Hopefully he stays at Leicester. I've heard rumours that should the Vardy deal fall through, we'd be interested in signing Mikhytarian + getting one more attacker. I'd be far happier with that.
Quite simply you were wrong about Bent only having one 20+ season whilst playing in the PL. You should take your own advice and drop it, because the continued ranting has made you look a bit foolish.
If that scenario were to arise, then I'd be happier with that outcome. There are also some rumours about us trying to sign Mikhytarian and Mahrez too, if those additions came along with Vardy, then it would be a great window. Do you think we need to make any defensive signings too ? There's talk of Chambers going out on loan, if he does then I'd like to see us sign a CB too.
Standard are reporting that West Ham are in for Walcott for £25m. As long as we bring in another attacking player, then I think we should sell him.
Agreed. I would imagine the Mkhitarian or Mahrez deals hinge on weather Walcott leaves or not. Either of those players would give us FAR more than Walcott does. I would imagine Vardy is being considered as the replacement to the injured Wellback.
Some news outlets were reporting that Thomas Tuchel (Dortmund manager) is expecting to lose Mkhitaryan. The guy got 23 goals and 15 assists last season, which are outstanding figures for a wide player. If we get him to replace Walcott, that would be excellent business. I think it's unlikely Leicester would sell both Mahrez and Vardy in the same window. And even if they do, I doubt they'd sell both of them to us. They'd be total idiots to do so. CB is somewhere we definitely need to add numbers in. Mertesacker is 32 in a few months and he hinders the way we play anyway, Koscielny is 30 which is still fine but his niggling injuries are a bit of a concern and it remains to be seen whether Paulista can still cut it. He's only 26 so I'm willing to give him time, but we definitely need an addition at the back. I think we need to consider who we have at full-back as well. Gibbs is purportedly set on leaving due to the lack of game time. So we have no adequate cover for Monreal (who is 31 this season anyway). We need to add in quite a few positions, assuming the aforementioned players wish to leave.
Regarding Gibbs, I think he should stay. As you mention Monreal is 31 so Gibbs will get his chance again at Arsenal. If he does go then we definitely need to add cover at LB. I wonder if Vardy leaving might spark an exodus at Leicester. Mahrez clearly has the talent to play at the top level, along with Kante and one or two others,will those players want to carry on at Leicester now they've won the league ? Potentially they could upset everybody and go and win the CL but I doubt it. If I had a choice. I'd love us to sign mikhitaryan, Mahrez, aubemeyang and another CB. To free up the wages for those we'd probably need to see Walcott, Oxo, Gnabry, Sanogo shipped out.
So.. we seem to be talking Domestic goal stats a lot lately epsecially re Vardy. Now Mkhitaryan has played 90 games in the Bundesliga over 3 years and scored 24 goals in that time. Excuse my ignorance, but for a 27 yr old Armenian whats so good about him, appreciate the "assists" but we have got assists sorted out already, it's a clinical finisher thats required.
To be fair the entire Dortmund team were gash most of last season. Take that season out and he's a 1 in 3 man in the bundesliga which for someone who doesn't play up for is strong. His addition would give us two wide men who would (probably) get double figures for goals just in the league.
I always talk stats. He's better than what we have. Firstly he's played a variety of roles for Dortmund - in his first few Seasons often as a number 10/playmaker. When they moved him permanently into a more attacking role he started to get more goals. Lat Season alone he scored 23 goals and actually got 20 assists in all comps. Which is simply World Class for a wide player . He would improve us. Wether we should sign another CF is another debate - I would take Mikhitarian over Walcott or Oxo any day of the week. In fact I would happily swap him for Walcott and Oxo and pay an extra £10 million. He's just that much better than those guys.
Moussa Sissoko has pretty much been licking our arses in the media by saying he wants to join us next... On reported interest from Arsenal: "It is very flattering. Arsenal is one of the best European teams. To be watched by that sort of club, that proves that you are a quality player. It is good to know. I hope that I will have the chance, soon, to play for this club or for a similar club… It is a very big European club. I think that very few people would refuse to play for this club. Everyone knows, I often said it when I was young, Arsenal is the club of my heart, because there were quite a few French players there like Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès, Sylvain Wiltord, Patrick Vieira who was my idol… The beautiful Arsenal. We will see. I cannot tell you if I am going to go to Arsenal. For the moment, I am focused on the French national team and the Euros. I have advisors who are dealing with all of that and I hope that things will go well with as little difficulty as possible for me to find another club." Thoughts? Personally, I think although he has all the attributes to be a success, he doesn't have the right attitude. Looking at what Newcastle fans have been saying about him, they clearly think he was one of their weakest links and only performed in 3-4 games last season. Major doubts over his work ethic and application. He is still only 26 and can improve, but doesn't seem like the type of player you can rely on when the chips are down.
I got the impression that from some Toon fans that he was played in the wrong position and didn't perform because he played RW or Attacking Midfield, which didn't suit him. Which, correct me if I'm wrong, is where we'd expect him to play most often as he isn't going to displace Xhaka or Coq in DM or Santi, Xhaka or Ramsey in CM. But we do have a bit of an opening at RW unless we sign one of the players we are linked to.
It also concerns me that Toon fans basically said he only turns up when he feels like it, but maybe he's at the wrong club ? Playing for Newcastle must have been a real dirge at times, they basically only showed up when they played Spurs But as a professional, it does suggest that his attitude could be questionable. Bigger question is though, do we need him ? Now we have Xhaka, Elneny and Coquelin in those positions
Wengers transfer policy this summer suggests he may well be gone next year.Its not a re-build, more like a re-fit dice throw. Vardy & Sissoko don't seem like typical Arsenal targets.
The sissoko quotes don't sound like we are in for him to me tbh, more like that's what he wants. So far we've been linked to Vardy, Mahrez, Mikhitarian and Rodriguez as the main rumours I've seen floating about recently. And for players heading out they are ones who Wenger has previously kept faith in for the future (oxo, Walcott, Gibbs). Though I agree they seem like the sort of signings that are for the right now rather than the future which could suggest Wenger will be retiring at the end of the season and is going all out for the league.
