A plan to improve the Arsenal squad with bad PR or just plain cost cutting? by Konstantin Mitov
Hello again lovely Arsenal people! A lot was said about the way the club is set to cut 55 members of staff and here’s my take on it.
This story has 2 faces, one of the bad billionaire making a ton of money and sacking 55 people who earn a combined total of a mere 2 million, and the other of a business cutting its loses where it can.
First of all, most of the cuts are coming from the scouting department, and it’s not like our signings and scouting have been sublime in recent years. What do names like Francis Cagigao, Peter Clark and Brian McDermott mean to you?
I can probably handpick the number of Arsenal games I haven’t watched, and I can recall almost every signing we made for the last 15 years, yet never have I heard those names. Even if Francis did discover Fabregas that was how many years ago? And I’ve heard how Wenger discovered him too, so which one is it?
It’s a team effort in the end, but when you see a human being lose his job in a pandemic, people open up to their caring side and it feels bad and I get it. It’s even worse when you think what Ozil is making by being in Turkey while we are winning the FA cup. But Ozil was an 18-million-pound mistake that surely taught everyone a lesson.
The reality is that when you run a business, just because you can afford to make a mistake, doesn’t mean you should, and the scouting department is paying the price. What’s really bad is the PR. The way we asked players to take pay cuts so as not to fire people reminds me of Wenger saying the club has 600 employees he must “make sure” come home with a job.
And I really don’t like the comparison with Willian’s contract offer. If we think offering Willian 100k a week would improve our squad and get us back into CL contention, it’s a no-brainer. Ultimately the players on the pitch do the job and it’s why they are the highest paid. The two things aren’t connected in any way.
The truth is Arsenal is a business in decline right now and we need to claw ourselves back up in difficult times, and as Mikel Arteta said, “there is no magic” we need quality and that costs money.
And that brings the players we are offering for sale, which includes Ainsley, and I’m again a little shocked, but I can also see where it comes from. He had two immense performances against City and Chelsea. It sounds ridiculous to think about moving him on, because he is a very versatile player who is a real powerhouse. But then again, he is being played out of position and he’s not a regular starter.
If Mikel Arteta wants to move to a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 where is AMN playing? It’s hardly CM, especially if we want Partey, LB is Tierney and potentially Saka, so only the RB position remains for contention. That said a team does need utility players and I will miss AMN, but if we can get 30m for him to improve our squad then it kind of makes sense.
What would really anger me is if we’re selling and not investing back in the side. We’ve reportedly dropped our interest in Coutinho, and it’s reported that we did it because we favoured Willian. Is it because we think one of the Brazilians is better than the other, or because one is a free agent?
The Chelsea wide forward is soon 32 and offering him a 3-year deals seems a bit risky, but he’s on form, and has 11 goals and 9 assists to his name, in not the greatest of Chelsea squads.
Coutinho, despite being younger, is out of favour at Barcelona, and Bayern don’t want to move for him either. And that says something, not that players can’t revive their careers though. I do like what he did at Liverpool and we do lack creative midfielders and players who can shoot from outside the box. For 9 million pounds, it’s a risk I would take if reasonable wages can be agreed.
It’s by now plain obvious our transfer business will depend much on what we can salvage for unneeded players and some other interesting names like Lacazette and Bellerin have been put up on our transfer list.
I get it again. Most of our first team players are not good enough. We paid 50+ million for Laca and I expect around 20 solid goals in the league per season, yet it hasn’t happened. I like his link up play, but the number 9 shirt should demand goals and Laca doesn’t provide enough of them.
Hector on the other hand is an automatic pick for RB, due to the lack of alternatives. I am a bit shocked we offered Cedric a deal honestly, but if we can recoup a good fee for Bellerin, this is money we can spend in positions with dire needs like CB and CM.
That said in CB we have Luiz, Mari, Mustafi, Holding, Chambers, Sokratis, Mavropanos and now Saliba. That’s 8 players and not nearly 2 good enough for the job. We can easily offload Sokratis, Mavropanos and Chambers and it’d barely change anything since they don’t play, yet it would add money to the cause, or at least free budget from wages.
The situation in midfield has also a lot of problems. What do we do with Ceballos? Can we agree a deal for him? Then there’s Torreira who hasn’t really worked out. We must get rid of Mikhi and if we can somehow dismiss Ozil that’d be just great. It’s so demoralizing to have him on the training ground knowing how much he earns and also knowing he won’t play, because he doesn’t work hard enough. For god’s sake he is afraid to head the ball and that’s a 350k a week player.
The list of players we should sell surely includes Kolasinac who doesn’t offer much on either side of the pitch. And sadly Holding, who just like AMN has 2 epic FA cup final performances behind him, but isn’t a regular starter and could be sold to raise the funds necessary to improve the side.
Finally, if Aubameyang signs a new deal, it would be immense! Can’t think of a player who has done more to deserve his contract than him. The amount of goals scored in a side that doesn’t create that much is impressive. He may be 31, but he still scores most of his goals based on his pace, which is even more impressive, and he loves the club.
If we get that done and we get some money from the forementioned players which is invested back into the side, then all that has happened recently would make sense. If not though it won’t just be bad PR, it’d practically confirm and justify all the criticism for the “cost-cutting”.
