First of all, I love Ian Wright. In terms of a player who truly loves the badge, he’s unrivalled.
When I hear him tell the story of sleeping round David Rocastle’s house, staying up and listening to tales about ‘the Arsenal’, it gives me goosebumps.
Yet he let himself down this week on social media, essentially suggesting that any real fan wouldn’t question the decision to award Eddie Nketiah 100,000 pound a week.
Ian Wright said on Instagram; “What’s a number? Why don’t you say nothing if you have nothing positive to say to our players? You can never call yourself an Arsenal fan with negativity of this nature? Would you say it to Eddie’s face?”
He did this a few years ago when a supporter on AFTV innocently expressed his opinion that Joe Willock would never be good enough to be a permanent fixture in our midfield. He publicly asked the host to dissuade this negativity as it wasn’t helpful to our academy graduates.
The pundit was proven wrong on that occasion.
It’s becoming a theme in the world, yet alone sport, where some people are so sensitive to points of views that don’t 100 percent match their own.
There are Gooners who simply won’t hear anything bad about their club.
Even after 2 consecutive 8th place finishes, even after 6 years out of the top 4, decades without a title, when we don’t have a world class player left …. if ever there was a period where it should be allowed to question the direction of the club surely it’s now?
Yet even in January, when we give our best striker away without a replacement, and are left with two forwards who score 6 goals between them, you’re not allowed to call that a terrible decision?
It’s not personal against Eddie the person.
It’s simply that he’s scored 10 League goals in 59 League games.
5 of those were in the space of three games.
100,000 pound is allot of money.
It’s not wrong for anyone to question should someone who scored in three Prem fixtures all season be on such a salary.
It doesn’t make you negative to ask if Arteta took so long to start him why he’s now on that wage.
It’s entirely acceptable after the promises were made when leaving Highbury, to say that in 2022 a club our size should be demanding better then what the 22 has shown so far.
It doesn’t make you any more of a fan by pretending Eddie is better than he is.
Ian Wright shares the same stance as me regarding the owners.
Yet he can’t on one hand demand the ‘Kroenke’s out‘, then question others just because their viewpoint doesn’t match yours.
Where was Wright’s energy when Mustafi and Bellerin were getting far worse abuse?
Why didn’t he confront those who called Giroud a lamp post?
When Xhaka released an interview saying how much criticism affected his mental health, Wright questioned the timing of it.
What’s worse, wishing your child cancer and your wife death, or simply saying Eddie is being overpaid?
The difference of course is every kit launch, look who Ian Wright models merchandise with.
British talent, because they are seen as more marketable as they are talents fans might relate to.
So of course, Ian Wright wants to celebrate the idea of an academy graduate wearing the iconic 14 shirt.
Of course, he wants as many as possible breaking through the youth team
Because he knows our marketing teams have already planned the advert that he will be the face of.
The reason Adidas pick him as that face is because of all the legends to wear the red and white, people believe he cares about the direction of the club.
That’s why his stance is so shocking.
When we built the Emirates, we were sold a dream.
We waited patiently as our best talents were sold, often to our rivals. That money was not reinvested.
We regressed from only finishing 4th, to a point where fans call 5th progress.
In other words, we have been patient and taken a lot as a fanbase
So, in a week where Man City buy Haaland and Liverpool Nunez, if Gooners want to say we deserve more than a striker who couldn’t start in the Championship. If Gooners want to say we were promised more …… then that’s okay
Be Kind In The Comments
Dan
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Just Arsenal Show – Dan Smith – Am I Mr Negative Or Do Some Gooners Not Like Any Criticism?
I understand your settlement, but I support the wright with what he did.
He’s simply backing nketia up. Remember he used to be a player as well in the past.
So there’s nothing wrong in formal player looking out for a player and defending them.
In addition, respect to all fans but some fans can go overboard with their reaction
I did not support the board decision on nketia but since he has been awarded the contract, am backing him to prove many of us wrong .
He needs our support cause our ranting won’t change the board decision that has been taken about him
But Kaay why should we support wrong decisions? Going with Arteta instead of Tuchel was a very wrong decision and it has shown. Same with supporting Arteta against players instead of giving that support to Emery was a wrong decision and it has shown. Supporting Arteta financially instead of Wenger was a poor decision and it has shown.
Awarding Eddie that contract for nothing and getting Jesus who failed in spite being surrounded by one of the best midfielders in the world is a wrong decision. Their two salaries combined could have gone to far better strikers or even one lethal one.
