Since this time last year, Arsenal have been linked with Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres. It is believed the Gunners would rather wait for their number one target to become available, especially with it suggested that both players have a gentleman’s agreement with their employers that, in exchange for twelve more months of service, they would not be priced out of a move.
I am not qualified to tell a major company how to conduct business deals worth millions, yet surely in a sport where we know everyone talks off record by now, our recruitment team would know the value of each striker, have decided if they agree with that figure, and if not, move on to the next name on the shortlist?
If you believe the rumours, negotiations for both have been ongoing for months. This time last week, several journalists were suggesting on social media that it was a case of when, not if, Sesko became a Gunner, with some even using the word “convinced” it would happen.
So why, in the last few days, has speculation that Gyokeres is moving to the Emirates intensified? If we are dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s regarding Sesko, why the need to keep talking to Gyokeres’s agent?
Unlike Leipzig’s relationship with Sesko, Sporting Lisbon have been less receptive to the suggestion they have a handshake agreement with their striker, and Gyokeres reportedly feels offended that his boss has gone back on his word.
The Primeira Liga champions, of course, may be breaking their promise because they realise that in today’s market they can get a bigger fee than they originally committed to. As you can imagine, this is dominating the sports pages in Portugal.
(Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Indecision could be costly once again
For years, Arsenal have been criticised for how indecisive their transfer strategy can be compared to their rivals. While there is pressure from a section of the fanbase to make signings official, our pre-season tour does not start for another five weeks, so there really is zero rush.
Andrea Berta has taken the cautious approach of talking to both Sesko’s and Gyokeres’s representatives to have an alternative option if one deal falls through. Eventually though, our Director of Football has to decide who is the club’s first pick.
It is believed the Italian’s preference would be Gyokeres due to his scoring record, yet he respects that Sesko has been on the club’s radar for a long time, with scout reports predicting the 22-year-old has a higher ceiling.
Where that choice becomes complicated is that both players have stressed that the red half of north London would be their chosen destination. The compromise, of course, could be… both of them.
(Getty Images)
The final piece of the puzzle
In terms of which one is more likely to score over 20 league goals, 68 in his last two seasons suggests that would be Gyokeres. The Swede could take the pressure off Sesko, who has a lot of qualities but is not a natural goalscorer, hence 16 in Austria is the most he has recorded in the top flight.
The Slovenian might have a higher ceiling but needs time to develop. You could then at times even start him on the left, leaving Gyokeres to be the main source of goals.
The idea of buying both seems more likely now than at any point, but it remains very un-Arsenal-like in its level of aggressiveness. However, if you are a team with ambitions to win the title and you know finishing was the squad’s Achilles heel this campaign, surely if two of Europe’s most coveted forwards are saying “come and get us”, there must be temptation?
The key word, of course, is if Arsenal have that ambition or if they let another opportunity pass them by. This is where Mr Berta could make an immediate impact and show supporters he works differently from those before him.
The 53-year-old contributed to one of the most successful periods in Atletico Madrid’s history, so he knows how to build a winning squad. Could he use his influence to convince the Kroenke family not to stand still?
Even from a PR point of view, what better way to get your customers investing in tickets and merchandise than making an exciting double swoop?
So many in football think a natural finisher is the final piece of our puzzle. What hurt so many Gooners in the winter transfer window was that our own manager admitted we were short in attack and needed help, yet our owners stood still. They did not care enough. No one could accuse them of that if both targets were purchased.
Sesko has always been Mikel Arteta’s priority, but can you at the same time be turning down someone with 97 goals in his last 102 games? Saying no could come back to haunt us. Especially if he ended up elsewhere in the division and outscored Sesko.
If we do not take this chance and yet again lack firepower in the title race, no one can say solutions did not exist. Both players want to join, every metric shows we can afford to make it happen. It is simply our choice.
If we say no, that is on us. Scared to make the next step?
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One of the blogs recently posed the question – is Arteta a good coach but a bad manager? and I think the answer is a bloody great YES!
Willian? Viera?
Why is Rice worth £1M if Gyokeres is not worth £80M?
Rice is a great player but not a goal scorer and goals are the missing piece of the Arsenal puzzle.
So according to you good managers always get their signing right?
Do you want me to list the players that Fergie, Wenger, Pep, Klopp, etc all got wrong in their managing careers?
Should said transfer signings that work out disqualify any manager from being labelled as good? Becaus if that was the template then there has never been or ever be a good manager. No one gets it all right all the time. Ee are all fallible mortals.
😊👍
Over 55% of Arteta’s signings have been mediocre. No other manager has even half of that failure.
@HH
How did you calculate / crunch the numbers to arrive at the 55% figure?
Or may be as always you just pulled some random stuff from out of your rectum and put them forward out real FACTS. 😊
Can you show some evidence that 55% of his signings have been mediocre? I want some real numbers here because 55% seems like a specific ratio.
Why did you choose 55% and not 58%, 40%, 24%, 33%, 50% etc?
You must have actually done the your due diligence (Spreadsheets, calculations etc) in order for to have ended up with that special percentage. 🤓
I will be waiting for your gathered data that must have given you that much confidence to arrive at that 55% figure.
Let’s be having your final “THEISIS”. Must have compiled a proper dissertation on this matter.
👍🤞👌
@HH
And on top of that can you provide the raw data of from your very exhaustive research into the percentages of Fergie, Wenger, Klopp, Pep etc Flops vs Arteta’s Flops.
Then we can compare their flops to Arteta’s flops in order to come to a more objective / unbiased agreement.
Because pulling random figures from out of wherever orifice you pulled them from won’t suffice here.
I don’t even know how you are going to substantiate what player can be labelled as MEDIOCRE vs POOR vs GOOD etc.. Because the term MEDIOCRE a very subjective term.
But hey, you are one of the “Albert Einsteins” of Football analysis on JustArsenal, so I will be waiting for your data Sir.
🤞🙏
Lols
HH, Mikel has signed 26 players (this excludes those who he turned from loans to permanent signings) so about 14 need to have been, at the least, mediocre.
Of course the term “mediocre” is a personal opinion, but I would be interested in your list, as I’m of the opinion your not far off – but weren’t they in his early days as our manager?
Ken, what HH might be suggesting is: more than half Arteta’s signings are mediocre.
@Jax
And as always, @Ken pokes his head into a Back and Forth trying to help out those with similar views like him on whatever matter. But then later if I take his bait he will start complaining and moaning that he can’t be bothered with the endless Back and Forth with me. 😊
And if 55% of Arteta’s signings have been mediocre but they have rejuvenated the whole club to serious TItle and CL contenders in the last 3 seasons, then I don’t know what he could have achieved for with just 50% mediocre players.
If he is getting us finishing 2nd for three seasons in a row with just 45% of his signings being a success then I wonder where he would get us if he improved that 45% by just another 4%.
😊
I really couldn’t care less if you want to reply to me or not matey.
I was messaging HH, who, although we disagree on some things, correspond in a civil manner and don’t try to put each other down.
So please stay out of our discussion on Mikel’s signings and whether the mediocre ones were made early on in his managerial career compared to later.
Jax, your correct about the % but my point was, I think we can say that, if true, it was during his first (say) three seasons.
I believe his permanent signings since we finished fifth have been a lot more productive, so I’m looking forward to read HH’s examples and discussing them as adults 👍
Please feel free to reply, as I like to have debates with people who give opinions, while not trying to put others down.
HH, here’s a list of all Mikel’s signings, including frees, as they cost the club in salaries.
I’ve put a tick on those I think have been successful.
Aaron Ramsdale £30 million ✅
Gabriel Magalhaes £27mill.✅
Kai Havertz £65 million ✅
Thomas Partey £45 million ✅
Ben White £50 million ✅
Gabriel Jesus £45 million ✅
Pablo Mari £8 million ❌
Declan Rice £105 million ✅
Leandro Trossard £30 mill✅
Takemiro Tomiyasu £20mill❌
David Raya £30 million ✅
Fabio Vieira £34 million ❌
Jorginho £12 million ✅
Martin Odegaard £30 mill✅
Olek Zinchenko £30 million ✅
Riccaro Califiori £38 million ❌
Jurrien Timber £38 million ✅
Mikel Merino £32 million ❌
Jakub Kiwior £20 million ✅
Cedric Soares Free ❌
Alex Runarsson £1.8 million ❌
Marquinhos £3 million ❌
Nuno Tavares £8 million ❌
Albert Lokonga £17 million ❌
Austin Trusty £2 million ❌
Willian Free ❌
Matt Turner £7.5 million ❌
Matthew Ryan Loan ❌
Raheem Stirling Loan ❌
So, of the 28 players listed above, only four (Tomiyasu, Vieira, Califiori, Merino and Sterling) could be classed as “recent” buys who received the dreaded ❌ while the rest are, in my opinion, buys that were made early in MA ‘s managerial career.
In total 14 of the 28 receive said ❌, so 50 % in total.
Of course, others will have their own opinions on the ✅ and the ❌ but you gave me food for thought and finally, if you look at the relative outlays, £178.2 (if my adding up is correct!!) is much less than the 50% I’m saying were unconvincing buys.
What’s your opinion HH (and anyone else who wants to debate of course) and do your views differ to mine?
I would mostly agree
Maybe a cross on Havertz just based on the wage and fee
No manager is solely responsible for purchases, obviously, but I’d take issue with a few of your gradings. Just my opinion.
– I wouldn’t call Merino a failed signing at all. He’s been an excellent squad player, and we need those…
– Calafiori. I’m on the fence here. He’s been pretty good when fit. He did have an injury record before signing that has resurfaced. That was a gamble, and we need to retain another player or two there for rotation, but he’s a good option when fit.
– Tomiyasu. We love him when he’s fit! Unfortunately prone to injuries. But again, a good squad player. I do think availability and lack of injury record should be a prime consideration, but he was bought for his talent at a time when we needed someone. I’ll give you that one based on injuries.
Rest I agree with.
Ken thank you so much for putting together that list. My sincere apologise to you and Goonster for late reply. My job these days take a lot of my day and it leaves little time for me to engage properly.
I gave it a lot of thought on Ramsdale and ended up classing him as a failure. If he was a success why was he replaced in such a short time?
I do not agree with Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus too. While Jesus was phenomenal on his first season with us, signing such a known injury prone player on very high salary was a bad signing from the start.
Last year before summer signings I remember my estimate was 51% mediocre signinngs and 49% good ones. The summer signings took the failure rate higher.
29 players signed and we still do not have squad depth. That alone should make it clear majority of signings were mediocre.
Thanks for the reply HH (and everyone else of course 👍).
I actually believe that, with all our current players available, the squad depth you talk about would be much better and, hopefully, with at least three new signings this window, I think we will have a formidable bench.
On your Ramsdale comment, I thought he was a great success, but I see Arteta’s decision to bring in Raya was an exceptional piece of transfer activity… but that doesn’t mean Ramsdale was a failure.
As I said, everyone will have a different opinion to each of the signings, but, in general, I hope you will agree that it’s his earlier signings that give his overall markings in the transfer market a average marking?
Good to debate sensibly with no name calling etc
Isn’t it? 👍😂
@Ken
Yes I agree that most of the bad signings have been from his earlier years at Arsenal and have been getting better every season even though last summer was a step back.
