It’s the typical Arsenal way. Bending over for our rivals. Still haven’t shook that part of our DNA out.
The only positive about Havertz is his 'potential" to reach his FIFA stats.
German Havertz is very different from Premier League Havertz, time will tell which one we’ll get.
How is this bending over for our rivals? We’ve identified a player we want, who we think will improve us, and are apparently bidding to land him.
I’m really not wild on signing Havertz, but I really don’t get how it constitutes bending over for Chelsea, tbh.
Cause they’re asking for like £70m, and reports state we’re aiming for around £60m.
Nobody in their right mind should be paying more than £45m for him. Even Real Madrid pulled out cause they’re unwilling to go beyond £50m.
It feels like a bailout to Chelsea so they can a) purchase Caicedo and b) clear their books to avoid FFP.
FFP - I think we seriously need to stop thinking about FFP, most of the clubs in breach have ignored it anyway. FFP is not fit for purpose, City have essentially shown it is toothless and more importantly if not for the hack, there wouldn’t have even been investigations to highlight said breaches.
FFP will likely hold smaller clubs to account but the true exploiters will carry on as they wish
Havertz - if Edu/Arteta value the player at £60M and we pay that, then it is not a bail out of anyone - it is acquiring a player that has been scouted and we want. Not signing Havertz if he is a player we want, to spite Chelsea (won’t change anything in reality), will simply be spiting ourselves
I agree.
If we’re looking at around 60m for Havertz then West Ham are right to be insulted by an 80m for Rice.
Havertz plays for a team full of top quality players yet has done nothing for Chelsea remotely close to what Rice has done at West Ham.
Like you say, paying Chelsea that much so they can afford Caicedo is ridiculous.
I do agree that FFP is a joke. But with these 115 charges to City. I hope it’s the start of something real and concrete moving forward.
They just won the treble
I dont think they give two flying fucks
Hopefully they’re found guilty and get some of those titles stripped away. Though I think the 115 charges don’t include this season.
It’s clear City went into “fuck you all” mode as soon as the FFP charges were announced.
Makes me laugh when the boo the UEFA anthems
They dont like it because theyve been found out and were charged by them.
With Kai, I think we’ll play 4 1 4 1 on paper similar to City with Kai/KDB behind Jesus/Haaland.
Øde with the Gundo role.
Rice with the Rodri role.
White/Zinchenko stepping next to Rice in attack to make it 3 2 5 or 2 3 5.
Very interesting squad on paper. Sexy football if it all plays fluently.
On one hand, we could pay a large fee now and have him in for the full pre-season. On the other, we could wait it out and keep Chelsea sweating on balancing the books for ffp and delay them getting their targets in.
Surely Havertz is one we could get away with signing later on in the window if it’s to happen.
I think the preference is to get him in early for pre-season. We’re not paying £60m for a bench player. I believe he’s seen as an important piece in the starting lineup to occupy the 8 or behind striker. Needs to train with the team to understand the system that is completely different from terrorist ball he played under Tchel, Potter and Lampard.
Our priority shouldn’t be about what Chelsea might or might not do. It should be about getting our team in best possible shape for the start of the season. So I’d rather buy early rather than play mind games with a team who finished 40 points and 10 places behind us.
We had plenty of questions regarding Arsenal), with D asking about Declan Rice, and also whether the club are targeting any attackers?
David Ornstein: West Ham are ready to sell Rice for what could be a British-record fee, and over time Arsenal have emerged the favourites to sign him. Personal terms shouldn’t be a problem but the clubs have to agree a price.
As The Athletic reported yesterday (Thursday), Arsenal made an opening offer to sign Rice, which was rejected. This development followed talks between Arsenal executive Tim Lewis and West Ham counterpart Karren Brady at the Premier League AGM. Sporting director Edu and director of football operations Richard Garlick are leading the process for Arsenal.
There is interest from other clubs — not least treble winners Manchester City. They are actively exploring an approach of their own for the 24-year-old.
Arsenal also want to recruit a more attack-minded player. They initially targeted Mason Mount but once it emerged that his preference is to join Manchester United, the focus shifted to another Chelsea player in Kai Havertz. A first proposal has been submitted amid contact both between the clubs and with the Germany international.
Chelsea want to tie Havertz down to a new contract — his current one expires in summer 2025 — or sell him for what they deem an acceptable price. If the 24-year-old does stay, there is optimism he will return to form under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino after a difficult season.
But if a deal emerges which suits all parties, it is highly possible that he will leave Stamford Bridge.
Does that say anything we dont already know?
Yes. It’s saying Garlic on Rice. That’s new. Could taste good.
It confirms how Havertz is seen and why we didn’t want both Rice and Caicedo.
The second midfielder was always gonna be a more attack-minded player.
I had hoped the attacking player would be in addition to the 2 central midfielders
I have seen before Arteta talking about the Xhaka role and it has a more forward and creative element. Xhaka filled the gap but Mikel was always going to fill it with a more suitable player.
Yep, it says a lot that he never really used anyone more conservative player there when Xhaka wasn’t playing.
We’ve seen Vieira, Trossard and Odegaard playing there instead.
I think the idea from our fans was that Rice was gonna play there and develop his game going forward, but likewise I don’t see why a more attacking minded player can’t play there and develop his game when defending.
Im sure he had ESR there too at one stage.
I dont mind a more attacking player going in there, the cover is there with other positions so shouldnt affect anything.
I did think it would be Rice to replace that Xhaka role and Caicedo to go into the Partey role when required but with the prospect of a proper forward player going there, it has to be a better option.
Still wanted both of them though lol