Wonder if we go back after Cody Gakpo this January. He is having a superb Season soo far at PSV having scored 13 and got 3 assists.
No. Already got nine players for four starting places (Odegaard, Vieira, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, Nketiah, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Marquinhos). Gakpo isn't going to come as a squad player and he's not better than Saka or Martinelli so what's the point. Pump ALL our money into a centre-mid. Rice, Laimer or Milenkovic-Savic.
Well yeah I agree that's what I would do as well. (Bellingham, Rice or Savic for me) But the fact they made approaches for Gakpo, Ferran Torres and Raphina makes me think could could still be on the cards.
Yeah but I did write this: "Every season there are three real trophies available to those seven teams (Europe, league, FA cup)" Dude, come on. Your 2008 trophy is not a trophy that any club strives for. The big seven, rich(est) clubs do not aim for it and don't play their strongest teams in it unless they stumble their way towards the final. Getting knocked out of the FA Cup last year by Forest really pi55ed off a lot of Arsenal fans. If we got knocked out of the league cup by Forest I don't think many would give a toss though. It doesn't count in my completely arbitrary list of trophies.
I also don't count the FA Cup as a real trophy but only for the years 1990 to 1991. The FA Cup peaked as a modern appealing trophy between the years 2013 and 2020. Beyond 2020 it went massively downhill again and now no big team wants it. Unless Arsenal win it this year, at which point it will immediately become coveted again.
Nah, I don't think we should be in a position to dismiss any trophy. At the end of the day, trophies are very hard to win and we never know when our next one will be. City value the League Cup a lot hence why they've won it so much and why it's built them a platform to win more silverware. Whilst it may not be deemed a 'big' or 'significant' trophy, I would still be happy if Arsenal won it because we would be adding to our history. Also, given that we've only won FA Cups/Community Shields since 2004, I don't feel like we're in a position to be sneering down on any piece of silverware.
There's a perfectly valid reason to sneer down at the league cup... because denigrating it means we can say Spurs haven't won a proper trophy for a heck of a lot longer. Works for me! City win it so much because their B team is better than almost all other clubs' A teams so they can get to the semi-final and final without much bother. The other big clubs' B teams aren't quite as strong so it's hit and miss how far they get in the competition.
Douglas Luiz has just signed a new contract so he won't be a cheapo in January (or freebie next Summer). Tielemens it is then. Although various reports of Kroenke willing to put in shedloads more money in January so maybe Tielmens for £10m and then an absolute worldie for £60m+ too. Ian Wright also suggesting that there are big names ready to sign for Arsenal if and when we get CL in 2023/24.
I was never too keen on us signing him anyway so I don’t feel too strongly about him signing a new deal with Villa. However, we still absolutely need another player or two in Jan - I wonder if we’re still in for that Danilo from Palmeiras.
Bellinghammmm. We want someone who improves our starting 11. If we were willing to spend 60m on Raphina and 25m on Tielemans - why not just spend 80-100m now and get Bellingham / Rice or Savic? Anyways with Partey's injury record its pretty clear we need some high class cover. Elneny isn't going to cut it. Real shame we didn't get Bruno Guimaraes ahead of Newcastle - looking at his stats he's been arguably the best CM in the league this Season.
Soo if we were to turn this squad into a genuine title contenders here's what I think. We need another high level CB. Araujo at Barca would be a decent option. I'm not a Gabriel hater at all - he's good defender but if we were really to evaluate this side he is probably one of the weakest points. Not based on ability mind you it's more that he gets too emotional and makes errors. At 24 he's still going to improve but Araujo would add depth and quality. Striker - Second Choice. Personally I would like someone a little different from Gabriel Jesus, Ideally a target man like Tammy Abraham. I like Eddie but i'm not sure ability wise he could cope at the ECL level. Centre-midfield is where we really lack quality in depth. Zinchenko coming back from injury will help but a TOP class addition here would go a long way: I would be happy with: Declan Rice, Bellingham or Milinkovic-Savic. I would also bring in a Tielemans level player. I don't believe Lokonga and Elneny are up tother required level. 4 signings and squad would be quality all the way through. (Still unsure about Turner though he does seem like a good showstopper) Also Tomiyasu ,Saka, Zinchenko and Smith Rowe can cover multiple roles to a high level which allows for more rotation. ------------------------------------Ramsdale(Turner)--------------------------------------- White(Tomiyasu)---Saliba(Holding)----Araujo(Gabriel)---Zinchenko(Tierney) -----------Thomas Partey(Tielemans)---Bellingham(Xhaka)---------------------- -----------------------------------Odegaard(Viera)------------------------------------------ Saka(Marquinhos)--------Jesus(Abraham)--------------Martinelli(Smith Rowe)
Mudryk always cropping up on Twitter. Fits the Edu/Arteta profile of young, exciting investment. Would be awesome to have him compete on the wings with Saka and Martinelli. Him and Milenkovic-Savic in January please. Mudryk for £50m. Milenko for Lokonga+£20m. Tielemans for free in the summer. Bosh.
This is a joke. £100m for a 21-year old from the Ukrainian league? They’re never getting that. If Shakhtar won’t be reasonable, we need to walk away.
Looks like we are also in for Joao Felix as well. But we’d need Atletico to reduce the type of figure they’d want for him, even on loan.
Yeah thats ****ing ridiculous! Anything higher than £60m for the kid and you are over paying big time. Good player though, but you shouldnt be paying north of £50m for a 21 year old winger from the Ukrainian league, not unless he has Haaland stats, and even then...the Ukrainian league? its not the bundesliga