Well, the last few days for Arsenal fans have been an enjoyment that a lot of us did not expect and we now have grounds for optimism ahead of the new season.
The first few weeks of this transfer window have been full of negativity and in all fairness, rightfully so.
There were little signs of any significant signings, there was a statement issued by a bunch of Arsenal fan groups and websites asking the board and owners if they cared in the same way that we the fans did and whatever reported offers we were making for players were a little embarrassing.
Pundits, fans and the media were criticising the club and the prospects for next season were gloomy at best.
And add into all that our own captain going on strike.
They say a week is a long time in politics, well, it can be a lifetime in football and this week has proven that beyond doubt.
The last few days have seen the exciting and talented Dani Ceballos join the club on a year loan, a huge bid for Lille’s Nicolas Pepe accepted and reports tonight that Celtic are finally close to agreeing to sell Kieran Tierney to us.
That has strengthened three crucial areas in the team significantly and further reports are that the spending may not have stopped there.
The situation is not perfect by any means, most of our closest rivals have all strengthened or are in a better position but compared to how things were just a week ago the upcoming season all of a sudden looks a lot brighter for us.
I am not jumping the gun here or getting carried away and I am only talking about optimism and positivity and as of this moment in time I am full of both.
Aubumayang
Everyone Lacazette Pepe
Ceballos Torriera
Tierney Rugani Holding Bellerin
Leno
Everton*
Never mind.
With everyone, we are game?
Everton is comming too. Finally we can expect huge season ahead.
Omw lol everyone
One hell of a team..same as mine teamif we hopefully complete three more signings after this pepe deal.. watched rugani he looks a good centre back plus tierney at LB and everton at LW with his samba skills and pepe at RW with laca and auba upfront we will have a killer of team next season. We will surely qualify for ucl may be finish 3rd and may challenge for the title if all things go acccording to plan and we improve our away form then we will be good to go
I share a similar opinion. Thanks.
Good side Odi but if we get Pepe or Zaha I don’t think we’ll require Everton. I think a rejuvenated Ozil still has a massive part to play. In fact with less tracking back to do and with better players around him we’ll see the Ozil of old. Playing in the ten position dictating the play, threading balls inside the full backs for Pepe and Laca to lay them on the plate for Auba. Getting excited about the new season now. Rugani, Pepe or Zaha and Tierney will make it an excellent window.
Kenny, from what I have seen of Ozil in the preseason games, he appears fully fit, sporting a new hair style and a new wife and seemed to have upped his game.
If Ozil wants to keep his new wife happy in London and give her access to all the shopping, he will have to perform. ??
“….If Ozil wants to keep his new wife happy…he will have to perform”
I am sure his wife is OK with his performance.
Lol.
Just kidding here pal.
********************
I’m just too excited about the prospect of having: Auba, Pepe, Laca-sure, Ceballos in a single game. Our defenders would surely have less to take care of at the back as opposition team should be the one on back track.
sanmi, thanks for picking me up on that; you are the only one who got it. What we don’t know is how long Ozil has been performing? We do know how long he has been married though.
A front three of Auba, Laca, and Pepe with Ceballos behind them pulling the strings is not bad at all. If we complete the Pepe and Tierney’s deals, I would like to see this team. 4231
Leno
Bellerin Holding papa Tierney
Torreira Willock
Pepe Ceballos Auba
Laca
On the bench, we will still have Ozil, Iwobi, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Nketiah, Martinelli, Kola, Micki, among others.
I think Ceballos is going to take the cazorla role, deep laying playmaker. So the team may be
Leno
Bellerin Holding papa Tierney
Torreira Ceballos
Pepe Ozil Auba
Laca
Protiq, you could be right if Ozil can step up to his best, now he is fully fit.
Let’s wait until Pepe and Tierney are official before we crow about optimism.
Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Saliba, and Tierney can set our defense for 5-8 years. I’m excited that club being proactive and solving problems rather than plugging holes.
Getting Pepe and the youth (Nelson, Martinelli, Saka) setting the attack as well for several years.
Guendouzi and Torreria in midfield with Willock is good depth, hopefully next year we can bring in an experienced Carzola type player to stitch together the midfield and help the transitions in attacking and defending.
Finally club being proactive rather than reactive in the market. The next couple years will be very telling for the club.
Lastly it now falls to Emery to bring everything together. The players are coming in, so no excuses for Emery now. His style and philosophy should become evident on the pitch in the coming months.
I’m excited if these deals all come to fruition, and CL should be expected either by top 4 finish or winning Europa. We have great squad now, it’s Emery’s turn to lead them
Durand, you are right; we have to keep our feet on the ground, “not counting chickens before they hatch” or players before they don the shirt.
