That's unexpected. Wouldn't have minded him couple years ago as even in his early 30s he was still very good for Juventus, but at 34 you'd wonder if he can still be a good back up option.

Wenger would never sign him.

Maybe he can be a good backup for a season or two, but ideally we'd find someone younger of course. Bloke was a class act a couple of years ago though. He had a good season for Juventus for what it's worth.

Liquidate the club, burn the Emirates to the ground and put a Colossus of Rhodes style statue of Sir Arsene Wenger in its place. Please.

Talk of a 1 year deal (random twitter noise)

The real positive about this deal is that AMN can finally just focus on playing as a midfielder

I wonder if we're selling Chambers? Would be an easy way to raise some dosh.

Mirth wrote:

Talk of a 1 year deal (random twitter noise)

The real positive about this deal is that AMN can finally just focus on playing as a midfielder

"Positive"

Not a fan of this move, not at all.

Lichtsteiner is a no nonsense player though. From an experience point of view he will bring some professionalism into the squad, a serious mindset.

By now he must be about as quick as Mertesacker

Good squad depth

“Official”

Can’t wait to get the new shirt with his name printed on the back.

Could certainly have used him last season. Bellerin was overplayed, and looked like he could have used some coaching.

He might be free but he's still going to want good wages. I'm not liking the early signs about where this transfer window is going to go...

jones wrote:

That's unexpected. Wouldn't have minded him couple years ago as even in his early 30s he was still very good for Juventus, but at 34 you'd wonder if he can still be a good back up option.

Exactly what I was thinking, a few years ago maybe but last I heard physically he's in serious decline.

I think it's telling that we're signing him for his leadership/experience.

He's probably only going to end up playing once every few weeks in the cups and early rounds of the Europa league so his relative physical decline won't be apparent

goon wrote:

“Official”

Can’t wait to get the new shirt with his name printed on the back.

Long term target.

I'd be very happy with this. He'd be a instant shot of competition and nous in a position we lack both in. He's a proper defender with loads of experience, and his cameo contributions in the CL were impressive.

Terrible signing. Another Mislintat dud. We'll be the new West Ham, with Sokratis, Lichtsteiner, Monreal, Cech in our back line. Sounds like a retirement home. And wasting 22M on Leno after all that. Sounds like our worst transfer window in a while. Better sign Diallo and Dembele to make up for this rubbish.

Mirth wrote:

Who was the first?

Sokratis, if it happens. Maybe he'll be the first and Sokratis the second.

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

I'd be very happy with this. He'd be a instant shot of competition and nous in a position we lack both in. He's a proper defender with loads of experience, and his cameo contributions in the CL were impressive.

Steel mentality too. He's been lauded by his teammates for his attitude and work ethic. He's definitely not the worst character to have around.

What, this is actually happening? I didn't bother reading the thread since I thought it was BS, and then I see that Ornstein tweeted it. It better not be more than a one year contract, he hasn't been up to scratch in a long time. As some of you say, maybe it's because of his attitude and experience.

Um, why don’t we just #bringbackBuchy?

Lichtsteiner could have another heart surgery and play until he's 42, and he'd still be a better footballer than Mathieu fucking Debuchy.

Mirth wrote:

I think it's telling that we're signing him for his leadership/experience.

[Twitter][/Twitter]
Gunnerblog suggests a lack of leadership is a problem we've identified and are trying to correct.

Agree with flobs here. This is worse than buying a washed up Cech - who also supposedly was a winner and had experience of winning things and a great attitude. Fat lot of good it did us. This feels like it will be a bigger disaster.

How much leadership can a guy coming into a new club on the fringes provide though?

Maybe he's coming in to be made captain...like the non-playing captains we have had for most of the last few years.

The guy is a proper cunt, we need some in our team. If it's a one year deal, or two max no big wages it's alright. Bellerin can get some rest and Maitland Niles can play in the middle of the park. Also, Chambers won't get killed on the right anymore .

I have decided to go with everything they do now that Wenger has left. I trust them and the new manager, will see later how it ends up.

Squad player - decent signing on a free. Not sure why this would get anyone upset.

HomeSteak wrote:

I have decided to go with everything they do now that Wenger has left. I trust them and the new manager, will see later how it ends up.

Good mindset to have. Seems Diaby Kungfus meme fuckery has spread and infected good parts of this place.

Pepe LeFrits wrote:

I'd be very happy with this. He'd be a instant shot of competition and nous in a position we lack both in. He's a proper defender with loads of experience, and his cameo contributions in the CL were impressive.

Good point actually, I forgot about his performance at Spurs basically turned the tie around when he came on. He's backup experienced and good for the dressing room, will hopefully give Bellerin a boost both for him to find time to rest and some competition.

Still got it.

Sod it, let's get Chiellini on a free as well.

jones wrote:

HomeSteak wrote:

I have decided to go with everything they do now that Wenger has left. I trust them and the new manager, will see later how it ends up.

Good mindset to have. Seems Diaby Kungfus meme fuckery has spread and infected good parts of this place.

There's no "meme fuckery". I genuinely think the club is going in a horrible direction. Unless a player is some World XI talent or thereabouts (or a GK), I don't think there's any reason for the club to sign any player over the age of 23 given the constitution of the squad right now. We just finished in 6th place and we have one first XI player under the age of 25. This squad, as constituted, has failed. It's time to start building a new one. I think the schism ultimately comes down to whether you think Wenger was bad because he did particularly poorly with the players at his disposal or whether you think Wenger was bad because he acquired a bunch of shitty-ass players. Personally, I think we have a bunch of shitty-ass players. We're basically doing what Spurs and Liverpool did in the early Emirates era while Spurs and Liverpool are doing what we did during the early Emirates era. We were much better than those teams back then and, unsurprisingly, they're much better than us right now. This club looks to be falling to shit right now. Let's hope I'm wrong or they do something to turn it around.

As it relates specifically to what we should do about RB, just fucking play AMN there. He could hardly get off the bench for the England U-19s as a CM while he came to prominence initially in the Arsenal youth teams and then for Ipswich Town as a winger. People are kidding themselves about that kid. He's either a fullback or he's probably not a PL level player.

Shit player nowadays. Too old and to slow. Emery should refuse to play him

Decent move. Provides back up for Bellerin although at 34 can't see him staying for longer than 2 years max.

this thread is amazing. half the people think hes 89 years old and terrible, the other half are happy and think he'll definitely bring positives to the team.

i expect his wages will replace santi's wages. no transfer fee, and doubtful he'll receive a big sign on bonus given his age.

from what ive seen of him over the last 5 years, hes a warrior, he never stops sprinting up and down the flank, and hes capable of a cross.

as someone who doesn't rate bellerin very highly, im fine with adding him as competition there. hes about 20000 times better than fucking debuchy

mdgoonah41 wrote:

i expect his wages will replace santi's wages. no transfer fee, and doubtful he'll receive a big sign on bonus given his age.

Perhaps not. Cazorla was on 90k.
[Twitter][/Twitter]