If Edu and Kia ever make this come true you'll find Klaus with a stroke under the coffee table

Me with a broken hand and a smashed coffee table next to it mind. Fuck Coutimgo

Absolutely hilarious that Barcelona paid €160m and gave this guy close to €400k a week. They deserve everything that's happened to them since.

Let Newcastle have him.

He has barely looked a footballer this season when played.

Who we go for next in midfield is as interesting as the striker option. There seem to be an abundance of players out there who we can go for:-

De Jong - elite talent costs mega bucks
Neves - Prem proven, previously linked, good passer
Bruno G - similar in style to Neves but perhaps a bit more suited to dominating possession
Renato Sanches - more dynamic midfielder with huge talent but concerns over previous form
Tyler Adams - really dynamic player who is very versatile
Aouar - clearly liked by our management team perhaps one to get at a bargain price and revive his career
Kessie - powerful yet skilled - free agent in the summer but unfortunately looks like going to Spurs
Svanberg - my preference - seems a great all rounder
Ceballos - you never know!
Plus others I can’t recall!

Tchouameni is my first choice, but pretty unlikely since all the big clubs are after him. Failing that, Bellingham or Graveberg or Renato Sanches if he is over his injury issues.

Arthur is a very good player but Arteta can't handle his discipline. De Jong is probably another league from us and won't fancy dropping levels to join us. Caqueret is never linked with us but I like him more than Aouar or Bruno G.

Last intersting option will be Kamara on a free transfer.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Who we go for next in midfield is as interesting as the striker option. There seem to be an abundance of players out there who we can go for:-

De Jong - elite talent costs mega bucks
Neves - Prem proven, previously linked, good passer
Bruno G - similar in style to Neves but perhaps a bit more suited to dominating possession
Renato Sanches - more dynamic midfielder with huge talent but concerns over previous form
Tyler Adams - really dynamic player who is very versatile
Aouar - clearly liked by our management team perhaps one to get at a bargain price and revive his career
Kessie - powerful yet skilled - free agent in the summer but unfortunately looks like going to Spurs
Svanberg - my preference - seems a great all rounder
Ceballos - you never know!
Plus others I can’t recall!

Kamara on a free would be a cracking deal.

I would take Aouar in a cut price deal, is versatile and could improve here.

Personally De Jong, would be sensational, and his passing would bring us up a level or two. Especially as teams here leave gaps to exploit, he would be really impactful.

Arthur would help us retain possession better than we currently do, but I wonder how he would adapt to the pace of the league. Likely he would take up to a season and half to get used to it.

Guimaraes is a player I really wanted to sign in the summer. His intensity is fantastic, and has good technique and passing.

The one player who I would go all out for, is Kalvin Phillips. His intensity is something you cannot teach, you are born with it. He covers every blade of grass, and his tackling is immense. I think with him pressing in midfield, you could let the handbrake go. In front of Saliba/Gabriel/White and the Tomiyasu and Tierney as full backs, Phillips would really add to the compete level of the team. His passing is decent as well. 

The only thing is, you will still need to buy a tempo setter for variation.

Clrnc wrote:

Tchouameni is my first choice, but pretty unlikely since all the big clubs are after him. Failing that, Bellingham or Graveberg or Renato Sanches if he is over his injury issues.

I think Lokonga is a factor in this. If you rate the kid and think he can become a top class player then signing someone of a similar age and profile is not going to work. For that reason, you've got discount Tchouameni.

Bellingham is a totally different type of player. I would suggest he's much more of an attacking midfielder - more of a more technically sound Joe Willock - than a holding midfielder or even a two way midfielder.

Clrnc wrote:

Arthur is a very good player but Arteta can't handle his discipline.

You say like it's a bad thing or an Arteta problem! 😆 Why would you even want us to sign a guy that is pissing away his career because he likes to party? I love that we fans can't even consider his signing because Arteta and Arsenal won't tolerate that shit. That's a good thing.

Clrnc wrote:

De Jong is probably another league from us and won't fancy dropping levels to join us. .

I wonder if it's actually possible? Can you imagine!

