Lets talk about the hottest topic of this transfer window. It seems like we are seriously pursuing Kai Havertz from Chelsea and are willing to spend a whooping 60m pounds and ready to put him on a 250k/week wages. This is because we have already agreed to let go Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen for a decent sum. Granit was leaving last season to Roma but stayed after Mikel insisted and I am sure there would have been a gentlemen agreement between those two, to let him go this window if a decent offer arrives.
So what are we going to get? Kai Havertz has age on his side. He is only 24 year old, remains mostly injury free and is versatile. He played as #8 for Leverkusen and played as a false 9 and as a striker at Chelsea. Arteta loves players who can play at multiple positions. He got White, who is a CB in profile but is playing at RB for Arsenal. Tomiyasu can play at multiple positions – LB and RB, and CB. Zinchenko is a LB but drifts in the midfield and is an additional midfielder when we are having the possession. Trossard was brought as a competition to Martinelli at left wing but we have seen him leading the line up top. Jesus has been playing at CF but then he is equally suited at wings, where he played his most games at Man City.
Take away from this is, Mikel likes players who can cover multiple positions without any drop in quality. Kai Havertz fits that profile. He can play the Xhaka role more efficiently, but can provide a different profile at CF than Jesus. He can also cover for Saka at RB, if needed.
Another important quality Kai brings is his passings. Again, Mikel loves good passers of the ball, we have seen it with Odegaard, White and Ramsdale. They are good on the ball. ESR is an anomaly who likes to run forward with the ball and isn’t suited with this passing-between-the-line concept and that’s why we see less of him. Tierney is another one not suited to that philosophy. You can berate Xhaka for anything else but he always has a good, precise left foot in him. The only reason he has survived so long, even after the famous Emirates debacle and his willingness to leave. He gives what Arteta needs. Kai fits that profile, and some more. Kai might not have an end product in him, but he can time the run perfectly and overcrowd the oppositions’ box when needed. I can only speculate but that’s probably the driving factor for Mikel to offer this huge sum for Kai.
Lastly, he has talent. He was great at Leverkusen but didn’t really click at Chelsea. But then, no one has shown any promise at Chelsea recently. Mudryk was a sensation we were ready to pay 100m for, but has flopped in his first season at CFC. It’s the wrong system for most of the players and may be, just may be, we are going to fix that for Kai.
What’s the catch?
That third point. He has been at Chelsea for 3 season and hasn’t delivered under three different managers. We are taking a gamble because he suits two important factors Mikel looks in his players. On top of that, it’s a costly affair. We are paying a good money for a player who hasn’t clicked in Premier League till now, and putting him on a wage more than what Saka earns. Saka is our best player by the way.
Buying Havertz means we will have to forget about Caicedo and Chelsea will use our money to get him. I would take Caicedo over Havertz any day. They are different type of player and may be Mikel needs a CAM more than a DM and hence we are targeting Rice + Havertz.
Right, that’s all from me. I am all excited for Mikel if that’s what he need to achieve our target to win Premier League this season. If we end up short, it will be criticized. What’s your take?
@KP
Thoroughly enjoyed your comment on the “fundamentalists” and the “agnostics who will be fully converted” because “the little prick” who is bound to “making stupid selections in August” coupled with his no rotation mantra.
It is pieces like that which makes my Mondays just that little bit better and endurable. Thanks for your entertaining words that I always treasured while you were on LG, but they are much more deserving on LiR as they are not surrounded by noise from fanboys and fools.