Regarding the squad depth I recall even in previous two seasons when we didn’t have injury crisis the consensus was the same. Perhaps it seems that way because of Arteta’s lack of trust on players not in his first 11.
With few additions this summer I also agree they will give us a very strong squad and I have high hopes that we may finally see success (I hope we finally lift that CL trophy) even though I retain my doubts that Arteta is capable of reaching the finish line.
You missed out
Dani Ceballos❌
Neto ❌
And out of 31 signings
7 – goalkeepers
7- full backs
14 players for 3 positions
Leaves 17 players for 8 positions .
How anyone canny see the problem with that is beyond me .
OK I’m not Einstein! /😂
Agree with both your ❌❌’s so it seems HH and his 54% does indeed have merit.
My point that it was early in his managerial career still holds water though, as does the amount of money wasted.
I’ve never disputed the positional ratios though DK and I rely on you to point it out at every opportunity you can 👍😂
Ken, I agree with the vast majority of your rankings. The two I don’t agree with you on are Calafiori and Merino. For me I’ll wait for their second season before passing judgement.
Just my personal reason for the ❌ HD :
Califiori was bought with a history of injuries and it seems that has continued with a vengeance at our club.
If he could only remain fit, then I would have given him a ✅
. As for Merino, my thought process was that, since his signing, he’s been very lightweight, a bit like Vieira.
If he could only produce the brilliance he showed when taking that incredible goal against Real Madrid, then, again, I might have given him the ✅
Of course, it’s all very subjective, but I found it really interesting looking at the pattern of Mikel’s signings and, in my opinion, shows how he’s learning the game in a positive way.
Your point about waiting to the end of this season is probably a sensible one, but I was judging on performances to date.
Going by your red crosses Ken ( your opinion, I agree but would have added one more ) .
The percentage is approximately (54.84\%\). I know 😂
So HH was bang on the money , just wonder if boomer boy Goonster will reply , I’m sure he’ll have great ( boring ) long response ( excuse) if he does .
Canny wait .
Herr Drier my apologies for not replying to you in an earlier article. I didn’t visit the site for days after I posted that comment.
Yes DK I always wonder why he write 6 paragraphs to make a point which could have been done with one sentence.🤣🤣
@Ken
Hahaha. Trying to squeeze the numbers in order to get the 55% fugure that @HH pulled from out of his nose. But even with all that squeezing you failed to reach the specific / made up 55%.😊
Now do the Fergie, wenger, Klopp, Pep etc MEDIOCRE signing and we can compare them to Arteta’s. Because @HH was comparing Arteta’s success rate (percentage) to other managers.
We have to be objective here.
Right?
👍🤞
Goonster
This thread which Ken elevated with his data has seen matured discussions. Read the room and stop your childishness.
I didn’t pull that data out of my nose. This is not the first time Arteta’s signings success rate has been discussed in the comments section.
Not surprising you missed those since you must spent all your time writing unnecessary lengthy comments than reading others.
@HH
You made a claim. You said that about 55% of Arteta’s signings have been MEDIOCRE. So I asked you to substantiate that claim.
I did not ask you to run to @ken and give me his opinion.
So I will ask you again, can you show your own opinionated data that led you to a conclusion that 55% of Arteta’s have been mediocre? Even with ken squeezing it did not come to 55%.
Now can you do your own?
And on top of that can you do the Pep, Wenger, Fergie, klopp ets signing?
If I wanted Kens opinion I would have asked him.
Incredible
He got the percentage spot on
I’m terrible at maths for fair play peeps
I would like to specifically highlight Mikel Merino. He has proven to be an excellent squad player, and his contributions have been crucial, especially during the absence of our main strikers. Scoring nine goals, he has shown that he can step up and even play a more attacking role when needed. This clearly demonstrates that he is not a failed signing—in fact, he has been a very good one.
and,dont forget that he will also drag wenger into every conversation where he can. a bit tiresome at this stage old boy, leave wenger alone to play with his mickey mouse job.
Thanks for the advice ger burke – I’ll try not to, unless someone mentions him first 👍
ger burke,
Nothing wrong with mentioning Wenger. Our greatest manager, oh those were the days.
Careful Derek!
Would like your opinion on my ratings above though!
Ken1945,
Firstly well done on your thorough research.
I agree with you in the most part, but the thing I will say regarding four players is as follows.
While I don’t like Calafiori at left back, to be fair to him when he played Centre back he looked good to be fair. Although his injury record is a concern.
Merino didn’t convince me at first, but over time he’s won me around in that he’s a good squad player.
Jesus, well initially he was a good signing, but with his injury record and lack of goals when he did play has in my opinion taken the initial shine off us signing him.
Now Tomiyasu is a frustrating one, I believe he’s a good player. Very versatile, and he seems to be one of these players that is capable where ever he plays. But he’s just never fit enough for long enough. I put him in the category of if he gets a twisted sock he’s injured. Which is a shame, because we just haven’t had the chance to see the best of him for any length of time.
And I didn’t mention Wenger once, OOPS! oh yes I just did. My bad. 🤣👍
Find it weird there would be Arsenal fans reluctant to ever mention the most successful manager in our history
Or that he’s got a mickey mouse job now!
No names no pack drill Dan, but your last seven words give the game away!!
It’d be highly improbable, since we’ve still got Havertz/ Merino who can play CF and we still need a lot of money for contract extensions/ other new players
Arsenal might feel Gyokeres’ price tag could still be lowered significantly, because of his current contract length at Sporting and his age
I bet Sesko is more expensive, since he has a longer contract and he’s much younger than Gyokeres
That’s why I was thinking would Sesko be an option on the Left ?
Sesko can’t play off the left. If anything, it’s Gyokeres who likes drifting to wide areas. If they were to play together, Sesko would be the one to play centrally. Sesko being stronger in the air than Gyokeres is also another reason why he’d be a better fit centrally.
Gyokeres also makes a ton of crosses and he’s good at it so it makes sense for him to be wider. On the other hand, he’s not good at scoring with his head from crosses, unlike Sesko. Sesko can drop into midfield like Havertz ,whereas Gyokeres doesn’t excel at that.
Sesko is best used in central areas like RVP. Gyokeres is best used like Aubameyang & Sanchez – cutting in from the left and taking a shot.
Gyokeres has scored 11 goals in 17 Champions League and Europa League games, while Sesko has scored six goals in 16 Champions League games in the same period.
The 27-year-old has scored 97 goals in 102 games in all competitions since his arrival from Coventry in 2023.
With this stats you don’t become bad overnight in Epl where Merino a defensive midfield scored 9 goals.
the weight of expectations from fans would be too much for Sesko. The fans needs trophy badly next season.
Sylva I didn’t even comment on how good or bad Gyokeres would be. My comment was on the hypothetical scenario that if we were playing both Sesko and Gyokeres, it would be better to play Sesko centrally and Gyokeres wide, instead of the opposite which is what Dan suggested. As to which player would be best suited for us, I didn’t go into that, and won’t go into that because I’ve shared my thoughts on it severally on this forum. I will support whichever striker the club signs. Most importantly, I’ll support the one already at the club.
Mate to clarify he wouldn’t always start on the left
He starts as back up striker but you can put him on the left when you feel you need too
As we learnt last year you need a squad
If Sesko plays on the left wing, we’d lose Martinelli’s penetration from that side
Based on his YouTube highlight, he plays centrally and often drops into the attacking midfield area to flick the ball to Openda and Simons
I bet Gai from what I have seen, VGyokeres is a better option. @27yrs this guy has 4 seasons in him as a CF. As for wether he will perform, you don’t score 54 goals in a season and become bad overnight. There are a few players who came from Potugues league and went on to become great players. ie BFernabdez, Ronaldo and many more..
ImO, Arsenal already have a similar player like Sesko in Havertz who apart from Sesko been pacier nothing much to separate them. Hence Gyokeres a different CF who hardly miss scoring chances. And we know Arsenal creats loads of chances. Arsenal should stop dilly dally and sign one of this players. The market isalready trickery.
Gyokeres would only be a better option for Arsenal if he costs less than Sesko
Gyokeres is a better option because he scores more than Sesko.
Gyokeres’s record in the Primera Liga won’t automatically translate to the EPL with so many more high quality opponents.
He’ll score goals, sure, but it’s impossible to say if he’d score more than say Sesko or Watkins. He doesn’t score headers, for example, so that’s one whole source of goals against low blocking mid table teams gone. Which is precisely where we’re unnecessarily dropping points each season in recent years. They are players with different profiles.
Haverts/Merino were not brought in to play as CFs , Haverts himself has admitted he’s not a Striker.
I would seriously be looking to offload him and Jesus and possibly one other to make way for these two finishers whom we’re missing every since we lost players like Sanchez,Aubamyang , Grioud and Henry.
Havertz can’t be sold unless he wants to be. No team purchases a player without their consent and their name on a new contract. What other team can afford his wages?
Just pay £120 – £150mill for Isak & be done with it !
he is brittle and Arteta’s lack of rotation means he’ll bust a hammy like everyone else in the starting 11.
Unlikely to her either at this rate. Either one of the desks cloud have been closed weeks ago.
Dan you’ve come up a mythical story as Arsenal are unaccustomed to signing super stars at a time. If so we would even doubt our own eyes and ears as it’s un-Arsenal esque . It’ll of course be beyond the capability of Arteta to synchronize and manage the two super stars simultaneously. Even the maestro Pep can’t do that. Super ego mentality would jeopardize the cohesion of the team. Even in this fairytale scenario with both Sesko & Gyo Arsenal still need an assister playmaker alongside Ode without whom the two targets remain futile. A club that couldn’t sign inferior targets like Watkins & Delap would never sign these most coveted strikers at a time. Anyhow the fanbase sometimes need such dream stories that put smiles on our faces.
Oh I dont think it will happen lol
Although I agree with another playmaker I think we have already got him if I’m assuming you are talking about the left 8. Havertz was bought for that role when Xhaka left but because of Jesus unavailability and the non trust in Eddie he was pushed up front as Arteta fell upon a solution with no recognised number 9.
I’ve been saying it’s a possibility for weeks now Dan and still believe it might happen, especially after the lessons we learnt from the injury debacle of last season.
If we sign just one striker and he gets A long term injury, we
would be back to square one.
That’s also why I think this enormous war chest was leaked – £140 million on two strikers, £59 million on Zubimendi, £5 million on a keeper and £65 million on a winger would see that chest helping.
I do agree that, if we don’t sign a proven striker, then questions must be asked of Arteta etc.
I think if we get both we won’t get the winger as well
I can understand why supporters bemoan Arsenal’s failure to sign a striker last summer or in January, but perhaps supporters don’t always see the bigger/long term decisions that influence such decisions. If Newcastle hadn’t achieved Champions league football on the last day then I suspect that Izak would have been moving away from Newcastle. Buying a second choice forward for £60-£80 million together with their wages of say £10 Million a year may have jeopardised the opportunity to bring in Izak this window IF Newcastle hadn’t achieved that champions league place. I suspect Arsenal wanted Izak and that may have occurred if Newcastle hadn’t achieved Champions League, but a panic buy in January at an inflated price seriously impacts your future ability to sign a premium striker. You can only spend your transfer kitty/wages once and panic buys invariably cost you more.
Anything is a possibility but in reality, all fanciful dreaming aside, we will be lucky to get either. At this rate, with the constant dilly-dallying which is par for the course with Arsenal, we will wait and wait and wait for who knows what and end up with neither.
