Last Summer Andrea Berta did the job as asked. To fill out the team with enough quality depth-- to avoid a car crash at the business end. Berta did just that. Hat tip, job done.
This Summer? Possible KSE isn't seeing appraised value in the amounts being asked. With that, Arsenal's build out may look a lot like last Summer's. A couple more floor-raisers, maybe a ceiling raiser. Would not be so surprised then, were Berta and Arteta tasked again to win a title-- with what's 'in the cupboard'.
.
But (and this is one big but!), if KSE sees value, like really big? They've dropped serious coin on a perfect fit, for other of their title-winning KSE teams and clubs.
.
So in this market, which players are truly worth the 40-50% markup on offer?
Who actually fits the club and upgrades us tangibly?
And-- would improve chances we win both the PL and CL?
.
Only two names I'd imagine KSE might sanction going overboard to bring aboard.
Bruno G as the ceiling-raiser. Vini Jr as the superstar.
(Same argument made for pursuing Rice at 105M, can be made for Bruno and Vini.)
The value of winning a title, can smooth over a big contract (and wages). We may look to make next season as much of a certainty as possible. Bruno brings us closer than any other single player (not at AFC)-- who is within our reach.
.
As we did with Vic / Noni / Eze last Summer, we picked up what we needed, at a decent price-- to win a title. Could we have done better? Though, answering 'yes' is subjective, having won the title.
.
We could afford 100M for Bruno-- if he helps deliver silverware.
Can we afford Vini at 170M-- to turn football upside-down?
That's a massive play-- which Stan and Josh and Andrea and Mikel all might agree upon.
Had KSE not just signed Myles Garrett for the LA Rams.
Biggest non-QB deal in history.
It can't be zero.
.
Our owners do think big-- and act big when it's called for.
------------------------
Though I'll likely not place a wager--
'Arsenal are emerging as a strong contender to sign Vinícius Júnior, with bookmakers currently pricing the Gunners at 10/3 (23.09% probability) to land the Real Madrid star.'
It’s obvious that last year’s 80m norm for top talent is now 100m or more. Pointless to decry it, that’s where the market is. The Athletic article is fascinating in the breakdown of how the deal was done in two days, the clinchers being Chelsea agreeing to Villa’s valuation - in the light of the Anderson fee - and the Alonso phone call on Friday which persuaded Rogers of his project and his willingness to use him across the forward line, where he can play left, right or number 10. Rogers felt Arteta only wanted him on the left and was unconvinced by the delay and other players Arsenal were linked with - so might have waited for nothing and missed out on Alonso coaching him. All fair enough, but proves the point if you want top talent, and Rogers would have been a versatile, highly useful addition, you have to pony up the market price. Arsenal have form in dithering and trying to lowball, as we saw last year, despite being owned by a multi billionaire, and Arteta’s position being more unassailable than ever, and able to demand more, as he has done before.
So if you want Bruno G, you can’t expect Newcastle to accept a lower fee, especially with the Tonali transfer. Why would they, in the current market? I guess they’re gambling on nobody else coming in for him, while playing hardball. To save 20m? Chump change for big clubs these days. If he’s as good as claimed he’s worth the asking price.
Im hoping Barcola. We need speed to get in behind walls of massed opponents. Last season we had difficulty in breaking fast and so I’d say the thing we were a little short in fast attackers. People to bring on when you’re tiring to put tje fear of god into the opposition. Not sure why we need(ed) Rogers or indeed Guimaraes.
I think what a lot of fans are overlooking is that we're actually in a position of strength in the transfer market this summer. Compared with the upheaval Liverpool went through with Jota, Luiz Diaz, TAA and contract renewals for Salah and VVD, we don't need to go crazy with panic buys.
Are biggest concern is around injuries and not departures, and most of our fitness issues require rest and not major surgery.
If we did absolutely nothing this summer (which I really hope isn't the case), our biggest issue is if Martinelli and Tsoliz can deliver in tandem on the left. As much as we all want a world-class left-winger at the club, Martinelli and Trossard still contributed significantly to a title-winning and Champions League finalist side. The same goes with Havertz and Gyokeres at CF and we have the emergency Merino option to draw upon too. Odegaard and Saka look to have recently regained their old spark and last summer's large transfer group have now had a full year to bed in. Young players like Dowman, MLS and Nwaneri (if he's brought back into the fold) have more experience and maturity now.
