Emery’s likely improvements – and Arsenal’s transfer budget explained

What next for Arsenal and Emery? by Beaveraldinho

There we have it. Out with the old and in with the new as they say. Loyal servants to the club Wenger, Cazorla and Mertesacker are out. Young Unai Emery is in. What should we expect and hope for in the coming window and season? Here is my take… feel free to lambast me in the comments section below!

Unai Emery has started off his Arsenal career in a very positive way. In his first conference, he braved a language that he has yet to master. This was not only a brave move but also a very clever one. He nipped in the bud the criticism that was already coming from our fan base over the matter. Many of our fears were laid to rest in a very reassuring interview. We will continue with the values that make many of us proud to represent this club. Arsenal won’t become a ‘park the bus’ team like United did. We won’t be giving up on unearthing the next young star. We won’t be culling the entire squad overnight. Class is important to Arsenal Football Club, Gazidis and Emery’s interview reeked of it.

Other than the values we didn’t want to lose, there were many values that fans thought were needed. I believe that Emery has brought a great blend of these things. In defense, we will now be a cohesive pressing unit. This will make teams think twice about pushing up the pitch, afraid of losing the ball in their own half to an Aubameyang inspired counterattack. Players will be shown huge amounts of data and statistics on their opposition and themselves. This will be something new to many of them. We can hope to see improvements to our highly alarming error count from last season. Our defence in general will need to improve quickly if we are to achieve the lofty targets of our new Manager.

Emery made sure not to give any time constraints on his goals for the club. His target was trophies and glory. Privately he will have the same targets that we had this season, a top four finish and a cup. Believe me, this would be a fine achievement. We all know what happened at United and with the comments from some of the players in the media recently, you can see that they are still coming to terms with the loss of the man who brought them all to the Emirates. Lets hope that all of the players get on board with Emery’s vision as soon as possible. I think the group of players that Emery has received is not the type to strut their egos like at PSG. This will put them in good stead to improve individually and collectively. I for one can’t wait to see the results over the coming seasons!

This window we can expect to see some new faces in the playing staff. The ‘in the knows’ will have you believe that we have a £50m budget to spend. If Unai’s quick and shocking appointment didn’t give you a clue, ‘in the knows’ often know very little. When asked about our transfer budget by the media, Gazidis gave a very curt and distinct reply. “We don’t discuss our budgets publicly but we are a public company. If any of you want to have a look at our accounts, they are out there and it’s not that difficult to see.

“We run ourselves on a very clear and transparent model, which is self-sustaining. That’s the way we will continue to run ourselves. Anyone who wants to look at that should look at our accounts.”

Gazidis also said: “All the money has always been available… and all the resources of the club will be available for Unai to develop the team.”

So like it or not, we aren’t going to compete financially with City, or with United for that matter. Next season they will probably have laid out another £200m+ in transfer fees alone. Yes, that means they will be the favourites for the title. Yes, that is the harsh reality. Does that mean we should give up? Stop supporting our club because the owner doesn’t dump an entire country’s GDP into his plaything? Well that’s up to you my friends…

In terms of budget, we have about £140m in reserves for transfers. Blowing it all wouldn’t be the smartest of ideas but the money is there in case of cash strapped clubs selling players on the cheap for the full fee upfront. Otherwise, many fees are paid out over the length of several years. Take Aubameyang for instance, according to reports we paid £56m for him. Yet we might pay that fee in installments over several years. This means that essentially, a small budget of say… £50m could be used to purchase several players whose value between them far exceeds £50m. So from my limited understanding, I think that in transfer fees alone, we are not going to be held back this summer. Don’t go expecting us to sign Griezmann obviously, but the Seri’s of this world are financially within our reach without sacrificing that Centre-back we so desperately need.

The most exciting thing in terms of transfer budget for Arsenal is the freeing up of wages. Each year a Premier League club is only able to expand its wage bill by no more than £7m. This is the main obstacle that has been holding Arsenal back in recent windows. Luckily we did some good incoming and outgoings in 17/18 including outgoings of; Debuchy, Sanchez, Gibbs, Gabriel, Szczesny, Coquelin, Giroud, Walcott and Chamberlain. These wages equaled out the incomings of Kolasinac, Mkhitarian, Lacazette and Aubameyang, as well as a wage increases to Ozil etc. A culling in numbers was definitely replaced by some much-needed first team quality.

