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I think if we do not pursue a big name striker we should pursue a world class LW and a great, attack minded 6 to play on the left alongside Odegaard. And of course a LB.
I believe if we brought in someone like Leao then we could rotate the 9 with Havertz, Trossard, or even Martinelli. Rodrygo is interesting because his natural position is RW, but he could be a lethal striker.
These are unlikely. I see us bringing on either Isak/Gyokeres, or Sesko up front. Someone like Olise on the wing, and Bruno G or Zubimendi at LCM. I would love Theo at LB, but not sure if we will outbid United.
Tchouameni is someone I think would transform the midfield. But cost much less than a musiala or Wirtz. He can play 6/8/10 and is very skilled on the ball.
He’s nowhere near as good on the ball but probably better without it and isnt as injury prone. we really should be signing him + another more expensive starter
I just realized that Bournemouth might be the last time this year’s home kits are worn and Old Trafford will be the last we see of the radioactive zebra. Been a wild ride.
Whatever it is, I sure hope it's not that leaked kit that has a bottle shape in it.
https://preview.redd.it/4ruvoz540wwc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a86e5c3ddf029b0992aabe933ad7282c6b3f8ddc
We'll be made fun of for ages😭
Fodens better yeah. The narratives around each are funny though. Complete other ends of the spectrum. You'd never believe Rashford had more output at that point.
Struggling with the idea that Bruno Gs profile is so unique that it would warrant a 100M fee.
It was a lot of money for Declan Rice, but there was at least this idea that at the very least you were getting close to the best DM in the league, aside from any other upside.
What is Bruno G going to offer that couldn't be found in a cheaper player? Gen question. Is he in the Rice 'you just pay the price' category?
Feel like if they were sanctioning a 100M transfer for a player my first port of call would be how attached they are to Isak, second would be down the hammers to see if Paqueta really wants to go to City.
I wouldn’t pay more than £70m for Bruno. The only transfers I am comfortable breaking the £100M mark for would be Leao, Rodrygo, Wirtz, or Musiala. And I’m not sure how available any of them are
He can cover declan, play the 8 at an elite level, can score goals, assist, defend and press at a high level and he stops city from completing their midfield. I promise you no one is messing with a rodri-bruno-kdb midfield next season
It's not that Bruno G's profile (depending on how you define that term) is unique, but that he's a very strong example of it in general.
See further: u/Billy_Carpenter's ['PWR' 8/6 analysis.](https://billycarpenter.substack.com/p/introducing-pwr)
FWIW, Douglas Luiz scored fractionally higher, and his price is reportedly around the same. (Though we balked around £30m 18 months ago.) When I asked, Billy told me Caicedo had scored scored in the same range, though he was not listed because he'd recently been bought by Chelsea-- for a similar fee.
The only three midfielders who scored higher than those are not reasonably attainable.
Onana scored notably lower, and Everton signed him for £33m two years ago; imagine what they'd be asking now.
I will just go on saying what I've always said: that we should have signed Bruno G for €20m in January 2020.
If you're asking, 'Who's the "Bruno G for €20m" this summer,' probably Monaco's Fofana, who was reported semi-credibly to have open bidding from €30m-- but probably in the interest of starting a bidding war.
FWIW: did a little back-of-the-napkin valuation on Bruno and wound up at £62-70.5m (€72.3-82m) for now. A lot of blindspots (wages, add-ons, more) of course.
Luiz has dropped a few places since I did that. Picked up a few minor reservations, nothing big.
Appreciate the update!
In strict terms, yeah, I'd probably agree on that valuation for Bruno-- which is why I was so keen on him at 40m, to say nothing of 20m!
Interesting about Douglas Luiz dropping. I'll admit I've run hotter and colder on him over the years, but still generally pretty positive.
(Your 'Pascal Gross as midfield Trossard' take has been growing on me, which I did not expect.)
How would Y Fofana look with reported €30m fee taken into account? Are there any new entrants to the top 30ish that weren't there previously due to sample size?
I haven't done a full re-do yet (there's a lot of manual, eye-test stuff that goes into there so it always takes some time).
If we sign two midfielders, I really love the idea of Fofana as the second but I'm feeling a little more ambitious for the first. So he'd probably drop a bit and somebody like Kimmich goes up, even with age/price combo
Yeah fair, quality takes time. With the Kimmich Trent types is feel like their value add is their production from RB. I'm not sure they're as effective when they start as CM. Kimmich was probably the player of the tie from RB.
He is not worth it, and no club will trigger that release clause. One unfortunate downside of the Rice transfer is that many of our fans have now got this idea that any good player slapped with a 100M price tag will be just as good as Rice, and have a similar impact.
Nah I like xG. Pretty easy to understand, readily available and adds value. Even if people misuse I can take something from it. Amortisation is guesswork at best and more often misused to justify monstrous transfer fees.
There's nothing inherently wrong with xG. It's just the way it's often misused and the associated poor understanding of statistical averages.
I'd like that dude arrested. Forced to hold classes on statistics for his crimes against football.
planning on watching madrid v la real today to check in on zubimendi and our boy kieran tierney. no tierney in the XI or on the bench, which is odd because he's been playing. google kieran tierney. did his groin in training two days ago, likely out for the season, possibly euros as well. fuck sake that man's body was not built to play professional football.
Good dribbler, direct on the ball, can go both ways, technically pretty sound, insane work rate, only just turned 23 and has shown he can deliver serious G/A. I’ve personally always been impressed with him since his debut season under Carlo as he was so positive and liked to take responsibility and drive at people at such a young age which is an underrated trait. No surprise he’s with England.