I know we would all like last season's title to lead to Premier League and European domination but as Chelsea and Man City recently showed, there's just too much money in the league for us to be a dynasty. There'll be up and down years and we have to accept that as a reality, but our house is strong and the summer still has some runway left in it.
"Rogers had other concerns. Whereas Chelsea had made it clear he was their main choice, Arsenal’s links with Julian Alvarez, Bradley Barcola and Eli Junior Kroupi over several weeks sowed a seed of doubt in the player’s camp despite Arsenal’s insistence he was their No 1 priority. Rogers felt more love from Chelsea when they made their move."
No one knows at this point tbh. I'm not even sure Arsenal even today, know who their No 1 priority is. Our transfer targets obviously feel it too.
Like how is Bruno G supposed to throw a tantrum and hand in a transfer request, if he doesn't even know we'd do everything to get him? Cause we won't. It's fine to stick a valuation but also you need to be determined and flexible. The market is what the market is.
While I applaud the club for not going crazy, at the same time, I wish our priorities are making us the best team in the world, and saving 5 or 10m pounds shouldn't get in the way. It doesn't look like anyone knows what the steps to achieve that goal are yet.
Maybe the quality available on the market isn't convincing us yet what our moves should realistically be, I see that point as well. We are in a position where wait and see can bring us great results cause the big domino involving a select few players might soon start. I just hope we act the moment we see an opportunity, cause there's a chance we let the window slip through our fingers and we really need to strengthen up front cause last season we were a very average attacking team.
That paragraph reads like he is trying to justify to himself how going to that shit club is a better decision.
Did the guy not see any of the footage after we won the league or speak to our boys in the England squad? Our club is like a family and for the most part, our players are adored by the fans.
That's all before you get to which club is better to be at from a footballing perspective.
He's chosen (or was pushed) to go to a club full of mercenaries that gave the captaincy to a racist, who is the ideal representative of their racist fans.
He's gone for the money or because he had no choice because we weren't paying silly money for him.
He did speak to Rice and Saka, as well as Arteta, but also to Reece James and Palmer. Alonso swung it, along with the speed of the deal, unlike Arsenal stringing it along with no certainty they would ever complete.
not just that, its the classic wenger behavior. Finding cheaper deals later in the window does not give the selling team time to replace their player. Wenger would wait until the last week to find players!
It's so laughable how we draw list of players we crave without any recourse to the cost and how they'd fit into our team.
I keep asking why is no one talking about Rodrigo this summer? Yet we were told unequivocally last season we won't be in the top 4 if we don't sign him.
I am certain the club have their targets and would get them!
"Finding cheaper deals later in the window does not give the selling team time to replace their player."
Wenger understood this very well. That's why he often bought players late in the window the selling club had no intention of replacing. Players like Andre Santos and Sebastian Squillaci.
The real issue isn’t Morgan Rogers choosing Chelsea. Its the Arsenal’s relative inactivity, especially after just winning the league .
Mikel Arteta explicitly stated that the attack needed an overhaul following the Champions League final, yet nothing much has happened.
To make matters worse, our outgoings look as bad as ever, completely draining any post-championship optimism of getting in some top $$ for our talents like Man city did over the years.. On top of that, the transfer market has become completely inflated; even non-English players in Europe are being quoted at £100M+, meaning it is no longer just a Premier League tax.
Bruno G at the reported 80M is still gettable at this point before Man utd or other team gazump looking at value thr.
Looks like all teams are now gearing up for the last 2 weeks of domino effects of transfer activity, in this hyper inflated market.
The problems for us fans is that all we see is the £117 million that we didn't want to pay
However those that have to make decisions have to view it in terms of payment format/structure as well as the extra costs of the deal, such as agent fees.
Villa may want the money in a particular structure that will be detrimental to Arsenal etc.
I think we have to give the club some grace, they've earned it .
Don't you wish we hadn't moved to fast on the Madueke deal
Sometimes missing out of deals has saved us pain and hassle.
