I've always considered it to mean that whatever is available is inclusive of other 'fees', e.g. we won't be giving £100m to clubs and then adding a further 30% for agents etc.

Doesn't really make much sense either, but it's the best I have.

Could be that wages until the end of the year is to be covered in that budget. Fucked if I know really...

innervisionscm wrote:

Don't get your hopes up for pre-WC signings IMO.

Very unlikely unless we make a move right now, the seasons are ending soon and they'll be heading off to Brazil soon after so not much chance to get the deal done.

cant see us spending on an elite striker if martinez comes in. 30m+ on martinez, 10m on sagna replacement. thats already 40m net spend with no major player sales. leaves enough for someone like drmic. no way arsenal spends 70m net in one window under current management

That's what ten years of austerity earns you.

JazzG wrote:

innervisionscm wrote:

Don't get your hopes up for pre-WC signings IMO.

Very unlikely unless we make a move right now, the seasons are ending soon and they'll be heading off to Brazil soon after so not much chance to get the deal done.

The excuses begin!

No reason not to sign someone early if we're serious about this summer.

Hope it happens. Can't think of a better foil for Ramsey.

Getting a DM wouldn't have stopped us conceding half a dozen goals in away games IMO, neither would it have turned home draws into wins.

If we spend £30 on DM he better be able to contribute a huge amount to the team play and I don't think any of the names touted have a true "all round" game. Great players, but mostly defensive distributors.

I'd rather we sorted out our lack of chance creation and conversion and covered quality to stop us hacking shit up whenever Ramsey, Ozil, and Walcott are injured.

Captain wrote:

That's what ten years of austerity earns you.

im talking about what will actually happen. we have the money to do it, it just wont be spent in these quantities

We'll wait and see.

As ideal as this signing might be, can anyone seriously see Wenger spending 40m+ on a DM?

The rumor I read said 35m euros which is about £28m. Not out of the question but that's a lot of money for a holding midfielder, Wenger might go after Schneiderlin or someone in Spain instead IMO. £35m striker, £18m CM, and a cheap RB, something like that is almost our best case scenario. Wenger has never spent like that even if there are encouraging signs he is changing.

you shouldn't think in terms of it's a lot of money for a midfielder, but how big the need is. Arteta and Flamini are fine examples and men we can rally behind, but they're not the quality we need. DM and RB, and another scorer are our two biggest need areas right now. let's not be scared to spend

Agreed. Bayern thought they needed one player to complete them and that was Javi Martinez. Therefore they decided to overpay for him in form of 40m before they went on to win the treble. Not saying it's that simple but if you have a glaring need in your side you need to invest what's required regardless of what position it is.

Far better off going for Schneiderlin I'd say

Was a little more radical than that; they also signed a new starting CB and drop-kicked their record cost/scoring striker. In essence, they got an entirely new spine in one summer with some bold decisions and transfer moves. I think it's a bit harder to do that in the premiership.

But yes, we need to follow their lead in identifying a clear strategy and acting upon it.

But Javi Martinez was the missing jigsaw identified. Mandzukic was just brought in on the back of a good euro, they didn't know he would be this good. Don't forget before the Euros Wolfsburg wanted to discard him already. They might have gained Dante, but they also lost Badstuber that season.

I really like Schneiderlin, but Martinez have the stature and presence in midfield that you cant find easily in Europe. Like Matic.

They wanted Giroud too, so it's clear that the plan was to sign a more altruistic striker. They signed a CB because they wanted to strengthen their defence, it didn't just happen by accident. The fact that Badstuber got injured doesn't change that.

Point remains, they identified three areas (not one) and got the job done.

Bayern wont sell Martinez. Pipe dream.