Arsenal are being extremely proactive this transfer window and seem determined to get all their targets signed early so they can prepare properly for the start of the new campaign, which starts with a friendly against Nurnberg in six week’s time.
At the start of the transfer window, most of the rumours said that our two main targets were Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans from Leicester City, but the midfielder rumours seem to have taken a back foot lately with most of the empasis now being on Raphinha and Lisandro Martinez.
Regarding Tielemans, the Arsenal expert David Ornstein revealed on the FIVE channel: “There’s no doubt that the key decision-makers at Arsenal, as I’ve reported previously, are pretty much all-in on him.
“They want to explore a deal for him, they potentially would like to sign him. But it feels a little bit more complicated, just in terms of the congestion of positions and order of signings that they seem to be going for.”
Do you think that Arteta is thinking of getting afew players off our books before he can go all out for the rest of his targets after Jesus? We still have a host of ex-first team players that need to move on to make space for the new arrivals, like AMN, Pepe, Bellerin, Leno, Mari and maybe a few more surprise names.
But in central midfield, we currently have Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Lucas Torreira (who may yet be sold), and Arteta may think we already have enough cover for that position, and although he may like the look of Tielemans, does he have other more pressing needs right now?
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No, unless Partey or Smith-Rowe is transfer-listed. I’d prefer Zinchenko who can play well in midfield/ fullback positions, has good dribbling skills and has worked with Arteta
We have the right numbers of players but don’t have the right type/quality of players and lose in midfield too often.
Whether tielemans will help us take control in midfield more often, I don’t know, but something needs to change there asap.
Priorities for the summer should be 1) CF, 2) CM. Everything else is secondary imo
No we already have 15 midfielders.
Partey
Xhaka
Elneny
Niles
Lokonga
Odegaard
Vieira
ESR
Saka
Nelson
Martinelli
Pepe
Flores
Azeez
Patino.
Unless we are selling 7 midfielders we don’t “need” any more.
All we “need” are
1. Striker. Jesus.
2. Defensive cover. Martinez.
So just two more signings Jesus and Martinez.
But if we want to improve our first team, CF and CM are the key positions – most of those midfielders, the ones who are likely to play cm often this season, have failed to have a consistent impact, and so are just numbers.
If we want to compete with the top teams, we need to get better there. I swear we often seem to surrender in midfield.
We spent the Tielemans money on Vieira.
For better or for worse we will find out by Xmas.
I’m happy with that prospect 🙂
Particularly when Partey is injured. Chala seems overwhelmed. That was partly why we missed out on top4.
We actually have numbers not quality.
Another quality cm please, even if not Teilemans
Quality not Quantity. We should sell 1 or 2 and upgrade
Sell from list:
Nelson
Niles
Pepe
Torreira
Also, sell Mari, Bellerin, Leno
Loan Tavares
With Saliba, Vieira, Jesus and Martinez in, and Mavropanos, Guendouzi already sold – we should be able to get 2 more players in. All the sells are not first team, or play very little – so getting 2 players who can play enough minutes will strengthen the squad. Gnabry/Gakpo would be better than Raphinha for the wings, can play ST if needed too.
fairfan, you can not seriously think that the likes of Vieira, Saka, Nelson, Martinelli, Pepe, ESR, and Odegaard can do the job of Partey. We need a better central midfield option than we currently have.
And we have to sell many players (Pepe, Nelson, Torreira, AMN, Leno, Xhaka). The only decent pairing we had last season was Xhaka-Partey. And decent is not even good enough for us. Xhaka is a good leader but a liability in many ways, immobile, can’t tackle and loses his head. Bissouma would have been a solid upgrade on him. Tielemans could also only be an imporvement.
Yes! His ability on the ball will help us to beat the press, something we lack abundantly in the squad save Partey, which in turn means teams will drop back instead of pressing high, allowing us to dominate the ball more comfortably bar against Man City and Liverpool. Plus he gets goals from Midfield which we need. Obviously he lacks a bit of mobility but he is still more mobile than Xhaka and sometimes he can be nonchalant on the ball and get caught in possession. He would be our 2nd best midfielder, only £25M, sign him up!
Arsenal definitely need a new midfield player. Xhaka, Elneny are just not good enough for a top class side. Elneny can be used as cover. Xhaka must leave. His mentality causes a slower and unpredictable outcome in football matches. He will get sent off occasionally and cost us points. He is sloooow.
👍
Ill continue to beat the Lens drum, one or
both of Cheik Doucoure and Seko Fofana
would instantly transform our midfield.
Adding BOTH for less than the cost of
Raphina would allow Arsenal to FINALLY
move on Xhaka and and have athletic,
powerhouse players at both CM and DM.
Heck selling the likes of the Swiss captain,
AMN and Torreria could fund a sizeable
chunk of there combines transfer fees
MA IMWO needs to realize that even with
a FIT TP the current collection of options in
midfield isn’t good enough, nor athletic
enough to compete against the better
teams in the EPL this season.
