What do Arsenal transfer rumours tell us?
In terms of rumours, Arsenal have been the busiest football club in the whole world! Or maybe even the busiest in every sport.
But the frustrating thing is that the Gunners haven’t signed a single player, in their reported summer squad overhaul.
When the current shop window was approaching, several reports came out saying “Arsenal to revolutionize their squad,” “Mikel Arteta to be handed enormous budget,” Edu planning to overhaul the squad.”
Those promises haven’t been met yet but it doesn’t mean it won’t be. There have been hardly any new signings in the Premier League in the current transfer window, barring a few high-profile ones like Emi Buendia and Ashley Young to Aston Villa, Ibrahim Konate to Liverpool and Theo Walcott to Southampton.
The window looks pretty much dead. But it obviously won’t remain the same in the next two months. European Championships and Copa America will end, and the clubs will be back to splashing their cash reserves.
Switching our attention back to Arsenal, the players that we have been linked until now have certainly encouraged me. Let’s look at almost every player that has been linked to the North London outfit.
Ajax’s Andre Onana – Young, World class potential, international pedigree, cheap.
Sheffield’s Aaron Ramsdale – Young, gradually appearing on international scene, Premier League experience, homegrown, great sell-on value and decent potential.
Newcastle’s Freddie Woodman – Young, impressed in Championship, great sell-on value and potential, cheap.
Lille’s Zeki Celik – Young, good sell-on value and decent potential, defensively good.
Norwich’s Max Aarons – Very young, great potential, Premier League experienced, impressed in Championship, pacey, homegrown.
Brighton’s Ben White – Young, ball playing centerback, good at tackling, impressed at Championship and Premier League proven, gradually appearing on international scene, homegrown.
Crystal Palace’s Patrick Van Aanholt- Premier League experienced, homegrown, available on a free.
Anderlecht’s Albert Sambi Lokonga – Very young, good sell-on value, high potential, gradually appearing on international scene, good technically, future captain material.
Brighton’s Yves Bissouma – Young, good dribbler, Premier League proven, massive potential.
Wolves’ Ruben Neves- Captain material, Premier League proven, leadership skills, young, set piece specialist.
Leicester’s James Maddison – Premier League proven, young, potential to be an international star, set piece specialist.
Frankfurt’s Andre Silva – Young, clinical finisher, experience in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany, international player.
Arsenal’s tabs: https://t.co/W7oJgx553x pic.twitter.com/jRVi661GhV
— zäc🎋 (@ModernWrighty) June 22, 2021
The initial signs are encouraging as it seems Arsenal have learned their lesson and want to be recruiting young players who can contribute to the team while developing individually. And then who can be seen as prized assets to help bring in fresh blood in the future.
If Arsenal want their business to be self-sustainable, they have to take risks in the hope to get higher rewards. The recruitment has been insipid by the Gunners in the past decade and the very first signs of the “New Arsenal” are indeed positive.
But accurate judgements can only be made during the course of the next campaign.
Yash Bisht
Apart from Andre Silva, I’m not too excited about the other rumors. Even Andre Silva just recently played well in Germany and failed badly in Italy
If we can’t fix our CF issue this summer, other signings would likely be ineffective and we could have inconsistency again
in my opinion, CF should not be a priority. I am happy with Auba, Martinelli and Balogun as the options, given neither of them have a serious injury record.
Aubameyang was highly inconsistent as CF last season, whereas Martinelli couldn’t keep the ball when he played there in a game. Maybe Martinelli needs more games to get used to the CF role, but I prefer to see what Balogun can do first
Yes I think I also want to see what Balogun can do. We can excuse Auba for last season, at sometimes lasted season we lacked creativity and enough through balls in midfield for any striker to take advantage of.
Martinelli should also be given more opportunity.
We need a good ball player lin the mould of carzola.
GAI, I worry about the footballing knowledge of anyone, who doesn’t see upgrading the midfield partner to Thomas Partey, plus an ACM as being the two highest priorities for Arsenal this window.
Arsenal needs a DM in front of the defense and an ACM to work in concert with Partey to turn defense into attack and service the forward line.
I continue to be deeply frustrated with Arsenal and their transfer windows. Two years ago when it was clear we were a sinking ship we spent a massive amount of money (for our budget that summer) on Saliba who we subsecquently loaned back!!! We were sinking and needed to spend our money on immediat reinforments yet we wated it on an other team, who kept their player and we parted with our cash.
Now two years later we are in desperate need to give Partey a worthy midfield partner and we are in need of a creative midfielder. Yet if rumours are true, and the persistent ones have a bigger chance of being true, we are focussing on Ben White who does not seem to address our biggest need. In the mean time Villa have snapped up Buendia and we have not been linked with a credible creative midfield player like we were last season with Aour.
If Saliba does not get a chance and we plonk out £50 for White and £17 for Lokonga who is a kid and needs to beef up and has never played in the PL, our problmes will likely continue.
I am 100% with you on this Jan.
I am at a loss to understand the reasoning behind spending a massive 50m on Ben White when a young Saliba who cost an equally massive 27m, and has just ended a reasonably good loan spell, is rotting from lack of use.
