Just 7 weeks left of the transfer window, and we have yet to sign anyone.
We could be waiting for July 1st, the Adidas deal, waiting for Edu to turn up, waiting to see what happens at free spending Barca, Real, Bayern, Juventus and who they let go.
Here are a few of the players we have been linked with so far:
Yannick Carrasco - Look a certainty, but now the ITKs say it is dead.
Joachim Andersen - Currently at U21s championship, talk has gone quiet with firstly AC Milan now Spurs said to be favourites to sign him.
Dennis Praet - The Ramsey replacement who has 4 goals in 3 seasons. His future will be sorted in "the next 2 weeks" - fitting in the theory we won't be signing anyone until at least July 1st.
Ryan Fraser - Has said he expects to stay at Bournemouth and see his contract out.
Thomas Meunier - With United going for AWB, it seems the path is clear for us. But the cost seems too much for a back-up so this has died.
Hakem Ziyech - Available for just £30m, but interesting a lot of clubs.
William Saliba - Allegedly close to being a done deal, but St Etienne want to loan him back for the first season. Would be strange for Arsenal to spend relatively big on a player and not have him in the starting XI, never mind not even at the club for a year.
Markus Schubert - Another at the U21 Euros, but now seemingly heading to Schalke.
Jordan Veretout - Short lived rumour, now set for Milan.
Marcus Llorente - Likely to be too expensive.
Kieran Tierney - No real news on this one. Jordi Osei-Tutu to Celtic also seems dead.
Samuel Umtiti - Staying at Barca.
There have been a few others, but I forget.
Oh, today is Gabriel Martinelli's 18th birthday. The day we are expected to announce we have signed him...
And Alexis Claude-Maurice has agreed terms and looks set to sign for us in the near future.
Where are our signings?
posted on 18/6/19
Ziyech would be a great player for Arsenal who suit the Arsenal way of quick passing.
Arsenal need to build from the back to let the technical welterweight do their thing.
Spurs and us have done that in the last few years.
posted on 18/6/19
The ditherer.
posted on 18/6/19
comment by The Mane Man ( life at this age is rubbish with no money #needajob) (U19731)
posted 2 minutes ago
Ziyech would be a great player for Arsenal who suit the Arsenal way of quick passing.
Arsenal need to build from the back to let the technical welterweight do their thing.
Spurs and us have done that in the last few years.
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There's plenty of them clogging up our match-day squads. Quite a few coming up through the youth ranks too.
What we don't have is an outlet for the countless aerial balls we impotently keep spamming into the opposition's box.(pun intended).
What we also don't have is anyone other than Sokratis and Holding who can actually jump and hope to challenge for a ball.
posted on 18/6/19
Ziyech would be awesome and it sounds like he prefers us, unless I'm just reading from biased sources.
Wouldn't be against buying Saliba and loaning him back for a year as long as we were paying a very small amount up front and keeping Kos for one more year. Kos, Sokratis, Anderson and Holding wouldn't be a bad back line as long as we rotated them appropriately, with Saliba to come in when Kos leaves next summer.
posted on 18/6/19
If we get Andersen AND Saiba it makes a bit more sense to allow the loan. Let one settle in at a time.
But you know Saliba will get a big injury before joining us if he stayed in France
posted on 18/6/19
Yeah and I mean it COULD happen, Sampdoria are happy to take payments and if we have any sense the big Saliba fee would be very little until next year and a lot of add ons anyway.
Personally I'd still keep Kos, he showed that if he's managed correctly he can still be a top defender, he just needs to be in a defence where we can afford to rotate him (one without any chance of Mustafi coming in).
posted on 18/6/19
I wrote an article earlier on in the season regarding Koscielny's recovery & rehabilitation. I firmly believed he would prove what I said correct regarding him being in the best shape of his life now, our doctors and physios were claiming that he is quicker than ever.
Whilst he did put in some good performances he also made some mistakes and looked rather slow at times, hoping he'll have one big last season for us if he stays but I am leaning towards us needing to pair him with someone quicker. One of his key strengths used to be the ability to recover from a disadvantage against an opponent using his pace to get a block/tackle in - I'm not sure he has this in him anymore though.
posted on 18/6/19
comment by You Can't Buy Class (U12019)
posted 11 minutes ago
I wrote an article earlier on in the season regarding Koscielny's recovery & rehabilitation. I firmly believed he would prove what I said correct regarding him being in the best shape of his life now, our doctors and physios were claiming that he is quicker than ever.
Whilst he did put in some good performances he also made some mistakes and looked rather slow at times, hoping he'll have one big last season for us if he stays but I am leaning towards us needing to pair him with someone quicker. One of his key strengths used to be the ability to recover from a disadvantage against an opponent using his pace to get a block/tackle in - I'm not sure he has this in him anymore though.
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I agree - I just think we had to rush him back and then overplayed him towards the end.
When he got into his peak this season he put in some great performances, but at the start he was waaay off the pace and towards the end looked so tired he lost half a yard.
I think if we can get him fit and just play him often enough to keep him sharp, without overplaying him, then having him around for one last year could be very beneficial.
That said, if he really has his heart set on leaving I guess we owe him that much - he really has put his body on the line for us for years now.
posted on 18/6/19
Yeah was thinking along the same lines, let's hope that his seeming lack of pace towards the end of the season was simply the result of being overplayed after coming back from a bad injury. It does take a while once you've started playing matches again to get your muscles back to a level where you can keep up with the pace/intensity required for extended periods, especially after the type of injury he suffered.
The poor bloke has been plagued by injuries throughout his career with us and it all culminated in him missing out on receiving a World Cup Winners Medal, brutal.
posted on 18/6/19
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