Hello, ladies and gentle ladies. Not sure if anyone remembers me from bbc 606, but i've been lurking around this forum for a while reading threads but not posting and have finaly decided to create an account. For my first thread i've decided to go for a "Who should we Sign" type article. So... Alot of names getting chucked around and the usual rubbish being spouted by the papers and other rubbish websites. So i may as well have my view on who we should sign. Juan Mata is a name we have been repeatedly linked with and a player i think we should definately splash the £20mil on. We may well lose Nasri after this season and would be good to have a settled quality player to step in if this is the case. Also with Arshavin starting to age and Walcott fairly regularly injured it'd be nice to have another wing option. The next player i would look at bringing in would be Kaka. Reportedly he will be allowed to leave Real Madrid for around £25mil. It would require large wages but would show a real sign of intent and that we are one of the big clubs - would show players like Fabregas that they are not the only top draw players. Chelsea are possibly interested and we should definately match there bid if they put one in. I know he is 29 and hasn't looked the same at Real Madrid but when you watch him play he is one of those guys that just has raw talent and can create something from nothing - would be a great Arsenal player. I'd also like to see us change around our strike force a bit. Chamakh i think is our plan B and a good option to have in the squad despite his recent poor form. In the first half of last season he made some very important contributions and is a good squad striker, but not first choice. RVP of course is our number one man (as far as im concerned he's our best player). But if Bendtner is on his way out i'd like to see a new striker brought in as i'm not convinced by Vela yet and think he will also end up being pushed to the left wing anyway and Walcott will not be used centrally yet. So i'd possibly go for someone like Benzema. He is a top quality striker with a good goal return and strikes me as someone to add a bit of an edge to the team. According to rumours over the last year or so he would be allowed to leave Real Madrid for the right price. That is all i would do to our midfield and forwards. That would give us amazing depth in all areas of midfield, wings and up-front and would give us a few genuinely world class players to compete with each other for spots. I would also leave our GK's as they are. I think the young pole should remain number 1 and will turn into a schmiechel style GK over the next couple of years (he will be our GK for the next 10-15 years imo). And i'm happy with flappy as our back-up keeper as he showed last season he can be a good keeper. Alot of people are desperate for a CB signing. I'm one of those people who disagrees with this. I think TV is real quality, Kosc is a fantastic defender (kept Messi quiet) and Djourou has the potential to be really good. I'm happy with these 3. Squilacci i think has been given more stick than he should of and is our 4th choice CB who got played too much last season. But i do understand the calls that he isn't good enough. Add to this that Gibbs is now our first choice LB (imo he isn't ready but will be within the next couple of seasons) and Traore is the back-up (who i watched a bit of at Juve and he wasn't all that on form) it may be neccessary to shore up this area. Now what i'd sugest is possibly trying to get Vertonghen. He can play CB, LB and even cover for DM (where i think Frimpong will give Song a bit of competition this season anyway). This eliminates the need to buy a CB and a LB and possible cover for DM but still gives us that depth of quality at the back that has been missing. So that's a total of 4 signings and a price of around 70-80 million: In: Mata - £20mil Kaka - £25mil Benzema - £20mil ??? Vertonghen - £12mil ??? Total: ~£77million (??? = no figures i can see quoted anywhere) This is of course a large amount of money to be spending especialy as around £10 mil has already been spent on Gervinho however i believe we have a good amount of cash to be spent this window, we can ship out some players and i think it is an important transfer window and the board recognise this and may sanction slightly mroe being spent. This would mean getting rid of some players, which imo should be: Out: Bendtner - £10 million Almunia - £2 million Clichy - £7 million (already done) Eboue - £7 million (complete legend but time to cut out what isn't neccessary) Possible Outs, if signings above where achieved: Rosicky - £5 million Vela - £5 million (Figures have been me estimating what we would get for the players based on recent signings of other players, but of course this is largely inaccurate). Total income: ~£30 million (assuming the Clichy money is already spent) Which means to achieve these signings the club is looking at stumping up £40 odd million which i think is within our means and shouldn't stretch the bank too much. We would then have a team looking something like: -------------Sczezeny--------- Sagna------TV----Kosc-----Vertonghen ---------------Song----------------- --------Fabregas-----Kaka---------- Walcott---------RVP---------Mata -----------------Flappy----------------- Jenkins-----Djourou---Squil/Vert----Gibbs -------------Frimpong/Vert------------- ---------Nasri----------Ramsey-------- Gervinho--------Benzema--------Arshavin So what do you guys think of my suggested signings? Are any of them realistic? Would you like to see them at Arsenal? Do you think they would give us the required improvement to win some silverware? Any other comments/views greatly appreciated Afcftw
Sell Fabregas and Nasri and you'll have at least another £55mil. Only trouble is, would Arsene or Gazidis spend any of it?
Lol the reason Wilshere has been left out is because i put him into my first string team but then replaced him with Kaka and forgot to put him into teh second string team. He can of course replace either Ramsey, Nasri or even Frimpong in the second string team. It has to be said i'd love to see us put in a bid for Kaka if as rumoured he is available - thats the sort of signing that would get all the fans back on side, lift the spirits of the players and worry the other big teams.
