Let’s keep our emotions aside for a bit.
ESR was injured half of his career with us, and we still managed to get Fulham to the line for £35m. That’s a very handsome fee if you are trying to offload a player who is not able to make into the playing XI and has been side-lined due to injuries. On top of that, Edu has managed to put a sell-on clause in that deal! Still sad to see our boy go though.
We made another £4m when we sold Mika Biereth to Sturm Graz earlier in the window. We have seen players whom we thought ‘very highly’ leave for free. 4m for a U23 player is a good business.
Nuno Tavares was a prospect when we got him for 8 odd million in 2021, he was used for some games but then we sent him on loan in last 2 seasons. His Marseille loan was an average one and the previous one at Forrest can be considered a disaster. Edu has shipped him to Lazio on loan for 6m with an obligation to buy if certain criteria are met, and have inserted a sell-on clause in case Lazio encashes him in future.
Lokonga couldn’t cut it at Arsenal. His loan spells were average at best. He is joining Sevilla on a season long loan with an ‘option’ to buy for £10m. If Sevilla decides to trigger that, we will reserve a whooping 25% on his future sell. I’m sure Edu managed that because Sevilla didn’t accept an ‘obligation’ but it’s still a decent deal for us.
Now, lets talk about Eddie Nketiah and what’s happening with our aim to sell him. Merseille agreed with Eddie on personal terms and the player prefer that move mainly because of De Zerbi and we have recently dumping our gross to OM. They came up with a £17m offer which the club and Edu deemed insufficient. They even had an improved offer if we go by the rumours but it still falls short of the £30m we are asking for Nketiah. Edu feels that’s the right price for a player having more than 100 appearances for one of the biggest clubs in the world and one who is side-lined because ‘we’ are just too good for him. We often talk about how the striker market is saturated and why it’s so difficult to get a prolific goal scorer. Nketiah will do well with any team if he plays consistently. I would not be wrong to say that he will make any of the bottom half Premier League teams better. We can’t ask the club and Edu to stick to our valuation of a player and then complain the buyers try to negotiate a much lesser deal than that.
We stick to our valuation, we put a sell-on clause if we think a player can do much better in coming years and we let the clubs know about that. It can go both ways, the buyer club gives up and agrees or they move on. We win sometimes (ESR, Lokonga, Tavares), we lose sometimes (Eddie, transfer window still has time). Sticking to our ask is what matters.
Btw, the reason why Edu is able to do it is, that, we are a much better team and the ‘players’ we are selling may not be good enough for us, but they certainly are more than capable of playing in a Fulham or OM side. We have seen him let go of Auba, who Barcelona sold for 12m to Chelsea a season letter, we have seen Guendouzi go for free when we could have made 30m off him, and we have seen some more bad transfers from our end. Edu is trying to put an end to it, and that’s a good thing for the club. If we sell well, we buy well.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments.
TRVL
Sorry to hear about your loss – people who aren’t animal lovers will never understand how much a cat or dog is really part of the family and the huge hole they leave.
Marc-in my formative years I took the actually import of this relationship for granted…that couldn’t be further from the truth during my adult life…sincere thanks to you
Ambarish—I saw an article or two regarding Edu’s recent interview where he spoke of his unsung “hero”/thankless task maneuvers…sorry I’m not buying it…he’s likely just exhausted by how everyone with a Kool-Aid mustache is heaping flowers at MA’s feet, yet he’s being largely ignored or even disparaged…I did read something that provided a much more commonsensical take of our present situation:
“The impression given is that of a club who failed to properly prepare for the summer and who underestimated the market – both in terms of the cost of the incomings and the amount they could fetch for the players they wanted to sell. The apparent breakdown of their attempts to sell Nketiah to Marseille aren’t an unfortunate sideshow but a part of the framework of issues Arsenal have had coming in to August.”
I wonder to what extent Edu is actually involved in the details of these deals. Garlick and Lewis (they sound like an 18th century purveyor of gentleman’s relish or some obscure crossover Worcestershire sauce) I suspect are pulling the strings if not actually conducting the negotiations. Edu on the other hand is the glamorous ex-player and Brazilian Bunga-Bunga bimbo who presses the flesh. Who knows?