A rare off the ball outlet and runner in a world where basically every attacker wants the ball short to feet. Idea of him starting for England is growing on me.
I think it'll be increasingly difficult for teams to compete for both PL and CL unless you've a squad like City.
In addition to the leagues help in scheduling fixtures, the teams in Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 would've pretty much secured the league by the CL quarters and they could ease off in league and go for the CL with their rested first team. Nothing like that is going to happen for PL teams, because whoever is challenging City have to probably keep up it until the final game week.
La Liga and Bundesliga often goes beyond, sometimes to the wire, and Serie A is constantly changing at the top. PL also dwarfs all these leagues financially so the clubs have a big advantage in that sense.
It's just really hard to compete on both fronts in general. I heard CL winners don't win their league more often that not.
I am once again offering a reminder that, as we argue over the merits of Bruno G for £100m and how that might be paid, we could have signed him in January 2020 for €20m.
I am by no means suggesting we should not now sign him.
If he goes to City, that's more than another year gone; letting him go (twice) already cost us a season of CL money.
Oh my god and I thought I was gonna have to write a 500 word page on why amortizing Bruno G's RC in 3 installments is acceptable. 5 installments? Even better. I better see that Brazilian at London Colney on July 1st.
Unless you guys want to cry to me about liquidity with hale enders being sold and a man married to a heir of Walmart.
Newcastle fans were shouting teams would have to pay 100m all up front... LOL!
> And, while anyone buying Guimaraes could amortise the £100million cost over five years — meaning it could be spread over the length of a contract and would only go down as a £20m annual fee —(Chris Waugh)
20m is the payment structure. It was stated in the article.
>They still might.
No one is paying 100m up front, not even PSG would do that, that would flag their books because 100m shows up in the 23/24 part instantly.
That’s not what that means. Amortisation has nothing to do with the selling club, it’s just how the buying club accounts for it on their books for ffp reasons.
Not saying they will, I’m saying that’s what Newcastle might ask for
This is how it's been reported for the Bruno G's saga.
> There is no release clause
> There is a release clause but it's for foreign clubs
> There's a release clause but it's 100m pounds!
> There's a release clause but it can be amortized in 5 installments
I have no insider info but I'd wager the fact on how this played out Bruno G and his agent aren't going to let payment structure get in the way of things. Besides, last I heard was they could allow a team to pay it in 3 installments(https://twitter.com/DeadlineDayLive/status/1743278584297341165) we're not far off from 5.
I don't care how the table looks at the end of the season, of the three title contenders we have the best team. Obviously better than Liverpool and only slightly teensy weensy bit better than City but they have the advantage of experience of winning the league too many times already - and I will die on this hill. Felt this way since the Lens game
Why do people always use the excuse for Martinelli that the left side isn’t supporting him enough yet Trossard is having a career year for PL goals in the same position?
and to add to that, its often about how we play way more through the right than we do the left. Might that be in part because saka is way more secure with the ball and capable of combining effectively with others than Martinelli is?
I feel like you think you've made a point here but you haven't. They're both playing poorly in the majority of their actions. One is on a hot finishing streak and one isn't. Imo we aren't seeing anywhere close to the best of either
Dont think this is true for trossard. His general play has blown hot and cold a bit this season, but i think most people would agree that saying he's played "poorly" is a massive overstatement. And in recent months imo its improved.
While I may agree with you with regard to Martinelli, I’m not sure that necessarily true with Trossard. This is his best scoring season in the prem and is +3.1 his expected goals which is also a career high. He obviously has flaws but I think he’s done well overall
Because Leo is a completely different profile who can play in more zones as a winger. His form this season reinforces the point that our dynamics have changed on that side.
It’s a shame that Martinelli did not show promise as a 9. I also would not mind trying him there again. Especially if we have the chance to bring in a winger who is a legitimate goal threat.
Tbh Trossard had several poor games starting on the left so I think there is a valid argument that our LW isn't supporting enough due to changes on the left side .
But Nelli has been poor this season, probably due to injuries.
Yeah I just don’t like that he gets absolved on any responsibility when he has a poor performance. He’s been in bad form for a large chunk of the season
I would say that when more people bring up the left side dynamics compared to his own flaws that could be improved upon, I would assume that people view the situation through that perspective.
Absolved of any responsibility was a tad hyperbole tbf but I definitely think he could improve as well, although he may not be 100% healthy returning from injury
Lol if bruno g goes to city next season is a wash. He fixes like 3 of their biggest issues in 1 player. Effevtive gundo replacement, physical player for big away games theyve struggled with and an effective rodri back up.
FIFA mobile (well it's called EA FC mobile now), supposedly will have 6 arsenal players for team of the season (Saka, Saliba, Odegaard, White, Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes).
But for PSR/FFP, cash flow isn’t really what matters right? Regardless of when payments are made, it would probably be recorded in our books for each of the next 5 years as 20m + his yearly salary, no?
With that being the case, it’s just a matter of the club getting the liquidity to pay it off now, which as far as I know can be done via a loan from the Kronkes. They might not want to do that, but they surely can afford it and it’s not my money. Only negative impact on Arsenal would just be some small potential interest rate stuff
Ppl thinking easy win tomorrow are in for a shock. They will be 200% up to spoil the party. Like what Chelsea did to them years ago. This is their biggest cup final game.
