Well, West Ham’s Conference League quest is over, they won a trophy after 58 years. And I’m pretty sure Daniel Levy would have got David Moyes at Spu*s if they already haven’t appointed a manager. Talk about the best club in north London, eh?
Anyways, talk of the town is, Arsenal have the bid ready for Declan Rice. West Ham chairman Sullivan confirmed Rice will leave them as part of a gentlemen’s agreement. Rice is pretty insistent on leaving, rejecting their 200k/week wages 18 months back. Player want to leave, club do not want to hold him ransom and there’s a club in the same city offering good money and wages. Mostly, it gets done. Sometimes, Mudryk happens.
What does it mean to us?
First, we need a better midfield. We are going to play in Champions League and except Partey, no one else’s absence would make any significance difference. Rice is an automatic starter if he joins us. With two competitions, ideally we need a Partey back up (Caicedo?), and a Xhaka’s replacement (Rice? if he can play the advanced no. 8 role). We would have Jorginho in the mix to rest any of these three. We need to forget about Elneny and Lokonga.
At the very least, we need these 2 additions. I don’t mind if we get one of these and a cheaper option. Mind you, we got Partey in 45million.
Second, Fabrizio reports that Xhaka’s move to Leverkusen is apparently done and is waiting for Arsenal to bring in a midfielder. Who deputises him? Vieira? I don’t see him doing what Xhaka does and trust me, I’m not really a fan of Xhaka. Lokonga will be back from loan but I doubt he will make it at Arsenal anymore. He had bad games, went on loan, didn’t really impress anyone and now coming back in a team which is much better and competitive than he left. Patino and Azeez? Arteta doesn’t really believe in grooming youngsters so let’s leave it at that.
Third, with over 80m pounds each for 2 players, our chances of getting a goal-scoring poacher at CF will be gone. I would keep Balogun to compete with Eddie and Jesus and pick the best of the 3 for the 2 competitions we are in. Both Trossard and Martinelli can play up top so it’s not really a burning problem as of now.
And at last, bringing Rice and/or Caicedo puts us in the same bracket for which we have been criticizing others. We are buying players for 100m pounds, offering 21 years old salaries in the range of 200k-300k/week. Only thing that differentiates us, will be the 115 charges not put on us. It’s a change that’s against the Arsene Wenger’s principles but we haven’t really won much on those principles lately, have we? I’m taking the bitter pill and ignoring the money we are spending, if it means we win something. Let the Brightonians and Dortmund do the grooming part and we concentrate on winning.
Bonus – this should be a result oriented season. No nonsense of not defining the targets, no crying about money and players, no complaints about who didn’t water their ground. Arteta is in his 4th full season, and coming up short by 8 points won’t going to be a valid excuse. Pochettino was a great manager at Spu*s but he won fuck all and lost in a Champions League final. He was sacked.
If I was Stan, I will give the bag of money and hope Edu and Arteta returns it back with a trophy in it.
Ambarish-clearly the revamped look has inspired you to up your posting game…Cheers to that
Tony-agreed…what else could Rice possibly say in the eye of the Cup storm except that nothing is impossible when it comes to his immediate future…as predicated though, Sullivan quickly took a huge steaming dump all over any such possibilities by confirming this morning that Rice will in fact be moving elsewhere…not sure it’s a given that he’ll be landing at the Emirates, even though much of the talk supports that notion, especially when you really consider the other options…the one thing we have going for us is that we can provide selection assurances, in whatever position he most prefers, which isn’t realistically the case for either United or Bayern…that said, I did read a rather apropos tweet this morning, following Rice’s comment about his desire to win more silverware, which simply stated that if that’s truly his number one priority why the fuck would he come our way…what a well-deserved kick in the junk for our franchise who, in more recent times, knows far more about cocking shit up than finding a way
although I’m starting to come around to the idea of Rice being a direct Xhaka replacement, as I think his physicality/size in advanced spaces could supply us with something different, I’m still squarely on the fence, in light of the investment required for another potential shoehorning experiment by our manager…personally I would much prefer a 3-pack that included Caicedo, Barella and Xavi Simons, as they would provide a plethora of tactical/positional options, take our high pressing to an elite level and open up some much-needed space for the likes of Saka, Marts and Ode…Barella might be the toughest ask, depending on what transpires this weekend, but if they lose in a one-sided affair that door just might open a crack
just when I was having a rethink about our ownership situation, on the heels of a couple active windows and talk of a 200M ttansfer kitty this summer, all of a sudden there’s a lot of chatter about the potential return of the “self-sufficient” model…now I’m not so sure what to fucking think
TRVL
They can shove self sufficient as it’ll finally turn me off The Arsenal. Enough is enough for 50 years being the paupers while Manure and pother paid £30m for players while we were paying 10 to £15m in the bargain basements.
The Arsenal has too match my achievements for the club now or that’s me done. Self sustainability sounds like a model to keep Arteta ta the club and always be the club that nearly did but just couldn’t , such as last season.