Ricky1985 wrote:
Clrnc wrote:

Tchouameni is my first choice, but pretty unlikely since all the big clubs are after him. Failing that, Bellingham or Graveberg or Renato Sanches if he is over his injury issues.

I think Lokonga is a factor in this. If you rate the kid and think he can become a top class player then signing someone of a similar age and profile is not going to work. For that reason, you've got discount Tchouameni.

Don't forget Patino and maybe Azeez coming through in the next couple of years. We should be going for someone in their prime (De Jong?/Sanches) to get the balance of that midfield right.

I mean sure, but if Tschouameni is already as good as Sanches it definitely shouldn't count against him that he's younger.

Maybe but Very few central midfielders are ready at 21. Look at Ndombele, heavily hyped but has struggled after his big move. Soumare wasn't hyped up quite so much but has still really underwhelmed.

Hell look and Sanches and De Jong and their early struggles after impressing in their comfort zones. Even now both would pose a bit of a risk but the chances of them making the necessary step up now are much higher than before.

Point is you don't really want a midfield that's completely wet behind the ears, especially in a team that's already very young.

Ricky1985 wrote:
Clrnc wrote:

Tchouameni is my first choice, but pretty unlikely since all the big clubs are after him. Failing that, Bellingham or Graveberg or Renato Sanches if he is over his injury issues.

I think Lokonga is a factor in this. If you rate the kid and think he can become a top class player then signing someone of a similar age and profile is not going to work. For that reason, you've got discount Tchouameni.

Bellingham is a totally different type of player. I would suggest he's much more of an attacking midfielder - more of a more technically sound Joe Willock - than a holding midfielder or even a two way midfielder.

Bellingham is a classic two way midfielder, he's added a lot more end product to his game but he's no more an attacking midfielder than Ramsey was, I'd even argue he's already a bit more disciplined than the latter. When Dortmund play with a two man midfield he's in it, even when they play 433 he's not the most advanced midfielder.

On topic De Jong would be a perfect fit and dream signing, exactly the type of player you want in place of Xhaka. Always the first one to drop deep and carry the ball forward, his burst of pace and playing style are much more suited to England - where you have less time on the ball but more space to exploit - than to Spain anyway. He also said a couple of times that he wanted to follow Overmars' career path, now that he's seen Barca at their lowest we could even keep him for a minute if we play it right. Would be some statement if we pulled it off

I remember the links now to Arsenal because of that Overmars thing. If we could pull that off...

I'm not sure how much I see in Bellingham outside the goals? And you mention Ramsey, but for a good chunk of his career he basically played as a second striker and was a bit of a liability defensively when tried deeper. I reckon at the top level, Bellingham might be similar, but I need to see a more of him.

I was talking more about the Ramsey up until around 2016. You're right that he abandoned his defensive duties more and more once he got a knack of scoring in 2013 but until later in his career he was always played as a CM.

Bellingham has added goals to his game but so far is not a defensive liability (or at least not more than every other Dortmund player). Early days especially for English players who start to shine very young and burn out early but so far he's the biggest English midfield talent for me ahead of Foden, wasn't all that convinced when he moved but you can see the improvement every weekend.

Throw our transfer kitty at De Jong , get it done .

Don’t even want to consider the possibility of a de Jong. That’s the missing piece to the midfield puzzle. Profile, style and all.

One can dream.

Looks like atleast three Bundesliga starters will be available for free in Summer.

Zakaria and Ginter from Mochengladbach, Sule from Bayern.

Jones/Kurt Eisner, do you reckon any of them will be useful pickups ?

Don't know why anyone asks jones' opinion on anything. He made us sign Ceballos. The player real madrid and Barcelona had been fighting to sign since he was 3 years old...

GooneriC wrote:

Throw our transfer kitty at De Jong , get it done .

I'm not sure the transfer fee would be the biggest hurdle to that deal. If Arteta/Edu can convince him to come here, they are bona fide Svengalis.

jones wrote:
Ricky1985 wrote:

I think Lokonga is a factor in this. If you rate the kid and think he can become a top class player then signing someone of a similar age and profile is not going to work. For that reason, you've got discount Tchouameni.