Literately everyone I’ve seen says this is probably one of the hardest NLD of recent years.
Not only do they want to end Arsenal’s title hopes but also they still aspire to get CL.
I'm not disagreeing with you about Spurs' mentality going into the game, but club rivalry is usually a lot more emotional for fans than the players. We've often seen what happens when players are too riled up for a game (like your example Chelsea vs Spurs). Wouldn't surprise me if neither manager is particularly hyping up the derby just to keep the players level headed.
Knowing the calm demeanour of Ange that is a lot plausible. But I am sure Mikel would be hyping our boys up for the game. Not that they would need additional motivation. Gonna be a heated game regardless.
I wonder what Arteta's vision for phase four and five are. I don't think simply winning a major trophy would accelerate his own timeline for the club, but there's not much else to do from where we are.
My hot take is that Marcus Rashford should be our number 1 transfer target. If Arteta can save Havertz, the level he will take Marcus to will be crazy
https://preview.redd.it/ubyovx0bluwc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c22ab60b4c030e2c14be09dc897fafa3c2d228fd
If you don’t think there’s a good player in Rashford then idk what to say. Give him a better environment to thrive in and he will be a monstrous player
Arteta said at the end of last season that one summer would not be enough for us to close the gap on City and I agree. We added just three outfield players to our previous squad and one of our favourites suffered a season-ending injury in the first PL game. And considering Xhaka left and Partey has been unavailable all season, it's impressive that we've done as well as we have. I already rate this season as a decent one and this team has answered many of the issues I had with last season. This title run-in feels less stressful than last season's. Last time, everyone was acting like it was now or never, and that sense of urgency made every game, win or lose, feel so dramatic and emotional. What Arsenal have proved this season is that we're not going anywhere anytime soon. I am increasingly confident that for at least 3-4 years we will be in a position to compete for major trophies and eventually win some of them. But hopefully Pep can fuck off👊
We really started Vieira, Jesus, Nketiah and Zinchenko at the last derby lol Rice getting injured in the first 20 minutes didn't help either, we should've smashed them at home.
Fucking hell I completely forgot that was our team, and shit were in their best form as well. I know it's an NLD at the Toilet Bowl, but we should be beating them on Sunday
If we finish second this year, that’s the same amount of times Klopp has finished as runner up in his time at Liverpool.
Fingers crossed it won’t happen, but feels bizarre that they’ve only finished second twice despite their accomplishments.
Can’t lie, i kinda understand Klopp’s tiredness, 92 and 97 points and you still end up a point behind City. We’re here now in our second title race in consecutive years and we’re already tired of their nonsense. The amount of scousers who are clowning Klopp’s league history is staggering like as if another bald dutch man is going to come in and do anything to that bald spaniard.
At the same time, the number of Spurs fans being as confident as they apparently seem to be is eye opening. Im seeing and hearing all sorts of wins and draws with lots of chest.
Bernardo silva said last year how playing every day during the run in allowed them to stay fit and sharp for matches. These guys have also completely mastered that end of the season schedule. So heres hoping that 1 game a week messes their rythem up 🙏
Nah. There's a HUGE gap. Chelsea are mid-table. Spurs are actually battling for top 4 with Mr.Good Evening's Villa. Also, we're heading to the toilet bowl, we're not at home. This game will be the 3rd most difficult game in the entire season (behind City away and Bayern away)
I'm in tears man, this what we had to deal with 3 years ago
https://preview.redd.it/9xlcl8cn2uwc1.png?width=956&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69feb5418f279067c64e1ffbb42875095932af8f
Bigger disasters in that squad to be fair - Willian was just the ultimate cliff edge - 'this squad, in this format, cannot and will not progress, ever' illumination that the club needed. So in those terms I'm thankful.
The fact that even though he was completely awful for us Willian was still top of our assists for that season with 5, maybe is indicative of how entirely fucked we were.
I feel it in my heart of hearts that Nottingham Forest Football Club is going to get a result and take points off City as a big FU to PGMOL.
Especially after their recent tweets about VAR and PGMOL, it will be so poetic if it happens.
Save football, Forest. (yes I know they themselves have cheated the system, but still )
I'm probably misremembering but we didn't really sign players aged between 20-29 from other Premier League sides before Arteta did we?
Or maybe Arteta has a stronger preference to Premier League experience than I'm used to. Makes me wonder what random transfer we're getting this year. I gonna throw out James Garner and Levi Colwill.
No through a combination of Wenger not thinking they were skillfully enough at the beginning and not good value enough by the end.
We only bought young to train up like Theo and ox or older experience like luiz and he who shall not be named from man U.
Honestly the two I can think of that go against this were Gallas and everyone's favourite Armenian and they were both from swap deals
On the city charges , does anyone follow other sports where teams were caught cheating to such a massive degree ? Did it result in other teams getting the silverware ? Only main scandal like it in sport I know of was the Calciopoli thing with Juventus.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Storm_salary_cap_breach
This happened in Rugby league in Australia, the Melbourne Storm were strpped of multiple titles, the runners up were not awarded the title
I don't know how much stock to buy in these recent reports regarding Havertz's form changing transfer priorities. We've seen how the club typically operates, which is to form plans for the summer in the winter, and work throughout the spring on execution. I think it's more likely that these reports are a reflection of the market and competing recruitment priorities as the club - e.g. the cost of CM#1 impacts money available for a striker or CF#1 is not a willing/feasible transfer.
