Declan Rice (done and dusted)

Didn’t we just see Cucurella move from one PL club to another and stink the joint up? And Bissouma too? Richarlison?

PL proven just isn’t really a thing in my eyes

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I think buying from in the league is logical. But PL proven is just vague indeed. Cucurella only just got here and I never saw it with Bissouma. Richarlison had some doubters on here.

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That’s true but they joined teams that are unsettled and none of them are anywhere near the quality of Rice.

As I said, there’s no guarantee with any transfer but a player at the top of his game in the PL is preferable to a decent player from an inferior European league, who is cheaper.

There are certain players that are worth spending the extra for and Rice is definitely one of them.

Wait, what’s unsettled about Spurs?

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Fair question. Spent plenty of money, England’s extremely brave captain at strike and a real serial winner who definitely isn’t at fault for anything as manager.

Erm you were a very big fan of Richarlison in the summer.
Now you rated him highly at relegated threatened Everton and now he’s at a top 6 club and failing.

I still think he is a good player and did who did at the World Cup for Brazil but at spurs he’s rarely started so maybe he wasn’t a player that Conte particularly wanted.

There is no guarantee but there must be less risk buying players who have played in the PL or any top European league.

Most top managers have paid the extra for proven players from the PL.
When Ferguson and Mourinho wanted ready made top quality, they would usually buy players from PL or top European leagues and more recently Guardiola and Arteta, so it’s not a particularly controversial opinion.

I think Rice would be wise to join Arsenal, I think he’d excel under Arteta and this team is young and exciting like his demographic…

I think Arteta makes him a better player, one of the best DM’s in the world and England Captain…

Will he join us ? Not so sure, probably get outbid.

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I agree with you on Rice. Top quality DM and has the potential to be the dominant DM in the PL over the next 5 years.

Will he want to come to Arsenal? Why wouldn’t he. He wants CL football and we can give him that. We have an excellent manager and a young talented team that could go on to do great things this season. We can give West Ham and Rice what they want in terms of transfer fee and salary. Chelsea may be a draw, but Arsenal is the sensible option for him. Plus Chelsea’s midfield and team is going to be stacked. We can guarantee him a key role in the team and the project.

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We’ve got a very good team and a player like Rice could take us up another level.

But although Chelsea don’t need him as much as we do, they are the sort of club that would buy him just to stop us getting him.

One thing I really like about Rice is that I think he can play both the Partey and Xhaka roles in our current setup. Its really easy to see how we would use all three players extensively next year and we’d have very good coverage if it was those three plus somebody like Patino who just got the odd minutes here and there.

I’m less convinced that Caicedo and Zubimendi could do the Xhaka stuff but I really haven’t seen them that much, especially Zubimendi.

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But your prioritising PL experience and now following it up with top Leagues in Europe for buying players.
There’s pretty much agreement on this but you continually favour the PL experience.
Think after 20 plus years of the prem players from around the globe have all proven their merit.

Because Todd will give him 300k/wk for six years.

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We can significantly out bid Chelsea for players or anyone else in Europe.
What we can’t do is purchase as many. The club challenging on all fronts will be an attractive proposition as success has shown at Liverpool after years off the top.
Part of the culture change is also changing this pauper mentality.

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If we just need one DM/CM and make Rice our TOP PRIORITY, I think we won’t get outbid.
We do have the funding to get him. It is just if we want to get into bidding war and let other assholes jack up the price.
Since we already signed one foward/wide player and one CB/DM, we just need one more in Rice.
Just put all resources from this season and next on Rice.

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To be fair I’ve always said I would prefer players from a top league, although preferably the PL, because they know the other clubs and don’t need to adjust as much as players from foreign leagues.

This also why top managers who can afford it, are willing to pay extra for a player who can walk in and do a job straight away.

I think if it came down to strictly the football there’s no doubt Arsenal are better poised than Chelsea. But you’re right that Arsenal can’t buy as many top tier players as Chelsea. If Rice got a ridiculous offer from Chelsea and gave Arsenal a chance to match I think it’s at least worth wondering what type of commitment it is and how it impacts the squad going forward.

It’s not a pauper mentality to think about stuff like that. Tying up a significant amount of money in one guy is always a risk.

Yeah but if we land the title its a calculated one. The cash rewards are huge. Sponsors and partners get bigger. Lucrative pre season money. The guarantee of CL money.
Hate saying this term but the brand grows massively.
There is no reason not to be looking to purchase players in this category. People say we arent Chelsea, well we arent fucking Brighton either.
We are part of one of the biggest sporting competitions in the world. Again using Liverpool as an established club/brand the success elevated them well ahead commercially ahead of city. The same will happen here and would with united.

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We are in a position that worth taking big risk…
Half of season gone we are top of the league, 5 points more than City and have a game in hand.
With or without title we are almost certain to be top 4…

The money and sponsors will be there, it is time to flex our financial muscles and be like Chelsea/City for one time at least.

If we don’t get Rice now, he will be at least 20-30m more in a year or two, IF he stays in West Ham.

We are just in a perfect scenario to spend big right now.

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We agree on this, I just don’t think it’s a pauper mentality as you termed it to be careful about who you build a team around.

Signing a big piece like Rice isn’t a bad thing but for a club like Arsenal a signing like that just has to work. I’d be saying the same if we’d signed Mudryk, if the talent is there and the money is there that’s fine, but a big move like that has to come off because the club isn’t getting bailed out by the owners.