Bellingham is a totally different type of player. I would suggest he's much more of an attacking midfielder - more of a more technically sound Joe Willock - than a holding midfielder or even a two way midfielder.

Bellingham is a classic two way midfielder, he's added a lot more end product to his game but he's no more an attacking midfielder than Ramsey was, I'd even argue he's already a bit more disciplined than the latter. When Dortmund play with a two man midfield he's in it, even when they play 433 he's not the most advanced midfielder.

On topic De Jong would be a perfect fit and dream signing, exactly the type of player you want in place of Xhaka. Always the first one to drop deep and carry the ball forward, his burst of pace and playing style are much more suited to England - where you have less time on the ball but more space to exploit - than to Spain anyway. He also said a couple of times that he wanted to follow Overmars' career path, now that he's seen Barca at their lowest we could even keep him for a minute if we play it right. Would be some statement if we pulled it off

I agree on both counts, De Jong would be the perfect signing for our midfield and I like the Ramsey comparison for Bellingham.

Like Ramsey at his best Bellingham's just everywhere on the pitch and as he matures physically he'll likely be much stronger than Ramsey ever was. His close control is already better as well. Ramsey was likely a better playmaker than Bellingham ever will be, but I think that part of the welshman's game is a bit underrated and Bellingham's still just 18. If he can stay fit he'd be a bit of a dream signing as well.

If we could get a bit of buzz going around the club, signing the likes of De Jong or Bellingham is not impossible. We have the money. Bellingham might like the idea of coming to play with Saka, Smith Rowe, Ramsdale and White (Who are a much more promising "british core" than the so advertised one around Ramsey and Wilshere ever was. Those two were the only good players, and already super injury prone, while these four might well end up being the core of the english national team.). De Jong might want to play with Odegaard and Partey instead of against them. But we need to start consistently performing to become a proper draw again, and probably against the likes of City moreso than against Norwich, because I'd guess De Jong is significantly more likely to watch the former game.

mentalvortex wrote:

Looks like atleast three Bundesliga starters will be available for free in Summer.

Zakaria and Ginter from Mochengladbach, Sule from Bayern.

Jones/Kurt Eisner, do you reckon any of them will be useful pickups ?

I don't think any of them would move the needle much for us, although Gladbach are a weird team and sometimes Zakaria looks like an absolute beast. He's 25, if he ever explodes it's probably going to be now, so he's the one I'd sign, we're short in midfield anyway. I wouldn't be happy with him as the only midfield signing though. Ginter's a solid centreback, but he wouldn't play over White or Gabriel and having him rather than Holding on the bench won't make much of a difference. If Holding leaves he'd be a good replacement.

I honestly don't have an informed opinion on Sule, because I avoid Bayern games like the plague. Why ruin my day by watching that absolute arsehole Thomas Müller celebrate 5 goals. And then they cut to Hoeneß and Rumenigge and the whole inbred lot and they're having a good day as well. Fuck that. Watching Hainer, Kahn and the like squirm as their own club members booed them at their annual general meeting for denying a fan's application to discuss their sponsoring deal with Qatar is pretty much the only content of Bayern I've seen this year. Oh and when they lose I watch highlights of course. The 5:0 drubbing at the hands of Gladbach was a joyous day and Zakaria was incredible in that game so maybe we should sign him for that alone.


5 Players Arsenal Should Sign In January 2022

some interesting names/thoughts but at the same time I'm not sure we will look to sign players for positions or roles where we are currently well served as in LWF and CAM.

Bissouma would be ace but he’s a bit tainted now

Lamptey such an exciting player too

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

Who we go for next in midfield is as interesting as the striker option. There seem to be an abundance of players out there who we can go for:-

De Jong - elite talent costs mega bucks
Neves - Prem proven, previously linked, good passer
Bruno G - similar in style to Neves but perhaps a bit more suited to dominating possession
Renato Sanches - more dynamic midfielder with huge talent but concerns over previous form
Tyler Adams - really dynamic player who is very versatile
Aouar - clearly liked by our management team perhaps one to get at a bargain price and revive his career
Kessie - powerful yet skilled - free agent in the summer but unfortunately looks like going to Spurs
Svanberg - my preference - seems a great all rounder
Ceballos - you never know!
Plus others I can’t recall!

