It has been a long and tedious January transfer window for Arsenal fans but it has certainly been productive in as much as we have lost 4 peripheral first team squad players so far in Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, Mari and Calum Chambers, all of which have only featured in 2 games each this season and would have only have had to sit on the bench for the rest of the season if they had stayed.
There are also rumours that Leno, Nketiah or even Aubameyang may also depart in the next couple of days, but with Turner not arriving til the summer I can’t see Leno being allowed to leave, but I can only see either Nketiah or Aubameyang going if we have another striker coming in.
As for buying anyone at all, it seems from the rumours that Arteta’s three main targets were Vlahovic, Guimaraes and Arthur Melo and all three of those are dead in the water, but do we actually need any of those if we only have 17 League games left to play this season?
There is only one game each week, so there will be no need for rotation except to cover for injuries, suspensions and Xhaka’s occasional red cards (surely he has reached his limit for this season?).
The only big problem area is midfield thanks to Xhaka’s and Partey’s red cards. But once they are back and we have Lokonga and Elneny (and Azeez or Patino at a push) we will be fine until the end of the season, so where would a new midfielder fit in?
The more I look at it, the more I think there is no need for Arteta to waste money buying anyone now when we will have much more to choose from in the summer…
Admin Pat
We need a striker Lacazette has never been the answer and Aubameyang is not going to re capture old form Nketiah not up to it at top level In midfield Partey has been a waste of money while we need another right back We definitely no question need to buy otherwise will end up around sixth in table which is not good enough for a clublike Arsenal
How is Partey a waste of money?
why not get 2….
if one gets injured there another back up
or get 4…….
Without signings we won’t get Europe.
Tierney, Partey & Tomiyasu will always pick up injuries.
Infact Tomiyasu won’t be fit when we start again against Wolves.
Our strike force is bloody poor now let alone any injuries.
Xhaka is guaranteed to get a ban.
We absolutely need to sign Calvert Lewin. He has already reached the highest level in this league and has plenty in the tank to expand on the Euro/world stage. Once we achieve at home we will attract better quality in other areas. It was fanciful thinking the Vlahovic would come to us!! What’s the interest, 4th if we’re lucky? Pay whatever they want for him
We have the players to get 4th this season, we dont need players in January, they are notoriously bad normally. Its the way we play and handle our players that is the biggest problem. We are not going to get ANY player that can compensate the weaknesses of our manager.
Throwing good money after bad regarding Arteta Reggie ,plainly obvious to see ,weep to sue anyway .
To me some anyway *
We definitely need a upgrade on Xhaka who Arteta favours and I don’t think we have enough fire power upfront unless we bring in a striker or Auba is reintegrated. However I do agree about the manager, if we had Conte right now then I would believe we could get the 4th spot without any signings. United got 2nd because of their squad not Ole, that’s why as you say we need reinforcements to compensate.
We needed a no 2 rb
1 defencive midfielder
1 Centre midfielder
And a striker,
It looks like we’re getting none of them..
Unfortunately I don’t see us getting top 4 with our current roaster, when united currently have a better squad and spurs have the best manager between the three teams. So I believe it is imperative we sign a quality midfielder and Striker or reintegrate Auba to displace Xhaka and Laca to give us the best possible chance to achieve it. As has been stressed many times this is a massive window of opportunity, the best chance we have, the following seasons will be more difficult.
You sure you didn’t read my identical post, Pat?
Totally echo your thoughts. For me a striker is needed now. Even if on loan. All alse we can handle.
Many of us grew up in the days of smaller squads and less games. Who needs 28 when you only ever select from the same 14-15? It’s bearable and our dream first 11 can get us top 4-5 if they regain pre-Xmas form.
But a striker. Please!
Your post certainly gave me food for thought guy. It was the 17 games only that clinched it..
One of the issues remains squad depth. Even playing fewer games than some other teams all it would take to make things even more difficult is a long term injury to a key player. It’s risky to assume you will have all your players available for the rest of the season. Limited squad depth also restricts your tactical options.
Injuries will kill our dream of TOP 4, Only time will tell when it’s happening.
An ambitious club will have a squad depth, we are just there to complete the numbers, we ain’t going anywhere. So pathetic of a Club Management.
Anytime I think of Arsenal, I feel pain, when have we reduce to this?
During AW I berate the club for not challenging for titles and honour, just Top 4 finish, but right now Arsenal fans are pleased with Top 6. How the Mighty has FALLEN!!