For what it’s worth my shortlist would be:
Gyökeres
Sesko
Vlahovic
I would actually have Vlahovic above Sesko, as I think he better fits the mould of player we need but tbh at this point I am sick of the constant indecision and just want them to sign one of them. Ending up with none of these players and having to settle for a last minute desperation bid for Ollie Watkins would be an absolute disaster.
Watkins’ price would be prohibitive if we miss out on the others. Villa would gouge us.
Not sure Villa could afford to say no
Right now, we aren’t meeting near the asking price for either one of them, so it is highly unlikely that we meet both prices If you had of said could we get Watkins and one of the two main targets I think that would be more likely But in reality I do not expect two strikers arriving as we have other needs
I don’t think that would be a good use of resources. We already have Havertz and whatever you think of him, at the very least he’s good as a backup. It’s fair to say that his best performances for us have come at Centre Forward and I reckon not many would want him back in midfield. Do we really want our highest paid player barely playing when we know he can be effective? Is that a smart use of resources.
Secondly, there’s the issue of squad composition. A squad has maximum number of senior players that can be registered (25) and only 17 can be non-homegrown. This translates to two players per position and three goalkeepers. If we register 3 strikers (4 if you include Jesus), this leaves us with 18 slots for the remaining 20 outfield slots. One or two positions will lack in numbers because of this. In addition, adding another two non-homegrown in one position could make it problematic to sign a non homegrown player in another position.
Finally, Dan is suggesting playing one on the left. Isn’t this the same issue of square pegs in round holes that folks have been complaining about? Rather than playing a centre forward on the left because you signed two,how about just sign one, and let the other attacking signing be an ACTUAL winger? Wingers also score goals, you know. Mo Salah is tied with Henry for most golden boots- he is a winger. Two of the best scorers of my lifetime, and probably of all times (Messi and Cristiano) scored loads of goals as wingers. They put up numbers that elite centre forwards could only dream of.
Get a quality centre forward and a quality wide player. Collecting centre forwards like we’ve been doing left backs will only make for an unbalanced squad.
There’s a lot of sense in what you’ve written. I just want to point out that the problem of squad composition we could have is in the over 1 trillion left backs we have on our books. Tierney is gone. We need to trim down more from that position. I’ll say we should sell Zinchenko and Tomiyasu as well. 3 non-homegrown left-backs out. That’s 3 birds with one stone
That makes sense. Tierney is gone and Zinchenko will probably move too. As for Tomi, he wasn’t really signed as a LB, was he? He came in as RB who can cover the other three defensive positions.
For what it’s worth, I think Tomi is a top class defender when fit. He can deputise across the back line to a high level. We can’t sell him because he’s injured. If he can prove his fitness next season, he’ll be like a new signing😁. If he can’t, Arsenal should move on from him next season.
The problem is not Arteta but the indecisive nature of the club owners and recruitment board. Arteta is to identify players that he thinks could suit his play and try convince them to sign for the club but pulling off the deal 🤝 now lies with the Sporting Director and the club owners.
It’s not new that Arsenal spend a month or more just to sign a player and get things ready before hand 🖐️.
Expectations are rising and Berta has to man 👨 his office 🏢, if not, it’s the same old story and thinking 💭 it’s only Arteta who would shoulder the blame is deceitful. It’s for things like this he was contracted for.
Getting the 2 players is not a bad idea, the resources are there but I would prefer Gykores to Sesko if 1 is to come.
No. One or the other plus a winger.
Arsenal should sign both Gyokeres and Sesko.
PSG play without a traditional no.9 but they are scoring goals for fun. Barcelona have only Lerwandoski but they still score loads of goals even when he’s not available .
In 22/23 Arsenal scored 88 goals and 91 the following season all without the so-called traditional striker
So we don’t need two strikers; one of them and another quality winger are what we need to add to Havertz and Jesus
Our midfielders (Rice, Odegaard and Merino) will score more goals next season I’m sure
If the signing of both Sesko & Gyo is confirmed, the EPL immediately must draft and issue new directive to all clubs to make their GOAL NETS THICKENED & DOUBLE LAYERED effective as of week 1 to be confirmed by designated inspectors. The new rule is deemed necessary in fear of the countless of goals the two consistently, voluntarily and involuntarily would score.
Could have worked if gyokeres was a better dribbler, he rarely stays central and mostly drops to the left to run with the ball. He is also surprisingly not good with his head. Sesko could be the target man with gyokeres playing off him as a left inside forward. Sesko is also good at dropping deep to link up play. Imagine a front 3 of gyokeres sesko saka.
But it would require changes to our midfield and entire left side. Would be quite the statement from the owner after the failed January window and also from Arteta breaking up his tactics to get a big trophy.
No idea why we are in for Gyokores – and that seems why no one else is interested. He’s a flat track bully: take out the penalties and the goals against the bottom teams in Portugal (which are lesser quality than Championship clubs) and his record is a lot more modest.
5 goals against Boavista (18th R)
3 goals against Farense (17th R)
3 goals againt AVS (16th R)
Seems a £20m striker being sold beyond his value
Better then what we have is the point peeps seem to constantly miss lol
Probably too early to say he is better than what we have. Looks good on paper for sure. So was the Ukrainian that defected to Chelsea -Mudryk ,I believe is his name. Always like that.
Watkins ,for instance, we know what he can do. He is not Isak but his team is probably not quite as talented as Isak’s.
Coming from Portugal/Germany, who knows??
Juventus have just asked to be advised on his status, while manure were after him before they signed the wolves forward.
Do agree he’s being overpriced though.
it is not easy and automatic that you score more goals against “lesser teams.
Bayern put 10 goals in Auckland city’s net and Kane was nowhere to be found on the scoresheet.
At the snails pace that arsenal are showing we’re likely see no strikers mentioned in today’s article, instead Sideshow Bob and Krusty the Clown will run out as our end of transfer window surprise.
No way in a million years we’re signing both, unless there’s a major tactical and formation change, and even then, that means a winger or a playmaker has to miss out.
Not if Sesko starts on bench as second striker
who you occasionally play on the left
And in what world do you spend almost 100 million on a player to sit on the bench? You do realize we’re not City or PSG?
Not only can we not afford to actually do that, but I am pretty sure Sesko or any top player would not move to be a bench player, and play out of position as well.
It appears we are aspiring to be like City and PSG – RECENT champions. Dominant teams. If they want to win, you sacrifice at times. up to the manager to man manage the players. NO Excuses!!!
We can be like Brighton, Forest , Villa etc. That’s okay . Just own it. Don’t be talking about being like City and expecting to do it with a squad that limps to the end line — with draws and defeats!!
Spend the money OR stop with the tease. Second place every year is okay – just own it. Let folks know that is the ambition.
Chyke, you’re living in cloud cuckoo land if you think we be like City and PSG!
Both are state funded, have unlimited funds, and there is no PSR in France. It’s impossible for us in our current form to be anywhere like those two clubs.
But we saw Ozil and Aubemeyang sitting on the bench and, even worse, sent home on gardening leave.
Then, of course, there was Pepe, our record signing at the time!!
Answer to Lucy 78.
I can understand a manager, being not happy with what a player offers and doesn’t start him often. But, to shut out a high value player completely and destroy his transfer value is absolutely criminal. How can the owners be okay with letting players like Ozil, Auba, Tierney and the likes to be zero-value?
Should they not hold the manager accountable?
And it didn’t work, that’s my point.
I loved Auba, and I always wanted him at Arsenal, but it made zero sense signing him when you had only just got Laca for 50m 6 months earlier, and had gaping holes in others on the pitch.
Would also make zero sense signing 2 strikers now, when we already have Havertz, and Jesus, and at a time we also need a winger.
Yes Lucy you build a squad
Arsenal don’t have a natural steiner fit at the club
So your saying no to two strikers lol
So your happy with one attacking player this summer ?
Man United once won a treble with 4 strikers
I never said no to two strikers, but only as long as we get a quality winger as well. If two strikers doesn’t financially allow us to sign a winger, then that would easily be a big no.
If you don’t think we need another quality winger, I would argue that you haven’t been watching Arsenal.
We also have Jesus, and Havertz, so two strikers isn’t necessary. 3 experienced players for one position is plenty.
“So your happy with one attacking player this summer?”. I have never once said that. I have consistently said we need two attackers minimum this summer.
So you think a striker playing on the wing is a better option than signing an actual winger?
Utd comparison doesn’t make sense. Utd played with more a traditional 442 back then. Not only do we not play with 2 upfront, it’s hard to think of any top team that plays with 2 strikers starting.
Like I said, if we’re going to change everything about how we play, then yes get two strikers, but it wouldn’t make sense to scrap everything tactically when we’ve done so well in the league and in Europe over the last few years.
Lucy78, we haven’t had a recognised, fully fledged striker since Aubemeyang and Lacazette, after watching the likes of Wrighty, Henry, JudasRVP and Macdonald.
The need for two is imperative if we are to compete this coming season and there are two proven strikers available, Sesko and Gyokeres.
With the injuries that have plagued us the last couple of seasons, surely it makes sense to sign both of them?
As for wingers needed I agree we need another one, but I honestly don’t think that is as big a need as two efficient strikers, with Saka, Martinelli and Trossard already on board.
By the way I have followed and watched our club for many seasons and Havertz and Jesus are not the clinical strikers we need, despite the fact that I think both are very good players and make our squad such a strong one.
Ken1945,
On reading your post responding to Lucy78, I noticed you referred to Van Persie as a Judas.
I assume you feel this way because, while with us he had his fair share of injury’s, and the club stuck by him. And then in due course he left us for United. If I’m assuming wrong, I apologize in advance.
I take a different stance on it myself. Yes he had his fair share of injury’s while with us, but when fit what a striker he was. And although we didn’t win the league, it wasn’t because he wasn’t contributing from his side.
And also at the time the squad wasn’t looking as good as previous years, and to be honest it couldn’t have filled Van Persie with confidence when you see some of the caliber of players that he had to train with.
So he decided to leave to win the league, a decision that is hard to argue with. As he won the league in his first attempt.
Although I was sad to see him go, I understood why he did. And I’ll tell you this for free, if the current team don’t start to win some major trophy’s soon, I can see some of them getting itchy feet soon to. 🤷♂️
As painful as it was at the time, in hindsight I can agree with the likes of RVP, Nasri, Cesc, and king Henry as to why they left, it proved to be the correct decision for all of them.
If we could see it from the outside how poor we were and the direction of the club, just imagine the perspective of our top players who had all that inside knowledge of what was going on day-to-day at the club.
And it’s happening again
Saliba will do the same
Club isn’t ambitious enough
Lucy78,
I agree with your piece. Wenger in the end was in a position where he had to sell his top player at the end of a season at some points.
Derek, I watched how The Arsenal looked after Judas from the minute he signed for us.
Protected him during the allegations at home, the numerous injuries season after season, through thick and most definitely the thin times, only for him to stab the club, Wenger and the supporters in the back.
With a year left on his contract he said that he could see no problem signing a new contract but he wanted to concentrate on the world cup.
It was only after this that he suddenly decided he wanted to leave and this was following the one season that he actually managed to play a decent number of games.
As for players leaving if we don’t win anything, let me just remind you that Gabriel, has just signed a new long term contract, along with Martinelli, White and Raya.