I have never watch either Everton or Pepe play but i hope any one we get improve us massively.
I just dont rate Zaha, am never a fan of his style of play. Too much dribbling trying to attract attention at the detriment of team, i dont fancy those, cr7 was like that but until he was able to change to clinical, decisive player, no one really appreciated it, Nani refuse to convert , i put Zaha in Nani category.
Neyma should be on top of the world now but those playfull, too much, unnecesary skills.
i guess i generally like direct player, Fabregas dont need too much twist and turns, even Messi and Ronaldo only dribles to create space for shooting. I wish Zaha all the best,i hope we get our boys, if we are able to pull off this 3 or 2 deals ,i wouldnt be afraid of utd, chelsea or spur, i dont mind who the 3 buy.
United may lose Pogba and Lukaku, spur may loose Eriksen, chelsea strikers are not deadly, so we have every right to be optimistic
Adajim,
Pepe in the French league las year.
22 Goals, 11 Assists, Second only to Mbappe for goals scored.
1 Goal 2 Assists in the 5-1 humiliation of PSG for Lille.
I think that’s all you need to know
Not trying to be negative because we all want Arsenal to spend money but I must say Nicolas Pepe is truly an overrated player.He was also terrible at the AFCON and showed the same bad qualities that I suspected.
The only thing I can give him is pace and finishing.He is sloppy,an inconsistent passer,poor in tight spaces and also inconsistent in dribbling.
Signing him for €80m+€10m means we expect him at least score 15 goals in the EPL and he should be able to produce constant’Sanchez’ like moments of quality.This team badly needed a winger that could beat many opponents and stretch the defence.He is not that player.Hopefully we get Zaha or Everton Soares too.
Sorry to say but Everton Soares=Zaha>Nicolas Pepe
Judging Pepe based on the AFCON is not a bright idea. Many players flop for their national countries. Even Zaha that you are raving about did not set the AFCON alight, did he? The same case applies to Salah, Ziyech, among others. I don’t have to bring Messi into the equation to drive the point home. Look, I believe Zaha is better if you want pure skills and dribbling ability. However, Pepe brings efficiency in terms of goals and assists. Saw his stats for last season and he ranked up there among the best wingers in the world. We cannot say the same for Zaha
I didn’t judge Nicolas Pepe based only on the AFCON.I implied the AFCON further confirmed by suspicions about him.He’s sloppy on the ball and bad in tight spaces but fast and a good finisher.He’s definitely not worth even £60m just like Zaha who also isn’t worth that.Stats don’t tell the whole story no matter how impressive.We needed a winger who could stretch the defence.I doubt he’s the answer
Kev, “pace and finishing” are both good attributes for a player as far as I’m concerned!
Just remind him about Lionel Messi’s performance for the Argies is enough to drive home your point.
Is Zlatan not a good footballer? What did he do for the Swedes ?
If we judged players based on internationals alone, Messi would be worth my left sock. I am happy with either of the three and we badly needed his type of player. And for all the hype Everton has, he is the biggest risk considering he has never played in Europe yet and Brazilians can be complete hit or misses abroad. The Pepe deal really works out with the installment payments too. We still get to go after other players after we get him. I like the deal and it makes sense.
Read my post well.I didn’t budge him based only on the AFCON.The AFCON showed some of the qualities I have seen from him at Lille as I hadn’t seen much of him.
Also Messi is not as bad as people say.Its just for his standard that he’s bad but not bad like how many make out.Easily Argentina’s player where he’s not even as good at Barcelona
Fast and a good finisher is fine in my book, those two qualities you cannot teach, he can learn to be less sloppy on the ball and work on his first touch etc, when you look at some of the prices of other players it really doesn’t seem too bad to be honest it’s just the way football is heading its inevitable
Yes, but price is proportional to what we expect from a player.Pepe is way overpriced.We could have gotten Everton Soares who is just as good for way less.
No player is 100% complete without a shortcoming.
As good as Ronaldo da Lima was, he still had some flaws. However, I still believe that he is the best striker in this half-a-century.
If pepe is overrated why are there 5 clubs for him while ‘world class’ zaha has only 2?
Funny how your description also fits zaha if you replace poor in tight spaces with over dribbling and easily frustrated when dispossessed and constantly moaning at ref. Zaha is too old to expect a big improvement but if they were same age then zaha>pepe
Where did I say Zaha was world class??Neither him nor Pepe are close to world class or have that potential.Pepe is way overrated and no better than Zaha.I would rather strengthen other areas of the team than pay €80m for either of them.Stats is a very big deceiver.Look at Pepe’s ability on the ball carefully.Way overrated
You cant just say neither player has the potential to be world class kev, there is no way in hell you could possibly know that, you know your stuff definitely but to say that is absurd.