We’re now compared with Wolves and Aston Villa
Arsenal needs quality depth…Arsenal needs additions this window and the rest of the season to integrate the new players for next season….also the new players can help push the club to 4th position….
36hours left!! Here comes the Panic buys. Just make sure you DON’T BUY/LOAN ANY PLAYER FROM JUVENTUS. It is unwise helping them to source for Funds and I don’t think they have the right kind of player we need right now.
Just get a good DM, that’s all
A Bissouma and Douglas Luiz are the ideal signing, we can cover up for the strike force till the summer.
I can’t imagine us paying 75mil for Isak, DCL and Osimeh; It is so insane!
Only 3 CB’s is a concern. Another quality no 10 to rotate with Odegaard would be very useful. The major conundrum is our strike force. On paper Pepe 72mill Aubameyang 60mill and Lacazette 50mill is the best and most expensive in the league plus Martinelli a man Klopp reckons will be a superstar. Why Arteta has not been able to extract more than 6 goals from PAL in 21 games is a cause for concern and a solution is needed. So I expect a CB solution a midfield addition and a decion regarding the make up of our strike force. Purchases, trades, swaps, loans it doesn’t really matter how it is done but some considered tweaking is required and I am hoping with the Chambers stealth deal in mind Artedu will have some surprising creative and exciting solutions for us to discuss come Monday evening.
I don’t see why we have not signed a Bissouma or Zakaria (alot cheaper) as of yet. Partey needs a partner and Xhaka isn’t him or Lokonga as he isn’t ready yet but promising. Roma wants him & we don’t need him.
Laca, Elneny & Eddie are gone so they won’t care where we finish. Vhalovic was never wanting to come, wasted a whole window.
We have such a small squad we won’t make top4 especially with Injuries, Covid & players with one foot out the door. Plus a manager whos ego is put of control
Interesting question indeed. Clearly club needs a new striker, plus a backup, either a B2B or DM (one could argue for both), a backup RB, and a 4th CB. And a backup GK.
Saliba could fill the CB spot, Turner backup GK.
That leaves 3 or 4 in the Summer that club needs if top 4 and competitiveness is truly the goal.
Will the club spend another £100 million or more again this Summer? It will surely take at least that for 4 new players to fight for titles and glory.
Club has been selling that narrative for last 2 years, so either they back that up this Summer, or it will show they have been stringing fans along yet again.
clearly the club need 25 new players
to provide rotation and competition
Current squad of 25 players are not good enough
Like everyone else,I would have loved to see new players coming in but as it stands I’d rather we wait until the summer,any player coming now would need time to adapt making it pretty pointless to me.also it looks like that the club’s main objective was to ship out players,slash the wage bill,making room for new players in the summer probably around 5.
I see your point but would you not gamble on a player or 2 now that could push us into top4 so that summer targets are alot easier to negotiate with due to having guaranteed UCL football for that season?
Oh I would love it Sean but sadly I have come to terms with the fact that this is not going to happen.
That looks like it to me too, Siamois.
I read on JA maybe yesterday that the players that have gone were very much on the periphery and would only get game time if there was an injury or suspension. Losing in the two cups, although not what I wanted at all, might be a blessing in disguise if we manage to get over the line come May. That is a big IF though.
Let’s hope so SueP,concerning the players gone being fringe players, you’re right,I doubt that Chambers,Mari…would have got one game.
“would only get game time if there was an injury or suspension”….unfortunately, for this club, both of these things happen on a fairly regular basis
I agree with you, seems like we have made a spot ready for Saliba already. The Arsenal hierarchy has realistic expectations and don’t demand top four this season…
Every January it’s the same
Fans patting the club on the back for saving money while we fail on the pitch
We won’t qualify for the CL with Eddie Nketiah and Laccazette
Plus too much pressure on Saka and Smith Rowe to be our sole creativity
Dan,we are not congratulating the club for shipping out players and slashing the wage bill.this is just an observation,it seems to be the club’s plan.sure I would have loved new signings but instead of signing players just to appease the fans and not getting our preferred targets,I think it is best to wait for the summer,I have resigned myself to that fact,what else do you want us to do Dan??
What else do I want us to do ?
Well I want us in January when we still have a chance of top 4 for the club to do everything to give us the best possible chance
Not to rely on Eddie Nketiah and Laccazette when we know that won’t be enough ?