But from the Kroenke’s perspective, they’d surely favour putting their cash and assets in the hands of the background operators in suits.
Typically nebulous, just like everything else the club does.
Good to see ESR got on his pre season, Fulham score sheet after 10 minutes against Saville I think. He looks happy, and then I remembered he’s got Leno and Iwobi, as a welcoming party.
I agree with TRVL Palace was the better option if it had been an option that is. ESR has a good experienced manager to work with who will improve him and play to his strengths.
He might get the odd cup final, but it’s a stepping stone and a window to star in. The more he shines the bigger stages he’ll play on. I think he can play at the top tier clubs comfortably.
He has the ability and nous, just hope he stays injury free and keeps the right mindset.
KP
I would hope it’s all Edu and not our Lovely Jubbly pair of suits who to be fair haven’t had a sniff of a real player to sell since Obi Martin to Manure where a medical is expected soon. El B is the dark destroyer – asset guzzler.
ESR at £27m plus add ons was criminal.
We can’t sell Eddie because he can’t score goals, so teams who want to invest in him as an asset, are taking a chance on his skills locker and more importantly attitude.
We bought mostly badly for 5 years and had a lot of crap to get rid, so the pay offs began.
Who realistically is going to buy 2nd hand cast offs in Jesus and Zinny: Fulham? I don’t think they are good enough now.
Saudi awaits I’d imagine.
Our not so dynamic duo had Wenger to contend with and then El B and Edu; the dream team took over with very compliant Josh who pulls the strings or at least some of the purse ones.
Now 5 years in and we look back I think Messers Garlick and Lewes could be operating with a “don’t care get it done” brief and other clubs know. Our guys need leverage, but everyone else has got it, so we’re waiting for some.
We had 7 players we wanted to sell and the good oner were snapped up because we need the money.
I think that is evident now so get it done no matter what!
Tony
Providing he can stay fit he has the opportunity to put himself in the shop window. Fulham are one of those clubs who have a habit of picking up a big scalp or two over the course of a season – if you’re pulling the strings in a game like that people will sit up and take notice.
Marc
Let’s hope so I’ve love to see the lad do well.
Zinchenko just got the number changed on his back to #17.
This only means that he is not going anywhere.
Not much out there but this caught my eye.
Forest for Edu? Has Edu had enough of pushing trucks uphill for El B.
Might add more spice to KP’s earlier perceptive thoughts.
I’ll go no smoke without fire on this one.
“Arsenal transfer chief Edu targeted by Premier League rivals in Mikel Arteta blow
Arsenal transfer mastermind Edu has been key to the Gunners’ recent success under Mikel Arteta and the Gunners might have some concerns over his future with a Premier League rival eyeing him”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-transfer-artea-edu-nottinghamforest-33388821
For the love of whoever you pray to not another Zinny season.
What happened to him going to Munich?
Marc
Munich probably did a 2nd view of Zinny’s last 2 seasons with us and decided he’s not good enough for the costs involved.
Just another poor buy by El B when he ran out of options when players don’t want to play for him. Only average players looking for big pay days with their greedy agents want to play for El B, such as Merino.
Reported that the Chavs have pulled out on VO. Is Edu around?
Probably, busy with his future away from El B and who would blame him?
Although there are tough times for some of us; TRVL’s sad loss; I have just got through the worst virus/covid I’ve ever had to deal with. I’m sure other readers have their own trips of life.
This song always makes me smile and lifts my spirits for it’s simplicity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU
Hi Tony
Very sorry to hear you’ve been ill. Have you fully recovered?
Take it easy mate and keep getting some rest (I know that for you, ‘rest’ means doing everything at 100 mph rather than 200mph!).
Just seen your email. Fucking hell mate. Good to know you’re coming out if it. Dr Kroenkephobe prescribes lowering your activities from 100 to 90 miles an hour!