I hate losing. I am sure there are many Gooners who feel the same. At some point enough is enough. Self sustainability will be the ‘enough’ for me the same as the super league Stan wanted would have been the final straw.
Fortunately, I have studios to build and a European business and properties to deal with later this year. The Arsenal will become lower on my priorities, which from what we are currently witnessing won’t be a bad thing.
Good post Ambarish.
Tony
Outside of the likes of City currently and Chelsea back in the Abramovich days all clubs run on a self sufficient basis – even Newcastle are looking at having to make sure they don’t cross over FFP lines.
If you are making millions you’ll have millions to spend. If the club are tightening the screw its because Arteta has spent over €450,000,000 (number from Transfermarkt) and has only just managed to get CL football.
The real quesition is how can someone who has spent so much having inherited Saka, Martnelli, Tierney, Gabriel and Saliba have spent so much to accomplish so little?
Marc
In my angst I was referring to the FFP, but not being adhered to where I’m not so sure City are going to get anywhere near the punishment that fits the severity of the 100+ infringements City is being pursued for as per the press.
If all clubs were to trade in the confines of their financials, then I’d have no problem with us keeping within the status quo of self sustaining clubs in the FA. However, human nature being what it is will always have clubs being less than disingenuous with their final massaged accounts.
I read somewhere that the Qatari lawyers no shortage of of financial backing to legally tie the FA up for years. I mean the FA are looking into a country owning a club.
Football is nothing compared to what it was way back when. The human emotion element is being drained out of the game for money and bragging rights between countries now.
How does the FA and UEFA govern these clubs with unlimited resources? Unsuccessfully, is the answer.
Football is fast becoming unpalatable for me with the lack of level playing fields governed incorrectly. I think what I’m saying here, Marc, is that unless the FFP is properly upheld and other FA law breakers dealt with in a manner befitting the rule breaking – even if it means relegation for 2 years.
The FA has to stand up and be counted and ask for help from the Legal justice system to stem the systemic rule financial rule infractions by a small minority of clubs, or is it far wider?
When you consider Tony Bloom and his approach to football finances where it’s easy to see how getting the best players doesn’t need breaking FFP rules.
I haven’y looked into it, but if RM & Barca are over a billion each in debt, the how are they able to continue buying players?
Tony
I agree but I’ve heard the FA is under a huge amount of pressure from Arsenal, Spuddies, ManU, Liverpool even Chelsea to push FFP otherwise Newcastle will blow everyone including City out of the water.
Hopefully we see some change.
As for Barca – apparently they’ve had to pull out of signing some free agents because they can’t afford the wages. Madrid are a law unto themselves – remember the training ground?
Nice post Ambarish
Tongue -in-cheek too. Good appetisers today ?
Maddison is being poached by Newcastle, it’s Bruno Guimaress written all over it.
as per usual we’re a messy bitch in the rumour mill, but when it comes to the more reputable outlets it’s 90% Rice chatter and not much else…not sure if I’m a big fan of the whole eggs in one basket approach, especially considering the potential for complications and our typically snail’s pace transactional model…the newest red flag being the rumoured notion that the Hammers might want ESR as part of the deal…anyone who knows Moyes isn’t surprised whatsoever that a player swap might be in the offing…not a fan of this possibility except that if MA has no intention of playing him anyways, why not allocate the funds saved on the Rice deal towards a player who will actually see the fucking pitch…tough pill to swallow though if he comes good sooner rather than later, especially after being such a revelation the year prior to last, before his subsequent ghosting
as for any other blips on the transfer radar, it’s mostly the usual suspects, like Caicedo, Fresneda, Gundogan and Cancelo…the only new chatter revolves around 3 players, Simons, Jorginho and Havertz…the former was explaining the somewhat unusual nature of the supposed PSG buy-back clause, which seemed to be more of a handshake gig with his present club…whereas the Jorginho talk centers around the possibility of him joining Lazio…certainly not beyond the realm of possibility, in light of his obvious connections, but his prohibitive wages could be a significant stumbling block…ultimately it might just be a fruitless dot connecting exercise by those looking for SMS clickbait…as for the out of left field Havertz nonsense, not sure why he would be anywhere near our radar, especially knowing the ridiculous fee attached and his uninspiring play this past season…I was a big proponent of his during his Bundesliga days, as his size v. touch metrics were off the charts, but I never like watching a player give up on his team, regardless of the circumstances…I get it though, he’s only 23, which makes him an enticing project, but not sure he makes any sense on our particular squad
TRVL
Mikel is shrewd, he knows how not to mess up the support. Selling ESR will cause a disrupt, he is our no 10 who saved his career at one point. He is not going anywhere.
Other blogs are writing about it because it’s generating clicks and sensation. And they are justifying in advance any odd decisions from Mikel, if in case it happens!
Fresnade is probably gone. Gundagon agent is probably doing this Arsenal thing to improve his contract.
