I think Garay is top class.

If he had been top class he wouldn't have spent the last four years bobbing around in European third rate leagues.

They may not improve the starting XI but would add a similar level quality to our squad so as to enable genuine rotation and maintaining of performance levels.
This ploy by AW about only singing players to improve what we already have is a crock of BS, & an excuse to do SFA saying we tried but found no one available for the right quality & price. The season is determined by the strength and quality of the squad - NOT solely by the best XI.

Akinfeev, Ochoa
Ciscito, Lichtsteiner
Garay, Schar, Reid, Nastasic, van Djik
Romulo, Silva, Khedira, Witsel, M'Vila
Shaqiri, Ayew,
Gignac, Rondon, Doumbia

IMO between the Russian collapse, the players out of contract in the summer, and those wanting game time there is NO excuse to not be able to strengthen across the squad. Further to this there is no need to pursue players like Schneiderlin, Carvalho, Martinez, Bony, Draxler, Howedes, Hummels etc who are unlikely to be available and will likely cost 15-20m+.

Contrary to popular opinion I actually think our squad is very good. Apart from CB, we have got good back ups in all other areas (Wenger is just poor at using them), what we lack is top quality in key positions in our 1st eleven IMO; striker, DM, GK. And I'd also add a top quality CB to compete with Mertesacker.

No point bloating the squad with more decent/good players, we need top quality IMO.

Pretty much agree with that Tactics. We have too many squaddies.

Whilst our squad has quality it's both unbalanced and unsuited to the style & roles AW wants.
Further to that the players that AW has spent the past 5 seasons developing (Walcott, Wilshere, Rambo to become the core of the team), are becoming unreliable because of constant injuries as much as the likes of Fabregas or RVP.
I'd prefer to have a squad where there is no drop off in terms of quality and suitability, so that we are no longer as reliant upon a core of players who are seldom available together or for any extended period of time each season.

That said even the recent articles about AW not being afraid to spend are just the usual BS about IF the right player is available for the right price, and none of the clubs for the players referred to have indicated they are prepared to sell in Jan.

Klaus wrote:

If he had been top class he wouldn't have spent the last four years bobbing around in European third rate leagues.

Fine, then, just class. Strikes me as a very artful defender. Would be a good fit for us as 3rd choice/rotation CB.

Another one bite the dust. Kramer has signed for Leverkusen.

He's already at Leverkusen, was only on loan at Monchengladbach.

Tactics wrote:

Contrary to popular opinion I actually think our squad is very good. Apart from CB, we have got good back ups in all other areas (Wenger is just poor at using them), what we lack is top quality in key positions in our 1st eleven IMO; striker, DM, GK. And I'd also add a top quality CB to compete with Mertesacker.

No point bloating the squad with more decent/good players, we need top quality IMO.

I think thats true in some areas but not all. We are crying out for a defensive mid to fill the Arteta/ Flamini role and we need a central defender in January as a matter of emergency. Of course we would all rather top class players brought in but if they can't/won't be signed then we should at least get in some decent players. How hard can it be to upgrade on Flamini in midfield?

Moussa Sissoko declared his "love" for Arsenal today. Would anyone take him here?

Hmmm dunno. We could use his power but we suck major balls in terms of craft at the mo

Just sell a few guys then. Cazorla has been good lately, but I would put him on a plane to Spain myself if it meant that we could get an extra £10-15 million to add to our Hummels fund.

No way. Santi hasn't only been good lately, he has been good for most of the season as long as he is not shunted out on the wings. One of our only players who can keep possession when being pressed. The rest are useless.

Of our supposed "first team", so many of them need upgrades and depth. RB, CB, CM, ST all need upgrades. We need a backup LB, CM, and wing forwards who can come on and make a difference. We could use a new GK but I like Cheesy enough.

If we upgrade those four positions, the current players will be our depth, and second choices will be third, which leaves a number of players to be offloaded. Flamini, Monreal, Sanogo, Rosicky, Coq, Campbell, Podolski and Diaby to start with. Keep the likes of Zelalem and Gnabry until their value goes up.

That's eight players out and seven players in before we sell Cazorla. So much work to do. A Jan Tran fix shouldn't sacrifice the players who are actually any good for better ones, it should sacrifice the ones we don't need for ones that we do.

Can still cash in/ offload wages via sales and loans of podolski, Rosicky, Sanogo, and Joel

All of which we don't use anyway

Going to be great when we go begging to a rival for a loan or two on deadline day.