No worries. I get the wanting of certain players gone. For me, it'd be Xhaka, Ozil and Mkhitaryan too. The others are probably hitting their level, no matter that it'l a low one. The 3 I've named, just don't seem to give a ****.
You missed out the cretin that is Mustafi. Ornstein said on 5live tonight that we've tried to get rid of him practically every transfer window since he's been at the club. Emery has also made it clear that he's not in his plans. Mustafi knows he isn't wanted at the club, yet he's leeching off us on his £90k per week. If we can't shift him this Summer, I'd rather we at least loan him out or stick him in the reserves. No point having a demotivated player on the pitch, who is already rubbish as it is.
There was talk last week of Xhaka being made captain...can only guess it's the usual ITK bollocks...but would be funny as if it were true!
I think part of the issue is that our forward line has been unbalanced. The DESK is a wonderful four players and have produced great games on their day but they aren’t four forwards who fit into a proper system. With Son/Kane/Moura as a 3 up top you have two wide players who can go past a man outside or cut in regardless of whether they play on the left or right, a 9 who can lead the line for a cross or drop off to let player run off him, ultimately it’s a lot of flexibility and rotation. It’s our future. We have too many players who want to play in the same areas of the pitch right now and it’s one of the reasons why I’m chilled selling one of Eriksen or Alli leave (probably the former) if we get a good fee to reinvest in strong CM options, a RB and backup wide players, at least two of those we look imminently likely to address. With Arsenal, they just seem to have ****ed up the squad composition and have players on wages that mean they just can’t shift. Defence and midfield are a real worry. If I was playing fantasy football I’d be tempted to flog Lacazette while I still could and reinvest the fee in building a better squad. It’s a big job though, surely two FBs, a CB and CM are the least that’s needed and that’s just for the starting XI.
Given the ages of Koscielny, Monreal and Sokratis and the inexperience of Mavropanos, he probably reckons he'll get game time, unless you buy a replacement who isn't going straight out on loan. He played 31 PL games last season, joint top appearance record with Leno (I looked it up). You're paying Aubameyang over £80k pw not to play in the CL, you could subsidise Mustafi's wages to play for someone else but it could bite you on the ass if you run out of alternatives? If someone beats him to death, you could collect the insurance?
There's two ways of looking at this. On one hand, you could be right. Koscielny has recently received a two-year contract offer from Lyon and he's recently had talks with Arsenal over whether he wants to see out his contract or whether he wants to leave. If he does go, that's one less centre-half in the squad. Mavrapanos is also likely to go on loan due to his rustiness since coming back from injury. So that's another one gone. Meanwhile, if we do somehow find a way of getting Tierney to sign, my guess would be one of Monreal or Kolasinac are gone, as it makes little sense to keep all 3 in the squad. On the other hand, we have Holding, Sokratis and Chambers, who I believe are all in the pecking order ahead of Mustafi. If we do somehow stump up the funds for another centre-half, as Saliba is likely to go back on loan to St.Etienne for a year & I'm sure we will make some money from player sales, then he's even further behind. Also, Mustafi knows the club AND the fans don't want him there. Why would he expect game time when he is such an unpopular figure internally and with the fans too? 'Over £80k pw'? You know that Aubameyang is earning £200k per week, right? He's our second-highest earner after Mesut Ozil. As for Mustafi's wages being subsidised, well, I'd rather that happen than see him in an Arsenal shirt even if we did have an injury crisis. I'd rather we play some of our youth academy players there than Mustafi. Let's face it, if you have a shortage of defenders through injury and you see Mustafi is available, it's not exactly awe-inspiring stuff. Yes. I would 100% trust a 19-year old, 6'4 youth product Zech Medley, with no first-team appearances, over a German international World Cup winner. Sounds crazy when you put it like that.
I hope Ed Woodward doesn't take this to mean "Attempt to gazump every Spurs target under the sun" like the club used to do when they were capable of qualifying for the Champions League every season... https://www.manchestereveningnews.c.../man-utd-tottenham-ndombele-transfer-16488362
You expect them to try and drive the prices up at the minimum (partly influenced by below) . Gazump ?? That depends on your club being able to 'sell the story' to a player. The only story Man Utd currently have is wages, given their CL participation has basically been a "coin toss" since the reign of Fergie.
No he isnt! You don't get quite how mental your club went when you signed him and Mkhitaryan. You pay him that £80k pw CL bonus ON TOP OF the £200,000 pw basic he gets...whether or not you qualify for the CL. It was £2.26m for just half a season - the full rate that he got last season and gets next is £4.2m per season, on top of the basic £200k....CL qualification or not.....well not, really. So he actually gets £280k pw without kicking a ball. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...receives-50-000-Arsenal-match-starts-win.html That's why you're contemplating ****ing him off - he's on a deal no sane club would have signed, especially one heading for the EL. Read it and weep....
Jeez, that is effectively another Ozil, on both age and wages. If they cannot deliver you CL participation, they are bleeding you dry. China silly money for them or bust, methinks.
The end of Wenger's reign was like the last days of the Roman Empire. Anything was fair game, if they thought that it might deliver 4th or a EL win. Deals were signed that were insane and have crippled them. They didn't work and now, it's time to pay the bills and it's going to hurt.
I hadn't seen that before. Yowzer. That is really something. Wenger and Gazidis really wanted to leave the club with a bang, didn't they? The only positive is, unlike Ozil, at least Aubameyang has delivered for us on the pitch.
Oh, yes. It's little wonder that you're predicted to make a £70m loss from last season. His job was to deliver CL football...the outcome could be nothing less, given the expenditure. Having come up short twice, the gamble looks to be one that the club are considering bringing to an end before his transfer value starts to plummet. At the right price, there will be takers but I doubt that you'll get more than you paid for him and he'll want paying to go...
Apparently AC Milan are putting together a bid for Lucas Torreira, who wants to return to Italy after saying he enjoys "almost nothing" about life in England. It just keeps getting better
A basic "zero sum" game means if they cost X in wages, then selling for (Y - X) means a year from now you still made Y. The question is, what value of Y are they prepared to sell him for, given that Y decreases annually while X does not.
You may want to relax with this, CK, for two reasons. 1) AC Milan are in trouble due to FFP breaches and are unable to spend significant money hence why they are looking to sell Donnarumma to PSG for €45m. They need cash. Urgently. They were planning on a 'two-year loan with an obligation to buy' for Torreira where, at the end of the loan, we would receive a €38m fee. Arsenal told them not to bother. Ornstein has also confirmed that Arsenal will not entertain offers for Torreira and he has not told anyone that he is unhappy at the club. 2) Torreira was asked about this recently and these are his words: "Nobody from AC Milan has got in touch with me, today I’m in the Premier League and happy to be part of the Arsenal" "It cost me the adaptation, it’s not easy, but I only think about that team. "I’m happy to be there."
They've just ****ed off the FFP thing by asking not to play in the Europey, but I doubt that changes anything. "We'd like one of your best players, but we can't afford him. Can we loan him for peanuts, please?" **** off, Milan. What is it with Italian clubs and ludicrous loans? Every team in Serie A is a convoluted mess of them.
Nottingham Forest sacked Martin O'Neill and then replaced him within 18 minutes! I suspect that they may have already contacted ex-Rennes manager Sabri Lamouchi beforehand. Just a feeling that I've got...
I have no idea why they thought we would even bother considering a bid like that. It's the same with Inter Milan wanting to spend £9m on a loan fee for Lukaku, despite United spending £75m on him just two years ago. What are they smoking over there in Milan?
