@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

No thanks to Pogba. We simply can’t make such a risky signing.

There’s an old saying in Texas, gotta go big, or don’t go at all.

We can't afford Pogba anyway and not in a million years will be consider downgrading to us

If Pogba wanted to come here it'd be a no-brainer. You can't pass up opportunities like that, even if I think we would be unlikely to get much more out of him than United have.

He's not going for something that as best is a sideways Premier League move though. He's moving to reinvigorate his career and save his legacy as a player, which means there are only 3-4 clubs in the world he'll go to. Milan might not be an outlandish option either, not with Zlatan there.

I have a gut feeling that he will end up going back to Turin.

(with Dybala possibly going the other way)

With Modric damn near 40, Madrid would be a logical destination

Hope that Dybala swap doesn't happen , he would be ace for United

Dybala would not move the needle the way this kid Fernandes did. He will just cause formation headaches. Dybala is definitely a striker your team does not want to get

Claudius wrote:

Dybala would not move the needle the way this kid Fernandes did.  He will just cause formation headaches.  Dybala is definitely a striker your team does not want to get

Is that re him as a player/style or the baggage he brings?

Anzac wrote:

Claudius wrote:

Dybala would not move the needle the way this kid Fernandes did.  He will just cause formation headaches.  Dybala is definitely a striker your team does not want to get

Is that re him as a player/style or the baggage he brings?

He’s a decent guy. As a player. He’s really good. But you’ll struggle to place him and forwards together. He doesn’t quite have the attributes to be the perfect 9, 10 or winger. So he ends being this weird tweener. He’s probably best in an old fashioned 442 with a big man like Giroud

Dybala would be great for us as a number 10 IMO. He has lost his way a little under Pirlo but guy's talent has never been in question. We need someone like him badly.

Pogba is a hard no. A lot of mediocre players are capable of playing well here and there. Only quality players are able to sustain a high level of performances over time. As for Pogba, he has never shown he's able to play well for a sustained period of time. He's a complete waste of time and money. Laughably overrated.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

By the way just how right was I about Griezmann - guy was ridiculously hyped up on here

Credit where credit is due. You've never rated Griezmann and were always anti-even-consider-signing-him.

Rumours of a Xhaka-Eriksen loan swap deal.

Xhaka is tailor made for Serie A.

Ray wrote:

Rumours of a Xhaka-Eriksen loan swap deal.

Xhaka is tailor made for Serie A.

Hard pass. Arteta and edu can bugger off if thats the type of short sighted deals they're bringing to the table

By extension, that surely means we should all give up on the dream of Arsenal if Xhaka isn't sold this January as well. Because I think it's hard to argue that the outcomes ranked from best to worst are something other than this:

1. Sell Xhaka
2. Eriksen/Xhaka loan swap
3. Keep Xhaka

I'd put the swap deal last. Can't afford these half measures, and I get serious washed up vibes from eriksen who hasn't played decent football for 18 months. That's a deal that could do more damage than getting buendia and benching xhaka permanently with a view to selling in the summer

Quincy, the issue with that deal for me is this.
Last summer one might argue that we were in a 50/50. One could reasonably argue for either strategy of Option A: going big and extending Aubameyang, buying Partey and Willian and trying to win the league in 2 years. That needed a lot of aggressive investment and belief that Arteta was the chosen one. It also needed you to believe that all those players and Pépé etc would be performing at their maximum.

What we are finding is that is not actually the case. And that we might actually need to be doing Option B, rebuilding aggressively. Buying Eriksen would be an example of a typical CEO mistake we see all the time. You make an investment mistake, and instead of pulling out, you double down. You see this all the time. Folks do this because it is embarrassing and credibility busting to pull out, even though it might create more value for the organization. We need to think about pulling out. And pulling out means fixing the team for the future. I don’t buy this we are 6 points from 4th. We are busted and making it worse.

I was responding to the rumour Ray posted, and that didn't include anything about buying Eriksen. That'd be worse, yes.

Gazza M wrote:

I'd put the swap deal last. Can't afford these half measures, and I get serious washed up vibes from eriksen who hasn't played decent football for 18 months. That's a deal that could do more damage than getting buendia and benching xhaka permanently with a view to selling in the summer

Obviously I'd put the swap deal last if you're adding "and buying Buendia" to the "keep Xhaka" option. If you're not doing that though, do you really think letting Xhaka go to Inter for the remainder of the season and having Eriksen here for the same amount of time would be worse for the prospect of selling Xhaka in the summer than letting him keep playing here?

We exiled Guendouzi. We rehabilitated Xhaka after he had walked off the field. And he is still our most important midfielder. I struggle to see a path to his exit.

I'm pretty sure it's BS. Can't imagine Arteta would want to go into the next few month with Elneny and Ceballos as his only fit CM options.

As for Eriksen, I'd rather give that playing time to ESR if we can't get our first choice options to be honest.

Eriksen - Partey - Saka

Would be interesting to see in practice, if nothing else.

Getting on the Michael Olise train. He is pulling something special every week for Reading.

This is the french guy that's linked with us right? Looks sick

Yes. He has played in England all his life though.

Used to be part of Chelsea and then City's academy. Released by both before joining Reading and coming good.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

By extension, that surely means we should all give up on the dream of Arsenal if Xhaka isn't sold this January as well. Because I think it's hard to argue that the outcomes ranked from best to worst are something other than this:

1. Sell Xhaka
2. Eriksen/Xhaka loan swap
3. Keep Xhaka

I'd rather loan Xhaka out without a swap than keep him - I simply do not want him at the club any more than I do the likes of Ozil etc = poisoned chalice.

Claudius wrote:

We exiled Guendouzi. We rehabilitated Xhaka after he had walked off the field. And he is still our most important midfielder. I struggle to see a path to his exit.

Not after today's effort.

Clrnc wrote:

This is the french guy that's linked with us right? Looks sick

Michael Olise Football Statistics | WhoScored.com

He's English.

We are linked with Stade Reims striker Boulaye Dia.

Senegalese international who is having good season in Ligue 1, he is second in the scoring charts behind Mbappe.

Hard to imagine Buendia coming here in Jan with Norwich topping the Championship, yeah?

Get Papu Gomez on a stop gap for 1 year. He is leaving Atalanta in January. Way better player than Willian even on one leg.

Upamecano is going to Bayern. Thankful United isnt getting him

Clrnc wrote:

Get Papu Gomez on a stop gap for 1 year. He is leaving Atalanta in January. Way better player than Willian even on one leg.

Upamecano is going to Bayern. Thankful United isnt getting him

We got 99 center backs  but Upamecano ain’t one.