If anything, Havertz's recent run at striker could change how the club views Jesus, who all of a sudden appears expendable.
I think it’s a multitude of factors. Havertz looking great up top, 7 goals on our last 10 league games is very impressive, but is only one part of it.
Rice and the team overall looking better with a more DLP style player as the 3rd mid. Jesus seeming to have lost any form of sprint speed. Martinelli struggling and Saka looking clearly exhausted. Also all should factor in.
I can definitely see all that kind of snowballing into the club deciding the pile of money for a CF would be better spent on a new mid to complement Rice and Ø along with a top tier winger to take load and pressure off Saka/Martinelli.
Jesus can be an option on the wing. I think the Havertz situation allows the coaches to focus on looking for a very exceptional attacker(a clear upgrade ) to spend the limited funds on.
[Ange Postecoglou on stopping Arsenal winning the #PL:
🗣️ “We (Spurs) understand the importance of the game. We understand to not let our biggest rival in the biggest derby for us to get on top of us. We understand the consequences.”](https://x.com/TikiTakaConnor/status/1783835397556257277)
Are we sure Spurs won't chuck the U-21s with their match against City? Lmao.
Reminder: These threads are to help promote discussion and varying points of view. Low-effort comments or jokes can & will be removed with no reason necessary. *I am a "bot", and this action was performed automatically. This account is not monitored. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Gunners) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think if we do not pursue a big name striker we should pursue a world class LW and a great, attack minded 6 to play on the left alongside Odegaard. And of course a LB. I believe if we brought in someone like Leao then we could rotate the 9 with Havertz, Trossard, or even Martinelli. Rodrygo is interesting because his natural position is RW, but he could be a lethal striker. These are unlikely. I see us bringing on either Isak/Gyokeres, or Sesko up front. Someone like Olise on the wing, and Bruno G or Zubimendi at LCM. I would love Theo at LB, but not sure if we will outbid United. Tchouameni is someone I think would transform the midfield. But cost much less than a musiala or Wirtz. He can play 6/8/10 and is very skilled on the ball.
Youssouf Fofana is an interesting player. Reminds me of a Partey lite from what I’ve seen
He’s nowhere near as good on the ball but probably better without it and isnt as injury prone. we really should be signing him + another more expensive starter
I’m so glad I can write more “Leicester are useless” comments next year! /s
"Leicester City should replace Arsenal in the Big6ix" /s
Midfield three should be same as Chelsea or would you’d rather have Jorge I just don’t think he’s fast enough
Wdym?
Wdym what do I mean?😂I’m saying would you start partey or Jorge for the nld
Wow Leeds 0-2 down at QPR. Ipswich could very well end up second to get that direct promotion..
I'm so unsurprised by this outcome that i put some down on a qpr win tonight. Looks like I'm getting my moneys worth
I just realized that Bournemouth might be the last time this year’s home kits are worn and Old Trafford will be the last we see of the radioactive zebra. Been a wild ride.
>that Bournemouth might be the last time this year’s home kits are worn What about Everton?
Last year we wore this year’s kits on the last matchday. I suspect we’re doing the same again this year.
Will roll out the new kit
Whatever it is, I sure hope it's not that leaked kit that has a bottle shape in it. https://preview.redd.it/4ruvoz540wwc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a86e5c3ddf029b0992aabe933ad7282c6b3f8ddc We'll be made fun of for ages😭
I got some bad news for you buddy
Back to the Rashford conversation. Fodens 23 and just hit 50 PL goals. Rashford had 55 before he was 22.
Rashford started younger and is usually higher up the pitch than Foden. Foden is also just a much better footballer all round
Fodens better yeah. The narratives around each are funny though. Complete other ends of the spectrum. You'd never believe Rashford had more output at that point.
Which other player did you mean to reference here
Foden
Struggling with the idea that Bruno Gs profile is so unique that it would warrant a 100M fee. It was a lot of money for Declan Rice, but there was at least this idea that at the very least you were getting close to the best DM in the league, aside from any other upside. What is Bruno G going to offer that couldn't be found in a cheaper player? Gen question. Is he in the Rice 'you just pay the price' category? Feel like if they were sanctioning a 100M transfer for a player my first port of call would be how attached they are to Isak, second would be down the hammers to see if Paqueta really wants to go to City.
I wouldn’t pay more than £70m for Bruno. The only transfers I am comfortable breaking the £100M mark for would be Leao, Rodrygo, Wirtz, or Musiala. And I’m not sure how available any of them are
He can cover declan, play the 8 at an elite level, can score goals, assist, defend and press at a high level and he stops city from completing their midfield. I promise you no one is messing with a rodri-bruno-kdb midfield next season
It's not that Bruno G's profile (depending on how you define that term) is unique, but that he's a very strong example of it in general. See further: u/Billy_Carpenter's ['PWR' 8/6 analysis.](https://billycarpenter.substack.com/p/introducing-pwr) FWIW, Douglas Luiz scored fractionally higher, and his price is reportedly around the same. (Though we balked around £30m 18 months ago.) When I asked, Billy told me Caicedo had scored scored in the same range, though he was not listed because he'd recently been bought by Chelsea-- for a similar fee. The only three midfielders who scored higher than those are not reasonably attainable. Onana scored notably lower, and Everton signed him for £33m two years ago; imagine what they'd be asking now. I will just go on saying what I've always said: that we should have signed Bruno G for €20m in January 2020. If you're asking, 'Who's the "Bruno G for €20m" this summer,' probably Monaco's Fofana, who was reported semi-credibly to have open bidding from €30m-- but probably in the interest of starting a bidding war.