Couldn’t agree more ACE
I dream of this Arsenal team as of now
Marquinhos. F
Jesus. F
Martinelli. F
Saka. F
Vieira. F
Nketiah. F
Raphinha. F. ??? hopefully
ESR. AM
Ødegaard. AM
Partey. MF
Lekonga. MF
Tielemans. MF ??? hopefully
Zinchenko. MF wishful thinking
Douglas Louis MF wishful thinking
White. D
Tierney. D
Tomiyasu. D
Magalhães. D
Saliba. D
Holding. D
Martinez. D ??? hopefully
Aaron Hickey D ??? hopefully
Ramsdale. GK
Turner. GK
Reserve GK
That’s 25 players
I’d prefer Richarlison instead of Nketiah
Sell players not used and
Xhaka. Slow
Elneni. Old
Sores. Old
Laca. Old
o.k. I’ll go back to sleep
Yes unfortunately through no fault of there own Amn and Torrierra seem hard to shift for a decent price.I suggest a bargain straight sale,without this loan option to buy crap!! When the teams loaning renaigne on their word after the loan spell😡
I don’t believe signing Tielemans is a necessary purchase it was a nice to have but I’d Xhaka were sold then its a must. We need a #6 to step in for Partey. We all saw how much we missed him at the end of the season as we did when Tierney was ruled out because of a stupid needless Scotland game
Tielemans deal is less complicated and he’s not in demands say like Martinez, and the more times lapsed it could get even more simpler.
Our approach is right, we should Express our interest to him though, but getting Martinez over the line should be given priority, Raphinha is a statement signing and with the new five charges rule will be a master stroke.
Tielemans is not mobile enough but at 20 quid it’s worth giving a go.
I am not convinced with the Tielemans talk. I have watched him and he seems as mobile as Elneny and Xhaka..
We need a more mobile strong CM. Tielemans gives me the old Ozil lazy vibes..
I don’t know why we aren’t going for another top quality striker after Jesus is signed. What happens if Jesus is injured for a frolonged period. Raf could be the answer but we do need a new cm. And left back cover. For me I think we need 2 top draw strikers in the door.
A 25 yo experienced top player like Tielemans is needed in every team. At AFC, who have so many “wonderkids” who never will be grown up players, he should be most desired. The Tottenham-Newcastle Syndrome will continue unless we get players like Tielemans. Get him!
In my own opinion, after Arsenal have signed the midfielder Fabio Vieira this summer. Which currently brings the numbers of midfielders in the team to 7 bar ESR if he is deemed a left-winger. But I think further new midfielder signing should wait pending when the striker’s dept is fully enhanced. And those for the right-wing and leftback sections are addressed.
The potential signing of striker Gianluca Samacca by Arsenal should be a strong possible signing which Arsenal should do this summer. Which if they do it will increase the numbers of efficient senior team top quality strikers in the team to 3 next season. I think this is another compelling signing that Arsenal should do this summer after they have signed G Jesus imho.
And of course if Arsenal bring in Raphinha and Lisandro Martinez this summer as new top quality additions to the team. Their signings will be a near distinction summer signings achieved by them this summer.
And after they do an offload in their midfield this summer to loan out and sell their on the Fringe players who surpluse to requirements in the team. And sign Tielemans. It will look a near excellent summer transfer window signings that Arsenal have.
This piece tackles the subject of the art of what is possible and what is not, in team building .
The all important caveat of what money is available is of key importance. No team, save perhaps City and PSG, both of whom seem to be able to disregard FFF with impunity, can “collect” as many players as they desire and we are no exception, though that seems to be overlooked by some commenters.
None of us knows anything for sure , unless reliable journos like Ornstein confidently tell us all, so speculation is rife and when sensibly wrtten, is also interesting.
My own take broadly agrees with this piece about Tielemans. Much will depend on who we can shift and how much we can bring in on sales. I expect any deal for Tielemans to be made,IF at all, nearer the end of this window.
I need remind NO Gooner at all, how dismal is our record in shifting our of favour players, unless we give them away or pay them to leave!!
That will impact on most deals that we may WISH to bring IN , this summer, IMO.
Xhaka elneny Lokonga … lower halfepl/upper half championship level players .. everything rests on partey .. which showed its limits from january on … should sell xhaka and elneny and bring in a quality DM … should have done so years ago .. do I trust arteta to do the right thing here … not really
Loving the transfer window so far, such a breath of fresh air to see this team going after deals and getting them to completion so early in the window and not drag on over the odd million or two, long may it continue. Based on our confirmed list of transactions, I really hope we get to bring in really good central midfielder. One that’s caught my eye would be matheus Nunes from sporting, seems to tick a lot of the boxes with regards to what we’re looking for at that position, but he doesn’t seem to be on our radar. Anyways loving the transfer window so far, hope we confirm Jesus asap and Martinez too and Raphinha the cherry on the top.