I know in the same way as those who believe he has world class potential.I guess it’s also absurd for them.Of course they are also using their eyes to judge and so am I.
The same way you believed a young Fabregas had world class potential is the same way I believe Nicolas Pepe does not have world class potential.Same applies to Zaha
I don’t think you have watched much of Pepe tbh. Pepe is not as sloppy as you are making it sound. Infact, he was one of the most efficient players in the number of take-ons last season. Again, Zaha might be a better dribbler but not by a huge margin. If you watch Pepe closely, you will see that he moves with a purpose. He will take one or two people on and look for a pass or shot. The guy has a higher ceiling in terms of potential too when compared to Zaha. And I am not saying Zaha is bad;I wanted him too but when we bring Pepe into the equation, then its the latter any day. You can stretch the defenses all you want but if you cannot make the final pass, cross, or shoot it means nothing. And having an exceptional ability on the ball is not the absolute measure of a good winger. That is why you don’t hear players like Nani, Ben Arfa, and Gervinho no more. It’s about efficiency, son.
The “higher ceiling” excuse is used more as a cliche these days.
I’m confident if Zaha was 24 years based on how they’re playing now most would say Zaha has a higher ceiling.Expecting Pepe to greatly improve at his age is unlikely.If anything it’s going to be marginal.Ben Arfa,Nani and Gervinho did not fulfil their potential.If they did they’d be twice the player Zaha or Pepe can ever be.I just don’t buy the hype over him
Thank you.I could quaresma to your list. Even Dinelson who could dribble have of the field and pass the ball outside for a throw. How frustrating that is?
Give up Kev, you’re not going to win this argument. All players are overpriced in this crazy new world of football finances, especially when you consider we paid only £45,000 for George Eastham, one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players and member of the 1966 World Cup squad and £70,000 for Joe Baker, who incidentally scored 100 goals in 150 games.
That doesn’t mean we should just pay anything for any player.Everton Soares who is every bit as a good as Nicolas Pepe and imo better is available for €40m.He was easily the best attacker at the Cop America.Hindsight they say is a beautiful thing.
It will be interesting one day when Arsenal go back in for him by which time his price would have tripled and we would have been priced out.Then fans would come out stating how we should have signed him
Two of my heroes. Great that someone else remembers those guys. Happy (younger) days.
Kev you beat me to it. Not negativity, but I think we just wasted that amount, the board promised us a big signing, so I guess to fulfill that they had to quickly decide Pepe is the one.
Can Pepe really stretch teams? Can he create something out of nothing? Can he win us fouls? His style of play is too direct, he’s based on his pace, when teams choke us up front, will he be useful as our record transfer?
People aren’t looking at all these because of the price, everyone is carried away.
Seriously I hope we get Everton, I don’t see it happening now though
Everything you’ve said is true.We need a player who is excellent at taking on his man.That is what this team is seriously lacking.Im not even trying to sound negative but that’s what we definitely lack
Laca and Auba scored goals like that already, they done it alone and linking up together, you don’t need to beat a man to do it, all you need to do is to create a half chance by getting a half a yard of space.
We could also say that we don’t have a high ball specialist like Giroud, it doesn’t mean we should go around spending what money we have to fill one ideal little catch/attribute.
We need to spend wisely, Auba and Laca have a great combo going, they scored many goals from living off of scraps and chasing lost causes, if we can get in another and have three strong threats up there and all working well “together” ..well that for me would be more ideal.
We also have youngsters that can dribble well if you believe that that is more important, Saka, Nelson, two very good players at working some extra bit of space (and Ljungberg coaching).
We need more creativity in this side, we brought in Ceballos, and now are targeting Pepe to add with Auba and Laca, I’m willing to put my belief in our scouting and our coaches, if they believe this is what we need, who TF am I to tell them no.
Also we have the fact that Pepe is a more clinical player and a more creative player and at a younger age, he was their talisman over there, he also knows how to carry the ball well, even if ..in this one instance another target has him beat at it.
I hope we get him, if he’s the number one target for out wide, I hope we get our number 1. If it had of been Zaha, then I’d hope we got Zaha. I always want us to get our top targets.
Eddie, given what has been spent by Arsenal in this transfer window so far, Everton Soares, Kieren Tierney and a CB such as Daniele Rugari are still possible.
