It all started with Cristiano signing for Al Nassr last year. Karim Benzema, the Real Madrid striker and one of the best on the planet currently, decided to move to Al-Ittihad. He is joined by N’Golo Kante who had injuries last season but is still a very decent player on the field.
Ruben Neves from Wolves had interest from different Premier League teams. Not long ago, every other Arsenal fan wanted Mikel to bring him to Emirates, he is such a decent midfielder that he will start in any of the PL team’s midfield bar City. He has moved to Al-Hilal, at the age of 26 for a 3 year contract, and Wolves are getting £47m for him. Chelsea has shifted Hakim Ziyech and Edouard Mendy is expected to leave too. There are rumours of Koulibaly, Mahrez, Aubameyang, Neymar and a bunch of others.
Is it any difference to Chinese Super League or MLS? In short, yes.
China turned out to be a retirement home, so did MLS (and even now, they are). Players who had spent their best days, were moving to MLS and CSL, to earn a big fat check. Kind of a ‘grab whatever you can coz it’s going to be over soon’ round. But what Saudi League has managed differently is that, they have attracted some of the best and in-their-prime players. Though, Ronaldo had a bad season by his standards at Old Trafford, he could have literally walked into any of the teams he wanted. Benzema is still a hot entity in world football. Heck, I would have loved Neves at Arsenal for that amount of money.
Mendy is a Champions League winner. Riyad Mahrez, Bernando Silva, Gundogan, who all just won a trebble at City, are all being linked to different Saudi teams. We even have rumours for one of our own, Thomas Partey. Much like others, Partey is still in his prime and had a brilliant season with us. He still has couple of good years left in him.
What Saudi League has done, is, attract the attractive ones (money helps) and build from there. Any other league like Indian Soccer League are low on budget, they can’t pay millions and though the playing condition is a bit of hostile, it’s not as much as Saudi Arabia here. It’s the bottom up approach for Indian Football. It’s the top down for Saudis. Hear me out, Ngolo Kante is rumoured to have a net worth of 23m euros after playing in one of the richest league, in one of the richest clubs in Chelsea and winning almost everything. He will earn whooping 100m euros in his 4 year contract at the Saudi club. 4 times his net worth!
Is it going to last?
I don’t know. Unlike China and US, they have money and they can keep doing it forever. The lot that’s reaching Saudi this year (and the next year) will decide how famous they get, and how much impact it will have on European Football. English football in particular is rooted enough, and might not have impact in terms of revenue and popularity locally, but there’s a bigger market share outside and Saudi league will compete with it. Some of the neutral fans are invested in players (Ronaldo, Messi e.g.) rather than the club they play for.
What can the English club do?
Nothing, they have opened the pandora box. From an owner, who spent half a billion in one season, and now wants to shift some players and recoup some of that money, has a buyer outside Europe. Players, who were sitting on bench, being paid a whooping 100k/week wages will earn 10x of that. It’s a win-win for the club and the players as of now. It won’t be long before the players whom the club wants to keep, will ask for a transfer for that 10x money. It won’t be long before it further inflates the market because you have to pay substantially more to keep your prized possession from moving to Saudi (and MLS has opened the gate too with Messi and Image/TV rights).
In my honest opinion, it’s worse that the European Super League. Either it will ruin the financials all over, or it will force clubs to go back to grassroot level of developing footballer and instilling in them the club identity over money.
Only positive? For every Neves, there’s a Lukaku.
