For a few hours today the media went crazy over a rumoured £70 Million bid from Arsenal for Nicolas Pepe of Lille, though we did avoid reporting on that particular piece of gossip.
It is almost impossible these days to know what rumour is realistic and which ones are not but every now and then one comes along that is plainly ridiculous and that is what we felt over the Pepe rumour.
It just did not feel at all credible that Arsenal would all of a sudden bid that amount of money for any player, especially when you take the Wilfried Zaha saga into consideration.
Well, the very credible David Ornstein has popped up on twitter and restored sanity
Sources tell @BBCSport Arsenal have not submitted a bid for Lille forward Nicolas Pepe and do not have the level of money being reported (€80m) to sign the Ivory Coast international this summer #LOSC #AFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) July 13, 2019
Now, we do not profess to be any sort of transfer gurus or anything remotely like that, we know that 99% of the rumours we have reported on will not happen.
But when you read this player is linked for £12 Million or this one for £25 Million etc then you know it could happen, even possibly £50-60 Million but not £70 Million, that was crossing a line.
Think about it, if Arsenal had £70 Million do you not think they would have made a better offer for Zaha or even landed a proper centre half?
Anyway, Pepe bid, did not happen.
For the first time in a long time, last summer, I was excited for the season ahead. Now I am dreading what is to come. And what is the most painful element of all this is that the mess is the club’s own doing.
Can anyone say that pepe is an alternatives to Wilfried Zaha NO
This one is just media mockery once again
A dinosaur board who refuse to move with modern football and are happy to keep at the self-sustainability model. A management team that was first assembled, slowly disintegrated, and now has no clue how to handle a transfer window. A squad that is lacking in almost every position, overpaid and underproducing. Arsenal brought this on themselves, and it really is a mess.
Breaking news:Arsenal made an improved bid of 25 million for Kieran Tierney!!!
Dont get too excited…. I’m hearing its going to be rejected if its part performance add ons as Celtic are holding firm for 25 mill guaranteed….. Installments may be acceptable though.
Not from an ITK just a mate who lives within spitting distance of Celtic Park and hears things every now and again so take it as you like
Commenting on our beloved club is really tiring, everyone in the football world knows what is needed to turn things around at Arsenal, everyone except the people that really matter, the clubs management. I thought Raul would usher in a new era with fresh ideas, I don’t know much about the likes of Vinai but my word these guys are so lousy at their jobs.
I see everyone is bashing Stan but I kinda don’t believe is solely to blame for this mess. Our self-sustainable model could work if we did it right and not overpay players like we currently are doing. The likes of Ajax Amsterdam and Dortmund are doing it, why can’t we? We don’t to be splashing 65m on a single player to show ambition but good Lord the guys at Arsenal are too clueless.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Out with Gazidis and Wenger and in with Raul and Vinai and the transfer-paralysis syndrome just gets worse with every passing transfer window.
Like you NONNY, I too am not looking forward to next season. I wanted to get myself our new Adidas jersey but this club isn’t worth my money. I will continue to watch our matches but my passion for the club wanes with every passing season.
Arsenal should be serious and go for Everton Soares
EDU can help us get him
Better value option by far, Nonny.
Am I going mad or was there an Iwobi article on here???
Yes there was sue and I gave it full pelt ?
And I missed it, Dan!! Gutted!! ?
AdMart-What have you done with the Iwobi article?Its Saturday evening let’s have something to entertain us
Can’t believe it Dan-just getting warmed up for the Iwobi Feast and they pull it on us.
So-how did you get on with your new driver mate?
Unfortunately I was getting ready to counter all bias arguments.The criticism some players in our team have escaped is massive.Even Emery has has to consider himself lucky
Your right@Kev-Emery should have been sacked for the amount of game time he gave to Iwobi.How can he argue when we all saw how useless he was.Yet I see the Iwobi Boys were out in support of someone who i believe had one half decent game in a third rate tournament that nobody outside of the teams playing will give a toss about anyway
Just read Iwobi talking on another blog about the Nigerian “Golden Generation” that he is part of.Does he actually realise we are talking about a competition the equivalent of the Women’s Checkatrade Trophy?
Still if he’s finally realised that is his level then he may also soon realise that the “Golden Generation” from the Arsenal youth team of Nelson,Saka and ESR will at least mean we see the back of him quite soon.
I think you should show note respect to Iwobi and even African football as a whole.My country, Ghana, with the right coach will beat many of the European teams and will easily walk the AFCON.You might think he’s average as I also do but there’s no need to always express disgust towards everything regarding him.It just doesn’t seem right.We have worse players but there and you are free to criticize them but distance yourself from always vilifying him
Dude, you are a FOOL for degrading the AFCON that way.
I don’t care about whatever bullocks you talk about Iwobi, but you shouldn’t talk about African football and the AFCON like that.
Yes, there are African teams that will beat your overhyped English team comfortably. Sit down and learn some humility.