We’ll see what happens. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Konstantin
Very well balanced, thoughtful summary. If, through sales, we also reduce the overall wage bill of playing staff, that will rather put to bed the current lopsided comparison being made between the wages of one probable new signing and the redundancy of scouting staff. The overall picture is at present incomplete and will only be apparent at the end of the transfer window.
👍
1. Kronke was a billionaire before coming to Arsenal, so he bought Arsenal to make profit just like anyone. Misuse of funds is totally unacceptable
2. Signing of Willian on a 3yrs contract is a similar scenario to that of.Ozil
3. Compare Xhaka and Maitland-Niles in defensive midfield. The coach decide to sell Maitland-Niles and keep hold of Xhaka?
There should be accountability in any business, otherwise someone has to bite the dust
Yeah, should be getting rid of Xhaka and AMN!!!! 🙂 🙂
why should we sell AMN and Xhaka when they have been our standout performers since the restart? Have you even SEEN the stats when arsenal are with and without Xhaka? We need Xhaka nd AMN. simples
TG the coach did NOT decide to sell Maitland-Niles – it was the boards decision. Arteta wants to keep him now he’s finally worked out he’s one of our better players.
Arteta keeping hold of Xhaka – yes I am as bewildered as you. Another of Arteta’s pets.
Hope we buy Partey and don’t play/get rid of Xhaka.
A midfield 3 of Dani C, Partey and AMN would be great in my estimation.
I’m not sure about niles, would he be a starter in EPl’s top 6 teams ? He is good in certain occasions but not consistently. Arsenal needs to be rebuilt and that’s what is happening, change is hard but we need to embrace it, let’s support Edu and Raul and see what their vision is for us. Some of the players we fancy here may not even be starters or bench warmers in certain teams.
Ambrose, a bit hard to be consistent, when you are used as a utility player, swapped and changed position and can’t get a run of games, because when you play well you are dropped.
Gunner Jack, I believe that AMN across the full season has done enough for Arteta to want to keep him (as you stated); however AMN wants to play more first team football as a starter. Arsenal can’t guarantee this, he has been swapped and changed regarding position, so he is in the market for a new club.
ozziegunner It do not matter who Arteta wants to keep the board decide not Arteta he is just the coach
👍towny, I don’t disagree. If Arteta is treated as Emery was, and not supported in the transfer market, then Arsenal will continue to slide down the table.
GunnerJack A top Manager does not have favorite players. They are paid to do a job if Arteta keeps his fav’s we will get nowhere
how is signing Willian on 100k per week similar to signing Ozil for 350k per week?
Xaka adds balance to our midfield being the only Left footer, Partey is also a right footed player i believe.
Im not defending Xaka or anything but i can see why managers like him, he can pass better than any player we have on our books, he’s not a holding player at all and has been played as one all his arsenal career which hasnt really done him any favours as he turns like teh Titanic and is usually isolated by his team mates.
Partey ( should he come ) would push Xaka slightly forward and give his much less defensive responsibility .
AMN is a bankable amount of money, easy 30m and not a regular starter, hes played all over the pitch and he wants more game time in a fixed position.
Do you walk around like a horse at the races with blinkers on?
Out :
1. Ozil 350k (in Willian 100k + Coutinho)
2.Laca (if Willian & Coutinho in)
Trio in front (Coutinho/Martineli – Auba/Nketiah – Pepe/Willian) 3-4-3
3. Sokratis (32)
4. Mapranos
5. Kolasinac
We have surplus & surplus in Back Line
6. Guendouzi
7. Miki
8. Elneny
In:
1. Willian (Free).
2. Coutinho (very cheap, rare opportunity) Left Wing / Number 10
3. Partey /Dembele, if Guendouzi out
so according to your logic ,we should sell our best midfielder to bring in another midfielder ?I don’t get the Xhaka hate on the blog
Reading another article, the 55 redundancies & releasing recruitment staff are two different things. Selling AMN would be bad especially after his two great performanes. Throughout the year we always have injuries to LB/RB so AMN is required. Yes, Laca & 1or 2 defenders can go provided money is reinvested. Ozil must go for his own sake as well as for his fans & the club.
Its so sad because this scouts are trying to lure deadwòods like Boateng, Umtiti, Lovren, and Willian. Extremely poor scouting
Willian may be aging football wise but by no means is he deadwood. Him joining The Arsenal is simply because he has better playmaking skills from midfield compared to Coutinho. At Shakhtar Donetsk he played in the hole perfectly, Coutinho is better near the box and on the wings and in link up plays. Willian can control proceedings and i see Arteta prefering that as an alternative to Ozil because he knows Auba and Laca can bring in the goals, thats why coutinho is dispensable.
do you know what a thing called a rumor is?
paper talk is paper talk, 90% of what the post is garbage.
why do you keep mentioning Lovren in your posts? he’s got a new club, Umtiti has been linked with us in the press for about 5 years nothing has ever come of it
Ignore him pal hes just trolling at this point
We have too many CBs the clearing should start there. Kolasinac should go he is paid too much with little input. We have Tierney and Saka for that position.
Coutinho is a better deal for me than Willian as we already have Pepe and we need Mesut replacement.
I’ll buy Kolasinac 😄
Sue, what will his wife say? 🤔
You will be safe for sure!