Ambarish
The problem with selling Eddie at a desired price is he hasnt been in the shop window. Potential buyers will assess his potential through watching the player and video footage. All they can see is him picking splinters out of his backside.
Eddie was prepared to take a pay cut to get the transfer over the line but AFC are being stubborn. Already El B is talking about having Eddie in the ranks for the new season. The OM position has been filled by an alternative player. The Ipswich Manager is interested in Eddie but only on a loan deal.
Kompany knows Zinny well – well enough to know that he is not good enough for BM.
KP
Thanks on the mend. Going to drive myself to a cool hotel in Korat tomorrow, then Khao Yai and then BKK next weekend for teacher meetings.
Got meetings along the way but will be doing the bare minimum. Still got a nasty blood issue to deal with so being in BKK is the best place for that; for now it’s 12 tablets a day to kill the inflammation.
Tony—best of luck on your travels…take care
as for team matters, we’re a fucking mess…underwhelming incomings, mismanaging outgoings and now it looks as if both Calafiori and Timber are injured…no wonder Zinchenko is prancing around in our new kit with a new number to boot, as he knows he ain’t going anywhere…think about how it will look if MA’s first choice midfielder, Zubimendi, ends up at Pool, which just might be a very real possibility…not to mention, Merino is back at training, as if I give a shit…no one wants to come here without exorbitant wages and ironclad assurances due to the problematic manner in which our manager conducts himself…same shit different mix
https://youtu.be/dbFf44SEP_c?si=QYZbIRfm8mgXQpw3
In case not seen, highlights from the 4-1 against Bayer Leverkusen. Looks like a pretty impressive display with – wait for it – some of the younger lads getting game time.
KP—one thing that pleasantly surprised me was the fact that Havertz was being deployed in the left-side 8 role again…if this is the plan moving forward and, as such, we’re planning on making a big splash up top, I would be far more confident in our chances…now this would require much of Kai, who was largely a passenger last season in the 8, but I’m far less concerned about that, considering MA’s right-heavy scheme, than having to overrely on Havertz as our primary Striker
this could likewise mean that our Merino pursuit is more about shoring up our midfield depth than finding a plug-and-play starter, which would make far more sense, especially if we could get him in for less than half of his supposed release clause…on the other hand, maybe that’s been a bit of a stumbling block, as Merino might have no interest in competing with Havertz for minutes, especially after watching MA roll out our gangly German each and every night regardless of the circumstances
“Mikel Arteta secretly employed a team of pickpockets to steal from his Arsenal players during a team dinner, in an exercise designed to demonstrate the importance of remaining alert at all times.”
Honest to God I really don’t think there’s a bigger cunt on the planet – and there’s some serious competition out there at the moment.
Only a moron thinks not switching off, having downtime and relaxing is not only mentally but also physically good for you. No wonder our players are hitting burnout at the same point the last couple of seasons.
Marc
Jesus – what a twat! That’s up there with hand-rubbing, playing Liverpool crowd noise, and letting Nuno Tavares fellate the labrador.
Far too much new age shit. He’s almost as woke as you are!
Marc–when I first laid eyes on that story I thought it couldn’t possibly be true, but it appears I was terribly mistaken…maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, but now that I’ve had some time to think about it, the whole thing is very on point for our oft-times twat of a manager…imagine if he had not properly vetted Oliver Twist, much like when he’s on the recruitment trail, and things got out of hand because one of the players caught him in the act
on the transfer front, if the rumours are to be believed, we’ve submitted a formal bid for Ferdi Kadıoğlu, the 24 year old Turkish LB…now this isn’t that far-fetched, as we’ve been linked to this player for quite some time, but it does beg the question, why the fuck are we going after another backer before we redress our real issues up top…btw our advances were quickly rebuffed, which has become an all too common theme this off-season…fuck me, I’ll be suitably pissed if we start the season with 6 or 7 LB options and no “real” Strikers
Just looking at the news or very little of when considering there are only 8 days to the Wolves game and 21 days left in the transfer window.
