His ball control feels like it will hold him back a little I reckon. It’s a little Yannick Bolasie like. Impressive passing in the compilation posted earlier though.

GaelForce wrote:
Ricky1985 wrote:

Now you're logged back in, post more! You're sorley missed.

Thanks mate, hope all's good with you. 

Even before this news I was feeling a lot more optimistic about the season. You can tell the new management team are the right combination of logical and ambitious - it seems they've tried to sell the right players (Ozil, Mustafi - even if they couldn't) and correctly identified the critical holes in the squad (a left back who can play in both directions, a centre back, a creative central midfielder and a winger who can dribble at pace). It might take a couple more years to completely replace the mistakes of 2014-2017, but we're moving in the right direction. 

Just need real football to come back now! 

Really good thanks, mate.

It's definitely going to take a while to bring it all together, as you say; lots of damage from the past few years to undo, but the fans will come on board if they can see the club are trying. And that's so important right now.

Hoping to see more of the old crowd posting more on here if Arsenal can stop making us want to commit murder nearly every weekend. As I say, you have been missed.

Bring on the football! Can't wait!

I'm not gonna get too excited until this one is confirmed.

Sicario wrote:

Is it 100 per a done deal?

Still won’t believe until it’s on arsenal.com

Finalise personal terms, agent fees, medical. Bar late drama/gazumping it sounds like the bulk of the deal is done

Ricky1985 wrote:

He's quicker than Salah. Maybe not quite as quick off the mark because Salah is tiny and Pépé is 6' tall, but top speed Pépé would eat him alive.

I really don't think so. Zaha is quicker than Pepe for example and Salah is ridiculously intense in sprinting.

JazzG wrote:

I'm not gonna get too excited until this one is confirmed.

Same here.
I haven't even clicked the video but, then again, i didn't click Zaha's so superstition is BS.

Ricky1985 wrote:
deardevil wrote:

Did he actually say that? 😆

Fucking beggars are at the door again. 😆

Yes, he did say that. Word for word.

And, although you're only joking, it's comments like your second sentence that I hope are going to stop being made by Arsenal fans. It sums up where we have been for a while, no doubt, and it's part of the lack of pride and apathy that has plagued this club for too long.

But times they are a-changing; be proud to support Arsenal. Defend them when other fans slag us off. That's how the club will be reborn, that's when it will happen. And the fans are desperate for it, you could even see that with the Adidas kit launch that captured so perfectly what it means to be Arsenal and why we're such a big, fat stonking football club.

That will only happen when we achieve good results on the pitch. Transfers feel good factor can only last that long till the results hold us back again.

Can’t believe we’ve done a madness.

Worried it will come at the expense of Lacazette moving on. If he doesn’t, will we see Auba at LW?....woof

I know it would be tough for the squad, but shipping Laca to find Zaha would be outrageous.

pornstein just said that laca and auba are not leaving

so, that must mean that we'll see pepe at RW, and then laca/auba at ST/LW

mkh seems like the obvious player to leave, but i doubt anyone is knocking down our door for him

I don't know about this one. He looks decent in those compilations, but he doesn't strike me as a player worth €80 mill. Hope I'm wrong though.

Kel Varnsen wrote:

I don't know about this one. He looks decent in those compilations, but he doesn't strike me as a player worth €80 mill. Hope I'm wrong though.

He’s worth every penny.
The fact that we went to get Mendes to make sure this got done should alert you to the elite status of the player, if not the caliber of team we beat to his signature. He was the best attacker outside PSG’s three kings last year. Not even close in Ligue 1. He is going to change our offense. I have a profile 2 pages back on how. The directness and danger we lost with Alexis is back.

It concerns me that 40% of his goals came from pens. To justify this sort of price tag he needs to be hitting 25 goals/assists a season.

goon wrote:

It concerns me that 40% of his goals came from pens. To justify this sort of price tag he needs to be hitting 25 goals/assists a season.

How many wide men are scoring 25 goals a season and what are they valued at in the market? And don’t use very old prices due to inflation

goon wrote:

His ball control feels like it will hold him back a little I reckon. It’s a little Yannick Bolasie like. Impressive passing in the compilation posted earlier though.


I know it's a lower standard, but maybe this old video allays that concern somewhat?

For me, it shows more than you see in the more strict tactical role he has at Lille. You see the dynamism in his game, the broad range of skills, the different types of ball controls, the passing ability with that left foot. The flair he has, what he can do physcially in terms of his explosiveness and with that great balance, the quick feet and quick thinking in tight areas. And that touch of genius he has in producing the unexpected.

You also get to see what a spikey character he is, and you see that more when you watch him live for Lille. He's extremely cocky and does not like to lose.

Also think this is a good representation of his game and is worth watching:

Thanks Ricky will check those out.

Claudius wrote:
goon wrote:

It concerns me that 40% of his goals came from pens. To justify this sort of price tag he needs to be hitting 25 goals/assists a season.

How many wide men are scoring 25 goals a season and what are they valued at in the market? And don’t use very old prices due to inflation

Goals/assists combined, so 12 of each would do.

Plenty go wide men reach those sorts of numbers.

Claudius wrote:
Kel Varnsen wrote:

I don't know about this one. He looks decent in those compilations, but he doesn't strike me as a player worth €80 mill. Hope I'm wrong though.

He’s worth every penny.
The fact that we went to get Mendes to make sure this got done should alert you to the elite status of the player, if not the caliber of team we beat to his signature. He was the best attacker outside PSG’s three kings last year. Not even close in Ligue 1. He is going to change our offense. I have a profile 2 pages back on how. The directness and danger we lost with Alexis is back.

I'm kinda surprised about Mendes. Times really changing at Arsenal. Who would have imagined us to approach Mendes to get this over the line and pay a hefty agent fee just for it. And he is only working for us on this deal.

wtf I didn't expect this rumour to have legs.
Seriously, what happened with not having money?

This is definitely the kind of player you buy young and sell off at 26-27.

goon wrote:

It concerns me that 40% of his goals came from pens. To justify this sort of price tag he needs to be hitting 25 goals/assists a season.

He won many of the penalties he scored.