Phil, have you even watched a single AFCON game this tournament? If not then maybe you should keep quiet. It’s really a shame. Liverpool fans are cheering salah and Mane to go and win, and all we do is take shots at our own academy player. Smh.
Wow. For someone to be thinking like this in 2019.scary wow.
Learn to show some respect when you talk about other continents and their football competitions…. third rate or first rate , it’s still a competition.
Show some respect.
No he along with Ozil should’ve started together in the 4-2-3-1 not because they were good but because relative to the team they were part of our best players.I’d rather see Iwobi making mistakes than see Kolasinac who is even a worse footballer being our main outlet on the left side.That being said Iwobi and Ozil should not be part of our starting eleven anymore.If these two are part next season then it means we might as well start panicking bevause we are doomed.Fans who argue that any one of them is good enough for the first team is deceiving themselves.Infact Mkhitaryan and Ozil must be sold because for large parts of the season Iwobi outperformed both while basically doing almost next to nothing.I think we will be having this same conversation next year by this time if the player’s continue to start for us.
As for Emery he must consider himself a lucky man because he has escaped massive criticism.He was average last season and Arsenal should not give him another chance if there’s no improvement next season.He lost us a UCL spot and UEL trophy with his poor formation and tactics
@Kev%who do you think you are? My mother?You don’t tell me what I can or cannot express as my views.So your from Ghana.And with the right Coach you would beat who exactly.Do you not feel there is a reason no coach of any worth is actually managing the African nations? It’s because the players are not good enough so you only attract the third rate managers.
Truth hurts PAL
No, do not say I am telling you what to do because we know I can’t do that.I can’t command you in offering an opinion.What I’m saying is it’s not nice to keep vilifying him when you get any chance.Im an African but that doesn’t stop me from clearly seeing and accepting he’s average and as of now is bench quality.
You might not know much about Ghana in footballing terms but those who know the country will agree with me that we currently have a bad coach.We’ve had good coaches such as the one who led us to a World Cup Quarter final in South Africa.But for a Suarez handball we would’ve gone to the semis.AFCON relatively doesn’t have the best players but have some of the best players.No need to disrespect it.Its low
Lille are a very smart team.Lille were expecting offers to come in for Pépé this week so maybe they leaked the €80m bid as a starting point go as he said he would pick his club after the AFCON.They are trying to raise the scale by using us.
In other news Arsenal are battling Inter Milan and Man City for Dani Alves
@Kev-can you tell me the names of any Ghana player I may of heard of and the Clubs/Leagues they play for
Kwadwo Asamoah,Jordan Ayew,Dede Ayew,Asamoah Gyan,Sulley Muntari,Michael Essien,Stephen Appiah,John Paintsil,Kevin Prince Boateng,John Mensah,Baba Rahman and others.
I can keep on going and can also mention some of our legends you’d know of since you are old like Abedi Pele and Odartey Lamptey.I can’t go through all the clubs one by one but all the above have played in either EPL,La Liga or French Ligue One.
You might not like the AFCON but at least give it some respect because it’s a competition for African players.Many legends of football were also of African descent but decided to play for the European teams.Ghana just lacks a good coach but with the right coach we are a force to be reckoned with
Oh Kev,you forgot Partey the Boss.Who can walk into the English first team half dressed and without boots.
This list may help Phil
Stephen Appiah Juventus
Sulley Muntari Inter and AC Milan
Tony Yeboah Leeds and Hamburg
Samuel Kuffour Bayern Munich Roma
Michael Essien Chelsea Real Madrid AC Milan
Abedi Pele Marseille
Thomas Partey Atletico Madrid
That group of players have won multi Champions League and elite league titles including Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A, there are others but that is just an example of the quality that has come out of Ghana, the list runs into hundreds when you include all African nations.
African players have also won the Ballon d’Or and been top scorer in most elite leagues, player of the year and so on.
By anyone’s standards, elite world class players have come out of Ghana and Africa as a whole on a regular basis.
The list of countries beaten by African teams in World Cups is extensive, Cameroon over Argentina, Senegal over France, Algeria over West Germany and Chile, Morroco over Portugal, Nigeria over Spain, South Africa over France and more.
In eight of the last nine World Cups African teams have reached the last 16 of the world cup finals and three of the last eight have made the quarterfinals.
I simply cannot see any justification calling African teams, footballers etc third rate.
Thanks very much Admin Martin.Its a shame some see African football as just some low level quality of football.A bigger shame is that my country has always had potential but is always faced with unlucky circumstances.We had a bad coach which is why we were knocked out early in the AFCON on penalties
Yeah and if my Auntie had a pair of Testicals PAL she would be my Uncle.Just having Potential is one thing but the rest? Please do me a favour.And for all your followers of African Football that have jumped on to my comments let me ask you this Question-How many of the players that are appearing in ACON are good enough to play in a starting eleven for England?And let me tell you I don’t follow England that avidly so I couldn’t really give a toss about them.But I’m struggling here to think of ONE SINGLE PLAYER from an African Nation that would be good enough.I stand to be corrected but don’t believe I will be
Salah, Mane, Aubameyang and that is just off the top of my head.
