marv3llous wrote:

otfgoon wrote:

Release clause expired last summer according the Schalke.

Its only active during summer.

Heldt: "That agreement was only in place for last year, from now on the transfer fee is up for negotiation,"

I felt so positive after the Spurs game.

Now it's as though you can see the collapse coming closer in slow motion and nothing is being done to stop it. Losing Theo, Ramsey injured, Flamini's 3 game ban, a tired striker who struggles to score.

If we don't get a lift in the next 24 hours, I really fear for us next month.

Conor wrote:

An entire month of the transfer window has passed and we've gambled on trying to lowball Schalke in the final few days. I don't understand what goes through Wenger's head sometimes, I really don't.

Not making him the 3rd most expensive player in PL history doesn't mean we're lowballing.

And lets be honest, if we paid £40m for him and he doesn't produce the goods in the next couple of years you'd question the deal along with everyone else.

otfgoon wrote:

marv3llous wrote:

Its only active during summer.

Heldt: "That agreement was only in place for last year, from now on the transfer fee is up for negotiation,"

gunnerblog ‏@gunnerblog 4h
On Draxler's release clause, Heldt says: "That agreement was only in place for last year, from now on the fee is up for negotiation." #afc

Raphael Honigstein ‏@honigstein 4h
@gunnerblog lost in translation a bit. more like "not valid right now".

gunnerblog ‏@gunnerblog 3h
@honigstein So you think it comes back in to play this summer?

Raphael Honigstein ‏@honigstein 3h
@gunnerblog Draxler himself told Bild on the record that the release clause becomes active again in the summer

Lets see who's right in the summer, i guess

Not seeing the Pedro rumors, but he'd be great ahead of Ozil and as a Theo replacement.

For me it's not really the Draxler deal specifically that's so frustrating. It's everything. Özil is the exception. But really, we should have signed 2-3 more top quality players last summer. We persued Higuain for what seemed like forever(not to mention Jovetic before that). We put in an embarassing and incompetent bid for Suarez, all the while never serious about actually paying his worth.

We've had 3 transfer windows to adress our problems up front. Nothing.

We tried to sign Bender and Cabaye, but didn't want to pay their worth and ended up with a free Flamini. Flamini is a good squad addition and all, but come on.

marv3llous wrote:

Lets see who's right in the summer, i guess

Indeed. Wouldn't surprise me if Honigstein is trying to save face, given that he was one of those saying it becomes active in the summer earlier in the window.

Pedro would be a better signing than Draxler anyway. Even in the summer i'd rather go for proven talent like Reus and Costa for that amount of money. Don't think any team will be offering Schalke anything near 40m for him.

Nela wrote:

For me it's not really the Draxler deal specifically that's so frustrating. It's everything. Özil is the exception. But really, we should have signed 2-3 more top quality players last summer. We persued Higuain for what seemed like forever(not to mention Jovetic before that). We put in an embarassing and incompetent bid for Suarez, all the while never serious about actually paying his worth.

We've had 3 transfer windows to adress our problems up front. Nothing.

We tried to sign Bender and Cabaye, but didn't want to pay their worth and ended up with a free Flamini. Flamini is a good squad addition and all, but come on.

I think I'd understand this better if we were languishing 12 points from the top.
We're hanging in a bit a the moment and the next month could indeed be painful but I suppose it was never going to be as simple as signing the cherry on top star striker in January to seal league victory.
The magical January signing is something we as fans cling to but it rarely comes off, this doesn't just relate to us either.

It's not about a magical january signing for me. It's about our overall approach. I'm far more annoyed that we failed to prepare properly in the summer than I am about our transfer attempts in January. Özil helped cover a lot of failings.

otfgoon wrote:

Conor wrote:

An entire month of the transfer window has passed and we've gambled on trying to lowball Schalke in the final few days. I don't understand what goes through Wenger's head sometimes, I really don't.

Not making him the 3rd most expensive player in PL history doesn't mean we're lowballing.

