Arsenal News Arsenal opinion

Arsenal have yet another opening bid rejected – Why another defender?

This is one of the strangest starts to a transfer window that I can remember. So far it seems that Arsenal have been told by Real Madrid that we will not be getting Martin Odegaard back for a second season loan after Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear he wants him to stay at the Bernabeau next year.

Then we were gazumped by Aston Villa to the signing of Emi Buendia who looked like Mikel Arteta’s main target after Odegaard for the summer.

Then it seemed nailed on that the Ajax keeper Onana was a certainty to join at a very cheap price as he was banned for a year, but that ridiculously low bid was rejected by the Dutch giants out of hand.

Everyone then went on to say that the Gunners would be making Yves Bissouma, who is purported to be a big Arsenal fan, as their next midfield target after Buendia, but we have seen no mention of a bid forthcoming and instead we are being linked with other midfielders all over Europe.

Then, despite the fact that we have central defenders coming out of our ears, we now hear that Arteta has made the Brighton defender Ben White our new main target, but according to SkySports our opening bid of a massive £40m for the England international has also been rejected by the Seagulls.

Now, the last time I looked, even after David Luiz leaving, Arteta has Gabriel, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari, and Rob Holding, plus Saliba and Mavropanos possibly coming back from their very successful loans. I’m not sure I understand why yet another defender should be a priority, especially at that price!

Can anyone see any pattern emerging in our rumours?

Posted by

Tags Ben White

93 Comments

  1. It’s also been reported we have had a £70 million offer for Maddison turned down by Leicester.

    1. £70m?!! £40+m for White?!!

      These figures suggest that Kroenke is splashing the cash – somehow, or there are expected departures that will cancel out £110m

      Don’t know what to make of any of it

      1. Your comment makes lot of sense as you said somehow there seems to be some cash available even before sales can we dare to hope?

      2. I don’t believe any of it. It would be silly to spend £70 million on one player let alone Maddison.

        White makes sense although not our biggest need. We are light in the CB position. David Luiz is gone mavro will be sold for £7 mill. Holding is OK but not good enough. Gabriel has a lot to improve and Mari is good but has his limitations.

        Maddison is not believable but Lokonga seems more plausible in terms of price tag and profile.

        If Xhaka leaves we need a more experienced players as well and Lokonga at his age and with no PL experience is not that guy. I would love to see Bissouma or Neves come in for Xhaka.

        But I don’t expect us to fork out £110 before we even sold a single player and the players we are selling all seem to be sold in typical Arsenal fashion for small tickets (less than £20 quoted so far for Xhaka and £7 for Mavro and less than £20 for Guendouzie, asl it is a bit too quiet on the bellerin sale front for my liking – there was a time he would have been good for £20+). The market has come down though as a result of Covid but that makes paying £70 for maddison even more unlikely.

        1. The thing is I don’t think all of the transfer money will be spent in one go ,the deals will be similar to pepe’s where you pay over a number of seasons

        2. It’s a wonder arsenal fans are not dying in droves from stress-related complications. Just relax n pray that the people (rightly or not) employed 2 conduct arsenal transfer business know what is best 4 the club. I don’t think they r consciously targeting mediocrity as their jobs are ultimately dependent on the teams performance next season

    2. Contrary to what most people believe we have splashed a lot of cash in last 3-4 windows and if we are spending the rumoured figures on Madison and white then there you go I hope that will put an end to thsi argument of us not spending. It’s just we don’t spend wisely, again we are at it paying over the odds for players who do not justify the price tag. Why oh why would you buy English players who everyone knows are just over hyped and over priced twice or three times just because of their nationality in EPL. There are far better quality and priced players available outside then them. For white actually we have don’t need him we have much much more talented and rated players as Saliba and Gabi, hell even Holding and Mari are more proven and better then him. We will again pay absurd amount of money for avg talent then when they won’t meet the price tag expectations we will moan. At Arsenal we truly never learn our lesson. I don’t understand the owner either he does not want to get rid of failures like Arteta and Edu becaue it will cost so n so but he is willing to back them up with more money in transfer window. What is the logic here of putting more money into a proven failed project. We need a new project and new direction with new ppl then backing them up with cash would make sense.