Of course, for those who want to paint this picture of doom in order to put more pressure on Arteta, it’s an ideal talking point, but until a single player comes out and actually says he’s leaving because of trophies, it’s just BS… in my opinion.
Let’s see if Saka, Skelly Nwaneri and Saliba sign the new contracts offered, shall we?
@ken1945
You’re spot on with what you said about RVP. That’s why so many still hate him.
Unfortunately, he and the others why right to leave because we weren’t winning anything, let alone one of the big trophies, and we were getting less and less competitive year on year back then.
To this day, moving from Highbury was the correct decision, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Completely hamstrung our greatest ever manager. Not say Wenger didn’t make mistakes, but it must have been so tough seeing your top players constantly leaving.
Lucy78 it was a kick in the teeth for every single fan who chanted his name, never questioned his injuries, believed him when he said he would re-sign the new contract and then read that “the little boy inside him” told him to forget all what went on previously and join our biggest rivals at that time.
The fact that it cost manure absolute millions of pounds when he got injured again (both of which made my day by the way) along with Fergie leaving after promising judas he was staying was a perfect ending for me.
Good to see we both agree on this one 👍😊
Highbury was a magical place and I miss it’s atmosphere and history so much.
It’s taken fifteen years to make the Emirates feel like home and all praise has to go to Mikel Arteta for achieving this, but, as you say, Arsene was hamstrung from the very beginning until 2015, when Ozil arrived – as you say our greatest ever manager.
Ken1945,
While I hear what you say about Van Persie, and I can understand your stance better now. I still have a certain understanding of why he left us. But I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this particular issue.
As for your comment regarding Gabriel signing a new contract, which I ‘m glad to see he did by the way. I wasn’t trying to paint a doom and gloom angle on it as you put it.
You know in today’s game to a large extent contract’s are not worth the paper there written on. How many times do you see said player kicking up enough of a stink to eventually get his move.
It happens a lot, the club can’t win. While they may want to keep the player, at the same time they don’t want to keep an unhappy player, as one bad apple can start to rot some of the others so to speak.
And unless a club is willing to play hard ball with said player, more often than not the player will get his way in the end, even if he’s signed a recent new contract.
When Jimmy Hill all those years ago stood up for footballers rights, and said that the power was to much in the clubs favour, I don’t think he ever imagined that it would then turn completely on its head and now all the power is in most cases with the player. I don’t think that he even meant for that to happen, but it certainly has. And in my opinion, that’s not a good thing. It needs to be leveled out a bit more if you ask me. 🤷♂️👍
As I said, I am not against the idea of getting both of them, just as long as it doesn’t prohibit us getting a quality winger.
I agree that we need a natural striker as a priority, but I strongly disagree about your planning, as that would leave us with 4 options upfront for only one position, whilst also not strengthening LW. So that would leave us short on the wings still, and overly stocked upfront.
Doesn’t it make far more sense to strengthen both LW and CF in the starting XI, rather than the CF and the bench? Plus only Saka has more goal involvements than Havertz since his arrival, so he massively contributes to the team, despite not being a natural striker, meaning it isn’t a priority to get two strikers right now.
And if Saka got injured again, we’d be massively short on the wings.
No it would leave us with two options up front
Havertz can be a back up for Odegarrd
We are not winning a title with Havertz as a striker
How does a LM help if Saka gets injured ?
No it would leave us with four options upfront, if you’ve been watching Arsenal. Where do Jesus and Havertz play the vast majority of the time? Upfront. Then you add two strikers, and low and behold, 2 + 2 = 4.
Now do you honestly think its a smart idea if you want Arteta to start experimenting with Kai as a playmaker for the first time ever, in a season where there’s so much pressure to win? I thought fans didn’t want square pegs in round holes?
For the millionth time, I haven’t got an issue with replacing Havertz as our number one choice upfront. We just do not need 2 extra strikers when Kai’s stats are very good. Do you not even read what I write?
You get a versatile LW on the chance Saka gets injured, plus Martinelli can also play there, but then that only leaves you with Trossard on the right.
I am truly baffled that you don’t believe a winger is needed badly. Especially given our lack of creation last season. How does Sesko and Gyok solve creative issues when they’re strikers?
Jesus isn’t back till next year so I ruled him out
Havertz isn’t a natural striker
I know Havertz isn’t a natural striker, but that’s where he has been playing, and to very good effect, with only Saka beating him for goal involvements since 23/24 onwards.
Lucy78 I’m beginning to think I need to ask you the question your asking me… have you been watching us play?!
During last season, we created numerous chances, but didn’t have the clinical striker to put them away.
How many times did we try and walk the ball into the net?
As for buying just one striker, where do we go if he’s injured?
Jesus is out, it seems, to the new year, so that will, once again, leave us with just Havertz, who, of course, could get injured once again.
So we get this winger that’s going to create all the chances you envisage, but, once again, they would have no out and out striker to put them away.
Likewise, if you read MY posts, you would have read that I also would like to see a winger signed, so let’s agree not to question each other’s reading ability shall we?
The bench and rotation?
If we sign the two strikers and rotate or even sub them during a match, the potential is such that we would have the kind of bench to die for.
Ken I generally think you’re not reading what I am saying at all, because you say “So we get this winger that’s going to create all the chances you envisage, but, once again, they would have no out and out striker to put them away”, which is saying that I do not want a striker…which is not true!
I am saying, lets get a striker, but we don’t need two, when you already have a productive Havertz and Jesus will return at the end of the year.
What you’re not factoring in is how you keep them all happy enough, given you want 4 experienced players for just one position, and you don’t want to strengthen the wings.
And do you honestly think that Saka, Martinelli and Trossard is enough quality and quantity for 50 plus games? Everyone and their dog knows Martinelli and Trossard at best are quality squad players. We badly need someone of Saka’s ilk on the left.
Of course we need better squad depth, and we get hit every year with injuries, but you are making too many assumptions. Using your own argument, what happens if Saka gets injured again? We would be left with zero high quality on the wings.
Lucy78, I’ve said that we need a winger, but, in my opinion, we need two actual strikers to cover the amount of games you rightly point out we are, hopefully, going to play in next season.
I guess we’re going to differ on this one, but respect your opinion.
Let’s hope we’re both happy at the beginning of the season, with everything we both want 👍
I would be surprised if we did get them both to be honest. I would have liked to see us go for one of them and Delap.
Sadly that didn’t happen. And just to put this thought out there, it still wouldn’t surprise me if we signed neither. And then the club go out and buy an unknown player, who apparently is going to be the next big thing. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m just putting the thought out there.🤷♂️
Will not get either will probably end up with plan Z Ollie Watkins absolutely pathetic in the transfer window Arteta on borrowed time win nothing next season then he’s gone!
The window has been open how long? 🙂
Some fascinating articles only on JA. Wow
Thanks lol
At the prices quoted I am not too excited about Gyokeres who scores a lot for a good team in Portugal against some woeful defenders. Sesko is also way overpriced. His finishing is not to great – not better than Havertz. He may end up being the best striker on the planet but that is 3 years away. if he presses tirelessly like Havertz then maybe he is our man. At least Kai will get some rest and we will forever have a fresh high energy presser and aerial threat on the pitch. We really need someone who would complement Havertz. And that would be Gabby Jesus of 2022 but he has disappeared. Not sure why we went cold on Vlahovic
Good article Dan. It would be a shock if they signed both, especially as they will still have Kai and Jesus on the books. I am not convinced that a one of them should be converted to a winger. Buy either or (personally prefer sesko), buy a winger and get zubimendi through the door. Thats a good window for mine.
Remember though mate Jesus out till next year
Liam Delap has a release clause of £30m, he’s only 23 and probably wouldn’t mind warming the bench from time to time. He’s Premier League proven, a real worker and home grown. Forget Olly Watkins he is past his prime and was second choice when Duran was at Villa. Delap wouldn’t be asking for an insane salary either. Just a thought!!!
He’s gone to Chelsea
We missed one there, and at that price☹️
Delap had 30 minutes in last nights game against LAFC. Didn’t get any goal scoring chances but laid on a beautiful pass for Chelsea’s second.
Giroud came on for LAFC🤣
Giroud is a fine player if the team utilizes his strengths. He and Auba used the right way would have been a killer partnership.
How do you quantify a coach or manager as good one? Since arteta came on board and start rebuilding we all saw his reshuffling of our players even the so call big boys in the team and see what we’ve become, why can’t you ask man u or chelshit how many coach or manager after arteta came to arsenal as pass thru there clubs, the answer is left for you to decide. We can have the two strikers in the team aubaneyang and lacazette play for us the same time, I support the two cos they both want to play for arsenal at all cost, it’s been a long time that happened in arsenal when a play er will ditch a rival club and insist he want to play for us, these are the position we lack for almost five years ago now come to us like a gold instead to grab it with all arms, gyokeres can play for at least four more years and his goals prowess can not be underestimate while sesko will also add more goals and his still young for the future the coach wi know how to use them on the field of pkay, imagine what we’ll become having these two in arsenal, the board shld look at the prospect and gain bringing to the club not there cost no amount is much to purchase a quality strker
Yes we can and we probably will, given the circumstances.
The problem with signing both, they will eat up almost two third of the war chest
Well it was said there was a 300 million war chest
Bottom line is if our owners have ambition the money is there
They won’t though
Dan
Reference to a comment you made a while back on One of your posts
We might have spent a lot but we have also recouped a lot from outgoings so the monies the kronkies have laid out is no where near the figures bantered around, which opened my eyes a bit plus what pay for a player now is not what we lay out immediately. It is spread over a period of time.
Pepe is a prime example
Onwards and upwards
It’s simple compare what City owners have spent since January to us
Why not just conoare what the city115 owners have spent since 2008 compared to The Arsenal?
That’s a simpler way to do it – overall not just one season in isolation that suits your argument Dan.
Why not compare!!
Oh I can give you more examples where they showed little ambition
To be honest other clubs spending shouldn’t bother us
We could go back to chelski days, maure at the height of there powers but what bothers me is the actual net spend minus sales
It’s not as great as we all think
Not going to lambast any of our managers past and present about spending but all seems smoke and mirrors when it comes to what we are actually investing in the team
We are a business and not a football club now so I understand
Half billion received in the last 3 seasons from the league position
So show the comparisons each season since Mr Kronkie became a shareholder and city115 were taken over by the sheiks Dan.
Sorry just to clarify are you claiming the Koronkes are more ambitious then Man City owners lol
I don’t need to make the comparisons
Your the one claiming it
You did this when you and the lady from Arsenal lied and said there had never been any racism at the club
Dan, your the one who wants to compare just one season, so why not compare every season since Mr Kronkie became a shareholder?
By the way, your the liar who said Liverpool supporters were responsible for the trouble at the Raid CL final and even wrote an article condemning them!!
What I said was, at the PSG home game, there was no racial chanting in the Emirates stadium and, to date, you haven’t proven otherwise.
It seems you hold our club responsible for what goes on outside the club as well?
The Paris CL final.
