Squad management: Page 2 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Squad management

Qwiss

Gaizidis was a disaster for the club but that doesn't mean Raul should be able to do the same damage. If he can't get us into the CL for the 21/22 season then he should probably be moved on.

jones

Agree in general although that kind of decision should take circumstances into account, if his managerial picks were shit or for some reason outside his ability didn't work out etc

goon

Will Auba have a year left in July? What happened to our 2 year policy? Not as easy as you made it sound eh Raul?

I agree with Klaus though, I don't think the market for him is all that big, I don't think there's a long list of clubs looking to buy him for big money despite his goals.

Klaus

Yeah, I don't think there will be mega bids tabled be at the age of 31. And even if there were it would just reinforce the fact that we should keep him. How easily people forget the Giroud years. The last time we let a top class striker go it took us seven years to find a new one. I think we have two very good forward talents in Eddie and Martinelli, but if they want that starting spot they can bloody come and take it.

That's not even factoring in that keeping Auba this summer might make it more likely that he'll end up extending with a year or two. He'll be 32 in the summer of 2021 and he'll never be able to negotiate as good wages anywhere else. If we get back into Champions League and things are looking up for us again the smart choice is to stay here and build a legacy.

Claudius

Klaus,

he’s one of the very finest strikers in the world
we are unlikely to be in the champions league and he could be deflated by 3 seasons of mediocrity

Put this together and I think that if Real, Barca, PSG etc put in a bid, he would agitate. All of them can afford to pay him £200k+. I could see us having to think about a £50-60m bid in the next 2 windows. If I were PEA, I would ask to leave, just as Fabregas, RVP and others chose to leave before. There is no sign that we will be a serious contender anytime soon.

goon

I would personally take £60m for him if he's refusing to sign, I just don't think we'll get anywhere near that unless United or China decide to come in for him.

Qwiss

Klaus wrote:
How easily people forget the Giroud years.

I remember them well enough. Mostly CL football, 3 FA cups. Things were a lot better than they are now.

The last time we let a top class striker go it took us seven years to find a new one.

We'd lose him a year later anyway, its not a case of having him for those 7 years. He goes either way, its just a case of whether we get some money back or not.

That's not even factoring in that keeping Auba this summer might make it more likely that he'll end up extending with a year or two. He'll be 32 in the summer of 2021 and he'll never be able to negotiate as good wages anywhere else. If we get back into Champions League and things are looking up for us again the smart choice is to stay here and build a legacy.

Nah he'll sign before the summer or we'll get screwed either way. And the last thing we need is another Ozil situation.

Klaus

Claudius wrote:
I could see us having to think about a £50-60m bid in the next 2 windows.

We'll see when someone actually puts in a bid I guess, but unless the bid is in that region there's very little reason to even consider it from where I'm standing. I can't understand the twisted logic that £20 million (which was suggested on the previous page) would be better than an additional season with a world class striker. £20 million is probably close to what we're sinking into Ceballos and Luiz this season alone in fees and wages. It's nothing.

Claudius

I wouldn’t take £20m for Auba if he refused to extend his contract. I would build the best possible team around him and go for it. We make around £20m a year from Europa. Teams like Pool and Spurs are able to walk away with up to £100m for a year in Champions League. With the right tactics and players around him, Aubameyang gets you to back to that sporting holy land.

Qwiss

I think we'd get a lot more than £20m for one of the best strikers in the league. It'd be closer to double that and I think it'd be extremely foolish to just throw away that amount of money in the hopes that Auba drags us to 4th even though we haven't managed that in all his time at the club. We're in rebuild mode and we need to be smart about it.

goon

Would you replace him or gamble on Marty and Eddie filling the gap?

Claudius

Qwiss! wrote:
I think we'd get a lot more than £20m for one of the best strikers in the league. It'd be closer to double that and I think it'd be extremely foolish to just throw away that amount of money in the hopes that Auba drags us to 4th even though we haven't managed that in all his time at the club. We're in rebuild mode and we need to be smart about it.

Yes. The successful clubs get ahead of the rebuild. And that chart shows us where all the value lies in the club. At the very least what we should be able to agree on is that it would be sub-optimal to hold on to both Lacazette and Aubameyang much longer. Might as well walk into a strip club with a suitcase full of singles

DKGooner

We would definitely get more than £20m for Auba - though deals from the top teams may try and include a player in exchange. He is currently a 25-30+ goals a season striker, but no guarantee he will still be at that level in 2 years so need to look ahead.

DKGooner

goon wrote:
Would you replace him or gamble on Marty and Eddie filling the gap?

I do like what they have both shown so far, but neither are ready to take on the mantel of our lead striker. They are worth holding on to given their age profile.

Clrnc

goon wrote:
I would personally take £60m for him if he's refusing to sign, I just don't think we'll get anywhere near that unless United or China decide to come in for him.

We would. Even a washed up Shevchenko fetched a similar price in terms of age ratio and market valuation those days. If he refuse to sign, we should absolutely sell him for 60m. There are a lot of good up coming young strikers we need to get our hands on and we can't afford to throw money away as a Europa League club. If we are smart, we need to sell Lacazette and get someone like Osimhen or if money permits, Haaland in.

We sacked one of the best talent evaluator in europe for a director who knows a few agents. Jury is still out if that is the right move and so far we cant judge our summer signings because the entire team is terrible. I keep hearing Luiz is a disaster of a signing but for me Sokratis has had a worse season.

Qwiss

Clrnc wrote:
I keep hearing Luiz is a disaster of a signing but for me Sokratis has had a worse season.

They're both awful. I don't know how everyone didn't see it with Sok last season, too focussed on Mustafi I suppose. We really lack a Koscielny type defender with these morons, a younger one than we lost last summer, someone with the pace and ability to get back and cover the mess when the others step up or dive in.

deardevil

Yeah, Sokratis was shit last season. Mustafi took all the flack cause he put himself in positions to make mistakes. Sokratis was just MIA. Nowhere to be seen. Absolute fraud of a player. No-one can come out of a 50+ league goals conceded season with any credit. Bin the lot.

Ricky1985

I think Sokratis was very decent by and large last season until our collapse toward the end. This season he has been terrible in near enough every game. I also think he's lost half a yard of pace and he seems slower on the turn.

I was not a fan of his rash tackling, even at his best, but I really liked how dominant and aggressive he was when he was on it. He gave Kane a horrible 90 minutes in both our league games with them, for example. Dominated him on the ground as he was far, far quicker in a race and won everything in the air. He had some really good performances for us last season.

Clrnc

Sokratis was decent last year, but that's about as good as it gets and decent is not enough when you are an Arsenal defender. We really need someone commanding and outstanding and he has too many clownish moments even when having solid games. This season he is really terrible and Freddie couldn't stand it so put Mustafi in and that has proven to be a mistake. Imagine if we didn't sign any defender? We almost didn't and Luiz was a last minute addition. So for that reason alone although he isn't the answer I'm glad we at least have Luiz here.

flobaba

Luiz has not improved us one bit in the defensive department.

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