Cedric can also play LB, and don’t know why people don’t do research before writing an article, Mavropanos has already been loaned out to Stuggart for the year,as for the difference between Willian & Coutinho, Willian is a permanent signing on around £100k a week with 5M signing on fee, Coutinho on the other hand will cost same in wages 1st year,however the loan fee is 9-10M & if we sign him after a year his wages will double so Willian is a much better financial deal for a player who has just had his best season at Chelski
Xhaka, Ozil, Torreira, Holding, and Mustafi should be sold, if this is a cost cutting measure
Apparently Mislintat wanted to do this very thing and Arsenal didn’t agree with him. He thought Scouting set up was overblown and dysfunctional. It seems like now we are taking hia advice.
his advice.
Sven wanted to rearrange and set up a new scouting system, Arsenal had too many scouts all over the world under Wenger.
Sven only wanted to trim it down and not get rid of the scouting system.
Remember Arsenal bought StatDNA, so we didn’t need the high number of scouts Wenger needed.
Raul on the other hand prefers everything works through agents, and it’s why he had the disagreement with Sven and eventually had to forces Sven out.
Edu came in and saw the same thing Sven saw, Edu thinks the structure needs to be rearranged and trimmed down. It’s what he’s doing.
Apparently Sven was right all along
Plus you dont need a scouting network like before. Like most things, a lot can be done online and a slimmer unit. Ive heard we are using freelance scouts and only paying for results. Im sure we won’t be the only club slashing personnel.
Plus this a result of Edu, as Technical Director, being asked to do a full review of Arsenal’s scouting set up.
Steve Morrow the Chief scout for the Academy was the first to go some months ago.
My big concern is Raul Sanheili’s relationships and reliance on “super agents”, such as Kia Joorabchian. Will this lead to a finely focused scouting regime, where super agent mates of Sanheili are given preference and Arsenal paying over the odds for the players?
The club will improve where they can whilst cost cutting. That is the Arsenal way!
You just know the Kronkes’ have been in town with the “big iron on the hip”, and so fifty five employees will go! The Kronke fortune will remain intact!
I must say though, Ozil’s wage could save a few jobs though, surely!? If they could just off load the free loader. When you consider it’s a cool £1 million more a month than Willian would get and over £12 million a year saving!
As for more additions. I will believe it when I see it. I know there is lots of talk about various signings but I’m sure most of it is to get Auba to sign first!
The jobs being cut are from match day staff & staff from The Armoury, nobody knows when supporters will be allowed back in,hence why the cuts have been made,jobs are being cut everywhere,you would not expect Virgin airlines to keep staff on when flights have been reduced massively, don’t like how the statement read but it is what it is, and these staff might have the chance to reapply for their jobs when fans are allowed back in the ground,as for the scouts it’s similar, if they can’t go to games how the hell can they scout a player, these guys are consulting anyway so are usually the 1st to go in any industry
The scouts are a separate issue (please read above).
@ozziegunner I’m well informed ! The 55 are separate I didn’t state the scouts were part of the 55??, 55 staff some part time & 13 from the scouting team, Edu has already done a full review of the youth scouting set up,which is when Morrow went amongst others & now he’s reducing the 1st team scouting by at least 13 staff,the point I was making is until fans are fully allowed in the stadium there is no need to pay staff/scouts as no fans no match day staff needed & scouts can’t watch live either so no need ATM
(Please read my comments again)
“as for the scouts it’s similar” see I did separate the 55 & scouts, hard to miss the nuance Ozzie, I understood your point exactly,I was just covering the reasons why we are losing staff & scouts,not allowed in stadia, no job for any of them
👌Wasn’t having a shot, just clarifying, because if I can misunderstand, so can others.
Maybe Auba could auction off one
of his custom made Lambos and
the proceeds could be used to
address the 55 situation?
Will be glad to see this players sold.
Sokratis
Mkhitaryan
Ozil
Mustafi
Mavropanos
Guendouzi
Elneny
No 1 Priority move Ozil on
No 2 Priority Move Guendouzi on
No 3 Move Sokratis on
No 4 Sell Miki
I’m sure Auba will sign
This frees up loads of money.
Selling one of our own like AMN is totally crazy if it is to be believed. He is humble, determined, flexible and has special qualities that have yet to be realised. He bleeds Arsenal why cash in on him he is good value for money.
Where exactly is this “Loads of
Money” going to come from?
If somehow Ozil is moved on
Arsenal will still be paying MOST
of his wages in a loan deal or
possibly buy out his contract for
MILLIONS of pounds. If the
German dug in his heels over the
players pay cut how do you think
he’ll entertain the financial
implications of terminating his
contract?
Guendouzi? Nobody is going to pay
£40M in this Pandemic impacted
transfer window for a decent talent
with a bad attitude. The young
Frenchmens interest from other
teams will only be discussed
within the context of a player
swap with possible cash going
either way.
Socratis? LMFAO Im not sure there
is high demand for a slow 32 yr old,
bit time player in the current CB
market.
Miki has been loaned to Roma for
another year, no sale.
Other than possibly selling LT
back to Siere A, I just dont see AFC
being able to internally raise
enough funds to significantly
upgrade the first team talent.
I do agree on AMN and cant honestly
see another team splashing £30M
for his future services.
i was hoping that the fact Ozil was in Turkey for the cup final was that he was in talks to join a club there.
I think the club has come to the conclusion Ozil is unsellable and cant even give him away either.
BTW, Auba has already signed the contract. Arsenal are being the usual selves, waiting to make the announcement dramatic as though he’s a new signing.
The reason we ain’t chasing Coutinho isn’t cause one player is better.