We are about to be paying 300k per week on two very average strikers in my opinion. Can’t that money get us better?
It’s not wrong to question a decision if someone feels its wrong. Blind support does not equal true support.
Every statement you made here is valid and I share the same view.
But like I said, our rantings won’t change anything regarding nketia contract.
Giving 100k because he started to score during the end of the seasons, a player majority wanted out of the club then.
In addition, it will be extremely difficult to get a world class players into our current squad. We don’t have what it takes to host them here.
So we might have to settle for less for the time being.
I just realize that both Jesus and tielsman won’t make a 22 man best squad of EPL and yet they are our top target.
That’s how far we have fallen.
Its all right to settle for less but why overpay for it? Mane has been on 100k for years while we had Lacazette on 200k for years. And we are continuing doing it.
300k/week get Man City Haaland but it get us Nketiah and Jesus.
Majority are against the 100k wage.
It makes little sense when you realize we were told they are trying to cut the club wages, then we see another player being rewarded with high wages.
I mean if nketia is to be rewarded for 100k salary, then most of the players we have let go deserve the salary they were on which most of the fans criticized.
If you can afford to give nketia 100k, then you nobody should moan of Auba getting more than 300k. The man have goals for Arsenal alone more than nketia have appearances for Arsenal.
@HH
You make this point “We are about to be paying 300k per week on two very average strikers in my opinion. Can’t that money get us better?”
How much were we paying Lacazette and Auba together at the begging of last season? How many goals (About 530k a week i believe)
Aubameyang is a world class striker with a proven record everywhere he has played including us. At the time of renewing his contract he was worth more than 200k a week. He just like Leno dip of form is purely under Arteta.
But I agree with your point but why are we making the same mistake again? It would have been okay to pay Nketiah and Jesus those huge amounts if we weren’t being told the wage reduction and structuring narrative.
Neither is Jesus nor Nketiah worth those amounts and I doubt they are the answer to our striking need.
Bit Auba and laca came for 50/60m. Simple as that. Nketiah could command more because he is here. Simple. And homegrown. Yes it is overpaid but the club could have sold him 15 last year and did not. Was about to loose him for free. It is just that you cant compare salaries like that. A player that resign command more.
Both had more than 100 goals each before joining us.
Coming from the top5 European league, how much do you think their wages going to cost. And should we be seriously questioning Auba wage when we all see how good he was before he was awarded that deal. Scoring 30 goals in all competition back to back. getting a better wage seems normal for a player like that.
They should never be compare to nketia situation.
Their salary are quite justified because they were on a great run for their previous club before they signed for us.
They didn’t live up to their purchase price nor their salary, but as at the time of purchase, they were worth that price.
@HH
Who says, we had a choice between Arteta and Tuchel?
We chose Arteta at a time, when 2 “world class” managers, Wenger and Emery, had failed to get us top 4. And at a time when plenty “world class” managers were failing at Man U, and a former player looked like a success.
Emery had totally lost it, when he was sacked. He had been heavily backed.
Wenger was heavily backed for many years, yet we were being overtaken by clubs spending less.
How was Wenger backed when every team he built was destroyed by selling our best players?
The evidence for that is clear for everyone to see that is not merely an opinion.
Adebayor who was massive for us at that time came out and say he never wanted to leave but was forced because the club needed the money. What kind of a backing is that?
How many players were sold that way? Players who have come close to win the title and with just few additions would have won it but instead they were sold one by one?
Arsenal have been among the highest spenders on transfers and wages for more than 10 years. That is a fact. Will you deny Wenger was the manager in that period?
Wenger did a fantastic job in the first half of his tenure. Not so much in the second half.
i agree 100% with that. he got 3 cups and top4 but not a lot more while splashing cash. Strangely we did not hear him anymore complaning about other teams having more funds. He just badly missed on the 2016 title while being im a strong position. Sad.
Emery was backed? By whom? Definitely not the board and not themost Arsenal fan.
Even Wenger came out recently to say he should have been given more time. Wenger need not to have said that, but he did anyway.
How can you say emery was backed when man didn’t get half of the players he wanted and everyone was aware of that.
Partey, nkuku, zaha, and many more were the players he wanted himself, we know what the board provided him. Is that what you called being backed?
He had the most least transfer spent out of the 3 despite the board signing pepe for him and you claimed he was backed.