There's the selling club factor - Villa want the most money in the best payment format
Then there's the player factor; The player may not have even liked the vision that Arteta pitched to him. Xabi Alonso may have presented a clearer squad role that suits the player's preferences.
we can be unhappy about prices all day long as a club but its not going to change for us being "unhappy" we need to move faster, or lose out. Today is first day of pre season. Insane that we have no other players in yet. I hope this week we get 1 or 2. Pre season is critical
For me, I place the missing out of Rogers into the same way I took the missing out on Murdryk. I'm ecstatic that the system stepped in to relieve Arteta this one time.
There was no good fit for Morgan. He's only been spoken off because "Arteta loves him".
The problem is "Arteta loves them" because he typically mis-profiles them because he wants to use them away from their natural strengths or experiences.
Did we really need Morgan Rogers?
You spend £100 million+ to buy the best in class for that position, not to buy the best 3D-printer filament to mold something else.
Arteta loves him - is the most probable recipe for a miss. Very lucky that Merino and Havertz are smart and versatile players that found the way to be useful for the team in different positions.
The big question is, if Rogers was the top priority signing, and multiple credible journos and I remember Fabrizio Romano famously said: "Morgan Rogers is Arsenal’s number one, two and three target". So if he was our top target, and apparently Arteta wanted him a lot, why didn't we approach Villa much earlier in the window, get it done nice and early and move on? I know why, cause when someone told us he'd be available for a fee between £80m and £100m early in the window, we surely only heard £80m and decided to negotiate that fee.
Well, we took our time and now the market is wild. It's understandable we walked away from the deal but the deal should have been done earlier. Either way, I'm interested to know who is that winger who'll elevate us but won't require us spending £100m+. As we're hearing, all of the best wingers on the market will cost more than £100m. Let's see if they come up with something good or we'll be scr*wing around until there's no one good left to buy or we'll eventually cough up more than we would have had we reacted quicker.
Plus, we need to start selling like a proper top club ffs. Some of our sales, especially since Berta was hired, they look like we're a charitable company. Some of the fees just cannot be real, I swear.
Maybe we don't need a better winger. Martinelli was a great revelation when he had Xhaka, Zinchenko and a fit Jesus to play off of. Now he seems he has to beat the opposing RB by himself all the time. As Souness has noted recently, Rice isn't that type of MF to make the linebreaking passes. Xhaka is and was only used in that role in the final year of his career here. He was great. Zinchenko too was better at precision passing in tight spaces as he was originally a MF'er. He is better at it than Calafiori and Hincapie. I think Guimaraes is the man to play the playmaker position there. And Alvarez is the one who most resembles Jesus in his prime. I don't think we should be spending a 100 million trying to get a Rogers or Barcola to be breaking down the non-stop low blocks we face. Neither Barcola and Rogers were effective against lowblocks at the WC. Even ManCity tried to low block us once last year. I'd rather buy a selfish player like Leao whose only super skill is to dribble past a RB. Imagine facing Saka and Leao at either side? Martinelli was great in the WC because he was played centrally and he was great in the tight spaces, he wasn't asked to hug the touch line and try to dribble past defenders.
I like how many are grabbing more firmly than ever for the Bruno G branch. What happens if/when we decline to pay their valuation as well? There are other players on the market sure, but it's tough.
Martinelli + Tzolis is a downgrade from Martinelli + Trossard. I don't know if we want to start the season weaker than last, when we were pretty garbage in attack.
My belief is that Martinelli is still a great player, just needs the proper teammates around him. Flourished with Xhaka, Jesus and Zinchenko. Might flourish with Alvarez and Bruno. He was excellent centrally upfront with Brazil. Xhaka wasn't a worldbeater when Arteta played out of position as a defensive midfielder and then was amazing when played further upfield in a playmaking role once Partey became the DMF. Xhaka was the centerpeice of the Leverkusen Invincibles and the surprisingly good Sunderland squads. Chelsea will be a force next year if Alonso gets Xhaka to orchestrate his team. Just like Xhaka, I think Martinelli is not impressive when played the way Arteta has him playing. It is as if Arteta's plan to stop the defence's double teaming of Saka on the right is to stretch their defense by putting Martinelli out wide on the touch line hoping that pushes their defenders a bit further wide. But of course by the time we have recycled the ball slowly around the horseshoe to Martinelli their defense has had time to stroll his way....and he can't beat defenders one on one. He is better with interplay in shrt spaces with other similarly tecnical players like Jesus, Xhaka and Zinny. Short quick passing.