It’s because of the wage structure. If they can move Ozil, they’ll go through with the deal. Arsenal don’t want to pay two players in similar position outrageous wages, BTW Barca would pay some of it.
P.S; I see Arsenal fvcking the Gabriel deal up as usual because they don’t want to pay the 30million.
I hope I’m wrong
Maybe they’re waiting for MacFarlane’s new camera lens to arrive!! Haha…
I heard it’s 20M Euro upfront & 10M euro in add ons which is a bargain if he’s any good of course,and the player wants to come as he feels he would be a starter
Gabriel is good, if young and relatively inexperienced. He and Saliba will be great going forward.
Sarr would have been a better option in financial terms as he was free. Still, if we do sign up Gabriel I will support him!
Sid, Gabriel is an upgrade on Sarr, even though I too would have been happy with Sarr.
Like few of us have commented on here, when planning for the future(cuts…)the board must have thought about the worst case scenario like losing the FA cup which not many people thought we could win and not qualifying for Europe?but we did which brings an extra 30M or so and 3M prize money for winning the FA cup which could cover the 55! concerning scouting like every business it needs to evolve and like it or not scouts are going to be fewer and fewer,these days clubs can get every data about every player, everywhere from the comfort of their offices and if they are deemed good enough they then can watch videos of the players and if impressed then send someone to watch them in the flesh so where is the need for so many scouts?I can still remember people questioning why Wenger and Arsenal decided to buy this data analyestic company years ago well that’s why!once again Arsène was ahead, anyway these days most players worth something have already been grabbed by(some greedy) agents, lastly what is 2M/year to the kroenke family? nothing I bet they spend/waste much more on things they might use just once or worse never in their lifetime,they wouldn’t miss it believe me and as a business let’s not talk about the millions wasted on useless players,but blaming Ozil is easier I guess,God forbids he was proven right!
Sanheili isn’t interested in scouting talent and utilising StatDNA, as he wants to rely on agents he knows. That’s the reason Sven Mislantat walked out.
I didn’t know this was the reason he left!👍
Well documented at the time, Siamois. I am very concerned with where the Raul and Kia relationship will take Arsenal.
A very well balanced and well written article konstantin and it gives a fresh perspective to things. I find myself reasoning along your school of thought. Brilliant one. However I would be sad to see Niles go. You failed to mention guendouzi who’s also destined to leave arsenal this transfer window. I would rather we sell Xhaka than AMN to be honest. AMN is versatile and one of the few ball carrying players we have. As much as xhaka has improved to average under Arteta, there’s still a mistake or two in him and he’s slow too. Let’s just see how the transfer window goes. Hoping to get Partey done
Spot on
We give them Giroud, and end up getting David Luiz and Willian in return…
We give them Giroud so we could get Auba ,now that didn’t turn out too bad did it .
Luiz and William have nothing to do with giroud at all .
👍 Exactly Dan.
Sadly Dan the “Chelsea Rejects”
narrative has already been
universally and unequivocally
accepted by the majority of
Arsenal fans.
They dont want to hear about
Willians impressive stats from last
year, or listen to praise from
teammates extolling his class
and professionalism as a futboler.
SMFH
Spot on bud people hear what they want to hear!! Unbelievable.
Williams stats this season have been very impressive ,and if we are getting him for the reported 100k a week and 10 mill sign in fee ,that’s a 25 mill outlay which is bloody cheap for someone who hasn’t looked like he’s slowing down with age ,would be good if fans watched players before making stupid posts ,if fans are in two minds about him sky sports did a plaice today showing his stats from this season ,nothing to turn your noses up at .
Spot on Dan!! Plenty of players these days are defying what we consider “prime years” vardy is 34 in less than 6 months and just got the golden boot ffs
ACE, in support of the remaining asset value of Willan, although 31 he was the second top scorer at Chelsea last season, Chelsea extended their policy for players over 30 by one season in offering Willan a two year contract (thus they wanted to retain him), Willan keeps fit, has retained his speed and is rarely injured and Willan will provide mentoring and experience to Arsenal’s young forward prospects in Pepe, Martinelli and Nheketia.
Ozil? What team will be willing to
match his astronomical wages?
Mustafi? Out Injured until October.
What team is going to spash £15-20M
in this window on a CB that wont
be available for either the pre or
start of the domestic season?
Holding? I dont necessarily rate the
Englishmen but he is one of only
three experienced Arsenal CB’s
that would be fit to play if the
season started tomorrow. Mari,
CC and Mustafi are all returning
from serious injuries and cant be
counted on when AFC open there
EPL campaign in September. Even
if Saliba is better than advertised
and Gabriel is brought in, Holding
has to be spared the chop purely
for strength in numbers @ the CB
position.
MA LOVES Xhaka, not going to
happen unless there is legitimate
interest from Germany and the
board yet again overrules the
Spaniard.
I do agree on LT, if Torino or another
Siere A side are interested the
Urugyuan should be either sold
or swapped for a olayer that
addresses either the CB or CM
.positions.
.
ACE, that’s what happens now we’re Arsenal “Wallymart”; no one is interested in buying Arsenal’s products, except for those the Club doesn’t want to sell.
I’m so surprised that Arteta does not mention either Xhaka or Mustafi in the transfer market. Instead he talks about Gouendouzi and Maitland-Niles. Is this guy a Manager that Arsenal needs?