Didnt say just at the Emirates, said in our fanbase
I have name more then one mate
PSG at home – racism
PSG away – racism
Napoli at home in Europa League – racism
2 banned last year for racism
Sikh fan in 2022 against Liverpool – racism
So what say is factually not true
Racism happens in our fanbase , home / away / online
In the end we realise Havertz is not good enough to win us the league – but lets face the fact that Kai was working tirelessly doing valuable work. But he was overplayed as Jesus was crocked and underperforming and we sold Nketia, Balogun. Kai was playing tired most of last season. Having Sesko as back up means Kai will be performing at a higher energy with fewer minutes. And Sesko could be a worldbeater in 2-3 years. Arteta has 5 substitutes a game but doesn’t use them properly because he lacked good options. With a decent striker and winger that will change. Sesko is not the finished article right now but he will make Kai better. Gyokeres is a HUGE risk. How many Portuguese league strikers have succeeded in the EPL? He has less upside than Sesko. Gyokeres could be Pepe 2.0
Arsenal characteristically dragging its feet to sign players is not confined to the men’s team alone. Arsenal Women have not yet completed the signing of its proven game changer Chloe Kelly though discussions began since the team dramatically became Champions of Europe. So it’s a club wide problem maybe contagious across the youth teams as well. Speed up the process not trust the process!!
Pretty obvious we getting just one of them along with other signings at other positions. We will have to be patient till about end of the month before we see new signings coming in (Zubimendi and Kepa) most probably. CF position could also be done sooner than expected, hopefully before pre-season, considering partey’s potential departure which enables more incoming transfers.
In August 2011 Wenger signed 6 players Chamberlain, Benayoun, Park, Santos, Mertsacker and Arteta. Shall we expect the same mode of large scale transfer operation this time around for all the ongoing proceedings to be completed and be revealed at once?
Only because he sold Fabregas , Nasri , Eboue and Clichy !
Yeah Dan correct. This time also Arsenal part company with lots of players either via sale or termination of contracts. Some already done with Tierney, Neto, Sterling & Jorginho. Others will surely follow suit Iike Zinchenko maybe Partey? etc.
Difference is 5 of those 7 transfer fees
Not
A tricky start
Man United away
Never want to be going to the relegation teams away early lol.
One of the blogs recently posed the question – is Arteta a good coach but a bad manager? and I think the answer is a bloody great YES!
Willian? Viera?
Why is Rice worth £1M if Gyokeres is not worth £80M?
Rice is a great player but not a goal scorer and goals are the missing piece of the Arsenal puzzle.
So according to you good managers always get their signing right?
Do you want me to list the players that Fergie, Wenger, Pep, Klopp, etc all got wrong in their managing careers?
Should said transfer signings that work out disqualify any manager from being labelled as good? Becaus if that was the template then there has never been or ever be a good manager. No one gets it all right all the time. Ee are all fallible mortals.
😊👍
Over 55% of Arteta’s signings have been mediocre. No other manager has even half of that failure.
@HH
How did you calculate / crunch the numbers to arrive at the 55% figure?
Or may be as always you just pulled some random stuff from out of your rectum and put them forward out real FACTS. 😊
Can you show some evidence that 55% of his signings have been mediocre? I want some real numbers here because 55% seems like a specific ratio.
Why did you choose 55% and not 58%, 40%, 24%, 33%, 50% etc?
You must have actually done the your due diligence (Spreadsheets, calculations etc) in order for to have ended up with that special percentage. 🤓
I will be waiting for your gathered data that must have given you that much confidence to arrive at that 55% figure.
Let’s be having your final “THEISIS”. Must have compiled a proper dissertation on this matter.
👍🤞👌
@HH
And on top of that can you provide the raw data of from your very exhaustive research into the percentages of Fergie, Wenger, Klopp, Pep etc Flops vs Arteta’s Flops.
Then we can compare their flops to Arteta’s flops in order to come to a more objective / unbiased agreement.
Because pulling random figures from out of wherever orifice you pulled them from won’t suffice here.
I don’t even know how you are going to substantiate what player can be labelled as MEDIOCRE vs POOR vs GOOD etc.. Because the term MEDIOCRE a very subjective term.
But hey, you are one of the “Albert Einsteins” of Football analysis on JustArsenal, so I will be waiting for your data Sir.
🤞🙏
Lols
HH, Mikel has signed 26 players (this excludes those who he turned from loans to permanent signings) so about 14 need to have been, at the least, mediocre.
Of course the term “mediocre” is a personal opinion, but I would be interested in your list, as I’m of the opinion your not far off – but weren’t they in his early days as our manager?
Ken, what HH might be suggesting is: more than half Arteta’s signings are mediocre.
@Jax
And as always, @Ken pokes his head into a Back and Forth trying to help out those with similar views like him on whatever matter. But then later if I take his bait he will start complaining and moaning that he can’t be bothered with the endless Back and Forth with me. 😊
And if 55% of Arteta’s signings have been mediocre but they have rejuvenated the whole club to serious TItle and CL contenders in the last 3 seasons, then I don’t know what he could have achieved for with just 50% mediocre players.
If he is getting us finishing 2nd for three seasons in a row with just 45% of his signings being a success then I wonder where he would get us if he improved that 45% by just another 4%.
😊
I really couldn’t care less if you want to reply to me or not matey.
I was messaging HH, who, although we disagree on some things, correspond in a civil manner and don’t try to put each other down.
So please stay out of our discussion on Mikel’s signings and whether the mediocre ones were made early on in his managerial career compared to later.
Jax, your correct about the % but my point was, I think we can say that, if true, it was during his first (say) three seasons.
I believe his permanent signings since we finished fifth have been a lot more productive, so I’m looking forward to read HH’s examples and discussing them as adults 👍
Please feel free to reply, as I like to have debates with people who give opinions, while not trying to put others down.
HH, here’s a list of all Mikel’s signings, including frees, as they cost the club in salaries.
I’ve put a tick on those I think have been successful.
Aaron Ramsdale £30 million ✅
Gabriel Magalhaes £27mill.✅
Kai Havertz £65 million ✅
Thomas Partey £45 million ✅
Ben White £50 million ✅
Gabriel Jesus £45 million ✅
Pablo Mari £8 million ❌
Declan Rice £105 million ✅
Leandro Trossard £30 mill✅
Takemiro Tomiyasu £20mill❌
David Raya £30 million ✅
Fabio Vieira £34 million ❌
Jorginho £12 million ✅
Martin Odegaard £30 mill✅
Olek Zinchenko £30 million ✅
Riccaro Califiori £38 million ❌
Jurrien Timber £38 million ✅
Mikel Merino £32 million ❌
Jakub Kiwior £20 million ✅
Cedric Soares Free ❌
Alex Runarsson £1.8 million ❌
Marquinhos £3 million ❌
Nuno Tavares £8 million ❌
Albert Lokonga £17 million ❌
Austin Trusty £2 million ❌
Willian Free ❌
Matt Turner £7.5 million ❌
Matthew Ryan Loan ❌
Raheem Stirling Loan ❌
So, of the 28 players listed above, only four (Tomiyasu, Vieira, Califiori, Merino and Sterling) could be classed as “recent” buys who received the dreaded ❌ while the rest are, in my opinion, buys that were made early in MA ‘s managerial career.
In total 14 of the 28 receive said ❌, so 50 % in total.
Of course, others will have their own opinions on the ✅ and the ❌ but you gave me food for thought and finally, if you look at the relative outlays, £178.2 (if my adding up is correct!!) is much less than the 50% I’m saying were unconvincing buys.
What’s your opinion HH (and anyone else who wants to debate of course) and do your views differ to mine?
I would mostly agree
Maybe a cross on Havertz just based on the wage and fee
No manager is solely responsible for purchases, obviously, but I’d take issue with a few of your gradings. Just my opinion.
– I wouldn’t call Merino a failed signing at all. He’s been an excellent squad player, and we need those…
– Calafiori. I’m on the fence here. He’s been pretty good when fit. He did have an injury record before signing that has resurfaced. That was a gamble, and we need to retain another player or two there for rotation, but he’s a good option when fit.
– Tomiyasu. We love him when he’s fit! Unfortunately prone to injuries. But again, a good squad player. I do think availability and lack of injury record should be a prime consideration, but he was bought for his talent at a time when we needed someone. I’ll give you that one based on injuries.
Rest I agree with.
Ken thank you so much for putting together that list. My sincere apologise to you and Goonster for late reply. My job these days take a lot of my day and it leaves little time for me to engage properly.
I gave it a lot of thought on Ramsdale and ended up classing him as a failure. If he was a success why was he replaced in such a short time?
I do not agree with Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus too. While Jesus was phenomenal on his first season with us, signing such a known injury prone player on very high salary was a bad signing from the start.
Last year before summer signings I remember my estimate was 51% mediocre signinngs and 49% good ones. The summer signings took the failure rate higher.
29 players signed and we still do not have squad depth. That alone should make it clear majority of signings were mediocre.
Thanks for the reply HH (and everyone else of course 👍).
I actually believe that, with all our current players available, the squad depth you talk about would be much better and, hopefully, with at least three new signings this window, I think we will have a formidable bench.
On your Ramsdale comment, I thought he was a great success, but I see Arteta’s decision to bring in Raya was an exceptional piece of transfer activity… but that doesn’t mean Ramsdale was a failure.
As I said, everyone will have a different opinion to each of the signings, but, in general, I hope you will agree that it’s his earlier signings that give his overall markings in the transfer market a average marking?
Good to debate sensibly with no name calling etc
Isn’t it? 👍😂
@Ken
Yes I agree that most of the bad signings have been from his earlier years at Arsenal and have been getting better every season even though last summer was a step back.
Regarding the squad depth I recall even in previous two seasons when we didn’t have injury crisis the consensus was the same. Perhaps it seems that way because of Arteta’s lack of trust on players not in his first 11.
With few additions this summer I also agree they will give us a very strong squad and I have high hopes that we may finally see success (I hope we finally lift that CL trophy) even though I retain my doubts that Arteta is capable of reaching the finish line.
You missed out
Dani Ceballos❌
Neto ❌
And out of 31 signings
7 – goalkeepers
7- full backs
14 players for 3 positions
Leaves 17 players for 8 positions .
How anyone canny see the problem with that is beyond me .
OK I’m not Einstein! /😂
Agree with both your ❌❌’s so it seems HH and his 54% does indeed have merit.
My point that it was early in his managerial career still holds water though, as does the amount of money wasted.
I’ve never disputed the positional ratios though DK and I rely on you to point it out at every opportunity you can 👍😂
Ken, I agree with the vast majority of your rankings. The two I don’t agree with you on are Calafiori and Merino. For me I’ll wait for their second season before passing judgement.
Just my personal reason for the ❌ HD :
Califiori was bought with a history of injuries and it seems that has continued with a vengeance at our club.
If he could only remain fit, then I would have given him a ✅
. As for Merino, my thought process was that, since his signing, he’s been very lightweight, a bit like Vieira.
If he could only produce the brilliance he showed when taking that incredible goal against Real Madrid, then, again, I might have given him the ✅
Of course, it’s all very subjective, but I found it really interesting looking at the pattern of Mikel’s signings and, in my opinion, shows how he’s learning the game in a positive way.
Your point about waiting to the end of this season is probably a sensible one, but I was judging on performances to date.
Going by your red crosses Ken ( your opinion, I agree but would have added one more ) .
The percentage is approximately (54.84\%\). I know 😂
So HH was bang on the money , just wonder if boomer boy Goonster will reply , I’m sure he’ll have great ( boring ) long response ( excuse) if he does .
Canny wait .