Jebus. Obviously this is not all going to happen but I'm bored so I'll play fantasy football based on players we are actually linked with.... Well I would firstly go full Yard Sale style and chuck out the dead wood: Out: Nasri - £25 Million (Screw him if he's not willing to show some commitment). Bendtner - £10 Million Eboue - £8 Million (we have Jenkinson as second choice) Clichy - £7 Million Squillaci - £5 Million Denilson - Loan Miyaichi - Loan Almunia - £2 Million Ins: Steklenburg - £10 Million Subotic - £15 Million Jagielka - £15 Million Mata - £15 Million Benzema - £ 20 Million Home: ---------------------Steklenburg------------------------ Sagna-----Jagielka------------Subotic------Vermaelen Walcott------Fabregas--------Wilshere----------Mata ------------------VanPersie ----------------------------Benzema Away: ---------------------Steklenburg------------------------ Sagna-----Jagielka------------Subotic------Vermaelen -------------Song------------Wilshere------------------ ---------------------Fabregas---------------------------- VanPersie-----------Benzema-------------------Mata
TheBear - you really think we need a new GK? I can understand the feeling of wanting to bulster the defence but i thought most fans where in agreement that Sczezney should be our no. 1?
LOL Bear I certainly agree with you about selling Old Manuel Almunia. It's not just the money we would get which is peanuts anyway but that we don't have to resurrect him in the event of injury to our first choice(s). Having him come back last season was bad enough. Something one needs to avoid this year!!! Arsene being mega active in the transfer market on a serious basis is serious basis for fantasy football alright. Not converting it to reality could prove to be his undoing
I agree that Szczes is our first choice keeper given that no purchases have been made in that area. We could really have done with a Shay Given though so there is strength in that department. Having Szczes and another would be good I would have thought. We are dying for at least another CB and for my money a LB to replace Clichy. I am dismayed that even at this stage and given their wantaway mindset, if the press can be believed, Arsene is still hoping to keep both Cesc and Nasri. They should have been shipped out so we can have the money in the bank to beef up the squad. Oh Arsene if you don't do it now, you may never have another opportunity......
LOL a little over - zealous I'll admit. Dont get me wrong I like Sczezney and i think he has fantastic potential but my main concern is Fabianksi. I think he's a terrible keeper. I cant think of another 25 year old keeper with soo few appearences that has made THAT many high profile errors. He's athletic and a good shotstopper but he's mentally not equipt to play at the top level. He had 5 decent games at the start of last Season and Arsenal fans quickley forget his ridiculous performances of the past. Almunia is going to leave, Fabianski is a joke soo yeah I think an experienced keeper is just what we need.
I don't think its anything to do with them not wanting to be at Arsenal or not being happy at Arsenal, but more about what they want from there carrears. Both men really love the club (particularly Cesc) and i think the whole thing about them wanting away is blown out of proportion. I was one of the few who stood 100% by Cesc last transfer window and said he would not leave last summer and i say the same thing this summer - i'm certain Fabregas will still be an Arsenal player this season and with his quality he will help us (hopefuly) get some silverware. He is too professional to not play to his ability. Nasri i'm a little more unsure about, but i think if we bring in the right signings this summer and then win some silverware he will sign a new contract.
I wouldn't be against a new Keeper comming into the club, but i'd still want Sczezney to get the chance to remain number 1. But that being said i think other areas of the team need strengthening more. I'm suprised tbh that none of you have shouted down my suggestion of trying to sign Kaka! Back on BBC606 i would of been slated for even suggesting it But with Chelsea possibly going in for him and his value set reportedly at £25 million i'd hope Arsenal would atleast sniff around and check it out - any idea what sort of wages the guy gets paid though? I'd imagine something ridiculous.
BTW belated welcome to Not606 Mr Afcftw Didn't shoutdown your suggestion of Kaka because I don't know what to make of him. Plus, most of us wouldn't shout anyway which is why for the most part I believe Not606 to be a vast improvement on it's predecessor. I have no idea what Arsene will do over the next two weeks. It isn't all his decision I imagine since there are others like Ivan Gazidis who handle the final negotiations but Holy Smoke, isn't it about time the lot of them get their act together so we have a season to remember for all the right reasons!!! BTW Cesc may have remaining love for the club but the matter of his staying or otherwise dragging on does no one any good. Better perhaps to make changes and start afresh since the old way of doing things has if anything, proven that it doesn't work......... As for Nasri, I think my views are quite clear on him besides which 20mil could buy us someone as special if not more. Whatever Arsene does, he needs to ensure our continued participation in the CL, let alone those heavy fixtures in the EPL.
Cheers for the welcome I think your right - Arsene needs to make this a transfer window with results as this is going to be a tough season. I'm pretty optimistic and i don't think we will have a problem maintaining top 4, it just depends if we can make additions to the squad to make them worthy of challenging for the title or other silverware. I'd really love to see us making a signing which goes out as a statement of our intent. A signing that shows we are in it to win it. We need to lift the spirits of the team and also mend the relationship between the fans and players. If we signed a player like Kaka then our top players would know we have the ambition to really do something special.
But don't get me wrong i almost always like the players AW brings in, i just think it may be time for a big signing.
Oh and a quick off-topic question: Roughly how many of the members of the Arsenal board here are regular posters? The threads seem fairly active to me, hope it keeps busy