Rap we don’t know yet if that’s a downgrade, based on Trossards output it’s possible but it’s unknown, Tzolis could be a revelation, Martinelli, could be improved, for me we haven’t moved at all but I don’t think we are worse off despite how handy a Trossard goal was last year.
What are you on about, They blew everything one else out of the water.
You think the rumors of offers you read about on twitter amount to people putting REAL cash of the table?
Villa aren't as stupid as you think. If you were Villa, would you have rushed the sale of Morgan? You would hold out to see what other offers were there.
Use your own brain and stop repeating the nonsense that's being recirculated.
Multiple ITKs shouldn't freeze your prefrontal cortex, you should know when you call bull on rumors.
Who else was more foolish to offer that fee for Gordon? I know what you thought of that deal at the time. Everyone though it a bizarre deal at the time.
Maybe Newcastle acted very quickly before Barca woke up from their stupidity.
"Aston Villa signed Brazil midfielder João Gomes on Monday, investing some of the money the Europa League winner is set to get for a British transfer record sale of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea."
Last Summer Andrea Berta did the job as asked. To fill out the team with enough quality depth-- to avoid a car crash at the business end. Berta did just that. Hat tip, job done.
This Summer? Possible KSE isn't seeing appraised value in the amounts being asked. With that, Arsenal's build out may look a lot like last Summer's. A couple more floor-raisers, maybe a ceiling raiser. Would not be so surprised then, were Berta and Arteta tasked again to win a title-- with what's 'in the cupboard'.
.
But (and this is one big but!), if KSE sees value, like really big? They've dropped serious coin on a perfect fit, for other of their title-winning KSE teams and clubs.
.
So in this market, which players are truly worth the 40-50% markup on offer?
Who actually fits the club and upgrades us tangibly?
And-- would improve chances we win both the PL and CL?
.
Only two names I'd imagine KSE might sanction going overboard to bring aboard.
Bruno G as the ceiling-raiser. Vini Jr as the superstar.
(Same argument made for pursuing Rice at 105M, can be made for Bruno and Vini.)
Bruno is 29 so not much resale value. Rice was short, mid and long-term difference maker + had resale value. Bruno, not so much.
I doubt we go overboard for him and I can definitely see us deciding against signing him if Newcastle demand £100m and stick to their valuation.
It seems the club hasn't identified players they want that badly to do what it takes. I wonder if there is such a player (please don't be Julian).
The value of winning a title, can smooth over a big contract (and wages). We may look to make next season as much of a certainty as possible. Bruno brings us closer than any other single player (not at AFC)-- who is within our reach.
.
As we did with Vic / Noni / Eze last Summer, we picked up what we needed, at a decent price-- to win a title. Could we have done better? Though, answering 'yes' is subjective, having won the title.
.
We could afford 100M for Bruno-- if he helps deliver silverware.
Can we afford Vini at 170M-- to turn football upside-down?
That's a massive play-- which Stan and Josh and Andrea and Mikel all might agree upon.
I'm pretty sure we need to stop talking about Vini as an option. The chances of it happening are close to 0%.
Bruno, I doubt we go over £80m.
If it weren't KSE. Then it might be zero.
Had KSE not just signed Myles Garrett for the LA Rams.
Biggest non-QB deal in history.
It can't be zero.
.
Our owners do think big-- and act big when it's called for.
------------------------
Though I'll likely not place a wager--
'Arsenal are emerging as a strong contender to sign Vinícius Júnior, with bookmakers currently pricing the Gunners at 10/3 (23.09% probability) to land the Real Madrid star.'
If Vini were to leave Real.
It’s obvious that last year’s 80m norm for top talent is now 100m or more. Pointless to decry it, that’s where the market is. The Athletic article is fascinating in the breakdown of how the deal was done in two days, the clinchers being Chelsea agreeing to Villa’s valuation - in the light of the Anderson fee - and the Alonso phone call on Friday which persuaded Rogers of his project and his willingness to use him across the forward line, where he can play left, right or number 10. Rogers felt Arteta only wanted him on the left and was unconvinced by the delay and other players Arsenal were linked with - so might have waited for nothing and missed out on Alonso coaching him. All fair enough, but proves the point if you want top talent, and Rogers would have been a versatile, highly useful addition, you have to pony up the market price. Arsenal have form in dithering and trying to lowball, as we saw last year, despite being owned by a multi billionaire, and Arteta’s position being more unassailable than ever, and able to demand more, as he has done before.
