1. Desperation leads to taking risks. They desperately need CL football this season or face a situation which could lead to them being well behind 6 or 7 other teams for the foreseeable. 2. Money and more game time
He's a top player if a complete tosser. Bit peculiar how they're spending their money this window, investing in areas that don't urgently need investment. They already have 3 promising young CBs on their books but chose to bring in another one for £50m. They have an established GK but chose to spend a fortune on another one. They have Smith-Rowe and Saka developing in the roles Maddison tends to favour. The two areas I think they need to address with urgency are RB and ST. Their right back situation is almost as bad as ours while last season showed Aubameyang is very much a fading force while Lacazette has never really justified his fee.
Gonna disagree with a few points you've made here, CK. FWIW, I don't think we'll get Maddison because Leicester want upward of £75m and I just don't see us spending that on him. Nor do I think he's worth that much. However, the profile of player is what we need. Smith-Rowe has signed a new contract which is great news, but he's only been a first-team player for 6 months and, throughout his young career, has already suffered a lot of niggling injuries which have hampered him somewhat. One injury to ESR and we're screwed because we have no-one else that offers what he does. We need competition and rotation in that area. Who are the 3 promising CBs we have? Saliba's gone on loan to Marseille (which I don't agree with, but it's the reality so meh), Mavropanos is moving to Stuttgart permanently, Luiz (who was our best ball-playing CB) has gone, Holding should be a squad player and no more, Pablo Mari is a rotational option, Gabriel was hit and miss last season. I'd say a ball-playing CB is an area we need to invest in, especially with the options (or lack thereof) we have right now. I agree with you on the RB situation. I think the fact we've struggled to offload Bellerin shows that he's either not in demand enough or clubs aren't willing to spend £20m+ on him because they're uncertain on his quality. In any case, we need to offload players and we're struggling. I think it's a bit premature to say Aubameyang is a fading force, too. Aside from Arteta misusing him, coupled with our lack of chance creation as a team anyway, he had malaria last season and his mum went through some serious health difficulties which occupied his time. In spite of this, he still got 15 goals in what was a horrid season collectively, so I wouldn't say he's lost it just yet. Regardless of what you think of their quality, we have Balogun, Martinelli, Lacazette and Aubameyang as our striking options. Therefore I don't think it's an area we'll prioritise.
What are your thoughts on Lacazette? I’m always worried when he plays against us because I reckon he’s a good finisher but misused at Arsenal. You’ll have seen a lot more of him though. Agree on Maddison, he’s good but not 75m good and isn’t at the level Alli was at, when he was at his peak.
For the money we paid for Lacazette, he's been quite an underwhelming signing overall. I expected more. Particularly as he was meant to be an upgrade on Giroud. The latter of whom has been more impactful at Chelsea (played a pivotal role in their CL, EL & FA Cup triumphs). He's never scored more than 19 goals in a season and goes through phases in matches where he's anonymous. He's also missed some big chances for someone who was supposedly an ice-cold finisher in France. I also feel his lack of speed/lack of natural ability to break down low blocks can be problematic when he drops deep to receive the ball. Nor does he provide a counter attacking threat. But it's not been all bad. He's scored some big goals for us, generally does step up in most of the important games and all our younger players talk about what a fantastic influence he is in the dressing room. He isn't consistent enough though. I think you have a point where you suggest he wasn't the right fit for us. Like I said. We paid £50m for him back in 2017 (which was a club record fee) and he earns £183,000 a week. In that time, we've only won one FA Cup, reached one Europa League final and haven't got back into the Champions League for what is the 5th year running. The investment didn't pay off.
I think he was the wrong player to replace Giroud, for a variety of reasons. I don't see how he's supposed to work in a team with Aubameyang being the main one. They're not a natural pairing and putting either one out wide or deep neutralises a lot of their threat.
Interesting to note that Lacazette's arrival lead to Donyell Malen leaving Arsenal's youth system to join PSV. He's about to move to Dortmund for €30m to play alongside Haaland.
I feel like in Wenger's last few years, there wasn't a coherent strategy for our signings. We just started chucking money at certain names, rather than assessing the needs of the squad and seeing whether a player is a natural fit for what we want. Signing Aubameyang 6 months after signing Lacazette screamed of desperation and putting both of them in the same team unbalanced us. Which is why it ended up being one or the other being chosen. Lacazette is obviously a good striker, and he's shown at times what he's capable of, but signing him hasn't benefited either club or player.
<cough>DavidDein<cough> Enough to pay for about five days of Ozil or less than 1% of your new keeper!
Tbh I’d forgotten how much you’d paid for him, for that much money and the wage you’re right to expect more.
He's a London-born Chelsea fan who came through Watford's academy. Spent more time in Dortmund than Manchester, FFS.
I have to laugh at the United fans bleating about the Glazers not investing in the club. £73m on Sancho and Rafael Varane on the brink of a deal. £80m on Maguire, £60m on Fernandes and £50m on Wan Bissaka. They even spent £40m for Van der Beek to sit on the bench. They are so utterly full of entitled bullshit.
I am sure the first time Sancho falls over in the penalty area, the referee will be pointing to the spot quicker than a fart disappears in a hurricane.
Their neighbours are getting worse, since the tweet announcing Sonny's new contract is filled with Mansourites saying "So now you can sell us Kane" Note to self: if Gundogan sings a new contract, better pop on by to say "So you can sell us Foden" - which the club will no doubt love, given fan engagement is something money cannot buy...
