Arsenal have been linked with a move to sign N’Golo Kante and Marco Asensio of late, but neither match our current transfer policy.
In recent windows, we have been investing our money in players who are likely to increase their value, whilst improving in ability also, whereas the two aforementioned players are closer to the end of their playing days,
There is nothing wrong with signing proven players, and the fact that both of the above are inside the final 12 months of their playing contracts means that we could well land either in a cut-price deal in January, or even for free come the summer, but both would be bringing the average of the squad up.
I would personally love to see the Frenchman arrive to play in our squad, but there is definitely argument for him being on the downward spiral in recent seasons. If rumours are true that he is reluctant to extend with Chelsea over the length of his contract, then I can’t help but believe we would also have reservations about offering him a long-term deal also.
Asensio doesn’t have the same luxury however. He has fallen down the pecking order to the point that he is frustrated by his lack of playing time,
I would have said that Kante would stay at Chelsea beyond his current deal, but after the change in ownership, I feel like nothing is certain at the Bridge.
Would you like to see Asensio or Kante signed in the near future? Could adding experience disrupt the hard work we have been doing behind the scenes?
Patrick
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” Been linked”? I always ask myself by who, if anyone at all, as many so called reports of us being linked are simply untrue.
I firmly believe this so called report is also untrue, as it makes no sense.
IT IS JUST ONE MORE IN THE NEVER ENDING LINE OF “KITE FLYING” RUMOURS
I would go for 2 proven players also, both in their last years, who i think would compliment each others playing styles and make a good pairing with our current players too.
Douglas Luiz and Youri Tielemans, both have epl experience, both in their last year and both of the right age. Elneny could then be sold and Sambi possibly loaned, though 5 central midfielders is not too many and sambi is showing that he can play both roles.
My 3rd and last signing for now would be mudyrk. Next season players to consider for the first team Norton-Cuffy and Trusty. Players to consider selling Cedric, Holding, Elneny, Nelson
Kante is an old box-to-box midfielder and I don’t think he has the stamina to work as hard as he did in his prime, so we shouldn’t sign him. I guess Arsenal have been contacting Tielemans and Luiz instead
As for Asensio, there must be a good reason why Ancelotti prefers Rodrygo and Vazquez for the RW role this season, so I don’t think Asensio will play better than Pepe and Marquinhos
I guess after William and that Swiss fullback it’s hard to feel confident about signing these veterans to fill holes in the squad or provide some temporary short term solutions. Even Partey arriving as a 28 year old is a banged up liability. But there’s nothing wrong with smart recruiting. For example Johnny Evans from Man.U. would have been perfect to cover the problems Arsenal were then having. I always thought that Pirlo on a free transfer could also have offered Arsenal one final miracle season. Regarding Kante or Asensio though, I would say definitely No, mainly because we need them now as an instant fix and not next season when they might be even more washed up.
How many times you can say the same thing.
We need a defensive midfielder!!!!
Young, middle age or old, but we need one. Good enough to cover for Partey. My good!!! Are we asking for the moon???
Can Fan, Kante would be great if he were able to come in tomorrow but he won’t be available until the next window if that. Next season the priority should be a defensive midfielder, but one who is nearing his peak and can offer long term usage. As for Partey, the jury is out as far as I’m concerned. When playing we usually see two good games from him and one where he passes the ball to everyone on the field except his team mates. As for his shooting, I guess that’s not in his job description.
I can’t see N’golo Kante fit the bill for Arsenal in their midfield if they sign him during the next winter transfer window. For, I think Arsenal who must have learnt their lessons in their last failed transfer of Willian from Chelsea last time out which cost them huge financial losses, will not repeat making the same mistake all over again to sign an old war horse player who from all indications has past it at the top level of the game.
I think there are many top quality defensive midfielders out there at some top League club sides in the EPL and at other top Leagues. Who if Arsenal sign one of them next Jan window can fit-in into the age profile of new player recruitment that is ongoing at Arsenal. And I see Arsenal not departing suddenly from this process which they have put in place to go out of the way to sign any old war horse players. I think Arsenal have past this kind level.
But should in-case Arsenal deem it fit to still bid for Douglas Luiz next winter. Would Liverpool allow us to sign the dmf if they also bid for his signatorie to join them? Can Arsenal go into a bidding war with Liverpool for Douglas Luiz? Or could we? But will the Reds not beat us to his signing? Save, if DL prefers us over them, then, will Arsenal get their man if they are still interested in him and want to sign him.
On a different topic not unrelated to Arsenal but related to them. Is the Gunners will this weekend take the short trip in London to take on the Bees in the EPL at their backyard Community Stadium to gun them down and remain at the top of the summit.