So if you want Bruno G, you can’t expect Newcastle to accept a lower fee, especially with the Tonali transfer. Why would they, in the current market? I guess they’re gambling on nobody else coming in for him, while playing hardball. To save 20m? Chump change for big clubs these days. If he’s as good as claimed he’s worth the asking price.
Malick Traoré
PSG are set to call the deal-off for Yan Diomande, due to the complications surrounding the transfer particularly his image rights (agencies).
PSG are set to pursue Eli Junior Kroupi as the Ivorian’s winger alternative. — Pending further confirmation.
__________________________________
Interesting but how are the two players alternatives? Surely Kroupi is an alternative to Ferran not Diomande?
PSG seem unconstrained in all directions.
Im hoping Barcola. We need speed to get in behind walls of massed opponents. Last season we had difficulty in breaking fast and so I’d say the thing we were a little short in fast attackers. People to bring on when you’re tiring to put tje fear of god into the opposition. Not sure why we need(ed) Rogers or indeed Guimaraes.
I think what a lot of fans are overlooking is that we're actually in a position of strength in the transfer market this summer. Compared with the upheaval Liverpool went through with Jota, Luiz Diaz, TAA and contract renewals for Salah and VVD, we don't need to go crazy with panic buys.
Are biggest concern is around injuries and not departures, and most of our fitness issues require rest and not major surgery.
If we did absolutely nothing this summer (which I really hope isn't the case), our biggest issue is if Martinelli and Tsoliz can deliver in tandem on the left. As much as we all want a world-class left-winger at the club, Martinelli and Trossard still contributed significantly to a title-winning and Champions League finalist side. The same goes with Havertz and Gyokeres at CF and we have the emergency Merino option to draw upon too. Odegaard and Saka look to have recently regained their old spark and last summer's large transfer group have now had a full year to bed in. Young players like Dowman, MLS and Nwaneri (if he's brought back into the fold) have more experience and maturity now.
I know we would all like last season's title to lead to Premier League and European domination but as Chelsea and Man City recently showed, there's just too much money in the league for us to be a dynasty. There'll be up and down years and we have to accept that as a reality, but our house is strong and the summer still has some runway left in it.
normal year under normal coach, yes, world flop year under psycho coach, no way in hell.
A calm and sensible fan right there 👆🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
interesting that Rogers was apparently Mikes number 1 target. Not Alvarez.
I think I would pass on Alvarez. Not impressive and desires Barca.
So he comes here and then pines for a move to Barca down the road.
No thanks.
Kroupi got the age, talent and maybe cheaper.
Barcola, is a winger who regularly gets past his defenders- electric player
Diomande, similar to Barcola profile- very powerful built
The Athletic
"Rogers had other concerns. Whereas Chelsea had made it clear he was their main choice, Arsenal’s links with Julian Alvarez, Bradley Barcola and Eli Junior Kroupi over several weeks sowed a seed of doubt in the player’s camp despite Arsenal’s insistence he was their No 1 priority. Rogers felt more love from Chelsea when they made their move."
No one knows at this point tbh. I'm not even sure Arsenal even today, know who their No 1 priority is. Our transfer targets obviously feel it too.
Like how is Bruno G supposed to throw a tantrum and hand in a transfer request, if he doesn't even know we'd do everything to get him? Cause we won't. It's fine to stick a valuation but also you need to be determined and flexible. The market is what the market is.
While I applaud the club for not going crazy, at the same time, I wish our priorities are making us the best team in the world, and saving 5 or 10m pounds shouldn't get in the way. It doesn't look like anyone knows what the steps to achieve that goal are yet.
Maybe the quality available on the market isn't convincing us yet what our moves should realistically be, I see that point as well. We are in a position where wait and see can bring us great results cause the big domino involving a select few players might soon start. I just hope we act the moment we see an opportunity, cause there's a chance we let the window slip through our fingers and we really need to strengthen up front cause last season we were a very average attacking team.
Feel we have another Suarez fiasco with a $m+1 offer coming for Bruno.
Going to laugh in our faces just like pool did back then.
One either pays the ferryman or does not, and move on.
