Not sure I believe in xT. On the one hand ESR was 3rd in the league for xT this week but Xhaka was also in the top 20.

Laying the groundwork for a Haaland swoop next summer.

We upgraded willock for 5-8 million. Worth it. Now sign a midfielder from Lyon and a rb. It'll make up for the ramsdale signing

Plus a striker would be nice if we sell one of the two "stars" we have

12 days to:

• Find buyers for Laca and Auba (and replace them with one gun)
• Relegate Xhaka to a back-up option
• Sign a RB
• Clear high value surplus to requirement assets (Chambers/Holding, Nketiah, AMN, Nelson)

Apart from the first item on the list (which is harder to do), the others should all have been done a month ago and if we were a competent club this would have been done ages ago.

Xhaka is already a backup option to me. Once Partey is back it's him + Lokonga.
Bellerin being such a wantaway has pushed the RB position to where it is.

Rumours are Odegaard at 35 mil is after add-ons and the deal is actually around 30 mil. That's the right value.

20m would have been a good price

I suppose he can fill the elneny role in the squad

35m euros is a great deal. Fantastic buy, I really rate him. I guess he's not everyone's cup of tea but I always loved players with indirect multiplier effect

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

goon wrote:

I don’t know what xT is but I like the players he’s surrounded by:

Here is an explanation that was so long I didn't bother reading it: https://karun.in/blog/expected-threat.html

I skim read the Athletic article the chart was based on after posting. I think the jist of it is the areas of the pitch you have an influence on (I'm guessing with your passes, touches and shots but I didn't get that far), the closer you are to the opposition goal mouth the higher the score. 

I would be delighted with this signing, especially with that price. Really think he can be one of the best. Now to sign a new manager and board.

Confirmed by Madrid tier 1 sources, all but done deal. 40m euros inclusive of future add-ons, and Madrid will have a first refusal on any future sale.

£30m according to Arsenal sources, €40m according to Real sources.

€40m would be on the pricey side of things for him, hopefully thats only if all the bonuses etc are reached.

€40m = £34m, so it's not much of a difference anyway.

£30-35 million is a really good fee for a player with Ødegaard's talent and character. Very happy about this.

I do think we need Maddison's attacking qualities more, but I envision Ødegaard playing deeper in the field in the future, like Modric or late-career Cazorla, where his slowness is less important and his intelligence gets multiplied. We need a manager who can mold him into that type of player though.

It's a good fee for him. He's a dying breed, very happy we have signed him. He will make the team better. I just hope we spend the spare cash well.

there seems to be some sort of countering of a socmed backlash on this signing. But I haven't actually seen much backlash and am just wondering where all this is coming from.