And lets be honest, if we paid £40m for him and he doesn't produce the goods in the next couple of years you'd question the deal along with everyone else.

I think more than anything we just can't afford to pay almost twice what a player is worth.

We won't sign anyone. Disappointing as fuck, but depressingly predictable.

y va marquer wrote:

Nela wrote:

For me it's not really the Draxler deal specifically that's so frustrating. It's everything. Özil is the exception. But really, we should have signed 2-3 more top quality players last summer. We persued Higuain for what seemed like forever(not to mention Jovetic before that). We put in an embarassing and incompetent bid for Suarez, all the while never serious about actually paying his worth.

We've had 3 transfer windows to adress our problems up front. Nothing.

We tried to sign Bender and Cabaye, but didn't want to pay their worth and ended up with a free Flamini. Flamini is a good squad addition and all, but come on.

I think I'd understand this better if we were languishing 12 points from the top.
We're hanging in a bit a the moment and the next month could indeed be painful but I suppose it was never going to be as simple as signing the cherry on top star striker in January to seal league victory.

But it's never simple, is it? We didn't sign one in the summer either even though it was the single most important thing to do.

The disappointment doesn't stem from expecting the club to make a world class signing in january. It stems from knowing that there was never any real chance of us reinforcing the squad in any way, no matter how bad things got. Never mind how promising they looked for a while. We don't sign players to add depth to a working team and we don't sign players to plug emerging gaps. We'd rather run this season down the drain and then spend the summer haggling for players again.

And this isn't just on Wenger, obviously. This is about the people employed to do our scouting and transfer business. It's been pretty clear for years now that they are slow and inefficient at doing their job. The number of transfer windows we have fucked up lately is mindblowing.

We've gone two years without a proper forward now. It's january 30th and we're sitting here hoping for bloody Vucinic to arrive on a six month loan so we don't have to endure Bendtner (or worse, Sanogo). You couldn't have made this stuff up if you tried.

http://www.sportsdirectnews.com/premier-league-news/39426-arsenal-turn-attention-to-lyon-striker.php#.UurGlSf3lKI

batty gomis anyone?

he's looked mediocre everytime i've seen him, though admittedly i've only watched him play for france.

Gomis is useless.

Klaus wrote:

y va marquer wrote:

I think I'd understand this better if we were languishing 12 points from the top.
We're hanging in a bit a the moment and the next month could indeed be painful but I suppose it was never going to be as simple as signing the cherry on top star striker in January to seal league victory.

But it's never simple, is it? We didn't sign one in the summer either even though it was the single most important thing to do.

The disappointment doesn't stem from expecting the club to make a world class signing in january. It stems from knowing that there was never any real chance of us reinforcing the squad in any way, no matter how bad things got. Never mind how promising they looked for a while. We don't sign players to add depth to a working team and we don't sign players to plug emerging gaps. We'd rather run this season down the drain and then spend the summer haggling for players again.

And this isn't just on Wenger, obviously. This is about the people employed to do our scouting and transfer business. It's been pretty clear for years now that they are slow and inefficient at doing their job. The number of transfer windows we have fucked up lately is mindblowing.

We've gone two years without a proper forward now. It's january 30th and we're sitting here hoping for bloody Vucinic to arrive on a six month loan so we don't have to endure Bendtner (or worse, Sanogo). You couldn't have made this stuff up if you tried.

We're going in the right direction given the signing of Özil and the fact that we retained key players, signing them to longer contracts.
Even Chelsea, who are in as dire a need of a striker as we are haven't yet cracked that signing.
As for not reinforcing the squad in any way "no matter how bad things got" - things are not bad, what you guys are talking about is how bad you think things will get.
They might, but do people really think we can buy cover and back-up that matches the quality of those injured as well as buying a world class striker?

Ah, Gomis... the French Kenwyne Jones. Just what we need.

I predict that this thread will not be filled with joy.

Gomis?! He's turd