Hang on a minute-How many of these are playing for Ghana now?And George Weah was once World Footballer of the Year but that doesn’t mean his country was any good does it?Scotland have had outstanding footballers in the past but are they anything other than a third rate football nation now?No of course they are not.They would probably struggle at ACON that’s how bad they are.But I could just name
Dalglish Souness Hansen Nichol Bremner Jordan McQueen The 67 Lisbon Lions etc etc but it didn’t get over the fact Scotland are a crap football nation at this time and never ever that threatening in World or Euro’s where they are judged.
And for whoever feels that ACON is a serious Football Competition let me tell you that outside of the nations that are taking part in it nobody else would bother watching it.The fact the Women’s World Cup is beamed all around the world and shown on Terrestrial TV and ACON is only shown where exactly says it all.ACON is behind women’s football in the eyes of the World outside Africa.Zbout right in my opinion
But that is not the question you asked Phil. If you asked about current day footballers that would be different, though Thomas Partey would walk into this Arsenal side fairly easily.
So by your reasoning England are the best team in the World having won the World Cup in 1966.Forest are the best team in Europe having twice won the European Cup.
Very flawed reasoning that AdMart.We are talking about the here and now.
Nope, you asked a questioned and it was fairly easily answered Phil and yes, based on England’s history at events and their players they are not a third rate nation.
So we need a CB, winger, backup RB, and midfielder if I understand the clubs transfer business correctly.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they shift Iwobi to CM to avoid spending any money, and cite his ACON performances.
Arsenal fans knew the Pepe rumor was false, just look at the bid they said Arsenal made. Unless it was £10 million in 5 year installments it was fake.
Still waiting on Saliba news, haggling over add-ons supposedly, that’s my Arsenal.
Soooo glad we have Raul and his magical contact book, otherwise we’d look aimless in market with only 18 yr old hopeful to show for it.
@Durand, how the appointment of Raul looks so dreadful some measly 15 months on. I wonder how long he has signed on for. Isn’t it funny how Unai was lauded for his spreadsheet on academy players and how he’d improve them on his interview but in light of his first season in charge… I have great reservations. Now we are chasing a 27m pound 18yr old when we have plenty of those in our own academy and we won’t even have him immediately if the rumours of a deal are true.
You have to ask yourself what Raul, Vinai and Unai’s KPI’s and KPA’s are and what criteria was used to measure them. Arsenal don’t need to splash 70m on a single transfer to make a statement but not even our management recognise and realise that. What a shame for a club that moved to a newer and bigger stadium to compete with the best teams in the world only to be a mockery of the footballing community.
Please I didn’t see Xavier Amaechi
Amongst our players who went to
America…
And I heard Amaechi has deleted all
Arsenal related contents from his social media
What is actually happening?
Reports are Emery doesn’t favor Amaechi. This from the guy who rated Suarez and chased him all January with Raul.
Beggars shouldn’t be picky, and I thought Amaechi had enough to get called up, especially for the USA tour.
How the mighty (arsenal) have fallen
Rated xhaka,Suarez and iwobi yet didn’t rate
Amaechi
Amaechi will not be signing a new contract and thus will be leaving Arsenal
Another day gone and still no signing. Lost of words for Arsenal
I hope our youngsters don’t fail us
The same fake news, I wonder what the club take we fans for.
Maybe customers
I hope Freddie can continue his magic with the youngsters, and hope Emery smart enough to take his advice. It appears that’s the direction we’re headed, and committed now with their introduction to the first team.
Watched a documentary about the English Civil War yesterday. What we need is the Arsenal revolution 2019. What Satan Kroenke et al are doing is an affront to the amazing supporters of our club and unacceptable. Kroenke is not fit to own our club.
25 million 4 kieran Tierney!!!
I don’t know about y’all but am not excited for the new season.. We, are currently lagging behind the top 5 teams, and now everton, Leicester and westham are out-spending us..Leicester just bought Tieleman for 40 mil, Ayoze Perez for 30 mil and still going for more.. Everyone just signed Andre Gomez and are in the market for a high profile striker with Moise Kean and Icardi on their radar.. Westham are looking for a high profile striker having missed out on targets worth 30-50 mil.. MIND YOU all these three teams beat us on their home grounds and the same will happen next yr..Arsenal have no ambition and our luck will surely run out..I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t sign any quality players by Sept and if we don’t qualify for Europa by May…
The Zaha saga may turn out to be the same as the Suarez dilemma, with more consequences.. I think out top three players (laca,auba,bellerin) will have a lot to think about after next season.. The guy who gets paid the highest is the guy who contributes the least
M.U. signed this guy James, they went straight in and offered what Swansea wanted, he’s now on tour with them getting integrated into the club. We’ll probably signed a couple of players in the last few days of the transfer window and then be told they can’t play for 6 or 7 games cos not fit etc. What a way to run a club.
Marty, I have to remember St Francis of Assisi a d hope that God grants me “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.”
Arsenal FC: a business first, a football club a distant second.
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