      1. Logic, you write logic, whereas there appears to be no logic in Arsenal’s purported transfer dealings. Edu is involved by distance management on holiday in Portugal.
        Every man, woman and their dogs know the positions that Arsenal needs to address, yet the Club is connected to every other position of apparent relative strength.
        All we do is wait until the end of the season, but it is not looking promising. Strengths must be preserved and available transfer funds spent on positions of greatest need.

        1. Ozzie, yup. Why would Edu go on holiday when transfer window time is the most busiest time of his role. Why not go on holidays before or after. I might be wrong but everything at Arsenal just feels like so broken and unprofessional.

          1. Everyone needs a break for gods sake. These are trying times and if I was a millionaire I would definitely take a holiday…

  3. Seems like we are up for a strange crazy summer.

    If the rumors are true we have bid a combined 90 million pounds for White and Maddison.

    This makes me believe we have money, about 100 million pounds to spend.

    Arteta should just try and make use of the funds well.

    If I were in charge, I will focus my attention on getting Bissouma first before an Attacking Midfielder, and other positions.

    For Arteta to bid 40 million pounds for white, it means Mavropanos and Saliba are not in his plans.

    If things go as planned for him then I see White and Gabriel as first choice. Mari and Holding as second choice center back partnership.

    Well, not a bad one though.

    2. I agree on Bissouma. We need to imporve the spine of the team and if Xhaka leaves a partnership of Partey-Bissouma would imporve our spine.

      I would have White and Saliba compete with Gabriel and Holding to become the anker of the defense. I like Mari but see him as a dependable sub I also like Chambers but none of the recent managers seem to like him as a CD. Nothing wrong with having 4 sold CD. I would be pissed if Saliba never got a chance. Competition is good, Gabriel is pormissing but not there yet. Let’s get Saliba to a point where we can at least recover the money we dished out and make a little porfit as well.

      1. I would have thought that Bissouma is the player that Arsenal should be buying from Brighton above anyone else. He would undoubtedly strengthen the spine and be an ideal partner for Partey in the same way that Petit was for Vieira.
        At the same time there is no doubt that White offers a vast improvement upon both Holding and Chambers and this being the case I would have thought that either or both should be offered to Brighton as part of any deal.
        Notwithstanding Arsenal’s possible desire to buy both Bissouma and White from Brighton I would suggest that we might also have a need for a back up goalkeeper in Ryan and a good young right back in Lamptey….But really can’t ever see Arsenal and Edu being able to negotiate more than one of these players.

        1. Yes to Bissouma, yes to Ryan, yes yo Lamptey, no to White, as he is completely over priced.
          Best bit of business from Brighton & Hove Albion would be to buy their scouting team.

  4. Saliba played well at Nice – cant see what the lad has to do to get a shot- reeks of personality clash. He got treated badly by Arteta/Edu shonky planning and complained in the press – that dissent seems to have sealed his fate no matter how high his ceiling. Seems to be Gendouzi pt 2 – I am all for keeping order and egos in check but Arteta should be concentrating on improving the play not flexing his managerial muscle – he hasnt earned his own place in the sun yet.

    1. One of the main aspects of Emery’s time at Arsenal was that there was an appalling atmosphere/attitude in the dressing room and by withdrawing their support to him, certain players ensured he got the sack.

      Move on to Arteta. Whatever else he has done at Arsenal, he got rid of the disruptive elements. Even though results were not as good as they should have been,(they really weren’t) I got no sense at all of disharmony within the ranks. Like him as a manager or not, that was essential as far as I was concerned. AMN to an extent, Guendouzi and possibly Saliba have voiced opinions externally – a reason possibly to nip things in the bud. Maybe? Just a thought. Until Arteta gets his marching orders he is the boss. The office of manager should be respected. It’s down to the Board to hire and fire the manager not a nucleus of players however promising they are

