Arsenal have no choice but to alter their summer transfer plans following their failure to qualify for next seasons Champions League and are now having to look at cheaper alternatives in line with their transfer budget.
But that does not mean they have to accept mediocrity, it means they will have to be far more intelligent with their acquisitions than they have been in previous years and the signs are that they are doing just that if the latest rumours are true.
According to the media, we are looking at signing Valencia teenager Ferran Torres.
But the 19-year-old right winger is no ordinary teenager, he is top quality and the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are reportedly also interested in his signature.
Torres only started eight La Liga games but featured in 24 league matches in total helping Los Che to fourth and a place in next seasons Champions League.
Overall, including cup competitions he played in a grand total of 37 games, this is a young man that his club trust a lot.
Arsenal has first-hand experience of the teenager when he played against us in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final and were clearly impressed with what they saw despite the young lad being on the losing side.
We are crying out for a decent winger and Torres is certainly a bright prospect gaining in experience all the time who has proven his worth in one of the best leagues in the world.
Torres has two years left on his contract and a fee of just £25 Million is being touted and while that would take up a large piece of our initial transfer budget that would change once we sell some players and you have to think that the teenager would be an upgrade on what we currently have on the right wing.
If Arsenal does manage to pull off this transfer it will be a very intelligent piece of business, we would get a quality young player that could be with us for at least a decade and would show that the club has learned from some of their previous mistakes in the transfer market.
We have a lot of youngsters… why don’t they just give them a fucking chance to prove themselves?
I’m sure Torres didn’t have a better season than Reiss Nelson… So, Why would they bring him while Nelson is still here? how would other youngsters in our youth ranks feel?
for sure, We know there’s no money to spend… so, they use our young guns…. that’s why I would like Dennis Bergkamp to be back at the club. He knows what they’ve done at Ajax.
? Miro, hopefully the Board will agree with us on Dennis Bergkamp. Then again probably what appears too obvious for us, is not so for them.
Torres’ stats as a winger are awful in La Liga and he never threatened us at the Emirates/ Mestalla
Nelson was impressive as an RW in pre-season and it’s time to promote him in the first team
Hi sue, just here I miss you. I am not interested in what the media is saying because 80% is bullshit!!! Sorry for language. If the board are interested in moving the club forward then we need a manger with the same vision. I don’t believe in Emery so my problem starts from the board to the manager to the players. If we buy two or three players, the dynamic of the players will not have changed a lot, if we change the manger and buy few players a lot of dynamics will be there, mentality, courage, strength, guts, tactics, respect for defence. So I will not be losing any breath with anything until the season starts. I think this is the worst season for a top 6 premier league club, we did extremely poorly, it became a shame. Am sure emery’s tactical decisions will drive a lot of people from emirates, then the board will feel the impact and maybe something will change.
Our football is very very poor.
Agree pat and I think Emery was a poor appointment.
No style, I really miss our quick passing style.
We haven’t improved, we’ve regressed.
It will be a long job to put this shit show right.
Hello Pat,
after the this whole embarrassing end to the season I am with you on this one. No interest till I see some ambition. And by the way, how r the twins kicking?
Gogo where were you on Wednesday night, it was arguably the worst night as an Arsenal fan. And the summer window will not do anything for me.
Gogo twins are kicking the hell out of me. But I like it because it makes me giggle and I know they are doing fine. We will soon have them and I have promised sue that I will share their pictures. Thanks guys.
Hi Pat, I miss you too!! Don’t apologise over your language.. you are correct & straight to the point.. as much as I wanted to cry at full time on Wednesday, I read your comment (about how you knew we’d be sh*t) and it actually cracked me up, no glossing over it, just straight to the point & I applaud you for that (& because you made me laugh!!)
Well, regarding our team, it’s all doom & gloom.. not a bad thing that the season’s over.. I’ll keep an eye on everything Arsenal, but am expecting next season to be just like this one… ??
So names, have you decided on names? ❤
Yes Sue names are cooking up. Alex, Siena, Emma, Patrick? We haven’t come to a solid conclusion. Am glad you find something to laugh about after our most disappointing Europa League Final. My love to everyone Sue.
we qualify for the champ league due to city ban
spud didnt wint the champ league
happy days
klopp took 5 season to win the champ league…
hence Emery should be given more time
What are you talking about?