You are welcome to disagree with what I feel, because I haven’t seen anything like this. I don’t know how it will turn out. I would be more interested in your opinion about why/why not it’s a good thing for football in general and English Premier League in particular.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why we struggle at the negotiation table when it comes to top drawer players, we’re a fucking joke in this regards and so other teams treat us a such…we pay above the number for seemingly everyone under the 75M threshold, then nickel and dime whenever we have a big fish on the line…Tomi, Ramsdale, Pepe, Vieira, Tross, Jesus, White, Zinchenko and Ode all cost us more than their respective market values at the time of purchase, especially considering the mitigating circumstances surrounding many of the above dealings…only 1, Ode, has seen his value go markedly up, whereas the rest have either remained roughly the same or decreased…of course, Pepe wasn’t on MA’s watch, but why would anyone think we’re anything but a sucker and/or a difficult transfer partner…as to the latter point, whenever we engage with anyone over a player of real consequence, with other suitors to boot, we start the process with an insulting first bid and a bunch of embarassing payment schedule stipulations…just imagine what those on the other side of the table are thinking when we’re penny-pinching over their player yet at the same time we’re paying over the number for someone else
Jorginho’s agent said the following, “the theme is clear: the project for next year is to stay at Arsenal which can become the most important team in England. Coach Arteta is the most important in the Premier League, he understands modern football like no one else”
be afraid, be very afraid…when this assclown, who loves to throw out bogus rumours for leverage purposes, speaks about the seemingly “settled” nature of his client, rest assured Jorginho has been given assurances that could negatively impact our present window…btw this statement should be exhibit A in the case for the abolishment of all agents, as only a money-grubbing whore without a care or concern for the greater good would utter such nonsense
TRVL
At least there was a reason we overpaid for Pepe – we didn’t have the money to buy outright (the reason the calls to buy Zaha were unrealistic) so we basically mortgaged the buy with the selling club.
Marc-word on the street suggests that it had far more to do with the shady business practices of our former head of football/used car salesman Raul, but I get your point
Ambarish-just as a preemptive strike I want to offer you my deepest of apologies because if for some inexplicable reason Xhaka remains at the Emirates I will go on a rant the likes of which this blog has never seen…here’s hoping that this proactive measure wasn’t necessary, but you never say never with our managerial/administrative lightweights
May I borrow that phrase as it perfectly sums up my feelings:
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managerial/administrative lightweights
looks like we’ve made a bid of 100 + 5M in add-ons…it’s clear that we’re starting to fully comprehend the potential implications of losing out again…the ball is now in City’s court…it might be difficult for the Hammers to walk away unless City go considerably over the top or our 100M is spread out in small increments over the next 5+ years
Killroy-feel free to use that phrase as you see fit (lol)
The Hammers surely will leak the structure of the payment and then we will know more of the inside workings after the fallout or final deal.
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Why we couldn’t have started like that with a condition to the offer, we will never know but finally it dawned on the managerial/administrative lightweights our reputation as a big club is on the line.
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If Rice comes to us he will carry the burden of a record transfer deal.
Killroy-it’s an interesting scenario, as the weightiness of this “record” albatross should be considerably less for a DM than a Striker or something positionally similar, which might make the transition a little more palatable…if this and the Timber deal go through our window would exceed the 200M barrier, which means that’s it until several players are sold off…I think that’s the reason why there have been considerably more articles about Jorginho than Lavia in the last several days
here’s the good and the bad when it comes to our window thus far:
(1) pumped that we’re showing some real intent by putting forth by far our largest bid ever, as only organizations who are in it to win it tend to make these types of moves…that said, it guarantees nothing
(2) there’s plenty to like about Rice from both a defensive and leadership capacity, but I’m not sure he’s an organizational game changer…in fact, when compared to Partey, he’s has the edge when it comes to his age profile, physicality and set piece capabilities, but he’s considerably less talented when it comes to distribution, which could be rather problematic as MA’s tactics, both good and bad, have relied heavily on having a deeper-lying pivot…maybe the plan is for Havertz and Ode to come a little deeper in order to assist in this capacity
(3) Havertz has struggled to find his Bayer form since arriving in the PL, so it’s difficult to even predict what could be on offer here…now his statistical downturn could have more to do with him being shoehorned into a position or two that didn’t maximize his particular skillset or the fact that his former club had several coaching changes during his tenure, but regardless of the reason(s) I would be lying if I didn’t say it’s a worrisome trend…that said, if he’s coming to be deployed primarily in the 8 hole, I will take a more wait and see approach towards a move that feels more hopeful than aspirational
(4) although I like Timber’s potential, especially as it relates to Saka, we already have 2 RBs, one whom cost us more than 50M, and Marquinhos waiting in the wings…so if our 200M window involves only the above 3 players, it’s almost assuredly not enough to compete for things on multiple fronts…I do like that at least 2 of the 3 are directly impacting our starting 11, but I would have preferred that our money was spent a little differently…now we could be more active if we offload several players who aren’t in our future plans, but this certainly hasn’t been our strong suit, so that prospect doesn’t fill me with confidence
(5) if this window was meant to be a midfield reinvention of sorts and no other players, minus the aforementioned, are forthcoming, it will have missed the mark…the thought of our depth at the DM position being the likes of Jorginho and Elneny, could mean our whole season, once again, relies heavily on the depth of our starter…further up the pitch, we will have only Vieira and ESR behind Ode and Havertz, which once again could see us praying that the latter two remain relatively healthy for the full length of the season…it’s clear that MA doesn’t have a lot of confidence in either Vieira or ESR, but hopefully both will rise to the challenge when given their opportunities…ultimately it appears as if this could be another season where MA’s “best” 11 will have to carry the bulk of the load
health of our starter
Morning all
Good to see KSE have backed A&E to the hilt and finally made a power move telling Manure & City to dig deep. That’s what I want to see from our club, just a shame we didn’t do this to begin with or even before the window opened.