Rice and Caicedo are the only news with some credibility.
If I write an article about why ‘Saliba may not sign for us’, I’m sure it will generate 10x traffic. Football dot London is making some serious money on the back of ‘may be’ and ‘speculations’.
Ambarish-shrewd wouldn’t be a term I would ascribe to our present manager…let’s face it, if you truly favour a player what transpired with ESR, especially late in the season, wouldn’t have happened…this isn’t to suggest he doesn’t rate him whatsoever, it just means I don’t think he’s anywhere near an untouchable asset…the very fact that he took a 35M flyer on such a coin toss proposition like Vieira suggests just how little faith he had in ESR, after all Vieira was being deployed by his former club in the very same positions as ESR…the only shrewdness in this equation could be the fact that ESR was part of the mix all along, but instead of announcing that outright, thereby rankling his supporters unnecessarily, he kept it under wraps until just such a time as it would seem like a potentially reasonable move in order to acquire his number one priority
as for Fresneda and Gundogan, I mostly agree with your sentiments, in that if the former’s transfer fee was substantially lowered, due to his team’s relegation status, there’s little chance one of the spanish big boys wouldn’t snatch him up first…as for Gundogan, it’s a little trickier, as the Barca stumbling block is clearly about wage demands, so unless his real goal is to land in Paris, this wouldn’t be a very savvy stategical move…the amount of chatter in his regards is likely due to his attractive contractual status and a whole heaping of recency bias
TRVL
I meant exactly this –
“the only shrewdness in this equation could be the fact that ESR was part of the mix all along”
Ode is his favorite. Vieira starts ahead of ESR. He will get the odd matches and minutes, but never the trust Ode or Xhaka got. But he can’t be dumb enough to stirr the fanbase by letting him leave. English loves one of their own, ESR is a fan favourite and from academy. And on top of that, he delivered whenever he was there in the team. It would mess up Arteta’s image at least in a small fan section.
Ambarish-“he can’t be dumb enough to stir the fanbase”
I think you might be overestimating how much MA actually cares about those within the fanbase, as all sorts of things have transpired along the way which had the potential to be far more problematic than the issue at hand…be careful not to equate his PR-dependent managerial model with some sort of overwhelming desire to appease the fans…this is done largely for selfish purposes, not for the greater good, as he’s used the media to manipulate opinions by packaging/shaping a variety of disingenuous narratives so as to shift blame in whatever direction best suits his given agenda
in this particular case, he could easily say that he wasn’t interested in including ESR but when it became increasingly obvious that the Hammers weren’t moving forward without his inclusion he was forced into making a decision that he felt was in the club’s best interests…then stories would be leaked about ESR’s injury history and that some in-house, but unnamed, experts were concerned about his long-term viability etc…following which there would be some well-placed chatter about how those “saved” monies helped us immeasurably to secure the services of player X; in fact, the reports might even suggest that if we hadn’t sacrificed ESR the deal would have never materialized(regardless if there was a truthful account)
if this was a truthful account or not
Ambarish
“If I write an article about why ‘Saliba may not sign for us’, I’m sure it will generate 10x traffic.”
The guy’s been in negotiations for months, hasn’t signed yet, the talk is we’re offering pathetic money (I know £120k per week is a lot to us) and he’s down to a year or less on his contract.
Writing a piece on it isn’t shit stirring, looking to generate clicks or any other bullshit.
Its asking a genuine question of why he hasn’t signed.
TRVL
You missed off stories about “questionable behaviour” that can’t be backed up.
Marc-I certainly didn’t forget all that nonsense, I just felt it was implied when i spoke of “disingenuous narratives” Cheers
Marc
It was just an example, may be a wrong one in current scenario but this ESR non-sense is just a sensationalize news.
ESR is not going anywhere, not for 35m.
Selling Partey would have been a better example.
Ambarish-first and foremost, Partey wouldn’t have fit this particular script…I get that many people, like myself, were talking about the possibility of ESR leaving in this window, so it could been viewed as easy fodder for clickbait “journalists”…I likewise get that our club and it’s manager appeared to suggest that this wasn’t on the table, but maybe just maybe they’ve learned from their past mistakes, in that they’ve hurt players’ market values by airing their dirty laundry or future plans in the public sphere…this would make total sense with ESR as his value has clearly taken a hit due to his glaring lack of minutes and/or production, so it would be in their best interests to dispute any such notion…just saying
Morning all
Every year I say I won’t let the transfer window bullshit wind me up and every year I get wound up by it.
If its going to happen the Rice deal should now be able to happen quite quickly, we start screwing about and letting it drag on and we all know what that means for our summer.
Marc
Amen to that.
Saliba clearly sees a great future at Arsenal! Wonderful news, now get Caceido and Rice in and let the fun begin.
It’ll be intimidating in the tunnel lining up against us, just like the ‘good old days’ with Vieira et al!
Bob,
I am celebrating that with new post 😉