Remove pepe and Saliba who didn’t kick a ball for him, he spent just 100m in his one and half year. This management spent 150m in a single summer. Remove white who cost 50m and you have 100m for a single summer, equal to what emery spent for a yean and half..
Yeah he was backed heavily by kicking him off the door.
Emery was backed very well financially and of course he had an important say in the transfers.
You are just trying to paint a picture to suit your needs.
He was sacked, when we were lying 14’th almost halfway into the season.
Whether it would have been better to keep him is something we will never know.
AndersS your argument is baised on a mistake. Arsenal was 8th, 4W 6d and 3d in 13 games. So not at 14th and not halfway into the season… Double mistake and huge one that change all the narrative. Better when double checking (or only checking) facts first. Funny especially when you are accusing someone of painting a picture that suits his needs….
And emery was not really backed. On what do you base that ? He did a fabulous season but ended up losing by 1 point against tottenham. Them he wants zaha but the club force him to do with pepe… Is that a huge backing ? Not sure. And after 13 games and a riot from some underachieving players, he is fired. But justice was made when his villareal team came came trashing our arsenal. I was sad for us but happy for him. He deserved that.
👍👍👍👍
I still have the feeling that Nketia will surprise many gooners who think he doesn’t deserve the contract. It might turn out to a steal in the end. But when it comes to sport, there will always be criticism, negativity, pessimism, and sometimes malice against players and coaches and the board. Remember fans are the best virtual coaches. They know more than the actual coaches lol.
I hope he does surprise and prove people like myself wrong – and I personally wouldn’t be completely surprised if he did – it still wouldn’t make it right to give him the big contract at this time.
He should prove himself before getting the big contract, not the other way around.
IMHO Wright’s selective defense of players rings a bit hollow, and his criticism questionable.
Still waiting on his defense of Xhaka, Ozil, Giroud, Mustafi, Bellerin, Leno, etc…. since he is so concerned about Arsenal players.
His selective outrage is no different from fans, so perhaps he should ease up a bit, his bias is showing.
Nice to see Wright coming to the defense of ALL Arsenal players that face criticism.
I’m sure Xhaka appreciates Wright’s support, as well as Giroud, Mustafi, Leno, Bellerin, and the others facing harsh criticism.
Wright should be careful, his bias is showing.
Nketiah has done well. There is still more to come from him. Criticism is part of the game.
But i would love us to make an 80m pound bid for Victor Osimhen. He is the definition of an ideal striker. Good stamina, tall, Good first touch and very fast. All round play. on the same level as Haaland. Better than Nunez. He has the speed as well.
We need to score more goals and we need top quality strikers.
Our defence is sorted.
Our midfield is almost sorted. We need Telemans as well.
The attack needs a beast of upfront. Someone who can give premier league defenders something to think about.
Osimhen will get 20+ goals in the Premier league.
10 goals in 59 League games is well ?
Hi Daniel, Do you mean Osimhen?
No that’s eddies strike rate @skills
Hey Dan, I just did a little checking….
Henry was 22 when he joined Arsenal, same as Nketiah now.
In the three seasons before (at Monaco and Juventus) he scored 8 goals in 59 games!
Was he the main striker in those clubs? From what I recall Henry as the best and complete striker of his generation was the great Arsene creation.
Henry was playing as a winger back then which might have something to do with it no?
And was already a World Cup winner too with significant contribution on the run.
Don’t bother, save your breath, absurd comparison with Henry. By admin.
So Henry in 2 different leagues in a different position is a fair comparison with Nketiah?
Just say “see what Nketiah delivers this year” instead of ludicrous comparisons to one of our legends. Seriously!
@Keep yer knickers on Durand. It was the 59 games before age 22 what struck me as poingnant…
Fair enough, I see your point. Implying anything from “59 games before age 22” is a bit of a reach, but your opinion, to each their own.
More confidence, money, and game time, let’s see what Nketiah does with it, hopefully takes the next step.
Eddy’s 23
With another top class striker (like Osimhen) to partner, Nketiah could score a bunch more goals!?
I don’t think Tielemans will happen now from the reports going around btw.
I think we should all hold judgment until midway through next season on Nketiah. It would prove to be a good reward If he is amongst the top scorers by January and beyond. If he flops then I guess the club are likely to get a lot of stick. But this is MA’s choice to put the faith in him also. MA is taking a gamble. Especially if we fail to bring in a top class striker!
Time will tell on this one so let’s get behind Nketiah and give him a chance!