Herr Drier my apologies for not replying to you in an earlier article. I didn’t visit the site for days after I posted that comment.
Yes DK I always wonder why he write 6 paragraphs to make a point which could have been done with one sentence.🤣🤣
@Ken
Hahaha. Trying to squeeze the numbers in order to get the 55% fugure that @HH pulled from out of his nose. But even with all that squeezing you failed to reach the specific / made up 55%.😊
Now do the Fergie, wenger, Klopp, Pep etc MEDIOCRE signing and we can compare them to Arteta’s. Because @HH was comparing Arteta’s success rate (percentage) to other managers.
We have to be objective here.
Right?
👍🤞
Goonster
This thread which Ken elevated with his data has seen matured discussions. Read the room and stop your childishness.
I didn’t pull that data out of my nose. This is not the first time Arteta’s signings success rate has been discussed in the comments section.
Not surprising you missed those since you must spent all your time writing unnecessary lengthy comments than reading others.
@HH
You made a claim. You said that about 55% of Arteta’s signings have been MEDIOCRE. So I asked you to substantiate that claim.
I did not ask you to run to @ken and give me his opinion.
So I will ask you again, can you show your own opinionated data that led you to a conclusion that 55% of Arteta’s have been mediocre? Even with ken squeezing it did not come to 55%.
Now can you do your own?
And on top of that can you do the Pep, Wenger, Fergie, klopp ets signing?
If I wanted Kens opinion I would have asked him.
Incredible
He got the percentage spot on
I’m terrible at maths for fair play peeps
I would like to specifically highlight Mikel Merino. He has proven to be an excellent squad player, and his contributions have been crucial, especially during the absence of our main strikers. Scoring nine goals, he has shown that he can step up and even play a more attacking role when needed. This clearly demonstrates that he is not a failed signing—in fact, he has been a very good one.
and,dont forget that he will also drag wenger into every conversation where he can. a bit tiresome at this stage old boy, leave wenger alone to play with his mickey mouse job.
Thanks for the advice ger burke – I’ll try not to, unless someone mentions him first 👍
ger burke,
Nothing wrong with mentioning Wenger. Our greatest manager, oh those were the days.
Careful Derek!
Would like your opinion on my ratings above though!
Ken1945,
Firstly well done on your thorough research.
I agree with you in the most part, but the thing I will say regarding four players is as follows.
While I don’t like Calafiori at left back, to be fair to him when he played Centre back he looked good to be fair. Although his injury record is a concern.
Merino didn’t convince me at first, but over time he’s won me around in that he’s a good squad player.
Jesus, well initially he was a good signing, but with his injury record and lack of goals when he did play has in my opinion taken the initial shine off us signing him.
Now Tomiyasu is a frustrating one, I believe he’s a good player. Very versatile, and he seems to be one of these players that is capable where ever he plays. But he’s just never fit enough for long enough. I put him in the category of if he gets a twisted sock he’s injured. Which is a shame, because we just haven’t had the chance to see the best of him for any length of time.
And I didn’t mention Wenger once, OOPS! oh yes I just did. My bad. 🤣👍
Find it weird there would be Arsenal fans reluctant to ever mention the most successful manager in our history
Or that he’s got a mickey mouse job now!
No names no pack drill Dan, but your last seven words give the game away!!
It’d be highly improbable, since we’ve still got Havertz/ Merino who can play CF and we still need a lot of money for contract extensions/ other new players
Arsenal might feel Gyokeres’ price tag could still be lowered significantly, because of his current contract length at Sporting and his age
I bet Sesko is more expensive, since he has a longer contract and he’s much younger than Gyokeres
That’s why I was thinking would Sesko be an option on the Left ?
Sesko can’t play off the left. If anything, it’s Gyokeres who likes drifting to wide areas. If they were to play together, Sesko would be the one to play centrally. Sesko being stronger in the air than Gyokeres is also another reason why he’d be a better fit centrally.
Gyokeres also makes a ton of crosses and he’s good at it so it makes sense for him to be wider. On the other hand, he’s not good at scoring with his head from crosses, unlike Sesko. Sesko can drop into midfield like Havertz ,whereas Gyokeres doesn’t excel at that.
Sesko is best used in central areas like RVP. Gyokeres is best used like Aubameyang & Sanchez – cutting in from the left and taking a shot.
Gyokeres has scored 11 goals in 17 Champions League and Europa League games, while Sesko has scored six goals in 16 Champions League games in the same period.
The 27-year-old has scored 97 goals in 102 games in all competitions since his arrival from Coventry in 2023.
With this stats you don’t become bad overnight in Epl where Merino a defensive midfield scored 9 goals.
the weight of expectations from fans would be too much for Sesko. The fans needs trophy badly next season.
Sylva I didn’t even comment on how good or bad Gyokeres would be. My comment was on the hypothetical scenario that if we were playing both Sesko and Gyokeres, it would be better to play Sesko centrally and Gyokeres wide, instead of the opposite which is what Dan suggested. As to which player would be best suited for us, I didn’t go into that, and won’t go into that because I’ve shared my thoughts on it severally on this forum. I will support whichever striker the club signs. Most importantly, I’ll support the one already at the club.
Mate to clarify he wouldn’t always start on the left
He starts as back up striker but you can put him on the left when you feel you need too
As we learnt last year you need a squad
If Sesko plays on the left wing, we’d lose Martinelli’s penetration from that side
Based on his YouTube highlight, he plays centrally and often drops into the attacking midfield area to flick the ball to Openda and Simons
I bet Gai from what I have seen, VGyokeres is a better option. @27yrs this guy has 4 seasons in him as a CF. As for wether he will perform, you don’t score 54 goals in a season and become bad overnight. There are a few players who came from Potugues league and went on to become great players. ie BFernabdez, Ronaldo and many more..
ImO, Arsenal already have a similar player like Sesko in Havertz who apart from Sesko been pacier nothing much to separate them. Hence Gyokeres a different CF who hardly miss scoring chances. And we know Arsenal creats loads of chances. Arsenal should stop dilly dally and sign one of this players. The market isalready trickery.
Gyokeres would only be a better option for Arsenal if he costs less than Sesko
Gyokeres is a better option because he scores more than Sesko.
Gyokeres’s record in the Primera Liga won’t automatically translate to the EPL with so many more high quality opponents.
He’ll score goals, sure, but it’s impossible to say if he’d score more than say Sesko or Watkins. He doesn’t score headers, for example, so that’s one whole source of goals against low blocking mid table teams gone. Which is precisely where we’re unnecessarily dropping points each season in recent years. They are players with different profiles.
Haverts/Merino were not brought in to play as CFs , Haverts himself has admitted he’s not a Striker.
I would seriously be looking to offload him and Jesus and possibly one other to make way for these two finishers whom we’re missing every since we lost players like Sanchez,Aubamyang , Grioud and Henry.
Havertz can’t be sold unless he wants to be. No team purchases a player without their consent and their name on a new contract. What other team can afford his wages?
Just pay £120 – £150mill for Isak & be done with it !
he is brittle and Arteta’s lack of rotation means he’ll bust a hammy like everyone else in the starting 11.
Unlikely to her either at this rate. Either one of the desks cloud have been closed weeks ago.
Dan you’ve come up a mythical story as Arsenal are unaccustomed to signing super stars at a time. If so we would even doubt our own eyes and ears as it’s un-Arsenal esque . It’ll of course be beyond the capability of Arteta to synchronize and manage the two super stars simultaneously. Even the maestro Pep can’t do that. Super ego mentality would jeopardize the cohesion of the team. Even in this fairytale scenario with both Sesko & Gyo Arsenal still need an assister playmaker alongside Ode without whom the two targets remain futile. A club that couldn’t sign inferior targets like Watkins & Delap would never sign these most coveted strikers at a time. Anyhow the fanbase sometimes need such dream stories that put smiles on our faces.
Oh I dont think it will happen lol
Although I agree with another playmaker I think we have already got him if I’m assuming you are talking about the left 8. Havertz was bought for that role when Xhaka left but because of Jesus unavailability and the non trust in Eddie he was pushed up front as Arteta fell upon a solution with no recognised number 9.
I’ve been saying it’s a possibility for weeks now Dan and still believe it might happen, especially after the lessons we learnt from the injury debacle of last season.
If we sign just one striker and he gets A long term injury, we
would be back to square one.
That’s also why I think this enormous war chest was leaked – £140 million on two strikers, £59 million on Zubimendi, £5 million on a keeper and £65 million on a winger would see that chest helping.
I do agree that, if we don’t sign a proven striker, then questions must be asked of Arteta etc.
I think if we get both we won’t get the winger as well
I can understand why supporters bemoan Arsenal’s failure to sign a striker last summer or in January, but perhaps supporters don’t always see the bigger/long term decisions that influence such decisions. If Newcastle hadn’t achieved Champions league football on the last day then I suspect that Izak would have been moving away from Newcastle. Buying a second choice forward for £60-£80 million together with their wages of say £10 Million a year may have jeopardised the opportunity to bring in Izak this window IF Newcastle hadn’t achieved that champions league place. I suspect Arsenal wanted Izak and that may have occurred if Newcastle hadn’t achieved Champions League, but a panic buy in January at an inflated price seriously impacts your future ability to sign a premium striker. You can only spend your transfer kitty/wages once and panic buys invariably cost you more.
Anything is a possibility but in reality, all fanciful dreaming aside, we will be lucky to get either. At this rate, with the constant dilly-dallying which is par for the course with Arsenal, we will wait and wait and wait for who knows what and end up with neither.
For what it’s worth my shortlist would be:
Gyökeres
Sesko
Vlahovic
I would actually have Vlahovic above Sesko, as I think he better fits the mould of player we need but tbh at this point I am sick of the constant indecision and just want them to sign one of them. Ending up with none of these players and having to settle for a last minute desperation bid for Ollie Watkins would be an absolute disaster.
Watkins’ price would be prohibitive if we miss out on the others. Villa would gouge us.
Not sure Villa could afford to say no
Right now, we aren’t meeting near the asking price for either one of them, so it is highly unlikely that we meet both prices If you had of said could we get Watkins and one of the two main targets I think that would be more likely But in reality I do not expect two strikers arriving as we have other needs
I don’t think that would be a good use of resources. We already have Havertz and whatever you think of him, at the very least he’s good as a backup. It’s fair to say that his best performances for us have come at Centre Forward and I reckon not many would want him back in midfield. Do we really want our highest paid player barely playing when we know he can be effective? Is that a smart use of resources.
Secondly, there’s the issue of squad composition. A squad has maximum number of senior players that can be registered (25) and only 17 can be non-homegrown. This translates to two players per position and three goalkeepers. If we register 3 strikers (4 if you include Jesus), this leaves us with 18 slots for the remaining 20 outfield slots. One or two positions will lack in numbers because of this. In addition, adding another two non-homegrown in one position could make it problematic to sign a non homegrown player in another position.
Finally, Dan is suggesting playing one on the left. Isn’t this the same issue of square pegs in round holes that folks have been complaining about? Rather than playing a centre forward on the left because you signed two,how about just sign one, and let the other attacking signing be an ACTUAL winger? Wingers also score goals, you know. Mo Salah is tied with Henry for most golden boots- he is a winger. Two of the best scorers of my lifetime, and probably of all times (Messi and Cristiano) scored loads of goals as wingers. They put up numbers that elite centre forwards could only dream of.