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Unless we do something bizarre in wrapping up the terms of the deal, Mikel has got his man. I would have preferred Caicedo, and I don’t think Rice is worth anywhere near £105m, and neither do I think Havertz is worth £65m, but there you are. I’ll agree the real winner here is David Sullivan and the Hammers. He set up his chess board well and was in control keeping leverage with him all the way and got his over £100m target.
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Lessons to be learnt I hope for our team.
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Looks like over £170m spent on 2 players when we need at least 5, so I hope we can sell and Stan has got his sights on the title this year as well as being prepared to spend what it takes or at least that’s what I’m hoping.
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If A&E are so intent to get rid of Eddie, Bolagun and Partey, we should have another £80m to buy Timber and one other for now.
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If Havertz blossoms under Mikel where he proves us doubters all wrong, I can see his price rising to make profit in the future, but I struggle to see how we can make a profit in Rice, again unless he really has an elite 8 in his game; I don’t see that. We need to remember Rice is a CD first and foremost where, for those hoping Rice will become the next Paddy are going to be deeply disappointed. I see him as a solid 6 and good aerially at dead ball situations.
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Will Havertz be our answer to finally replacing Robbie Pires or even a slower, but still deadly Overmars? Mikel has seen something in Havertz that doesn’t support his stats. I think Havertz will have a good preseason, but I worry about his mental strength and lightweight structure when he starts to be kicked around the pitch when the season starts.
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Timber will be a crowd favourite in name alone; every time there is a crunching tackle by Timber I can hear the faithful crying T.i.m.b.e.rrrrrrrrrrr ahhhhhh. If that doesn’t fuel his mojo, nothing will and our right side will not be for the cry-baby, weak minded attackers like Zaha and Grealish. Timber will be a decent purchase we can make money on to offset Rice, and with KT on the left we’ll have 2 old style, hard men full backs.
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We’ve made a statement bid at last, so let’s hope we can really get this window right and I, for one, will be looking forward to the season’s start with a very good squad we can assemble and play a core of 18 players, and where our bench means business and gives Mikel the confidence to use it.
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That’s when I woke up and it reality hit me that I’m asking for a miracle akin to asking Putin to becoming a monk or Boris the Covid a ballet leading man!
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Was it a dream or a prophecy? I saw something silver in Mikels hands, but I couldn’t quite work out whether it was the title trophy or a Seppuku, as it was hard to see. Behave Marc, KP!
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I would imagine Stan wants a clean sweep with his sports enterprises and will finally back us to a level needed to win major trophies and challenging all the time, then KSE can really bask in their glories as complete winners.
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Can Mikel match KSE and our dreams? We’ll have a good idea by 12 games in.
I can see this year being a break out year for ESR. The look of fury and bitterness on his face when Vieira was getting ready to be a sub, by the bench, in the run in was very telling. He was beside himself with incandescent anger, so, kudos to ESR for staying with us and showing his character and inner core belief in himself.