Something that needs to be noted is that players must leave first, so that new players can take those wages. Seri’s agent has recently just reinforced this: “Unfortunately, Arsenal aren’t the quickest when it comes to the transfer market,” he said. “It’s true that I met [Wenger], we spoke about it, he said it could interest him.

“He would have liked there to be more departures in his midfield, because he was aware of the balance of his budget.

This season is different in more ways than just a new manager. We are starting off with a lot more wages being free. First we have the £7m we are allowed to increase our wage structure by (Last year that went towards Lacazette and Kolasinac who we signed early). Then we have £8.3m per year in wages freed thanks to Cazorla and Mertesacker. We also have Jack Wilshere’s contract running out in a month, which would be another £4.7m per year to play around with. Put into weekly sums this would free up over £380,000 per week or over £290,000 per week if Wilshere signs on a similar contract. So if those numbers are anything to go by, I predict that Arsenal will see one or two signings before the world cup. This will be followed by any outgoings, which will fund more incomings, if there are any.

Don’t be shocked if there aren’t wholesale changes. Signs coming from the club are that all players are being given a chance by Emery. Cech has received the number 1, which points to him staying. He is on £100k per week while Ospina is on £40k per week so if he is staying, I don’t see us getting a new keeper on similar wages to Cech. Even Perez looks like he’ll be given a chance. After a tough start to the season he was second only to Messi in chances created last season in La Liga. Who knows how he might go under the new regime?

In terms of an off-season, Arsenal only has 7 players going to the world cup, just two of those being starters (Ozil and Monreal). This means we should have an advantage over the other top teams at the start of next season. Also plenty of time for Emery to decide what he likes and doesn’t from our current squad. I’m sure the players will be just as excited as we are and will put their best foot forward. Expect an interesting preseason with plenty of things tested out by the manager. According to people who watched him at Valencia and then Sevilla, he prefers a 4 2 3 1 formation. Something we’ve seen here at the Emirates once or twice before!

So in summary, expect a similar formation, with more pressing from a team of fresh players trying to impress their new manager. Expect to see replacements for Cazorla and Mertesacker but a replacement for Cech to be a possibility rather than a probability. Soak in the excitement, soak in the good vibes. We have been through some dark times of late. Change has now come. Let us be proud of our club and what it represents, as opposed to wishing it were something it is not. Let us ponder over which new faces Mislintat, Sanllehi and Emery will be bringing to our club. The possibilities… Oh the possibilities… Oh to be a Gooner..!

Beaveraldinho

61 Comments

  1. I’m sorry but these long drawn out excuses of why we shouldn’t or can’t spend drive me crazy and there’s no point. We are richer than Liverpool they outspend us. I am guessing spurs will outspend us

    I’m not saying throw money away but one of the richest clubs in the world should spend equally to their wealth

    1. We pay higher wages than Liverpool too.. it’s bizarre. We definitely do need to splash the cash sooner rather than later. And by later I mean not the last 6 hours of the window!!

      1. Also what is this crap we keep hearing about values, are these the values of giving youth a chance because where im sitting that has not really worked out as it. What have Walcott the ox Gibbs Ramsey jack
        Belleririn iwobi done that we can say yea these values really work .its just a front because the board are happy to just stay below the lvl needed to win anything..

    2. After more than a decade of no major trophies and small transfer funds, it is obvious that the board prioritize their own pocket than the club’s achievements

      This season is the exception with larger transfers, but it would be pointless if they don’t follow it with another big investment in the next season

      1. If you really have a mind of your own as you portrayed yourself to be, you will quit saying major trophy nonsense. All trophy is a major trophy. The stats of Emery says he has won 10 major trophies. Do the math, how many is league and el. Lack of major trophy is the stick media made of flogged Wenger with. Conte just won fa cup and from where I’m in Nigeria Chelsea fans are call it major and the nitwits that called themselves pundits in English celebrated it.

    3. Liverpool’s latest big transfers, were selling Coutinho for around 100m, and they had bought him for something like 10-15, and they bought Van Dijk for around 75m. If you total this up, they actually made a profit and strengthened their team in exactly the right place.
      They did, what we haven’t done in years. Developed a talented player to a world class player, sold him, and used the money wisely.
      So yes, we need to spend, but just as much we need to get our player development back on track, as this will not only help us as a team, it will also enable us to compete financially.

