We don’t know this for a fact though. Of course we gave these guys money with to go, but the fact that their situation is completely hopeless as far as playing goes they might have taken less than full salaries. The sum of all that might have lead to meaningful savings.
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Looks like a one we could be going back to in the summer
So that’s a GK, RB, LB and AM at least planned for the summer.
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It makes sense.
Ryan was always a short term solution and Runar Runarsson was definitely some weird shady deal.
AMN is gone and I have a sneaking suspicion that Bellerin could be sold even if I don’t want him to go.
Tierney’s fitness issues are becoming a real concern so a LB makes sense as well.
I’d like to see more than one midfielder brought in. Ideally a guy to replace Xhaka or at least force him further down the rotation and a more attacking midfielder to rotate with ESR.
Yikes, so that’s five players. I’m not sure that’s going to get done. That would be some heavy lifting from Edu and co.
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Not sure about Firpo
I think its up to six players, which could be considered in three categories.
Like you said, the absolutely must have positions to fill, and to spend the lion’s share of resources on, are an attacking midfielder and a central midfielder. Not only do we lack quality, but we’re just going to lack bodies in those roles. We already have seen that we need another player to rotate with ESR. Whether its Odegaard staying, Buendia, or a dream signing like Grealish, we need somebody. The same goes with CM with Ceballos going back to Madrid and Elneny entering the last year of his deal plus just not being nearly good enough to get regular minutes. We just need another player with quality, hopefully one that pushes Xhaka into a backup role.
Then I think there are two positions we really need to fill - backup LB and backup GK - that can hopefully be done so very cheaply. We may even get players on frees. But we definitely need players.
Finally, there are two positions - RCB and RB - that really need to be upgraded but which we might be able to get away not addressing. Saliba could be the internal solution at RCB. Ideally we’d sell Bellerin and buy a better starter at RB. But if we’re doing everything else, it seems a bit unlikely that we can address both of these positions in the market, unless perhaps if we win the Europa League and get that sweet sweet CL money flowing in.
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I hope we don’t go the same route of waiting to sell before we get players in.
We’ve got about 10-20 players for which we’ve got to make decision for between the first team and the U23s.
Massive summer ahead of us. Gotta lower our expectations next season with so many changes btw. Looks like another season written off.
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Seems RVP tried to get Wenger to sign Chiellini at one stage too.
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Ok but why? He left out the best part.
He did quite the job on van Persie, I can see why he was impressed.
Why would Chiellini ever have come here or regretted not coming here? He’s had a fantastic career.
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My question exactly.
I don’t understand why he said that and didn’t elaborate on why.
He was a Serie C player at the time. He hadn’t even come close to being the established name he’s become
Oh right so we were looking at him back in like 2001 or 2002, gotcha.
Still though, guy has been at Juventus for 16 years and won like a billion Serie A titles, I’m pretty sure he thinks he made the right decision lol
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Who was it that posted the gerbil on here haha?
Mike Feinberg is a podcaster and loyal Arsenal fan who lives in Washington DC. He has another identity, however. He is also The Football Gerbil. “I’ll be honest,” he tells us, “this is not how I envisioned eventually getting into The Athletic.”
Recent reports have suggested that Mikel Arteta has been eager to root out a mole in the Arsenal camp. Perhaps he should have been more worried about the gerbil.
The account first came into being in 2018. It was a year in which Arsenal found themselves embroiled in a number of different transfer sagas, involving names like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Riyad Mahrez and the Brazilian winger Malcom. The swathe of rumours led to an explosion in the number of “Arsenal ITKs”, with accounts such as @AFCArsenalHorse and @TheFootballMole claiming to provide insider updates on negotiations.
“It was ‘silly season’ beyond ‘silly season’,” recalls Feinberg. “The idea actually started as a satire on a number of self-proclaimed ‘ITK’s. In my opinion there are very few legitimate ITKs, most people are just self-promoting.
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Will never happen but one of our ex youth players Glenn Kamara has been superb for Rangers. I’d say probably the best midfield in the league this year.
I think he could get a big move to one of the top leagues in the summer.
Hale End doing it again @Electrifying
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Goes to show how unpredictable youth development can be. I remember watching that league cup match against Sheffield Wednesday like five years ago when we lost 3-0 and thinking that Kamara and Bennacer were two of the most useless youth players I’d ever seen play for us. Now they’d both probably walk into our team, at least as rotational players.
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Yeah no shit we’re open to them leaving but would either move in a COVID market? I’m not convinced we’ll be able to sell both.
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No need for that player/coach nonsense, Luiz would just be a glorified mentor if he extends his stay here.
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