I love Wrighty, and although I disagree with him, it doesn’t change my feelings towards him. Absolute legend!
His comments almost feel like he’s being an over protective relative/parent, and he should realize that if we censored criticism, then things would only ever get worse, and in all walks of life!
It’s harder and braver to stick-up for the Club (any club…) than knock it.
It’s really not
Easiest thing in world to say everything is fine and never confront anything
Harder to admit there are issues
His opinions about Nketiah, Giroud, Mustafi and Bellerin were subjective. For example, I thought Ozil didn’t deserve his mega contract extension several years ago, yet some fans had different opinions
The fans assess each player’s contribution, potential and skills differently, because we don’t have access to the player’s detailed stats and humans are biased. In my opinion, Nketiah should’ve got less than that, but he had a strong bargaining power
@GAI, who is your ideal CF for next season.
Imo, we have the europa league coming. There will be more games to play.
WE need 3 quality CFs.
Nketiah
One of Osimhen/Gabriel Jesus/Haller/Ivan Toney
Martinelli.
Martinelli should be converted to a CF this summer. He has what it takes to succeed there.
Osimhen is my preference. The fee is high though. He is what we need imo.
50m pounds for Gabriel Jesus or 80m pounds for Osimhen.
what is your opinion?
– Osimhen : His facial fractures could affect his courage in aerial duels and his price tag is too high for a non-homegrown CF who has no EPL experience
– Jesus : According to Transfer Checker, Jesus will join us. It’s just a matter of time
– Haller : Is joining Dortmund. They’ve got Mallen and Adeyemi, yet they still need a towering CF
– Toney : Has bullied our CBs, but I don’t think he’s skilled enough to be our main CF
I’d prefer Arsenal to gamble on Havertz, Abraham, Calvert-Lewin, Watkins, Embolo or Sorloth
I prefer AFC Gamble on G. Scamacca than any of those you just mentioned if not V. Osimhen..
Wright and Gabriel were absolutely correct in slagging the negativity around Nketiah, and blogs such as Just Arsenal should be above supporting the shite mongers who criticise his quite reasonable wage.
Dan, are you Adrian Durham by another name?
Why ?
Because I don’t think a player is good enough ?
Spot on, Jax! Give the guy a chance for crying out loud. You can’t blame Nketiah for wanting to progress and he has already shown patience and loyalty to Arsenal. Like I said above; if he is up there with the top scorers next season it make it impossible to not applaud him and the club. If he does fail to deliver though, I know there will be a lot of finger pointing and unrest (as usual)..
A chance?
He’s played 92 times for us lol
He was never giver a real chance because he was always playing second fiddle. A cup game player. Let him start with a decent striker beside him and see what happens? He prove his doubters very wrong? He may also flop, too. But that will be on the clubs head. MA want’s us to trust the process. So let’s wait and see. If he fails, We may just see the back of MA too? All I’m saying is hold judgment until the end of this season. There will be no more excuses this time!
And why second fiddle ?
When Arsene Wenger left the club was in 6th place.
Emery came and got us 5th and made the EL final. Emery should have been given more time but the club panicked. Arteta came in and the rookie struggled for 18 months but still won the FA Cup and the community shield and also made the semi final of the EL. In just his second full season Arteta took us to 5th place fully 11 points in front of Man U. This with the youngest squad in the league. So in two seasons Arteta is in front of where Wenger left us in 6th place Compare that to Wengers first three years in management at AS Nancy 12th, 18th relegated. Klopp first 6 seasons in management
Bundesliga 2nd tier at Mainz.
4th 4th 3rd (promoted)
Bundesliga 1st tier at Mainz
11th 11th relegated .
So compared to the early Wenger and Klopp years Arteta has been a runaway success.
Here we go again.. 😒
It’s the fairfan stat show that no one cares about!
Haha
He wrote that above 3 days ago but for today he’s left out Tuchel this time
“Where was Wright’s energy when Mustafi and Bellerin were getting far worse abuse?
Why didn’t he confront those who called Giroud a lamp post?
When Xhaka released an interview saying how much criticism affected his mental health, Wright questioned the timing of it.
What’s worse, wishing your child cancer and your wife death, or simply saying Eddie is being overpaid?”
You are a very negative person Dan. Very negative because you say it as it is. You are not afraid to confront anyone with double standards and you do not settle for mediocrity. Keep that negativity we need it in this day and age. Glad to have you as a fellow gooner, and a true one at that.
Cheers mate
Did you misunderstand Wrighty’s quote, or did I?