TRVL
Saw we’d been in to the Turkish LB before and like you asking incredibly why?
Probably, because Timber and Calafiori were injured in out BL game. El B is taking no chances at LB. Shame he couldn’t do that for 8 and 9 positions.
Let’s hope this is El B’s last season or better part of this season.
In other news Pool are going to Land Zubimendi and Manure was Ivan Toney. Both linked to El B’s I almost signed list.
Do you think Ei B can assemble a bigger list than Wenger’s?
Slott’s Liverpool for me are the team to watch……. and he’s been there 5 minutes and improving on Klopp.
El B has been with us 5 years.
Tony–after all the nonsense being spewed by our not-so-dynamic duo about having a definitive long-term transfer plan and 180 page dossiers, so far they’ve spent the whole summer going after two players that likely weren’t even on their radar until each had made their respective marks at the Euros…keeping in mind, both only made one real contribution of any note and Merino was only a late-game cover piece…just imagine how even the most ardent of Arteta fans would have reacted if before the summer you told them the only two incomings would be Calafiori and Merino…first they would have said who fuck are those two, which would have been a tad harsh as the former did have a banner year at CB for Bologna, then, like us, many would have been justifably pissed in light of all the in-house pronouncements about the import of this particular window…still time left to right some wrongs, but I’m not convinced anything of real significance will happen and even if it does it could hamper things early on, as there could be some cohesion issues
Kronke
“Far too much new age shit. He’s almost as woke as you are!”
That made me laugh.
What didn’t make me laugh was the paragraph I copied and pasted into the comment was from a far longer article that talked about other examples of Arteta’s “team building”.
I just couldn’t face reading the whole thing.
Tony
“Slott’s Liverpool for me are the team to watch”
Watch the lame attempts at rewriting history over the next couple of months – Slott inherited an amazing squad, Slot was given more money to spend than God, Arteta’s plan is on course and coming to fruition.
At some point the fans are going to wake up to the fact that Arteta’s 3rd rate and has spent a huge amount of money to basically get us back into the CL places for 2 seasons. The squad is now looking potentially weaker than it did a couple of seasons ago.
TRVL
I’m in agreement as always with you and Marc.
I couldn’t see El B writing more than an 18 page dossier on our TW. I could see him writing 180 pages about himself. Could probably add a zero to the 180 and be closer.
The Merino on off love affair will most likely scrape through at the 11th hour on the 30th.
TW clocks a ticking……
KP
Where are you sating your live football this weekend.
Hip flask full? Got to get the priorities right.
Enjoy wherever you end up shaking your rattle. 😂😳
now there’s rumours circulating regarding the notion of Zinchenko playing in the midfield…I’ve had enough of this whole positional flexibility nonsense…I get why this could be considered a potential bonus in the recruitment process but surely it can’t be the number one priority…what kind of fucking God-complex twat thinks the best pathway to success is to field a team chock full of players being deployed in their next best position or worse…only an egomanical fucktard would even try
egomaniacal
another immediate concern, as it pertains to our potential pursuit of a readymade Striker, is the tenor of the headlines being propagated following our most recent victory…the nonsesnical propping-up of both Jesus’s and Havertz’s goals to be specific…the former’s strike was decent, especially for a player who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn last season, whereas the latter’s required no skill whatsoever, unless you believe being alive and having a fully functioning foot some sort of acutal achievement…it reminds me of all the forced nonsense being spewed last season when MA’s minions went all-out to justify his Havertz overreach
TRVL
We might just see Arteta hang himself this season – he’s got away with being poor because other teams have been worse but if we see Liverpool perform with a new manager Arteta’s Koresh like approach might suddenly come under some real pressure.
Marc – Glad to be of service mate.😊
Tony – This Sunday junior and I are driving up to Flint (in the far NE corner of Wales and about as far as its possible to get from our place while staying in-country) . County’s opening league game against Connah’s Quay, just across the wirral from Liverpool. They’ve got some decent players but County have upgraded their team this season so it should be a decent game. A mere 8 hour round trip over the spine of Wales.
