendia and Todd Cantwell are both decent and won’t break the bank. Cantwell could be a James Maddison clone.
Our transfer policies have always seemed incredibly problematic…more often than not we acquire players from squads that don’t employ similar tactics, so it usually requires a lengthy adjustment period, if it works at all…why not target those teams that better reflect our desired future aspirations, whom are likewise traditionally “selling” clubs…for me, I would be focusing my energies on clubs like Dortmund, Ajax and Leverkusen…all 3 are offensively minded organizations that have a knack for finding, cultivating then offloading young talent…I still wish we had gone after Havertz before Chelsea pried him away, he would have made more sense with what I believe Areta’s tactical objectives will be moving forward…I think sometimes our organizational arrogance gets in the way of pure common sense…we clearly lost our way some time ago, but instead of adjusting to our new reality we continued to perpetuate the notion that we were still one of the big boy clubs, when in fact were experiencing a slow-moving organizational implosion of sorts…let’s hope that we start getting enough results moving forward so that we can make good decisions from a position of strength, instead of our far too familiar poor decision-making from a position of desperation…if our recent history tells us anything, I’m not incredibly hopeful about that possibility…fingers-crossed though
👍
I can’t see us bringing back Guendouzi. He was very poor for us in the vast majority of games he played. No positional discipline, no creative skills and terrible at heading. Fortunately Arteta knew this and i expected him to be moved on. Guendo is still young so hopefully he can improve in Berlin. If he does he may have some use next season or more likely he can be sold for around £10m next summer.
Zaha please 🙂
Seconded Sue👍
OUT
Torreira
Mavrapanos
Willain
Elneny
Kolsanic
Mustafi
Nktiah
Cedric
Jimmuy Agree on Guendouzi. I just cannot see MA ever wanting this arrogant bad apple back to possibly infect others. As you rightlty say , he is nothing special and has many holes in his game Even more in his character. No way! Not for me and far more importantly, not for MA imo.
It will be nice to see these players make way in January: Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Ozil, Gouendouzi, Ceballos(If we can find a proper AM or B2B).
Good list, better than many others
If I am not mistaken but have read correctly, I think Mustafi was quoted to have said, he wants to leave Arsenal. And I assume he ment its during this coming January transfer window that he wants to leave.
Otherwise he shouldn’t be talking of wanting to leave Arsenal if it is next summer because his deal at the club ends that time. But I don’t know Arteta’s mind on Mustafi leaving Arsenal in January as I can’t read his mind to voice for him.
Some AFC fans on here are saying, bring Guendouzi back. Bring him back to Arsenal for all his gross ill-discipline record at the club last season which led to him been loaned out last summer?
I can’t see Arteta’s Arsenal bring back Mateo Guendouzi to Arsenal in Jan but sell him if the club find a buyer or loan him out again if they don’t get a buyer to take him off their hands.
Sokratis was reportedly to be injured during the last summer transfer business. But I wouldn’t know if that accounted for his staying at the club instead of to have transferred out last summer. But other reports have it too that him and Ozil deliberately stayed put at the club for the big financial gains they are reaping at Arsenal. But if the pair are still stubborn to go away from the club in January, it’s just a matter of six months time patience for Arsenal to have and be free from their strangle hold on the club.
But surly, Arsenal will not register them in January to play for the club in all the 3 competitions that the club are competing in them for honours.
,
If Arsenal sell Kolasinac in January, which Gunner will provide cover for Tierney and serves as option to him? Arsenal will have to sign a top quality left full back in Jan if they sell Kolas.
Cedric and AMN are both left back capable. There is also a youngster (name escapes me) who is a fullback. The kid is quite young (16) if memory serves.
Joel Lopez maybe?
I hope Arsenal can allow Papa, Ozil and Willian go for free, demand just token for Kolasinac, Nketiah, Mustafi if he doesn’t extend and if decent bids come for Xhaka, Bellerin and Pepe, please don’t think twice. Ins should be Aoura, Brandt on loan, then promote FOLARIN, ESR and Saliba to senior team.
I also enjoy watching Buendia from Norwich, if the price is not too high, he’s worth it. Then, I forgot to add Ceballos to the outs
I’m surprised no one has mentioned bringing in a back-up keeper. If Leno goes down we are stuffed.
Trudeau, Matt Macey showed form in his loan spells and when played for Arsenal. I don’t know why he has been overlooked. Arsenal have young goalkeepers at the Club.
Matt Ryan may be available from Brighton, if they are prepared to sell and he would compete with Leno as #2.
He is not very good, got moved back to the team as loans did not work, and and just not AFC back up quality!
Sokratis to Fenerbahce?
Is that a strong rumor? Nice deal if happens…
Expect More outs than ins during this window. Hopefully Bologun will remain but n expecting the worst. In reality we only need two players this time round. I’d settle for Erickson in a swap deal with Xhaka and a busy young midfielder from the English leagues with a serious work ethic. The big money should be spent wisely during the summer . In an ideal world that is.
Agree with you Joe. Open the gates for outs, stay up in the league and spend money in the summer on Ajax players (Dortmund players are fine but expensive) and also get hard working talents within the league.
I want to see Guendozi back. In his first season he looked good. Second season he was ”infected” by the older, arrogant players at Arsenal. His attitude was poor. He deserves a second chance.