They have pace but no power. Easily shielded off

Clrnc wrote:

They have pace but no power. Easily shielded off

Just like Walcott.

Brilliant but made of glass. Think van Persie at the same age. Striker at heart who has played a lot on both wings for a few years. About as two-footed as they come.

Possibly. I'm a big fan but I think it's the wrong move in all honesty unless we intend to use him through the middle, and even then it's a massive gamble on him to stay injury free. We have Auba, Marty and Pepé on the flanks and Nelson (and possibly Saka) in waiting.

Have zero doubts he'd be a very good player for us though, but we need midfielders this summer, not forwards.

It's been a while since his dodgy injury history. 35 league games last season, 31 the one before that. He still haven't bested his goal scoring record from his first Serie A season when he was 19 years though. Back then he looked destined for greatness, while now it would be a decent punt if you got him for cheap.

Would be a nice cheap replacement for the hopefully outgoing Lacazette. Sign him as back up/rotation player.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It's been a while since his dodgy injury history. 35 league games last season, 31 the one before that.

26, 20, 29 and 32 starts in the previous four seasons respectively. It's not a great record for a team where he's the first name on the teamsheet and doesn't play in Europe. He effectively misses 2-3 months every year and the games after he returns are often dodgy. Think it's going to be exacerbated in England where the physical demands are higher and the tackles are more menacing. Blessed player when he's on song though, but for £50 million it's hard to defend signing him considering all our options. And it would be even more alarming if he's intended as an Auba replacement.

Klaus wrote:
Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It's been a while since his dodgy injury history. 35 league games last season, 31 the one before that.

26, 20, 29 and 32 starts in the previous four seasons respectively. It's not a great record for a team where he's the first name on the teamsheet and doesn't play in Europe. He effectively misses 2-3 months every year and the games after he returns are often dodgy. Think it's going to be exacerbated in England where the physical demands are higher and the tackles are more menacing. Blessed player when he's on song though, but for £50 million it's hard to defend signing him considering all our options. And it would be even more alarming if he's intended as an Auba replacement.

Reading those numbers and Rambo comes to mind with all the games he would miss each season. 

Klaus wrote:
Quincy Abeyie wrote:

It's been a while since his dodgy injury history. 35 league games last season, 31 the one before that.

26, 20, 29 and 32 starts in the previous four seasons respectively. It's not a great record for a team where he's the first name on the teamsheet and doesn't play in Europe. He effectively misses 2-3 months every year and the games after he returns are often dodgy. Think it's going to be exacerbated in England where the physical demands are higher and the tackles are more menacing. Blessed player when he's on song though, but for £50 million it's hard to defend signing him considering all our options. And it would be even more alarming if he's intended as an Auba replacement.

I'd be amazed if we spent that much on one player this summer, even if we do cash in on Aubameyang and/or Lacazette. 

Jed wrote:

Would be a nice cheap replacement for the hopefully outgoing Lacazette. Sign him as back up/rotation player.

50m is not a cheap backup signing.

Dortmund seems to have trumped a lot of European clubs again in signing another highly rated youngster in Jude Bellingham.

He will reportedly join them in summer from Birmingham City.

He is one of the best English midfield talents from I can gather and has already become an undisputed starter form Birmingham at the age of 16.

The transfer fee is supposed to be around 35 million.

Would be well worth it. From what I seen in limited matches he look special.

Klaus wrote:

Possibly. I'm a big fan but I think it's the wrong move in all honesty unless we intend to use him through the middle, and even then it's a massive gamble on him to stay injury free. We have Auba, Marty and Pepé on the flanks and Nelson (and possibly Saka) in waiting.

Have zero doubts he'd be a very good player for us though, but we need midfielders this summer, not forwards.

All the signs seem to be if we don't make the CL Auba ia off. I'm guessing if Nketiah gets ahead of Laca then Laca will be off too. Both of those things seem more likely than unlikely at this point. Given that is Berardi worth a punt? I'm guessing we could get him cheaper than 50M. And we have good youth players to fill in when he's injured.

Yeah, if both of them are off I reckon he would be worth a punt. He's a good player who can play all across the forward line. It would be easy to build combinations with him in there. Hard worker too despite the skillfulness which I know Arteta likes.

He's blatantly not on Auba's level though. Talent-wise I reckon he's as good as anyone we have; there's a good chance he'd be starting for Italy right now if it wasn't for the knee injury which slowed him down for years. But asking him to replace Auba is bound to fail. Berardi would do well to get 10-12 league goals his first season in England I reckon, and that's a long way off matching what we've already got. We'd need Martinelli, Eddie and Pepé to step up their game massively to share the burden. Two of those are U21 players.

The big risk with transfers like these is that we end up even further behind because we buy more width instead of more edge.

I'd back Eddie to score at least 15 goals if we made him first choice striker. Spending on anyone else has to mean they are very likely to out do that.

I was assuming if we want Berardi it'd be as a winger though.

I'd back Eddie to score a lot too, but the things Auba brings aren't just goals. I know that's his reputation, but just look what an absolute superstar he has been over the last few months. He makes the whole attack a full order of magnitude better. And Arteta has not been a proponent of sparkling offensive football so far either. I'm very worried that, across a full season, we'll drop to the worst atacking level we've seen in a decade if he leaves.