That paragraph reads like he is trying to justify to himself how going to that shit club is a better decision.
Did the guy not see any of the footage after we won the league or speak to our boys in the England squad? Our club is like a family and for the most part, our players are adored by the fans.
That's all before you get to which club is better to be at from a footballing perspective.
He's chosen (or was pushed) to go to a club full of mercenaries that gave the captaincy to a racist, who is the ideal representative of their racist fans.
He's gone for the money or because he had no choice because we weren't paying silly money for him.
If Villa told Rogers Chelsea's offer was well above Arsenal's?
Probably wasn't too hard to convince him to accept.
He is under contract through 2029.
He did speak to Rice and Saka, as well as Arteta, but also to Reece James and Palmer. Alonso swung it, along with the speed of the deal, unlike Arsenal stringing it along with no certainty they would ever complete.
Also the matter of having owner-to-owner striking and closing the deal.
A rare deal-- with a £25M sweetener.
Nobody thinks twice about that one.
average because of our players or bc the system ?
I think its the system mostly and a bit of players too.
I think City might not get Bouaddi. They spent a ton on Anderson.
I hope we are still feeling around about him.
With Guimaires, we need to give NC a drop dead deadline. For them and for us.
Barcola avail.
Kroupi
Kone
Diomande
Others?
We are going to have to pay up to 100M for one of these. Just how it is, and who it can be...
Also, doesn't Mikel need to sign his deal expeditiously before he can make a successful pitch to any top player?
not just that, its the classic wenger behavior. Finding cheaper deals later in the window does not give the selling team time to replace their player. Wenger would wait until the last week to find players!
Mind numbing stuff again.
Yea, but just buying the most expensive player doesn't necessarily make us better
Say we signed Morgan Rogers, then what happens to Eze, whom we just dropped as much as £67.5 million?
Morgan Rogers is like a redux of Eze; very similar player profile
It's so laughable how we draw list of players we crave without any recourse to the cost and how they'd fit into our team.
I keep asking why is no one talking about Rodrigo this summer? Yet we were told unequivocally last season we won't be in the top 4 if we don't sign him.
I am certain the club have their targets and would get them!
Rodrygo burst his ACL a few months ago.
"Finding cheaper deals later in the window does not give the selling team time to replace their player."
Wenger understood this very well. That's why he often bought players late in the window the selling club had no intention of replacing. Players like Andre Santos and Sebastian Squillaci.
16D chess.
Prices aren't getting lower closer to window closer.... not for those sort of top players we seek
Don’t forget the ultimate coup, Kim Kallstrom with a broken back.
Sterling 😨
Petr Cech Solo™ -- gets an honorable mention...
The real issue isn’t Morgan Rogers choosing Chelsea. Its the Arsenal’s relative inactivity, especially after just winning the league .
Mikel Arteta explicitly stated that the attack needed an overhaul following the Champions League final, yet nothing much has happened.
To make matters worse, our outgoings look as bad as ever, completely draining any post-championship optimism of getting in some top $$ for our talents like Man city did over the years.. On top of that, the transfer market has become completely inflated; even non-English players in Europe are being quoted at £100M+, meaning it is no longer just a Premier League tax.
Bruno G at the reported 80M is still gettable at this point before Man utd or other team gazump looking at value thr.
Looks like all teams are now gearing up for the last 2 weeks of domino effects of transfer activity, in this hyper inflated market.
The problems for us fans is that all we see is the £117 million that we didn't want to pay
However those that have to make decisions have to view it in terms of payment format/structure as well as the extra costs of the deal, such as agent fees.
Villa may want the money in a particular structure that will be detrimental to Arsenal etc.
I think we have to give the club some grace, they've earned it .
Diss you are too nice. We cannot be sentimental. This is cut throat business.
Move fast or lose out. Swim or sink.
All our rivals move quickly. We are the slowest all the time.
We literally have to the deal worked out weeks in advance to our liking before pulling the trigger. Sometimes, the deal falls apart and time runs out.
Don't you wish we hadn't moved to fast on the Madueke deal
Sometimes missing out of deals has saved us pain and hassle.
There's the selling club factor - Villa want the most money in the best payment format
Then there's the player factor; The player may not have even liked the vision that Arteta pitched to him. Xabi Alonso may have presented a clearer squad role that suits the player's preferences.
