Agreed Ricky. Like I said I'm a fan of Praet but it's a little indicative of where we are right now. We're banking on them to step up a level this season rather than buying readymade players. We did the same last season though and it didn't pan out too badly.

Not sure we can do anything else, really.

Klaus wrote:

Agreed Ricky. Like I said I'm a fan of Praet but it's a little indicative of where we are right now. We're banking on them to step up a level this season rather than buying readymade players. We did the same last season though and it didn't pan out too badly.

It is something we should have been doing more actively over the past 10 years. We made some great signings in Ozil & Alexis but many summers wasted chasing top players and then not delivering. They won't all come good but if you buy them at the right price then we should be able to recover most of our costs.

Praet is already 25, would really prefer someone either better or with more potential.

Praet move means we can get someone with legitimate ball playing and playmaking ability in an area of the park ahead of Xhaka. Gives us flexibility or play without Xhaka, or to play with Xhaka. Either way, we have better control in the attacking central area of the park. Guendouzi is a good all rounder but he doesn’t create at the level we need just yet, and isn’t destructive, so would use Praet ahead of him. Or play Praet, Torreira, Guendouzi for a slightly more dynamic set-up. If we can get 1 to 2 wingers, with Praet’s distribution, we could be more dangerous on attack.

Would be wrong to call him Ramsey replacement because he isn’t going to give us goal threat from midfield. We need players like this to stitch our offense though. It’s why we’ve ‘elevated’ Iwobi’s status on this squad

We have?

Yeah. Iwobi links midfield and attack. He provides the function Rosicky and Hleb did so well before albeit at a lower level. We are disjointed unless our fullbacks can get the ball up quickly.

Praet is so good on the ball, crisp passer. We need more players like this. Only issue is he really doesn’t score, so we need that scoring winger

Gotcha

I like these deals if we can avoid paying silly wages so we can get rid if they turn out to be rubbish.
The mental adjustment of seeing us go for Europa level players rather than CL players is tough but that's water under the bridge now.

Andersen could do well as a sweeper in a back 3, and removes the need for Xhaka due to his passing ability.

Muswell Hill Gooner wrote:

I like these deals if we can avoid paying silly wages so we can get rid if they turn out to be rubbish.
The mental adjustment of seeing us go for Europa level players rather than CL players is tough but that's water under the bridge now.

The trouble is these Europa level signings will only serve to prolong our lack of CL level signings/qualification.

I don't necessarily agree. There are decent signings to be had at other levels and wet as a club have to get better at identifying the best of those and snapping them up early as we can't compete for the top players once they are known or established.

Both players seem better than what we have so getting them improves the team which is the main aim.

Andersen stands at a whopping 6'4, but surprisingly, his aerial ability is not something that particularly stands out in his game. Last season at Sampdoria, Andersen averaged 2.3 aerial duels won per game. Compared to Sokratis (2.2), Holding (2.1), and Mustafi (4), all of whom are shorter than Andersen, his ability in the air doesn't stand out whatsoever. This is a worry for Arsenal, who desperately need help in that department, as they tend to struggle when facing larger breeds of strikers.
https://www.freeflowfootball.com/single-post/2019/06/07/TACTICAL-ANALYSIS-What-would-Joachim-Andersen-Dennis-Praet-bring-to-Arsenal

Why would they prefer to sell domestically?

Trying to milk as much as they can so we make an offer they "can't refuse".

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Why would they prefer to sell domestically?

I'm not sure exactly why, but I've seen it a lot in Serie A. I think it's maybe related to sell-on clauses where Sampdoria would get a chunk of any future transfer fee these players command. I don't think Arsenal would ever agreed to a clause like that, but it's fairly common in Italy. Maybe it replaced co-ownership which was outlawed a few years back.