“I am not sure signing Rice automatically makes the Gunners title contenders again. He’d certainly improve them, but he won’t turn them into guaranteed challengers; Arteta will need more, and unless he signs others, Rice alone will make Arsenal what they should have been in the season just gone – top-four contenders.”
now Stan Collymore hasn’t always hid his distrust in our club’s ability to return to their former glory, but it’s difficult to argue with his sentiments, no matter if you believe he has an inherent bias due to his time at Pool…he predicted our top 4 collapse two seasons ago and then again when it came to our title challenge this past season, so thus far he’s been bang on…it’s not like he’s made a series of matter-of-fact blanketed statements without discussing the more nuanced aspects of our deficiencies, so it will be interesting to see his thoughts once the window has closed…keep in mind, he too almost ate his words following Nelson’s spectacular strike against Bournemouth when he stated “I’m running out of reasons to say Arsenal won’t win the league. They’re nearly there….the asterisk would be how poor some of the others have been this season…but it has been an incredible effort from them to get this far and still be top of the table.” So it’s not like he’s devoid of saying nice things about our club, if he’s given a good reason to do so…hopefully we will get things right this window and more flattery from this particular pundit will be heading in our general direction
KP & Tony-big Lock/Stock fan, but don’t sell Snatch short…you’re both right though, as his career has been a resounding disappointment in light of his first foray
Killroy
Cheers mate. I also enjoy reading your takes, pre and post the arbitary red card waved your way by paranoid Pedro. I hope all is well in MD – I know from personal experience how sticky and humid it can get on that part of the world.
KP
My interest in club football has taken a real dive because of how money has ruined it with the oil money doping. This is for me the year of the Rugby WC in France. Actually MD is an excellent state that had a governor who is interested in the well being of its citizens.
During the pandemic and while the Trump administration was in Power, Governor Hogan used his wife’s South Korean contacts to get PPE equipment into Maryland by using state owned aircraft, flying to an undisclosed location, having the MD National Guard escort the equipment to an undisclosed location because he knew the Trump administration would confiscate it. So MD is a decent place to kick up your feet. Sort of the total opposite of Florida, Texas and the other southern red states. When you get older you are more concerned about social services and MD is just that.
it’s so difficult to get a good read on our window unless we have substantially more money at our disposal than was first thought…we appear to have Rice, Havertz, Lavia, Cancelo, Chiesa or Diaby and maybe Timber, yet there’s already talk that many of our higher priced periphery assets, like Tierney, ESR and possibly even Balo staying on the roster…this would leave us with a handful of sellable assets for the purposes of raising funds, Partey, Xhaka, Nuno, Holding, Lokonga and potentially Jorginho, if several midfielders are incoming…you would be exceptionally fortunate if you could raise 90-100M from these players, whereas our projected wishlist is realistically valued at about 320M…now if the original 200M summer budget wasn’t including money raised by outgoing assets, then I guess it’s not too far off…I will say this, if we started next season with a starting 11 of Ramsdale, Cancelo, Saliba, Gabs, Zinchenko, Rice, Ode, Havertz, Marts, Saka and Jesus, with a bench that included Tierney, Timber, White, Tomi, Kiwor, Lavia, ESR, Balo, Tross, Nelson, Vieira, Jorginho and Chiesa or Diaby, I would be over the fucking moon…I just don’t see it happening though, in fact, I would be surprised if even 2 or 3 of the discussed 7 got over the line…not only do I remain highly skeptical of our business acumen when it comes to transfers, since the time of our move I can’t remember an off-season when the players being rumoured to arrive were actually signed in that given year, minus maybe the depressing summer we only bought Cech
Interesting article from the Athletic. Personally I don’t like La Liga don’t watch it except maybe a few games in a season but, say what you will Tebas in an interview about tough rules for foreign investment in clubs had this to say:
“We are open to investment, but not like in England, where owners come in to cover the club’s losses and increase the players’ salaries. So instead of having six Ferraris, the players have nine. That is not good for financial sustainability, it does not happen in any other industry in the world. What is happening in the Premier League, and with the state-owned clubs, will end up destabilising everyone in the industry.”
Tebas is as corrupt as any other official in a league but he sees a danger with foreign investment and I am sure his motive for speaking out is not as pure as it may appear. Still, English FA grow some balls, corrupt politician grow some loyalty to those who made the EPL what it is today, the club’s supporters. But as usual probably fuck all will happen.