[color=var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-color,var(--yt-spec-text-primary))][size=small][font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]Mattias Svanberg is so Underrated..[/font][/size][/color]
[color=var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-color,var(--yt-spec-text-primary))][size=small][font=Roboto, Arial, sans-serif]
[/font][/size][/color]

the Svanberg links are definitely ramping up right now.

I’ll be so disappointed if he joins a rival. Looks absolute class.

Also seen more and more links to Schick. He’d be a class addition too. Perhaps get him in and another style of striker in the summer to give us options. David or someone

Would you play him over Tomi? I love Tomi as a character/player but do think we are missing something without having a fullback that can bomb down the right flank and give us that extra width like Laptey... Will also play to Saka's strengths and get him to cut inside more.. having said that, you could argue that Tomi has been our best player this season and has a very good passing game.. A different option would definitely be useful but sounds like Lamptey would not come cheap..

If we signed a new RB then worst case for Tomi should be being moved to CB besides Gabriel.

Not a big fan of contrasting backups at all. Imagine having to adapt from a super secure full back who wins everything in the air to one that just about reaches most players' pelvis and is used to playing as a wingback.

Aside from all that he's fit for about 5 games a season.

@Quincy Not sure I see Arteta dropping White any time soon but definitely an option

I think the best option would be to teach Tomiyasu to make runs on the outside more often. He doesn't have to be great at it, but just doing it creates a lot of space and he definitely has the engine to do it.

Just think if a supreme talent like Lamptey becomes available you should go for it.

no more defenders please

Lamptey won't play second fiddle to Tomi nor would it work the other way round. Then factor in we've got Saliba coming back meaning White is the RB backup.

mentalvortex wrote:

Looks like atleast three Bundesliga starters will be available for free in Summer.

Zakaria and Ginter from Mochengladbach, Sule from Bayern.

Jones/Kurt Eisner, do you reckon any of them will be useful pickups ?

Süle will most likely either extend or go to Chelsea apparently.

I wouldn't want us to sign any of them. Zakaria when he has a good day can still be a very strong midfielder but he's become pretty error prone, also lost a bit of explosiveness after his injury. We don't need defenders anyway but Ginter wouldn't be a big improvement and while Süle would improve us it wouldn't be worth the outlay, also it'd be the final nail in Saliba's coffin. If we're looking at free starter level players from mainland Europe I'd rather we looked at Kessie Dembele or Dybala.

flobaba wrote:

Don't know why anyone asks jones' opinion on anything. He made us sign Ceballos. The player real madrid and Barcelona had been fighting to sign since he was 3 years old...

I get that you're mad because no one cares about your opinion on anything but rein it in a little.

jones wrote:
mentalvortex wrote:

Looks like atleast three Bundesliga starters will be available for free in Summer.

Zakaria and Ginter from Mochengladbach, Sule from Bayern.

Jones/Kurt Eisner, do you reckon any of them will be useful pickups ?

Süle will most likely either extend or go to Chelsea apparently.

I wouldn't want us to sign any of them. Zakaria when he has a good day can still be a very strong midfielder but he's become pretty error prone, also lost a bit of explosiveness after his injury. We don't need defenders anyway but Ginter wouldn't be a big improvement and while Süle would improve us it wouldn't be worth the outlay, also it'd be the final nail in Saliba's coffin. If we're looking at free starter level players from mainland Europe I'd rather we looked at Kessie Dembele or Dybala.

flobaba wrote:

Don't know why anyone asks jones' opinion on anything. He made us sign Ceballos. The player real madrid and Barcelona had been fighting to sign since he was 3 years old...

I get that you're mad because no one cares about your opinion on anything but rein it in a little.

Dybala is on a free???

Fuck me, that would be a great option as a false nine.

Newcastle and an unnamed PL club has already made contract offers that's more than what Barca is offering to Dembele. He is interested to move to PL

Dont think it's us though.

Dybala on a free would be massive