I thought his opening “What’s a number?” was not a reference to £100k per week but to the bizarre online anger at Nketiah getting the number 14 shirt?
That pretty well changes the whole meaning of his post. Happy to stand corrected if I misunderstood (although in my book Wrighty can get away with saying almost anything, and I’ll forgive him 😁)
What exactly is the problem??
We have a young player, and some thinks he is a good talent, some don’t.
He has chosen to stay and play for us, but no one can say for sure it is because of money. He was a free agent, and could possibly have pocketed a nice sign-on fee by switching to another club. But he chose to stay at the club he loves.
What ‘s not to like?
Incorrect only 2 clubs showed an interest (West Ham and Borussia Mönchengladbach)and apparently offered him 70-80k a week in wages
Do you honestly think he would still be here if other clubs were after him and offering a lot more than we gave
Unless you know more than is reported in the press, I think you are wrong.
What I have read is, Westh Ham and Crystal Palace were all in the riunning for his signature and several Bundeslige clubs were interested.
I have no idea, if they would pay the same salary or more or less, and I suspect, you don’t know for sure either.
But as far as I know, it is common for free agents to get a sign on fee, when/if they switch clubs.
Either way, why so negative?
Negative haha
Enough internet for me for today .
Wright was talking about his shirt number not his salary.
He wasn’t got sold to Palace beginning of last season for 15m because refused the 55k wages he was offered. I don’t have any problem with the number on back of his shirt neither do I have a problem with his extension and the player himself but the money is where I have problem. Some called Ozil snake, leech etc with his talent and achievements before he came to us and what he the other players help achieved before his new contract but are ok with Eddie’s wage without considering effect it will have on our future negotiations with those better players than him.
I think, as one of the top six clubs in the world, every single one of our players should be worth 100k a week or more
The question is, whether we believe he will be a valuable player for us or not. If we do, then 100 k and no sign on fee is not an exuberant wage in the football world.
If we/you don’t believe he will be usefull for us, then even 50k would be too mich.
That is the long and the short of it, I guess.
Saying ‘your not an Arsenal fan’ when you don’t even know them personally, just because someone has a different opinion to yours, wether it is deemed as positive or negative is just plain wrong. This public shaming of people that don’t share your view point is distasteful.
You have massively skewed those stats, how many of those 59 games has Eddie started?
Just 34 games he’s started for our first team, scoring 25 goals.
Add up the rest of his minutes over the years he’s getting an average of 10 mins over the other games he’s played, you do the maths on that goals per 90 mins stats.
This fella sounds like someone who could barely walk up a set of stairs, let alone kick a ball 😞
Listening to your video defending yourself for your terrible take here says it all, we are progressing massively right now, we have a young energetic and quality team.
You are literally ranting on trying to prove yourself right, it’s boring, we are all tired of your kind of fan at this club.
You clearly don’t know much about football from a playing perspective, and how form works, getting a run of games is how players progress.
Get a grip.
Someone with his coaching badges I see
The ‘number’ that Ian Wright was talking about wasn’t the 100 grand it was the number 14 that he now has on his shirt!
Ppl should wait and see. Plenty of Ramsdale doubters out there with a massive pile of egg on their face.
Write will always have his say, so the odds of agreeing with everything he says are slim. Fans calling out his double standards have a point. Personally, I don’t like Ian Write’s opinions…can make himself and gunners look silly. But as fans we’re forced to love him because he loves Arsenal (and aside from his time at the club). Arsenal are terrible when it comes to dealing with capital. Always have been. Terrible at selling, amazing at overpaying. I’m usually one of those delusional fans who say support support support, but these outcries have points and why should ppl just put up with mediocrity? Arsenal have done some great work in the last year or two. Doesn’t mean we can’t point out when they’ve gotten it wrong. Eddie does not deserve €100,000. €60,000 at best
It’s a great place to earn a more than decent wage. Think of the money they’ve been splashing about on mediocre players. Or how much Bukayo Saka will renew his 30k contract for. Then everyone else will want a massive pay hike or run down their contracts. And we’ll still be mediocre, attracting mediocre players, for a lot of money. I can see the Kroenkes selling the club at some point, a couple of years maybe. It’s going the Farhad Moshiri way
I don’t know why people are so emotionally attached to “Shirt Numbers” that it is enough to trigger them into immature childish meltdowns..
But this and that Shirt Number should be reserved for such and such a type of player..