Champions League final is tomorrow
City haven’t been banned
We beat Valencia home/ away and this guy never threatened our defense. His stats as a winger in this season are also atrocious
Better focus on Chukwueze, because we have Iwobi that lures Chukwueze in and he could form a good partnership with Iwobi
How about Lukebakio. His stats are better than Nelson’s in Bundesliga. He is worth a shot and would come to us cheap.
We should get him in.
It is Arsenal Football club and not Nigerian football club.Stop overhyping Iwobi. Im Also Nigerian. But if we are to move forward as a team, we need quality players. Goal scoring Wingers at the peak of their career. Iwobi should be a backup next season. We need wingers of the caliber of Sterling, Isco, Nabir Fekir, Mane. we need to Invest big. The interest of the team should come first. We need to go back to a 433 system. Bring in A top quality Centre Back, a winger. We should pay attention to Madrid signing Hazard. If it goes thru, we should go all out and sign Isco. Or Nabil Fekir. Sign one of Koulibaly, Xavi Martinez or De ligt. And get in a new manager like Allegri.
We need a real plan, which we never had from 2008 till date.
1. Identify key areas the team failed and need upgrade.
2. Recognize we might not have funds to upgrade these areas in one transfer season.
3. Do a scale of preference and prioritize on the areas of team upgrades would have instantaneous effect capable of seeing us break into top 4 immediately, we are closer to the top 4 than we are last season.
4. Have a list of players within the club financial means who can serve as upgrades to players we currently have playing that area.
The list should have first option, second option, third option and more options for each role. Players should be capable of breaking straight into first team. Not squad depth players.
5. Spend on this area by buying younger players suitable and capable. It’s important they are young, so that they don’t become aged by the time you start upgrading the other areas, and drag you back again.
6. Stick to the plan. Even if a better player in the area you are already sufficient in suddenly pops up in the market, do not diverge from your plans, let the player be bought by other teams, stick to your plan. Football is a team sport.
7. Re evaluate this plan as the season pans out, and by finding out weak areas of the team that should be prioritized on the next season.
Do this consistently, irrespective of managerial changes, and you have yourself a well run and efficient club.
Arsenal hasn’t done this under Wenger. We never entered into the transfer market with purpose,we simply buy whoever is available. This is also why we have two strikers and no winger. Auba suddenly became available and we went and bought him,even though we already have Laca. Ozil suddenly became available, and we went and spent a fortune on him, despite having Carzola, a playmaker who won club’s player of the season a season before
Wenger had no plans.
He mismanaged this club on and off the pitchThat’s why we have an unbalanced squad.
They were not bought with a plan in mind.
Emery and Arsenal transfer activities would tell me alot about Emery and the current regime.
If he(Emery) / them( the recruitment team) dilly dallies and wait for last day of transfer market to buy whoever is available or whoever other clubs deem surplus to requirements
then he isn’t any different from Wenger, and we as a club are not making any progress.
The kind of rot we are in, we need a head start.
Our recruitment must be done fast and furious showing we have a plan.
Get them in early and start integrating them early.
Every game and points matters . Don’t wait for first game of the season embarrassment before going on panic buy the next day. This was Wenger hallmark move, a further proof of his lack of foresight and definitive transfer plans.
Get the recruits in early, let them gel with the team in pre season, then hit the ground running from the first match.
As we saw this concluded season, every game matters. Two points from City /Chelsea first two matches last season, and we would be in UCL next season.
One on the most shrewd, accurate and plainly intelligent posts I have ever read on this site. I agree with every word and indeed wrote much of what you have said about managerial and CEO change being needed since 2008 , many times. For a full decade proir to Emery and the new regime it has been blindingly clear that there was NO long term forward plan or planning , whatsoever. The culprits in ordr of responsibility were firstly Kroenke(as the owner HE should have sacked both the other two, Gazidis almost before he ever started), secondly Gazidis for being totally out of his depth and for being a blatant liar but with a damaging veneer of superficial charm and believability which fooled the many naive innocents among our fans for a while, thirdly Wenger, for failing to keep abreast of the constant and deep changes in how senior top club managers were fast overtaking his outdated methods. And for his appalling incompetence in buying duds, esp in defence and keeping overpaid, unmotivated, non productive players coasters like Walcott and Ozil around and too comfortable, thus harming us constantly. All these three culprits have got us in the mess we are in.