No one was in for Madueke. Just like with Tzolis. its why we had a clear path and was quick deals.
Oh, I was referring to Rogers, hence citing Villa
My fault though, wasn't very clear.
or someone else comes in with bigger money. Prices will go up the longer we wait, as teams will need more money to find a last min replacement.
I think people are getting hung up on the 100M figure. They see triple digits and panic.
The market dictates the pricing for this summer. For whatever reason, prices always go up. Its how it is.
We have cash 800M or around that. The most we have had in a summer war chest.
The EPL champions, CL money, etc Merch. Sold out stadium
Why are we not spending on targets ( should have been identified months ago)
and not buying them sharpish?
The same story happens to us every summer.
Slow to move. WE lose out.
Right now, there are still mutliple potential targets to help us. Instead we seem to be more finicky like we have no money to spend. Baffling.
Time to act like a big club, defend our title and get the coveted CL.
not sit back and wait for???
we can be unhappy about prices all day long as a club but its not going to change for us being "unhappy" we need to move faster, or lose out. Today is first day of pre season. Insane that we have no other players in yet. I hope this week we get 1 or 2. Pre season is critical
For me, I place the missing out of Rogers into the same way I took the missing out on Murdryk. I'm ecstatic that the system stepped in to relieve Arteta this one time.
There was no good fit for Morgan. He's only been spoken off because "Arteta loves him".
The problem is "Arteta loves them" because he typically mis-profiles them because he wants to use them away from their natural strengths or experiences.
Did we really need Morgan Rogers?
You spend £100 million+ to buy the best in class for that position, not to buy the best 3D-printer filament to mold something else.
Arteta loves him - is the most probable recipe for a miss. Very lucky that Merino and Havertz are smart and versatile players that found the way to be useful for the team in different positions.
We are still due cleaning up the Madueke stable.
Go get Grimaldo. Go get Yeremi Pino. Go get Dani Olmo if you have 100 mill; why settle for Rogers? They will be OK and as good as Rogers.
The big question is, if Rogers was the top priority signing, and multiple credible journos and I remember Fabrizio Romano famously said: "Morgan Rogers is Arsenal’s number one, two and three target". So if he was our top target, and apparently Arteta wanted him a lot, why didn't we approach Villa much earlier in the window, get it done nice and early and move on? I know why, cause when someone told us he'd be available for a fee between £80m and £100m early in the window, we surely only heard £80m and decided to negotiate that fee.
Well, we took our time and now the market is wild. It's understandable we walked away from the deal but the deal should have been done earlier. Either way, I'm interested to know who is that winger who'll elevate us but won't require us spending £100m+. As we're hearing, all of the best wingers on the market will cost more than £100m. Let's see if they come up with something good or we'll be scr*wing around until there's no one good left to buy or we'll eventually cough up more than we would have had we reacted quicker.
Plus, we need to start selling like a proper top club ffs. Some of our sales, especially since Berta was hired, they look like we're a charitable company. Some of the fees just cannot be real, I swear.
Maybe we don't need a better winger. Martinelli was a great revelation when he had Xhaka, Zinchenko and a fit Jesus to play off of. Now he seems he has to beat the opposing RB by himself all the time. As Souness has noted recently, Rice isn't that type of MF to make the linebreaking passes. Xhaka is and was only used in that role in the final year of his career here. He was great. Zinchenko too was better at precision passing in tight spaces as he was originally a MF'er. He is better at it than Calafiori and Hincapie. I think Guimaraes is the man to play the playmaker position there. And Alvarez is the one who most resembles Jesus in his prime. I don't think we should be spending a 100 million trying to get a Rogers or Barcola to be breaking down the non-stop low blocks we face. Neither Barcola and Rogers were effective against lowblocks at the WC. Even ManCity tried to low block us once last year. I'd rather buy a selfish player like Leao whose only super skill is to dribble past a RB. Imagine facing Saka and Leao at either side? Martinelli was great in the WC because he was played centrally and he was great in the tight spaces, he wasn't asked to hug the touch line and try to dribble past defenders.
I like how many are grabbing more firmly than ever for the Bruno G branch. What happens if/when we decline to pay their valuation as well? There are other players on the market sure, but it's tough.