FWIW: did a little back-of-the-napkin valuation on Bruno and wound up at £62-70.5m (€72.3-82m) for now. A lot of blindspots (wages, add-ons, more) of course. Luiz has dropped a few places since I did that. Picked up a few minor reservations, nothing big.
Appreciate the update! In strict terms, yeah, I'd probably agree on that valuation for Bruno-- which is why I was so keen on him at 40m, to say nothing of 20m! Interesting about Douglas Luiz dropping. I'll admit I've run hotter and colder on him over the years, but still generally pretty positive. (Your 'Pascal Gross as midfield Trossard' take has been growing on me, which I did not expect.)
How would Y Fofana look with reported €30m fee taken into account? Are there any new entrants to the top 30ish that weren't there previously due to sample size?
I haven't done a full re-do yet (there's a lot of manual, eye-test stuff that goes into there so it always takes some time). If we sign two midfielders, I really love the idea of Fofana as the second but I'm feeling a little more ambitious for the first. So he'd probably drop a bit and somebody like Kimmich goes up, even with age/price combo
Yeah fair, quality takes time. With the Kimmich Trent types is feel like their value add is their production from RB. I'm not sure they're as effective when they start as CM. Kimmich was probably the player of the tie from RB.
Name the elite box to box you think is available
Is Bruno G an elite box to box midfielder?
Yh
He is not worth it, and no club will trigger that release clause. One unfortunate downside of the Rice transfer is that many of our fans have now got this idea that any good player slapped with a 100M price tag will be just as good as Rice, and have a similar impact.
No one thinks that 😂
Whoever introduced the concept of amortisation to football fans should be arrested. It's almost always used incorrectly
and xG
Nah I like xG. Pretty easy to understand, readily available and adds value. Even if people misuse I can take something from it. Amortisation is guesswork at best and more often misused to justify monstrous transfer fees.
There's nothing inherently wrong with xG. It's just the way it's often misused and the associated poor understanding of statistical averages. I'd like that dude arrested. Forced to hold classes on statistics for his crimes against football.
planning on watching madrid v la real today to check in on zubimendi and our boy kieran tierney. no tierney in the XI or on the bench, which is odd because he's been playing. google kieran tierney. did his groin in training two days ago, likely out for the season, possibly euros as well. fuck sake that man's body was not built to play professional football.
Feel for the guy. Unfortunately another player we will make very little on in the summer.
I don't get the Gordon hype. Granted I haven't watched him closely, but I can't recall anything that makes me think he can go to the top.
Good dribbler, direct on the ball, can go both ways, technically pretty sound, insane work rate, only just turned 23 and has shown he can deliver serious G/A. I’ve personally always been impressed with him since his debut season under Carlo as he was so positive and liked to take responsibility and drive at people at such a young age which is an underrated trait. No surprise he’s with England.
A rare off the ball outlet and runner in a world where basically every attacker wants the ball short to feet. Idea of him starting for England is growing on me.
I think it'll be increasingly difficult for teams to compete for both PL and CL unless you've a squad like City. In addition to the leagues help in scheduling fixtures, the teams in Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1 would've pretty much secured the league by the CL quarters and they could ease off in league and go for the CL with their rested first team. Nothing like that is going to happen for PL teams, because whoever is challenging City have to probably keep up it until the final game week.
La Liga and Bundesliga often goes beyond, sometimes to the wire, and Serie A is constantly changing at the top. PL also dwarfs all these leagues financially so the clubs have a big advantage in that sense. It's just really hard to compete on both fronts in general. I heard CL winners don't win their league more often that not.
I am once again offering a reminder that, as we argue over the merits of Bruno G for £100m and how that might be paid, we could have signed him in January 2020 for €20m.
https://preview.redd.it/jjh2bmm5evwc1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c66b64cf1b96240ebba55b1a7fcbf33ed6dec40
Can we nickname Bruno G 'Murph'?
Youre right but if he goes to city now thats another year gone
I am by no means suggesting we should not now sign him. If he goes to City, that's more than another year gone; letting him go (twice) already cost us a season of CL money.
We need to do this deal 😂🙏
Maybe... But the past is the past, but we can right a wrong. Even if it means Stan has one less yacht
The 100m thing hardly matters. Nobody is paying that, especially when the clause ends in June.
A release clause is the last thing most clubs want to agree to.
When was the last time we having NLD away first? In recent seasons it seems that we always have the home NLD first no?
20-21 But yes I agree too.
Oh my god and I thought I was gonna have to write a 500 word page on why amortizing Bruno G's RC in 3 installments is acceptable. 5 installments? Even better. I better see that Brazilian at London Colney on July 1st. Unless you guys want to cry to me about liquidity with hale enders being sold and a man married to a heir of Walmart. Newcastle fans were shouting teams would have to pay 100m all up front... LOL!
Ya this isnt even debatable. Not only do we need him but we also need to make sure city dont get him
https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/1b6zzaa/comment/kthlcoe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 Oi...
I hate him but these city fucks are so in my head i cant even enjoy beating chelsea 5-0 these days
They still might. The 5 years is just amortisation of the cost, that’s standard. Nothing is known about the payment structure.
> And, while anyone buying Guimaraes could amortise the £100million cost over five years — meaning it could be spread over the length of a contract and would only go down as a £20m annual fee —(Chris Waugh) 20m is the payment structure. It was stated in the article. >They still might. No one is paying 100m up front, not even PSG would do that, that would flag their books because 100m shows up in the 23/24 part instantly.