Beautiful Post. For a long time we were operating without a plan. I for once couldn’t understood Ozil’s signing. From chasing Suarez to signing him, how are these players similar. It was even annoying it came at the expense of our best player, Carzola. We should start addressing our weaknesses in the transfer market and not buying whatever clubs throw at us. What was the Aubameyang signing about, why will you swap Sanchez for Myki, how much of an upgrade is Sokratis to Mustafi. There was even a time wenger signed children and presented them as first team players, Beliek, Sanogo even Chambers and Holding. We should also know when a player is not meant for us. Walcott, Ramsey should have left long ago, Ozil has never worked for us, Xhaka is becoming a liability. So we should be a little brutal with underperforming players, especially when they are not our Academy product
???
The mess we are in Jon?
What mess? The one that saw us in a european cup final, or the one that saw us finish fifth ,when three extra points from the last five games would have seen us finish third??
Who signed the young players that so many now see as the future of the club?
Oh yes, it was Arsene Wenger, the man you and others have no time for.
These are the players that UE, following his complete cock-up during the run in of the premiership, that he is now, seemingly, having to depend on.
He was the manager who, using those AW signed players (plus five) that you described as dross, went on a twenty odd unbeaten run, who qualified for a european final and stated, when taking up the post, that he was inheriting a very good squad…this after producing, it was reported, a very detailed and comprehensive report on each and every player.
This was the manager you described as very honest and a man so much better than AW in every aspect, SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
He signed five new players and then spent the whole of January trying to get Suarez on loan, only to play him for roughly 45 minutes.
We are told that he suffered “so cruelly” from long term injuries to defensive players that shaped the season, as they were so crucial to his plans… AND YET THEY WERE ALL WENGER’S DROSS SIGNINGS, something that you seem to have never acknowledged when bringing this up as an excuse.
You also proclaim the signing of Torreira, comparing him to Gilberto and saying that AW neglected this position. Let me just mention Song, Flamini, Coquelin as REAL comparisions to Torreira, not Gilberto or Vieria. both .AW signings of course.
What you ALWAYS fail to mention is that AW was under the same restraints that UE finds himself in today, but you scoffed at the fact that he delivered 20 years of consecutive CL qualification…bringing in millions of pounds to the clubs coffers, along with fa cup wins during the “barren years”…what a distorted view of something that UE can only dream about!!!
Instead of going on and on about this players or that players salary, you should be asking the question WHERE HAS ALL THE MONEY THE CLUB RECEIVED GONE?
And before you say AW was paid a grotesque salary, every time he QUALIFIED for the CL, that paid for his salary.
Why is it, every person you don’t like 2bleeds the club dry” and yet no comments are forthcoming about, say, UE?
Has he proved his worth this season?
NOW THIS IS NOT ABOUT AW, gazidis, DAVID DEIN, KRONKIE OR THE BOARD, although you take every opportunity to bring it up, IT’S ABOUT UE, his handling of a squad of players that should have finished third, qualified for the final and THEN played as if in a trance.
UE was out of his depth when he started tinkering with the squad after we had played ourselves into CL qualification places.
We were boasting on here about “having the easiest run in” and how UE was showing that a REAL manager could motivate players…even Mustafi told the media how UE had made him a better player and Bellerin was telling anyone who wanted to listen how UE went into great detail on every team and planned differently for each of them.
How you and your ilk loved this Jon…proof that UE was the real deal.
But he BLEW IT 100% and so you go back to blaming AW…what total hypocrites you all are.
UE seemed to believe that we would just have to turn up to win premier league games and how that backfired big time for him.
This is the man you say we should all follow as an example of everything AW was not…what a load of utter BS.
Did he “motivate” the players Wednesday evening? Of course he didn”t…but there is no mention of this glaring mistake…if anything he DE-MOTIVATED the players with his half time tactics!!!
He and HE ALONE, cost us a CL qualification place, his incessant tinkering, his blind naivety towards tactics against “lesser teams” and his ridiculous back three strategy.
So much for the intense scrutiny of each team, he couldn’t even recognise his own teams deficiencies.
Sarri, who had not won one trophy in all his years of management, sussed him out in JUST 25 MINUTES of the cup final and then proceeded to humiliate and trounce him, his tactics and his team… yet you want to give him more time to settle in?
I have remained quite since the debacle on Wednesday and watched and read the predictable responses from fans like yourself, while being told that the end has begun for the club.
