Klaus wrote:

I think we're set on central defenders and wingers right now. I don't believe for a second that we're seriously interested in this bloke.

No way we can go into next season heavily leaning on luiz and mustafi, especially if we want to move away from 343

Luiz at 34 is likely to start being very injury prone. And sluggish after return from injuries. Him an auba were much slower to get going post covid break.

Gazza M wrote:

Klaus wrote:

I think we're set on central defenders and wingers right now. I don't believe for a second that we're seriously interested in this bloke.

No way we can go into next season heavily leaning on luiz and mustafi, especially if we want to move away from 343

We're going to lean heavily on Saliba and Mari probably. Luiz will have to do for the first few months.

Relying on Mari is even worse.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Relying on Mari is even worse.

In what way? he looked better than the rest even before he adapted.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Relying on Mari is even worse.

Well that's the player Arteta picked.

Klaus wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Relying on Mari is even worse.

Well that's the player Arteta picked.

That goes for Luiz too if he gets the extension. 

Klaus wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Relying on Mari is even worse.

Well that's the player Arteta picked.

We had hardly nay money and need a CB and RB and we got both for 10M. Mari looks worth every penny and more, Cedric hmm I'm hoping is just rusty from injuries and a lack of games.

Theres nowhere near enough evidence to presume mari will be a hit. I havent liked what ive seen thus far

Me either. Looks very cumbersome

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Well that's the player Arteta picked.

That goes for Luiz too if he gets the extension. 

Exactly. We have the players we have and we've just given out new contracts.

speedy wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Well that's the player Arteta picked.

We had hardly nay money and need a CB and RB and we got both for 10M. Mari looks worth every penny and more, Cedric hmm I'm hoping is just rusty from injuries and a lack of games.

Cedric looks like a complete shithouse signing to me but I agree about Mari, can't see any scenario where he isn't our main defender next season unless the injury turns out to be so much worse than is being indicated.

Saliba / Luiz - Gabriel / Mari

Sell - Mustafi, Sokratis

Loan / Sell - Holding, Chambers, Mavropanos

Klaus wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

That goes for Luiz too if he gets the extension. 

Exactly. We have the players we have and we've just given out new contracts.

Of course we have the players we have, but that goes for every position not just CB. I don't want to sell Mari either, it's Mustafi and Sok we need to try to rid ourselves of. 

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Klaus wrote:

Exactly. We have the players we have and we've just given out new contracts.

Of course we have the players we have, but that goes for every position not just CB. I don't want to sell Mari either, it's Mustafi and Sok we need to try to rid ourselves of.

But my point was that we've just signed/extended two centrebacks since January, and we have a third one coming in Saliba. How many defenders do you guys want? Appreciate that some of them aren't great or are coming back from longterm injuries like Chambers, but that's just tough luck. There are no ideal solutions when you have to scrap for parts. We can't go around and buy centrebacks in every window when we have such limited funds and about as much creativity going forward as Norwich. That's why Diego Carlos, Gabriel, etc seem like houseboat rumours.

I don't know why you're asking how many I want like I'd want to stack up on defenders when I clearly state that want to get rid of two as well (or ideally three, Holding seems finished).

But this is not the wish list. I made a comment based on the squad we have, not the squad we might have if we sell half our defence. We have just signed Mari and Luiz and we have Saliba who we've invested large sums of money in. It makes no sense to blow 50 million on a centreback right now from the club's perspective. We have already tied down the defenders, regardless of what people think of them.

I don't think it makes sense to blow 50 million on a CB either, but you argued that you didn't think we were in for a defender in general. That's something else, as we could find upgrades on our defenders for less than that.

Not much less though. Saliba himself cost the best part of 30m and that was with allowing him to stay at Etienne for a season.

The solutions at centrehalf can definitely be improved, but we can't just keep throwing money at it when we have needs elsewhere.

We've signed three centrehalfs and two fullbacks this year, it's time to start dropping money elsewhere.