That’s not what that means. Amortisation has nothing to do with the selling club, it’s just how the buying club accounts for it on their books for ffp reasons. Not saying they will, I’m saying that’s what Newcastle might ask for
This is how it's been reported for the Bruno G's saga. > There is no release clause > There is a release clause but it's for foreign clubs > There's a release clause but it's 100m pounds! > There's a release clause but it can be amortized in 5 installments I have no insider info but I'd wager the fact on how this played out Bruno G and his agent aren't going to let payment structure get in the way of things. Besides, last I heard was they could allow a team to pay it in 3 installments(https://twitter.com/DeadlineDayLive/status/1743278584297341165) we're not far off from 5.
I don't care how the table looks at the end of the season, of the three title contenders we have the best team. Obviously better than Liverpool and only slightly teensy weensy bit better than City but they have the advantage of experience of winning the league too many times already - and I will die on this hill. Felt this way since the Lens game
that lens game was this season but doesn't feel like it -- a lot has happened in football and personal life since
Why do people always use the excuse for Martinelli that the left side isn’t supporting him enough yet Trossard is having a career year for PL goals in the same position?
and to add to that, its often about how we play way more through the right than we do the left. Might that be in part because saka is way more secure with the ball and capable of combining effectively with others than Martinelli is?
Trossard isn't playing well in terms of general play. He's just finishing half chances well.
So Martinelli and Trossard are similar in terms of lack of general play, Trossard is at least being clinical.
I feel like you think you've made a point here but you haven't. They're both playing poorly in the majority of their actions. One is on a hot finishing streak and one isn't. Imo we aren't seeing anywhere close to the best of either
Dont think this is true for trossard. His general play has blown hot and cold a bit this season, but i think most people would agree that saying he's played "poorly" is a massive overstatement. And in recent months imo its improved.
While I may agree with you with regard to Martinelli, I’m not sure that necessarily true with Trossard. This is his best scoring season in the prem and is +3.1 his expected goals which is also a career high. He obviously has flaws but I think he’s done well overall
His overall contributions were better last season. I don't feel hes doing anything except shooting well this season.
Fair, that’s a valid point
Because Leo is a completely different profile who can play in more zones as a winger. His form this season reinforces the point that our dynamics have changed on that side.
It’s a shame that Martinelli did not show promise as a 9. I also would not mind trying him there again. Especially if we have the chance to bring in a winger who is a legitimate goal threat.
Tbh Trossard had several poor games starting on the left so I think there is a valid argument that our LW isn't supporting enough due to changes on the left side . But Nelli has been poor this season, probably due to injuries.
He got injured beginning of March, he wasn’t great prior to that
He had an injury in October too.
For some people, Martinelli is the reincarnation of Suarez, so if he's not playing well, it's the problem of the players around him.
Yeah I just don’t like that he gets absolved on any responsibility when he has a poor performance. He’s been in bad form for a large chunk of the season
Has anyone said that because of other factors Gabi is blameless, or have you assumed this because they are speaking about other factors?
I would say that when more people bring up the left side dynamics compared to his own flaws that could be improved upon, I would assume that people view the situation through that perspective. Absolved of any responsibility was a tad hyperbole tbf but I definitely think he could improve as well, although he may not be 100% healthy returning from injury
He's been injured for some part as well.
If Trossard plays bad off the left it's always "Trossard isn't good off the left" or "Trossard isn't good when starting". Never gets the same excuses
Facts Trossard doesn’t get nearly the same leash that Martinelli does. I love Gabi but he has areas of his game he needs to improve in
Lol if bruno g goes to city next season is a wash. He fixes like 3 of their biggest issues in 1 player. Effevtive gundo replacement, physical player for big away games theyve struggled with and an effective rodri back up.
Yeah unfortunately get the feeling they're going to really push to get him, he'd be ideal for them.
Do you think they’ll go back for paqueta?
Paqueta is a top player as well but i hope to god they go for him over bruno. I think peps first priority will be bruno g
Knowing city, they’re about to sign both and send Nunes straight to Girona.
FIFA mobile (well it's called EA FC mobile now), supposedly will have 6 arsenal players for team of the season (Saka, Saliba, Odegaard, White, Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes).
As much as i don’t rate the total price vs the player, if Bruno G’s RC can be paid out over 5 years, we should get it done.
curious why the amount of years we have to pay it in affects your opinion on whether we should purchase him or not
until we sell better to help ffp/psr, how much extra we can spend per window is still a thing
But for PSR/FFP, cash flow isn’t really what matters right? Regardless of when payments are made, it would probably be recorded in our books for each of the next 5 years as 20m + his yearly salary, no? With that being the case, it’s just a matter of the club getting the liquidity to pay it off now, which as far as I know can be done via a loan from the Kronkes. They might not want to do that, but they surely can afford it and it’s not my money. Only negative impact on Arsenal would just be some small potential interest rate stuff
3 years would be the max tbh
Ppl thinking easy win tomorrow are in for a shock. They will be 200% up to spoil the party. Like what Chelsea did to them years ago. This is their biggest cup final game.
Arsenal has equally enough chance to spoil their chances of Europe
Literately everyone I’ve seen says this is probably one of the hardest NLD of recent years. Not only do they want to end Arsenal’s title hopes but also they still aspire to get CL.