Kante on a downward spiral? Kante was never that good. No disrespect, he is an excellent player. But he often compensate his lack of vision and technique with his out-of-this-world stamina and work rate. A very selfless player too but lack the ego to be the best.
I do get where you’re coming from, but this is a PL, ECL and world cup winner – he’s been a great “engine room” player. I don’t think any of his weaknesses are so great, and I think his lack of ego has been crucial to his and his teams successes. However, I don’t think we should be after him at this point in his career – we need a DM
No.
We should go for a midfielder, who fits the profile. No compromise, I hope.
At some point Arsenal will have to transition from a squad with promising young players, not all of whom will become world beaters, to a squad that contains world class players and big match experience. When that point comes is the question. Not this season but probably next summer the transfer policy will need to be reviewed. The problem is of course you need to get those transfer decisions right, with young cheap or free signings mistakes are much less expensive.
Or the players in your squad develop into world class players.
You are not born a world class player, you are developed into one.
Partey, Xhaka and Elneny are all around the 30 mark, the future for me could be Douglas Luiz, Tielemans, Sambi, Patino, Azeez
The club are doing the right thing, loaning out players of various age groups, to keep that conveyor belt moving. Most will move on, but some will make the manager take note.
Of the current first team squad, next window has to be look at those with contracts expiring in 2023 and the 4 weakest links, 2 of those have contracts expiring in 2024 (soares and holding) and the other 2 are the 2 expiring 2023 anyway (elneny and nelson) Elneny and Nelson should be sold next window and replaced with Luiz and Mudyrk. Soares and Holding sold in the summer and replaced with Norton-Cuffy and Trusty.
Then it is look at who else has a contract expiring 2024. Xhaka (give him a 2 year extension with a 1 year option) and then the best 3 signings we could make all summer, long term deals for Saliba, Saka and Martinelli if we could pin those 3 down it would be massive for the club.
Of the 7 first team players currently out on loan i think only Balogun, Trusty and Okonkwo may have futures with the club, all have contracts for a few years yet, the rest we should be negotiating sales for.
So in a nutshell that is 8 sales (runarsson, cedric, holding, mari, elneny, maitland-niles, pepe, nelson) and 4 new contracts (xhaka, saka, saliba, martinelli) for Edu to sort out before next season and probably 3 new signings (luiz, tielemans, mudyek) Come on Edu, i have faith in you to make me a happy gooner. ATID
‘ whereas the two aforementioned players are closer to the end of their playing days’
…?
Marco Asensio is 26…
Just an observation – here we are, watching Granit Xhaka playing the best football of his life in red and white, while Nkonte, who many said we should have signed instead, can’t get more than a one year extension on his contract and seems to be chelsea’s answer to Partey, regarding the sick notes he has presented!!
Great to see Xhaka wearing the captain’s armband once again – yet another “100%” prediction proved wrong 😂
Ken I remember that one and that he would never wear a Arsenal shirt again. It eludes me who said it but I suppose there are one or two to chose from.
path, glad you remember the quote as well – NO NAMES NO PACKDRILL, BUT PERHAPS THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS TO EMPHASISE THE PERSON INVOLVED MIGHT HELP?
Nah. It seems the policy is to get players into the 1st team around age 21-23 and tie them down to 5 year contracts. By the time they’re 3 years in they may be sold for good money without being over about 24-26 years old because players 28 and over are starting to get long in the tooth and clubs are reluctant to sign them on long-term deals.
The Arsenal policy seems to be to develop players with high residual value while still being young enough for another club to get 5 years out of them (although Arsenal may decide to keep them a bit longer as well).
Kante doesn’t fit the bill at all at his age and he’s already slowing down and being injured too often.
Asension has “won” a lot by being in squads that win a lot, but he’s done a lot of bench-warming himself. A 5-year contract for him (he’s 27 in January) would mean that he’s pushing 32 by the end of it and 30 after 3 years which is the prime sell-on point.
So – neither of these players makes sense to me.
P.S. A one-year loan would be the only thing that might make some sense as cover – and because we can do a loan deal outside transfer windows.
Still wouldn’t be sure that Kante isn’t over the hill though. No point in paying him to occupy the treatment room.
How did Brighton find a player like Caceides? With the correct scouting we can find younger players that can provide about the same performance.
Up till now I can’t understand why we didn’t sign Onana who is now a master piece at Everton. Yet \there are players like that all over the continent of Europe and S America.
Saliba’s example has opened everyone’s brain. And I think the right thing to do is to sign Douglas Luiz and send Lokonga on loan. The latter is great but not ready for the PL. He cannot provide what Arsenal needs to get into top 4.
Yet we let the likes of Guimares and Sanches slip off. Man City signs players without the type of noise around Arsenal signings. I don’t know if such rowdiness is intended to create a certain impression for fans.