Nonsense..
People have these dogmatic traits that are very worrying..
@ garygooner can you tell me some factors use to calculate the weekly wage of a player? Or what factors constitute the contractual value of players? Commercial value?, free agent? Homegrown?, influence of avertisers: Nike, Adidas,Puma, ? Or the age of the player? I’m just giving you a clue for you to be able to answer my question if 100k per week is too little,too much, or just right for Eddie. I forgot mention stats and technical abilities.. You know you have to sum up all those factors before you make your judgement on whether the player’s contract or pay is too high or too low. The current market value for players generally is crazy. Inflation! It’s not Eddie’s fault. Let the boy be!!!
Taking your point into account, I retract my statement and would now offer €50,000 p/w. Cheers for reminding me what true value deserves. Plenty of talented players on less than 50,000. Is Eddie gonna be the face of adidas? Wouldn’t say so….
Not to mention the fact that English players are always overrated, overvalued, and therefor overpaid
I know many people will disagree with me but I don’t think we were sold a dream/lie when moving to the Emirates.i’m pretty sure that Wenger,the board… truly believed that we would be able to compete for titles and with the biggest clubs.sadly no one could have predicted the big changes that took place in the world of football.i don’t believe that despite qualifying for the CL seasons after seasons, Wenger expected to have to sell his best players too.
Some of which came out and said they never wanted to leave but was forced because the club needed money
I agree with you Dan that Wright was a bit harsh. But on hindsight, the fans are also overstepping at times. How much Eddie earns, which no. shirt he wears, is all upto the the Manager and the coaching team and the Board. He is an Arsenal player and our aim must be to support him to reach greater heights. Also, if he has failed last season does not mean he will fail again, maybe with better technique, experience, coaching and fan support Eddie could give us 15-20 goals per season. Once the management has decided to extend a players contract, that means they trust him and our role should be to support him for the greater good of the team. Also, I hear Gabriel has criticised the fans indirectly, over the wages issue. So, Dan, although Wright was a bit harsh, at times fans cross their limits. As gunners our primary aim should be to support our team, come what may, because finally we are all Arsenal.
The author of this article demonstrates a total lack of reading comprehension and understanding of the situation. Eddie Nketiah was abused online just for renewing. Comparing the criticism of Nketiah with that of Bellerin and Mustafi, players who were a disaster, is ignorant.
Wright is clearly talking about the ABUSERS, not the critics. NOBODY has the right to attack NOBODY.
Mustafi, Bellerin… Xhaka… WHAT A DISGRACE OF COMPARISON!
So what are you saying exactly? That Mustafi, Granit and Hector deserved those abuses?
The author has made a simple yet powerful question, if Wright found it in his heart to defend Eddie from shirt number or wages criticism why did he stay quite when those players were abused?
He criticised Xhaka’s timing of narrating his experience of his family being wished death and cancer to a baby but defending a shirt number and wages criticism?
Who is lacking reading comprehension here?
That guy called HH is something else.
I havelong thought that fans who use relentless negativity with never a single positive comment, actually do tremendous harm to the club they profess to support. Dan is IMO the single worst example of the type of fan about whom Wreight was speaking.
For context on that last para, I of course agree and accept that all fans will have various views on all topics, some positive, some negative, and often neutral too.
But it is when any particular fan, such as DAN, correctly gets a reputation for being RELENTLESSLY AND ONLY NEGATIVE, that the real harm is done. Just my take !
As I understand it the £100,000 a week includes a signing on fee of £5m paid over 5 years. Which is better than normal for an out of contract player.
Let’s not forget when we signed Kolasinac as an out of contract player he got £100k a week in salary and a further £40k a week as a signing on fee.
That is what being on a bosman does, it gives the power to the player and his agent. Nketiah would have easily got a similar deal in Germany and Arsenal would have received nothing. This way we keep a 23 year old prospect, that could fetch us £25-30m if he has a good season or be worth double that if he has a great season.
All I have seen is reports suggest. It was only recently discovered that Mane was on 100000 a week. Just goes to show that it can be difficult to know exactly how much these folks earn.
Will Eddie be on 100000K??? This has been written as fact…But is it?
Implying that Wright is defending Nketiah for personal financial gain through marketing activities is such a twisted idea…
Unbelievable
I think that if Nketiah was good enough, Arsenal wouldn’t have waited for him to exhaust his contract, then, offer him another.