      1. Suep
        👍
        Spot on
        As supporters we have a right to moan and we always think we know best. Me included
        He has cleared a lot of dead wood out which we have alway be said needed to be done. Not always the players we would all agree on as some ozil supporter would say he needed to say but in his mind these are the players that need to be gone
        It’s a new start again and we all said it would take 3 seasons min to get it done and get back on track.
        As supporters we want it now but deep down we all know it has been rotten for at least 5 to 6 seasons
        I will still moan and complain about his tactics and team selections but will still support him until he is moved on as he is the manager of the club we followed and support.
        It wasn’t so long ago that a lot of Liverpool fans said klopp is done and needs to move on because they were sitting outside the top 4
        Aren’t we all a bunch of fickle fans at times

          1. At Sue P
            The players cannot touch Arteta they already fired Emery. They the players also learned from firing Emery that it gives more power to the incoming manager + hurt there careers. The board are the owner needs to act otherwise the fans will give Arteta what’s coming to him.

      2. Wrong again SueP, Saliba was not even at Arsenal when Emery was incharge so he was no where part of any so called conspiracy theory of appalling dressing room. Plus there has been no indication that there was some sort of mutiny or rebellion in dressing room if that was the case then we got rid of the so called players by sending them on loan, selling them and actually froze them from the first team squad so why did that not improve our results. It’s just another excuse for shifting the blame from our poor managers incapability. Blame the players then atmosphere then COVID then not having fans in stadium just keep going with excuses where as other clubs are making strides towards becoming better by acknowledging their mistakes and trying to rectify them. Also respecting some one does not mean you have to back them up or agree with their mistakes. It does not make sense to believe in this logic of supporting an incapable person just because he has the manager post at your club. Another thing you must have heard respect is earned so let Arteta earn it which he has so far failed miserably with in last season.

      3. SueP and Allan, all one can hope is that Arteta is assessed by the same criteria as Emery. Emery as “head coach” was expected to coach the players provided to him, with Sven Mislantat engaged to select those additional players. Unfortunately he was undermined by the German clique (now departed) and was sacked, receiving a nice golden handshake to pursue his career elsewhere.
        The Board in selecting Arteta, a manager on a learner’s permit, also gave him a say in transfers in and out.
        He should be judged this coming season on the results achieved with these players.
        Eighth position in the table (the same position as when Emery was sacked), with 13 losses in the season (2 more than Terry Neil, who was sacked) is not a good starting position.
        This is a results business. It doesn’t matter, whether the players love Arteta or hate his guts, he should be judged on the results achieved on the pitch, he can engender from the players he has selected. The table doesn’t lie.

    2. I agree on Saliba. Part of managing is managing young personalities. The guy seems a decent player and we invested significant funds in him for which we have gotten zero return.

      If he did something wrong, sit him down and fix the problem.
      (What is the chance that both Guendouzie and Saliba have personality problems beyond repair?) Both these players seem hugely talented to me. We should be able to convert at least one of them to a contributing member of the squad.

    3. Iain How very TRUE he has a personality problem with Gendouzi he threw his dummy out the pram. I hope he has not lost the plot

  5. A few possibilities:

    – We’ll revert to 3-4-3 with six CBs at our disposal

    – Or Chambers refused to sign a new contract and will be sold

    – Or Mavropanos and Saliba will be sold

      1. That means we’ll have Holding, Mari, Chambers, Ballard, McGuinness, Medley and Saliba in the beginning of the season. That should be enough if we play with two CB formation again

        1. Ballard, McGuinness and Medley will be nowhere
          around the first team when the EPL season begins.

          And Holding/Saliba/Mari/Chambers certainly isn’t
          enough to start the season, especially with both
          Chelsea and Man City in the opening fixtures.

          Yet Arsenal fans can’t fathom the need for Ben White.

          SMMFH

    2. All these are insinuation and nothing aurthentic. Let the signings begin and then will know the Kroenke are ready to splash the cash. English players are generally becoming overated and expensive for reason I can’t decipher.

      If indeed Arsenal is ready to buy a defender before a midfielder, then I can’t see us going anywhere next season.

      And Arteta should be ready for massive criticism by the fans in a toxic atmosphere.