    4. As I brought to you guys yesterday we were in talks with Stephan Litchsteiner and that the deal should go through I can 100% tell you that deal is done.
      He will sign on a 2 year contract.

      DONE DEAL!!!! Stephan Litchsteiner

      Reply ↓

      1. You must be thinking we all live under the rocks or in some sort caves to keep repeating that transfer info all the time. We all have access to the internet otherwise we won’t be here. So keep it low and keep it simple because some of us have these infos before you , we just want to be sure before sharing it.

      2. I’m not sure who or what you think you are but you did not bring us this news, sky sports, BBC sport and news papers reported this yesterday.

  2. Wenger left a strong team and promising youngsters like he had promised with laca and Auba our attack should be one of the best in the league, with 2 or 3 big signings there is no excuse not to challenge for the title, the worst we can finish should be third other it will be the same old story of next season to infinite

    1. Really ,where is strong team you talk about ,because I cannot see it apart from PEA (who wenger didn’t want or sign ) everyone else played absolutely shocking last season ,and people voting Ramsey was are best player just goes to show how much work is really needed

      1. Counsel, below is the team Arsene Wenger took over in 1996:
        Seaman
        Keown Adams Bould
        Dixon Winterburn
        Merson Viera Platt
        Wright Bergkamp
        I would think this 11 is a fair bit better than what Arsenal have today.

        1. Fair BIT better? I would pick this whole eleven over ANY of todays lot. Moreover, we would be strong and realistic challenges for the title this coming sesson if this team played , at their peak. Player for player, they would EASILY displace our whole present lot!

          1. jon i have listed this team before in response to claims by Counsel and others as to how well off Arsene Wenger had left Arsenal. “A fair bit better” was facetious understatement on my behalf!

            1. Ozzie, One of the reasons I regularly use CAPITALS is to emphasise and to make my real meaning clearer. In speech we can use inflection; in writing we are denied this, UNLESS we use capitals, or we underline words. I am surprised so few choose to do this in written words, as it really helps to us be properly understood.

              1. jon, no worries; I just don’t want to be accused of shouting (capitals) to get my point across (LOL).

        2. Viera was wenger’s first signing, and moreover wenger met the team @ 17th position, what r u talking about

          1. Viera was signed by Dein prior to Wenger arriving, but I won’t argue that it may have been on Wenger’s recommendation.
            Uchman, please check your fscts, as under Bruce Rioch in the 1995/96 FA Premier League Arsenal finished 5th.

    2. Wenger left a strong team? Are you kidding.
      We were 6’th in the league!!
      Apart from maybe Özil and Aubameyang there is probably not one single player any top club think they can strengthen their team with, and probably not one single player, that any club would pay what can be considered a decent transfer fee for with the prices in that market.

  3. I expect more transfer budget for the next season, because of the Emirates’ capacity and the ticket price. Also because Arsenal is one of the most popular football club in the world that sold a lot of merchandises

    Better players are highly required if we want to win. If Arsenal board and executives cannot allocate more transfer funds, that means they cannot manage Arsenal well

    1. As I brought to you guys yesterday we were in talks with Stephan Litchsteiner and that the deal should go through I can 100% tell you that deal is done.
      He will sign on a 2 year contract.

      DONE DEAL!!!! Stephan Litchsteiner

      Reply ↓

  4. Prediction next season ;1.Liverpool,2.Man city 3.Arsenal otherwise Unai emery out that’s my target for him.Emery said said he want to win titles if we finish the season in no.1,2,3 he is good enough if not get better manager

    1. I’m confused as you were happy with Wenger finishing 6 th but emery out if he finishes 4th?

      1. Yeah John -He confuses himself with his seemingly superior education.”IM A SOLICITOR DONT YOU KNOW”.That explains the utter S**T he comes out with.He really can’t let the Wenger thing go can he?Absolute idiot in my opinion and in most others opinion too

      2. No John, it is not you who are confused. It is the mixed up brain of Counsel who is massively confused. He is probably still weeping buckets that his hero was sacked.

  5. Oh how bright the future is. What a load of shit. No-one has more data than Wenger. So how is the back line all of a sudden a “cohesive unit” just because there is a new manager. I stopped reading after this paragraph so you may have explained it later on but I’m guessing no. All of this bullshit because of a new manager, He has to prove it yet. Rest assured you are not the only one to bring this tripe out for our digestion and I certainly hope it doesn’t keep going. I would love to see it happen, I just don’t believe it will without some new thoughts and measures around the club.

