Imagine us having a team of Willian, Coutinho and Ozil (in the background)...I shudder at the thought, as it would immediately hamper any ability to build for the future.

Partey and Ceballos (loan) to sort out our midfield, Buendia if you want to sweeten it

Make due with Saka (LWF), Nelson, and Pepe as our wide players, assuming Auba stays and occasionally plays wide.

We need to concentrate our spending on the midfield not has been wide players set to lose their legs and lacking motivation.

MistaT wrote:

Imagine us having a team of Willian, Coutinho and Ozil (in the background)...I shudder at the thought, as it would immediately hamper any ability to build for the future.

The thought of any 2 of those guys on the squad at the same time is depressing. Some say we need to spend to get back in the top 4. This would be absolutely the wrong approach and a clear sign that we are not learning anything from our past mistakes

goon wrote:

I've never been a fan of Willian and don't want us going down the route of signing average old men, but I was watching him the other day and if we can't sign a proper winger this year then maybe a 2+1yr style contract might make sense?

First, we need depth. Martinelli is probably out till 2021 which leaves us with Saka, Nelson and Pepe and maybe Auba if Laca sticks around, and two (potentially three depending on Saka) could be off to ACON if that happens. We've already got 3 really promising young players so if you want to avoid killing them someone of the profile of Willian makes sense.

Second, he keeps and carries the ball better and more consistently than any of our wide players by a huge margin, so he will be adding something. In a window where we have no money, committing 10-15m on wages over the next 2-3 years isn't that big a deal.

I realy don't want Willian but I watched Chelsea against United in the FA Cup Semis the other day and youre right, he is still far better than our wide players in dribbling. He really carry the ball well and still have plenty of pace

Anyone who's watched Chelsea can see that Willian is currently more effective than our wide forwards. He plays hard all game, can work both wings.

The issue is about squad building. I shared a graphic about a month ago that showed that relative to other big clubs we have a distorted squad, where insufficient value is concentrated amongst prime age players. That means we are not building towards being able to win a title. And the more we place value in old men like Willian, that's an opportunity cost - that's less money available to put towards constructing a cohort of excellent players who will win together. That's really the crux of it. We need to sell our old men and some of our young men and invest in more people entering their prime like Pepe. And commit to that. If we keep buying old men, we are going to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of doom.

In the ideal world sure, but it's a lot simpler on paper than in practice. If you can raise the money to buy more Pepe's after signing a Partey, Ceballos and perhaps another centre back, super. But what if you don't have the money to do that? Arteta wants a quality winger, we can't afford a proper long term solution. Do you tell him to suck it up for a season and pray he gets us to the top four regardless, or do you give him what he needs to get top four which would then actually give you a much better platform to implement the strategy you speak of?

Everything is not black or white in our position, that's just the reality of our situation. There's going to be lots of grey needed to get where we need to and it's managements job to make sure it's not just a waste of resources. I don't know whether that's Willian or not, and fwiw I don't believe any of these rumours, but if it is, so be it.

The worry goon, in my mind, is that we'll sign Willian/Coutinho first because it's easier than signing Partey. Then we'll have a harder time signing Partey, and end up settling or finding another "bargain".

We need to make the money. We need to take on the debt or sell the players. We have 7 centre backs. We have tons of interesting kids coming through. We have to take risks and make hard decisions about the players on our books.

Right now, the team needs to take position such as - Aubameyang, Saliba, Saka, Martinelli, Tierney, and one goalie are the only players safe on this team. Everybody else is trade-able as we optimise around the system and try to acquire the assets that position us to compete soon. Arteta is only going to get one chance to be the hot rookie coach. Let's not waste his time

Everyone being tradeable doesn't mean everyone gets traded, though. I don't think we should sign Willian or Coutinho, but if it gets us the 2 CMs and the CB we need, then we bite that bullet.

Coombs wrote:

Everyone being tradeable doesn't mean everyone gets traded, though. I don't think we should sign Willian or Coutinho, but if it gets us the 2 CMs and the CB we need, then we bite that bullet.

That's a different approach. You're saying have a plan to build out. If once you've identified your future core you see an opportunity to fill out the squad with a free Willian transfer, then that's fine. But it has to be within that context. That we are moving in that direction and he is a value-adding piece that helps us make better use of of our core pieces. 

Willian can make sense. Coutinho still sounds like a throwing money away

Maybe you have to sell a higher value player in one position to fill another, and then you back fill with a vet on a free or a experienced loaner to keep the seat warm for an up and coming youngster or a player next window. Lots of ways to do it well.

Claudius wrote:

Willian can make sense.

There's no way in which signing Willian makes more sense than just paying Aubameyang.

As an on top. If you’re doing it in lieu of the basics I described, it’s rubbish. I don’t subscribe to the Goonian philosophy of putting together whatever parts you can find that can get you to top 4 the quickest. But if you’ve laid a foundation and see value in having his skill set to complement your core pieces, then cool. But he can’t be at the centre.

Gunner89 wrote:

Buendia for a little more than 6m?

I sincerely doubt it.

He probably meant the total cost including the wages.

Claudius wrote:

As an on top. If you’re doing it in lieu of the basics I described, it’s rubbish. I don’t subscribe to the Goonian philosophy of putting together whatever parts you can find that can get you to top 4 the quickest. But if you’ve laid a foundation and see value in having his skill set to complement your core pieces, then cool. But he can’t be at the centre.

Yeah these old washed guys aren't coming in as squad filler. The wage status they command have means we'd have to use them as a key player ala luiz, or its a complete waste of resources. And once youre painted into the corner of being forced to use them, they'll be exposed as not being fit for purpose and you're stuck with the interminable tail-wagging-dog recruitment cycle as they clog up the wage bill for 2-3 years. We have to end the cycle of treating mediocrities as key players

I’m struggling to make the case for Willian as well. I think people are running out of patience after several years of eating shit, but we have to trust in Tet.

Willian only makes sense if you assume Kia is giving brown envelopes to Edu and Raul.

To be fair he'd start every game for us. Luiz was well past his best but hes still our best CB.

Mustafi also starts most games for us. Lets not make that a yardstick for new signings

Gazza M wrote:

Mustafi also starts most games for us. Lets not make that a yardstick for new signings

Thank you!