      1. Yeah, English players are very expensive because of their homegrown status. I also agree that CB shouldn’t be our priority currently

        Our first five EPL games next season will be a very difficult test for Arteta

        1. GAI, Chambers, potentially the best DM presently at the Club, who gets no opportunities in that position?Arsenal would be idiotic to sell a player, who can cover CB, RB and DM.

      2. At Arsenal, it makes sense to sit out your contract. We pay too much.

        Xhaka will take a 40k pay cut per week to move to Italy, if that doesn’t tell us we pay too much I don’t know what will.

        It also tells me Xhaka prefers to play football whilst Ozil prefered to collect his contractual due.

        When it comes to negotiating salaries, player sales and aquisitions we are really poor and have been for years.

  6. We also have young Daniel Ballard who had a great season on loan at Blackpool to come back as well, I thought we disposed of surplus CBs because we had too many why would we want to bring in any more when we need quality players in other positions? Beats me!!!

      2. 👍 👍 Yes, two young up and coming CB’s, that if they weren’t Arsenal players, the Club would be connected to by the media.

    2. Ballard and McGuinness are very promising
      young CB talents but IMHO both will be loaned out
      to the Championship or a European league next
      season

  7. Here we go. Every window is the same, Arsenal are in for this player, that player etc etc etc. Yes, no club football is being played and yes everyone likes to speculate on who is coming in. it is speculation at best, but mostly likely click bait.

    1. Have to give it a big yawn OZ, First to placate the fans we are told that the Kroenkes have given whoever is in charge a war chest( SIC), there is the long list of everyman and his dog being associated with Arsenal, before you know it the best of the bunch have been snapped up our competitors and finally we have our so called betters scrambling away to beat the transfer deadline in late August, if nothing else but to once again placate the fans. What a way to run down a once great football club.

      1. And most of the players Arsenal is connected with are shiny toys the Club doesn’t need, outside the financial constraints of the Club or both. Let’s hope Richard Garlick can bring some sanity.
        Joe.S, the “once great football club” has been run down by abysmal financial and player asset management. What business can survive buying dear and selling cheap?

  8. The pattern emerging from all the rumours is that they’re all bullshit. Nobody spouting any of this crap has an inside line to arsenal’s transfer plans so stop fretting.

    1. I am in the same view. We can’t possibly be interested in all 100 players we are linked to everyday.

  9. There is a possibility that White is being brought in to be converted to an out-and-out midfield destroyer. He certainly has the attributes. If so, that would make him one of two CMs brought in alongside Lokonga.

    I would be very surprised if Saliba was given no opportunities to impress at all after two very positive loan spells.

    I stand to be corrected, of course.

  10. I think I’ve read it somewhere that Arsenal are in the process of selling or have sold Mavropanous for £7m to the German club side that they loaned him to last season. But maybe it just another unfounded media Arsenal transfer eumour I wouldn’t know.

    Has any top PL club sides made a bid to sign Ben Davids this summer? Well, I don’t know. But the moment Arsenal said they want to sign him, Ash! Money has come, we will make money out of selling him. It’s Arsenal that him, hmmm. Let’s tell them to pay £50m or even more. So say Brighton I am imagining.

    But are us in trouble. For, any player that us want to sign from the small clubs, they often hike his cost price aboves reasonable limit but to the sky for Arsenal to pay. Why?

    Anyway, Arteta knows why he wants Ben Davids at Arsenal this summer. So, let us to respect his rational but not over query it. But if Arsenal table a 2nd bid for Ben Davids signing and Brighton still reject it, let Arsenal leave pursuing signing him and move on to look elsewhere I will advice them.

  13. Why go for Ben White? Because Arteta may look like he knows, may talk like he knows……but in reality is football stupid. Surely the quality of football we played last year was so poor that supporters have seen through Arteta. He is a CON. Our defence was not the worst by far last season and we have William Saliba and Konstantinos Mavropanos, who have both been super for their respective loan clubs. Arteta has got the mindset to reduce this club to rubble, he is making this club a laughing stock. Don’t buy into it….you are being conned, by a poverty struck manager…..Arteta.