Cardiff home to Scumderland, one of those desperate northern burgs full of idiotic racists setting light to their own communities in vain search of simple answers to complex problems. I might’ve gone to that too but junior is playing cricket. Cardiff have made some encouraging signings and also look to have a stronger squad this year than last. I’ll probably be eating those words by September. The team has a good number of ex-Arsenal players now making them even more watchable.
Spuds paying 65 million for Solanke? Fucking hell
At the end of last season my at a glance take would have been that our most pressing areas to address in the TW were a striker (for obvious reasons) and another CM to replace Partey who I assumed would be sold or if he stayed someone to provide good cover because of his injury issues. That is also assuming that Timber is going to be first choice left back (who spends £40 million on a right sided player to play them at LB is another conversation).
A week from the start of the season and we’ve bought a left sided defender who cost £40 odd million.
Now I’m aware that my utter hatred of Arteta could be said prevents me from being objective so can someone answer me a question – What would Pedro be saying if the current windows business had been overseen by Emery and Sanllehi?
KP
I assume you have hip flask refuelling stops built in the Sat Nav journey? Brilliant mate enjoy, and hope the results bring fortune to the journey’s length of merriment in the car.
Marc
I say probably Pedro would be on suicide watch. He must be out of excuses by now and let his bots do the shithousing.
Looks like Toney could be Manure bound.
Spud’s continues to build. Solanke at that cost seems excessive but it is Spuds we’re talking about 😂
TRVL
I think we are in for a very good football season with the expected clubs to be back on the front foot and challenging with club’s like Emery’s Villa mounting at CL birth charge.
What you are alluding to is I think the tip of the iceberg of misfiring and criminal misuse of tactics as we saw last season.
Only this season our run in from a title winning perspective is the hardest for Arteta’s previous 5 years, where he capitulated the last 4.
So, with a side more unbalanced than last season, and relying on our perma-crocs to play more games and being older. I can’t not see us be also rams again this season.
20 days to save our season I’d say.
Looking forward to next weekend and at least being able to support the club and lads for another 9 months of games in our LIR box🙈
we’re such lame-ass fucks this summer that even our rumour mill is boring as fuck…frankly I’m surprised we got Raya’s signing over the line, even though it was a foregone conclusion, due to the obligation to buy clause…to be honest, the whole window has been rather embarassing
Tony & Marc—I have no doubt that we’ll be in the mix regardless of how we close this window, so long as our key players remain healthy, but just competing for things doesn’t cut it for me…I don’t think there’s a single side worthy of fearing in the PL, just like last season, and I likewise think our CL window is open for one more year…Real’s total revamp will require another season, but after that they could easily go on a multi-year run…they ain’t fucking around…they’re the real-real and we should be taking fucking notes… not only have they continued to win at the highest of levels, during what can only be described as a transitionary period, they’re on the precipice of ushering in a new era of footballing dominance while simultaneously phasing out their two most seminal figures, Kroos and Modric
knowing all this, MA needed to be an absolute window beast, starting in the winter of 23, but that simply hasn’t materialized…he’s settling at times, which has had some long-term ramifications, he’s vastly overspent on a luxury tweener, when those monies should have been spent far more wisely. and he’s likewise become far too infatuated with the ludicrous notion of shoehorning seemingly every new recruit…the fact that this highly flawed plan failed to yield the required results should surprise no one…this is why I placed such a significance on this particular window
it was imperative that we adopted a scorched earth approach when it came to our periphery pieces, then targeted two world-class players, one midfielder and a Striker…in fact, the vast majority of the groundwork should have been laid prior to season’s end…so when the summertime arrived there should have been a clear organizational understanding that until these aforementioned objectives were suitably met all other incoming business was on hold…..no more nibbling around the edges or drawn out negotiations for coin-toss propositions, this needed to be the kind of window we would reminisce about for years to come…instead we appear to be on some sort of recency bias crusade being orchestrated by an overtly thirsty wannabe with a raging God-complex