That’s how wew splashed 72m on Pepe who, in my opinion, will never justify that outlay
Anyway, I’m willing to wait till the end of the window to see what happens.
But what’s happen so far does not elicit much confident expectation.
CorporrateMan – With Guendouzie I sort of get it. I rate him and think he has a massive potential, but he has shown “signs” of being a difficult character. Even in Germany there where a few questions about his temper. So if we have a manager who can not manage a player like that or tried to manage him without success, we don’t want the atmosphere in the squad soured. So you are forced to let the player go even if he has potential.
But with Saliba we have not really heard anything majorly negative about his character. So why, if we have average CB like Holding or Mari (not a dig at them – they do their best but are simply not going to turn into an Adams or Keown) does Saliba not get a look despite a decent spell in Nice? Seems unlikely or a mistake.
👍 👍 👍 I am not on my own crying in the wilderness
@JavV , looking at a half-full glass situation, maybe Arteta wants Ben White to improve our attack! His long balls can certainly cut open defenses and we already have attacking players who make great runs and can score goals like AUba, Saka, Martinelli, and the emerging Balogun.
Yash – of course we can put a silver lining around White and if we had City or Chelsea money, and his purchase would not come at the expense of the purchase of a midfield stud who can contribute from day one, I would have no worries.
But as it is, are we likely to be unaffected with our budget if we drop 40 – 50 million on White? I don’t think so. We were good in the amount of goals we conceded last season so if we fork out 40-50 mill I rather have it be on an Aour type player who can help us score which was a problem for us last season. If we did not have Saliba to return to the club perhaps White could be justified. But we know it is likely if we sell Saliba (with similar potential to White, we would struggle to get more than 15 mill the way we sell players, yet we would likely pay 40-50 for White, the way we buy players.
That would still be a net spend of 25-35 with an uncertain gain. How sure are we Saliba is 25-35 less good than White?
Also, we don’t exactly play long ball under Arteta so maybe the long ball skills of White would be a bit wasted on our playing style.
I don’t think arsenal could land bissouma or James Madison to be honest. Madison doesn’t even want to leave
Signing Maddison will indeed be very difficult. The most worrying aspect is that he will take up the preferred position of ESR. I don’t want to see Smith Rowe at left-wing every matchday.
True but a team like ours needs more than just ESR as creator. He to, needs competition.
I think pre-season starts next week on July 1st. Let’s hope any new signings will join shortly after that to benefit from most of pre-season to get used to their new team mates and our playing style.
Yash, like JanV, I agree that Arsenal have to be careful that ESR is not played into the ground. He has shown already that he is injury prone. The ideal player to me to rotate with ESR is Matheus Pereira (West Bromwich Albion). He is EPL experienced, has excellent stat’s in a relatively poor team and has a fair transfer value.
And I disagree with you on Bissouma. It has already been made clear that his first preference is Arsenal. So maybe Arsenal are prioritizing other areas before acquiring him in July or August??
Arsenal certainly have the funds to do that this summer
We wont spend big. The news about “war chest” is a lie we’re fed every single summer.
Last summer we spent 80m on players but this was made to happen because we managed to sell Martinez for £16m.
So no, we wont spend over 100m on players. We will only spend more than 50m if we manage to sell players on good amounts.
I think if we sell well, we can easily spend up to 150m. Spending 250m in the current climate is just impossible
Firstly Jan, Lokonga is 21 and harly a kid. He is captain of Anderlecht, and Belgium are the top ranked team in the world. Any player coming from abroad needs to settle in, but he’s not as raw as you think.
Secondly NOBODY is doing business except on youth players atm. Euros on, players and officials on holiday etc. The rumours are 99% made up as no clubs are talking.
Agree about what we need – a D/CM partner to help Partey and a top class AM are both essential.
Spot on Guy.A natural back up for Tierney is also a must.
@guy & @Grandad – why the need for signing a D/CM to help Partey is still a priority while we’ve already got AMN and Calum Chambers is baffling to me.
Calum Chambers won the Player of the Season award during his loan spell at Fulham where he predominantly played as the CDM.
Anyone who followed AMN for the past three seasons will agree that he’s got the engine and the defensive discipline to play at the middle of the park.
A top class AM is only as good as the attacking players ahead of him in the field converting the chances created into goals. When the manager insists that the striker and wide attackers must drop deep to provide cover for the defensive players, what can the top class AM do with the ball at his feet?
Since we don’t have any continental competition this season, I’d prefer that Arteta must be forced into proving himself to get the best of the existing squad without any expensive additions. And if we qualify for Europe next season, then Arteta can be given the chance to sign a few players to his liking.
How much do you trust Arteta and Edu with the transfers after witnessing the Willian fiasco and the treatment of players like Saliba, AMN, Willock, Torreira and Guendouzi?
What about Joe Willock, who has better current form than AMN?
Thanks for the reply and I do hope you are right guy. The Lokonga rumours feel “true” although I realize that is a thin statement. It is true he looks good in the Belgian league, but he does looks a bit dangly to me which makes bossing a PL midfield harder. Time will tell. Would he be one for the future? Or would he be expected to replace a Ceballos/Odegard/Xhaka type of player.