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Eddie although a decent footballer is too weak minded and oft petulant to make #9 his own. His time is up for us. I want to keep Bolagun, but his agent managing Eddie and Bolagun will look to make money now, I would. Both are good enough to get mid table PL club moves where then can shine or whimper.
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Let’s not forget ESR saved Mikel’s fat ass at a time when he was carrying an injury. From what I’m reading ESR is up for the fight and Mikel had better give him enough minutes to settle into 8/10. He’s the best we’ve got in 8 and in my book equal to Ode for 10: he just hasn’t had the minutes to show and remind Mikel what he can do.
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Vieira & Havertz should be behind ESR for the 8 and back up 10 position.
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I’d still sell Zinchenko & Jesus. Bit parts for City haven’t made the grade here to challenge for trophies. Keep Bolagun and Nelson and play them with ESR and Saka – giving Bolagun the first 8 games to prove he’s a striker worthy of the shirt – Jesus isn’t! I’d rather see Havertz and Bolagun than Havertz & Jesus as a pair up top.
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That’s what’s flying around in my ever spinning brain, that and constant music.
“Unless we do something bizarre in wrapping up the terms of the deal, Mikel has got his man.”
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Sullivan does want his pound of flesh where our embarrassment will be prolonged until we give in to paying up earlier than we want. You can’t not expect this treatment when you’re foolish enough to play David’s game instead of our own.
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Ho hum, Rice is ours to lose and Sullivan is the mosquito that buzzes your ears when you’re trying to sleep – yes, that annoying, but when you blink first you’re never going not be in control because your leverage (bid) hasn’t been accepted.
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What a palaver!
it’s clear now that City was fucking with us simply to prop-up the bidding in order to shift the homegrown record breaking fee burden our way…hopefully Rice will come good much quicker than Grealish…that said, this season Grealish started to prove that this might have been monies well spent
now that City appear out of the equation, we shouldn’t budge on whatever stipulations we implemented in our 3rd bid and we should likewise put a little pressure on Rice to help get this done and dusted asap
meanwhile, as soon as Chelsea heard our bid they knew we were out of the Caicedo chase, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that provided them with just enough leverage to get things sorted on that front…I still think he would have been the perfect fit, which isn’t to suggest that Rice can’t get it done here
my greatest hope is that this signing, if completed, ushers in a new era for the club when it comes to our transfer pursuits…sadly it took two fucking decades for us to come good on our new stadium promises…better late than never, I guess
on a side note. “Arsenal have until Friday to secure the future of the Premier League’s youngest player Ethan Nwaneri, with Chelsea and Manchester City waiting in the wings to sign the teenager if he opts not to stay with the Gunners”…it would be rather embarassing if we didn’t retain this player who’s clearly talented and highly valued by a plethora of top clubs…you can’t claim to have a world-class youth-based initiative if you can’t even retain your top drawer prospects
Correction—I was under the mistaken impression that MA was looking to bring in Timber to play first and foremost at RB, as that was being bandied about when his name first appeared on our wishlist…when you have a looksee at his profile page, RB is listed as his 1st alternate position and he will undoubtedly provide some cover for White while Tomi is still on IR, but it’s clear that he’s here for the purposes of upgrading our CB depth behind Saliba…as such, I like this move substantially more than I did at first blush, as squad depth on one’s backline is absolutely crucial when you’re trying to compete on multiple fronts, especially after what transpired with Saliba late last season…in a perfect world, a cheaper and more experienced option would have moved the needle a little more for me personally, but finding a defender who fit the above profile and was similarly talented is easier said than done…my bad…trust me I’ll do better in the future
TRVL
No way we spend £40 odd million on a back up CB even with more games next season and you can’t have a backline switching up players every couple matches.
There was some noise around Gabriel and interest in him from Italy – I might be putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5 but £40 million as backup?
Welcome to the club Kai…we can only hope you will provide us with a CL-winning goal in due course…I know that might seem like a tough ask, but if you can recapture some of your Bayer magic it just might be within reach…feel free to leave your most recent bad habits and troubling form at the front door!!