We could always need better players, but we shouldn’t throw our money out the window.
Dusan Vlahovic has been a target for a while, but he preferred staying in Italy and that is old news. After spending lots of money last summer I wasn’t expecting much in January. Perhaps one or two players.
From my point of view Arsenal has been working mostly on what they need to do next summer. Right now we could need a right back backup, a midfielder and a striker, but do we really need them now and risk buying overpriced players?
Perhaps the FFP rules are restricting us for doing big business in January unless we are able to sell or offload some players, which we have, but not the big money boys. If not the Auba saga ends in January I’m sure it will next summer.
We can manage top four with our current squad, but I doubt that anyone inside Arsenal are demanding or expecting that from our young squad this season. From my point of view top six is more realistic, and to achieve that we don’t need to buy in January.
Spot on!the last thing we want is to waste any more money.
We’re just 2 injuries away from throwing away this season…
Panic buys are not welcome. They’ll just turn into dead wood we need to move out in 2 years. If we can add quality, great. We don’t need quantity.
Martinelli is a different player than one we tried as a #9 earlier in the season. Give him a run of games there and get pepe some minutes. Also would allow us to fit ESR and odeegard in. Ship out eddie.
Right back is an issue but we have cedric. I would actually use Tavares first as a back up to Tommy.
In the mid we have partey, xhaka, elneny, sambi to fill two roles.
Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved guimeras or dusan but since those aren’t happening, don’t buy for the sake of buying
1. we’re only in one tournament rest of this season = a calender with around one game a week. The likelihood of injuries is lower.
2. Most positions are decently covered and Arteta ball relies less on a clasical striker
3. January prices are more inflated than 1923. Vlahovic at 70 million is a lot for a one season wonder, and his ego seems inflated too, demanding 300k / week.
For this reason, lets stay focused on what got us to number 6 in the table after loosing the first 3 games. Cash in now on as many utility players like Chambers as possible and keep the powder dry for the summer market. We will then need at least 2 really good hybrid strikers and 1-2 midfielders plus Saliba back.
21 goals last season,
20 goals already this season,
Broke Ronaldo record for most goals in calender year in Italy last month.
No one hit wonder, this kid is a boss like Haaland for both being 21 years of age. He would of changed our frontline no doubt but he was never interested in coming to us.
Yeah, still not convinced this will translate automatically into the pl. At 21 there are a lot of x-factors, like potential asshole personality or what if he turns out to be injury prone. At 62 m + 15m yearly wages, don’t tell be now this not a bet. Im not saying it wasn’t right to try, but I there are better ways to spend a limited amount of money. Look out for discounted juventus player in the summer, surely they’ll have to offload
Arteta ball hasn’t seen a goal in 4 consecutive games
Lord preserve us . We hadn’t seen a striker score since Boxing Day . We’ve cancelled games because our first team squad is depleted and we’ve let four more go with Tomayisu out for several weeks .
We desperately need a striker with Auba on the naughty step. Please pay attention
Another Devils Advocate article from PAT.
I DO NOT BELIEVE A BRIGHT MAN SUCH AS PAT, could POSSIBLY AND TRULY think, even for a moment, that we will make top four, UNLESS we bring in a proper scoring striker in this window.
I hope and believe that will happen and that we will then make top four. But without that incoming striker we have no scorers here and so goodbye top four!
Don’t underestimate my opinion or Arsenal knowledge Jon.
Arteta knows best (you heard it here first lol)
A mysteriously cryptic reply Pat, that says nothing tangible but merely attempts to make you look wise.
I think , in general, you ARE wise and many of your articles, I realise, are not written because they represent your own TRUE views, but are merely written to provoke debate.
However, I do not believe you have any SPECIAL inside knowledge of who we are buying.
Rumours abound and we all read most of them. It is widely agreed by most on JA that we urgently need a quality striker by Monday night and another decent or better midfielder. Othe positions too, though less immediately urgent, are also needed.
So you cannot claim in truth to have any more knowledge about incoming names ,if any, than we all do, which is not very much if we are ALL trying to be honest.
I AM ALWAYS HONEST ABOUT MY WRITTEN VIEWS BEING WHAT I TRULY THINK. IT IS MY LIFELONG ADULT DEFAULT POSITION AND WILL ALWAYS REMAIN SO!