  6. How on earth that Arsenal transfer budget is only £50million which can not buy one world class player . Arsenal are among the top ten richest clubs in the worldd . Arsenal tickets are the most expensive in the premier league and Arsenal stadium has a capacity of 60,000 seats so how can it be that Arsenal has only £50million fotthe new manager to rebuild the aquad which needs a real rebuilding especiall the defense and the mid-field .Ivan Gazidis should not put himself the target for Arsenal fans to get rid of after Wenger if he believes he can save money to please themain shareholder at the cost of Arsenal development because that way of thinking has not saved wenger’s job

    1. Bakri, Have you EVER known a serious investor in ANYTHING, who says he has MORE to spend than he actually has? I have known dozens, personally, who tell people they are far less rich than they actually are. I cannot blame you for your naivety, as life experience- which you clearly lack – brings wisdom. It is really naive to believe issued statements as fact. Not until proof is forthcoming anyway.

  7. “Arsenal only has 7 players going
    to the world cup, just two of
    those being starters (Ozil and
    Monreal)”

    Ospina,Elneny(if fit) and Xhaka are confirmed starters,even Iwobi and I don’t even think spain will start Monreal ahead of Jordi Alba

    1. I meant starters for Arsenal not for their countries. I should have really added Xhaka into that so thanks for spotting.

  8. Hmmmm
    Wishing Arsenal All The Best.
    Hope To See A New
    GK-leno Or Rico Of Sevilla
    RB-cedric or that juve RB from swiss
    Two CB-diallo And Soyuncu or pavard
    DMF-danilo Of Porto Or Ndidi
    We Can Also Go For Meyer He Is For Free.
    #COYG

  9. Well what a nice write up the points was perfectly selected and analysed, my view is this I think arsenal have learnt a lesson loosing out on Champions League for the second time is an indication of backwardness which I believe the board are not happy with at this point in time I believed they will agree to pursue the same goal of returning arsenal back to the top. When there is need to spend they will on the right player big names are not really the lookout,check out Liverpool Salah was bought around “£35m so we should go for the quality that can improves our squad.waiting for nest season.

  10. So many dumb responses. Teams like citeh and Chelsea have massive investment from owners and Liverpool and utd make a fortune in profit due to worldwide merchandising due to their global appeal. We are no way near on the same scale. Like the article. Would be nice if supporters started supported the club instead of always moaning. If we can invest wisely and if Emery can bring a lot more hard work and a pressing game to Arsenal, I am hopeful.

  11. I kind of feel like our penny pinching in detremental to us sometimes in the long run. Our players go for cheap because we are cheap. Players like walcott and giroud should have commanded much higher transfer fees but due to our reputation of being tight I feel like other teams feel as if they dknt have to pay us that much. Does anyone else agree ??

  12. Very long article.
    Covering every possibility
    but giving no answers 🙂
    So 30 Arsenal players “could be sold”.
    But 30 Arsenal players “could be retained”.
    20 new players may be signed but equally
    20 new players may not be signed.
    Emeri “may” or “may not” know what he is doing.
    He may succeed or he may fail.
    Gazidiz may release funds or he may not.
    This could be the light at the end of the tunnel
    or just the train coming the other way.
    Well that’s all clear as mud then.

    1. I’m so sorry that my article isn’t to your fine taste. Next time I’ll write a 150 word article stating predictions as facts. Arsenal WILL come THIS position! 100%! Why? Because Barryglik wants definitive answers so that he doesn’t have to do any thinking. Whats the point of making a comment if you didn’t bother reading the article? Or did you read it and not comprehend the basic points put across? Its pretty clear that I think we won’t be making wholesale changes by selling up half the squad. “Don’t be shocked if there aren’t wholesale changes.” Its also clear that I believe Emeri will make improvements to the club in needed areas. I even explained some of the areas he will improve. This means things are looking up no mention of trains coming the other way. This comment of yours couldn’t possibly be sour grapes over me disagreeing with your opinion that Emery will sell the entire squad minus 2-3 players over the next 3 seasons could it? Who calls a kid Barry anyway?