I hope I am not over optimistic.
You are talking nonsense – he can’t beat defence .? That’s his strongest point. Has a higher ceiling than Zaha, younger and potentially a WC player
Don’t tell me rubbish and give me that “higher ceiling” cliche.If you see it well I don’t.He is also never potentially a WC player and he is being compared to Zaha because that’s his level
All this debating about who is the better player Zaha or Pepe just proves one thing. That everybody has an opinion and that nobody is right or wrong. How can you prove that one of them is the better player when everybody sees and judges things differently. One day each player will do something great and someone will say, there that proves me right or that player will lose the ball and someone else will say the same. It’s great that we all have these different opinions, be a dull old world otherwise.
Do not know how good or bad he is, but if my club, who cant stop conceding goals, is spending 80m on a single player, that being an attacker, I would be worried. A young winger, 20m-40m range, with potential, a CB quality CB, an LB would be gr8 along with Dani. And I dont see us getting even linked with CBs anymore. There will be matches we wont be able to outscore opponents, even with Pepe-Lacca-Auba, and we will suffer again because of this end of season
Same way Messi bang average at Copa America and World Cup. Nit trying to compare Messi to Pepe but we have to be look at the player’s overall contribution to his team before we label him overrated.
Pace and finishing you said, then dribbling and all the rest are secondary.
For me, the success of this transfer window depends on whether we get a proper left back. KT seems ideal although I must admit I’m basing that on YouTube clips and other people’s reviews.
No KT means an ageing Montreal in a back 4 or Kolasinac as a LWB ahead of a back 3. Neither ideal.
Tierney lets Emery play his preferred formation. To be honest, I’d rather have him signed than Pepe.
I believe a CB should be a priority but what do I know.
Xhaka is a good player. He gives us phyaical balance too. We misses him when he didn’t play last season and wished for him. Y’all don’t know better than the coach. so shove it…bye
He’s vilified to an extreme extent at times. One of the only not atrocious players in Europa League final. We can definitely improve, but we are not doomed with him in the lineup and he has his useful moments. And ppl better get used to him because he’s rumored to be captain this season.
Coaches are also human beings who can make mistakes. So, the fact that Unai prefers him means nothing. The fact that we have not made it into top 4 in the last three seasons should open your eyes about the quality of some of our players. So, Xhaka is not the player who can turn us back into title contenders. He is too sloppy, lethargic, and slow to make it as the top midfielder in a top club.
???Xhaka.The £35m we paid for him was daylight robbery even in today’s market.Have our standards fallen so much that we must have a player who constantly makes mistakes in our starting eleven?Yes, it has.
What I find interesting is how he’s constantly defended.What is so special about this player?For a club that has seen many great midfielders Im baffled as to how he’s rated highly by some fans and also shocked at how highly Wenger rated him.Him and Mustafi are also a reason why Wenger is not coach today
Xhaka is as ordinary as can be….slow bodied and slow minded.
Shocking player simply shocking
On Xhaka, I couldn’t agree more Kev
Yeah, Like the stupid pull on the Brighton player’s shirt that cost us a Champions League place when he thought no one was looking. For that he should never wear the shirt again. That’s my opinion of Xhaka, bye.
Kenny, totally dumb from Zhaka. He doesn’t appear to do those things when playing for Switzerland.
Agree with that OG, looks a different player for his national side. Don’t understand it.
So far we have only signed Ceballos and Martinelli
If the rumours are true than Pepe and Tierney are next.
BUT I warn you. Don’t be surprised if one or both fall apart. it’s happened before ie Lemar. Personal terms were agreed. Fee agreed with Club. Collapsed on the last day.
I will wait till Arsenal website confirms it
I will say that if it happens, Ceballos, Pepe and Tierney would be a successful window in my opinion. It will be an improvement
Much better than expected. We could still use one or two Quality CB though and maybe a LW and better CAM.
“We could still use one or two Quality CB’ s though….” Yes, rather like “we could use” some air, food and water. Without air,food, water and at least two quality CB s for THIS season we are toast! “We could use etc..” Good God, what an understatement!
Innit, you apparently don’t rate Dani Ceballos as a CAM?
I agree on a CB and given the structure of the transfer fees already paid, Tierney, Everton Soares and Daniele Rugari are still possible.
I don’t think were finished yet Jon, I still fancy Rugani and Tierney coming in especially now we all know that £40,Million transfer budget was a rumour spread by Sky Sports.
You are wrong regarding Lemar – our bid was made on the last day and Lemar was on international duty so had no chance of evaluating it
Corect
Correct
Lemar was different, fee was agreed with the club, but the player never agreed to come based on the reason that the offer came too late for him to decide.