If indeed we pull the trigger on Lokonga I do hope he is expected to contribute from day one and is not another Saliba type of purchase who will end up being loaned out come December or who only plays in the cup games.
I could live with Bissouma or Neves since they have experience in the UK.
Bissouma and Ndidi aren’t heavyweight
Bissouma and Ndidi aren’t exactly heavyweight..
U don’t need to be big in size to boss any midfield. Football brain, Talent and Ability in your position is what is required. Kante isn’t the biggest in size, but the biggest in his position not just in Epl but in Europe and possibly the world
Lokonga is undervalued by people. He certainly has massive potential.
guy The voice of reality, mature and sensible thinking. Sadly on JA a relatively rare voice.
I still can’t make up my mind is being linked to so many players a good thing or not?so many questions like what does that say about the needs of the team?are we being forced into spreading the net wide because we can’t get our preferred targets?are we showing ambitions?or is it mostly all rubbish rumours?🤒🤪
I think most of the talk that we are reading is agent-led. Everybody knows that we are trying to overhaul our squad. Thus, putting Arsenal’s name, which is still a gargantuan institution(winks), is very easy.
😉👍
👍 👍 👍
Lokonga is a very technical player,he will surprise a lot of fans with his skills.
I second that @Inyene
I see nothing whatsoever to get excited about. We haven’t signed anybody at all and the rumours of Ben White and Lokonga are as boring football wise, as can be. If we were to have really wanted Buendia we may have got him. Nabil Fekir and James Maddison excite me but it’s window shopping. We were apparently in for Manor Soliman and Locatelli, and Yves Bissouma. What has happened? Ben White and Lokonga….snore bore. What about a creative midfielder that we NEED, and cover for Tierney?
@Sean maybe you need to chill out a bit, mate? Still two months left in the transfer window, and two tournaments are going on in the background. Let’s start making assumptions in August and not in June.
Cheers mate
Yash
It would be nice to have our signings for pre-season. Whenever we buy late it takes ages to bed players in.
Yes. for example last summer, waiting till the last second to sign Partey for no reason, wasn’t a good idea. It was something that could’ve been completed many weeks before but AFC just waited for deadline day for really no reason. We dont take the transfer market seriously and it’s why we keep having disappointing summers.
Sean, yes it is never IDEAL to buy so late, for the reason you say.
BUT it is the reality of how all summers work, for almost all clubs too, esp when tournaments are on, as now, so to not take that into account is to avoid the practical reality of how things just are, IMO.
I would also add that since agents came into every players life, transfer negotiations are almost always more long and protracted than in the glorious days before agents existed.
They are parasites making a largely unearned and scandalously undeserved living off the pockets of fans, albeit indirectly. In an “ideal” world – which will never exist – I would ban than all by law from leeching off us all.
Yash
Think about what you just said. Remember the season starts on Saturday, 14 August. If we buy players in August how are they going to have a pre-season? That’s the way players meld into the team structure.
that’s true but what the club can do if the players don’t want to start negotiations during the Euros?
Patience is a virtue which seems to be lacking in fans today, whether they are young, which is perhaps understandable, or not so young, which is less so..Of the players mentioned, Lokonga is the most likely acquisition while Bissouma and Fekir would bring real quality to the midfield area to augment the talent of Partey, ESR and Willock.That half dozen would bring competitive strength in depth to our engine room where we have been sadly lacking for years.As for a back up for Tierney, Gvardiol of Croatia is one of the best I have seen in the Euros .Only 19, 6’1″ and can also play at left CB. Plenty of room for development and would provide real completion for a number of our defenders.Owned by Leipzig and currently on loan to Dynamo Zagreb.
Grandad Though there will always be exceptions, I’d say PATIENCE is a dirty word to the large majority of young fans on here. That is a crying shame IMO and most of all for those individuals personally, as to lack patience in life given all the uncertainties through life that we all go through, is setting themselves up for unhappiness.
It can be largely avoided if they cultivate patience. To be fair to todays youngsters though, I doubt it was FUNDAMENTALLY much different in our youth. Or perhaps that is just my impression, speaking from my relative dotage!
For what its worth, IN GENERAL, I have always found the female sex far more patient than we males.
Rumours are just what it says and bearing in mind most rumours are complete BS, there is absolutely nothing to get excited about. In going and the out going rumours, some are good some are disturbing, most will be untrue. Lets wait for facts and stop building up hopes on rumours.
rumors rumors and more rumors. been here before. unless arsenal does something drastic this summer i wont be very optimistic. even if the heavily rumored lokonga and white rumors get done, it’s not near enough to change things for next season.
Rumours = completely fabricated and not based in truth ‘ideas’ made up by the tabloids.
I think they need to go on creativity courses because the proposals are far from exciting.
I expect nothing but disappointment like most AFC windows , with little to inspire for the bee season.
With Kroenke and the helm and Edu/MA in situ I’m sure it will be a very underwhelming transfer window and proceeding season.