He has next season to prove it I guess … Xhaka should be a priority move along with Willock and Nelson and at least one of the surplus centre backs …if we can get good pric for guendozi than sell but Wld keep AMN as a utility player but … Keeping ceballos adding a DM and AM is key to moving ahead … am happy about Willian as he is a very dangerous winger and gives time for Pepe to find his feet but we have excess up front … If that means selling laca and nketiah and bringing in another forward that would make sense to me
The decision to bring ESR back into
the first team discussion is more
than likely bad news for young
Willock. Both him and Nelson
(Willian signing?) should be sent
out on loan to ensure they play
meaningful minutes next season.
Although both talented
youngsters they are surplus to
requirements atm.
Torreria and MG should be moved
on IMHO, neither are of the
quality in midfield that AFC
desperatley need ATM.
Where has Arteta ever said anything about in coming or out going players??
as far as I am aware dude, MA hasn’t said a thing about anything other than he expects Auba to sign up.
where the links to all this hearsay?
Why would MA remotely consider
moving on the two players that
have improved the most since the
Spaniard took over the reigns @
AFC. MA has openly praised both
players to the media, even going
so far as championing a possible
contract extension for the German.
Both players, whether we like it or
not are part of MA’s plans going
forward
And an Emphatic YES on if MA is
the right man for the job
I truly have lots of question marks regarding the decisions that Arteta is making.
1. Signing Willian
2. Willingness to extend contract of Soares and putting Bellerin on transfer market
3. Willingness to extend the contract of Mustafi (one of worst defenders)
4. Consistently playing Xhaka
5. Wanting to sell Gouendouzi and Maitland-Niles.
I hope he keep grudges, because the issues of these guys should have been resolved by now
Dude I’m glad you ain’t even the coach..
1: There are reasonable reasons signing Willian isnt bad
2: Bellerin isnt on any transfer list, get your facts right. Bellerin is in Arteta’s plan completely, he played with him and knows Bellerin fully. So i don’t know where you got your info from.
3: Mustafi is on the transfer list and will be sold if suitable offers are made for him, plus give some credit, Mustafu has been our best CB under Arteta. I’d like to see you argue that one.
4: You probably will never drop your dislike of Xhaka, but Dhaka isnt going anywhere and he’s not a terrible player as you’re trying to point it out to be. Only a blind man will deny that without Xhaka we struggle to stay balanced in the midfield, and so far he hasn’t given Arteta any reason to be dropped so why drop him? Arteta should drop him because you and others don’t like him?
5: Like I said, get you info right. AMN is in Arteta’s plans, but AMN has asked to leave. The board and not Arteta are ready to sell AMN if an offer comes in.
AMN has asked to leave, I don’t know why you guys keep trying to make it seem like Arteta doesn’t like him. Even Ornstein reported it.
Guendouzi? I love the kid but if he’s staying stubborn and can’t emulate AMN attitude then he should be sold to the highest bidder.
Wise comments EDDIE.Even though I take a polar opposite view on Bellerins usefulness , from you, but do accept I AM IN A MINORITY ON HIM. I have never thought him remotety to have any real defensive nous at all.
I agree jon, regarding Bellerin defensively and going to the byline to cross well.
Better if cutting costs is the main agenda resulting in gud investments in the team.Now AFC needs to be ruthless on paying out ozil and try sale deadwood without demanding much so that we raise a few coins for partey,gabriel/carlos,sarr(free),coutinho.
Every season at virtually every Club in the Country there is an expectation / intention to improve the team.Sadly, due to the pandemic, most Clubs will be more concerned with staying afloat which takes on a challenge in itself.The pandemic will impact significantly on the transfer market which will probably be restricted to swaps, loans ,frees and to the movement of talented young players with resale value potential.Bellingham from Birmingham to Dortmund is an example.Unfortunately for Arsenal, they will find it very difficult to unload many of their poor performers and until they do they will be very restricted in their quest to bring in upgrades.As far as acquiring Willian is concerned ,the fact that he is “free” has no doubt influenced Arteta to acquire his experience and skill but the disturbing aspect to me is that we as a Club have decided to change policy and to have faith in Agents who all have vested interest in moving on their clients to line their own pockets.Are you telling me that any scout worth his salt would have recommended the likes of Soares and Mari on the basis that they would improve our side?I think not.
The main reason the scouts are being reduced is they can’t go to live games atm, we haven’t got rid of ALL scouts just 13 I read, yes Raul does like to use his mates who are agents,this isn’t really financially good business,however building relationships with these agents can tip the balance in our favour in future recruitment, Mari was already known by Arteta & Edu so that transfer wasn’t agent or scout driven,Arteta wanted a left footed CB, as for Cedric no need for scouting or agent to tell Arsenal about him, he’s an international player who has won the Euros & apparently we were going to wait until the Summer to get him on a free but due to injuries at RB & no real backup in the squad we decided to do the deal early & bring him in on loan at great expense, unfortunately he came injured then got injured again so hasn’t backed up anyone really so far.
I must admit that this is one of the most balanced article I have read in a while. Good in depth thinking and spot on.
The control of the Arsenal incoming and outgoing players transfer this summer is not in us the Gooners hands for to say let it be put to vote for the majority of YEA or NAY to carry the day. But the control of this Arsenal summer transfers are firmly and absolutely in the hands of: Mikel Arteta the Gunners head coach, and also in the hands of the board executive officers like Sanllehi, Edu, the club’s General Manager Vanmetasakam, Josh Kroenke whom I think can as a combine group veto any decision on transfers for or against that are made to buy or sell by Arteta.
