Ins/Out - Summer 2022

  • Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
  • Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!
BrunelGunner

BrunelGunner

Well-Known Member
Forum Moderator
Jul 10, 2020
6,657
3,355
113
London
Whilst this season is extremely likely to end on a very disappointing note, it's not all bad, even if it still feels **** right now and for the next few months.

We've got some talented players.
We did win at some big grounds and against teams where we were expected to struggle.
Some of our younger players have pleasantly surprised me.
And being in a top-4 race for as long as were was more engaging than the previous few seasons where we've been 10+ points behind the rest of the pack.

We're evidently behind in our evolution compared to some of the other top clubs in this division. But there will undoubtedly be further opportunity for squad culling/addition this Summer. However, we need to replace our underperforming players with good players. No more Willian's, no more Mari's, no more Runarsson's. We don't have time to waste.

Let's assess our most probable departures this Summer and estimated wages saved:

Lacazette - £183k p/w - free transfer
Pepe - £140k p/w - loan to Nice confirmed - (Nice covering £80k p/w wages)
Leno - £100k p/w - transfer confirmed - £4m (up to £8m in add-ons)
Bellerin - £100k p/w - transfer to Barcelona confirmed
Nketiah - £45k p/w - signed a new deal (£100k p/w)
Guendouzi - £45k p/w - transfer confirmed - £12m
Torreira - £75k p/w - transfer confirmed - £5.9m + add-ons
Mari - £49k p/w - loan to Monza confirmed - obligation to buy (£5.9m) if Monza stay up (£49k p/w wages being covered)
Mavropanos - £25k p/w - transfer confirmed - £2.7m
Nelson - £38k p/w - £5m - £10m
Maitland-Niles - £48k p/w - loan to Southampton confirmed - option to buy (£48k p/w wages being covered)
Nuno Tavares - loan to Marseille confirmed (£27k p/w wages being covered)
Runarsson - loan to Alanyaspor confirmed (£40k p/w wages being covered)

We've already got just under £15m for Mavropanos and Guendouzi. I'd anticipate us getting around £75m in player sales, assuming all those other players go.

In terms of wages saved though, that's around £848k per week, which is roughly £44.1m a year in saved wages.

What players and what positions would you expect us to strengthen in if all those players go in Summer?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: gooner4ever, PINKIE and TheBear
2 strikers
A center mid (or two really…)
New right back to challenge tomi
New left back to challenge tierney.

the rest were probably ok, fill the rest with academy / youth.

i think a lot is made About needing a big squad for Europa, but for me that tournament doesn’t start until the round of 32 anyway.
 
Love a 'fantasy football' thread. I'll try to keep it realistic.

Ok soo I think we need:

2 x CF (at least one experienced - high level)
1 x CM (experienced competition for Xhaka)
1 x LB.
CB: Bring Saliba back into squad.
RW/LW: Marquinhos looks almost done. I suspect he will take Pepe's place in the squad.
GK: Taylor is already done. Means Leno will be sold.

If I could sign a striker I would probably go with Darwin Nunes but his agent has done great job creating hype for the guy and honestly I think he's probably out of our price range right now.

CF: Gabriel Jesus. Arteta knows him well - if he's soo keen to sign the guy I trust his judgment on that. I think he will score goals.
CF: Marcus Rashford. Honestly I rate him. He can play wide or up top plus he's still only 24.
CM: Arthur Melo. Prefer Melo over Tielemans, the guy has World Class ability.
LB: Aaron Hickey. Seems a good young option, can play RB as well.
RW: Marquinhos. This looks like another Martinelli type steal. He looks quality.

I could see a Melo, Partey, Odegaard midfield playing some great football.

You must log in or register to see images
 
  • Like
Reactions: gooner4ever and PINKIE
Rashford and Melo are slightly gash. Rashford will also come with English tax. Overpriced.

I'd be going for Bissouma and then perhaps Raphinha if Leeds go down. Although he's imminently gettable even if they stay up (though possibly Barca bound). If we somehow do the 0.1% miracle and get CL then upgrade our sights to Nkunku.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gooner4ever
cini65 said:
Rashford and Melo are slightly gash. Rashford will also come with English tax. Overpriced.

I'd be going for Bissouma and then perhaps Raphinha if Leeds go down. Although he's imminently gettable even if they stay up (though possibly Barca bound). If we somehow do the 0.1% miracle and get CL then upgrade our sights to Nkunku.
Click to expand...

Come On. Melo is slightly gash? - At least ability -wise he is top class. The guy who was superb for Barcelona, won the League went to Juve and won the league twice. His form was better in Spain than Italy but he's still young enough to make big impact.

Plus I think he fits the role Xhaka is currently being asked to play.
You must log in or register to see media

Bissouma's biggest achievement is finishing 16th with Brighton and Hove Albion.

I would rather we signed players with a higher ceiling (even if form has been poor) as opposed to players at mid table Clubs who are playing well but have less ability.

Would love Nkunku but he's a false 9/CF these days. No longer a midfielder.
 
Last edited:
I have to caveat this slightly by saying that I'm unsure we'll get rid of all of those players in one window, especially with the wages some of them are on. It also depends on what players we keep for squad depth in the Europa League. That said, I expect the large majority of them to be gone by the time the 2022-23 season begins.

Attack: we definitely need 2 strikers - preferably with 2 different profiles i.e. one agile, skilful and pacy striker, and another who can hold the ball up, play with their back to goal and is good in the air. Nice to have some variety in attack.

