Former Gunner Ray Parlour has urged Arsenal to follow in the footsteps of Liverpool and spend big this summer.
Quite a simple demand to make and one we would all love the club to implement if it was not for some pesky little problems with that desire.
Speaking to the Daily Star, Parlour had this to say
“They are a long way behind Liverpool and Manchester City. Maybe they have to spend a bit more money.
“You see what Liverpool did – they needed a centre-back and in comes Virgil van Dijk. Nobody mentions how much he cost now. The same with Alisson in goal.
“It’s all about investment. As much as I hate to say that money is everything, but it’s always gone that way.
“Sometimes you have to go beyond your budget, absolutely.
“If you can attract a player and you know he is very keen to go, sometimes you have to push the boat out a little bit further and take the gamble.”
You see, the problem with this from Parlour is that he leaves out some very critical elements when it comes to Liverpool buying Virgil van Dijk and Alisson.
Liverpool sold Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona for a whopping £142 Million and that puts money in the kitty, without that and other sales Liverpool would simply not have had that sort of money to splash out.
It is irritating when these pundits, especially former Gunners, come out and say do this, do that because another club did it without actually including how they did it.
Anyone can say, let’s follow Liverpool, let’s follow Man City and leave out the huge sales and Champions League runs that the Reds enjoyed and the punishment facing Man City for their largesse.
The bottom line is we can follow the Liverpool model but that means selling our high-value assets to finance new acquisitions.
Is that what Parlour is really urging when he says follow Liverpool?
Tell that to Kroenke
Emery would spend big if he is allowed to
If Arsenal claim they don’t have enough money, they should only prioritize a dominant CB and tricky wingers in this transfer window. Other requirements such as new fullbacks and CM can come in next season
To increase the transfer budget, we have to sell one of our sought-after players, which is Aubameyang, Lacazette, Mustafi or Xhaka
Liverpool were also forced to sell their best assets, such as Luis Suarez and Coutinho, but they spent the money wisely by buying VVD, Salah and Mane. I think Alisson is not required and too pricey for a GK, but Liverpool’s decisions on their other purchases were excellent
Agree
Prioritise
A LB for example is not as important as a CB
We need a Quality CB desperately
We need a Quality Winger too
We can use our £45 million for those two
SELL MUSTAFI and Jenkinson
He has Premier League, La Ligaments and Italian League experience. Maybe send him to Germany. He could probably do better there because it’s slower and less physical
Use money from sales to replace Ramsey
Try sell Ozil,Mkhitaryan, Xhaka, Elneny. I know it’s unlikely but it would help
We have already saved about £400,000 per week in salaries by departure of Welbeck, Cech, Ramsey, Lichtsteiner, Ospina and Suarez
Those 6 players salaries combined almost equal Ozil’s salary. F### Me! as Gordon Ramsey says.
We have all cryied out for players which we desperately needed in the last five seasons, the season that Leicester won the EPL all we needed was a striker job done the whole world can see it but our board owners and Wanger decided not to spend, and if we had bought Suarez we could of won that season and doubled our money on him and given us confidence to buy players likes of Mbappe
Let’s not forget when spuds sold Bale they spent the money mostly on flops but somehow managed to put a well balanced team together.. lucky? don’t know,
we will see what hapens this season with spuds their salary is a sham compared with top clubs and they have to address that issue now that their players are rated and wanted by big clubs, I belive they will go backwards unless they pull out another two or three Utah players from their acamady
I think he’s speaking towards the bigger point of transfer strategy. VVD solved CB issue for them for 5 years or more. He was a lot of money sure, but they don’t have to address his starting position for years.
If we just got top players to begin with rather than our strategy for years. We’ve spent how much on avg CB and still haven’t got it right?
Fullbacks Lichtsteiner, Kola, Monreal, Debuchy, wasted money instead of money to get quality. Tierney would be terrific, and Bellerin pairing could last for 5 years.
I agree with his point that investment now will minimize investment for next few years.
With Liverpool example, of course they spent massive money but wisely, and honestly don’t need big spending for couple years with their roster.
Self-sustaining model keeps Kronke rich, and us title poor and less competitive. It’s a failed experiment in this day and age of money, and rarely works here in the States with a draft to supplement poor ownership.
FA Cup is possible for us occasionally, but no PL title and especially CL title with Kronke as owner. CL is money maker for Kronke, and he has NO AMBITION to win in, only enter, cash checks, then rd 16 exit.
Last 10 yrs serve as example while Kronke spouts lies and sweet talk to gullible children.
How do you KNOW Tierney-Bellerin pairing would be good.
Kola was the best LB in the Bundesliga. The best, not second best. But he fails regularly in the EPL.
When we were enjoying the Champions League runs what did we do with the money? When we were selling players how much did we invest in the team? The truth is if you want to do what Liverpool did you need to be ambitious which we lack. It is this lack of ambition and purposeful plan that have reduced us to a caricature of the Arsenal before. How can a team consistently finish in top four without pushing for the title. How would you play regular Champions League football without dreaming of win it. Explain why you would spend so much on positions you had your best players while abandoning your obvious weaknesses. Ozil, Aubameyang and even Cech signing remain a clear waste of money. As long as we continue to buy carelessly we will continue falling.
Excellent post, just goes to show that Arsenal is more a bank to Kronke, and not a competitive club.
His other franchises show this, and his statement of not getting involved to win titles speaks volumes. I despise the man, and so do many of the fans whose clubs he’s infected.
He will never give up his “Bank of Arsenal” and the pot of gold it represents.
How much did we reinvest after selling RVP Nasri Adebeyor Ashley Fabregas?
More chance of Ray Parlour coming 1st in the ‘Mr straight hair competition’ than there is Kroenke opening up his wallet.
We are no Liverpool bit saddens me to say.
AFC is a business first and foremost where success on the pitch comes second to good balanced bookkeeping.
City/Liverpool and other clubs who win stuff tend to have owners who invest in the club and whose owners have a passion for the game and club.
We don’t have that, and whilst those fact remains, we will always be wishing ‘if only’ like in the countless articles and posts we read on here.
Well tell lady nina that she sold us down the river and the other nobs to
Don’t think she is that bothered somehow!
She probably pays for a private box at the Emirates with some of the income from her investments. Her punishment may be to watch what Arsenal has become – not a winning football club, but a financial asset for Kroenke.
Mustafi needs to be sold. He’s not cut out for the PL. He was better at Valencia and Sampdoria
He has PL, Italy and Spanish experience so should not be too difficult to sell.
Sell Jenkinson too
And use money to get a better CB
We will still have £45 mil for other positions
Seriously people why are we wasting our time with the kroenke lot, the only thing is to hurt them in their pockets by not renewing your season tickets or delay as late as possible until you see significant signing until you hurt them where it counts they’ll keep stringing the fans along and milking us for more money I’m sick of their lack of sympathy with the fanbase
We will end up with some panic buys