    1. Jeez you are like a stuck record!

      Article about Ben White …. “Arteta is a CON”
      Article about Saliba……. “Arteta is an ego on legs. I won’t call him a manager”
      Article on Onana …. “Arteta and Edu are not capable of quickly winding up deals”

      Okay we get it – You don’t like Arteta, but do you have to hijack every single post attacking him?
      Please talk about the subject and stop making trollish attacks please.
      I’m asking nicely

      2. Admin Pat

        He is damaging Arsenal and not improving us. Why don’t you also complain at those sheepishly following Arteta. Also many here attack Arteta, so why scapegoat me. Have you got an issue with me. Unlike others I do not insult others, and write what I see. If you don’t like how you imagine me…say so. It will be purely your imagination. Scapegoat somebody else please.

        1. Scapegoating you?
          I am pointing out that you hijack every post to insult arteta. If it is a post about arteta then fair enough, but readers come on here to discuss many subjects, not just your pet hatred (and it is hatred).
          If you only want to insult our manager go aomewhere else. It is boring and negative.
          Am I clear?

          1. Admin Pat

            If you read my comment I was concurring with you, why sign Ben white when we have many CB’s. The real truth is I consistently back our young players all the time, do you not notice those. To single out people, and to be clearly following my posts, is strange, and is any place on earth wrong. Others are even more regularly vociferous against Arteta than me. For whatever reason you are singling me out, which surely in this day is not good. You don’t have to like me, but I don’t slag other contributors to JA off, like many do, and am always supportive to our young talent. I hijack nothing….just like other I write what I truly believe.

            1. OK you can make sensible contributions. Just stop with the aryeta diatribe and we’re good.
              End of discussion….

  14. Arsenal are getting a name fot bad business. We sell greaf developing young footballers, yet we cannot manage to secure the services of the top professionals. Why should they dome to Arsenal? No Champions league, no Europa league , a manager who unfortunately has not conveyed his vision neither to the fans or aspiring proven loanees. We were and I sincerely hope….will be again a great football club.
    So if you have talents usex them, dont sell them. Then establish which positions need attention and buy the right player. Pay the money before another club steps in
    Thankyou for listening Trevor Dearling

      1. Yeah if he is the next Messi like people are making Foden to be lol! We know English media they hype their players. I would rather spend that money on 2 quality players from out side EPL to fill other gaps.

      2. Hi Sue.. I like James Maddison but for 70 mil ? No not for me he’s going to be seriously over priced because of his nationality, I’m sure the club can find a player equal or better than him for that money.. I still think we need another forward which I don’t think we’ll get.

    2. @Kev, while no doubt Bissouma is a good player but there are three issue with his signing. First if we partner him with Partey then when Afcon comes we will loose both, it is not sensible to loose both your regular midfielders who form vital part of your team together. How will we survive in the weeks without them. Second him and Partey are pretty similar only that Partey is more offence minded but our problem has been creating attacks we need a deep laying play maker both of them can not perform that role. They can be B2B or DMs but none of them is a play maker. Third one is we don’t have that many matches to play this season as we are not in Europe so does not make sense to have cover for every spot plus do you think Bissouma be happy sitting on bench.

      1. @Logic no I definitely do not.. if he leaves Brighton he will want assurances of a regular berth in the team he decides to sign for. The ACON is certainly a burden but unless you have players playing for the better nations in Egypt, Algeria, Senegal and maybe Nigeria and Cameroon I think they will be out of there pretty fast lol. If we have a tight budget then we’ll definitely have to be clever in want we do this summer and what Arteta /Edu have planned is anyone’s guess, I just hope for a productive summer 👍

        1. Same here kev, good point about Afcon though lol! I hope of productive summer as well and addressing the weak areas in team like most of us 🙂

  16. Apparently, a stiker is not a priority for now but why can’t we sell Lacazette and buy Ivan Toney from Brentford

  17. We don’t need another defender especially not an overpriced homegrown one. Mind you we do have previous for paying way over the odds – £72m for Pepe?

  18. Simple reason!!!

    Ben White is better than all the defenders at Arsenal combined.

    That’s why we’re desperate to sign him.

    I was rooting for him in the first place before we wasted money on the ponderous Gabriel Magalhaes.

