Heck of a lot of money Arsenal have been soending surely have to be praising Kroenke now? Must be pushing 1 billion in the last 5 years if u sign rice and timber.

Been praising Kroenke for a long time. Others waking up now.
The way they quickly realised the mistake in the way they replaced Wenger was good, the reset and patience was good. Hopefully we will get rewards this season.

But i agree get some good money for Balogun and Nketiah like you did with Willock and get a top striker and Arsenal are looking very good.

"Holding*, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka"

Wouldn't be surprised at all if at least 2 of these are still with us when the window closes.

Agree CF is the biggest gap at the moment but maybe with the additions of Rice and Havertz we'll see a change in general tactics

MF looks pretty average without Partey and Xhaka

comment by Castor Troy (U8700)
posted 35 minutes ago
MF looks pretty average without Partey and Xhaka
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imagine itd be Rice Odegaard Havertz which imo would be an improvement unless Havertz proves to be gash and cant play there?

I think we need another MF and a top striker, too. I've got a good feeling over Lavia developing into an excellent holding and/or B2B midfielder, and would be ecstatic if we signed him for about £40m.

The striker option (that I'm not sure we're going to add to this season) is trickier. Do we go for an out and out #9, or Artetas favourite - versatile? Personally, I'd like to punt on Vlahovic. Yes he's had a bad season, but the quality is definitely there. Juve are brassick and I bet £50/60m would be enough.

I think anymore signings after, the assumed, Timber and Rice ones would require us selling to buy. I'd like to see Tierney and Partey staying this season, but everyone else on your list can go. Hopefully Nketiah, Balogun (unfortunately), Xhaka, Sambi, and Patino would raise the £100m we'd need to cover the two signings I've mentioned.

Anyway, this ain't Footy Manager so I very much doubt my wishes come true. ☹️

I think the striker would be reactive, ie if the right man came possible AND Nketiah was interesting another club. Think the Havertz signing kind of ends thoughts we are actively pushing for a striker.

Maybe. We need to keep the striker option open for Mbappe next season anyway, according to the nonsense internet. 😂

comment by InBefore (U20589)
posted 41 minutes ago
comment by Castor Troy (U8700)
posted 35 minutes ago
MF looks pretty average without Partey and Xhaka
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imagine itd be Rice Odegaard Havertz which imo would be an improvement unless Havertz proves to be gash and cant play there?
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Also vieira surely hasnt been written off already, cost a fair bit for a reason. Might be trusted more find his feet and kick on for yas.

We've solved the height issue with Havertz, so I don't think we need a striker. We can now use Havertz as well as Saka as the out balls. Arteta can use Jesus/Eddie or Balogun to press instead.

I wouldn't mind another goalscoring speed burner better than Reiss Nelson to back up Martinelli/Saka. I still have hopes for Moussa Diaby.

Another backup who hasn't lived up to expectation last season is Vieira. We have an advantage this season of being able to spend up to 90% of our revenue, so maybe we can improve on him. Xavi Simons is the hot young player available, so who knows.

If we do sell Partey it's clear we need to sign a younger holding player to be Rice's understudy. Caicedo, Tchouameni, Lavia, Foffana?

I hold we keep at least one of Xhaka and Partey. Keeping both would be a huge bonus but can't see that happening.

It wouldn't be financially prudent to hold onto Partey if we can get a substantial offer for him.

It also wouldn't be financially prudent for another club to make a substantial offer on a player under investigation for rape. Unless you're the Saudis, but I believe he has no interest in playing in that part of the world.

Unless his off field issues are resolved before the transfer window closes, it wouldn't surprise me if Partey is an Arsenal player next season - whether he likes it or not.

I am sure Partey will have a sudden interest in playing in Saudi Arabia if the CPS decide to proceed. If they don't then that issue solves itself and will become very attractive to clubs in Europe.

If the CPS proceed will the Saudis still want him? Maybe his offences are not as big a deal out there as they are to us, but it wouldn't really help them with their "Sports Washing" agenda.

If the investigation is NFA'd then, I agree, I think there will be a lot of interest in him and we could probably get close to £40m for him.

Havertz a flop..rice way way way overvalued...timber know zero about

comment by Got_Better (U6241)
posted 18 seconds ago
Havertz a flop..rice way way way overvalued...timber know zero about
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Considering you think your new signing is a midfielder when he is a wide attacker, I think we cam dismiss your opinion quite easily.

comment by Arsée is Foot (U10984)
posted 7 minutes ago
If the CPS proceed will the Saudis still want him? Maybe his offences are not as big a deal out there as they are to us, but it wouldn't really help them with their "Sports Washing" agenda.