Let’s take the case of Auba as instance -Having played a vital role in our FA cup victory that season, he still had 1yr left on his deal but then, it was reasonable for us to tie him down on a new deal, which we did. My point is, we didn’t wait for him to exhaust his deal before he got another. Same, applies to Saka. or aren’t we hearing that Arsenal are planning him a new deal??
I believe that Arsenal, at first, didn’t plan signing Nketiah on a new deal but they, maybe, thought that, getting him a new deal while he acts as backup will be less costly than bringing in two strikers. And by such decision, it actually provides them the opportunity to address other areas that need reshuffling.
Is Nketiah good enough as backup?? For me, it is a No! Offering him 100k is crazy! My Gawd! I couldn’t believe that Sadio Mane was earning as low as 100k at Liverpool! That was a steal!
I hope he proves me wrong, though.
In addition to my point, I also think he decided to stay because of the pay, nothing else. I’d have done same, though😂
Nketiah definitely can’t tell me he doesn’t know that Arsenal is planning on buying another striker while he acts as backup. Ofcourse, he knows that his playing time isn’t guaranteed. So, why stay when you know that your playing time will be limited?? Money is the answer😂….
You seem to know everything. Money is the answer… Are you a sport pro ? why he is ? How can some of these guys succeed ? Because they have tremendous belief in themselves and mental strength. What tell you that Nketiah could not eventually progress and succeed ?! He bulked up, he works hard. He may just thinks that he will have his chance when if arsenal buys a 1st option. Mayne it will come, mayne not
.. but a reminder : Drogba, at 24, was still in french “premiership”.
Totally avoiding the elephant in the room. Why would Wright be sticking up for Nketiah, Willock and loved Rocastle. Yet avoided doing the same for the likes of Mustafi, Bellerin, Xhaka and further back Stepanovs. It’s there for all to see, if you cannot work out ask Paul Davis or Sol Campbell, Thierry Henry, they are all of the same vein.
Whenever a player re-signs at the point they are able to leave on a free the wage computation changes.
It’s a similar situation to when Sol Campbell signed on a free, he earned a huge whack because part of the weekly wage was the signing on fee amortised over the period of the contract.
What has now happened on a few occasions is when a player is about to leave for free, the club then have to factor in what it would cost in transfer fees plus wages to bring in a similar player.
Nketiah would have left for no return so I suspect his large increase might even end up being cheaper than buying a replacement.
A squad cannot consist entirely of superstar players, there have to be grafters, support acts, and fillers-in, which is why players like El-Neny are worth having around.
I recall seeing some video of Nketiah in some practice games with the first team squad several years back, he has/had serious ball skills and scored some fairly spectacular goals.
He might well grow into something really good, but at the very least the club retained an asset and could in theory at least recoup something if they do decide to let him go in the next season or three.
I guess it comes down to “is the glass half full or half empty?” While some will appreciate the fact that the glass has at least some half content, others will be more concerned with how half empty the glass is.
If we never realize how far Arsenal has fallen, we will never realize how much work is required to rebuild. It is tempting to believe that Arsenal can simply splash the cash and acquire any striker they require. However, I believe that there are other factors to consider besides money, such as the potential to play in the Champions League, the security of the player’s position in the squad, the club’s vision, and family influence on the player, to name a few.
Everyone knows, in my opinion, that Arteta has only half of the next season to prove himself. As a result, I don’t believe he has the bank credit to make risky decisions during the summer transfer window. As a result, we may see a more outspoken Arteta in the future about his frustrations with the club’s Board and administrators.
Arsenal are not too active when it comes to transfers until last season when 140mp was spent on 5 diff players which i’ve seen as the highest transfer ever made by the club in a season..i already seen another delay signing a good striker as nketiah case to me has shown on optimism of landing a new one to add the depth..so, why can’t we just encourage our new #14 and give him enough back up?
“When we built the Emirates, we were sold a dream”
“So, in a week where Man City buy Haaland and Liverpool Nunez, if Gooners want to say we deserve more than a striker who couldn’t start in the Championship. If Gooners want to say we were promised more …… then that’s okay”
If for no other reason than expressing these two very salient points, this article was a worthwhile endeavor…until the powers that be actually make a real concerted effort to live up to that promise, their every move should be heavily scrutinized…of course, some moves have shown inklings of intent, but the vast majority of our organizational activity has never lived up to that promised “top” level…this expectational descent starting under Wenger and continues today under our very naïve administrative/managerial team…here’s hoping that at some point in time we will flip the script on this lowered bar narrative
The negative fans are a big part of the reason we are in this situation. They literally sabotaged the club and created a schism between players and fans. The sense of entitlement from some of these people takes a real Arsenal fan’s breath away.