    1. @Herbz;
      Thank goodness someone has finally hit the nail on the head. Ben white is probably better on the ball than all our midfielders and is a decent defender as well, superb passing rang too, considering the fact Arteta Likes his team to play out of the back, all our defenders are not good on the ball so they become jittery and kick the ball away under pressure, this is the same reason i believe we want to sign Onana since leno is not good on the ball. once the defense is comfortable playing out of the back, the team will be more dangerous in attack. Luiz was good on the ball with the passing range but he’s leaving and without a capable replacement in terms similar ability, the team will suffer.

    2. Nice try Herbz…before his name was surprisingly raised a couple of weeks ago, you wouldn’t know him if he walked right up to you on the street and kicked you in the junk…I would gladly take Gabs, Saliba and/or Mavro over him, considering the required investment to get this little known, barely PL experienced defender…until recently he was known primarily as the guy lining up beside the towering Lewis Dunk

      Mavro has proven himself abroad as a more than effective defender in both a 3 and 4-back set…besides, anyone that Diamond Eye favours deserves a shot at our club…Saliba is clearly worthy of getting a chance to unseat a rather pedestrian Holding and Gabs has the makings of a great starting LCB for years to come…let’s remember it was difficult to really excel on a team that required a substantial amount of interplay within their defensive zone considering the poor play of Leno on the ball, the defensive deficiencies of both Xhaka and Luiz, the subpar passing abilities of Holding and the frequently absent Tierney…until we shore up our actual “need” positional issues we shouldn’t be even contemplating investing such a considerable sum on a coin flip proposition

      1. All these defenders you mentioned, none has more EPL experience than Ben White. How many EPL games has Mavro., Gab, and Saliba played compare to White? Add Mari to it. Besides, what we have is just numbers, we are talking of specific qualities here. Mikel Arteta has been talking of getting players with specific qualities in his press conference. Of all the 8 central defenders we have, tell me which one of the is anywhere near the ball playing abilities of Ben White? None. For a manager that wants to implement a playing out of the back tactics, having ball playing defenders is a must especially the one with good passing range. You can see what Elderson does at man city , he fulfill that role, he creates several assists and defenders comfortably give him the ball to relieve pressure. There’s nobody in our defence you can give the ball to relieve pressure, so they simply kick it upfield or give it away cheaply. It’s only those who understands the tactics that would appreciate the acquisition of white. Pep got rid of Joe Hart who in my opinion was a better goalkeeper to Elderson for the same reason.

        1. delusional commentary about a player who’s played one season in the premiership, who averaged a 6.5 rating in the matches he’s played…try looking into the stats regarding this player on a credible site like Football Critic…he’s simply been propped-up since he was added to the national squad, which was only as a result of injuries…it’s not uncommon for teams to bring in younger players with some sort of speculative chance of contributing in the future…I’ve watched, with my own eyes, all 4 of these players and I dare you to give me some definitive examples of when Ben White truly separated himself from the others when it comes to their respective skillsets…this season, in 36 appearances, one Big Chance created and NO assists…so give your head a good shake and stop being a pawn to this less than credible regime

          1. What are you talking about? Is he an attacking midfielder that should be creating big chances? And if he was brought into the English squad because of injury, why wasn’t Rob Holding selected ahead of him? It simply means he’s better than Holding. I also submitted that he’s very comfortable on the Ball far better in that regard than any of our current defenders, but you ignored all those points and you are talking about assists. The way arteta want to play, our current defenders maybe good but not suitable to the system, I never said they are bad. I gave example of how Pep got rid of Joe Hart because he was terrible with the ball on his feet but was very good keeper. I’m sure you didn’t read my comment before spewing your hatred for the manager. Stop being emotional and study tactics, you will understand some decisions better. Besides, no matter what you and I think, Arteta and the people running the club know better than we do so we can only sit here and mourning, that all we can do.

      2. 👍 TRVL, what would Sven Mislantat know, compared to the football savants on JA? 🤔

  19. We dont need any other Central defender. We have enough to last us a lifetime. we need enforcement in the offensive side of the game. we need to score more goals as a team. Defence is sorted out

  20. If the rumors are true, then I’m not sure Arteta is the solution to arsenal problem. With the numbers of young, capable, hungry and promising defenders that we have, defender is not the problem. We need capable central midfielders and attacking midfielders not cb, maybe I’m not a professional like Arteta but the issue is evident for all to see.