I knew for certain that AW, Ozil, gazidis, kronkie, dross players and s/ticket holders would be blamed, rather than the man who actually was responsible for the season and how it unfolded, UE.
Changes in the playing staff are needed, but NOT in the wholesale way described on here.
A top defender and trust in the younger players to improve on a european final and, what should have been, a top three finish.
Well, I have lived through times worse than these whilst supporting my club and will, probably, endure even more soul destroying seasons, especially under the reign of kronkie and UE.
It was David Dein who introduced kronkie to The Arsenal, not AW or gazidis and it was the Bracewell-Smith family who sold the shares that gave kronkie the club, not AW or gazidis, so just reflect on that fact when delegating blame!!!
I will be renewing my season ticket on Monday without any hesitation whatsoever, supporting each and every player who represents the club AND also praying that UE has, at least, learnt something from his first season.
I will look around the ground and see what was achieved during the last twenty two years and remember how that compared with the previous history of the club.
I will wish, with every breath, that UE can become the most successful manager in the history of the club and I will support him through thick and thin, along with every player who wears the shirt.
For those of you who. in the false belief that you actually support The Arsenal, decide to boycott the club…look at the fans of pool and spuds. They have NEVER won the premiership, but have stayed loyal to the badge.
If you can’t do that, stop moaning and just walk away…the club will survive, just as they have since their formation.
Very good presentation Ken. You often make me wish we had more writers of your ilk. This is very objective stuff which is free of emotions, abuse, bias and witch hunt. We should learn to dispense justice to all individuals. I will not apportion blame for the Europa final but one thing I can say is that it was our worst performance in a final for a long time. There was no character or resilience among our players. We have lost cup finals before but this was the worst capitulation I have seen by our team. It was simply embarrassing! The same can be said of the way we deteriorated from being contenders for third position to fifth! We need to analyse these issues soberly if we are to get out of this predicament. Blaming those who left the Club will not do. Similarly blaming Unai Emery without proposing solutions may not be helpful. We need to critically assess what brought us to this situation and find urgent remedial measures.
Ken and David, the bulk of these players failed Emery when the pressure was on, as they did Wenger before him.
You have spoken nothing but the truth .We need some direction .
Dortmund has signed Brandt and Hazard already .Thats a team with a plan .
Even shitty Man utd are outlining their targets .
Mancity with all the stars have looked at where they need improvement .
So it is quite surprising who needs far more surgery than other teams havent begun to do the needful .i dont know who to blame anymore but something is wrong with the club i love .
I think we need to upgrade every position other than LB, DM, striker
We need a better
GK
Rb
CB x 2
Box to box CM
CAM
RW
LW
Obviously we can’t do all this in 1 summer but we need almost a whole new starting lineup
Keep: Aubameyang, Lacazette, Torreira, Guendouzi, Sokratis, Monreal, Kolsanic, Bellerin, Holding, Koscielny and Leno
GONE
Cech
Ramsey
Welbeck
Sell (if possible)
Ozil
Mkhitaryan
Iwobi
Jenkinson
MUSTAFI
Lichtsteiner
Elneny
Xhaka
Promote or Loan:
Niles
Reiss-nelson
Smith Rowe
Nketiah
Bielik
Ospina
Mavrapanos
I agree except ill keep mikhi or iwobi for depth purpose. I’ll sell monreal hes finished for me
Iwobi should be sold and Monreal and Kola should be left . Thank goodness your not the administration.
We need squad players and IWobi can factor in there
Arsenal need a Leader we haven’t one since Tony Adams. liverpool sorted this out when they bought Van dijk. Arsenal need to follow suit.
Unfortunately Arsenal haven’t got anyone like Coutinho to sell for £110 million to finance the purchase of VVD and Allison.
Declan, I guess Dandy Gunner wasn’t around when a certain Patrick Vieria was strutting his stuff and he must have forgotten the immortal words of UE that he has different captains for every game and for every week.
I don’t understand why fans cannot realise that captains like Adams, Vieria, McLintock etc don’t grow on trees, ready to be picked when the time is right.
Who has replaced that Irish maniac at manure since he retired, or who have the spuds replaced Dave Mackay with?
?
Auba can bring about 70 million if we pawn him off to PSG.Miki about 10,Mustafi about 15 , Elneny about 5, Ozil should come with a buy one get one free option .
Ospina 4 ,kola 10,Xhaka 20.
A good manager work around this