  13. Wenger’s reluctance to sell over the years cost us a lot, in terms of increasing the transfer/wage budget. I think before last season, we’d only brought in around £45 million in player sales over a 4 year period. That is an incredibly low amount, especially during a period of crazy inflation in the transfer market, where a single average player could easily fetch up to £40/50 million. Hopefully Emery will not be so patient. If his budget isn’t great, then he needs to sell asap.

    Getting rid of some, if not, all of these players will generate a good amount: Ozil, Ramsey, Xhaka, Mustafi, Bellerin, Iwobi. I don’t think many Arsenal fans would have any of them in the starting XI, so may as well sell them.

    1. Why does age matter? It should be about ability shouldn’t it? He’s an upgrade on Bellerin, so we’ve already improved the RB position, and created some competition, be it for only one season given Listcheiner’s age.

      1. Age is relevant and 34 is knocking on for a full back. Esp in todays way in which they play. But anybody who plays in todays Prem HAS to be a better defender than Bellerin, whom I rate the very worst defender in the Prem . Even slightly worse -good grief- than Mustafi, which is NEARLY impossible!

        1. Bellerin is so bad he cant use his pace to save his life, though I think Mustafi is worse mayb becos his errors lead mostly to goals conceded becos of his position

    2. Did you watch him against younger Spurs player in cl. How well did you think he did. If he were to be an African or South American player he be not older than 25.

      1. I don’t ever judge a player on one performance, and no one should. It’s better to look at player’s performances in the medium/long-term. I think Bellerin must have played around 50 games for us last season, and how many of them did he perform well in? Not many! He didn’t do a lot in the previous season either. I would love us to buy a younger/better player than Listcheiner, like you say, but I still think he’s an upgrade on what we have…if we sign him.

    3. my question too. yet we let go of Carzola who is a year younger?? Unai wouldn’t want to start with a Kim calstrom type of transfer as his first?

  14. I enjoyed your column full of optimism and i to look forward to a great season.for me top four would be success. I’m a bit disappointed in a lot of your subscribers they seem very “the end is nigh” i would hate to have friends who were so negative like that all the time.

  15. I salute Beaveraldinho on an excellent, insightful and well researched article. It is in a totally different league from most of the rehashed ones on here from some with no writing ability to boast about. And Glory be, it is looking forward, NOT BACK! The highly detailed wages ins and outs available now is most interestiing too. So please Mr. Admin , more articles like this please from intelliegent, articulate people who actually have something original to say. Well done Beaver!

  16. @anderss
    You’re blinkered if you don’t realise our team is full of talent. What is clear to see at the moment is they’ve lost motivation, cohesion as a team and seen to not know what they’re playing for, (the title, top 4 etc). Ramsey, bellerin, kos, mustafi,(pre arsenal), xhaka, ozil, Amn lacazette, iwobi, jack and auba all bring it occasionally and show what quality players they are. You can think of at least one individual game where each of those players have stood out as excelent. What emery needs to do is to strengthen their minds and get them competing at their best or close to it consistently.

  17. @mukho anko anko
    What’s going on here?!
    I know we’ve still got to pay wages but lichsteinwr is a massive player to bring in if we get him.
    It’s not just about on the field don’t forget this guy is and has been a winner and around winners for years. Let’s hope a bit of that rubs off on our sqaud when amongst them.
    And on cazorla it’s very different to compare the two different positions of mf and rb.
    Also cazorla has come back that training and maybe didn’t cut it. He’s been out ages and based on the photos of his achiles tendon it’s miraculous he’s walking properly! I never expected him to make it back to the sqaud.

  18. Three things go messed up bellerin…..
    1 he stopped cutting his hair and Started wearing pyjamas as clothes.
    2. He started believing his own hype.
    3. He lost the plot the day the arsenal fans wouldn’t give him his ball back,(don’t underestimate that moment it was harsh and probably a contributing factor to Ox leaving).

  19. I think we shld give all things a chance.

    But if it is the transfer budget again, please spare no effort to kick Kroenke.

    It will be…Stay away if you love the club once more. It has to be massive, much more than to remove AW…

  20. if we don’t announce our transfer budget publicly, that means the 50m everybody is talking about is made up which i believe every fan should know already. Fans need to relax and stop letting the media get the best of you, the club has to make an announcement about anything before you should take it serious.

  21. I am excited about Emery and his track record of improving individual players and getting teams organised and working together as a coherent unit.
    Top 4 next season
    Genuine title contenders the season after that

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