Fortunately, AFTV and their ilk have been nearly totally purged from the club, and we’ve seen improvement as our youth find their confidence and learn Arteta’s way.
The idea that coming in 5th with the youngest team in the prem is “regression” is simply a pathetic one, capitulation to negativity – which so many Arsenal fans are experts at – once again.
You’ll note that Thiery Henry was not the finished product when he got the number 14 shirt either. But Nketiah has loads of drive and talent, and his ability to harry opponents, cause chaos in opposition back lines, and finish ruthlessly will only improve. He started a quarter the games Lacazette did and got double the goals. Next season, if he gets double the starts he got this season, he’ll more than double his tally. If he nets 15 goals in a season as a 22/23-year-old, he’ll be more than worth the money.
The Nketiah haters should take Wrighty’s advice and STFU. He’s a pro, and he knows better.
LOL…it’s not like the “negativity” emerged from the ether, for no reason whatsoever…this ain’t a chicken or the egg argument…simply put, this club intentionally chose to lower their standards to satisfy the overtly selfish needs of those within both the owning classes and in the managerial room…so feel free to speak to your concerns regarding the manner in which some might choose to express their displeasure, but don’t for a second suggest that these views have no place in “your” Arsenal…btw you certainly don’t help yourself when you decided to lean into the whole Henry comparison narrative, in that besides the raw data, based on a goals-scored to age ratio, there’s nothing we’ve seen by our purple patch kid thus far that would justify any such comparison
didn’t help
If you think this guy is a chaos maker than I can only guess you’ve spent too much time at croquet competitions … what is certain right now is that nketiah plus Jesus feels like a slap in the face to fans treated to the theatrics around vlahovic last January … so who is treating who badly!!!!
I don’t care what number he wears or what he is earning but I do see an untapped talent in him and hope we might see it next season.
Do I think he is the answer to all our problems? Hell No! But he is one of our own and gets what it is to wear the badge.
I think the majority of you are missing the point of Ian Wright’s support to Eddie Nketiah. He has a personal relationship with the lad.
Small snippet below from 2019.
https://arseblog.news/2019/12/nketiah-opens-on-his-friendship-with-ian-wright/
So I’m not surprised that he has come out in his defense.
Also, he isn’t afraid to offer constructive criticism to him”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/sport/18252238/arsenal-ian-wright-slams-eddie-nketiah-lack-desire/amp/
So, I’m with Wrighty on this one and probably would do the same if I had a personal relationship with a person that was receiving social abuse.
Its called
Having the back of your team mates.
You should try it sometimes.
This is a hard one not to sit on the fence over. On the one hand I respect the stance of an Arsenal great who has over the years mentored, encouraged but occasionally also been critical of the the Edd. At the same time I agree with Dan that this player has done nothing to deserve either the number 14 jersey let alone his salary or even a starting place in the first eleven. I agree with Wright in that it’s only a number but I also have to say, ” show us the goals, show us the style, Eddie.” Or else the Championship for you old son.
Very very negative article and makes me wonder why I bother reading these comments. Comparisons with cancer and the like is not befitting.
The market has undergone significant inflation in recent years, especially in the strikers department. Eddie is a very good striker, has a nose for goal and is technically very strong. You’d get nowhere near his quality for 100k a week plus you’d have to pay a transfer.
It is not like he is on Aubas salary. Plus you seem to not even take into account us not paying a transfer fee?
It does seem personal and directed against a lad who’s been with us all his career with what must be assumed is a significant mismanagement of his talents, considering his youth stats. That he even wants to give us another try to unlock him (basically just use him) is commendable.
Artetas fault, not Eddie’s. But again, everything is Artetas fault.
I am not against Eddie at all – I am positive about his attitude and talent.
I am not against Arteta either, although the buck always will stop at the manager.
Rather, I am pro the Gunners.
COYG!
How can you even contemplate comparing what Auba has done in three seperate leagues with Nketien’s achievements at youth and England under 21 levels? It’s up to Eddie to show up now and display those hidden talents.
I totally support Ian wright fans some fans nowadays are just negative it doesn’t matter Ig we have a good result or not they (toxic fans) will find a fault plus that’s what they’re known for so they stick to that anytime they have something to say it’s always negative or it borders negativity