Martinelli + Tzolis is a downgrade from Martinelli + Trossard. I don't know if we want to start the season weaker than last, when we were pretty garbage in attack.
My belief is that Martinelli is still a great player, just needs the proper teammates around him. Flourished with Xhaka, Jesus and Zinchenko. Might flourish with Alvarez and Bruno. He was excellent centrally upfront with Brazil. Xhaka wasn't a worldbeater when Arteta played out of position as a defensive midfielder and then was amazing when played further upfield in a playmaking role once Partey became the DMF. Xhaka was the centerpeice of the Leverkusen Invincibles and the surprisingly good Sunderland squads. Chelsea will be a force next year if Alonso gets Xhaka to orchestrate his team. Just like Xhaka, I think Martinelli is not impressive when played the way Arteta has him playing. It is as if Arteta's plan to stop the defence's double teaming of Saka on the right is to stretch their defense by putting Martinelli out wide on the touch line hoping that pushes their defenders a bit further wide. But of course by the time we have recycled the ball slowly around the horseshoe to Martinelli their defense has had time to stroll his way....and he can't beat defenders one on one. He is better with interplay in shrt spaces with other similarly tecnical players like Jesus, Xhaka and Zinny. Short quick passing.
Lol
Martinelli Attachment Syndrome MAS 😂😂😂
Give it up, he's had his time, maybe if he had 8 legs like an octopus
Rap basically said same thing when we got Trossand after missing out on Mudryk. But we all know how it panned out
Funny how many who ridiculed Trossard capture now want him here permanently 😂
Rap we don’t know yet if that’s a downgrade, based on Trossards output it’s possible but it’s unknown, Tzolis could be a revelation, Martinelli, could be improved, for me we haven’t moved at all but I don’t think we are worse off despite how handy a Trossard goal was last year.
That argument of "the deal should have been done earlier" is asinine
The content creators who talk such nonsense need to be straightjacketed
If you were the seller, who has restricted spending issues due to FFP
Would you sell your prized asset in a hurry, or wait to see how the market goes?
Wouldn't you wait to see what comparable players are going for, before selling?
Wouldn't you wait to see how the WC affects valuation?
Use your own God-given cognition and stop parroting what you're fed.
The deal couldn't have been done earlier because the people that run Villa aren't incompetent.
When multiple ITKs tell you a deal was on the cards earlier in the window before the market exploded, maybe they know more than you and I.
Newcastle/Barcelona did it with Gordon so your post assuming things is irrelevant.
Barcelona overpaid for Gordon
What are you on about, They blew everything one else out of the water.
You think the rumors of offers you read about on twitter amount to people putting REAL cash of the table?
Villa aren't as stupid as you think. If you were Villa, would you have rushed the sale of Morgan? You would hold out to see what other offers were there.
Use your own brain and stop repeating the nonsense that's being recirculated.
Multiple ITKs shouldn't freeze your prefrontal cortex, you should know when you call bull on rumors.
Barca overpaid for Gordon? Are we serious right now?
They got him for £60m + £10m in add-ons on £180k pw. That's below the going rate for players of similar class. Without a doubt btw.
That's what we paid LAST summer /fee + wages/ for Gyok. Oh, I forgot, you celebrated that deal.
Who else was more foolish to offer that fee for Gordon? I know what you thought of that deal at the time. Everyone though it a bizarre deal at the time.
Maybe Newcastle acted very quickly before Barca woke up from their stupidity.
No way that's a stupid deal. You're trolling. Newcastle could have totally earned more if they waited. I know we also wanted him for example.
"Aston Villa signed Brazil midfielder João Gomes on Monday, investing some of the money the Europa League winner is set to get for a British transfer record sale of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea."
Nice sensible signing by Villa
They won't miss Morgan Rogers one bit
They also got the Manzambi fella who looked class. I'm reading they are interested in Summerville too.
I would have gone for Manzambi over Rogers
I wish we had Summerville, instead of Madueke
It's unforgivable we didn't get Semenyo instead of Madueke. That was the transfer to go for.
We had already spent a TON over the previous summer and we would have probably had to have sold players before we could have bought Semenyo.
Semenyo was £10m more than Madueke. No way we would have had to sell if we'd gone for Semenyo.
Semenyo was NOT going to come play as an understudy to Saka
Sad news about Kevin Keegan.