  21. With Omar Rekik, William Saliba, and Mavroponous all looking good centre backs. With Gabriel, Mari and Holding around too, the imposter manager Arteta wants to spend £50 million on another centre back….Ben White. £50 mill must be nearly half our summer window, budget. Arteta is like a self harmer, the trouble is he is harming us too, and doing untold damage to our club…… Arsenal. I will buy a bottle of champagne the day Arteta is sacked.

    1. Sean, unfortunately Arsenal has become a Club for a compliant cheap manager to learn his profession.

  22. The transfer we need to sought out is not a difficult one, for intent, sign Grealish for 80million structured or 70 million straight away. Let Joe Willock come back as his Sub. Sign Yves Bissouma for 30M from Brighton to partner Partey. Sign Onana (GK) for 20M, Sign Neto for 30M from Wolves to make Pepe sit tight and close shop. We can also take freebies if there is any available with quality. Total of 150M well spent. Recoup investment by selling some players like AMN=20, Nketia=25, Mavropanos=15, Xhaka= 25, Elneny =10 . with the sale of some academy and fringe players = 5M, Total of 100M, Net spending of 50M. We can even by Kane from Tottenham for 150M, we can convince him , we are trophy bound, no need to change city, from Shirt sales and sponsorship, we can recoup part of this money but it will be down to the prowess and negotiation skill of our club. But we have novices at the helm of affairs.

  23. I am amazed reading some of these comments. Has any one of you seen Onana play? If he has been recommended by our Spanish Goalkeeping coach I would be very wary, based upon his track-record so far.
    I think we can live with Leno for another season (particularly if we get rid of the coach instead!!!)

    I agree with the comments about our Central Defenders. I think we can live thru another season with what we have now.

    I believe this sudden magic windfall of monies we keep hearing about (if it really exists) should be used to buy just TWO (2) players in this window.

    I suggest that if we add Bissouma to our midfield it will take some of the pressure off our defense.

    Then, as I keep pushing for, we should buy a goal scorer. I think it is the biggest hole in our current team.

    I think if we filled those two positions, especially the goal scorer, we could get a Europa League spot next season.

    That will allow us to buy two more top players in the next window.

    If we can get Bissouma for $35m I think it would be worth it.
    Then spend say $70m, of that gold we found at the end of the Kroenke rainbow, on a top goal scorer.

    We even have players we could throw into the deal to get the scorer (like say Lacazette).

  24. Not quite sure whats going on there…. anyways thats my take on some of the players mentioned –
    OUTS –
    Willian free
    Torreira – 20 mil
    Guendouzi – 15 mil
    Xaka – 15 mil
    Bellerin – 20 mil
    Dino – 8 mil
    Elneny – 7 mil
    Holding – 12 mil
    Laca – 23 mil
    TOLAL OUTS – 120 mil

    INS –
    White – 45 mil
    Aouar – 25 mil
    Isak – 30 mil
    Back up right back – 10 mil
    Back up left back – 10 mil
    TOTAL INS – 12O mil

    Give playing time to willock,azeez,balogun,saliba
    Trust chambers at RB

  25. So we want to pay 40 mill for Whyte and sell Mavropanos for 7 mill, while all along Mavropanos had a better season than Whyte and being one of the best defensive defenders in the Bundesleague. He seems like exactlly the kind of defender we need. Surely his passing can and will improve, like Holding’s passing improved from the first half of last season to the last half. He is also one of the best passers under pressure compared to Whyte and any of our other defenders and the best part is that he and Saliba have different strengths and attributes that would put value to this team, but we’ll probably have to sell or loan out Mari to reduce our central defender numbers. But for Mavropanos and Saliba, the time is now. We all forget that after Holding’s injury, it was his first full season. He should be even better this year together with Gabriel. We should be looking and Neves/Bisouma/Adams and Aouar/Odegaard/Grealish and Silva/Malen/ if we get a defender in, let it be a left back.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors