Tbh I’m not bothered if we go for loan deals to fill gaps. Especially at CB where we need improvements. I’m not sure what truth there is to our budget. The club has denied the figures being thrown around but then all of our deals have focused on instalments etc rather than big amounts up front.
Ornstein is saying that Edu met with the Rennes president in London the other day to sort a transfer out. Koscielny is adamant that he doesn't want to play for us again. I know his last couple of seasons were riddled with injuries and some poor mistakes, but he was one of my favourite Arsenal players post-2010. It's a damn shame his time at the club will end in such acrimonious circumstances. I do wonder how he will be viewed by many Arsenal fans after this whole episode is over with though. I wouldn't say he was a club legend, but he was certainly a very loyal player to us (up until the last few weeks of course) and played a crucial role in us ending our trophy-drought. He'll always be part of our history.
Koscielnly has been one of my favourite players at the club. But for me, he's sullied his reputation with us. Going on strike and refusing to go on tour, especially as captain is really unprofessional.
Koscielny is irrelevant to me at this point. (really any of our defenders are) I won’t look too negatively at his actions because I just think he is well passed it, so I will remember him for the positive moments. If he had done this 3-4 years ago I would have put him in the same category as Adebayor, Nasri, RVP etc.
I always liked Koscielny but I also have always felt we over-rated him. In my eyes he only had 1.5 Seasons where he played at the top level. He's always been poor in the air, physically on the weak/small side but he's not afraid to get stuck in. He's no better than Vermaelen or Gallas (and doesnt come anywhere close to the level of guys like Campbell, Keown, Adams etc.)
What the **** is going on? Multiple sources claiming we are still chasing Zaha and prepared to pay 60m even though Pepe transfer is now finalised. I cant see a 442 working (and Pepe is more a FW than an Winger) in this day and age so God knows how Emery would accomodate them all. How about spending 60m on someone like Skrinar or Koulibali instead?
Ahh, the old 3-2-5 formation... Leno Bellerin Sokratis Tierney Torreira Ceballos Ozil Auba Laca Pepe Zaha
I dont believe the Zaha thing at this point. That has to be just paper talk. we would be quite dumb to spend major cash on another winger when we havent touched our defense. We just dont need him now that we have pepe.
Ok offensively we look goodish, can we sort out the defence now. we need two CBs as Kos is going and I do hope Mustafi ****s off as well - so how about us going for Cahill on a free ?
I was thinking actually. Pre-Ivan Gazidis Arsenal were making big moves in the transfer market. Signing alot of TOP qaulity talents. Once Dein left and Gazidis took over our ability to land our No.1 targets went dramatically down. Think of all the 'nearly' signings over the last 10-14 years. Now that he has left the Club our signings have improved again. With Raul bringing in guys like Pepe and Auba..it's becoming quite clear Gazidis was **** at his job.
Sanllehi is a gangsta in the transfer market. He's knows it inside out and he has the contacts and networks from working at Barca for 15 years, who lets face it signed the very best players in the world. Gazidis and Law said they wouldn't work with certain agents, well news flash, you want to sign the best players, you have to work with the agents. Plus Sanllehi looks like Danny De Vito so that makes him even cooler.
Weird rumour going round at the moment, Barca President said that "Coutinho has agreed to join an unnamed Premierleague club on loan" - Many supporters seem to think its either us or United. Great player - not sure where at all he fits in but would still happily take him.
Kike Marin (reliable Spanish journalist) said Barcelona know nothing about this. To be honest, it would be a bizarre, expensive and unnecessary move, given our options. Barcelona are also commanding a £28m-£30m loan fee for Coutinho! Which is obscene. We need to invest in Tierney + a new CB and I think we could have a decent season. Still feel like we lack a reliable back-up RB option, but it was unlikely we were going to fix all our problems this window, so we've done ok thus far. If we get Tierney and a CB, that's a 7.5/10 window for me.