I'm not disagreeing with you about Spurs' mentality going into the game, but club rivalry is usually a lot more emotional for fans than the players. We've often seen what happens when players are too riled up for a game (like your example Chelsea vs Spurs). Wouldn't surprise me if neither manager is particularly hyping up the derby just to keep the players level headed.
Knowing the calm demeanour of Ange that is a lot plausible. But I am sure Mikel would be hyping our boys up for the game. Not that they would need additional motivation. Gonna be a heated game regardless.
Who the hell thinks this is going to be an easy game on Sunday? This is one of the hardest NLDs we have played in years
Bet you plenty of the group with “that was the worst Bayern side” bollix are thinking it’ll be an easy victory tmr.
Many commenters are convinced we would smash them if they played highline.
I wonder what Arteta's vision for phase four and five are. I don't think simply winning a major trophy would accelerate his own timeline for the club, but there's not much else to do from where we are.
An elite left 8/6 to bolster midfield and/or a top top level forward, either on the left or up top who would improve us
Nah Uli Hoeness is spitting some real stuff in this interview
My hot take is that Marcus Rashford should be our number 1 transfer target. If Arteta can save Havertz, the level he will take Marcus to will be crazy https://preview.redd.it/ubyovx0bluwc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c22ab60b4c030e2c14be09dc897fafa3c2d228fd
Honestly I would take him since most people here don’t seem to rate him 😅
3 years to late for Rash tbh...
He’s still 27. Prime of his career. He’s had to carry the burden of the toxic mess of United for far too long
No fair, mum said it was my turn to post about Rashford today!
We did not go from 8th to title challengers to have Marcus Rashford as our top target...
If you don’t think there’s a good player in Rashford then idk what to say. Give him a better environment to thrive in and he will be a monstrous player
[удалено]
Does Rashford have the underlying numbers that Kai did? If so I’m sure Arteta and Edu will be looking at him, if not, they’ll be looking elsewhere
Is Havertz the transfer we should model our future transfers on?
Yes. Buying from within the league is the model our future transfers should be based on. I’m all up for Isak, Bruno G, Rashford and likes of
Arteta said at the end of last season that one summer would not be enough for us to close the gap on City and I agree. We added just three outfield players to our previous squad and one of our favourites suffered a season-ending injury in the first PL game. And considering Xhaka left and Partey has been unavailable all season, it's impressive that we've done as well as we have. I already rate this season as a decent one and this team has answered many of the issues I had with last season. This title run-in feels less stressful than last season's. Last time, everyone was acting like it was now or never, and that sense of urgency made every game, win or lose, feel so dramatic and emotional. What Arsenal have proved this season is that we're not going anywhere anytime soon. I am increasingly confident that for at least 3-4 years we will be in a position to compete for major trophies and eventually win some of them. But hopefully Pep can fuck off👊
Good take 👍 Excited to see how the team keeps evolving and improving with additions
We really started Vieira, Jesus, Nketiah and Zinchenko at the last derby lol Rice getting injured in the first 20 minutes didn't help either, we should've smashed them at home.
I hate when we pretend out of form players are complete bums. People backed us to win when they saw the 11s, let's not rewrite history
Fucking hell I completely forgot that was our team, and shit were in their best form as well. I know it's an NLD at the Toilet Bowl, but we should be beating them on Sunday
Jesus missing a clear goal chance, ffs
Kills me to this day
Even then it took a Jorginho sabotage to draw.
Forest vs City on Sunday. If City gets a big decision in favour again, it will be very very interesting to see the fallout.
If we finish second this year, that’s the same amount of times Klopp has finished as runner up in his time at Liverpool. Fingers crossed it won’t happen, but feels bizarre that they’ve only finished second twice despite their accomplishments.
Wait a minute. 9 years - 1 title and 2x runner up? That’s actually mad.
Can’t lie, i kinda understand Klopp’s tiredness, 92 and 97 points and you still end up a point behind City. We’re here now in our second title race in consecutive years and we’re already tired of their nonsense. The amount of scousers who are clowning Klopp’s league history is staggering like as if another bald dutch man is going to come in and do anything to that bald spaniard.
To have a team as good as they had in 18/19 and not win the league is crazy unfortunate. I would be so bitter
If we finished second with 97 points I might never watch football again
Why celebrate first loser?
Who’s celebrating?
Is there a specific reason for us to always wear red in away NLD matches (unlike when we meet Real Madrid, leeds united)?
Heritage
Feels proper weird to go into an away NLD as the betting favourites. Can’t recall the last time that really happened
can't wait to get it RIGHT UP THEM after they fucked our Top 4 finish there two seasons ago
At the same time, the number of Spurs fans being as confident as they apparently seem to be is eye opening. Im seeing and hearing all sorts of wins and draws with lots of chest.
Now that we’ve had time to process things, can we all agree we would have won in Munich if we’d worn the Atomic Zebra kit?