Get a quality centre forward and a quality wide player. Collecting centre forwards like we’ve been doing left backs will only make for an unbalanced squad.
There’s a lot of sense in what you’ve written. I just want to point out that the problem of squad composition we could have is in the over 1 trillion left backs we have on our books. Tierney is gone. We need to trim down more from that position. I’ll say we should sell Zinchenko and Tomiyasu as well. 3 non-homegrown left-backs out. That’s 3 birds with one stone
That makes sense. Tierney is gone and Zinchenko will probably move too. As for Tomi, he wasn’t really signed as a LB, was he? He came in as RB who can cover the other three defensive positions.
For what it’s worth, I think Tomi is a top class defender when fit. He can deputise across the back line to a high level. We can’t sell him because he’s injured. If he can prove his fitness next season, he’ll be like a new signing😁. If he can’t, Arsenal should move on from him next season.
The problem is not Arteta but the indecisive nature of the club owners and recruitment board. Arteta is to identify players that he thinks could suit his play and try convince them to sign for the club but pulling off the deal 🤝 now lies with the Sporting Director and the club owners.
It’s not new that Arsenal spend a month or more just to sign a player and get things ready before hand 🖐️.
Expectations are rising and Berta has to man 👨 his office 🏢, if not, it’s the same old story and thinking 💭 it’s only Arteta who would shoulder the blame is deceitful. It’s for things like this he was contracted for.
Getting the 2 players is not a bad idea, the resources are there but I would prefer Gykores to Sesko if 1 is to come.
No. One or the other plus a winger.
Arsenal should sign both Gyokeres and Sesko.
PSG play without a traditional no.9 but they are scoring goals for fun. Barcelona have only Lerwandoski but they still score loads of goals even when he’s not available .
In 22/23 Arsenal scored 88 goals and 91 the following season all without the so-called traditional striker
So we don’t need two strikers; one of them and another quality winger are what we need to add to Havertz and Jesus
Our midfielders (Rice, Odegaard and Merino) will score more goals next season I’m sure
If the signing of both Sesko & Gyo is confirmed, the EPL immediately must draft and issue new directive to all clubs to make their GOAL NETS THICKENED & DOUBLE LAYERED effective as of week 1 to be confirmed by designated inspectors. The new rule is deemed necessary in fear of the countless of goals the two consistently, voluntarily and involuntarily would score.
Could have worked if gyokeres was a better dribbler, he rarely stays central and mostly drops to the left to run with the ball. He is also surprisingly not good with his head. Sesko could be the target man with gyokeres playing off him as a left inside forward. Sesko is also good at dropping deep to link up play. Imagine a front 3 of gyokeres sesko saka.
But it would require changes to our midfield and entire left side. Would be quite the statement from the owner after the failed January window and also from Arteta breaking up his tactics to get a big trophy.
No idea why we are in for Gyokores – and that seems why no one else is interested. He’s a flat track bully: take out the penalties and the goals against the bottom teams in Portugal (which are lesser quality than Championship clubs) and his record is a lot more modest.
5 goals against Boavista (18th R)
3 goals against Farense (17th R)
3 goals againt AVS (16th R)
Seems a £20m striker being sold beyond his value
Better then what we have is the point peeps seem to constantly miss lol
Probably too early to say he is better than what we have. Looks good on paper for sure. So was the Ukrainian that defected to Chelsea -Mudryk ,I believe is his name. Always like that.
Watkins ,for instance, we know what he can do. He is not Isak but his team is probably not quite as talented as Isak’s.
Coming from Portugal/Germany, who knows??
Juventus have just asked to be advised on his status, while manure were after him before they signed the wolves forward.
Do agree he’s being overpriced though.
it is not easy and automatic that you score more goals against “lesser teams.
Bayern put 10 goals in Auckland city’s net and Kane was nowhere to be found on the scoresheet.
At the snails pace that arsenal are showing we’re likely see no strikers mentioned in today’s article, instead Sideshow Bob and Krusty the Clown will run out as our end of transfer window surprise.
No way in a million years we’re signing both, unless there’s a major tactical and formation change, and even then, that means a winger or a playmaker has to miss out.
Not if Sesko starts on bench as second striker
who you occasionally play on the left
And in what world do you spend almost 100 million on a player to sit on the bench? You do realize we’re not City or PSG?
Not only can we not afford to actually do that, but I am pretty sure Sesko or any top player would not move to be a bench player, and play out of position as well.
It appears we are aspiring to be like City and PSG – RECENT champions. Dominant teams. If they want to win, you sacrifice at times. up to the manager to man manage the players. NO Excuses!!!
We can be like Brighton, Forest , Villa etc. That’s okay . Just own it. Don’t be talking about being like City and expecting to do it with a squad that limps to the end line — with draws and defeats!!
Spend the money OR stop with the tease. Second place every year is okay – just own it. Let folks know that is the ambition.
Chyke, you’re living in cloud cuckoo land if you think we be like City and PSG!
Both are state funded, have unlimited funds, and there is no PSR in France. It’s impossible for us in our current form to be anywhere like those two clubs.
But we saw Ozil and Aubemeyang sitting on the bench and, even worse, sent home on gardening leave.
Then, of course, there was Pepe, our record signing at the time!!
Answer to Lucy 78.
I can understand a manager, being not happy with what a player offers and doesn’t start him often. But, to shut out a high value player completely and destroy his transfer value is absolutely criminal. How can the owners be okay with letting players like Ozil, Auba, Tierney and the likes to be zero-value?
Should they not hold the manager accountable?
And it didn’t work, that’s my point.
I loved Auba, and I always wanted him at Arsenal, but it made zero sense signing him when you had only just got Laca for 50m 6 months earlier, and had gaping holes in others on the pitch.
Would also make zero sense signing 2 strikers now, when we already have Havertz, and Jesus, and at a time we also need a winger.
Yes Lucy you build a squad
Arsenal don’t have a natural steiner fit at the club
So your saying no to two strikers lol
So your happy with one attacking player this summer ?
Man United once won a treble with 4 strikers
I never said no to two strikers, but only as long as we get a quality winger as well. If two strikers doesn’t financially allow us to sign a winger, then that would easily be a big no.
If you don’t think we need another quality winger, I would argue that you haven’t been watching Arsenal.
We also have Jesus, and Havertz, so two strikers isn’t necessary. 3 experienced players for one position is plenty.
“So your happy with one attacking player this summer?”. I have never once said that. I have consistently said we need two attackers minimum this summer.
So you think a striker playing on the wing is a better option than signing an actual winger?
Utd comparison doesn’t make sense. Utd played with more a traditional 442 back then. Not only do we not play with 2 upfront, it’s hard to think of any top team that plays with 2 strikers starting.
Like I said, if we’re going to change everything about how we play, then yes get two strikers, but it wouldn’t make sense to scrap everything tactically when we’ve done so well in the league and in Europe over the last few years.
Lucy78, we haven’t had a recognised, fully fledged striker since Aubemeyang and Lacazette, after watching the likes of Wrighty, Henry, JudasRVP and Macdonald.
The need for two is imperative if we are to compete this coming season and there are two proven strikers available, Sesko and Gyokeres.
With the injuries that have plagued us the last couple of seasons, surely it makes sense to sign both of them?
As for wingers needed I agree we need another one, but I honestly don’t think that is as big a need as two efficient strikers, with Saka, Martinelli and Trossard already on board.
By the way I have followed and watched our club for many seasons and Havertz and Jesus are not the clinical strikers we need, despite the fact that I think both are very good players and make our squad such a strong one.
Ken1945,
On reading your post responding to Lucy78, I noticed you referred to Van Persie as a Judas.
I assume you feel this way because, while with us he had his fair share of injury’s, and the club stuck by him. And then in due course he left us for United. If I’m assuming wrong, I apologize in advance.
I take a different stance on it myself. Yes he had his fair share of injury’s while with us, but when fit what a striker he was. And although we didn’t win the league, it wasn’t because he wasn’t contributing from his side.
And also at the time the squad wasn’t looking as good as previous years, and to be honest it couldn’t have filled Van Persie with confidence when you see some of the caliber of players that he had to train with.
So he decided to leave to win the league, a decision that is hard to argue with. As he won the league in his first attempt.
Although I was sad to see him go, I understood why he did. And I’ll tell you this for free, if the current team don’t start to win some major trophy’s soon, I can see some of them getting itchy feet soon to. 🤷♂️
As painful as it was at the time, in hindsight I can agree with the likes of RVP, Nasri, Cesc, and king Henry as to why they left, it proved to be the correct decision for all of them.
If we could see it from the outside how poor we were and the direction of the club, just imagine the perspective of our top players who had all that inside knowledge of what was going on day-to-day at the club.
And it’s happening again
Saliba will do the same
Club isn’t ambitious enough
Lucy78,
I agree with your piece. Wenger in the end was in a position where he had to sell his top player at the end of a season at some points.
Derek, I watched how The Arsenal looked after Judas from the minute he signed for us.
Protected him during the allegations at home, the numerous injuries season after season, through thick and most definitely the thin times, only for him to stab the club, Wenger and the supporters in the back.
With a year left on his contract he said that he could see no problem signing a new contract but he wanted to concentrate on the world cup.
It was only after this that he suddenly decided he wanted to leave and this was following the one season that he actually managed to play a decent number of games.
As for players leaving if we don’t win anything, let me just remind you that Gabriel, has just signed a new long term contract, along with Martinelli, White and Raya.
Of course, for those who want to paint this picture of doom in order to put more pressure on Arteta, it’s an ideal talking point, but until a single player comes out and actually says he’s leaving because of trophies, it’s just BS… in my opinion.
Let’s see if Saka, Skelly Nwaneri and Saliba sign the new contracts offered, shall we?
@ken1945
You’re spot on with what you said about RVP. That’s why so many still hate him.
Unfortunately, he and the others why right to leave because we weren’t winning anything, let alone one of the big trophies, and we were getting less and less competitive year on year back then.
To this day, moving from Highbury was the correct decision, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Completely hamstrung our greatest ever manager. Not say Wenger didn’t make mistakes, but it must have been so tough seeing your top players constantly leaving.
Lucy78 it was a kick in the teeth for every single fan who chanted his name, never questioned his injuries, believed him when he said he would re-sign the new contract and then read that “the little boy inside him” told him to forget all what went on previously and join our biggest rivals at that time.
The fact that it cost manure absolute millions of pounds when he got injured again (both of which made my day by the way) along with Fergie leaving after promising judas he was staying was a perfect ending for me.
Good to see we both agree on this one 👍😊
Highbury was a magical place and I miss it’s atmosphere and history so much.
It’s taken fifteen years to make the Emirates feel like home and all praise has to go to Mikel Arteta for achieving this, but, as you say, Arsene was hamstrung from the very beginning until 2015, when Ozil arrived – as you say our greatest ever manager.
Ken1945,
While I hear what you say about Van Persie, and I can understand your stance better now. I still have a certain understanding of why he left us. But I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this particular issue.
As for your comment regarding Gabriel signing a new contract, which I ‘m glad to see he did by the way. I wasn’t trying to paint a doom and gloom angle on it as you put it.
You know in today’s game to a large extent contract’s are not worth the paper there written on. How many times do you see said player kicking up enough of a stink to eventually get his move.