Midfield: This is an interesting one.
Lokonga doesn't seem to be fully trusted by Arteta, but it was his 1st season coming from the Belgian league, so he does need a bit more time.
Partey is quality when he's fit, but he keeps missing large chunks of the season and is unreliable with fitness.
Xhaka can be useful as a squad player, but I'd prefer if he doesn't start for us next season.

I'd say ideally we need two CMs - one that can play in a double-pivot alongside Partey and another who is more energetic/mobile than Xhaka. I doubt we'll do this, though.

Defence: I'd be bold and get rid of Tavares/Cedric, I don't think either of them will ever cut it for us. Get a better deputy for Tomiyasu/replacement for Tierney. As much as I love KT, his injuries are too much and we need players who are going to be available regularly.

Saliba hopefully will be coming back so we should have 4 CBs to choose from, assuming everyone else stays.

So, in my opinion, we need: 2 strikers, 2 midfielders, 2 defenders
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBear and gooner4ever
I keep thinking back to edus comments a few months ago when he said something:

“The budget we used last summer, we prefer to use it to rebalance the squad.

"There was no point in hiring one or two players [in January], the squad was not prepared to absorb two players, we needed to rebalance the squad. Maybe next season we can go to one or two players”

this quote makes me think we will limit the number of players coming in this summer, and we will sort of half-ass the recruitment again - getting 1 or 2 players and not the 6 or so many of us think we need.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we get one good-ish signing at striker like Jesus and maybe another center mid like Arthur and sign no one else (keeping Tavares Cedric etc). I hope I’m wrong.
 
Arteta and Edu have actually been really good at getting players off of our books that aren't of the required standard. For years we bemoaned the bloated squad full of deadwood that we had, and in little over 2 years these guys have trimmed it right down. To the point where we were short this season, but tallying up the players needed against those that needed to go was never going to be an exact science.

We're in a position now where we've got a decent starting XI that can compete against any team, but we need to augment the squad so that we can sustain it over the season and produce some consistency.

Like others have mentioned, the positions we need are fairly self evident. Two forwards, a CM and at least one more defender, preferably one that can play either side.

If we can get them I'd go for the following:

FW - Jesus, Nunez.
Jesus looks like he might be coming, Nunez would be amazing, but failing that what about a bid for somebody like Ivan Toney ?

MF - Tielemans/Bissouma/Melo
My preference would be Tielemans. I think he's an artist and a player who reads the game extremely well. Reminds me a bit of Cazorla and plays with confidence and an unhurried style. He'd add some much needed creativity to our centre mid positions and alongside a fit Partey would be a great pairing

DF - Hickey
Can play left or right footed so would be a good versatile player across the back. Tierney and Tomiyasu are first choice, but we definitely need better options that Cedric / Tavares. I would also bring Saliba back, but it looks like he's staying with Marseille for now.
 
I also would have bought Guendouzi back - I think the deal with Marseille is already agreed now though.

The guy played almost every game and along with Saliba guided them back into the Champions League with a 2nd place League finish.

He's a thousand times better than Elneny or Lokonga IMO. I don't really understand Arteta's reasoning here.

I'm not sure Saliba is going to be happy coming back either - unless of course Norwich beat Tottenham today.
 
I read that Saliba isn't coming back to Arsenal, at least not yet. He wants CL football and will stay at Marseille.
 
Mantis said:
I read that Saliba isn't coming back to Arsenal, at least not yet. He wants CL football and will stay at Marseille.
Click to expand...

Marseille have no money, so unless they muster up the £30m+ it’d take to sign him, they will have to take a back seat.

If Saliba is dead set on leaving, it’ll have to be somewhere else.
 
BrunelGunner said:
Marseille have no money, so unless they muster up the £30m+ it’d take to sign him, they will have to take a back seat.

If Saliba is dead set on leaving, it’ll have to be somewhere else.
Click to expand...

He might angle for an extension of his current loan deal, possibly. Either way, the only sources I could find for this news were the Daily Fail, Talksport and Metro. Hardly the most reliable out there, so we'll see.
 
PINKIE said:
You must log in or register to see media
Click to expand...

was just about to post this too <laugh>

Would be a very good signing if we can get it over the line. I do rate him as a player.

My only concerns with Tielemans are his lack of press resistance and agility. Maybe it’s because I keep trying to compare players of this nature to Cazorla but I’m just worried we could get overrun in games where we don’t dominate the ball.
 
BrunelGunner said:
was just about to post this too <laugh>

Would be a very good signing if we can get it over the line. I do rate him as a player.

My only concerns with Tielemans are his lack of press resistance and agility. Maybe it’s because I keep trying to compare players of this nature to Cazorla but I’m just worried we could get overrun in games where we don’t dominate the ball.
Click to expand...

I think in those sorts of games you could play Tielemans, Partey and Xhaka in the middle
 
PINKIE said:
Ornstein

You must log in or register to see media
Click to expand...

I just don’t see Abraham happening unless we offer an exorbitant fee. No chance Roma (or Mourinho) would sell to us, especially as he’s by far their most potent attacker.

DCL is a decent player, but his injuries and patchy form are a concern. He’s 25 so these need to be his prime years. He’s only had one standout season so I’m less sure of him.

Let’s see what happens….
 
It's easy to forget that Bellerin and Torreira are Arsenal players and both could be back in the squad next Season.

I'm not sure Betis or Fiorentina can afford the asking prices for either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back