Oleksandr Zinchenko (35)

For anyone who wants to see our new- checks notes -left back in action.

Even in all that humidity the only one who should be sweating is Tierney

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Who? :arteta2:

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Man look at that move at 0.35 second such an elegant touch and then switches play to perfection. Usually I hate those laboured diagonal balls but this one effectively took out half the entire Chelsea team, Saka and Odegaard should have done better.

Partey to Zinchenko to Saka and Chelsea just dead from front to back.

Also at the minute mark you see Xhaka fumble a received ball from Partey and Zinchenko just steps in to keep the move alive.

I really do wonder if this signing could save Xhaka arsenal career

I really hope he(Teta) doesnā€™t see it that way. I see an opening here to get this midfield to the next level.
Add a more fluid mobile passer there and we cooking.

I think he does, every manager who has ever worked with Xhaka seems to absolutely adore him. Heā€™s always fit, heā€™s a yes man, a good soldier. Unfortunately Iā€™ve always felt that the signing of Tielemans or a similar CM is linked to Xhaka staying or going.

Which is a massive bummer. Although if we signed Tielemans would you be accepting of Xhaka as depth. I mean heā€™d absolutely start loads but weā€™d have more options in midfield.

I think I could be amenable to that. Last season showed that at times he can be a useful player but only if the system is immaculate. Thereā€™s also his shit discipline- red cards, penalties, so many lost points

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I think itā€™s too late for him to go this summer now.
Said it before, let Lokonga go out on loan to get a full season in a proper top league under his belt and get another midfielder in. Schedule looks absolutely hectic. Xhaka will get games regardless, even as a backup.

Heā€™s a good soldier as you said, if an opportunity arises for him in January then he can go with our blessing.

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Thereā€™s probably something to that actually. Heā€™s starting to look to important in this system. Sambi out Tielemans in for Ā£25m is such a no brainer, would maybe even get a little loan fee for Sambi.

Partey- who was fucking unreal tonight,
Xhaka, Elneny
Tielmans, Ode, Vieira.

Thatā€™s a pretty respectable midfield, too good for the EL if Iā€™m being honest

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Yeah, I think that would set us apart from Chelsea, Spurs and Man Utd, and closer to Liverpool and City.
You then get a more seasoned Lokonga back next year to compete with say Tielemans and with more experience he may be able to fill in for Partey as well.

I watched Saliba mostly for Saint-Etienne rather than Nice and Marseille which is why I always had my doubts as he was pretty raw at the time. He now looks a totally different player. All that experience at Nice and then Marseille paid off and it looks like we have another top CB in our squad now.

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The Saliba thing was honestly so fucking overblown by some facets of our online fan base. Signed a young player with an incredibly high ceiling and sent him away to iron out his flaws. Itā€™s what big clubs do.

I was a little unsure about how many minutes Saliba might get in the EPL as Iā€™ve saw a lot of his scruffiness at times too but he looked so assured tonight I couldnā€™t believe it. White impressed me too although I do think weā€™ll want Tomiyasu back sooner than later

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Which also allowed us to give minutes to David Luiz, Mustafi, Mari, Sokratis and Holding

Win Win.

I buy that nonsense if we had good options ahead of Saliba. He could have easily ironed out his flaws playing for us. Itā€™s not like we achieved anything of note during that time.

We could have absolutely psychological ruined him during that period but weā€™ll just ignore that aspect

The only season we could have realistically utilised him was last season and we did, in fact have better options in White and Gabriel.

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We would never know.
I hope he signs a contract and turns out good for us so we can get it behind us.

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Zinchenko just looks so natural in an Arsenal shirt. Heā€™s very flawed defensively, but heā€™s going to add so much to us playing out from the back and overall possession.

This guy is honestly just different class. I really canā€™t understand City looking to replace such an elegant and dynamic player with a run of the mill full back like Cucarella for Ā£20m difference.

Their loss, our gain

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I do wonder what limitations Pep saw on him that made him not think enough of him to give him the LB slot out right.

Iā€™ve seen some City fans say heā€™s defensively weak so maybe thatā€™ll rear itā€™s head but he improves our left side so much it canā€™t be stated enough

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Cucarella isnā€™t run of the mill at all.

Think he created more chances form open play than both Cancelo and Robertson last season, only TAA and James managed more than him.

So I take it theyā€™re projecting him to go up a level by virtue of the coaching and quality heā€™d be surrounded by. Wouldnā€™t surprise me to see him look like one of the leagueā€™s very best at City if he gets the move.

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Heā€™s not a bad player tbf, but I can see where youā€™re coming from with Zinchenko.

I just hope it isnā€™t the ā€œGallasā€ effect. Good for a while, winning mentality, then it wanes.

Yeh I like Cucarella and at 23 heā€™ll only get better, especially under Pep. Just not sure heā€™s worth Ā£50m plus the death of Zinchenko if Iā€™m a city fan

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I donā€™t know that much about him I havenā€™t followed him much and only seen him play a couple times. Iā€™ll take your word for his creative abilities

You know Potter is my boy so I try and watch a good deal of Brighton games, I think he has pound for pound best in the league potential.

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