Aubumayang
Everton Lacazette Pepe
Ceballos Torriera
Tierney Rugani Holding Bellerin
Leno
In which world is laca an Attacking midfielder?
Laca plays more like a attacking mid or second Striker than main Striker. Drops very deep to make play or defend, start attacks frequently instead of finishing , good vision and passing.
Lacazette behind aubameyang would be a good play instead of ozil or mkhi
signing pepe is the best signing so far. Let the club spend this money. I no we have a limited budget this summer. But it is a great deal and a good one. EPL is now, the more you spend the more you compete for the league title. Is a good thing to have pepe. Last season arsenal bench was so poor to my liking. Imagine playing chelsea in final you can find a player that can break in and turn things around. Thank God for iwobi, who knows how to do his things when he plays against chelsea. But was still not enough to break in. I think with pepe things we go well this time.
Who told you we have a limited budget? Sky Sorts. According to the Arsenal Managing Director Vinai that’s was just a rumour that never came from the club. Don’t believe all you hear from Sky Sports.
That would be the best window we ever had and a tean to challenge for the title.
Let’s wait until the end of the transfer season before we get too excited.
The formation will most likely be
4-2-3-1
GK:LENO / Martinez
LB:Kolasinac / Tierney
RB: BELLERIN / Maitland
LCB:Holding / Monreal / Mavropanos
RCB:Sokratis / Bielik (Saliba)
LCM:Xhaka / Guendouzi / Willock
RCM:Torreira / Chambers
LW:Auba / Iwobi / Smith Rowe
RW:Pepe / Mkhitaryan / Nelson
AM:Ozil / Ceballos
ST:Laca / Nketiah
A rather too optimistic article considering that we have bought NO CB for THIS season and our likely starters at Newcastle will be Mustafi the dreadful and rash with Sokratis the one paced wrestler alongside him. Hardly grounds for any optimism at all, my sense tells me. Of course the club MIGHT bring in two top quality CB ‘s within a week or so(PAUSE FOR HYSTERICAL MOCKING LAUGHTER) but on that basis, I will also probably be made King of the world. OOPS, I FORGOT, BORIS HAS JUST BEATEN ME TO IT!
You should go back to the previous article and defend yourself.Its turned into a slaughter house???
jon, I am still optimistic, that given the structure of the transfer deals already in place/proposed, Arsenal can still buy Tierney, Everton Soares and a CB such as Daniele Rugari.
Also as critical as some of us have been of Mezut Ozil, he appears to be injury free and his performances in the preseason friendlies have been an improvement.
As an Engineer the glass isn’t half full, it’s twice as large as it needs to be.
Lacazette
Aubameyang Ceballos Pepe
Willock Torreira
Kiernan Sokratis Koscienly Bellerin
Leno
It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. If we sign Pepe and Tierny and a CB, I’ll do a dance. At the moment there’s no net spend. £00.00. We’ve been let down so many times before, let’s wait for the ink to dry.
I would rather Zaha than Pepe. Zaha is in his prime and would suit Auba and Laca.
Admin have we fill the email id and other fields whenever we post
Lemar was different, fee was agreed with the club, but the player never agreed to come based on the reason that the offer came too late for him to decide.
Pepe over Zaha easy, all Zaha has is his dribbling but all the best footballers play one touch two touch football, Zaha takes too many touches when better players can accomplish the same with less ball hogging. Pepe has better passing, better shooting, he tracks back, he’s younger with a higher ceiling. We aren’t looking for a dribbling world champion we’re looking for a professional, Zaha will slow our game down he allows opponents too much time to set up.
I hope the reporters haven’t jumped the gun on this one and allowed some team to outbid us.
You all are mad if your going to take Kev’s word for it, no offence Kev but I reckon you pick on players when your done deals don’t look to go the way you say.
Someone already mentioned, but Manu, Liv, Napoli, PSG, and ourselves are all very interested in the player, hence the huge sum, hence his last two seasons performances. These aren’t the sort of clubs that will all go after a sloppy player, that doesn’t mean he’ll be an automatic hit at his next club, but it does suggest that he was doing more than ok up until now.
Some of the ones in Holland are after hitting big numbers too, and Napoli turned their attention to one of them after supposedly missing out on Pepe.
Arsenal, we do have 2good goal keepers but over recovery n defending is really weak…we really have good attacking team n add on on superb attacking would be fantastic but yet I still wish if we could still get at least 2good defenders that could work closely with 2good goal keepers….