But nevertheless, both Arteta and the Arsenal board should take a brief moment to listen to the majority opinions of the Gooners who I suppose is their constituency when they are deciding on Arsenal transfers. But not just unilaterally take a final decision without giving some thoughts to what the generality of the Gooners have in their opinions say or want to see the club do when deciding on Arsenal transfers. I think the majority of us Gooners want to see Arsenal retain Bellerin, Holding and of course AMN at the club this summer window but not move them on. But save, if they will bring in better than them for the club to progress starting from next summer campaign more especially in the PL and in Europa. And the general consensus of the Gooners is they want to see Ozil, Guendouzi, Sokratis and Kolasinac moved on by Arsenal this summer.
On the incomings, only a handful of the Gooners are against what looks to be the impending signing of Willian from Chelsea this summer window on the free principally because of his advanced age. However, while I am not against Arsenal signing Willian but totally in support of it, but at the same time, I’ll love it if Arsenal will go a step further to sign Philippe Courtinoh probably on loan this summer and to possibly make the loan permanent next season but if he performed incredibly well for Arsenal next season in all the competitions he’ll participate in to play for Arsenal. If this happens, the purported £200k/w wages that Arsenal will be expected to be paying him if the club decided to make his loan deal permanent can be renegotiated to something like between £120-150k/w wages I would think.
The control of the Arsenal incoming and outgoing players transfer this summer is not in us the Gooners hands for to say let it be put to vote for the majority of the YEA or NAY to carry the day. But the control of this Arsenal summer transfers are firmly and absolutely in the hands of: Mikel Arteta the Gunners head coach, and also in the hands of the club board executive officers like Sanllehi, Edu, the club’s General Manager Vanmetasakam and Josh Kroenke whom I think can as a combine group can veto or approve any decision on transfers ins or out that are made to buy or sell by Arteta.
But nevertheless, both Arteta and the Arsenal board should take a brief moment to listen to the majority opinions of the Gooners who I suppose is their constituency when they are deciding on Arsenal transfers. But not just unilaterally take a final decision without giving some thoughts to what the generality of the Gooners have in their opinions said or want to see the club do when deciding on Arsenal transfers. I think the majority of us Gooners want to see Arsenal retain Bellerin, Holding and of course AMN at the club this summer window but not move them on. But save, if they will bring in better than them for the club to progress starting from next summer campaign more especially in the PL and in Europa. And the general consensus of the Gooners is they want to see Ozil, Guendouzi, Sokratis and Kolasinac moved on by Arsenal this summer.
On the incomings, only a handful of the Gooners are against what looks to be the impending signing of Willian from Chelsea on the free this summer window principally because of his advanced age. However, while I am not against Arsenal signing Willian but totally in support of it, but at the same time, I’ll love it if Arsenal will go a step further to sign Philippe Courtinoh from Barcelona probably on loan this summer and to possibly make the loan permanent next season but if he performed incredibly well for Arsenal next season in all the competitions he’ll participate in to play for Arsenal. If this happens, the purported £200k/w wages that Arsenal will be expected to be paying him if the club decided to make his loan deal permanent can be renegotiated to something like between £120-150k/w wages I would think.
I am now officially a Stan Kroenke hater. There I said it…….
For me, the only constant factor between our most successful period and the mess we are in now was and still is Kroenke.
Everything that was and is good in our club was down to other people, and everything that is bad about our club was and is still down to Kroenke.
I always believe that success always comes from having a good owner on top and we have seen this at Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool & Leicester. The owner influence is huge on a club, more so than any other person, because if he put the right person in charge and provides all the necessary artillery, the club would be successful, and if not, need I elaborate further…you can see it yourself. At Arsenal, unfortunately for us, Kroenke is that man. Kroenke is responsible for the hiring of top executives who in turn hires the managers, who in turn hires the players, so ultimately those key decisions leads back to him.
No one can deny that the David Dein – Arsene Wenger partnership had been very successful and if David Dein backed Alisher Ushamov takeover bid had succeeded instead of Kroenke in 2005 or 2006, Arsenal would have flourished further because Ushamov is an Arsenal fan and he would provide all the best weapons that our Gunners needed to ensure that we continue to successful. In 1996, I believe, David Dein broke the EPL transfer record to sign Dennis Bergkamp, how often has that happened since Kroenke?
I would not look any further than the owner of the club for any mess we were and are in now because I strongly believe they are tied and pointed to only one direction, Stan Kroenke. For me Stan Kroenke at best, hampered Arsenal, and at worst destroyed Arsenal.
It wasn’t Kroenke in, it was the Board and senior executives, like Gazidis he either selected or retained, combined with the Board driving out David Dein that brought Arsenal FC to its current position.
The descent of Arsenal to “Wallymart” began on 18 April 2007, when David Dein MBE walked out the door due to “irreconcilable differences” with the Board.
@ OzzieGunner
What is clear to me David Dein supports Alishamov takeover bid and Gazidis was appointed by KROENKE to replace David Dein in 2008. I dont know what AW preference was at the time but what was clear, once SK won, AW had to stay here anyway because some banks were only willing to extend their loans to the club, on the condition that AW signed a long term contract.
David Dein backed Alishamov takeover bid because he proposed to inject cash to fund the Emirates construction and Kroenke wanted to fund it through various loans.