Marc-I would just say that he’s a RCB who can play at RB, so it’s more likely he’s a two position cover piece who likewise fits the age profile…now there’s no doubt that there was some considerable rumblings regarding Gabs this time last year but not near the same noise leading up to this window…Kiwor fits the script more as a Gabs backup/replacement, as we know how much MA loves guys playing on the side of the field that best suits their dominant foot…that said, we did see Kiwor come in and replace a struggling Holding at RCB, so anything is possible…frankly I would hope if we were intending to move Gabs we would be targeting a defender who was a highly talented and experienced LCB, but commonsensical decisions aren’t always a given with this duo in charge
TRVL
I just can’t see how we spend the amount of money (plus the wages no one’s going to sign for a £40 million fee and take £60k per week) for him to be on the bench regularly and I don’t think you can rotate a back 4 as much as other positions.
On the other hand Arteta thinks he’s the second coming so anything’s possible.
Marc-I do agree with you from a numbers perspective, but when you want to go head-to-head with the big boys you’ve simply got to make significant investments in your rotational players, especially in key positions…maybe this is actually a sign that we’ve turned the proverbial corner…as you know I’ve been incredibly cynical about our prospects with MA at the helm, but I’ve likewise said all along that the key to overcoming this situation is to acquire the kind of players who can take things to another level, in spite of Arteta’s obvious shortcoming…the big question now is are the incoming players those “kind” of elite level game-changers…they certainly have the potential, considering who’s already on our current squad, but it really won’t be known until we find a way to score more against the likes of City and not cock-up games in the business end of the season
as a final note, after all the talk surrounding what exactly led to our late season shit show, there seemed to be some concensus that Saliba’s injury and our lack of a viable alternative was the definitive factor, thus the heavier than expected investment in Timber…now this might not be the right course of action, but it’s got to be better than what we’ve done in the past, which usually involved either acquiring a shitty player or sitting on our hands and hoping for the best
Welcome to the club Declan…here’s hoping that you’ve come to the Emirates with the sole purpose of becoming an incredibly dominant engine room player for a team looking to compete for and win some serious hardware in the coming years…there’s no doubt that you’ve shown the kind of leadership that we’ve been lacking here for some time now, unless you were a fan of the red card/middle finger armband approach of our hopefully soon to be departed Swiss miss, so don’t hesitate to grab our resident emotional glue babies, Gabs and Zinchenko, by the scruff whenever necessary…finally, try not to worry too much about the whole highest homegrown transfer fee albatross, which will undoubtedly be placed around your neck, as it’s a fool’s game to expend too much energy on those things you can’t control…onwards and upwards
Sink or Swim Window
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I echo putting out the welcoming mat for Kai and Declan and even more so that Mikel has got his men where any excuses for next season issues won’t be accepted in this quarter.
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I agree Timber shores up our RB/RCB with White nicely. White tends to run out of gas after 60minutes at RB, so I can see some rotation for RB but only when Saliba needs a rest to play CB.
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It’s not the numbers so much but the lack of negotiating nous that played into Sullivan and Brady’s hands as the controlled the leverage and we have Declan to blame for that. He could have stepped in earlier to seal the deal, but his loyalty was to West Ham: I hope the lad shows us the same courtesy when and if he moves on. I believe he will.
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Can Declan become Mr. Arsenal? If the price is anything to go by, then yes he will, as our most expensive player. I also don’t think the pressure of his price will bother him; how Arteta tries to use him might, though. Junior and I watched him quite a bit last season and he can pivot into 8/10 when he makes his runs from our half, but he’s ungainly in his stride and not fleet of foot, as one needs to be in that position – more Xhaka like than say ESR or Trossard who both defend well when needed.
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We no longer need Holding with Rice also being a CB.
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It’s easier to see how Rice is going to be employed at 6 but how does Kai fit into Mikel’s intricate jigsaw puzzle of plays?
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I don’t see KH as an 8, but a 10 back up, yes. False 9 and 9 yes he can play, and he has enough pace to go wide left when interchanging with our attack. Kia has the requisite technical skills to be successful in the opposition’s final third, but expect Pepe’s levels of defending, as Kia doesn’t like the physicality of defending and another Ozil like cupcake.