If the investigation is NFA'd then, I agree, I think there will be a lot of interest in him and we could probably get close to £40m for him.
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I would compare the Saudi League to Liv golf. I don't think it's anything to do with sports washing. They are looking to a post-oil role in the world. The numbers are too large to compare it to Qataris and Abu Dhabi investments.

As for Partey. I don't they care about his popularity in England. It's the fame he has established in Ghana. And I doubt the accusations (if it's that lady from twitter) will affect his popularity even a little there.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Arsée is Foot (U10984)
posted 7 minutes ago
If the CPS proceed will the Saudis still want him? Maybe his offences are not as big a deal out there as they are to us, but it wouldn't really help them with their "Sports Washing" agenda.

If the investigation is NFA'd then, I agree, I think there will be a lot of interest in him and we could probably get close to £40m for him.
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I would compare the Saudi League to Liv golf. I don't think it's anything to do with sports washing. They are looking to a post-oil role in the world. The numbers are too large to compare it to Qataris and Abu Dhabi investments.

As for Partey. I don't they care about his popularity in England. It's the fame he has established in Ghana. And I doubt the accusations (if it's that lady from twitter) will affect his popularity even a little there.
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I don't think they can use football to assist with a post-oil role without a big international following like the prem and la Liga have. To do that they need to have a good image outside of the middle east and Africa. At the moment they don't. It certainly won't improve if they are taking potential rapists into their ranks post charge. Pre charge they can probably spin it, and certainly could afford to write off the money he'd cost them should he be charged and/or convicted mid contract.

The Middle East has hosted a very successful world cup that brought a lot of attention to that region, not connected with the usual terrorism or religious connotations. And they are leveraging that to launch a league where they think they can draw African, near east and mid east audiences. Those are huge. I don't think they are competing with Liga or Premier League. And frankly, if those leagues thought they were, they would be coming down like a ton of bricks on the commercial side. They wouldn't be allowing their players to join them (which they could do easily by issuing player sanctions to stop them ever coming back to play in Europe).

I doubt that affects Partey at all, even if he is charged! The CPS has failed to prosecute Mason Greenwood and Mendy (although he is in a retrial). Man Utd have not got rid of Greenwood despite being accused of worse behaviour. Reality is these cases end up in he says vs she says and notoriously hard to prove. By the time anything comes of it, Partey could be retired meantime playing in Saudi Arabia, far away from the UK media noise.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 35 minutes ago
I doubt that affects Partey at all, even if he is charged! The CPS has failed to prosecute Mason Greenwood and Mendy (although he is in a retrial). Man Utd have not got rid of Greenwood despite being accused of worse behaviour. Reality is these cases end up in he says vs she says and notoriously hard to prove. By the time anything comes of it, Partey could be retired meantime playing in Saudi Arabia, far away from the UK media noise.
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The World Cup wasn't really that successful in bringing positive attention to that part of the world. Ok, it will be remembered as the competition that cemented Messi's legacy as arguably the greatest footballer there's ever been. It will be remembered more for the massive protests surrounding the human rights, and then FIFA having to strong arm the teams and players back into line. Not really a good look.

You mentioned they are looking for a post oil role in the world, but the areas you mentioned are not going to provide them with much revenue. Not many people can pay £70 a shirt, or £100 per month TV coverage to watch them. If they want sport to help replace oil they need to takeover the world...and fast.

They're not competing with the prem or la Liga at the mo as the Pro League is still in it's infancy, and they are just bringing in declining stars for massive fees which is helping certain clubs financially. That will only get them so far and at some point soon they will probably start targeting young starlets and peak players. Then let's see what the European leagues say about it.

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
I doubt that affects Partey at all, even if he is charged! The CPS has failed to prosecute Mason Greenwood and Mendy (although he is in a retrial). Man Utd have not got rid of Greenwood despite being accused of worse behaviour. Reality is these cases end up in he says vs she says and notoriously hard to prove. By the time anything comes of it, Partey could be retired meantime playing in Saudi Arabia, far away from the UK media noise.
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I don't think Partey will be charged or convicted. That doesn't mean I'm saying he's innocent, though. Just playing the odds.

Of course we won't know until it actually happens. Same as with how the Saudis will react should he be charged. It's all assumptions. You have made yours, and I have made mine. I guess we will have to just watch this space.

Off course. Nice to read different views.

You have to keep in mind however that Saudi's don't need the revenue you are talking about. They are all about eyeballs in their region and Africa. Sauds/UAE are trying to make their countries recreational hubs. It started with uber hotels and its just following that theme from golf, to f1, and now football.

Anything to distract from living in de-facto dictatorships that do nothing for their populace.