Killroy-you would think after all the financial shenanigans at Barca over the last half decade or so no one attached to La Liga would have the unmitigated gall to throw shade at anyone…that said, I do agree with the message, I just so wish it came from a messanger with clean hands…such is life though, as far too often we have to endure the contrived righteousness of those who would gladly mimic the behaviour they so eagerly chastise if given the chance
not exactly sure how the PL turns back time, now that pandora’s box has been blown wide open, as the financial realities have undoubtedly reshaped the ownership landscape…the somewhat artifical and speculative-based rise in the value of sports teams has severely limited the potential ownership pool…as I’ve remarked on several occasions, there should be no individual or corporate entity who should own more than 49% of any club and the remaining 51% should be owned by those within the fanbase, but it’s clear, at least in the top divisions, that ship has sailed
I know we don’t like paying top dollar for top talent, even though we have a penchant for doing so when it comes to our coin toss purchases, but we better not get too bogged down with our usual nickel & dime tactics or we just might get gazumped again
right now City is expecting to lose several players who’ve played significant minutes for them this season, so once the FFP smoke clears, which it likely will, they will make life incredibly difficult for anyone with similar transfer interests
to make matters worse, United will undoubtedly see a change at the top, which could see their transfer kitty grow expotentially…in some ways, a financially solvent United is even more problematic for us than City, in that they are still the most historically significant franchise in the modern history of the PL, which could give them a decided cachet edge for any player who believes in ten Hag’s reinvention model
on top of all that, you have a Chelsea owner who’s clearly not afraid to spend…if they’re able to use the Saudi League as a dumping grounds for many of their unwanted contracts, they could be a very active and problematic participant in the current window
in light of all this, more than ever I believe it’s imperative that we figure our shit out asap or things could get messy…of course, being the “first” choice of the players you’ve targeted is nothing to sneeze at, if there’s any merit to such claims, but things could change drastically if Pep shows up with a fat fucking wallet and the best opportunity for silverware to boot…as we know all too well money talks and our bullshit payment schedules oft-times walk
“”🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Arsenal working on deal to sign Ajax defender Jurrien Timber. #AFC have made an opening offer worth ~£30m. #Ajax want ~£50m but optimism a compromise will be reached. Personal terms with Netherlands int’l thought to be in place @TheAthleticFC””
Orny reporting we are in for Timber. Basically a CB but can play at RB.
TRVL,
30m is more than what we paid for a world class talent in Saliba. Seems like we are not thinking about money this time. How many of these goes above the line is something we will have to wait and watch, but the intent is ther for sure.
This will fix the defence, for foreseeable future.
Come on Edu, get the Rice done too.
Ambarish
We could have saved the 20mil we spent on Kiwior and the job would have been done. However, United was in for Timber last season but then switched to Martinez, from that I take he may be decent. Still don’t know about these sudden deals that no one sees coming, like Kiwior and they may not be researched enough.
I know nothing about him, nor Dutch football, but can I be the first on LiR to say that the Timber signing is giving me wood…. 🌳
Killroy,
I think both Kiwior and Timber can survive together. As much as I want the midfield to be fixed on priority, having an option where we don’t overly rely on White as RB or have to play Holding as the main CB, is a good thing.
Haven’t seen him much. Haven’t seen Kiwior much. But I don’t mind youngsters because they have everything to achieve. And if one fails, we can always recoup some of the investments.
KP
That’s a good one. I’m gonna steal that one 😅
Wood imagine it my splinter the fan base!
Doing my evening rounds before Junior gets home and I see it looks like the Havertz deal is very close with Arteta claiming Havertz can play 5 different positions, but not all at once, so there’s that!
For me this is the first WTF moment. No wonder Havertz has been producing shite numbers as he never knows where he should be playing. I mean he’s had Tuchel who’s a top manager and also Potter who is admired by many and then the Chav’s Mr. midfield: Fat Frank Lamps who is a completely shite manager, so I’ll just use Havertz’s stats for one and a half good managers. Yep, Havertz is still shite.
Yesterday I’m saying give A&E a chance to see what they can do and today it’s galaxy brain’s star signing drum roll……….. The mighty snowflake Havertz the taller version of Willian.
What do we think, lads?
New post!