But of course our Board at the time sensibly voted for an opportunist Yanks over a RUSSIAN!!!! who today still profess his love for Arsenal as a fan.
Looking at our neighbours now, I am envious at what Abramovich and Chelsea has achieved over the last 16 years and wondered what could have been for us had Alishamov won. Chelsea were no slouch financially under rich Ken Bates but under Abramovich, they seemed to be just on another level financially compared to us under Kroenke, despite them both being billionaires.
Looking at our another esteemed neighbour Spurs and their yanks, I laughed when I read that the great Pochettino had ran from Spurs barely even a year after they move into the new stadium. For me, their state now is similar to us then in 2006-2007, they still have a good looking squad, certainly good enough for top 4 anyway, and both Great P and Special Moureen failed to deliver.
Next season would be interesting to watch because Special M as we all know, always does his best work in the 1st or 2nd Season except at MU where he was an abject specialist in failure. I think after his abject failure at mega rich MU, now he wants to redeem himself by showing people he can win the big one even with a club undergoing somewhat similar situation to us. Don’t get me wrong….hey I think he got a decent chance of pulling it off too. He certainly have a better chance than our MA….becoz, if one were just to compare both managers playing squad at the moment, IMO Mour squad definitely looks prettier. Spine, back, front, yeah…they are indeed prettier. Whether he achieved what he sets out to achieve when he made the decision to join Spurs, would make my list as one of the interesting thing to watch out for, outside of Arsenal next season.
Meanwhile, Stan Kroenke to me, continue to act and look more like a pauper than a saavy businessman with a fortune of 8 billions. Sorrry…
Faiz, it was actually David Dein who introduced Stan Kroenke to the Board. Dein was convinced that for Arsenal to move forward, it had to have external investment. The Board rejected Dein’s proposal and forced him from the Board. At his peak he owned 42% of the Club in 1991.
At the time Arsene Wenger, because of the “Lennon/McCartney” relationship between the two, asked Dein should he follow him out the door. Dein told him he should stay for the good of the Club.
Dein then sold his remaining 14.58% shareholding in the Club to Red & White Holdings (Usmanov & Moshiri) and became chairman until Usmanov sold to Kroenke. Usmanov sold to Kroenke, because he was forced off the Board by Kroenke, when the long term shareholders sold out.
The most despicable thing Kroenke did was exercise his right to compulsorily acquire the shares from small shareholders, where shares were passed down through families, such as the Arsenal Shareholders Trust. Even Piers Morgan had to sell.
Probably the most astute and true post on this site for a considerable time. Well said! And to answer Ozzies slightly different take , below , I CONFIRM THE CLEAR TRUTH THAT FAIZ MIKAEL ASTUTELY WROTE: “kroenke(as owner) is responsible for the hiring of top executives” AND for keeping them in post when they were clearly incompetant! No one ELSE has the power of an owner and that OUGHT to be obvious to all. The owner is ultimately the one to blame even though such as Gazidis and Wenger(later on) were far from innocent, to put it VERY mildly!
jon, I agree with you and have been consistent in my logic the whole time constantly questioning Kroenke’s owner management/oversight of his Arsenal asset.
I simply cannot understand how a supposedly made billionaire, who is independently wealthy to his wife, can select and retain such incompetents?
Seriously??? Pat? You can do better ..I am dissapointed now with you..
@ Pat
I apologized for being a fool:)) and wish to sincerely rectract my comments. In fact I hope you can delete those comments alltogether.
@ OzzieGunner,
My complex but short answer to you is, stop associating one’s wealth to one being smart or competent, and you will see that the answer lies within you after all in the last one word of your question. In order to believe it, you just have to trust what you see and not what you read or hear because there are a lot of PR bullshits going around these days.
By the way apologies for the late reply, I have to go out and earned a living too, and therefore, I cannot spend too much time here as much as I would like to.
@ Ozzie Gunner
I apologize for responding to the comment that I see now, you had in fact addressed to Sir Jon Fox..I really dont mean to butt in…I just missed the word “jon”…at the beginning of your comment and assumed your comment was an extension of your previous comment directed at me. Sorrrry….
The headline in this article, which I assume is, as usual, composed not by the article writer himself but by one of the Admins, asks two contrasting questions when in fact both questions are clearly true.
The club is OBVIOUSLY looking to reduce overall costs , as are ALL clubs everywhere, BUT are also looking to improve the squad. I cannot understand the reason for this daft headline on what I thought was a really well written article by Konstantin.
The most succesful clubs will be those who manage best the difficult task of improving their squads without spending more than they can afford. In one way we have a distinct advantage over more successful clubs; we have much deadwood to unload and almost ANY even half decent import will be bound to be a improvement on the mass of deadwood. I realise of course though, that this deadwood problem can also be a huge handicap, given the existence of Kroenke and the lack of money to spend.
Our ace in the pack is Arteta himself and his fast burgeoning reputation as coach and effectively as manager too.
We Gooners are from from being the only ones who know what a diamond we have in MA and many promising players who may be tempted to come are bound to be impressed by what he has achieved so far. Unless their name is Mogunna , perhaps! But then, there is always one, as they say! To him, MA is merely an “assistant coach”. Good grief!
@ Jon Fox
Thank you Sir Jon Fox for the assist. I agree with you that MA is indeed a diamond.