There are reports that Barcelona has reached an agreement with Arsenal over the transfer for Aubameyang. A loan deal. Subject to selling Dembele.
We also have turned down a new bid from Palace for Nketiah.
Why not swap with Dembele permantly like Miki / Sanchez deal?
we need a striker and likely CM but it would not make sense to do something stupid. What worries me is how thin we might end up with everyone potentially leaving. If nobody gets hurt we would be okay but this is Arsenal and EPL, people always get hurt.
I do sgree with you on this analysis. Arsenal has been traditionally very shroud in the transfer business. No panic buying required.
So why did Arsenal miss out on the above mentioned targeted players? Arsenal were either outbid or they chose to go to better club’s, or even as far away from Arteta as possible. This is my biggest concern. I agree however, Arsenal should steer away from Juventus castoffs, Edu’s “contacts” or Arteta type players who will not add anything on the field creatively.
I have seen some bad articles and comments recently, but this one is singularly the worst. You are either a 🍌 or not an Arsenal supporter. We desperately need a striker, at least a DM and a creative midfielder and possibly another left back, to hopefully get into the CL. If we don’t, we will not attract the players in the summer.
So if you’re not demanding the club pay through the nose for any player who is willing to come here, Raphael, then you’re not an Arsenal supporter? I desparately need a new tv, but I’m not buying one this month because they are overpriced, I haven’t got much money, the choice in the shops is poor, and I’ve actually got a perfectly good one already, albeit a little small.
We have all of the core players here that took us on that great pre-New Year run, and 17 games to play in 4 months.
But go ahead, advocate another Willian deal, or offer a 2 year extension to Nketia, or £100m for Calvert Lewin, just in case we get injuries. It’s not your money, and of course in a year’s time you won’t be criticising Arteta for wasting money on players who aren’t worth it, will you Raphael?
I would normally be more polite, but insulting others in that way is not cool.
I think we should now just bring back Aubameyang for the remainder of the season. Bench Martinelli and let Auba have a run on the left wing.
Such a shame. Given a choice of any midfielder I would take Bissouma, a really talented athlete. We need a forward though as Alex Lacazette looks like his tank is emptying. I don’t think we can get into Europe without a genuine goalscorer.
Need a mid and striker or forget 4th.
6th is the new 4th.
But, hey 8th is an improvement right?
Newcastle have signed Bruno Guimaraes. 🥺
Were not buying no one
So we have to put up with
Who we have so how about this system and players for the rest of season… 3-1-3-3
Ramsdale
Tomi. Gabby. Tierney
White
Esr. Partey. Odegarrd
Saka. Martinelle. Pepe
Have us taken West Ham challenging for the top-six places this season into the reckoning at all? Which can constitute a threat to Arsenal finishing in the top-six places this season.
Would it not be wrong coming from us Arsenal fans to ill opined that Arsenal current on the ground first team squad without top new quality additions this Jan window are capable of attaining a top-six places finish for the club this season?
But let it not be forgotten that, for the past two seasons running, Man Utd and Chelsea have been finishing in the top-six places ahead of Arsenal. Even Spurs had a seventh placed finish to their season last season. Which made them to qualify for the inaugural Conference League. But that left Arsenal languished in 8th placed finish that they had but without European football to their this season.
Nevertheless, I think Arsenal themselves know that they need to revamp their first team squad with some new top quality player Additions in some key areas in the team to upgrade it for an enhanced better performance in the 2nd half of th season’s campaign. So as to guaranteed themselves a top-4 at most or a top-6 at least finish to their this season.
While in the same vein, offload some of their on the fringe players to recoup some of the money that they’ve spent recruiting new players in this Jan widow.
So, to me it will be erroneous if any Arsenal supporters think that the club can easily make a top-4 or top-6 place finish this season without necessarily strengthening their first team squad with some new top quality players in the defence, midfield and striker departments this winter window. To do that by Arsenal will amount to complacency on their part taking success attainment for granted.
Admin Pat, I don’t hold myself back when it comes to conflicting opinions, but to be fair this is one of the smartest writing about this transfer window I have read.
Kudos
It looks like we are in a minority though mate. ..
Story of my life. 🙂
We should sign the Egypt no.17 he is an absolute rock, strong in the tackle, spraying passes around, great in the air. His name is Mohammed Elneny, anyone ever heard of him?
ATID, is that the runny mummy that you are suggesting we sign ?.at least he would bring something new to the emirates, miles of bandages.