Edu and the rest of the management have done extremely well to get our 3 key targets signed before the US tour. Looking forward to seeing the other two's debuts next week.
Reports tonight that Partey has agreed personal teams with a club in Saudi Arabia. If this is true, then we will be losing our midfield axis that served us well for most of last season. Xhaka and Partey were huge players for us. If they both leave (Xhaka already has), I do wonder who we will get to replace the Ghanaian and whether that impacts team dynamics.
I think Rice is Partey’s direct replacement. For that 6 role we have Rice, Jorgihno, Elneny and I saw Lakonga sitting next to Rice in the announcement video. Staying?
That can't be true. These options make us weaker than last season. We need to bolster the quality of our squad. Losing Xhaka and Partey, and Rice is the only replacement? This would be a monumental risk. Even if we assume Havertz is replacing Xhaka, that still makes us weaker in the midfield areas.
This worries me. If Partey goes I hope we try and get Lavia. But even then it's a big shift in the dynamics of our midfield.
Havertz was the Xhaka replacement. Rice the Partey replacement. Not sure that makes us weaker. I think it makes us stronger because Rice is far more consistent than Partey. Then compared to starting last season we have Jorgihno plus ESR fully fit. it would be nice to get one more midfielder in but not sure it will happen unless we can sell Balogun.
Rice is better than Partey, but we don't know what we're doing with Havertz yet and even if we deploy him in midfield, the jury is out on his competence to perform that role. We really need another midfielder coming in if Partey leaves.
Ok so if Rice is better than Partey, we're much better in the 6 position compared to the start of last year because we have also signed Jorginho. In terms of Havertz, I think we all agree it is a risk, but do you think we'll sign a player because we took a risk on Havertz? It's more likely we'll wait and see if he can perform as he did with Leverkusen... and even if he doesn't we have ESR also who hardly played last year. Personally, I think we're about to go through a period of selling between now and the end of the window - Partey, Balogun, Holding, Cedric, maybe Lakonga, Tavares, Trusty, Pepe.
We've upgraded one position, but we haven't upgraded the other. That doesn't make us stronger (yet) imo. Regarding Havertz, look, we don't know what we'll do with him, but we still need better depth in midfield. Jorginho is ok as a squad option but he shouldn't be starting much at all. And Elneny will barely be featuring at all this season because we only gave him a contract extension to provide stability for him to recover from his injury. You mention ESR, but again, Arteta barely utilised him last season even when he came back from injury. And when he was playing, he was playing on the left of a front 3, almost like an inside forward. Moving him to an 8 role would be unchartered territory. So, for me, we definitely need another CM.
One thing for sure , it's going to be very interesting to see how the positions pan out. My biggest hope this year on the playing side is actually ESR. He was given the 10 shirt and was slated for that Am role, but injuries have hampered him. His contribution is again an unknown for us going into this season. I think the team is looking very strong right now and in terms of first , second 11's I think it will be: please log in to view this image
My gut feeling is that although this squad is good enough to qualify for the CL again, it’s not good enough to win the title.
But still lacking a decent striker which could be a problem if not sorted Sadly Jesus isn't a striker, his return is poor, and Nketiah certainly isn't a striker. Trossard is probably a better striker than both. Arteta looks to be a big fan of Jesus so will probably play him irrespective Still think Balogun should be given a chance just to see what he can do, otherwise buy.
Dont agree. Jesus is a top striker and Nketiah a very worthy backup. Trossard is a back up and will remain so as hes way off Jesus, Saka and Martinelli. Scored 1 goal for us. That was a very disappointing return when we rely on all forwards scoring. I would say Trossard is the weakest striker option of all our forwards including Nelson. The idea that Arteta will play a favourite at the expense of the team is idiotic.
If I'm honest I hate this midfield combo. No Partey or Xhaka and suddenly this is looking lightweight, lacking physicality and easy to bully. I would love to see..... ---Rice------------Partey-----------Odegaard--- I would happily give up a little attacking flair for a more defensive but solid/aggressive setup. If Partey does leave then I think we are going to have to replace him with another top quality midfielder or we hav'nt really moved forward at all. Also Tierney won't start ahead of Zinchenko. In fact I think he doesn't fit the current system at all.Our Fullbacks are either inverting or essentially an extra CB. He doesn't really fit either role.
Seems like it's only a matter of time before this happens. As I've said, losing two vital midfield players from last season could be too much change, which is my worry. If Partey is on the cusp of leaving, we seriously need to have a replacement ready IMO. Havertz-Rice-Odegaard isn't as strong or as balanced as the Xhaka-Partey-Odegaard triumvirate.
Bit surprised by this as he was very highly rated at the club and did look promising, but I guess he is 21 and wants to play regularly. Makes sense. Hope we can get a decent fee with a buyback clause of some sort.
The Athletic reporting that Inter will offer €40m for Balogun. I think we should be looking at €50m or a sizeable sell-on clause/buy-back clause. €40m is a reasonable first offer though.