It happens a lot, the club can’t win. While they may want to keep the player, at the same time they don’t want to keep an unhappy player, as one bad apple can start to rot some of the others so to speak.
And unless a club is willing to play hard ball with said player, more often than not the player will get his way in the end, even if he’s signed a recent new contract.
When Jimmy Hill all those years ago stood up for footballers rights, and said that the power was to much in the clubs favour, I don’t think he ever imagined that it would then turn completely on its head and now all the power is in most cases with the player. I don’t think that he even meant for that to happen, but it certainly has. And in my opinion, that’s not a good thing. It needs to be leveled out a bit more if you ask me. 🤷♂️👍
As I said, I am not against the idea of getting both of them, just as long as it doesn’t prohibit us getting a quality winger.
I agree that we need a natural striker as a priority, but I strongly disagree about your planning, as that would leave us with 4 options upfront for only one position, whilst also not strengthening LW. So that would leave us short on the wings still, and overly stocked upfront.
Doesn’t it make far more sense to strengthen both LW and CF in the starting XI, rather than the CF and the bench? Plus only Saka has more goal involvements than Havertz since his arrival, so he massively contributes to the team, despite not being a natural striker, meaning it isn’t a priority to get two strikers right now.
And if Saka got injured again, we’d be massively short on the wings.
No it would leave us with two options up front
Havertz can be a back up for Odegarrd
We are not winning a title with Havertz as a striker
How does a LM help if Saka gets injured ?
No it would leave us with four options upfront, if you’ve been watching Arsenal. Where do Jesus and Havertz play the vast majority of the time? Upfront. Then you add two strikers, and low and behold, 2 + 2 = 4.
Now do you honestly think its a smart idea if you want Arteta to start experimenting with Kai as a playmaker for the first time ever, in a season where there’s so much pressure to win? I thought fans didn’t want square pegs in round holes?
For the millionth time, I haven’t got an issue with replacing Havertz as our number one choice upfront. We just do not need 2 extra strikers when Kai’s stats are very good. Do you not even read what I write?
You get a versatile LW on the chance Saka gets injured, plus Martinelli can also play there, but then that only leaves you with Trossard on the right.
I am truly baffled that you don’t believe a winger is needed badly. Especially given our lack of creation last season. How does Sesko and Gyok solve creative issues when they’re strikers?
Jesus isn’t back till next year so I ruled him out
Havertz isn’t a natural striker
I know Havertz isn’t a natural striker, but that’s where he has been playing, and to very good effect, with only Saka beating him for goal involvements since 23/24 onwards.
Lucy78 I’m beginning to think I need to ask you the question your asking me… have you been watching us play?!
During last season, we created numerous chances, but didn’t have the clinical striker to put them away.
How many times did we try and walk the ball into the net?
As for buying just one striker, where do we go if he’s injured?
Jesus is out, it seems, to the new year, so that will, once again, leave us with just Havertz, who, of course, could get injured once again.
So we get this winger that’s going to create all the chances you envisage, but, once again, they would have no out and out striker to put them away.
Likewise, if you read MY posts, you would have read that I also would like to see a winger signed, so let’s agree not to question each other’s reading ability shall we?
The bench and rotation?
If we sign the two strikers and rotate or even sub them during a match, the potential is such that we would have the kind of bench to die for.
Ken I generally think you’re not reading what I am saying at all, because you say “So we get this winger that’s going to create all the chances you envisage, but, once again, they would have no out and out striker to put them away”, which is saying that I do not want a striker…which is not true!
I am saying, lets get a striker, but we don’t need two, when you already have a productive Havertz and Jesus will return at the end of the year.
What you’re not factoring in is how you keep them all happy enough, given you want 4 experienced players for just one position, and you don’t want to strengthen the wings.
And do you honestly think that Saka, Martinelli and Trossard is enough quality and quantity for 50 plus games? Everyone and their dog knows Martinelli and Trossard at best are quality squad players. We badly need someone of Saka’s ilk on the left.
Of course we need better squad depth, and we get hit every year with injuries, but you are making too many assumptions. Using your own argument, what happens if Saka gets injured again? We would be left with zero high quality on the wings.
Lucy78, I’ve said that we need a winger, but, in my opinion, we need two actual strikers to cover the amount of games you rightly point out we are, hopefully, going to play in next season.
I guess we’re going to differ on this one, but respect your opinion.
Let’s hope we’re both happy at the beginning of the season, with everything we both want 👍
I would be surprised if we did get them both to be honest. I would have liked to see us go for one of them and Delap.
Sadly that didn’t happen. And just to put this thought out there, it still wouldn’t surprise me if we signed neither. And then the club go out and buy an unknown player, who apparently is going to be the next big thing. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m just putting the thought out there.🤷♂️
Will not get either will probably end up with plan Z Ollie Watkins absolutely pathetic in the transfer window Arteta on borrowed time win nothing next season then he’s gone!
The window has been open how long? 🙂
Some fascinating articles only on JA. Wow
Thanks lol
At the prices quoted I am not too excited about Gyokeres who scores a lot for a good team in Portugal against some woeful defenders. Sesko is also way overpriced. His finishing is not to great – not better than Havertz. He may end up being the best striker on the planet but that is 3 years away. if he presses tirelessly like Havertz then maybe he is our man. At least Kai will get some rest and we will forever have a fresh high energy presser and aerial threat on the pitch. We really need someone who would complement Havertz. And that would be Gabby Jesus of 2022 but he has disappeared. Not sure why we went cold on Vlahovic
Good article Dan. It would be a shock if they signed both, especially as they will still have Kai and Jesus on the books. I am not convinced that a one of them should be converted to a winger. Buy either or (personally prefer sesko), buy a winger and get zubimendi through the door. Thats a good window for mine.
Remember though mate Jesus out till next year
Liam Delap has a release clause of £30m, he’s only 23 and probably wouldn’t mind warming the bench from time to time. He’s Premier League proven, a real worker and home grown. Forget Olly Watkins he is past his prime and was second choice when Duran was at Villa. Delap wouldn’t be asking for an insane salary either. Just a thought!!!
He’s gone to Chelsea
We missed one there, and at that price☹️
Delap had 30 minutes in last nights game against LAFC. Didn’t get any goal scoring chances but laid on a beautiful pass for Chelsea’s second.
Giroud came on for LAFC🤣
Giroud is a fine player if the team utilizes his strengths. He and Auba used the right way would have been a killer partnership.
How do you quantify a coach or manager as good one? Since arteta came on board and start rebuilding we all saw his reshuffling of our players even the so call big boys in the team and see what we’ve become, why can’t you ask man u or chelshit how many coach or manager after arteta came to arsenal as pass thru there clubs, the answer is left for you to decide. We can have the two strikers in the team aubaneyang and lacazette play for us the same time, I support the two cos they both want to play for arsenal at all cost, it’s been a long time that happened in arsenal when a play er will ditch a rival club and insist he want to play for us, these are the position we lack for almost five years ago now come to us like a gold instead to grab it with all arms, gyokeres can play for at least four more years and his goals prowess can not be underestimate while sesko will also add more goals and his still young for the future the coach wi know how to use them on the field of pkay, imagine what we’ll become having these two in arsenal, the board shld look at the prospect and gain bringing to the club not there cost no amount is much to purchase a quality strker
Yes we can and we probably will, given the circumstances.
The problem with signing both, they will eat up almost two third of the war chest
Well it was said there was a 300 million war chest
Bottom line is if our owners have ambition the money is there
They won’t though
Dan
Reference to a comment you made a while back on One of your posts
We might have spent a lot but we have also recouped a lot from outgoings so the monies the kronkies have laid out is no where near the figures bantered around, which opened my eyes a bit plus what pay for a player now is not what we lay out immediately. It is spread over a period of time.
Pepe is a prime example
Onwards and upwards
It’s simple compare what City owners have spent since January to us
Why not just conoare what the city115 owners have spent since 2008 compared to The Arsenal?
That’s a simpler way to do it – overall not just one season in isolation that suits your argument Dan.
Why not compare!!
Oh I can give you more examples where they showed little ambition
To be honest other clubs spending shouldn’t bother us
We could go back to chelski days, maure at the height of there powers but what bothers me is the actual net spend minus sales
It’s not as great as we all think
Not going to lambast any of our managers past and present about spending but all seems smoke and mirrors when it comes to what we are actually investing in the team
We are a business and not a football club now so I understand
Half billion received in the last 3 seasons from the league position
So show the comparisons each season since Mr Kronkie became a shareholder and city115 were taken over by the sheiks Dan.
Sorry just to clarify are you claiming the Koronkes are more ambitious then Man City owners lol
I don’t need to make the comparisons
Your the one claiming it
You did this when you and the lady from Arsenal lied and said there had never been any racism at the club
Dan, your the one who wants to compare just one season, so why not compare every season since Mr Kronkie became a shareholder?
By the way, your the liar who said Liverpool supporters were responsible for the trouble at the Raid CL final and even wrote an article condemning them!!
What I said was, at the PSG home game, there was no racial chanting in the Emirates stadium and, to date, you haven’t proven otherwise.
It seems you hold our club responsible for what goes on outside the club as well?
The Paris CL final.
Didnt say just at the Emirates, said in our fanbase
I have name more then one mate
PSG at home – racism
PSG away – racism
Napoli at home in Europa League – racism
2 banned last year for racism
Sikh fan in 2022 against Liverpool – racism
So what say is factually not true
Racism happens in our fanbase , home / away / online
In the end we realise Havertz is not good enough to win us the league – but lets face the fact that Kai was working tirelessly doing valuable work. But he was overplayed as Jesus was crocked and underperforming and we sold Nketia, Balogun. Kai was playing tired most of last season. Having Sesko as back up means Kai will be performing at a higher energy with fewer minutes. And Sesko could be a worldbeater in 2-3 years. Arteta has 5 substitutes a game but doesn’t use them properly because he lacked good options. With a decent striker and winger that will change. Sesko is not the finished article right now but he will make Kai better. Gyokeres is a HUGE risk. How many Portuguese league strikers have succeeded in the EPL? He has less upside than Sesko. Gyokeres could be Pepe 2.0
Arsenal characteristically dragging its feet to sign players is not confined to the men’s team alone. Arsenal Women have not yet completed the signing of its proven game changer Chloe Kelly though discussions began since the team dramatically became Champions of Europe. So it’s a club wide problem maybe contagious across the youth teams as well. Speed up the process not trust the process!!
Pretty obvious we getting just one of them along with other signings at other positions. We will have to be patient till about end of the month before we see new signings coming in (Zubimendi and Kepa) most probably. CF position could also be done sooner than expected, hopefully before pre-season, considering partey’s potential departure which enables more incoming transfers.
In August 2011 Wenger signed 6 players Chamberlain, Benayoun, Park, Santos, Mertsacker and Arteta. Shall we expect the same mode of large scale transfer operation this time around for all the ongoing proceedings to be completed and be revealed at once?
Only because he sold Fabregas , Nasri , Eboue and Clichy !
Yeah Dan correct. This time also Arsenal part company with lots of players either via sale or termination of contracts. Some already done with Tierney, Neto, Sterling & Jorginho. Others will surely follow suit Iike Zinchenko maybe Partey? etc.
Difference is 5 of those 7 transfer fees
Not
A tricky start
Man United away
Never want to be going to the relegation teams away early lol.