My only issue with this is the fee that is being commanded - Brentford reportedly won’t let him go unless we offer in excess of £80m and I think that is far too high for a 28-year old that isn’t an elite level forward. Anything between £50m-£60m and I think that’s fair. We’ve also been linked with Santiago Gimenez of Feyenoord too - not seen much of him but he seems extremely highly rated.
No idea who this kid is, but he’s meant to be the real deal according to Spanish football experts. Could be one to watch.
Assuming we go for Gutierrez, I think it’d be unfair to have a 21-year old Spanish left back become first choice in our team straight away. My guess is Zinchenko/Gutierrez would be our LBs and Tomiyasu would go back to being a CB/RB rotational option. I am a bit worried about how many minutes White has been playing with no rest (although he should get some after this weekend due to the international break). I’m also conscious Tomiyasu will be at the Asia Cup in January and Partey/Elneny will be at AFCON. Which means signing a midfielder HAS to be a priority as well as a defender.
There's a couple of gaps in the squad. Parteys injury means we are kinda short in MF(he may also go to Saudi) and we all know we need an another CF. Great player but he's injury prone and comes with a lot of baggage. Rice is decent as an 8 but he's better as a 6. Douglas Luiz was going for around £30m 12 months ago but would probably cost around double that now. I do think however he would fit that Xhaka role perfectly. If Arteta is looking to win things right NOW I would probably go EPL proven players: Toney and Luiz Second half of the Season?.. ----------------------------Raya------------------------------ -White--------Saliba-----------Gabriel----------Timber- -----Odegaard---------Rice-----------Luiz--------------- --Saka-------------Toney/Jesus-------------Martinelli-- Bench: Ramsdale, Kiwior, Zinchenko,Tomiyasu, Toney/Jesus, Smith Rowe, Havertz. Stong side with an excellent bench.
Just seen this excerpt of an interview with Ramsdale from last season. I don’t remember seeing it at the time, but it appears to be doing rounds on social media currently. I don’t know why he publicly admitted to all this in the middle of a title race, it makes him seem so unprofessional. He gave a couple of interviews like this during the campaign where I felt he was over sharing. This one takes the piss. It’s not a real surprise that Arteta wants to replace him. And to top it all off, his dad is now getting involved talking about how unhappy Ramsdale is . What is the need for all this? It’s so unnecessary.
Ivan Toney or Dusan Vlahovic? Toney has Prem Experience Dusan has a much better goals/games ratio Dusan is 4 years younger Toney is an Arsenal fan
He's actually a Liverpool fan, but he said he admired watching Arsenal growing up and liked a lot of our attacking players. Nonetheless, I don't think being an Arsenal fan is sufficient criteria to be joining us. I would like Toney if the fee is around £50m-£60m, but all the reports coming out are saying Brentford want him to commit to a new contract and even if he doesn't, they are looking in region of £80m (as a minimum) for him. Also, reports from Fabrizio and The Athletic are that 1 defender and 1 midfielder are a priority for us in the Jan transfer window, so I don't think we'll realistically get a forward unless a really good opportunity presents itself to us. And Toney unfortunately isn't that.
Tomiyasu has been ****ing brilliant for us Missed him when he was injured, but he's come back into this team and made a big impact again Good to tie him down on a long contract.
I've been hearing Zubimendi or Douglas Luiz are Artetas main targets this January. Douglas Luiz has fallen further down the list because Villa are over-valuing him. https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/2513...real-sociedad-transfer-barcelona-spain-rodri/ I mean Martin is absolutely top drawer, he's arguably been the standout midfielder in the league this Season. He's mainly been playing as a DM - not sure If Arteta would play him as the 8. I like Douglas Luiz a lot as I think he could play the 'Xhaka role' perfectly. (and would slot straight in without much adaptation time) Zubimendi is the more gifted player with an outrageous range of passing - he's like a short stocky Rodri.
We want Zubimendi (see link below), but mid-season will be extremely unlikely to get him. Sociedad are in the latter stages of the Champions League, still in the Copa del Rey and are currently in contention to finish in the top-4 again (currently 4 points off a CL place). We need to see if we can get another body in even if it’s a short-term loan/loan with option to buy.
