We are now over halfway through the summer transfer window and only a few weeks from Arsenal’s first game of the season again fellow Londoners Brentford, and we are still a long way off from knowing who will be in the Gunners first team next season.
We are not the only ones though, as the Newcastle manager Steve Bruce is still trying desperately to find out if Arteta intends to put Joe Willock in his plans or not.
The Gunners have already signed Albert Lokonga as a midfield option, and are actively in the market for another midfielder according to the transfer rumours.
It would appear we are still looking at Aouar, Neves, Bissouma, Madisson and Martin Odegaard, amongst others, so where would this leave Willock if yet another competition comes in?
Newcastle are also in the market for a midfielder, with Joe Willock obviously top of his list after his exploits on loan last season, and he is going to keep trying until he gets a final answer from Arsenal…
“We’re going to still have to be patient.” Bruce told BBC Radio Newcastle, as transcribed by nufcblog.
“I know that’s awful from me but we haven’t the biggest of budgets.
“In the market we’re looking at – loan market in particular – we’re going to have to let the big, big clubs go to work.”
“With Joe Willock, we just have to be patient with it. Will Arsenal let him out? Will they sell him? – those are the questions we keep asking Arsenal.
“We’ll keep bashing away at one or two things.”
“It’s been difficult for every club. Managers always want players but it’s very difficult when you haven’t got a lot of money.”
“Midfield is the main area. We’re weaker than we were last year because we haven’t got Joe Willock.
“We need to keep improving but it’s very difficult with limited funds, but I’ll keep bashing away to try to improve us, little by little.”
So is Arteta waiting to see if he gets his preferred transfer targets before deciding on Willock’s future, or is he is just holding out for a good offer for our academy graduate? It just must be very frustrating for both Bruce as well as Willock at the moment.
Oh well, only five weeks to go and we will all know for sure…
They’d be foolish to sell Willock. Dude is just hittin stride.
Willock is a win win win for Arsenal.
If Willock goes on loan its good.
If he stays its good.
If he is sold its good.
There is no bad result for Arsenal.
It’s all good.
I would guess our club is looking to sell Xhaka first before bringing in a new midfielder.
Then a decision will be made regarding Willock. There are a few twists though, for example
1. IF club gets Neves, better keep Willock because only he and ESR offer anything in attack from midfielders.
2. If club gets Auoar, then Willick gets loaned. Auoar and ESR are the attacking midfielders, and ElNeny is decent backup DM.
We only have domestic games, so we need quality over quantity and extremely important Edu and Arteta get it right.
Durand, I agree, but believe that Arsenal would live to rue the day they sold Joe Willock. Arteta needs to learn from how Steve Bruce used him at Newcastle United, particularly as an impact sub.
Not if we sell him for a price north of 25 million quids. Willock just has two remaining years in his current contract. Loaning him out this season without an obligation to buy for 25+ millions at the end of the deal is a huge risk the management can’t afford. Repeating the Nelson / AMN treatment is even worse. Either he must be played this season or be sold now. Wasting precious time on making a decision will only put the club in a weaker spot.
It is plain that Newcastle have virtually no money, so It would be pointless allowing JW another loan to them . I do believe MA is waiting first to see which top midfielder(s) he can buy before deciding on JW, in either direction, btw.
But even IF he decides to let Willock go it seems pointless to let him be loaned for another season to Newcastle. If they cannot buy him outright – and its clear they are unable to do so – then tell them to look elsewhere; politely or otherwise too!
No way does another loan for JW, to ANY club, help us one bit, IMO. Personally, I much hope he stays.
We are short in numbers especially in midfield, with the departure of Guendozi and Ceballos, and potential departure Xhaka and Torreira it’s going to be foolish to let JW go. He is here to replace Ceballos, lokonga has replaced Guendozi, if we let Xhaka move we need to replace him too and maybe get CAM to compete with ESR