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Mikel said he has five roles for Kai, so he’s going to be busy and probably confused. Kai also needs to toughen up and add a bit of bulk to his overall muscular frame although he looks like an ectomorph to me, so very difficult for him to add muscle.
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Mikel loves to play his shiny new toys, so I would hate Kai to be in front of ESR, and I hope Emile has a great pre-season. ESR is better than Havertz just younger and needs regular minutes to shine.
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If we get Timber then we need to address the LB cover for KT and buy Lavia as MF back up or buy similar. Vieira needs to go out on a PL/Championship loan and be judged on that next summer.
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All in all the window is being kind to us and CL football is a magnet to quality footballers. Will we be stronger at the end of the window? That depends on the outgoings and who else after Timber A&E bring in.
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I hope lessons were learnt by Mr. Lewes/Edu and Mr. Garlick. Never negotiate without leverage and a sound strategy, and next season is already looking like it’s shaping up for Mikel & Edu.
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I’d say this coming season is all or nothing for Edu & Mikel – sink or swim?
Alright Tony,
Rice is certainly a statement of intent. I’m sure Arsenal as a club, will be now being viewed around Europe as serious contenders.
We’ll need to see how well the new signings blend in but I’m already getting excited for the new season.
Bob
We have to accept what we have and be pragmatic about it. Would I have preferred Caicedo and Jude Bellingham or a few 8s around Jude’s level or the next Jude, absolutely, but I feel Rice will bust a gut to lay a claim to Arsenal folklore, whereas Caicedo’s loyalty is to money and prestige first. We’ll lose money on Rice at that fee, but would have made a profit on Caicedo after 2 to 3 years.
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I’m positive because Havertz is a 50/50 gamble that could go either way, but if it went wrong it would be Havertz not fitting the system or having enough self belief that’s been hacked away at at the Chavs. If Kai really gets his belief and self awareness within the squad, he could dare I say it a modern Alan Smith; from the way he acted when Potter left, I’d say he had a lot of class many Chav players didn’t.
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Not sure I share the same excitement as you, Bob, but my curiosity has seriously spiked as to the next phase 2.11.0 or whatever process part comes next. Guinness book of records should keep an eye on Arteta and his phases of the process; will it surpass the next level is the next level?
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So many curiosities begins on August 12 v Forrest or even with the charity shield. Forget the silly shield just beating City would be a great omen for the rest of the season for inner belief.
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We’re feeding off the top table again, so it’ll take time to adapt being with the adults again, Sullivan not included because his table manners are not good enough, nor his club’s credit rating to buy elite priced players. He’s more comfortable around the £40m table.
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I think it all depends what you consider ‘serious contenders’ is really. One swallow does not constitute a summer, although in another circumstance it could be thought of as a eureka moment – to show that I can see other sides too, Bob. I think when we’ve bought a couple more £100m+ then The RM’s, BM’s and Barca’s will see us more as a player than the pawn we’ve been for decades.
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Certainly in the right ascendance and I’m sure heads will be turning, as we’ve given Pep a bloodied nose in the process. We will have learnt from a business side, too. All in all, a good week building momentum where my hope is we keep the TW machine rolling getting all our players in for pre-season, which would be a first, for a very long time.
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Would be silly to slow down and go back to our old methods, now. Time for A&E to stand up and be counted for the whole transfer Window.
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Then the real work begins for Mikel.
Hopefully this could be the first crack in the City dominance. Let’s not forget Guardiola has stated he’ll leave in two years. This introduces an uncertainty that has not been there for years.
WtF
https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/28/arsenal-news-eni-aluko-claims-shes-been-proved-right-over-declan-rice-19033956/?ico=mosaic_sport
Forcing the owner to up the game and go for it,, she says.
I say this shit just costs us 5 million plus more considering 100 million was WH asking price at which they would sell promptly if accepted,
What are the consequences ?
MB – a good article on the Saudi’s – not many writers have ventured into this space – yet.
The Saudi’s have a plan for high profile global sport and the Saudi league will not be their offering for football – it is only the start.