I’d be happy if we switch to Neves. We need a solid DM who can pass the ball well.
The only player I think we don’t really need is Gabriel Jesus for the following reasons:
1. He is way too expensive for. Amount we are paying to acquire him considering he has only one year left in his contract.
2.His weekly wage demand is too high.. another ozil or auba in the making.
3. He is very similar to Nketia in everything even though he is an upgrade on nketia. We need a completely different striker that brings something different.
I think the only way we can bring another midfield player is if we can sell some fringe players to create space and raise fund.
I read suggestions today that the Tielemans transfer to Arsenal was “agent driven” and they’ve now given up.
I assume that means the agents were looking for it because it was good for them.
Strangely, before I read this article I posted elsewhere the exact thoughts of the author – does Arsenal really need a Tielemans type player (in view of the other priorities)?
My view was/is: no.
Strange how every article seems to produce a 50-50 for/against split in comments and this is no exception.
We should sell AMN, Xhaka, Guendouzi and Torrera. ASAP.
Then bring in Tielemans and Ruben Neves.
Ruben Neves is what we need in midfield.
We can move Partey to the CM role.
Partey(CM)
Elneny(DM)
Neves(DM)
Tielemans(CM)
Youri Tielemans is a fantastic player but IMWO
he isn’t the style of midfielder that is needed
to partner TP @ the Emirates. I personally
believe a physically gifted, athletic B2B
powerhouse would perfectly compliment the
Ghanian and allow the growing collection of
attacking talents to concentrate on creating
and converting chances.
Bissouma would of been the logical choice but
Seko Fofana from Lens is a fantastic, underrated
player that had a breakout season dominating
the middle of the pitch in Ligue 1. He would
walk into the midfield role opposite of TP and
bring that athletic dynamism that has been
sorely missing @ the Emirates for far to long.
At 25M pounds he would be the STEAL of the
transfer window for Arsenal and spell the end
of Xhakas career in North London
I thought we’d already had this discussion. Tielemans would have give Arsenal that extra edge. Anyone expecting good things to come from a team which features Xhaka, Elneny, a banged up Partey and Mr One Dimension, Odegaard is overly Rosey eyed.
I have always been of the view, right from the beginning, that Tielemans is a must for Arsenal. Not only he is an immediate upgrade on our midfielders but his quality and talent speaks for itself. I would prefer Torreira and if possible Xhaka to be sold and if required ASL should be loaned to make way for Tielemans. For back up we could use Azeez and Patino.
I agree, although part of me still doesn’t quite get why Torreira is behind Lokonga and Elneny in the packing order.
There is little doubt in my mind that we lost 4th because of Partey’s absence during the run-in. This puts to bed any claims that we have enough capable central midfield players. We don’t. In addition, we now have all the extra games that come from the EL.
So given Partey’s weak injury record we des[eratly need a capable central midfield player. In fact, I would go as far as swapping Partey for Tielemans if need be.
IMO, we should have spent the Vieira money on Tielemans.
We have quite some emerging talent on the wings but other than Lokonga we have no one that loos close to being able to be a central midfield general. And Lokonga seems far away from having Arteta’s confidence.
If we don’t sign a Tielemans or similar PL-proven player we will fail to make a dent in any competition this coming season. No matter Jesus and Raphinha and whoever else we sign. If your midfield gets overrun you can have the best attackers in the world but they won’t see much of the ball.
Arsenal lacks a proper DMF and without one, challenging for top 4 will be tough.
If they don’t address this glaring issue, it will be like every transfer window so far, where they ended up at least one critical position short.
Unless Arteta plans to convert Partey into a dmf/playmaker role.
It seems to me that AFC seems reluctant to learn from lessons of the past where the future of the club was gambled on injury-prone (talented) players. (Rosicky, Ramsey, Wilshire, Partey. Thierny, Tomiyasu).
Isn’t it time we became a bit pragmatic and sold Partey for a more reliable player? Can we seriously expect Partey to be available for selection for even 25 PL games? If not, who will replace him and get us into the top 4? Elneny? Lokonga?
I think absolutely, we have a fair few CMS/CDMs but most of them aren’t good enough to get into the Champions League. I would’ve gone for Bissouma but Tielemans will definitely still be an improvement, and if he’s available for £25 mil as people have said it’s a steal.
Xhaka has never really been that convincing though you have to respect his love for the club and he always gives 110%, but that doesn’t make him Champions League quality. Lokonga is still developing and isn’t at the level yet, love Elneny but he’s not good enough either. AMN and Torreira are both likely to leave, and Partey’s gonna get injured as class as he is. Honestly think we’re crazy if we don’t sign another CM.
Of course we do.
Xhaka isn’t the right fit and never has been.
Elneny and Lokonga are squad players.
Torreira is very good but never has been happy in England.
So we need somebody of quality to partner Partey.
We need two Parteys, as it were, and Tielemens is PL-experienced, won the FA Cup with Leicester and fits the bill of a mobile, passing and strong CM.