The problem I have with this site is more than just headlines..But let’s just stop there…
Dear Ozziegunner,
I don’t know whether it was Kroenke & Gazidis who sought out Dein and asked him to introduce them to the Board, or it was Dein who sought out Kroenke, and then introduced him to the Board (I hope you can follow me). Recent media report (especially those coinciding with AW leaving) seems extremely keen to allude to the latter as the fact. Anyway, I won’t dispute your statement there because I can see that David Dein was ok with him as an external investor owning 12% share of Arsenal at the time.
As for the rest of your comments, I wouldn’t trust any info about David Dein time with Arsenal after 2010 (Kroenke had already wrested control of the company/club by then). This includes infomercial from established media or current established Arsenal correspondent itself. If you understand how the way the real world works, most of the established media wouldn’t dare say or even whisper anything negative about the big man himself, Stan Kroenke….because if he were just to shake one of his balls, his underlings will immediately blacklist them (those who DARE to do so) from Arsenal.
Though it was not really shocking to me, I had even seen some write up coming up recently (not here by the way) which was meant to influence us to think that Dein and Kroenke was real buddies back then. To the initiated, some will say those sort of write ups came up because Kroenke was just being a savvy businessman, but to me, those write ups were just some necessary PR bullshits that needs to carried out by a crooked businessman, in order for him to continue to mislead people.
Anyway I don’t want to ramble on the matter further, but I will served up for your reading pleasure the words coming from the mouth of the great man, himself, David Dein. To find this article on the internet, you have to do a google search on a time window before the Kroenke takeover happened itself (that’s what I did) or I imagine, simply typing the exact headline will do. Anyway, here it goes:
http://Www.standard.co.uk
David Dein’s warning to Arsenal: Take Usmanov’s money or slip out of top four
By Henry Winter in Vienna
12:01AM BST 28 Jun 2008
Arsenal’s board were warned yesterday that they risked slipping out of the Champions League positions unless they sold up to Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbekistani multi-billionaire who owns 24.9 per cent of the club.
The warning came on the day that Emmanuel Adebayor signalled his intention to leave Arsenal for AC Milan.
Usmanov’s attempt to take over Arsenal through Red and White Holdings is being headed by David Dein, the club’s former vice-chairman who is still at odds with the board.
Arsenal’s board dislike Usmanov and have been talking to Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire who owns 12 per cent. Many Arsenal supporters share the board’s concern over the secretive Usmanov, although it is understood he would give Arsene Wenger up to £100million a year for transfers.
Dein, who dined with Wenger here last night, fears that without substantial investment Arsenal may fall out of the Premier League top four. “That is a worry,” Dein said.
“Luckily, they have Arsene but you have to give the man a chance. I don’t want to see Arsenal as the second or even third team in London. But the wealthier are going to get wealthier.
“I can see more investors coming in to football. I can see Liverpool being sold, Spurs being sold,” he added.
“We want to help Arsenal. He [Usmanov] would change the whole dynamic of the club. At Arsenal, something has to break.”
And OzzieGunner, you can get a better sense on the timeline of events as it unfolded, from wikipedia.
Wikipedia – Arsenal F.C. – Ownership and finances
The largest shareholder on the Arsenal board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke. Kroenke first launched a bid for the club in April 2007, and faced competition for shares from Red and White Securities, which acquired its first shares off David Dein in August 2007.
Red & White Securities was co-owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and Iranian London-based financier Farhad Moshiri, though Usmanov bought Moshiri’s stake in 2016. Kroenke came close to the 30% takeover threshold in November 2009, when he increased his holding to 18,594 shares (29.9%).
In April 2011, Kroenke achieved a full takeover by purchasing the shareholdings of Nina Bracewell-Smith and Danny Fiszman, taking his shareholding to 62.89%. As of May 2017, Kroenke owns 41,721 shares (67.05%) and Red & White Securities own 18,695 shares (30.04%).
In January 2018, Kroenke expanded his ownership, buying twenty-two more shares taking his total ownership to 67.09%. In August 2018, Kroenke bought out Usmanov for 550 million pounds giving him more than 90% of the shares and giving him the required stake to complete the buyout of the remaining shares making him the sole owner. Ivan Gazidis has been the club’s Chief executive since 2009.
OzzieGunner, you are free to make your own interpretations off the above articles. But I stand by my comment that David Dein was backing Usmanov bid and was totally against Stan Kroenke takeover. I normally rely on my memories when I write and you have to excuse me for getting a lot of my timeline wrong in my earlier comments. I actually have to google up this matter again to check on whether my memory now was failing me.
I just want you to know OzzieGunner, I converted from being a staunch MU fan because I was won over by AW, the person, and how he treated people including his players. In that sense, I was raised to be a Gooner by him, and I try to instill the values I learn from him in my daily dealings with people. I trust my eyes and instincts to connect the dot behind the scenes, and while I more or less couldn’t be bothered with UE from day one, I find myself hanging on to MA every word now because he seems to be a very decent person, and potentially a fine manager too, like AW was.
I dread to see whatever had happened with AW, happened to MA too in one or two years time if he don’t deliver, when the real culprit to me, all along, was sticking out like a sore thumb. Here I am repeating myself again, Kroenke at his best, hampered Arsenal, at his worst he is destroying Arsenal through his PR machines. So I think I am being fair when I say this, MA would deserve 150% and Kroenke 0.01% credit out of 100% if we were ever to miraculously achived some form of success in the future.
And by the way, I know the math is wrong, but that’s just what I feel sounds quite right for me.