😆 Dules is right about the earlobes! How peculiar.

😆
Got transfixed by the teeth, never copped the ears.

Claudius wrote:

even without loaning out Chambo, if you assume that Chamakh, Arshavin, Park and Benayoun go, then for the front 4 positions you have
Podolski, Walcott, RVP, Gervinho, Rosicky, Chamberlain, Dempsey

That's not actually a lot of players for 3 positions. It's about enough to get you through the season.

not really. besides van persie, only podolski can sort of play CF out of that lot, so it's more like podolski, walcott, dempsey, gervinho, chamberlain for 2 spots, with campbell and miyaichi behind them.

as for suarez, no way.

6 days later

Would've loved Suarez a year or eighteen months ago. Thought he was good value at 24m. Now it's so obvious what a prick he is that few clubs would want him - amazing how things change.

25 days later

Shava is a good shout but I don't think Fulham want to pay his wages. And neither do Zenit. We're going to be stuck with him for another season.

As for Dempsey, just bring him in. I don't think it would take a massive offer for Fulham to sell him. Anything above £10-12 million and he's ours. He's approaching thirty and has had the season of his life. Would represent good value for both clubs. He's in a similar situation at the moment to Zamora a season back. They sold him for as little as £7 million a couple of months ago.

Think Arsh will still be hot in Russia. Wasn't he made captain for the euros?

Yeah, I think so. Not sure Zenit will be keen on paying his wages next year though, and they're the only club he'll play for in Russia. If they wait a year they'll be able to get him for free next summer and won't have to match the wages he's on at Arsenal.

14 days later

I agree, he'll definitely improve the squad.

He'll improve the starting eleven even when you keep in mind the way Gervinho and Walcott played for most of last season.

I really like Dempsey. I think he's been an excellent player for Fulham over the years, I love the way he drives into the box and has an instinct for goal, a way of getting a shot off from any position. I think, for the right price, he'd be a good signing.

But he does concern me a bit as well. Firstly, he'll be 30 next March, and is just coming off a career season. 20+ goals is a great return for what he did last year, but he's never got close to that mark before, and though I think he's still shown that he's improving towards his 30s, I'm not convinced he'll do it again. He's always been a good player, but this, for me, is the first season he's looked like the sort of player that belongs at a top club. Compare him to someone like Arteta, who moved to a big club late - I actually think MA has performed at a generally higher level throughout his career, but if Dempsey could be had for similar money I think he'd be a good buy. No idea what his contract situation is though, and whether or not Fulham would be prepared to let him go for as little as about £8m, but we'll see.

My second concern though is that I'm not really sure I see where he fits - an obvious position in our current setup just doesn't jump out at me. Again, he's got a reasonably good technique, but I'm not quite sure I see him in the same bracket as other players we've had on our 'wishlist' all season, in at least this very specific area, and I wonder if it might rule him out of playing the wide-forward role. Pushing through the centre isn't something we've seen Arsenal 'midfielders' do a lot of in the last season, though perhaps it's something we could do well to find room for.

He's a smart player, a good pro, and he has certain skills we lack. So long as we don't end up overpaying for him, I'd be very happy to see him join our squad.

asajoseph wrote:

My second concern though is that I'm not really sure I see where he fits - an obvious position in our current setup just doesn't jump out at me. Again, he's got a reasonably good technique, but I'm not quite sure I see him in the same bracket as other players we've had on our 'wishlist' all season, in at least this very specific area, and I wonder if it might rule him out of playing the wide-forward role. Pushing through the centre isn't something we've seen Arsenal 'midfielders' do a lot of in the last season, though perhaps it's something we could do well to find room for.

Agree with this.

18 days later

Apparently we've met/we're meeting with his agent again. I can say that I really don't care about Dempsey, we've already got our premiership class citizen and we're now starting to look overloaded with old dudes. The only reason I'd be for him coming in is if we shift Rosicky, don't sign Benayoun and he's a direct replacement for the Czech.

2 months later