Both players, Adersen and Praet that is, look pretty good, but not very exciting at all.

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.

Great. We can buy him from Lyon for £60m in 2 year’s time
Joking aside, decouple the players, get Praet, acquire a young French defender and find a winger. Call it a summer.

Why call it a summer? After that starts the real work, signing as many talented kids from all age groups and finding them loans or fast track them. We're never going anywhere signing Praet and Martinelli as our first team signings, we might strike gold if we sign enough youngsters

I just don’t think these guys have the capacity to do what you’re suggesting. Where is the evidence?

I almost think we were having the wrong discussion yesterday on StatDNA because the tool itself is useless without the scouting fundamentals in place. An example from a different sector: I’ve often seen guys from industry come in and say they want to use advanced analytics in their plants, but when you look at their plant data they are at 10% efficiency below their peers. So you just tell them that the analytics will only help them slightly improve a shitty plant (bullshit in bullshit out). They need to hire a plant manager to walk the production line and fix the basics first. Then use analytics on top.

Similarly, I think we need to get our act in order. If Claude Maurice is rejecting us for Monchengladbach and our peers are constantly beating us to the Unders and Konates of this world, then we need to take a long hard look at the quality of our recruiting personnel, processes, and management of information from scouting to deal-making.

Is there any evidence that Claude-Maurice rejected us? It seems very likely to me that we were never actually in for him.

I always assumed that things were quiet around Andersen because we were pursuing other targets. Either way I don't think this is bad news. I haven't seen Saliba live, but the things I've read about him makes me think he's the kind of talent we should bet on. I haven't seen too much of Andersen either but I don't think he'll be Arsenal quality in the foreseeable future.

I'd still take Praet though, but I suspect he would have commanded the bulk of whatever joint fee Sampdoria would've accepted for the pair.

Well, they’re rumored to want €30m for Andersen a la carte, so they value them roughly equally if you go by the tabloids. I wonder how humbling it is for Raul, calling people and not getting calls returned because now he’s with those clowns that don’t have money. Must be a big hit on the ego for a man who exhibited some largesse in his latter years in Spain.

Ronnie Corbeto knew what he signed up for to be fair.

Claudius wrote:

I wonder how humbling it is for Raul, calling people and not getting calls returned because now he’s with those clowns that don’t have money. Must be a big hit on the ego for a man who exhibited some largesse in his latter years in Spain.

One can only hope that he'll take the cue and go back there.

Really, so we can rest easy in the capable hands of City boy Vinai? Maybe he can unsubscribe us from football operations altogether and enlist us as some hedge funds special vehicle.

Maybe he too can resign and leave us to Josh! We can be a line item on his portfolio of sporting investments to be considered at the same level of priority as revenue from other operations

jones wrote:

Really, so we can rest easy in the capable hands of City boy Vinai?

Conventionally when someone leaves someone else gets hired, but I get your point; who knows what this clown show will do.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:

Ronnie Corbeto knew what he signed up for to be fair.

Klaus wrote:

jones wrote:

Really, so we can rest easy in the capable hands of City boy Vinai?

Conventionally when someone leaves someone else gets hired, but I get your point; who knows what this clown show will do.

Yeah the last two major management roles that were vacated are still empty.

The BoD will probably end up like a game of musical chairs with Kroenke Jr picking his nose and Kroenke Sr funnelling Arsenal funds into some thinktank preparing the invasion of Iran or some other generic Republican leisure activity.

Bold Tone wrote:

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert wrote:

Ronnie Corbeto knew what he signed up for to be fair.

jones wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Conventionally when someone leaves someone else gets hired, but I get your point; who knows what this clown show will do.

Yeah the last two major management roles that were vacated are still empty.

The BoD will probably end up like a game of musical chairs with Kroenke Jr picking his nose and Kroenke Sr funnelling Arsenal funds into some thinktank preparing the invasion of Iran or some other generic Republican leisure activity.

Other than being the heir, wiki is thin on facts about his business acumen.

Wiki has the below (not a great) deal as an achievement.

[font=sans-serif]"He and his sister[/font][font=sans-serif] purchased a 1,735-square-foot condominium for $2.7 million in 2005 and[/font][font=sans-serif] sold it in 2007 for $2.45 million—below both the initial listed price of $2.995 million and their final asking price of $2.55 million"[/font]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Kroenke

The silver lining could be daddy or, better still, mummy ([font=sans-serif]Ann Walton Kroenke[/font]) coming to his aid if he takes up the reins and starts fucking up big time.

Andersen has just announced he's looking to leave Sampdoria this Summer to further his development and that there is a great deal of interest in him.

Did he mention Arsenal, Segway?

Klaus wrote:

Did he mention Arsenal, Segway?

No, no mention of any particular clubs but it sounded like he had many options.

His height and ball playing skills interest me. No idea if he is any good but his style on youtube looks very Vertonghen to me.