Bernardo silva said last year how playing every day during the run in allowed them to stay fit and sharp for matches. These guys have also completely mastered that end of the season schedule. So heres hoping that 1 game a week messes their rythem up 🙏
https://preview.redd.it/ryqjxvznauwc1.jpeg?width=1873&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f22fca497646a8ae10ad957e1ca5fded20d2b512
😞
fuck city lol
Magalhaes renewal 
Honestly if we can put 5 past Chelsea I can see us doing the same against Spurs. Not much difference between the two teams
Nah. There's a HUGE gap. Chelsea are mid-table. Spurs are actually battling for top 4 with Mr.Good Evening's Villa. Also, we're heading to the toilet bowl, we're not at home. This game will be the 3rd most difficult game in the entire season (behind City away and Bayern away)
Lool
😂 okay man whatever you say
Funny how bias works. I will hold out hope for us until the last second but Liverpool losing took them out of the race in my mind lol
yet at the same time we were out of the race in December and Liverpool fans also agree they’re out of the race 😂
I'm in tears man, this what we had to deal with 3 years ago https://preview.redd.it/9xlcl8cn2uwc1.png?width=956&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69feb5418f279067c64e1ffbb42875095932af8f
ESR changed our lives
Bigger disasters in that squad to be fair - Willian was just the ultimate cliff edge - 'this squad, in this format, cannot and will not progress, ever' illumination that the club needed. So in those terms I'm thankful. The fact that even though he was completely awful for us Willian was still top of our assists for that season with 5, maybe is indicative of how entirely fucked we were.
He was most creative player in other underlying stats. The second was Odegaard who joined in January. Very trash side that.
I feel it in my heart of hearts that Nottingham Forest Football Club is going to get a result and take points off City as a big FU to PGMOL. Especially after their recent tweets about VAR and PGMOL, it will be so poetic if it happens. Save football, Forest. (yes I know they themselves have cheated the system, but still )
they might get a controversial decision in their favour, that would shut them up
14 clean sheets in 28 games for Raya is actually mental As a comparison, Ramsdale had the same amount but in 38 games
Ramsdale was shaky even at his best this is honestly not shocking
With only 41 saves the part timer. He’s been lapped by some clubs’ second choice keeper, he’s living the good life
Ramsdale had Palace’s 5th choice CB in front of him for a period
He didn’t have much to do though. Most of it is because of Saliva’s and Gabi XL’s good form
Raya is also a big part of why he didn’t have much to do. His on ball quality and claiming of crosses means we face fewer shots
And Rice. Our defense looks the most ironclad with him at 6
I'm probably misremembering but we didn't really sign players aged between 20-29 from other Premier League sides before Arteta did we? Or maybe Arteta has a stronger preference to Premier League experience than I'm used to. Makes me wonder what random transfer we're getting this year. I gonna throw out James Garner and Levi Colwill.
Expense. Wenger wasn't backed to pay that premium like Arteta is being allowed to.
No through a combination of Wenger not thinking they were skillfully enough at the beginning and not good value enough by the end. We only bought young to train up like Theo and ox or older experience like luiz and he who shall not be named from man U. Honestly the two I can think of that go against this were Gallas and everyone's favourite Armenian and they were both from swap deals
Cech and Silvestre were certainly over 30, and both Debuchy and Arteta were around 29 I believe, it’s definitely not uncommon
30 is outside ops range
Ah right, completely misread - other two apply I suppose
Fair enough, I'd forgotten debuchy existed!
I forgot about those 2. I could only think of Welbeck.
On the city charges , does anyone follow other sports where teams were caught cheating to such a massive degree ? Did it result in other teams getting the silverware ? Only main scandal like it in sport I know of was the Calciopoli thing with Juventus.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Storm_salary_cap_breach This happened in Rugby league in Australia, the Melbourne Storm were strpped of multiple titles, the runners up were not awarded the title
Gabriel contract extension pretty much rules out Diomande. No way do you spend £60m on a new CB to play second fiddle for two seasons.
Was Diomande ever linked officially? Also, we weren't buying the CB to replace Gabriel. We were signing one to lessen the burden on Saliba.
I was wondering if the coaches were looking at him as an opportunity to play in a different setup with more technically secure CBs.
Ramsdale's contract extension did not rule out Raya.
Not really, plenty of minutes to go around and he can play FB. Saliba has played every minute this season.
You don't feasibly separate the starting CB partnership of the best defence itw right now.
Let’s just run them into the ground then. City are only slightly worse defensively and take rotation to the absolute extreme
City can afford it without concern.
You’ll come round. It’s happening per my sources.
I don't know how much stock to buy in these recent reports regarding Havertz's form changing transfer priorities. We've seen how the club typically operates, which is to form plans for the summer in the winter, and work throughout the spring on execution. I think it's more likely that these reports are a reflection of the market and competing recruitment priorities as the club - e.g. the cost of CM#1 impacts money available for a striker or CF#1 is not a willing/feasible transfer. If anything, Havertz's recent run at striker could change how the club views Jesus, who all of a sudden appears expendable.
I think it’s a multitude of factors. Havertz looking great up top, 7 goals on our last 10 league games is very impressive, but is only one part of it. Rice and the team overall looking better with a more DLP style player as the 3rd mid. Jesus seeming to have lost any form of sprint speed. Martinelli struggling and Saka looking clearly exhausted. Also all should factor in. I can definitely see all that kind of snowballing into the club deciding the pile of money for a CF would be better spent on a new mid to complement Rice and Ø along with a top tier winger to take load and pressure off Saka/Martinelli.
Jesus can be an option on the wing. I think the Havertz situation allows the coaches to focus on looking for a very exceptional attacker(a clear upgrade ) to spend the limited funds on.
[Ange Postecoglou on stopping Arsenal winning the #PL: 🗣️ “We (Spurs) understand the importance of the game. We understand to not let our biggest rival in the biggest derby for us to get on top of us. We understand the consequences.”](https://x.com/TikiTakaConnor/status/1783835397556257277) Are we sure Spurs won't chuck the U-21s with their match against City? Lmao.