With Mudryk repeatedly giving us 💓s on his socials, we could afford to pause our pursuit of him here for a week or more, Félix or otherwise.

Let his people have a few pissy conversations with Chelsea, so they know they're going to have to drag him along or buy him out, and Shakhtar know they'll look like pricks in the process. We've bid £62m. It's likely not quite enough, but it's far from insulting. If we have to armwrestle with Chelsea, let's not be too enthusiastic about it. If he readily chooses them, it wasn't to be.

So, the only fear is if he turns out like Zlatan/Mbappe - generational type talent, where we look back in regret and say we could've had that for a few more million quid.

Other than that I'm happy to pass at this stage.

I do think we can /should be a little bit more ruthless with our transfers though. Especially when the player has indicated ample interest in joining. Negotiate, but be ready and willing to put in some extra cash if needed to wrap things up fast. You hardly ever hear other big teams get caught up or slowed down by player pricing considerations. If they are going in, most times they are going in to seal the deal quickly and move on. We have the money so I don't get what the hold up is really.

Nobody seems to know if it's real or not since he's unliked if it is, lol.

Chelsea are like that dickhead bloke with a bit of cash and nice accessories that tries to muscle in on the girl you’ve been flirting with all evening.

  • CPM likes this.

So if Chelsea get him they’ll have Sterling, Nkunku and him next season

    Wonder if this makes a difference in their pursuit for Mudryk.

    If/when Mudryk comes here, he benches Martinelli pretty quickly I think.

      Yeah. Who's CPM previously?

      Wasn't he coming back from a long-term absence and trying to displace Auba at the start of Arteta's tenure? Think Arteta is a big fan but starting to think that maybe he sees Martinelli as a central option in the longer term.

        Don Pacifico I have a feeling that is right.

        So I really want us to complete the Mudryk deal asap

          lorddulaarsenal I would have understood that viewpoint two years ago (and even then, as others have pointed out, injuries), I'm not sure what you've seen from Arteta or heard to make you think that now. The issue, really, is we've become super reliant on him (and Saka) staying fit as nobody else is available. So when Martinelli is, by his standards, relatively quiet it tends to stand out because he's in for the whole game. Which will also affect his sharpness over time.

            It’s more of a gut feel. Have the same feeling with Xhaka. Think he has different types of players in mind for the role they play long term

              lorddulaarsenal Martinelli, I can give you a pass on even though his talent is out of this world and is a bonafide superstar in the making. 😂

              Xhaka not being Arteta's cup of tea is not something even debateable. Dude loves him. And I can kind of see why now. He's probably the second name on the team sheet after Saka for Arteta I reckon.

                lorddulaarsenal madness. Like Willie says, the guy is probably second or first on the teamsheet now and is quite clearly the team's vice captain. I agree, he's not going to be the left 8 in the long term, but he clearly is very much Arteta's sort of player.